Course Gallery

Gt Dunmow Maltings - Saturday 17th June 2006

In the second session of our Beginners Watercolour class we were finishing off our paintings of a view with a windmill which we started in the first session (you'll find the photographs further down the page).

Just in case you haven't had a chance to visit the Maltings, we thought we would take a couple of photos to let you see how the building has been beautifully restored and what a great venue it is.

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Entrance to the Maltings	Inside the Maltings	A quick explanation before we start
Let's break for coffee	Quick, before it dries!	Where's Kate Gone?

We started off this session with Kate explaining to us how to put in the detail of the sails on the windmill and place a bush in front to give perspective. To make the painting come alive we then added grasses around the fence posts and pebbles on the path.

After coffee and a discussion on how much we had learnt in such a short space of time Kate gave us a demonstration on how to paint rocks and how to make them seem "real". Everyone's rocks looked just like they had jutted out of the ground - not bad for beginners!

At the end of the session all of us had a painting that we could feel genuinely proud of, the course was a great success.

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Gt Dunmow Maltings - Saturday 3rd June 2006

The first of two sessions of our Beginners Watercolour course at The Maltings, Great Dunmow started with the tutor, Kate Macleod, describing the picture we would be painting. It was of a windmill in the distance with gently rolling fields in the foreground. To get things started she also gave a short talk introducing the basic techniques of colour mixing.

It was then straight in with the colours as everyone painted the sky and clouds. Most people on the course had no previous experience of painting in watercolour but everyone managed to produce a great looking sky.

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Kate starts by discussing colour mixing	Kate explains all to Justin	Let's move on to another technique!
Once more Kate moves as the shutter clicks!	Watch closely, this is what we're going to do next!	A good morning's work

After a well earned coffee break we continued to paint under Kate's watchful eye. With her guidance both to the group and individually, the perspective of the painting showing a windmill in the distance with fields, a path and wire fence and fence posts began to come together.

At the end of the session everyone had produced their own interpretation of Kate's original picture. In session two we will be putting the final touches to our paintings, including adding rocks, pebbles and grasses to make the picture come alive!

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The Gardens of Easton Lodge - Saturday 13th May 2006

The day started with our tutor, Trevor Harwood demonstrating in pastels how to capture the beauty and perspective of the gardens and buildings. Having been inspired by Trevor's enthusiasm everyone then ventured out into the gardens and began to capture the scene before them.

After lunch we decided to remain around the Peto Pavilion and to continue to try to capture the essence of the gardens.

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Trevor and Jane ponder on perspective, just how do you get the pond to lay flat?	Joyce and Trevor discuss tone	Let's start off around the pond!
Trevor and John discuss painting trees	Where's Anne gone?	Barbara being bold with pastel

A brief shower at 4 o'clock had us scurrying into the pavilion for a much earned coffee break. A further brief venture outside was followed by a short "critique" session so we could see what the others had been painting all day.

Despite the threat of thunder storms in the weather forecast we had a great day painting "en plein air" at the Gardens of Easton Lodge, some of us even had to use our sun tan lotion!

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