Entry Forms Submitted – SWAS Annual Art Exhibition – Cardiff Bay from 2 – 19 July

Dear SWAS Member

  Many thanks for sending an entry form for the SWAS Annual Art Exhibition to be held at the PierHead Building in CardiffBay from 2 – 19 July (installation 1 July). There has been an excellent response to this exhibition with more than 140 artworks now on the submission list, so we are looking forward to an exciting and inspiring event!

 The judging of entries will take place at Lisvane Memorial Hall on Saturday 8 June from 11 am; please see full details at: http://www.southwalesartsociety.co.uk/?page_id=385&event_id=390.

  Important to note:

• All artworks are to be handed in for judging between 11 – 11.20 am on 8 June at Lisvane Memorial Hall. A £3 charge for each artwork is payable on arrival so please aim to have the correct change ready.
• When you hand in your artwork, you will be given a label showing the entry number to attach to the back of each picture in the top right-hand corner. NB: If you are planning to attend the next SWAS meeting on Tuesday 28 May, please collect your labels there so you can attach them in advance of handing in – this will help speed up the process.
• The entry numbers of each of your artworks will be written on the envelope containing your labels. Please retain this and hand it in when you collect your work as this will help us to locate and return each picture speedily.
• After judging, all artworks are to be removed no later than 2 pm.

 Don’t forget that members are welcome to stay and help with the Judging Day activity – why not join in the fun?!

 Best wishes

 Judy

National Open Art Competition 2013

 Invitation for members of SWAS from

Neil Lawson-Baker

“Just wondered if you knew about www.thenationalopenartcompetition.com which offers over £50,000 of prize money to artists from the entire UK. A truly open and unbiased competition with great judges and showing in London at the RCA Gulbenkian Gallery as well as in the provinces at Pallant House Gallery and other venues. Please tell your friends and think about entering. All best wishes, Neil.

Watercolour Demonstration by Darlas Hunter – 14th May 2013

Creating Sheep with Sunlight

Many thanks to Liz Leonard for another excellent image of Darlas and her painting.

After using a variety of  paint mediums for 5 or 6 years Darlas Hunter started using Water Colours 17 years ago and has found it a very satisfying, yet challenging change.

Her photographs are an idea for an image from which she likes  to create a painting of the overall  feeling of the photograph. Darlas suggested trying to paint a landscape without using greens, as an exercise, using blues and browns to produce the effect with a limited palette.

As with many practical occupations, preparation is vital , mixing sufficient paint being one of the most important tasks.

Animals are not the easiest of details to add to a painting and Darlas had her own approach to their application. She believes only one animal need be a good shape and she creates them mostly with shadow colours not white. Animal shape and legs will be taken for the remaining animals. Inorder to imply the white fleece on a sunny day Darlas created the outline using negative painting adding darker colour around a lighter background. The outline stopping a short distance from the dark  sheep shape.

Perhaps Watercolour painting more than other mediums is about “trapping the light”. Opposite colours on the colour wheel will enable the artist to de-saturate colours.

Darlas finished her  painting by adding more detail in the forground of a very sunny pastoral landscape.

Talk by David Haswell, Watercolourist ,- 30th April 2013

Influences and Possibilities

Trying to describe all the advice given by David Haswell, in such an interesting and extensive talk, is a very difficult task. In addition to the way many artists approach a painting David reitterated the importance of creating distance by layers and tones of colour and using contrast in a limited palette, which is a safer approach to constructing an image. Considering contrast in the detail, busy and quiet areas, is also important to create interest for the viewer. A balance of shapes is desirable even though the areas of the canvas are made of unequal shapes. He described how the artist can stimulate curiosity in the viewer by the technique of “Lost and Found”. A simple pathway winds across a landscape and disappears over the crest of a hill to reappear in the distance before it disappears yet again. David favoured the ambiguity of repeated details such as a fence paralleling the winding shape of a road.

Types of Sky

 Getting the correct type of sky adds to the story the painting is telling so the artist asks him/ herself how do I add atmosphere; do I use a dramatic or gentle sky; should the weather be wet or dry, warm or cool to emphasise the emotion created by the painting ?

Choice of Colours

By using a limited palette, utilising the colour wheel to achieve an intelligent application of colours become slightly easier.  A more pleasing effect is made by applying unequal volumes of contrasting colours, with the brightest colours being applied less than paler ones. To obtain a harmonious effect, adjoining colours on the colour wheel will have a better effect than opposite ones. Even the make of the paint will have a different effect as approximately one third of water colour paints stain the paper and are thus fixed on application. Another third of paints will be liftable, making them much more variable and correctable or usable.

By way of showing the members at the meeting examples of the influences he described he showed us images , on screen, of many artists such as

 Kyffin Williams                                                                      Gwilym John Blockly

Rowland Hilder                                                                       John Knapp Fisher

Alvaro Castagnet                                                                     John Barnard

Maria Huntly                                                                           Susan Brown

Joseph  Golikin                                                                       Michael Morgan

Bernhand Vogel                                                                       Tony Smibert

Bruno de Stijl

and others.

Equipment

As well as advocating paper on board when using very watery paints, David stressed the importance of looking at the make-up of the paints. Those that had listed pigments by number provided better paints.  Often colours from various manufacturers were sold using different names due to the addition of extra chemicals.  A paint containing too much gum would create a muddy result and should be avoided.  His favoured brand is “Mameri” paints.  David described the different results gained by mixing paint with gesso and other dry mixtures to create texture -  especially useful when applying the paint with a palette knife, which allows for the creation of detail by scraping away the thick paste and drawing lines for added detail.

The evening concluded with a 10 minute DVD of John Lovett ,”Which Paints, What Colours”, that summarised much of what David Haswell had talked about and showing John Lovett’s signature technique of splashing on paint.

Velindre Donations April 2013

” Thanks to all those who hung paintings at Velindre.

The Society was able to give £195.00 to the Charity”

Chris Phelps