Drawing and painting

My final run of 5 classes with artist, Jim Kavanagh http://www.jimkavanagh.com/ finished in January. We worked on a technique to capture the qualities of cloth as it drapes. It was an interesting project to work on and probably appealed to me so much because it was fabric-related! We were asked to position a 'precious object' in front of a draped cloth. So I chose a glass bowl of threads in front of a red shot-velvet. With more practice, I'm sure I could improve on this, but here are the photos of my charcoal drawing and my oil painting of this subject. I learned a lot from Jim and hope to go back for more lessons at a future date.

Orchid in oils

This is my second oil painting. I suppose it could do with more work and touching up in some areas, but I think I will leave it as a record of what I learned by the end of my second set of classes. Tonight I started a still-life charcoal drawing of a 'precious object' in front of draped cloth. It's a different process/method of drawing to my previous 2 drawings so let's see how I do with the next project. I have to say I'm really enjoying the classes and thoroughly recommend finding a tutor to help develop skills.

Learning to Draw

I brought home my second charcoal drawing from my class with Jim Kavanagh on Thursdays. I am currently working on the violet acrylic underpainting based on this drawing and will move on to adding colour on top in oils next week. Again I learned a huge amount by doing this drawing, proving to me that if I can learn to draw, anyone can!

Aran Island Hand

This is the oil painting I brought home after my 1st course of 5 classes with Jim Kavanagh. I learned a huge amount from Jim while working on this one painting. It was underpainted in violet acrylic for 2 weeks and then painted with oils on top for a further 2 weeks.

I 'dabbled' with painting in watercolours, acrylics and oils on my own in the past, but probably never understood how to make it all work the way I wanted. Having the help of a teacher made a huge difference!

I enjoyed Jim's classes so much I've signed up for another course. We started a new drawing last night, so I'm hoping to learn some more as I do my second oil painting.

Womens Support Project, Leitrim: Day 4

Today was the 4th of 5 classes with the women of Leitrim. We had a day of sharing stories, sketching, journalling and collaboration. Every day brings more stories of connections between past and present experiences, serendipity and personal growth. We had a 'field trip' to the Leitrim Design House downstairs, stopping at whatever pieces we connected with to take notes, sketch, develop our powers of observation and record our own emotional responses to what we saw. Here are some journal pages, collaborations and sketches from these women.

Learning to draw

Thinking of doing a stitched piece for the Cork Textiles Network exhibition at the Cork School of Music on the wonderful Philip Lynott, whose music provided the soundtrack to my younger days in Cork city. So a sketch or two of me oul' hero Philo seemed in order....

Learning to draw

A sketch of Charlie Chaplin....kinda!

Learning to fraw

Quick 10min sketches of Wb Yeats and another guy from a newspaper photo.

Womens Support Project, Leitrim: Day 3

Learning to draw can be scary! Especially if it's your first time in front of a group of people. Some people remember previous attempts where the emphasis was on the outcome and not the process. Lots of us just simply say 'I can't draw'. Today we used charcoal and learned a few little tricks to put aside the fear and tackle a drawing. Like most things in life, taking the first step is the hardest part. But once we stop worrying about the outcome, we can just enjoy learning something new. With a little practice we might improve. These are some first drawings for these women, and it turns out they weren't so scary to do at all!

Learning to draw

Trying to sketch every chance I get. I'm working from black and white photos I find in magazines and newspapers.

Learning to draw

A sketch of Nick Cage from a photo in the Sunday Times.

Learning to draw

Another day, another sketch.

Learning to draw

I decided to take a drawing & painting course at Stiuideo na Coiribe Art School with Jim Kavanagh(http://www.jimkavanagh.com/). Jim's studio is a haven! A warm welcome with coffee and cake and soon I was absorbed completely by the project he introduced us to. I learned a huge amount in my first class and surprised myself with the drawing I managed to do. I'm trying not to jump ahead and worry about how I'll get on at the next step....painting. But if tonight's class is an indication, I reckon I'm going to enjoy this course of 5 classes a lot! This is a photo of a second drawing I did at home just to try and convince myself I could do it again. I can see areas where I need to work on it and I don't always know how to do that, but I'm trusting that Jim will point me in the right direction.