The Sidmouth Society of Artists met for an afternoon appraisal session by Ray Balkwill at Kennaway House - or, as those of a more nervous disposition might call it, a ‘critique’.

Twenty artists braved the storm, but they need not have worried because highly acclaimed artist Ray was quick to emphasise the positive aspects of each painting, interspersed with constructive suggestions on how it might be further enhanced. His analysis covered such aspects as composition, contrast, colour, mood and motivation, with an interesting aside, a quote that ‘you should paint what you love and love what you paint’.

Besides being a very talented watercolourist, Ray Balkwill is an engaging personality so that his performance, so to speak, was full of good-natured banter in amongst some pearls of wisdom. The latter related to some very obvious things that often get overlooked. These considerations included the size of brushes, the make and grade of paper and the importance of selecting the right colour for the mount.

Using mount-card and frames that he had brought with him, he showed just how much each painting could benefit or be spoilt by the choice of its framing.

Cherry Ferris reports on the winter Zoom programme.

"What a fabulous and inspirational afternoon we all had with the super-talented Rebecca De Mendonca. Rebecca got us all in the festive mood by painting a set of beautiful sparkly baubles in pastels. It was so magical watching them appear in all their resplendent, sparkly jewel-like colours before our very eyes.

"Rebecca was a brilliant teacher ... She began by explaining her mark-making techniques using Unison pastels.  She paints from from dark to light, and builds up layers of pastel to create rich colours, shine and atmosphere.  She suggested a few dark rich colours, a good rich light creamy colour, and a really dark one (Rebecca uses her black Conté crayon as her darkest dark). She recommended investing in good-quality soft pastels from the start, as they offer a richer, more pigmented colour and a little goes a long way!

"Super well done to the members who painted alongside Rebecca!"

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