Inktober 2024 has just begun and these are the suggested themes to draw every day. They don’t have to be large, finished pictures, they can be small sketches on random bits of paper or Post-It notes.
Here’s the website if you want more information… https://inktober.com
Go on, have a go!
If you complete the whole month’s challenge or only do a few days, please send photos of your Inktober sketches to Tracy.
Our Open Day on Saturday 23rd of November is only a few weeks away, so hopefully you’re getting an idea of what to exhibit framed on the walls or mounted in the browsers. Hanging evening will be on Friday 22nd November from 7pm.
Wednesday 9th October 7-9pm - Design a book cover
A subject with an illustrative theme which will also involve words, with the title of the book and the author. The subject is a very broad one but to narrow it down design and illustrate a book by Charles Dickens, a play by William Shakespeare or another well-known author or poet. Use any medium and lots of imagination!
Saturday 26th October 10am-3pm - to be confirmed
Tracy is trying to organise a workshop run by two members of a local art group. More details as soon as they’re known.
On a bright chilly Saturday 18 members shared their day at Chalk Hall.
The theme for the day was ‘Then and Now’. A broad subject which gave resulted in an eclectic mix of paintings
Some members chose to ‘Do Their Own Thing’
Well done everyone. Thank you for all your help setting up and clearing away.
Our next meeting is on Wednesday the 9th of October 7pm till 9pm
Best wishes
Steve
Here are two paintings from Chris who has completed her pictures from the recent George Stubbs horses session and the Olympic and Paralympic session.
Super work as usual, Chris, showing the rich sheen on the horse’s coat and the speed of the Paralympic runners. Well done!
The subject of George Stubbs and his horse paintings was popular last month and several pictures were started. Four have now been finished…
Mary found an adorable photo of a huge shire horse and donkey foal in a newspaper, drew it carefully and painted it in watercolours.
Angela used pastels for her horse picture, using rich browns and tan colours for her bold horse head portrait.
Janet W printed words about Stubbs on to Bockingford watercolour printer paper and painted a picture of Whistlejacket over the top in watercolour. She used the watercolours quite dryly so the words didn’t smudge. The painting is already framed as has just been exhibited in a Gravesend Art Group exhibition in the St.George’s Art Centre.
Tracy chose the Triumphal Quadriga as her subject, otherwise known as the Horses of Saint Mark, in St.Mark’s Basilica in Venice. Believed to have been sculpted in the 2nd or 3rd century CE in Rome or possibly the 5th or 4th century BCE in Greece, they were displayed for centuries at the Hippodrome of Constantinople until the sack and looting of the city by Venetian forces in 1204 during the Fourth Crusade. The four horses were then mounted above the entrance of the basilica in Venice until they were looted by Napoleon in 1797 and taken to Paris, but were returned to Venice in 1815. Copies of the four horses are now outside St. Mark’s Basilica whilst the originals are displayed inside under spotlights which highlight the original mercury gilding that remains.
Tracy started with brown paper and used black, white, yellow, orange and brown coloured pencils to create her picture of the horses.
Well done everyone! It’s always interesting to see finished pictures which were started at previous sessions.
The next session is at the hall on Saturday 28th September from 10am to 3pm.
Eleven members attended the session and we welcomed a lady who works at Rochester Cathedral who came along to see if she wants to join the art group. We all enjoyed chatting and walking around to look at the pictures created.
Everyone chose a different way to tackle the subject of the Olympics and Paralympics in Paris as there has been a plethora of images available online or in newspapers. Some members chose to ‘do their own thing’ which we always love to see too. Reference pictures have been included in the photos so you can see the images that the artists worked from.
The next session is on Saturday 28th September from 10am to 3pm.
If you didn’t pay all your subs in January the last instalment of £28 is now due by bank transfer, cheque or cash (only at a session). This will take your membership up to the end of 2024. Look out for an email from Steve with exact details of how to pay.
Summer seems to be zooming past and autumn is only three weeks away. That means our Open Day on Saturday 23rd November marches ever closer. Hopefully you’re getting an idea of what to exhibit so you’ll be finishing and framing your paintings. If you belong to another art group and want to exhibit the same pictures that’s absolutely fine. As usual the hanging evening is the day before, on Friday 22nd November from 7pm. This year there are 5 Saturdays in November so please pop the correct dates in your diary or calendar!
Here are the suggested subjects for September, but come along and ‘do your own thing’ if you prefer. If you can’t make a session but create a picture at home, please send a photo of the picture to Tracy or Steve for inclusion in a blog post.
Wednesday 11th - 7-9pm - Paris Olympics and Paralympics
The Olympics in Paris last month and the Paralympics on now have been captivating to watch. Athletes in so many different sports have performed to their ultimate level in the hope of winning a medal. The Paralympics seems especially difficult for some as they battle with their health too.
Choose any sport/s or athlete/s from either the Olympics or Paralympics and draw or paint them in any medium.
Saturday 28th - 10am-3pm - Then and Now
A simple format but one which can lead to interesting pictures.
Portraits - draw or paint a portrait of your mother, father or grandparents as a small child and then one when they are older. Or choose a person from history where you can show the difference in age.
Modern urban landscapes - look around where you live. Find an old photo online or an old postcard showing your street or town and create a picture from that source. Then draw or paint that same view en plain air or from a photo, showing the similarities and differences.
Rural landscapes - Same as the urban landscape showing a view then and now.
Your own art - have you still got any drawings or paintings that you did when you were young? Choose the same subject, bring along the old picture to the session and then create a new picture as an adult.
Your own interpretation of ‘then and now’ - what does this subject mean to you?
Our plans to return to the King’s Orchard, the private gardens behind Rochester Cathedral, were thwarted by the very heavy rain that fell for hours on Saturday. A huge thank you to Kay who got permission for us to draw in the cathedral instead, where we were based on tables in the north transept right by the stone rood screen. Some members used their folding chairs to sit by the tall columns in the nave.
Nine members came along and we were also joined by Ron’s two very polite and well behaved granddaughters aged 7 and his son-in-law. A whip round collected £40 and this was gift aided so £50 will be received by the cathedral.
We were initially disappointed not to paint outside but we all thoroughly enjoyed our day inside being creative. Annoyingly it finally stopped raining as the last two members left the cathedral at 2.45pm!
We couldn’t use any paint or water inside the cathedral so everyone sketched using dry mediums of pencils, coloured pencils, charcoal and pens. Most members drew the architecture and views around them but as usual we don’t mind at all if you come along to a session and ‘do your own thing’, so a giraffe and highland cow join the gallery. We start off with the girls’ pictures, including a super picture of Grandad Ron…
A few months ago some members embossed metal scales for a project at the cathedral. 12500 scales now adorn the Draco Roffensis dragon sculpture that is hanging above the nave. Here are photos of the sculpture and views in and around the cathedral.
The cathedral’s website with lots of info if you want to visit… www.rochestercathedral.org
Thank you to everyone who braved the weather, we had a good day!
The next session is back at Chalk Parish Hall on Wednesday 11th September from 7-9pm.
It was lovely to see ten members at the session, all eager to try their hand at drawing and painting horses, which we all thought was quite a challenge. The session was inspired by the birth of George Stubbs 300 years ago this month and his extraordinary paintings of horses in Georgian Britain. His most famous painting is ‘Whistlejacket’ in The National Gallery in London where visitors admire the horse’s perfectly formed body against a plain background so nothing distracts from the horse himself.
A good start was made with the pictures and hopefully they’ll be finished at home. Patrick finished his pencil drawing inspired by an old postcard.
Kay was disappointed not to come to the session as she loves horses. At home she found her sketching book which she had begun at just 5 years old and continued with until her mid teens. The pyrography was done when she was 14 and the last image was painted a couple of years ago as a gift for a friend of her own horse.
Lovely work everyone, do try the subject again!
Details of our visit to Rochester Cathedral on Saturday 24th August will be sent in a couple of days. Do email Tracy asap if you want to come along too.
We have so many different subjects in our sessions that we often start pictures but don’t get around to finishing them.
Here are several pictures that were finished at home from sessions on Frida Kahlo, painting on a book page, Underwater Life, In an English Country Garden, and Chalk Church.
Brenda’s colourful picture of Frida Kahlo is in pastels as are her images of the dragon and the parrot on a dictionary page. The cockerel is painted in watercolours.
Steve’s posterised image of Frida Kahlo was painted in acrylics and the other in black pastel on grey pastel paper with a dramatic pop of lip colour in pink. Chalk Church was created when we visited last month, again in pastel but using many colours for a realistic picture.
Tracy’s images of Frida Kahlo were painted in watercolours, as were the underwater eagle spotted rays. The cottage garden at Sissinghurst is in coloured pencils, lightly pressed on to the paper so the finished effect is delicate.
Well done, it’s great to see all your finished pictures!
Medway & Chalk Art Group 