Weald of Kent Art Society
Embracing art in all its forms
Examples of previously enjoyed demonstrations, workshops, and guided sessions
Melanie Cambridge oil demo
In February 2023 full time professional artist Melanie Cambridge treated WOKAS members to a demo using oils. It was by all accounts a thoroughly informative as well as entertaining session. Melanie, in her engaging manner, set out to create a beach scene with high rocks on a canvas washed with grey. She made a point of the fact that with oils you can change your mind so one need not be afraid to make mistakes. She also showed that you do not have to be beholden to your original motif – the important thing is to make it work for the composition of your painting and to have an area of rest in the overall picture. Our members went away with lots of tips and ideas to try themselves.
Palette knife trees - guided session with Mark Fisher
In late February 2024 WOKAS met for a guided painting session with Mark Fisher who showed us how to paint trees using a palette knife.
It was a full house and everyone crowded around Mark as he gave examples of the ways of using a palette knife - the pointy ends, the sharp edges, scratching and using it flat for blurring.
Everyone then had a go while also putting their own stamp on it. Once again although we were all painting the same image, the result was very individual - the paintings took the viewer to forests, a tree-lined tropical beach, the Australian outback and even a tree-filled mountain scene. Who knew!
Much fun had by all.
Watercolour demo with Brian Smith
In March 2024 WOKAS welcomed renowned artist Brian Smith - a fireball of energy as he swiftly painted not one, but five paintings in the two hours.
The audience were particularly impressed by the fact he did them all with no reference photos, only from intuition and memory. He draws on 30 years of experience as an advertising industry illustrator and a professional artist.
View Brian's work at https://www.briansmithartist.com.
Adrian Leppenwell watercolour demo
The early February 2023 watercolour demo with Adrian Leppenwell unfolded in front of a good turnout of WOKAS members. Adrian has been painting for about 15 years and doesn’t like to take too long over a picture. He says his style is ‘a little bit on the loose side’, just loose enough to enjoy it. He tries to suggest rather than paint every detail. For this demo he had chosen Bodiam Castle as the subject and as he was working the paper (Bockingford 140) he gave a most instructive running commentary. He limited himself to five colours – Burnt Umber, Ultramarine Blue, Light Red, Yellow Ochre and Hookers Green. Hookers Green proved a very versatile colour – by mixing it with Yellow Ochre or Burnt Umber Adrian produced many different hues of green.
