Just had a call from a friend who has been to loads of my workshops and who is always the first to boost me up when she gets a chance...lovely Jean.
Something she said has made me think of noting down one or two points re. workshops coming up.
In life things move on and they should never stay the same. If you aren't moving forwards, you'll be moving back at a rate of knots. So with this in mind I am going to change slightly the format of my workshops in line with our developing skills.
Up til now the tried and tested paintalong method with an initial drawing has suited us well. People have been pleased to have a ready made design (though not everyone always uses it, some draw their own) and then to concentrate on the watercolour techniques to paint our own version.
To everyones' constant surprise, the paintings are always vastly different one from the other, as we cannot help, thank goodness, our different personalities shining through, but they are all basically the same painting.
In my workshops a good percentage of the painters are returners...I'm very glad to say. And I think we've all been developing over the last few years, including me. (You never stop learning!) Our experience and confidence are building steadily. What is more, on a practical level my stock of reference material is building up so that now I can offer more choice to people coming to paint.
So I think I would like to work along the lines of everyone choosing their own reference material and making their own design. This would include their own ref. material that they might have brought along, whether real flowers or photos.
I will still demonstrate the techniques that I feel suit the subject. It always helps to see an example of the techniques in use. But then I will coach everyone separately according to how they have decided to tackle the subject.
It might not be as "tidy" a solution as in the past but I think we're ready for it.
Thought I'd upload a pic to cheer us up. Roll on Spring! The snowdrops and hellebores are both about to flower in my garden. Yay! The flowering year is starting again!
