blueBanksia art directory lists art short courses and events

Review of Art Workshop - ‘Add a bit of colour’

In August Stephanie and I attended a weekend workshop in Blackheath. The workshop was organised by the Blackheath Art Society and Paul McCarthy was our tutor.

We stayed overnight in a great little cottage and had dinner at the local pub where the steaks are to die for! It was bitterly cold and misty at night but that only served to heighten the atmosphere of one of my favourite towns in the Blue Mountains. During our lunch breaks we drove down to Govett’s lookout and picked up pies and coffee from the Blackheath bakery. Sitting in the sun looking out at the view and listening to the bellbirds was magical!

Paul is a great teacher – over the two days we were given many ideas to help in our art practice. Whether you are a traditional painter or an abstract painter like Stephanie, Paul helps you to understand where to put that mark or colour which then makes a painting sing.

The workshop group members were all very supportive and it was encouraging and interesting, as always, to see how others interpret their work.

Our first exercise started by wetting the paper with water and just loosely putting down two to three colours randomly. Then it was time to look at the result to see what patterns and shapes emerged.

Next pick up some compressed charcoal and outline the shapes that impress you. When you’re finished it’s time to let loose building up layers of colours – it was amazing to watch what emerged from the chaos. The paintings shown are examples of what can be produced.

An excellent drawing tip from Paul was not to worry about getting all the detail down throughout a drawing otherwise you flatten it! Leave something that will interest the viewer by just hinting at the shape. Paul talked a lot about letting the brain interpret your painting and drawing - not to overstate what you are drawing and gave us many interesting visual examples.

Paul is a very talented teacher who inspired all the participants to produce great results. To sum it up - I will always learn something new with Paul so I wouldn't hesitate doing another workshop with him.