Lion Demonstration in watercolour

Was lovely to be invited to the Ilford Art Society to give a demonstration. A local society that I joined and gave my first UK demo too, some years back. Very friendly society, always on the lookout for new members to join them. 

They requested a wildlife demo so I decided on one of my favourite animals, a lion in watercolours. 

Photo ref with thanks to  Pete Lambert on Unsplash

llford Art Society is highly respected in the local art community, with a history going back to 1925. Members range from beginners to experienced artists. The atmosphere at classes is informal, and there is a substantial social element to the Society's activities and committee life. We hold weekly classes on Wednesday evenings run by an experienced Tutor and exhibit regularly at a range of venues.

Once a month they host a painting demonstration, showing artists' materials and techniques. These are well supported and are always introducing new and exciting ideas. During the year a series of life classes are also arranged. Their online gallery showcases Members' work. Paintings are available for sale, and commissions can be undertaken by individual artists upon request. They have regular life and costume models. 

Members are free to either work from the model if they wish or to work on landscapes, still life or simply their own imagination - in a variety of materials of their choice.

HOW TO JOIN 

#lion #bigcats #lioness #africa #african #wildlife #art #watercolour #wildlifeartists #lionpainting #wildlifeart #instagood #instagram

"Somebody Cares"

NEW WORK

"Somebody Cares.........#Watercolour on Arches papers

This recently completed  painting was from a photo I took earlier this year in The Gambia.  We were on a day out with Sandy, who founded and runs Goal For The Gambia, visiting the school in Somita. Sandy took along some blankets that Maggie and the scouts had made for the sick and elderly in the village. She handed one of the blankets to the headteachers mother and I was lucky to capture the moment. Such simple, but much needed things give so much joy to the people of The Gambia.

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 Goal for The Gambia needs your help

June 27th

Disaster in Somita today. Huge winds and rain today has taken the roof off at both Bantangba nursery and the new school we built earlier this year. I am told at least 10 families have lost their roof too. We need to raise funds urgently to fix the two schools. I am waiting for estimates but on past experience it will be no less than £2000 each. Maybe more. Please, if you were thinking about donating anything to the charity can you do it now. Quickest way is through virgin money giving , donate now button at the top of the page. If you prefer to donate through out bank account please let me know and I will send you the details. Let’s get these schools fixed before more heavy rain comes and does even more damage. The students will also not be able to attend classes or do their end of year exams. Every pound donated will help. Thank you
In the photos below you can see Bantangba nursery on the left and Somita Arabic school on the left

July 1st

Update on the roof situation. The carpenter/roofer who we have used with great success in Kitty has been to Somita to assess the damage. Both roofs have to be completely replaced including the wood structure. Bantangba quote us D150000 ( £2500 roughly). And Somita Arabic school is d170000 ( £2750 ish) so we are looking for £5250. Thanks to Alison who did the Thames Walk and raised £500 for us and has agreed it can be used towards the repairs. We have also had some generous donations from supporters who saw the original post. We now have around £1000 in total, so still a way to go. Please share, donate if you and if anyone has any ideas for fundraising please let me know. We have to do these repairs urgently, both schools are our responsibility and if they are not done it will be the students who suffer. Many of them are due to sit national exams very soon. Thank you to everyone who has already donated. We will get this done but only with your help! Thanks xx

July 10th

Work has started on the two roofs despite heavy rain at times. We are still a long way short of the money we need to complete this work , we have raised £1125.74 so far, thank you to everyone who has donated so far. We still need another £4K and at the moment I am using money for other projects which of course means we need to replace that to continue with promised work. I just can’t leave the schools with no roofs! If you can spare a pound or two it will help! Never think your donation is too small to make a difference. Virgin money giving link to donate at the top of the page or if you prefer bank transfer send me a message and I will give you the details. Thank you very much x

July 24th 

Work has gone ahead , despite not having the money we need to do the work yet! We are borrowing money from our other projects while we continue to seek donations. We really had no choice but to go ahead. Thank you to everyone who has donated so far! 

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If you would like to either, donate to the urgent work needed, sponsor a child/student or find out more about what the charity does. 

Please visit their website

GOAL for The Gambia

You can also help by shopping online through easyfundraising and Amazon Smile

and it won't cost you a penny. 

Find out more

HOW YOU CAN HELP

We are now registered for Amazon Smile. If you are purchasing anything through Amazon please click on our link. You then click on us by searching for Giving Opportunities to Achieve and Learn ( our registered name) and remember to shop on smile amazon each time. Your choice of charity only needs to be done once. It costs you nothing but could be amazing for us! Thank you x

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/ch/1125489-0

Charity Raffle . . . win an original watercolour

DONATE &WIN ONE OF MY ORIGINAL WATERCOLOURS

I am fundraising to support GOAL for The Gambia and the work they do to improve the lives of others, by raffling one of my original watercolours. The winner gets to choose from the paintings below.

From my first visit to the Gambia I had decided I wanted to sponsor a child and spent a long time researching for the right Charity. All my searches came back to one charity, Goal for The Gambia. We got in touch with Sandy, Founder and Trustee GOAL for The Gambia, who on our next visit, took us out for the day to show us the work they do, where they are now supporting five schools and a health clinic which serves more than 10,000 people.

We were taken aback by how far our mere £5.00 went, which is all it costs to sponsor a child to go to school, including uniform and books. And were consulted on what would happen if any was let over. I know, hard to believe that there would be anything left. 

We were particularly struck by the work being done in the clinic. What has already been achieved since they started helping the clinic is astounding. When I first entered the building I felt I was in a time zone, that of a wartime hospital, images you I would have seen on old TV films, I found it hard to imagine what it was like when they started, knowing the amount of work that had already been achieved. Please take a few minutes to read about what this charity does HERE  We decided then that we wanted to do what we could to help, which is where raffling one of my paintings came in. 

Amongst so many emotions we felt throughout that day, one of the things that struck was the transparency of how the charity is run and seeing that for ourselves first hand. 100% of every donation goes where it is supposed to. They do not fundraise for administration costs, instead relying on Gift Aid to fund these essential overheads. You can read more about them and the work they do by visiting their website Goal for The Gambia

You can donate and be in with a chance of winning one of my paintings with as little as £5.00 and know that it will go a long way to helping the children and the people there .   

If you donate, please make sure to either add your email to the message box as it will be needed if you win. If you would rather it didn't show on the charity page, please send it to me by email: contact@stephiebutler.com. I will also post the winners name on all social media, along with my website and blog. Thank you in advance for all those who donate and know how much it's truly appreciated. I thank you on their behalf. 

2 Day workshop in Holland - last few spaces

I am pleased to announce I will be back in Holland this year giving another 2 day workshop.

The workshop will be held at the Hotel de Valk, in Franeker.http://www.hoteldevalkfraneker.nl

If you would like to attend the workshop, please contact me through the contact page on my website. 

New paintings....

In between doing a workshop in Holland and demos for art clubs I've also been working on some new paintings. This one was a little different to my usual stuff and a bit of a challenge as well.

On a recent trip to "The Gambia" I managed to collect lots of reference material and am eager to work from them, this one was taken at Serekunda Market. Sure bought you back to the real world when you see how some people live from day to day. This lady was selling soap powder for washing clothes, little bags of it. Each day the people go to the market to sell whatever they can make or acquire hoping to make enough to feed their families for that day.

There were lots of times along the way I wasn't sure it was going to work, it is true that it makes a difference if you work from your own reference, it has a different meaning to it . I think it all came together in the end.

Redbridge Arts Association Summer Exhibition 2014 . . .

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Art in the Park runs form Wednesday 2 July - Sunday 31 August
Three exhibitions in total consisting of two groups each for three weeks.

02 JUL - 20 JUL    Fullwell Cross U3A  &  Redbridge Photographers Association
23 JUL - 10 AUG   Ilford Art Society  & Redbridge Art Group
12 AUG - 31 AUG  St Teresa's Art Group  & Redbridge Marquetry Group

Diverse range of subject & media incl watercolours, oils, acrylics, marquetry, wood turning and photography. Come along and speak to some of the artists, enjoy the experience and vote for your favourites.  

Dovecote Gallery
Valentines Mansion & Gardens

ACCESS
Designated car parking spaces are provided for disabled badge holders.
The mansion has level access throughout, with a lift to all floors.
Width restrictions apply to larger electric wheelchairs. Please call ahead of your visit for advice and assistance.
For access advice call +44 (0)20 8708 8100.

GARDENER’S COTTAGE CAFÉ
Open everyday between 10am and 6pm (or sunset during winter months).
Please note that the Café will be closed on Mondays in December and January.

GETTING THERE Tube Gants Hill Underground Station (Central Line). 5 minutes walk. Rail Ilford National Rail, direct line from Liverpool Street Station. Bus Take bus routes 396, 128, 179, 123, 296, 167 from Gants Hill Underground Station and 128, 296, 150, 396, 167 from Ilford National Rail to stop ‘Valentines Mansion and Park’. Cycle Cycle to the mansion through Valentines Park. Cycle racks are provided at the mansion. Road Easily accessible from the A406 (junction for A12) and the M25 (junction 27 for M11, and follow on to the A406 East). Car parking is available at the mansion. Car parking charges (With effect from 1st October 2011)
up to 1 hour: 70p / up to 2 hours: £1.30 / all day: £3

The joy of teaching . . .

There seems to have been so much going on lately to keep me from remembering to update my blog, so it may take me a while to catch up with it all.

My demo painting "Eyes of Blue"

Among other thing I have been teaching, which is something i'm trying to do more of . One of the many friends I've met online over the years is very talented lady, Pat Elliott. Not only is Pat an Author, an Artist, but an amazing healer as well. I had known Pat for quite some time and recently started having Reflexology treatment from her, this I can highly recommend, hands that heal don't come close to describing what Pat has done for me. If you live in the south of the UK, look her up, you won't be disappointed.

Back to the teaching day. Pat wanted a days tuition on how to paint portraits in Watercolour, so off I went and spent the most wonderful day with her. The sun was shining and as it turned out to be one of the hottest days of the year, we painted all day in her summerhouse.

I started the demo using a ref photo from the Wetcanvas photo library. Painting a little at a time showing Pat various techniques that I use, along with encouraging her to include part of herself in her painting. This is a little difficult to do at first when learning to paint in a different style, but does come when you learn to relax, play and take chances.

I was amazed how quickly Pat picked things up and her eagerness to learn was inspiring to me . What she achieved at the end of the day was outstanding, especially when taking into account, the ref she used was a very small snap shot.

This is Pat's painting as it stood at the end of the day. Isn't it amazing. So much more than a portrait painting, the emotions captured here are uplifting.

Pat's painting from the tuition day. @Pat Elliot  

 It was wonderful to read that Pat had kept up the hard work soon after I left and carried on playing and practicing the techniques, combining her already vast knowledge. This was a painting she produced on her own, developing the composition herself as she was already a much practiced artist. It was great to see her post a comparison to a much earlier painting, something we should all do with our own work every so often.

It gives me such a thrill to know i've helped in any way. When seeing a student paint with eagerness and enjoyment, it gives me added inspiration in my own work.

Archie ©Pat Elliot - 

Pat's previous painting @Pat Elliot 

The most important thing I can advise anyone learning is to play. Not everything will turn out as wanted, just take the bits you liked and carry them on to the next painting. It is the only way to move forward.

Redbridge Arts Association Summer Exhibition 2013 . . .

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Dovecote Gallery
Valentines Mansion & Gardens

ACCESS
Designated car parking spaces are provided for disabled badge holders.
The mansion has level access throughout, with a lift to all floors.
Width restrictions apply to larger electric wheelchairs. Please call ahead of your visit for advice and assistance.
For access advice call +44 (0)20 8708 8100.

GARDENER’S COTTAGE CAFÉ
Open everyday between 10am and 6pm (or sunset during winter months).
Please note that the Café will be closed on Mondays in December and January.

GETTING THERE Tube Gants Hill Underground Station (Central Line). 5 minutes walk. Rail Ilford National Rail, direct line from Liverpool Street Station. Bus Take bus routes 396, 128, 179, 123, 296, 167 from Gants Hill Underground Station and 128, 296, 150, 396, 167 from Ilford National Rail to stop ‘Valentines Mansion and Park’. Cycle Cycle to the mansion through Valentines Park. Cycle racks are provided at the mansion. Road Easily accessible from the A406 (junction for A12) and the M25 (junction 27 for M11, and follow on to the A406 East). Car parking is available at the mansion. Car parking charges (With effect from 1st October 2011)
up to 1 hour: 70p / up to 2 hours: £1.30 / all day: £3

Selected for Society of Women Artists Annual Exhibition 2013

Looking to the Future

This is the 2nd painting that I had selected by the Society of Women Artists for their 52nd Annual Exhibition 2013 at the Mall Galleries.

I grabbed a quick photo before it went off to the framers so not a brilliant shot.
 

I would also like to say a very big thank you to Karl Lindsay for allowing me to use photo as ref for this painting. Please visit his website and see his amazing photography at his website. www.karllindsayphotography.com and also on his Fb page HERE

Best in Show.......

"Best in Show"

I was both shocked and elated recently when I was asked to go to attend a presentation and meeting, as one of my paintings, "Make a Wish", had won Best in Show at the Redbridge Arts Association summer exhibition. 

Make a Wish

 This is a first for me at an exhibition so it still hasn't sunk in and i'm so very proud.. To cap it all off I was also awarded with this beautiful fine wooden box of 120 Derwent Colour Pencils, kindly donated by the Derwent Cumberland Pencil Company, thank you so so much to Derwent for your generosity. 

Redbridge Arts Association consists of six groups: 

Ilford Art Society
The photographers 
U3A Art group at St. Theresa’s 
U3A Fullwell Cross Art Group
Redbridge Marquetry Group
The Redbridge Art Group. 

Each year with the hard work, planning and dedication, and of one particular lady, Nora, and the generosity of Redbridge Council kindly allowing us the use of the wonderful listed building, we are able to put on a Summer Exhibition in the old Dovecote in Valentines park, Redbridge. As we didn't have so much space this year in the Dovecote, the art was displayed over three months in total, with each two groups showing their work for one month. As a member of the Ilford Art Society, I was part of the exhibition showing in July. Visitors to the exhibition each got the chance to vote for their favourite  painting if they wished to do so. Apparently because of length of time and the numbers who voted it has taken this long to sort out the winner. My thanks again to Nora for all her hard work, it's very much appreciated. 

This is a wonderful building and location to hold an exhibition and I hope to be part of it again and for some years to come. I will post the dates later in 2013 for the next one and hope you may be able to join us there. 

Special thanks to Steve Evans for the use of his photo as ref to the painting.

Princess Zahrah ....

I can't believe it is so long since I last updated my blog, and just when I promised myself I would post more often. I have a number of things on my easels, and they tend to stay there until I am happy that I want to do no more to them. This portrait of my granddaughter is one of them, and as I started this some time ago you may have already seen this on my facebook pages. I'll still post it here as I know not everyone goes to Fb and i'm often asked to share how I paint portraits. The trouble is I get so engrossed in painting them I forget to stop and take photos of the different stages, so there are not too many photos of this one.

This is Princess Zahrah and came about as I was sorting and filing photos. I have so many of  my little princess, but just had to stop and have a go at this one... Not quite so orange looking in real life, or maybe it's just my monitor. 

This was the stage after the initial washes were done.

For some reason I find it a bit more difficult to get a likeness with the grandchildren. I wonder when we are painting someone so close to us we know them too well. It's not so much a problem with drawing them out, but when it comes to painting and choosing colours that's where I tend to lose it a little.  

I have decided as much as I can, to start using more of my own references. I'm so grateful to generous photographers for sharing photos, but I recently found I couldn't enter into a competition as the ref used wasn't my own.

Before I start I usually block out the background in photoshop so i'm not distracted by it, then I print it. I'm finding as I'm getting more experienced with drawing portraits I don't worry about the need of the ref to be the same size and can draw it in a different size if needed. I can never emphasize enough how important drawing practice is, I know how valuable I have found it to be and when I actually started to listen to others telling me so and doing it, I'm amazed how much i've improved.
 

Here is where it still sits. Some opinions are, that it is done, i'm not to sure on that yet. I know I still have to darken a few touches here and there, like the inner mouth area. Although it doesn't show to well in this photo, some of the areas in the hair are a touch darker and probably not quite so orangy. I do need to add some more wispy bits to the hair as well. It also need warming and more variation in the skin tones. I often see skin painted with the same colour but in different tints, you need to use colour as tone as well and that is what this is lacking at the moment.  It's also on hold at the moment as with Christmas almost here I have lots of other things on the list to finish. 

Hidden Tears ...SOLD

SOLD at PV of Essex in Mayfair...

Monday I spent a most wonderful evening at the opening preview of the Essex in Mayfair Exhibition. I really enjoy these occasions as it's a chance to chat with lots of other fellow artists, catch up on what they've been doing and how they are getting on. There is such a wide variety of artists working in various mediums and subjects, means the work is so interestingly different, always making for great topics of discussions. 

The exhibition was opened by Tom Coates, as our president Ken Howard is away. Tom is a wonderful artist and a very entertaining gentleman all round. He chose a wonderful landscape painting of London which was awarded the Ken Howard prize, and the rest of the evening we tested the wine of course and admired the art work on display. 

I was thrilled towards the end of the evening to have sold one of my paintings. The highlight for me being to actually meet the buyer. I'm always intrigued to know where the paintings are going, what appeals to them about it, why they want to buy it. On this occasions I chatted with the lovely young lady for quite some time which was thoroughly enjoyable. We talked about the collection I was working on "Children of the World", what grabbed me to paint these children in the first place,  the emotions I was trying to get across to the viewer and why, which she totally understand having the same love for Africa. It was really so wonderful to talk with her.

 "Hidden Tears" part of the Children of the World collection

 The Exhibition is still open until Sunday

54 The Gallery

Shepherd's Market

London

W1J 7QX

Watercolour Paper ... Fabriano test.

    As most artists I'm sure would agree with me, there is nothing more inspiring than to buy new art supplies. Usually it's a case of wanting to try everything out there that is available, often just for the thrill of it, but more importantly to find which suits us best, although I doubt this option is top of the lists :D .

    Trying out different papers is a must when we start out in painting, and especially so when using watercolour. Most of us opt for the cheapest in the beginning, before we soon learn from the abundance of valuable advice out there, to use a good quality artist Grade, and of course the advice was right.

    Using good quality paper makes such a lot of difference to the way you paint, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. The pigments react on the paper entirely different, just go get yourself a few samples and try it out, the most effective way of learning is to do it and see the results for yourself.

Still to be worked on some more, but painted enough  of it so far to offer an opinion.

We all discover our favourites over time, mine?, well I fell in love with Arches, and I know it's also a favourite with many artists. Although I will admit, early on I didn't try too many other brands, once I'd found Arches I pretty much stuck with it.

Of late I've started to try a few different brands as well as other surfaces, as i've usually stayed with NOT surface up until now. I've had comments of surprise from friends about never having tried Hot Press, which is very smooth. The reason being my love of painting portraits, and am told by many that apparently for this subject, nothing beats this paper. Well I did try it recently, with thanks to my friend Ruth, and although I can see it's strong points and will probably use it again as i'm experimenting with other media, for now I still prefer a bit of texture, especially so with pure watercolour.

The main reason I tried Fabriano Artistico was mostly down to the price. Arches like most things nowadays has shot up in price, so when Great Art had an offer on and were selling Fabriano Artistico at half price, it was too good an opportunity to miss. I knew this paper was a good quality and a favourite with many friends. 

My Opinion..

     Well to keep it short and sweet, if I didn't know any better, I would almost not have known I was using another paper. The colour is a little whiter as most artist know Arches has a distinct yellow tinge, which I actually like. I also hear often artists saying they don't like the smell of Arches when it's wet, but to be honest I've never really noticed. The other important issue to lots of artists is of course the price. Even at full price Fabriano is cheaper.I need to use it a few more time before I could honestly say I would change completely.

Try it out...

     Having said all this of course, it really does come down to personal taste, as it is with many other tools of the trade. My advice is, as long as you are using a decent quality, go with what suits you best, but, you do really need to try both, different brands as well as different surfaces, most suppliers offer a sample pack, some even for free...

Next in line.. is to try are some free samples I sent for some time ago, from a lovely sounding company in Spain called Garza Papel. These papers are hand made and I must say, feel beautiful to touch, so will look forward to painting on them. I will let you know what I think. They do offer a small free sample pack of both white and ivory if you want to try too, it would be lovely to hear your views, you post them as comments here and I could use them in a follow up post later. . www.garzapapel.com                            

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