Week 8: fabulous work

Everyone is working really hard to develop their project paintings and drawings. It is paying off with great progress by everyone.

Yvonne: excellent small scale study with good observation of close, deep tonal relationships. To increase the definition of leaves at the top, add dark blue/brown between the leaves to increase contrast between wall and leaf.

Yvonne: good start to your next study for your main painting. Look for shapes within each stone including the contrast of the earthy tones.

Andy: excellent continuing development of your skills.  Perhaps add a second tone of yellow on the guitar body to suggest reflection of the varnished surface.

Caroline: strong start. Keep shapes fairly simple. It is dark tones and cold versions of colour that make a scene like this work to create that cold, sharp feel.

Dot: such a great start with bold confident shapes and curves. You are on the right track with the overall darkening of the colours, keep doing this. They will look a little flat perhaps because of the dark tones but don't worry, you need to do this to be able to then maximise the colour effect when you add the final brighter colours

Ella: a very good start. Try to be more confident with the style of line you use. It is okay to start with feathered lines like now to feel your way towards accuracy but then decide on the final accurate line within these feathered lines and make them a bold and confident with sufficient hand pressure.

Graeme: your best painting yet. It feels complete and well thought through in terms of the objects which tell the story. Have a look at the way Georgia O'Keefe paints her animal skulls against New Mexico skies for new ideas on how you could paint yours in your next painting.

Jeff: brilliant start with the tones and soft blending on the Angel statue. Look at how rusted metal has a very warm, deep look and see what colours you can see that make this effect and reproduce them in your painting. 

Rebecca: this is so great. You are working really well with dark moody colours and the variety of contrasts you are achieving give it a wonderful sense of drama, two types of drama in fact - in the light areas and in the close dark, more subtly contrasted areas.