on 7th October 2022

For those of you who could not attend Mark Warner’s Acrylic Demonstration last Friday (7th Oct), you missed an absolute treat. What a fabulous artist and fun character he is, full of energy, enthusiasm and knowledge, this two-hour demo was one of the best I’ve seen.

Beginning by telling us a little about himself and his work, Mark showed us many of the sketches he produces before starting any painting. What was surprising was that much of his work with acrylics is painted on pastel paper, and in the case of seascapes, blue paper at that. Using a flat brush, held flat against the paper he “scrubbed” a rough underpainting, in various tones of blue for the sky and sea before doing the same for the foreshore sand. Even if he had stopped there, what he had done already looked like a finished piece.

As the painting progressed, he explained and showed how he develops each element of the work, including perspective, layering, movement, tone and colour plus much more, with a fascinating way to produce foam and waves by holding a rigger brush flat against the paper and flicking it upwards at the end of each stroke to make the spray. Very little white for this element was used for the crests to produce an effective seascape in his loose and unlaboured style. Certainly a technique I shall be trying.

These demos are invaluable for us artists and well worth attending even if what is being demonstrated isn’t in the medium you use. No matter what the subject, style, or medium, one can always learn useful tips and hints to take away. It was good to see not only members of our group there but also twelve visitors, several of whom expressed an interest to join, who had heard about the event thanks to the many posts put on local social media. Well done, team.

So, thank you, Mark for an excellent afternoon and hope you will come back to us again in the future.

Link to Mark’s website: Mark Warner

Sylvia Dyer 10 October 2022

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