Demo: Michael Hemming - Abstracting the Landscape

A fascinating demo. Michael was very careful to explain every step in his process and invite members to question him.

He began with his palette - three primary colours, white and burnt umber. He also had a reference picture to provide a starting. point. He was working on aluminium, covered with acrylic gesso that had been sanded to give a key to the surface.

He sketched in his outline, simplifying the shapes on the reference photograph, which he then put aside.

Then it was just a question of experimenting, beginning with thin paint (oils, diluted with gamsol). He began with a few marks and then worked from one to the other. He explained that the brush strokes were important - he held the brush at the end to ensure they were loose and gestural. He also used rags and a palette knife to spread the colour on the surface. He added further marks with charcoal.

He spent some time moving back and looking at the painting, adding layers, editing, restating. The colours became more definite, the paint thicker as he progressed. It was a process of reacting to each change, each step often guided by the subconscious.

He did not finish his picture, but it was moving in an interesting direction at the end of the demo.

For his workshop Michael said he would guide the group through some sketching exercises to loosen up, then move to a painting. He was happy to work with individual artists in any medium (watercolour, oils, acrylic, pastel) and with any reference image, though he would bring some along.

If you would like to join us, book a place via our website or email Jen.