PAINTING WORKSHOP WITH TREVOR WAUGH: Friday June 6^th 2003.

The day began at 10.00am with the group assembling at the Cliffe Hotel on Whitcliffe for morning coffee.

Trevor explained that in spite of the very overcast weather he was going to proceed down to Dinham Bridge with the intention of producing a sketch. We all trekked off to the bridge and he took up position on a bench and we gathered round. In fact he got out his paints and said that he would be painting in his journal, which is a bound painting book containing 140lb rough paper where he paints across the binding to give a double page spread. He uses his journal as a source of experiences and knowledge for painting back in the studio.

Trevor recommends painting directly without pencil drawing because one is painting shapes and colour and as soon as you make a mark with pencil you tend to fill in the boundary lines and do not allow one shape to bleed into the next. It was very immediate and like walking on a tightrope. One has to compare the relative sizes of objects in order to keep the proportions. He started the picture using a bright yellow burglar alarm on a house across the bridge and everything was related to that object!

He finished the painting after an hour and told us to get on with our own paintings, whilst he went round seeing everyone was ok and providing advice.

At 1pm we all returned to the Cliffe for a welcome beer followed by lunch. During lunch the weather took a complete change for the better. Trevor had noticed the row of Almshouses just up from the Cliffe towards Dinham. He decided to sit by the roadside and paint this subject. It was now so hot that we were stripping off jackets and attempting the same subject without pencil line; an absolute nightmare. I got totally bogged down with all the chimneys and dormers.

The day concluded back at the Cliffe for afternoon tea where we were all exhausted but invigorated and impressed by Trevor’s skill and knowledge of painting.

Craig Young