Painting with Oils

“Enjoy the journey not the destination.”

How many times over the years have I heard that and thought “Yeah, yeah!” and just galloped ahead wanting to finish whatever it was I was doing hoping it would all be perfect?
Whether preparing a dinner party, learning to type, or arranging some elaborate floral creation - I always want it to be like Sparky’s Magic Piano. It just happens first time! Well only recently I have learned the true value of what I thought was that "hippy dippy" phrase!

Newlyn School of Art over-looking Newlyn Harbour

I was invited to take a 4-day Painting with Oils class at the Newlyn School of Art in Cornwall. Now, I’m not a complete beginner. I got my ‘O’ and ‘A’ level at school but that was in the early part of the last century! True I have dabbled a bit over the years encouraged by my great friend, renowned landscape artist Alan Cotton, and I’ve taken a couple of fun one day classes, but I’ve never really settled down and committed.

There’s something I find intimidating about being faced with a blank canvas and I end up not knowing where to start. Also, for me, when it comes to painting it’s all got to be laid out and easily accessible. It’s a bit like big expensive pieces of kitchen equipment: the juicer, the Magimix, the bread maker - If it sits in the back of a kitchen cupboard and you’ve got to lug it out to use it... well, there it’s going to stay.  Then there’s getting bogged down in the detail. Despite loving so many of the impressionist artists, I always feel whatever I’m painting has to look exactly like what’s in front on me. I know I need to ‘loosen up’!

With this expectation I booked a cottage in Newlyn, grabbed my overalls, and with the words of family and friends ringing in my ears:
“Don’t forget to send photos! We want to see your masterpiece!” I set off down the A30.


Mixing Oil Paint with a Palette Knife

Now, not to be confused with the colony of artists who settled around Newlyn in the 1880’s, which included Stanhope Forbes, Walter Langly and Lamorna Birch, this Newlyn School of Art was founded by Henry Garfit in 2011. Henry, an artist himself and one time art dealer, has a simple philosophy. To encourage students to be willing to take risks, try new things, and not to worry about the outcome. 

Newlyn School of Art Founders/Directors, Henry and Sasha Garfit

This was reiterated on day one by our course tutor, Jon Doran, an award-winning artist who exhibits internationally and is in much demand for private commissions. Jon was actually telling us during the week that his solo exhibition in Falmouth was coming to a close. He is one of those rare breeds: An expert in his field who doesn’t shorthand in a language you don’t understand. He can explain simply and clearly what it is you want and need to know.

Jon Doran certainly supplied all of us with several light bulb moments! The ‘us’? We were a mixed bunch. Several ladies who had, like myself, dabbled over the years. One who successfully grew tomatoes and wanted to paint them, a young writer dismissed at an early age by an art teacher who favoured her own daughter. There was a Brand Strategist Consultant who wanted to get away from his graphic cubic approach, a young expectant actress hoping to learn patience and something to do for the enforced period at home she was about to experience, and Colin, who described himself as a Jack-of-all-trades who has just opened ‘Goat Gallery’ in Hayle.

Tonal Still Life Study in Oils

It was a journalist writing a piece for The Times on Cornwall in winter who said something that resonated with me: he had never got the hang of mixing colour and if he did mix the colour he wanted... he could never find it again! I know that feeling only too well.  It has oft resulted in a large pallet of muddy brown paint. It was actually almost 3 days before we got to colour. The basics came first because as Jon said, no matter how experienced you are no one really graduates from the fundamentals.

We were each presented with a still life tableau, a selection of bowls, bottles, fruit, and what was to become a communal bête noir, draped fabric! Over the next couple of days we learned to identify light and shade and those all important tones which eventually transform your piece from something flat on the page to an object with volume. All this time we were encouraged not to pay great attention to creating perfectly shaped fruit or jugs, just to roughly block them in, constantly stepping back and squinting to see the shadows and not creeping up to the easel holding the brush like a pencil and tinkering!


Jon Doran demonstrating the colour wheel

Eventually, we were introduced to the magic of colour wheels and paint ribbons which look like those paint charts you pick up from B&Q that go from  ‘anaemic moon’ and ‘scrubbed cauliflower’ to ‘mole’s breath grey’ and eventually black! This was a BIG game changer for all of us. Getting not just the colour, but the tones around it. It was like a domino effect as the light bulbs went on round the room and everyone began to understand what and how!


Judi Spiers with her painting in progress

I honestly can't remember the last time I concentrated as much or for as long. Every little worry disappeared and I was truly in the moment. No, we didn’t come home with masterpieces... that was never the aim, but looking around I could see that we’d all ‘loosened up’ and Jon had definitely set us on a path of creating, if not a masterpiece, then something we’d be proud to hang on our walls.

And for once I can honestly say I really enjoyed the journey… and was pretty pleased with the destination!

Author: Judi Spiers, Western Morning News

Find out more about short course Painting with Oils here.