Winter Programme 2024 - 2025

The Winter Programme 2023-2024 begins on Tuesday 3rd September 2024.

These sessions are on Tuesday evenings from 7.30pm to 9.30pm at Cowbridge Hall, Cowbridge, Hertford SG14 1PG. Approximately half the evenings in the Winter Programme are for Members to paint or draw with tutor-led workshops, from still life arrangements, or with a life model. The remaining evenings are taken up with talks, critiques of paintings brought along by Members or demonstrations from a professional artist. Visitors are welcome to enjoy the non-practical evenings (marked with an asterisk).

Saturday Life Workshops will recommence on 28th September 2024 and non-Members are welcome - see details on Life Workshops below. The Members’ Show will be held from Friday 1st to Sunday 3rd November 2024.

Winter Programme 2024 - 2025 (pdf) - click here for more details

Saturday Life Workshops

WHY LIFE DRAWING AND PAINTING? – Some may say it is old fashioned, but practising Life Drawing enhances observation and accuracy. Interpreting the shape of the human body trains the artist to see almost every curve line and subtle undulation found in nature. The satisfaction of producing an acceptable image can be quite intense. It does not happen immediately and demands a great deal of practice to achieve.

Hertford Art Society runs Life Workshops in Cowbridge Halls, Hertford, SG14 1PG on the last Saturday of 9 months during the year. The only exception is the October Session which is sometimes changed when it coincides with the Members’ Show. Although these are primarily run for Members we welcome enthusiastic visitors at £25.00 per session, this includes coffee, tea and biscuits, available all day. The sessions are untutored and last from 10.00am – 4.00pm with a break for lunch. We work in in all mediums including prep work for sculpture. Bring whatever medium and equipment you require with you. The photographs below illustrate the exciting variety of work produced by the artists.

There are many different approaches to life drawing which become very obvious during the sessions. We are a very enthusiastic group of artists and in a relaxed atmosphere we learn from each other different skills and methods of working, as well as experimenting with different mediums etc. We do not have a set programme of poses, but usually include short poses and longer poses for artists who wish to produce a more finished piece of work. So why not join us if you haven’t already?

Workshops take place on the last Saturday of the month (except for October) for nine months of the year. They do not take place in April, August and December due to the annual Open Exhibition and holiday periods.

Life Models Workshops within HAS Winter Programme for 2024 - 2025 - 10am - 4pm at Cowbridge Halls, Hertford, SG14 1PG

28th September 2024
19th October 2024
23rd November 2024
25th January 2025
22nd February 2025
29th March 2025
25th May 2025
29th June 2025
27th July 2025

If you are interested please contact [email protected] for further details.

Highlights of the Summer Season 2024

Despite some tricky weather the 2024 Summer Programme was very enjoyable with a wide variety of venues – villages, towns and countryside – presenting great opportunities for sketching and painting.

Left: by Elena Russu. Right: Essendon, early evening by John Jarratt.

In July there was an afternoon visit to Paradise Wildlife Park, now re-branded as Hertfordshire Zoo. Ten Members turned up for the challenge.

Wildlife has to be the most difficult subject to paint: either the animals are hidden, or too far away, or they are asleep, or they are constantly moving, and anyway they invariably merge into the background with effective camouflage. Members struggled heroically against the odds and produced some exciting images. A special award to Marianne Dorn who produced more pictures than the rest of us put together.

As their website points out, this was a ‘unique opportunity to get close and personal with wild animals including lions, tigers, snow leopards, and zebras.’

On a fabulously warm and sunny evening to round off the season a group of members met in a beautiful garden. The Hertford Players were in situ, rehearsing for their run of Wendy & Peter Pan at The Minack Theatre in Penzance. There was plenty of action to entertain us as Peter Pan and Captain Hook practiced their sword play and props included ‘flying beds’.

The garden was in wonderful bloom and the star of the show was a mature Cotinus Smokebush - its jumble of low level gnarled limbs resembling a living sculpture.

Hertford Choral Society

Paint and draw the rehearsal at All Saints Church, Hertford
22nd June 2024

Members of Hertford Art Society were invited to paint or draw the musicians and choir at this rehearsal of the Summer Concert – “Music from the West End”. Favourites from West End Shows – with choir, soloists and band was to be performed that same evening in the beautiful venue of All Saints Church. Artists enjoyed the afternoon to highlights from Wicked, Mama Mia, Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables. “Lovely music to paint to, just not enough time to do justice to a complicated scene,” remarked one artist.

Pictures by Alona Kushnirenco, Derek Carey, Geoff Bennett & Diane Warburton

Frederick Handel’s “Saul”

Performed by Hertford Choral Society
23rd March 2024

On Saturday March 23rd Frederick Handel’s ‘Saul’ came to St Andrews Church, Hertford, in all its majestic glory. Accompanying the splendid singing by some very talented soloists and the full might of the Hertford Choral Society eight large pictures by the Art Society hung from the pillars of the central aisle.

They depicted a dramatic episode from the Old Testament: David, a shepherd lad, has won the admiration of Saul, first king of the Jews, by slaying Goliath. Saul’s affection for David changes to rage however as he realises David is now more popular than he is. Saul orders his son, Jonathan to kill David, but Jonathan loves David and refuses. The action continues downhill, ending with the death of Saul and Jonathan, and David succeeding Saul as the leader of the Jews.

Plenty of action therefore to capture in the paintings - Saul’s tortured relationship with David, with his son Jonathan, and with his two daughters, Michal and Merab; the ghost of Samuel warning Saul of his impending doom; the hostile tribes surrounding the Israelites; the love between David and Michal.

The paintings from our trusty team captured these diverse strands very well. Congratulations and thanks to John Jarratt, Paul Swinge, Marianna Fleming, Marianne Dorn, Persis, Janet Dobney and Alan Hobbs. Our members rose to the challenge in a variety of styles.

Geoff Bennett

Spring Celebration Still Life Workshop with Spring Flowers

19th March 2024

This was an untutored workshop. Members could choose to paint or draw in a medium of their choice. Some lovely spring flowers were contributed for this Workshop including hellebores in various subtle shades, hyacinths, daffodils, winter jasmine and a branch of magnolia flowers. The displays were mostly in vases, some clear and one with a bold flowery motif.

This was a very enjoyable workshop which resulted in some delicate, colourful studies in a variety of mediums.

Balance and Composition in Art Talk and Workshop with Jean Noble, Abstract Artist

27th February 2024

We were delighted to welcome Jean Noble, a local Abstract Artist, for an illustrated talk on balance and composition in Abstract Art followed by a workshop on creating an Abstract painting or drawing.

These are Jean’s notes on how to set about this, and two of her pictures. Artwork produced during the workshop is also shown below.

“What makes a painting abstract?

The term can be applied to art that is based on an object, figure or landscape, where forms have been simplified or constructed. It is also applied to art that uses forms, such as geometric shapes or gestural marks, which have no source at all in an external visual reality.

Elements of Composition

Composition is different from the subject matter of a painting. Every painting, whether abstract or representational, regardless of subject matter, has a composition. Good composition is essential to the success of a painting. Done successfully, good composition draws the viewer in and then moves the viewer’s eye across the whole painting so that everything is taken in, finally settling on the main subject of the painting.

The elements of composition in art are used to arrange or organize the visual components in a way that is pleasing to the artist and, one hopes, the viewer. They help give structure to the layout of the painting and the way the subject is presented. They can also encourage or lead the viewer's eye to wander around the whole painting, taking in everything and ultimately coming back to rest on the focal point. In Western art the elements of composition are generally considered to be:

Unity: Do all the parts of the composition feel as if they belong together, or does something feel stuck on, awkwardly out of place?

Balance: Balance is the sense that the painting "feels right" and not heavier on one side. Having a symmetrical arrangement adds a sense of calm, whereas an asymmetrical arrangement creates a more dynamic feeling. A painting that is not balanced creates a sense of unease.

Movement: There are many ways to give a sense of movement in a painting. You can use leading lines (a photography term applicable to painting) to direct the viewer's eye into and around the painting. Leading lines can be actual lines, or they can be implied lines.

Rhythm: In much the same way music does, a piece of art can have a rhythm or underlying beat that leads your eye to view the artwork at a certain pace. Look for the large underlying shapes (squares, triangles, etc.) and repeated colour.

Focus (or Emphasis): The viewer's eye ultimately wants to rest on the "most important" thing or focal point in the painting, otherwise the eye feels lost, wandering around in space.

Contrast: Paintings with high contrast—strong differences between light and dark, for example—have a different feel than paintings with minimal contrast in light and dark, dark, contrast can be differences in shape, colour, size, texture, type of line, etc.

Pattern: A regular repetition of lines, shapes, colours, or values in a composition.

Proportion: How things fit together and relate to each other in terms of size and scale; whether big or small, nearby or distant.

The elements of composition are not the same as the elements of art.

The 7 elements of art are Line, Shape, Space, Value, Form, Texture, and Colour. I would add Personal expression/handwriting

Composition is the term used to describe the arrangement of the visual elements in a painting or other artwork. It is how the elements of art and design- line, shape, colour, value, texture, form and space are organised or composed according to the principles of art and design - balance, contrast, emphasis, movement, pattern, rhythm and variety-and other elements of composition, to give the painting structure and convey the intent of the artist.”

Jean Noble

Two paintings by Jean Noble

This was a very interesting evening, exploring the many aspects of abstract painting and experimenting with sketches during the workshop, while guided by Jean on design and composition. There was a great variety of work produced in the hour after the talk, some monochrome, some in colour, some bold and others delicate. Jean was thanked for sharing her passion for abstract art with us and the above notes will be of great assistance in the future for those who explore abstract painting further.

Figurative Painting Workshop with Liz Loxton

6th February 2024

Figurative Painting Workshop - from reference material to large painting - facilitated by Liz Loxton, a talented artist known for her expressive and abstract paintings. Liz works out of her studio in Hertford, creating large and small artworks in which she aims to convey the feelings experienced in the creative process.

This workshop was designed to help artists work from reference material as a starting point for a figurative painting. Liz guided Members through a couple of short warm up exercises, before assisting as they worked on a larger painted piece.

Introduction and ice breaker: Liz talks about her work and shows a couple of recent pieces, including a large figurative piece painted last year, “Hey Fella”, as a means of exploring how small sketches from life drawing classes can become larger paintings.
First warm up exercise – drawing the face from a sketch or photograph. Members chose from reference photographs supplied by Liz, working for 10 minutes on A3 paper with charcoal, conte or pencil. This was challenging but a really good starting point. The resulting drawings were bold and energetic
Second warm up exercise – making tonal paintings of the figure from reference material, working for 20 minutes with a different image and using black acrylic paint in paper cups, working with thin, pale paint initially and building up to darker tones. This exercise made one look closely at the tonal values in the photograph and produced some strong images.
Third exercise – to develop a larger piece of work. Choosing a new reference or developing one already chosen for the earlier exercise, Members were encouraged to work large and scale up the image using colour but to consider the earlier work with tones as a basis for the painting.

Liz circulated, offering guidance and support throughout the remainder of the evening. Her comments were helpful and constructive. For the last 10 minutes work was displayed and discussed. This was a very stimulating workshop. The time constraints forced one to work swiftly and boldly. The broad range of work was impressive. Liz was warmly thanked for running this inspiring Workshop and for sharing her approach with us.

Emotions in Clay Portraiture with Jo Pearl

23rd January 2024

A sculptor based in North London, Jo Pearl works in clay for its tactile plasticity, its ability to record expressionist mark making and its transformation when fired. Jo is fascinated with the six emotions Charles Darwin saw as fundamental to human evolution: happiness, sadness, fear, surprise, disgust and anger and showed a stop-frame animation of her work in clay which allows her to create an illusion of life and explore these emotions. She has exhibited collections of heads on this theme.

For the first few minutes of our workshop Jo asked us to take a small lump of clay, place our hands behind our backs and model an elephant in one minute! This was a great icebreaker, gave us a feel for the clay and resulted in some excellent elephants. Her aim was to encourage us to feel our way into the main topic of the workshop which was to make a small model head. By positioning a ball of clay on the thumb of our non-dominant hand and by manipulating, adding and subtracting clay with our dominant hand we could slowly fashion a head. Jo showed us a short demonstration of her approach to this task and moved around the hall to everyone giving tips and hints as the work progressed. The photos show work in progress and the final very impressive results. The range of styles and expressions was brilliant. The clay used was air drying and Members carefully wrapped their model heads to take home.

This was a very enjoyable evening, learning about Jo’s deep interest in how people communicate with facial expressions and her novel approach to working with animation of the stages of her work in wet clay. The practical experience of using clay was unfamiliar to many of the Members present but, as can be seen from the results, the workshop was a great success. Jo was thanked for sharing her experiences with us and for directing such a productive workshop.

Still Life with a difference

9th January 2024

This practical session was a last minute change from the programme and there were five still life setups around the hall but with a difference.

Members had only half an hour at each still life before moving on to the next setup. These were quick half hour sessions with no time to fiddle in the detail. It was suggested that a different approach should be used on each setup and that different mediums should be employed. The time allocated could be used for one piece of work or for numerous quick sketches from different angles.

This was the brief and the still life setups were great.

A gorgeous pair of red suede shoes displayed with a patterned scarf, cyclamen plant and bright pink shopping bag.
Gardeners corner with old metal watering cans, pots, lush plants and delicate ferns.
A bar set up with colourful wine and spirit bottles, glasses and accessories on a checked cloth. The spotlight gave it added appeal.
A collections of gourds and seed pods with a yellow theme on a purple patterned cloth, set off by a delightful yellow patterned jug.
And a few colourful cups and pots.

This was a very enjoyable evening and Members had fun using different mediums. Given the time constraints, the range of sketches and colourful artwork produced was impressive. Members who contributed to the excellent still life displays were warmly thanked for their help in making this evening such a success.

“Underwater World”

Workshop in watercolour with Bridget Tomkins
21st November 2023

On Tuesday 21/11/23 we hosted local artist Bridget Tompkins and enjoyed a bumper turnout at Cowbridge Hall! Bridget is a well-established local artist who specialises in both life drawing and watercolour painting, embracing a variety of subjects. She runs classes in the St. Albans area. Bridget is known for her trademark loose and energetic style, using bold washes of intense colour which are often splashed across the paper. These random effects then become an essential part of the composition. Bridget strongly believes in trying to capture the 'essence’ of the subject or scene rather than concentrating on exact detail. This method is used to convey freshness and light by leaving plenty of areas unpainted.

Bridget had spent a great deal of time and thought developing her tutorial to enable us to create a dreamy underwater image with watercolours in 2 hours. While watching Bridget demonstrate her techniques we were also able to follow steps as set out on visuals, which guided us through the various stages of sketching, wax & water application to blending of watercolours using brushes and other implements such as lolly sticks. Bridget encouraged us to use both watercolour paints and pencils, dragging the colour to create a sense of movement. Once the background had dried, we were able to apply colour and detail to the fish which resulted in a luminous and vivid scene. Our thanks to Bridget for providing an original and entertaining evening!

We received this message from Bridge after the workshop

“Thank you for your lovely messages & photos. I had such a good time last night meeting you all & painting away as well.

I was really impressed with your society’s very positive ‘energy’ - a warm & relaxed atmosphere, you make it very pleasant for any visiting tutor. You have a lovely mix of people in the group, it’s so encouraging seeing them interacting with each other.

I hope the remainder of this year's meetings are fun & busy. And thank you for having me.“