DJ worked in the music industry straight after school but also did a foundation at Stafford Art College. From 2000 in an art company supplying artworks to order including reproductions, i.e. ‘legal forgeries’. This proved the best education, as it takes you out of your comfort zone. He said it’s not a case of painting by numbers but a puzzle that you have to put together in terms of how artists work. DJ was commissioned to do a 70 foot mural which was his making. He was then invited to teach. 

Today’s painting was a copy of Les Glaçons (ice floes) by Monet. Painted in 1880, this is one of a series of paintings by the artist depicting ice floes on the Seine. DJ told us that when painting like Monet you just keep dabbing the brush. DJ runs workshops, often for amateurs and this style of painting lends itself to such events. 

Sometimes Monet would sketch things out but often when plein air painting, would go straight in with the paint. Sometimes he would have several canvasses on the go to capture the different light. 

DJ works in acrylics. Winsor and Newton Professional is the best, but he is using student grade. Michael Harding makes great oil paints. His Miracle Medium is plant based and non-toxic (unlike turps and white spirit). You can clean oil painting brushes with vegetable cooking oil. DJ does not rate water soluble oils because the texture is wrong and colours don’t mix well. 

DJ recommends using bristle brushes. Brush using is a Winton number 4 filbert. Holding it differently can create different Marble dust can enhance all the brush marks in a painting. He holds the brush far from the bristles and loosely. 

The canvas used is from Jackson’s Art and conforms to the golden mean (ratio), which is from nature. 1 to 1.618. The pallet used was a large but lightweight Bob Ross 

To get a colour match, DJ showed us how he paints a little on the corner of a piece of paper, dries it, then holds it against the piece being copied. 

DJ is using a sienna and crimson primed canvas. A coloured ground is easier to match colours onto. Starting with white, DJ added yellow ochre which he said surprisingly ‘brings the sunshine’. He then worked with this for the areas of sky and water, which shows a lot of reflection. Moving into some slightly darker areas, DJ added some ultramarine to the mix. Alizarin Crimson is amazing. Originally it was made from blood of the cochineal beetle. It is great for transparency, for knocking back an eye. DJ added a tiny bit to the mix. Lilac gives the transition from the white to blue.  For the clouds DJ used yellow ochre with a touch of burnt sienna. 

We discussed the use of black. Some artists use it , but most don’t. Black will kill other colours. It is better to mix your own darks. 

DJ mixed a light blue (ultramarine, white and a touch of purple), a deep violet and a burnt sienna. The blue recedes towards the horizon and DJ commented that the focal point was very hazy. The next colour to go on was a light orange, a mix of yellow, red and burnt Sienna and far more, white than he imagined. Light lilac and light burnt Sienna works well as a greyish reflection. Yellow ochre proved the key to a greyish green at the water’s edge. 

The ice floes were painted right at the end by making horizontal marks, first with white, pale blue, then purple shadows. For the very strong dark, DJ mixed, purple, ultramarine and burnt Sienna. 

DJ had not painted this before as he doesn’t like doing things more than once. At the end he reminded us not to forget to have fun. 

Meg Grant

To follow in the next few days

Click Here to see some photographs taken during the demonstration