IT was a pleasure to welcome again as guest speaker and demonstrator to Newton St Cyres Art Club, John Hoar, this time to see a demonstration of a vase of flowers (camellias and hellebore) and a pen, ink and wash of Newton St Cyres in the snow.

At our meeting on March 27 he began with a rough pencil sketch to arrange the composition, carefully marking the areas to be left white, or very pale.

The overall L- shape included dropped flower-heads on the table and leaves which broke up the hard edge of the rim of the vase.

First, using a flat brush, he painted a very dilute wash of Alizarin onto the pale flowers and added a hint of bright red in places.

He stressed the importance of paying attention to the light, which penetrates flowers, thus appearing everywhere.

At no point did he paint a clearly defined petal - a suggestion sufficed for the marks to read as flowers. As he said, actual detail on the flowers was secondary.

Dark leaves were painted with a mix of Winsor Blue and Burnt Umber, and a swordliner brush.

These dark areas immediately lightened the flowers and the white spaces.

Shadows on flowers added depth, and the background, painted last, was a very dilute wash of Winsor Blue and Light Red, with the suggestion of a curtain and windowpanes.

The overall effect was of a splash of colour and light almost floating against the darker, mysterious background.

For the second demonstration he worked on a pencil sketch of the village green and the church, using his signature method of a sharpened stick and black ink, and adding watercolour afterwards, for a very convincing snowy scene.

Always a pleasure to watch a master at work.

Jenny Hallam