NEWTON St Cyres Art Club enjoyed a demonstration by accomplished and well-known Devon watercolourist John Hoar at its May 30 meeting.

John completed two paintings: a landscape in watercolour, and a view of cottages and the church in Newton St Cyres, in pen, ink and wash.

He used Fabriano NOT paper, a limited palette, a small range of brushes including a swordliner and a rigger, and a sharpened matchstick inserted into a piece of bamboo for the Indian ink, as it is unpredictable and produces less rigid lines.

It was a pleasure to watch an accomplished, confident artist at work.

He advised using lots of water, leaving white areas of paper, and paying attention to tone - plenty of contrasting darks and lights, as well as including both hard and soft edges.

Dark accents around buildings helped them to stand out. Windows were minimally suggested rather than painted in detail.

He does not use photos for reference, preferring a sketch, which does not include a lot of detail, and began both paintings with the middle ground, rather than the sky, reminding us not to forget to put in people, cars, telegraph poles and wires!

Jenny Hallam