A DEMONSTRATION by watercolour artist Jem Bowden was enjoyed by members of Newton St Cyres Art Group on Friday, January 26.

Jem is an accomplished and acclaimed watercolourist, and spends most of his time teaching, demonstrating and contributing to art magazines. He came all the way from Bristol, bringing painting equipment and also several large examples of his work.

He works energetically and fast, but not before planning his painting carefully in terms of composition and tone.

He prefers to work en plein air when possible, as this method lends authenticity to the painting, and allows a more emotional interpretation than when working from a photo.

Using a limited palette of maximum five colours, and just two brushes, he produced two paintings of Norfolk scenery: water, reed beds, big skies, a church in one and a windmill in the other, and distant hills and trees.

He worked from a tonal sketch in pencil, saying that attention to tone and composition are more important than colour.

The finished paintings were delicate, yet full of light and movement.

The amount of planning required is daunting: the sketch, the composition, the tones, and which areas to leave white, but as he said, the most effective paintings are those which involve taking risks once you start applying the paint.

He demonstrated great skill and gave us all kinds of useful tips. An inspiring morning!

Jenny Hallam