DAVID HOWELL RSMA
STUDIO NEWS
FUTURE EVENTS
The Chantry House Gallery Christmas Show - Ripley, Nr. Harrogate, N. Yorks - Opens December 6th 2008. Further details at www.chantryhousegallery.co.uk
The Wykeham Gallery Christmas Show - Opens December 6th 2008. Further details on www.wykehamgallery.co.uk
The World of Watercolours Fair - The Flower Cellars, Covent Garden, London - Opens 5th February 2009. My work will be on show with Stephen Jack - www.jackfineart.com
The Wykeham Gallery Marine Show - Stockbridge, Hants. Opens February 28th 2009. Further details from www.wykehamgallery.co.uk
Teaching - 2009 starts at Dedham Hall at the end of May, followed by a week in France in June. See the Painting Courses page for more details.
STUDIO NEWS
The autumn has been a busy as ever with 3 London exhibitions in October alone and now I'm working on pictures for 2 Christmas exhibitions which open early next month. The paintings being produced are a mixture of oils and watercolours and I'm enjoying swapping between the 2 mediums. Getting used to working outside with the colder weather is not quite so easy and there's a temptation to wait until the sun shines occasionally but getting out even on damp days is always worth it. With all the rain we've had recently there are areas of the Somerset Levels nearby that are covered with water at the moment and that always makes interesting pictures. The Levels are a unique landscape and are often more painterly in muted winter colours than when they are covered with lush vegetation in the summer. There's a vague plan to one day produce a book with the sketches and watercolours that I regularly produce on my own doorstep - when the next rush is over!
The secret for working in winter conditions is to be able to work quickly because even with warm country clothing you can get very cold when sitting on a stool painting. I often use coloured crayons and pencils to produce sketches that give sufficient information to paint from back in the studio but can be completed before I get to the stage where I'm beginning to seize up from the cold. I don't bother with photographs in these circumstances because the sketches have so much more vibrancy.
'Down in the Souq' Watercolour Recently on show and subsequently sold in Melbourne