I have just realised that it will soon be February, when I have two painting demonstrations to do. One request is for a canal scene, and this is what I intend to demonstrate. It is a painting I did in 2008 and at the moment I am working out how to best complete the painting in an hour and half. For me, it is a question of getting the order right, so the audience isnt sitting around whilst you mix colours, and there is quite a bit of mixing here to get the water effects. I also need to ensure to emphasise the points I want to raise.
The second demonstration was picked for me by the art club that engaged me. It is of a field of poppies I did more recently.
It isnt a painting I would select if I had a choice. There is a lot of texture in the foreground field that I did in a very haphazard manner, at the time – feeling my way through. I used masking fluid in the painting. Again I want to avoid delays, so I may need to get the hair dryer out to avoid waiting for the masking fluid to dry. Other techniques are a little faster – I did some scraping back and and finally resorted to gouache when all my options were used up. Again, I am working through this to find the best order needed to present it in a coherent way.
After all this I’ll need a holiday and yesterday I ordered some Egyptian pounds for a two week cruise down the Nile at the end of February. Hopefully we will get to go this time – this is the second attempt.
I will be taking my sketch book.
Other landscapes and canal scenes are available for sale on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com
graham mcquade 
Tricky demo pieces especially the poppies. Rather you than me. Good luck!
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Thanks – well the poppies were chosen by the client. Still, we all need a bit of a challenge.
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Lovely! I adore poppies and the canal is so realistic.
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I like the reflection of the bridge in the water.
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Thanks Rudi, I love reflections too, they add another dimension to the painting.
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Interesting paintings, I like them both.
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Thanks Shawn.
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Oh wow, these are both lovely paintings and I would say ambitious to paint in a live demonstration, but I have total faith in you Graham! The Nile cruise sounds absolutely wonderful and well deserved!
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Thanks Tiffany. To tell the truth, I did the canal scene as my first ever demo in front of around 200 people about 10 years ago.
They are still a bit daunting, but they do make you question your own methodology and make you a bit of money.
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Great Canal scene, Graham – I’d have fun with it too. Will there be a recording of your demonstration?
I keep my fingers crossed for the Nile trip. Why do I have to think of Hercule Poirot right now? 😉
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Thanks Farbienne. Death on the Nile? If they could leave it until we get to Aswan, at the end.
I do have a recording of a couple of my demos. Many places set a camera up to project your work on a screen and some recorded it on a cd. I asked for a copy to see how I could improve my presentation – it’s good for insomnia as well.
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I was scrolling down your recent posts and the poppy painting jumped at me, very softly and gently. I’m not surprised that the art club picked it for the demonstration, it has this ethereal calmness that captures the eye.
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Thanks Sirri. It always surprises me what people like and there are many reasons why someone picks on a subject. Anyway, I might find out tomorrow night when I do this demonstration.
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