The Foxes win the League! Leicester City FC team heroes!

The people of Leicester city (which now includes the entirety of Leicestershire, if numbers are are anything to go by) were all out celebrating the AMAZING win by the Foxes of their first top-level football championship, the 2015-2016 Football League! 
It was an historic occasion so I joined the tens of thousands of enthusiastic fans watching the Champions arrive at Leicester's Victoria Park on their open-top bus, League cup, goal-scorers, managers, sponsors and all. Even the sun was suitably impressed and shone throughout a glorious day! 

WELL ACHIEVED LEICESTER FOXES!!!

All photos © Lizzy Hewitt.

Leicester's Turkey Café - experimentation with paper & paint

Leicester's Turkey Café by Lizzy Hewitt © 2016

For the longest time I've been seeking to develop my watercolour technique. It's possibly the most difficult of mediums to apply well and I've known many artists give up and turn to another!

Practice, using different quantities of water 
on the paper.

When it came to painting one of Leicester's oldest and most historic buildings, the Turkey Café, I decided to treat the subject as a learning exercise. I hope you agree the effort was worthwhile!

I wanted a new painting surface so chose a new paper, an attractively smooth HP (hot pressed) art paper that my dip pen slid around on in a satisfying manner and is ideal for illustration. But a session with YouTube tutorials explained it was the most difficult paper for watercolour work as the paint simply sits on the surface!

What I really needed was a textured NOT or Cold Pressed paper where the paint had something to cling to. Unfortunately I'd already produced an ink drawing and ordered another box of 10 sheets of the HP so I was forced to get to grips with it, no matter what the limitations!

Practice, endless notes on colour matching 
& paint granulation.

Experimenting, I used both sides of every sheet. For my first attempts I did some black and white pre-drawings, glazing with ink to get the tones I wanted, just as one does with watercolour;

'Watercolour is about painting the shadows. The lightest colour in watercolour painting is the light of the paper. The contours are established by your drawing - the glaze is what builds a bridge between the light and the contours'. Felix Scheinberger, Urban Watercolour Sketching.

There are tried & tested watercolour techniques, available nowadays as YouTube videos & tutorials. It's possible to be as traditional or as loose and contemporary as you want, but disregard the basics & you’ll get into a mess (as I did!)

In the early weeks I experienced many problems with my new HP paper, particularly when excess water spread into thicker paint, creating an unattractive cauliflower effect! Another of my initial problems was over-wetting the paper so that I wasn't able to control the paint. It's all trial & error and one leans from one's mistakes.

Practice, using water to obtain the paint 
coverage & hue needed.

The paint quality also needs to be considered. In the past I used Winsor & Newton's Cotman affordable (student) paints but more recently I've invested in professional quality watercolours. You have to know what you want; I went into an art supplies shop for ultramarine paint only a month or two ago and was surprised to see three different professional versions on the shelf! All contained the same PB 29 pigment but because of the range of hue, it's possible to purchase 'deep', 'red', 'green' or 'French'! Totally confusing unless one knows exactly what one wants!

In the end making a painting is a series of decisions; there's much to think about yet one is always trying to be spontaneous. This isn't always easy. For me, one of the most troublesome considerations is deciding on focal points, how best to lead the viewer’s eye around the picture and then linking colour within the image. It takes practice to do this well and the only way to achieve consistently good results is to practice, practice & practice!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Unlike almost every other city in the UK, Leicester has retained a remarkable record of its past in buildings that still stand today" BBC News, Jan 2011.

Leicester's Turkey Café - night version
by Lizzy Hewitt © 2016

One such is the Turkey Café. Situated in Leicester's Granby Street, the Turkey Café was built in 1900. Set over three floors its façade puns both Turkey, the country, & turkey birds, with a stunning Art Nouveau frontage of Eastern-styled architecture plus three large & prominent turkeys, one set to either side of the lower shop front & a third clothed in colourful Royal Doulton tiles at the mid-point of the roof.

Art Nouveau was hugely popular at the time the Turkey Café was built. The façade was constructed using tiles, hollow blocks & a type of terracotta called carraraware, a matt-glazed stoneware developed in 1888 by the Royal Doulton Company. 

Stability was visually implied by arches, the number decreasing floor by floor, from seven on the first to three on the upper, surmounted by the third, final, lone turkey. The building was coloured blue, green & buff, to maximise the appreciation of all design elements.

Opened as a café in 1901, in the years since the building has undergone upgrades and renovations and housed various commercial premises. It is now Grade ll listed, once again a café & bar, with friendly staff & fabulous cocktails! I wholeheartedly recommend a visit!

Leicester's Granby Street & the Turkey Café - early evening
by Lizzy Hewitt © 2016

RIP David Bowie

RIP David Bowie, the Spider from Mars aka The Man Who Fell to Earth.
My beloved Ziggy Stardust left this life from New York City on 10 January.
A talent beyond reckoning, a creative genius whose music changed lives for the better.
Rest in peace, my Prince.

Bob Child/AP

Wishing you a happy sketching New Year!

Like many of you, I've been rushed off my feet in the run-up to the festive season. Now that's over and done with I have a lousy cold that's preventing me from getting on with ideas for new commissions. Honestly! (It's true I tell you!)

I've managed to do a bit of reading while resting and so recommend two books from the Apple Press urban sketching series, Sketch Your World by James Hobbs and Archisketcher by Simone Ridyard. Great reading, some fabulous pictures & even more terrific ideas for anyone wishing to improve their sketching skills in the urban environment.

Pub. Apple Press,UK,2014  ISBN 978-1-84543-514-1

Working tangentially, as I invariably do, I followed my reading by checking author websites. James Hobbs' online presence is particularly impressive, being both educational and entertaining as befits a former editor of Artists & Illustrators magazine & a founder member of London Urban Sketchers. His work has inspired me to get out and do more sketching, just as soon as I come out from under my duvet!

Happy urban sketching 
& all best wishes for 2016! 

Successful Special View at Leicester's Cank Street Gallery

What a fantastic evening we had at Cank Street Gallery on 15th of this month! The special view of the gallery's Open Exhibition for 2015 was wonderful and very different, with a wide variety of artworks by artists, sculptors & craftspeople from the Leicestershire area.

The range of work was genuinely fascinating, from tiny sculptures to large scale multi-media installations, still life, portraits, landscapes and abstracts available to purchase.

The evening was thoroughly enjoyed by the many people who attended, the friends, family & admirers of exhibitors, art buyers, local curators and the occasional celebrity.

Dayle Flude, the Gallery owner, was delighted with the turnout and with the friendly, positive atmosphere, which continued all evening. It was one of those parties where everyone was happy to be in attendance :)

Leicester's Cank Street Gallery's Open Exhibition remains open until the end of October.

A gratifying crowd at Cank Street Gallery special view on 15 October

Artist Lizzy Hewitt with gallery owner Dayle Flude 

With well known Leicester artist, Peter Welton

Lizzy with members of Cank Street Gallery staff

Lizzy Hewitt with fellow Leicester artist Louise Ellerington (2R)& friends

Lizzy and Max

Family resemblance? Lizzy Hewitt with mum
Christine Denoon

Lizzy's brother Mark & local jazz musician
Andrew Wood

Leicester hairdresser & art collector,
Indy, with Anetha & Lizzy Hewitt

Always admiring of Lizzy's artwork,
Glen & Jacqui Tillyard

Lizzy's friends Tim & Calvin demonstrate their support

Lizzy's Art Showcase, Cank Street Gallery Open Expo, 6 - 31 October 2015

Lizzy Hewitt’s latest collection of architectural paintings go ON SALE at Leicester's Cank Street Gallery Open Exhibition, 6 - 31 October. The invitation-only Private View takes place on the evening of Thursday 15 October. The pictures are for sale from 6 October.

"This collection once again features Lizzy's signature style of street cool figures set in known yet quirkily whimsical city environments.

In Sacre Coeur, a strong yellow ochre sky shines over quivering church walls. In St Paul's, the perspective shifts to a position above the built environment where a blood red sky is made in brush strokes rendered with passion and energy.

After the undeniably quirky architecture, colour comes across as perhaps the primary focus of these paintings. Yet Lizzy has always enjoyed fashionably peopling her pictures, with characters in these artworks both crazed fashionistas and weirdly sober suburbanites.

Lizzy Hewitt's attention to detail & quality of line have always impressed and on this occasion her bold, powerful skies in sing-out shades of orange, turquoise and red, impassioned above vibrating buildings, prove she is moving ever more keenly towards her deserved 15 minutes of fame."

The Private View of Leicester's Cank Street Gallery Open Expo 2015 is 6.00 - 8.30pm on Thursday 15 October. The Open Exhibition runs from 6 - 31 October. Lizzy's paintings are ON SALE from 6 October. www.cankstreetgallery.co.uk

Sacre Coeur, Paris, yellow ochre sky. By Lizzy Hewitt.

Notre Dame, Paris, turquoise sky. By Lizzy Hewitt.

Notre Dame, Paris, orange sky. By Lizzy Hewitt.

St Paul's, London, blood red sky. By Lizzy Hewitt.

Lizzy working on Notre Dame, orange sky.

Richard III - Sanctuary for a King

A few days ago I was invited by the lovely people at Cank Street Gallery to the private view of Michael Harrison's exhibition, 'Sanctuary for a King'. Michael has been the artist in residence at Leicester Cathedral and recorder of events surrounding the re-interment of Richard III.

Richard (1452-1485), whose reign lasted merely a few months, from 26 June 1483 until his death at the Battle of Bosworth, was originally buried at Greyfriars, Leicester, where his remains were transported by horse from Bosworth Field following the final battle of the Wars of the Roses.

Richard was the last of the Plantagenets, the last of three kings of the House of York and his defeat at Bosworth marked the end of the English 'Middle Ages'.

From modern-day evidence, Richard III is now believed to have been blonde.

After the death of his brother, King Edward IV, Richard became Lord Protector of Edward's son and successor. The child and a young cousin were not seen after August 1483, which gave rise to the story of the Princes in the Tower, ostensibly killed on Richard's orders. 

For many years Richard III was remembered for this alleged act and also for his portrayal of daring-do at Bosworth, thanks to the lines William Shakespeare placed into his mouth, c 1592, via his play, Richard III; "A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!"

Some five hundred years after his death the remains of Richard III were found under a Leicester car park. In 2012/2013 an archaeological dig by Leicester University revealed the location of the church of the Friars Minor or Franciscans, together with Richard's remains. The grave site has now been enveloped into the 'Richard III - Dynasty, Death & Discovery Museum' which opened in 2014.

With much pomp and in the presence of members of today's Royal family, in March this year Richard's remains were re-interred at Leicester Cathedral, events successfully captured in oils by Michael Harrison.

Michael Harrison's collection, Sanctuary for a King, based on the re-interment of Richard III,  
in exhibition at Cank Street Gallery, Leicester, until further notice.

An agreeably accessible artist, Michael discussed his collection of paintings, 'Sanctuary for a King', at the private view. He explained his compositional techniques, including some ideas from the Renaissance period, and his belief that the viewer interprets artwork more effectively when the artist has actually experienced what is being portrayed.

The vibrant exhibition, 'Sanctuary for a King' is on display at Cank Street Gallery until further notice. More about Michael Harrison can be found on the Cank Street Gallery website and on Michael's blog. 

I was impressed and encourage you to go along and experience Michael's powerful historical interpretations for yourself.

Michael Harrison (centre) with admirers, Crank Street Gallery private view, 5 May.

Michael Harrison meets Lizzy Hewitt at the Cank Street Gallery private view.