ANOTHER inspiring visit Keighley Art Club by Paul Talbot-Greaves resulted in a unique painting unfolding in front of members.

Paul is connected to two art magazines, is a tutor, runs workshops and demonstrations, and is president of Halifax Art Society.

He has won awards and had four art books published.

Paul’s method is to sketch his own photographs on to 300lb watercolour paper with a 6B pencil. He then directs strong light onto his work area, as room lights are turned off, in order to see magnification of every brushstroke via an overhead projector.

When we met at Keighley Healthy Living the image filled an entire wall.

Paul uses his own new photographs for every demonstration, resulting in a very powerful portfolio of work. He revisits the items the following day to check for any changes, to meet his standards.

In Paul’s demonstration the first wash was made with a large brush, after which detail needed altering with smaller brushes. Cooler blueish shades were used for the shared, and warmer yellowish colours for sunnier areas.

Paul’s main theme is generally patterns of light and shade and contrasts, with a strong design element such as a Z shape.

Clean water is important to him at all times, and he used mist spray now and again.

The depth of colour was interesting, as watercolour can be opaque and transparent, so Paul’s vivid results were strong and vibrant.

As with some brave watercolour artists, Paul’s work board was angled, allowing paint to take its own course and create character. Paul builds on this with his own techniques, which can be seen in his many paintings.

Mostly Paul mixed his personal favourite shades onto good quality paper, and also on the palette.

Evidence of this could not be seen on the wall image, but he described a dark mix of burnt Sienna, phalto blue and violet. He said bright colours were absorbed by the paper.

This description only touches the surface of Paul’s work, and defies the fact that a fully-completed watercolour was ready in two hours.

The Keighley Art Club members, led by Geoffrey Mitchell, gave Paul a well-deserved round of applause.

Paul’s final painting appears here. Hopefully he will return to us. Visitors are welcome to our club.

The recent programme on TV about art surprisingly did not increase our membership. We hope there will be an increase as a result of our last exhibition at Cliffe Castle Museum: everyone who came to look around was thanked for their interest.

We are delighted to announce a second exhibition in 2015 in Cliffe Castle Museum, from September to December. Again, Bingley Art Society in Keighley Art Club will share the gallery space and we hope many people will visit.

If you think you can do as well or better than the artists who exhibit pictures, why not join us?

Keighley Art Club will now meet all summer on Wednesday evenings. We will be closed over winter from mid-December to the end of February.