HE society’s last meeting saw Gregory Wellman demonstrating portraiture with a totally different subject to the elephant picture created last year.

Gregory, born in Lyme Regis and educated at Woodroffe School, now lives in Devon. A highly talented portrait painter both of people and animals, he started painting in 1991 and last year received a medal for ‘Best in Show’ at the annual exhibition of work by the Association of Animal Artists. He runs painting workshops and also painting safaris in Tanzania.

He worked from a photograph of a beautiful Italian bride with her father, talking us through the process a step by step and introducing us to Trace-Down carbon papers.

The contrast in the monochrome photograph was toned down and the print then placed securely onto a sheet of the Trace-Down paper secured to a canvas board primed in a blend of blues and purples mix.

Important shapes and areas of dark and light were outlined and reproduced on the canvas - this time in white, although black and coloured versions of the tracing paper are also available.

Once these outlines were in place, Gregory created the soft skin tones, the shadows and the highlights of the original photograph using a limited palette of acrylic paint - namely raw umber, ultramarine, cadmium red, together with touches of black and yellow. He kept the colour version of the photograph as reference but pinned it up at a distance to avoid getting too involved with detail.

Working on areas of similar tones with a wide brush to feather the edges of the paint, he allowed spatters of white yellow and orange paint to create the effect of light sparkles, and the final touches of white to the bride’s headdress completed a lovely record of a happy occasion.

The society’s demonstrations are on alternate Tuesday afternoons in Woodmead Halls, from 2pm to 4pm, with four workshops a year in the Lyme Regis Football Club on the Charmouth Road.

The next will be John Hoar demonstrating landscape in watercolour, followed by Michael Lawes on November 18, with a demonstration entitled Harbour Scene with reflections in Pastels.

The annual subscription is £22 and potential new members and visitors are welcome. For further information, please contact the secretary, Sheila Stratton, on 01297 445464.