Artist Insights Ann Witheridge | Jackson's Art

Ann Witheridge, founder of London Fine Art Studios, has been teaching the craft of painting and drawing for over 25 years. In this Artist Insights film, she shares how her time spent studying the atelier tradition in Italy led her to establish her own art school. As well as demonstrating how she organises the colours on her palette, Ann talks through a variety of different palette styles, and how the weight, material, and colour of each can inform how you paint.
0:00 Introduction
0:18 “I’ve Always Loved Painting and Drawing”
0:32 Studying at a Florence Atelier
1:10 The Importance of Sharing an Art Education
1:31 Starting with Charcoal Drawing
1:54 Learning the Grammar of Painting
2:20 The Importance of Sketching
2:41 “The Subject Matter is the Paint and the Medium”
3:28 The Immediacy of Plein Air Painting
4:16 Painting the Model in the Studio
5:50 Choosing the Right Palette For You
7:26 The Benefits of Holding a Palette
8:00 A Pochade Box for Plein Air Painting
8:28 “A Large Palette Gives You More Mental Space”
8:55 Choosing the Colour of Your Palette
9:30 Laying Out the Colours from Dark to Light
10:00 “You Can Tell How a Painting is Going By Looking at Your Palette”
10:20 Squeezing Out the Colour
10:57 Seeing Colour in the Landscape
11:33 Pushing a Limited Palette as Far as Possible
12:09 Colour Mixing on the Palette
13:29 Starting Thin and Feeling Your Way Around the Canvas
14:12 The Dialogue Between the Palette and the Subject
14:48 To Blend or Not To Blend?
15:13 “If My Palette Looks Good, My Painting Will Look Good”
15:30 Adding Colours to the Mix
16:22 Using Leftover Paint to Make Neutral Greys
16:49 Ann’s Oil Paints of Choice
17:22 The Value of Working in a Range of Mediums
18:03 Sharing Painting Secrets
18:35 “Artists are Generally Very Sociable People”
19:14 “You Can’t Pretend To Be a Different Artist Than the One You Are”
19:43 Getting Started with Painting and Drawing
20:17 “Keep It About the Joy of Painting”
20:44 Credits
Read article on our blog: www.jacksonsar...
Shop Art Materials: www.jacksonsar...
Watch more Artist Insights: www.jacksonsar...

[@Elena-Studio]

I love how she described the palette and the logical step of "mixing" or adding colors from the outside. Such helpful information! I've been trying to learn atelier on my own so this was so interesting to listen to in regard to sharing the knowledge you receive and not keeping it a secret.

[@lizzieatherfold2293]

Thank you for sharing your insights, very helpful information

[@sky-frequency]

Thank you. Very informative talk. I really liked how you made such an emphasis on ensuring the pallette is kept to some order. I found that very helpful. Beautiful work too.

[@murkyseb]

That was interesting, it’s great hearing how other artists approach their materials and their process for making art

[@sineadkellyartist]

Really engaging- was so interesting to hear the artists view of process. Whilst I personally work primarily in abstract I’d love to attend her classes - there’s a lot to be gained from learning time honoured principles.

[@Amanda-sf3fx]

really helpful re arrangement on the palette - something that I want to work on and experiment with.

[@mariejacobs9721]

Fabulous, thank you. Interesting, informative, encouraging 😊

[@ChantelleArts]

so fascinating ☺☺