Margaret Dyer Workshop

Eleven participants from as far away as Manitoba enjoyed a 2 1/2 day workshop last month with Georgia pastelist Margaret Dyer, in the home of Ruth Rodgers.

After an enlightening demonstration by Margaret (who is primarily a figure painter), everyone enjoyed photographing a local model in various locations around the house to create reference material for the reminder of the workshop. Margaret coached us in using the light and pose to generate dramatic images, and coached the model in assuming graceful and memorable poses that nevertheless simulated everyday scenes: putting on a robe, stretching in the sun, pouring tea, setting the table, filling the bath.

Next, the students traveled to pretty Port Perry for lunch and to print off a few of their favorite images.Returning to the house, the students applied Margaret's clear step-by-step process for painting the figure and surroundings. Beautiful images emerged, each different but all dramatic and painterly.

The second day included more painting from the photos plus another demo, and by 4 p.m.the participants were tired but delighted with their progress. Everyone expressed very positive comments about how much they had learned, and the venue and schedule of the session.Margaret is an inspiring and articulate teacher, and participants all made good progress under her teaching.

Below, follow a demo of Margaret's step-by-process of building a painting. 

Step 1 - Basic gesture drawing with charcoal  refining proportions and composition.

Step 2 - Squint and add outline shadows lightly, something darker than paper but not too dark.

Step 3 -Squint and add black to help determine how dark your darkest values will be.

Step 4 - Squint and adjust darks in relation to black using warms and cools.

Step 5 - Squint and build your lights using warms and cools.

Step 6 - Squint and build your middle-tones using warms and cools.

Step 7 - Punctuation - Squint - Turn edges away from the light with middle-tones and look for warmth around the nose and areas where bone is close to skin.

Remember don't focus on one area at a time, move your pastels all over the paper, use a light touch, there is no 'wrong' color and never stop squinting.

Finished painting. Below is a selection of pictures taken as workshop participants watch and listen to Margaret's directions followed by a selection of participant's works 'in progress' as they apply Mararet's principles.