I started running painting workshops from our home in the Wirral recently. To date the structure of each workshop has followed a similar basic pattern, with students attempting a copy of an ‘old master’ painting in the morning, followed by the painting of a new work from life (or photographs) utilising the same approach during the afternoon session.

In order to demonstrate the working technique of each artist it has been necessary for me to produce demonstration pieces in respective techniques, and to record the development stages of each piece. Before commencing work on each piece I have undertaken research into the working method of each artist.

In the past couple of months I have researched and attempted to reproduce paintings by Manet, Renoir and Van Gogh. This painting of three sunflowers is an attempt to integrate the combined working techniques of these three artists into my own working method. I have used colours that I do not generally use and have modified my approach in order to produce work far more quickly, with a lot of wet-in-wet working and minimum mixing of colours on the palette.

I aim to complete each ‘old master’ painting in around 2-3 hours, in order to mirror the time limits placed on students during the workshops, though this still life sunflower painting took a little longer today – around three and a half hours. It was painted in Daler-Rowney Georgian oil paints on 16” x 12” Daler-Rowney canvas board.