Liz Seward Drawing Workshop Report

Friday 10th October 2025

Liz Seward is the President of Frimley & Camberley Society of Arts. She joined the Society in 1979 and she is always happy to sing its praises as an especially friendly group of artists. Liz has been teaching for the past 47 years since she qualified as an Adult Education tutor and FCSA are fortunate enough to have benefited from her expertise on numerous occasions over those years.

Liz said that this evening she wanted everyone to concentrate on their drawing skills. It is said that “Good art is good drawing”. Every artist should have a sketch book. Dry drawing materials are very varied from graphite pencils, coloured pencils, charcoal, charcoal pencils and pastels. People had brought in their own reference and drawing materials. Liz reminded people to think in terms of rough and smooth. For instance in the picture above the sheep’s coat looks rough while the nose is smooth. The room set to work.

Liz pointed out that the pressure that is used makes a big difference to the effect of the marks. She advised people to start with a line drawing and then using sharp edges for hard lines and the side for softness develop the texture. To illustrate this Liz called people over to see her demonstrate how she would sketch a group of acorns.

Liz noticed that many people were drawing on white paper. She said it is advisable to put in background shading to help define the objects and bring them forward. Remember to always determine the direction of the light hitting the object. She made a tone gradient from darkest to lightest tones and suggested that this can be a great way to doodle.

Here are a few examples of what was happening In the room.

During the coffee break Liz invited people to look through the two sketch books that she had brought to illustrate the importance of keeping a sketchbook. These books were packed full of lots of different sketches and below are a few photos to give an impression of what was there.

It had been a very enjoyable and productive evening when the Chairman, Sue Whitehead, thanked Liz for another one of her greatly appreciated workshops.

Write up by Carole Head