using photos: gouache chairs

I deliver art sessions at Sketchbook Skool - drawing mostly, with a little painting and collage too.

It's always good to see what the other tutors are up to, so I often dip in to the various classes.

Janis McCarty does a regular gouache session there.

She posted a photo of an old family chair - a memory of her childhood, as the starting point for a gouache study.

The combination of image and media sparked the beginning of an idea.

Plus, gouache has always been one of my favourite paints.  

We all take a myriad photographs don't we? Where do yours end up? How often do you look at them or possibly use them in a project?

Luckily I've been in the habit of saving and tagging my digital pics for quite a while - so they're easy to locate for potential later use.  

Now was the moment - "chair" threw up a lot of images.

Just like Janis'image had meaning for her, I followed suit with my selection.

• Chairs from a hospice
• A chair from the family home
• An armchair in a hotel

My aim was to 're-upholster' the chairs that imbued most sadness (with fabric swatches provided by Janis), and turn them in to something happier and more positive.