I've a lot to thank Pierre-Auguste Renoir for. Writing and illustrating my second book Paint Like Renoir (Octopus Books) taught me a huge amount about oil painting. In order to emulate Renoir's technique I had to try things that I had often thought of trying, but always put off for another day. Things such as painting on a white canvas surface, diluting the paint with linseed oil and turps and painting loose shapes as opposed to drawing out my subject first. I had to buy new tubes of colours that I hadn't used before and began to experiment with greater quantities of thick oil paint made fluid with oil and then floated on the wet painting's surface.  When the book was finished I then went on to employ many of these approaches in my own work and I believe that, thanks to Renoir, my paintings are nowmore vibrant and 'painterly' than before.
A few months after the book was published I was contacted by a film maker Phil Grabsky of Exhibition on Screen  www.exhibitiononscreen who was making a film about Renoir's late nudes and exploring his life and work through the collection at The Barnes Foundatioin, Philadelphia. He interviewed me on film and asked me to demonstrate some of the artist's approaches and discuss the ways in which Renoir's technique and his use of colour evolved in the later years. The film has it's premier tomorrow in London and will be shown first in Edinburgh on 23rd February at The Vue cinema, Omni Centre, 7pm.  http://www.myvue.com/latest-movies/info/cinema/edinburgh-omni-centre/film/renoir-the-unknown-artist and then on 14th March at The Cameo  https://www.picturehouses.com/cinema/Cameo_Picturehouse/film/exhibition-on-screen-renoir-reviled-and-revered

I know I've said it before, but Degas Made Me Do It...exploring his pastel technique in order to write the book, taught me an enormous amount about this medium. Well 18 months later I have found that chalk pastels layered over a charcoal drawing are exactly what I have been looking for to help me develop and resolve images that I can then use as a basis for oil paintings. So I'm converted and will happily share some of these insights at a Pastel Workshop on Saturday 19th March at WASPS studios - read more

This week I am having a rare quiet time sitting in on my Pop-up exhibition 'Painting the Peats'. The gallery is at the foot of Dundas Street, in the Newtown and between The Botanics and a few select cafes, so I've had quite a number of passers by drop in and the response has been very positive. But regardless of feedback, I know that it has been essential for me pull all this work out of a messy, chaotic studio, dust it down, wrap it in a fresh mount and frame and give it some space on a clean wall, where others can see and appreciate it. The point being, that I can finally appreciate this work myself. Some of it is as good as I had hoped it might be - and some isn't. The best pieces are the ones that I hadn't expected much from at all, the ones that in this environment (frame, mount, wall, spotlight) suddenly shine out in the way that I had hoped as I did battle with the materials to try and make something happen. Making art is basically a performance - an attempt to communicate with others and, I believe with ourselves. Every now and then it is necessary for an artist to pause, like a piece of punctuation, and take stock. What was it I was trying to say...what did people hear me say...?and now that I hear it, or see it for myself, is it what I meant to say?

As far as I'm aware, Degas never visited The Outer Hebrides; but, like his friends The Impressionists, he was fascinated by light and finding ways of representing light in paint and pastel. Having written about Degas' pastel techniques for drawing his ballerinas and bathing women, I found chalk pastels incredibly useful for capturing the ever-changing light and water on the Hebridean islands of Berneray and Harris. The general approach involves laying down some black areas of charcoal, then sealing it with fixative, before applying layers of colour. However in the breezy climate of The Western Isles, hairspray was out of the question, so I rubbed the charcoal into the paper and layered the colour straight on top. The great thing about pastel and changeable weather is that you can smudge and soften and then suddenly, just when the moment strikes you and the light is clear, you can put down a few bright, crisp marks and make your final emphasis. 
A number of small plein air pastel studies will be on display (and for sale at 'stocking-filler' prices) as part of the 'Painting the Peats' exhibition next week. www.damiancallan.com/events

Since returning from The Outer Hebrides at the end of August I have been developing a series of drawings and paintings based on a crofter friend and his peat bank. It has given me the opportunity to revisit some drawing techniques, such as ink and wash, as well as the the pastel techniques had to explore when writing 'Paint Like Degas'. These studies have been developed into a number of oil paintings and charcoal drawings which will be exhibited 14th - 20th December at The Art Club (next door to Coffeeangel, Canonmills).

The Saturday Art Club for young artists (7 - 14 years) got off to an excellent start at Gorgie City Farm on 19th September. This first 3 week block was begun with the children making drawings of a variety of new animals using different media. The recently arrived horse was sketched in conte pencils and chalk on grey paper, the lambs and kids were drawn in pastels on textured pastel papers with an occasional spraying with fixative between the layers. Then after a well earned break, the hens and cockerels were tackled in ink and oil pastels and finally the children chose which media they wanted to use to capture the sow and her nine piglets. Printmaking and sculpture still to come in the next 2 weeks. Block 2 - AFRICAN ANIMALS - begins 10th October read more

A remarkable thing happened this week: first at Edinburgh Zoo on Monday and then again today at The Museum of Scotland, Chamber Street. A group of children and young people were given a selection of drawing materials and set themselves to observing the living (and therefore moving) birds at the zoo and the more cooperative static bird displays at the museum. The results were a series of stunning pastel and charcoal and ink drawings- precise, yet animated and full of life. Furthermore this team of young talent then retired to the studio in Dalry and produced a number of linoprints and papier mache sculptures of their favourite BIG BIRDS AND LITTLE BIRDS.

4. Use unusual formats to inspire composition. Looking closely at many of Degas’ pastel paintings you can see where he has added strip of paper to alter his format from a rectangle to a square. There are also a number of long narrow canvases - almost ‘double squares’. In each of these less common formats both the abstract arrangement within the frame and the way spaces need to be used imaginatively result in much more dynamic and exciting compositions than are often made using a simple rectangle.

5. Draw what you want others to see. Not what you see, but what you would like to show others, is what Degas advocated when drawing from observation. The difference lies in how you select what to include and what to leave out, as well as in what you choose to emphasise.

6. Limit colours. Degas' use of colour was often spectacular - yet this could be achieved with a limited palette - meaning fewer colours are involved in the colours scheme, eg. blues and yellows, plus the various related greys and neutrals made from these two main colours. A more intense colour effect can be created by restricting the palette in this way.

PASTEL WORKSHOPS 28TH MARCH/25TH APRIL/23RD MAY - see the website for further details of these Saturday sessions which will explore Degas use of chalk pastels in capturing the clothed human figure.

I thought I knew Degas' work quite well. Over the years I have returned again and again to his vast collection of drawings and paintings to look for new of ways understanding how to depict the moving figure. Then I was asked to write 'Paint Like Degas' for Ilex Press (now Octopus Books) and I found I had to look closer and harder if I was to be able to explain some of the master's methods. Here are 3 of ten things I learned in the process :
1. Draw plenty of lines to start your drawings (or paintings). Degas was famously advised by his master Ingres to 'Draw lines young man, plenty of lines'. 
Try either a thin stick of charcoal gently searching for the best flowing lines to describe the figure - or dilute oil paint doing something similar with a thin sable brush on a prepared canvas.
2. Work on a tinted surface - off white paper for pastels and a mid-tone ground on canvas for oil paint. This allows both lighter and darker colours to stand out, particularly when they are opaque (as chalk pastels, or thicker oil colours are).
3. Build up colours in broken layers - Degas' innovative use of chalk pastels was characterised by hatched/scribbled broken layers of colour. When he returned to oil paint he emulated the pastel style and layered his colours in a similar way - sometimes scraping down a wet layer into the weave of the canvas, allowing a second layer to be floated on top.
4. ...coming soon...