Leading graphite wildlife artist, Jamie Boots, from Chippenham, recently held two workshops at the Chilcompton Art Club.

Jamie’s style involves the representation of an animal’s skin, coat or feather, and the techniques he uses in order to finish up with a detailed, lifelike drawing.

The first workshop involved replicating the image of a lion cub at rest, and members were taught how to represent each individual piece of fur, and the intricacies of accurate shading. The second workshop was of a kestrel, each part of the bird was dealt with in detail, from the representation of the eyes, to each individual feather.

Jamie is renowned for his fine art reproductions of wildlife, and the club were delighted to be able get him along for the workshops, especially as several of the members prefer to work with graphite pencils, and everyone came away with a better appreciation of what can be achieved only using the humble pencil.

No doubt some examples of the finished works will be appearing at the club’s Open Day on Saturday, 22nd June at St John’s Church Hall, Church Lane, Chilcompton BA3 4HP. Members of the public are invited to attend between the hours of 10.30 a.m. and 2 p.m. to see the output of the club members over the past year, and are welcome to have a chat over some refreshments throughout the day.

Nigel Punchard