Lyndsay masterclass and talk reveals simple secrets of art

Art enthusiasts from Bunbrosna, Multyfarnham, Streete, Milltown, Mullingar and beyond attended a talk and demonstration by renowned artist Roy Lyndsay at Mullingar Library last Wednesday week.

Perched high up in a corner of the library, overlooking the Tranquility Park and the street below, there was a sense of sitting in an artist’s eyrie, surrounded by vivid, vibrant paintings of people and places created by the brush of a maestro.

Roy shared secrets with the audience, like how he covers his canvas in Fleetwood satin finish paint from the hardware shop before he starts. That allows him to create light and to rub all out and start again if he is not satisfied. He uses white spirits to mix his colours and clean his brushes. “Maybe oil medium wasn’t out when I started, I’ve always used white spirits,” he said.

He recommends student paints rather than the more expensive artist paints, saying that they work just as well. “I have used them for 50 years and no one has said my colours have faded.” Likewise, he feels brushes aren’t necessarily better because they are dearer – “as long as the brush works and your hand works, there’s no problem”.

Roy always mixes his paints on the canvas, not on the palette – a unique technique. He creates a colour chart on which he blends primary colours to create a kaleidoscope of shades, then he puts his primary colours on the palette, but mixes them on the canvas.

Among those in attendance was Anne Kiernan, a well known artist and art teacher. Coming from a racing background (Anne is the sister of trainer Noel Meade), she was particularly impressed by Roy’s horse racing paintings. “He really captures the racing and the pub scene splendidly,” she told the Westmeath Examiner.

Anne found Roy’s hints “very helpful” and agreed that student quality paints are just as good as artist quality ones when working in oils, but not in acrylics.

Teresa Gammell from Enniscoffey, Gaybrook, also found the evening inspirational. Teresa did a foundation course in art at Moate Community College before taking up an Open University course. She is an exceptional portrait painter, according to her mentor Anne.

Peggy Flynn from Streete does not paint, but she is an avid art collector and purchased one of Roy’s paintings in 2008. It is of a boy leading a horse and it reminded her of her own son at that age.

Peggy found the talk and demonstration “fabulous and really enjoyable”.

“We don’t get much of that in the midlands, that sort of talent is unique,” she said. She spotted the article in the Westmeath Examiner about the event and immediately booked her place.

Violet Medford was there with her friends Pauline Tormey and Therese Burke. Violet has been painting most of her life and loves working with oils, “even the very smell of them I love”, she said. She enjoyed being up close with Roy’s works and hearing his words of inspiration.

“When you’re not afraid you paint better,” was one of his gems of wisdom – however, as he dabbed paint on the canvas and miraculously made a horse’s head appear, it took a giant leap of faith to imagine producing anything as magnificent as the works on display.

“If you want to get depth into it, you must have transparency. Warm colours come forward, cool colours go backwards,” Roy said. Couple transparency with opaque for the 3D effect and putting contrasting colours beside each other for brightness “makes the colours sing”.

“I don’t see any reason why any of you guys can’t do that,” he told the group.

Roy spoke of the importance of imagination. “You have to say ‘what if I were in that particular place, what would it look like?’.” Some of his imaginary places are the base of the Canal Turn jump at Aintree, AP McCoy flying over and on to win the Grand National, or in among the likes of Peter Stringer and Paul O’Connell on the rugby field as Ireland take on England.

A great admirer of Rembrandt, Roy’s favourite work is his re-creation of the head of ‘The Old Rabbi’, which he completed before he was 30. Proudly displaying the work, he said it is one painting he will never sell.

Roy was working as a textile plant manager in Belfast when he met his wife Catherine who was in the audience. “I showed her my etchings and she liked them,” he joked. He thanked Catherine for encouraging him to paint ever since.

Their daughter Jan was Roy’s “right hand woman” on the night, hoisting his paintings aloft as he explained how they had come about and how he had engineered them, blending colours to give texture and life to each work.

One of the works was a group of musicians playing in the Crane Bar in Galway on a Sunday morning. Roy explained how he and a friend had followed a fellow with a guitar or fiddle case and ended up at this bar where these musicians used to meet every Sunday morning. Roy sketched the scene and then went on to add layers of colour to create a work that is so realistic you can almost hear the tunes being played.

In his book, The Character of Ireland, Roy explains how he first sketched and then did the whole scene in burnt sienna mono tone before adding the individual layers of colour. The book features 90 of his paintings along with poems he has penned.

“I’d love to see your paintings. If I have done anything to help you I will be delighted,” he told the audience.