Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2019 i Artists & Illustrators

You have probably already noticed that this is a special issue of Artists & Illustrators. This month, the magazine is celebrating its 400th outing. It’s been making it way on to the newsstands and doormats every four weeks since 1986. And it’s going strong – even growing – and that’s quite an achievement in these tricky times for print media. To mark the occasion, I took some time out to chat to our regular contributors about their relationship with the magazine, and how it’s impacted on their art. They had plenty to say. Turn to page 19 to read their thoughts. It also felt right to focus on the future, as well as the past. In this spirit, I sent Rosemary Waugh out into the art world to track down…

Anne Penman Sweet The pathos and mystery of oil tankers intrigues this Australia-based artist. Anne has long been interested in industrial imagery, particularly weathered and aged scenes, of which these huge ships have proved the most compelling examples. “There is something human and vulnerable about them and the challenges they face,” she says. “I see them as metaphors and carriers of stories.” Despite the potentially gloomy subject, Anne’s warm palette saturates her paintings with emotion. She works instinctively, challenging preconceived ideas and paying little attention to theory. “Colour is an extraordinarily complex subject,” she adds, “and I feel I am just scratching the surface of my understanding.” She opts for Old Holland paints because of their quality and extensive colour range and loves Australian brand Langridge’s low-toxic medium, which suits…

Leighton House Museum, the spectacular former studio-house of Victorian artist Frederic, Lord Leighton (1830-1896), offers an array of workshops and events for artists of all levels. The Life-Drawing and Painting course takes places one afternoon a month in the grand studio, where the former president of the Royal Academy conceived and painted his masterpieces. Open to artists of all levels, each afternoon consists of a mixture of short exercises and longer poses, with reference to the permanent collection on display throughout the historic house and expert tuition from Ann Witheridge, founder of London Fine Art Studios. Students will work on textured paper in charcoal or pencil for the drawing sessions and will use oil paints and pastels for the long poses. Materials will be available to purchase on the day…

Selling your artwork is cause to celebrate, and enjoying this success will be easier if you decide how to accept and process money beforehand. The simplest action you can take is to inform people about the price. Make sure that every item is either clearly marked or a price list is easily available. Many people find asking about prices awkward and would rather forgo the purchase than enquire. You also avoid fumbling over the answer, possibly feeling that you must justify the cost when your job is to smile, thank the client and congratulate them on their excellent taste. Label anything that’s not for sale, too; it’s no fun explaining for the 100th time that your pretty props aren’t up for grabs. The same rules apply to teaching. Be very…

If you want to give your skills a boost this spring, this five-day painting holiday in Ambleside is the ideal opportunity. This month we’ve teamed up with the luxury Lake District hotel Rothay Manor to offer you the chance to win a place on its watercolour painting holiday, from 24 to 29 March 2019. Aimed at amateur artists and enthusiastic improvers, the course, taught by Jane Francis, will take you to local beauty spots where you will sketch and take photographs to inspire your week of painting. There will be lots of studio time, too, and your tutor will be on hand throughout to offer help and guidance. There will also be short, informal discussions covering techniques and styles. www.rothaymanor.co.uk THE PRIZE Our winner will be chosen at random from…

It started with a single bird. “I was on my way back from Brighton when I stumbled across a bluetit really close me. I was just blown away by the colours,” explains artist and author Matt Sewell. A passionate bird-lover since his childhood in County Durham, Matt had long studied our feathered friends in the wild and in books. But it wasn’t until the chance encounter with the humble bluetit, as he says, that they took centre stage in his artwork. Matt’s ornithological watercolours can now be found in murals and books, and on album covers, clothing brands and the labelling of artisan drink companies. It’s not, of course, all birds. There are dinosaurs, psychedelic foliage and horses too, but it’s Matt’s ability to capture so many varieties of bird…

Looking at a great painting by Paul Cézanne can make us think about how it was made and how it operates as a work of art. I think it’s important to understand that the artist, like his contemporaries Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin, was, in a sense, untutored. He lacked the natural drawing facility that would have gained him entry into the atelier system proper. His early paintings show little finesse and his development to maturity in 1887-8 – when he painted this picture, Pot of Primroses and Fruit – had been slow and difficult. His training had largely been before nature in Provence and Pontoise with Camille Pissarro. If one compares his early work to Claude Monet’s, you can see Cézanne’s natural gifts were limited. I also think…

SEEING FORM A coconut (shown above as being lit from a three-quarter angle) has a form similar to that of an egg. Imagine the coconut with a smooth, egg-like surface. Once you understand the way the light is hitting the object, you can draw its form. STUDYING SHAPES To understand how the light source creates the form of this tree, break down the tree into a ball and a cylinder. Use rough paper to add some texture, and put down a layer of dark tone with the side of the pencil. FORM VERSUS TEXTURE A coconut is a good example of texture versus form. You might be tempted to use dark, heavy shading to portray the coconut’s surface. However, in this case, the coconut’s form is more important than its…

These oil paints in stick form are made of pigment combined with wax and linseed or sunflower oil. Draw straight onto your canvas with them in a tactile and expressive way, and you will discover exciting mark-making opportunities. • As you push sticks onto a surface and apply pressure, the will pigment soften and flow from the bar. The more pressure you use, the more fluid the colour becomes. • When mixing sticks with traditional oils, consider the sticks “fatter” than the paint. • Solid oil paint sticks should be applied in a relatively thin film. Marks can be thinned or made more fluid with solvent and oils. • Oil sticks form a protective skin when exposed to the air – just wipe it away before painting. • Oil sticks…

I want to pass on my expressive approach to painting still lifes from observation using mixed media. I find this way of working freeing and fun. When a painting is started with an attitude of freedom and joy, this shines through the finished work. Be free and alive in your mark-making, and adventurous with colour and paint consistency. This happens naturally if we don’t pin ourselves down to a particular outcome. As we observe the subject, inspiration enters: we become curious and intuitively begin to play. Using acrylic means that you can always adjust the edges; the layer beneath dries and changes can be made swiftly. As the painting progresses, the pace slows but inspiration can remain if we stay alert, even if moves are fewer and chosen with more…

Inspiration struck this artist from an unusual source: his first forays into art were made using butcher’s paper. “I was encouraged to draw by my grandfather, who would supply me with blood-spattered meat wrapping paper,” says Chris. “I would draw on features to create figures and scenes. It was great fun.” Despite his flair for animating the mundane, Chris was not a creative child prodigy. He was jealous of a gifted student in his art class. “I can still remember his name!” he adds. On his father’s advice, he attended a three-year graphics course in Bristol in pursuit of career security, but an offer of a trial at an artist’s studio in London, just a month after completing his course, allowed him to pursue his passion for illustration instead. The…

How do you mix fine-art screenprinting and commercial illustration? I see them as two different strings to my bow. The fine-art screenprints are my work as opposed to a commissioned commercial illustration where I am being told what to draw to a confined brief. There is often crossover stylistically – and even in subject matter – but the screenprints I exhibit and sell have always been personally driven and researched, and are much more esoteric. I do them because I want to, rather than because I need to sell them. How do I decide which media to work in for illustration projects? I start my drawings the same way but, depending on the outcome, they take slightly different journeys. They all begin as elements in a sketchbook drawn in brush…

You can paint with inks as they are or add them into a wet wash of watercolour for dramatic effect. The inks I use come in small glass bottles with a pipette dropper in the lid. They are ideal for either dispensing into a palette or for drawing straight onto a piece of work. Also available are pearlescent and shimmering colours, which are nice to use for something a little different. Some inks are water-based (like string dyes), while others are acrylic-based. I prefer the acrylic-based inks because they are thicker in consistency and have vibrancy and intensity that other inks lack. Sometimes it’s nice to add that little extra “oomph” into a painting, and acrylic inks are ideal for that. They can be mixed into watercolour paint to strengthen…

Portfolio Plus member TONY COWLAND on how he made his winning artwork I painted this view near my studio using marble paste applied to a sketch on board overpainted with warm acrylic colours. I then switched to oils, with the sky and dark areas applied first. Light tones were drybrushed over darks, allowing underpainted areas to show through, with the texture providing an illusion of detail. I also used scumbling, tonking, fingernail scratching and wet-in-wet, using a variety of brushes from bristle to rigger. When it comes to landscapes, I use every dirty trick I possibly can. • See more of Tony’s art www.artistsandillustrators.co.uk/anthonycowland • To find out the next Editor’s Pick theme and enter for the chance to win £50 voucher from Cass Art, visit…

LONDON Lorenzo Lotto Portraits Until 10 February Reveals the symbolism and psychological depth of the artist’s work. National Gallery. www.nationalgallery.org.uk Gainsborough’s Family Album Until 3 February More than 50 portraits by the 18th-century master painter. National Portrait Gallery. www.npg.org.uk Klimt / Schiele: Drawings from the Albertina Museum, Vienna Until 3 February See rare and fragile drawings by the two great artists. Royal Academy of Arts. www.royalacademy.org.uk Good grief, Charlie Brown! Until 3 March See original drawings of Snoopy and other beloved cartoon characters. Somerset House. www.somersethouse.org.uk Edward Burne-Jones Until 24 February The first major London retrospective of Pre-Raphaelite painter Edward Burne-Jones in more than 40 years. Tate Britain. www.tate.org.uk Alfred Munnings: War Artist, 1918 Until 3 March Features more than 40 original paintings, displayed together for the first time in…

When did you first write for A&I? I have been contributing for more than six years. Initially, I featured in the magazine with a profile piece just as things were beginning to happen for me as an artist. Since then, I have had three books published. I’m represented by half a dozen galleries and I’ve demonstrated on live television on several occasions. I don’t think writing for Artists & Illustrators has done me any harm. When did you first become aware of the magazine? My mum use to get the magazine on a regular basis when I was younger. I would occasionally hijack the odd copy or wait patiently until she had finish reading it, and spent hours being inspired. Why do you like writing for A&I? As a fan…

When did you first write for A&I ? I first began writing for A&I in 2014. I remember the painting I did: it was a very white still life, which the editor liked so much that it was put it on the cover. When did you first become aware of the magazine? Years ago, I used to do some life-drawing teaching at Bournville School of Art, and A&I was in the library. It was very useful for students in terms of the range of figurative artists it featured. Why do you like writing for A&I ? Writing for the magazine is always interesting because one has to analyse and break down just how one makes a painting. Most of the time, one is just…

We are meeting at your studio at 8am. Is that when you would normally start to work? I’m usually in at 7.30am and I am often here for 12 hours at a stretch. I am not painting all the time. If you did that, you’d become a robot. There is time for assimilating, assessing and thinking. Have you always lived and worked here? I was born in Huddersfield and brought up in Liverpool. My parents were both immigrants. They came here from Italy in the 1950s, but I am English. I never thought about it until recently, because of Brexit, especially as a crucial period of my childhood was spent in Italy. This has brought the idea of identity into focus for me. The earth beneath my feet has slightly…

When did you first get involved in printmaking? I did a course in typography at art college in the 70s, which included a year working in a print room using old-fashioned letterpress machines and type. I enjoyed the hands-on work involved, but it was a long time until I worked with presses again. How did you find yourself drawn back to printmaking? About 10 years ago, I did a journey on a bicycle along the coast of Britain. I had this plan to visit places I’d never been, and meet the craftsmen and women living there. I cycled approximately 6,500 miles across the coast of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. It was an amazing experience that sparked many ideas, one of which was to work with letterpress again. How did…

Throughout this series, I have shown you the many ways I gather information from the landscape for my paintings. So far, this has been about using portable sketchbooks. However, here I will discuss the importance of the studio sketchbook. Some years ago, I felt the need to return to college. I decided to embark on a part-time fine art degree at Exeter College of Art. Without a doubt, it was one of the most productive and fulfilling two years of my career. I found the projects we were set stimulating. Students were encouraged to work in large A2 sketchbooks to explore a new subject, document ideas and experiment. It was stressed that these should be recorded accurately, so the procedure and techniques could be replicated in the future. The sketchbook…

Artist Amy Shackleton has pioneered her own style, creating urban landscapes without a paintbrush. Her innovative technique – using squeeze bottles and gravity – evolved from a desire to create something unique that emphasised her themes. • DITCH YOUR PAINTBRUSH  Fill a squeeze bottle with liquid acrylic paint and add water to achieve your desired consistency. • BUILD A SPINNING WHEEL  Attach a hex bolt to a sheet of plywood. Drill a hole in the centre crossbar of your stretched canvas and place it on the hex bolt. Rotate your canvas to control the path of each drip. Use a level to predict where straight lines will fall. Use a water spritzer and/or spin the canvas quickly to create organic effects. • BE PATIENT AND ENJOY  It takes me approximately…

“Paint what you know” has never been bad advice. And for artist Tom Cox, it’s a crucial component of his success so far. The painter has found fans with his busy scenes of city life. The hints of low-lit moodiness and facing-away characters have seen his work compared with LS Lowry and Edward Hopper. The city you’ll find most in Tom’s art is his home and birthplace, London. “I love London,” he enthuses. “London is huge. It’s forever changing and regenerating.” But his choice of subject is actually connected to a basic desire to paint from life. “It’s more a reflection on my environment, than London specifically.” He does, however, have some favourite spots. Raised south of the river, Tom is a big fan of Brixton, and the complex landscapes…

Wil’s materials • Watercolours Winsor & Newton and Daniel Smith: Davy’s Gray, Yellow Ochre, Cerulean Blue, Chromium Oxide, Cadmium Red, Cadmium Yellow, Quinacridone Pink, Cerulean Blue, Potter’s Pink, Cadmium Orange, Perylene Green, Alizarin Crimson and Burnt Umber • Paper Saunders Waterford NOT 300gsm, stretched onto a wood board • Brushes Da Vinci: Cosmotop 12 and 8, Maestro (Kolinsky) 6 and 4 I initially looked at artists such as Wayne Thiebaud for inspiration, especially his colour schemes and minimal layout. I also considered painting a slice of cake next to my art equipment, as if I was celebrating while working, but decided to go for a simpler approach. I’ve been creating watercolours of ballet dancers leaping through confetti because the patterns as the pieces fall give a sense of movement. I…