Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2021 i Artists & Illustrators

1 RICHARD HAMILTON: RESPECTIVE Until 18 April 2021 When you think of Pop Art, Richard Hamilton may not be the first artist to spring to mind, but he is in fact the founding father of the movement – hence his moniker, Daddy Pop. In this retrospective, you can see how the British artist drew from mass media, such as in the screenprint Swingeing London ’67 (above, based on a paparazzi shot of Mick Jagger handcuffed to gallerist Robert Fraser), as well as how he adopted imagery from cultural sources, like adverts, in works including Just What is it That Makes Today’s Homes so Different. His collaboration with Marcel Duchamp, Oculist Witnesses, also included here, proves his disregard for the distinction between high and low art. Pallant House Gallery, Chichester. www.pallant.org.uk…

Norma Stephenson Sprawling across northern Lancashire into the western edges of Yorkshire, The Forest of Bowland is a rather forgotten landscape to all except the more adventurous locals. The name is rather misleading too, as much of this designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is no longer covered in woodland, but rather gritstone fells and open moorland warmed by a blanket of heather. It is also home to what artist Norma Stephenson rather poetically calls “a moorland community of scattered farms and barns, crisscrossed by a pattern of dry-stone walls”. Her own home and studio are here too, from which she also hosted workshops for 30 years until she took the decision to retire in 2018 and concentrate on her own art. The Scottish artist’s expressive, pastel-based paintings are fascinating…

You can often get a better sense of the finished works made in a visit to a sculptor’s studio. Take the HENRY MOORE STUDIOS AND GARDENS (Perry Green, Hertfordshire, UK. www. henrymoore.org). There are five preserved workspaces on the property, including an etching studio, a summer house used for informal drawing, and the Bourne Maquette Studio [below], which remains filled with tiny prototypes. Several full-size pieces dot the Pear Tree Paddock, while guided tours of Moore’s Hoglands home can also be booked. BARBARA HEPWORTH MUSEUM AND SCULPTURE GARDEN (St Ives, Cornwall, UK. www.tate.org.uk) is similarly filled with maquettes and full-blown sculptures. The artist said that finding Trewyn Studio was “a sort of magic” and that sense of enchantment extends to a garden filled with pieces that can be walked around.…

Something strange is at play in the paintings of Mary Newcomb. In one of her better-known works, The Lady with a Bunch of Sweet Williams, a landscape painted in 1988, we meet a woman as she passes through a golden clearing in a field, the dark shadow of a church spire visible in the distance. So far, so pastoral. Nothing unusual to see here. That is until our eyes adjust and we realise the woman’s whole body is dwarfed by her enormous bouquet – size-wise, it’s practically on par with that church spire. Only her legs poke out beneath a firework-blast of red and white blooms that she holds before us like a hypnotist’s wheel. In the Victorian era, when the language of flowers (known as “floriography”) was used to…

The moment Mark Entwisle spotted the paper bag that he painted for the 2020 Sunday Times Watercolour Competition will not be forgotten in a hurry – not because the artwork went on to scoop the top prize, but because his eldest son won’t let him live it down. Mark was accompanying his then teenage son on a prospective student tour of the Camberwell College of Arts when he was stopped in his tracks by a scene that reminded him of Vermeer’s A Young Woman Standing at a Virginal in London’s National Gallery. It had the subtle light filtering through a big, high window on the left, but instead of illuminating a female figure playing the harpsichord, it softly lit up a brown paper bag, branded with red graphic letters. Reaching…

Many years ago, I was set a task that was to accompany my application for a place at art school. I was asked to make a drawing of an apple, together with peel and paring knife, that must be placed on top of a mirrored surface. At the time I remember feeling a little overwhelmed and rather intimidated by the whole idea. Little did I know that decades later I would be making an artistic career out of painting reflections in their many forms. Many of my own students are initially daunted when confronted by a still life that contains glass or metal as they often find it too advanced or difficult. However, once they have learnt how to break down and approach the rendering of reflective surfaces, there has…

A BIRTHDAY IN STYLE My little sister had a very big birthday recently and I wanted to paint her a picture which told a story of her school days. My dilemma was that I normally paint in an “Impressionist” style, although my artist friends would say “miserable” since I am attracted to industrial subjects. It had to be a cheerful attempt and so I decided to have a go at a “naïve” style. The result is a scene looking south on Victoria Road in Glasgow with my sister bottom left about to get into the yellow Consul [above]. My biggest challenge was staying in style; I frequently lapsed into Impressionism. I have to say I did enjoy doing it, it gave me a totally different mindset and I shall certainly…

1 Look through the tutor’s artwork online. Does it feel alive to you? See if you can find progress photos on Facebook or Instagram to see their process. You don’t necessarily have to love a tutor’s work but want someone who will facilitate you in nourishing your own practice. 2 Find out how a tutor relates on screen. What is their delivery like? Do you warm to them? Seek them out on YouTube to get a feel for their teaching style and personality. If you can’t find any videos, ask if you can call them. 3 An attitude of experimentation is key, whatever the medium. I take umbrage at any teacher dictating a rigid set of rules as though they are gospel. We humans thrive in an atmosphere of support…

Artists & Illustrators is proud to support The British Art Prize 2021, in association with Viking, the award-winning cruise line. This major new national open art competition will provide artists of all ages and abilities with a platform to gain exposure and recognition for their work. The British Art Prize 2021 is open to everyone. Whether you are a hobby painter, an emerging artist or a seasoned professional, all styles, media, ideas and techniques will be considered. The British Art Prize 2021 offers artists an unprecedented level of national exposure across four major magazine brands and the chance to sell their artworks to a combined audience of almost 1,000,000 art lovers and collectors. In addition, there is a prize fund worth more than £10,000, which includes art vouchers, cash prizes,…

WRITING IN DRAWINGS There are various ways in which writing on an urban sketch can complete the information given by the drawing itself. Firstly, it can help writing up expectations (before) and reflections (after) the sketching takes place, pointing out where there might be changes between them, highlighting any surprises that were noticed whilst drawing. Secondly, it can complete the drawing, capturing non-visual signals such as sounds, conversations, smells or other multisensorial experiences, tastes or tactile sensations, in a way completing the visual recording of the event witnessed. Thirdly, writing can be part of the story recorded, picking up on urban graffiti or other written text as the main part of the drawing. Finally, writing notes and thoughts about a drawing, before, during or after drawing, links the act of…

A“composition” is an arrangement of the formal and informal visual elements of art within a pictorial frame. The formal elements include shape, line, form, value, colour, texture, geometry and movement. The informal (or subjective) elements refer to emotion, expression, content, creative improvisation and response. The long, and varied tradition of landscape painting in Western art is framed by two large approaches to composition. One is the idea of the land “perfected”. Arguably the oldest aesthetic tradition in landscape painting, this form of composition re-envisioned the chaos of the earth into a rational and managed visual form. These compositional strategies were taught in the studios and academies from the Renaissance until the 19th century as the rules that made art and, in particular, beautiful and harmonious landscapes. The idea of painting…

Have you ever thought of taking a commission? If you share your artistic achievements, chances are that you’ll be asked to work to order at some point. However, it’s a good idea to think the idea through before anyone puts you on the spot. Decide up front how you feel about working to commission. If the mere idea appals you, you’ve made your decision. If asked, you can say a clear and cheerful no without apology or excuses. Do be prepared for a little opposition; people often assume that a commission is the highest form of compliment with very little idea of what’s involved in their request. If the idea of a commission appeals, think through your options. Every request will be different, but it will help if you have…

Drybrush The rough surface of the paper helped to accentuate these drybrush strokes. Masking spatter The white of the paper was reserved to indicate sunlight hitting the stone. Cauliflowers I let these cauliflowers form their own textural details within the shadows. Allowing paint to do its own thing creates a more organic, less contrived feel. Paint spatter Multiple layers of spattered paint create sharply detailed textures, which in turn set these rocks firmly in the foreground. Drawn lines These sharper, darker lines act as a contrast to the looser and more random nature of the spattered paint.…

HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN ILLUSTRATION? I left school at 16 and did a national diploma in art. I had never really heard what an illustrator was, but I discovered the work of Ralph Steadman and Gerald Scarfe. Their work introduced me to illustration, and I went on to study it at Arts University Bournemouth. WHAT DID YOU DO AFTER GRADUATING? I met some collectives that were bringing together illustrators and graffiti artists via [social media network] Myspace. We would do live drawing and mural shows – us illustrators would collaborate on big areas of drawing or painting. HOW DID YOU GET THE JOB DRAWING CAKES ON THE GREAT BRITISH BAKE OFF? A friend worked for the production company and I luckily got a job helping to edit the…