Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2023 i The Artist

Email me at theartistletters@tapc.co.uk or visit our website at www.painters-online.co.uk/forum The focus of many of this month’s artist-contributors is on the challenges and joys of capturing the landscape in all its myriad forms, moods and weathers. From our In Conversation with Highlands artist Jonathan Shearer in which we discover his approach to what he appropriately calls ‘extreme painting’ en plein air in all seasons in the mountains of Scotland, with insights into his recommended mountainpainting kit including a concertina sketchbook, pochade box, various media and a tarpaulin shelter, to Amanda Hyatt’s top ten tips and advice on how to use a reduced palette to create a moody landscape painting in watercolour, we learn how artists can find inspiration and deliver creative responses even in the most difficult or apparently unappealing…

Frans Hals The Credit Suisse Exhibition One of the most sought-after painters of his generation, the 17th-century Dutch artist, Frans Hals, was renowned for his lively, realistic portraits, far removed from the static, staged portraits of his day. This exhibition, the first major retrospective of his work for more than 30 years, brings together some of Hals’s finest work, from small paintings, to large group portraits, genre scenes and marriage portraits. The Credit Suisse Exhibition Frans Hals can be seen at the National Gallery, London from September 30 to January 21, 2024. National Gallery Trafalgar Square London WC2N 5DN 020 7747 2885 www.nationalgallery.org.uk September 30 to January 21, 2024 Lucy Kent: Plains to Coast Plein-air painter, Lucy Kent will be showing her latest body of work inspired by the African…

IST OF 3 PRACTICAL 1ST OF 3: DR AWING The beauty and complexity of the human body provides us with a subject in which we can examine so many of the fundamentals and processes of drawing. At the same time, we can also explore a wide range of media, using a variety of mark-making, to express form and contour, proportion, anatomy and perspective. During this three-part series we will look at some of the drawing and measuring techniques that can help us to approach these complexities as we begin to study the human body. In recent years there has been a great increase in the availability of life-drawing classes, in particular online, which provides the opportunity to join a regular class from home. The techniques we will be looking at during…

Very early on in my painting career I realised the importance of lights and darks on any given scene, lifting a quite ordinary one to an extraordinary one. This was my introduction to the world of counterchange and it changed the way I looked at things from that time forward. Every time I now look at a scene I begin by ascertaining the counterchange elements and decide whether there is enough there to inspire me to paint it! EXERCISE ONE TONAL STUDY Before we move on to the demonstration, I would like to show you the importance of a preliminary tonal study to get your focus on the different lighting elements of the scene you want to paint EXERCISE TWO ACRYLICS THE WATERCOLOUR WAY Before we get started, have a…

I have painted flowers for many years in many media; watercolour, acrylic, pastel, collage and mixtures of all of these, but by far my favourite is coloured pencil. Slow, gentle, and forgiving it is easily the most enjoyable of all. From the first drawing to the final finishing touches there is a great deal to satisfy and delight. Coloured pencils have so many advantages. Firstly, they are very portable; even a big set can be carried quite easily. Secondly, they can be used anywhere with the confidence that they won’t make the mess that the liquid media make, or need water supplies and old clothes. Thirdly, there is the pure relaxation that they give. All they need is a table and a subject. Once started the work can be done…

Painting Skies in Pastel by Sandra Orme Painting Skies in Pastel by Sandra Orme focuses on creating dramatic clouds and atmospheric skyscapes in pastel. Published by Search Press in paperback, and priced at £14.99, the book will be available from August 31. Visit our Painters Online bookshop at www.bit.ly/ARTIBOOKS for details. When working with pale or bright clouds against a darker sky, there are some key points to bear in mind as you don’t want to end up with a halo effect around the edge of your cloud. You need to build up the cloud gradually towards the brightest colour so you create a three-dimensional effect. This tutorial with take you through how to do this with white clouds, but the principle will remain the same for use with other…

• A minimum of 140lb (300gsm) paper is recommended to avoid the paper warping. • Be aware that values alter slightly as the water dries. Generally, they lighten but sometimes lighter gouache colours may appear to darken as they dry. • It helps to wet gouache paints before you begin so that they are ready to be used. A spray bottle or a wet brush to flick water over the paint wells will suffice. • Don’t let the pigments fight against each other. This can happen if you add too much water to both pigments. I’ll use more with watercolour mixes and usually only a small amount with gouache. This allows their different traits to contrast and bring out each of their strengths. • Finally, have fun playing with the…

Who doesn’t love a good sky? Skies are a fundamental part of landscape painting and play a very important role in the overall success of a piece. Most of the time, the light and luminosity in a painting comes from how strongly the sky is painted: it can make or break a painting and can transform an otherwise boring scene into one that is strong and lively. The flat wash To have the flat wash technique in your repertoire is essential and it will always do its job for you as long as you paint it quickly and with confidence. It is a great way to establish the light and what kind of day and time of day you’re dealing with. It is also a very good sky to choose…

• Large rucksack; bungie straps; light daypack; waterproofs; hiking poles; sit mat; hard-bound sketchbooks (A4 and A5); concertina sketchbook; hairspray for fixing pastels; pochade box; food; water; flask; and a can of beer for those special end-of-day moments. • Unison and Rembrandt pastels in a plastic tub. • Daler-Rowney Georgian oils, Winsor & Newton or fast-drying Pebeo. His basic palette consists of: titanium white; ultramarine blue; cerulean blue; alizarin crimson; viridian green; cadmium yellow; and yellow ochre. • For more extreme work and weather he has a tarpaulin shelter; a ‘hot tent’ that fits to a hiking pole; a 2kg stove that folds to the size of a laptop, with insulated chimney; and a small 2kg inflatable rubber boat for going over, rather than round, hill-lochs.…

Taste in art is highly individual. It is often determined by populism, monetary value, point in time and trend. It is also conditional to subject matter, medium, style, colour, mood, detail, lack of detail, modernism, history and many other labels. But for the bulk of art appreciators, it is just a case of what one likes. If you like a bright red Spanish flamenco painting, that’s fine. If you like a blank white canvas called snow, that’s fine as well. But I like traditional moody, tonal, impressionistic realism. That’s a mouthful, but it basically means that you let tone do all the work (and maybe a splash of colour to get all the glory). In this article I will be using a reduced colour palette to demonstrate the ability for…

• Keep a sketchbook and use it as often as possible, drawing everything from exciting to mundane. Doodling is good for you! • Keep your pencils sharp. • Practise varying the pressure on the pencil tip to create different tones. • When painting flowers, always take a photograph of them at their best for future reference. • Most flowers have a basic shape; draw that first, paying particular attention to where the centre is, which will give you the angle. All the little details come later.…

THE ARTIST’S LIFE: 10TH OF 12 10TH OF 12: THE ARTIST ’S LIFE PRACTICAL Ever heard of ‘community marketing’? Yes, it’s a thing. In a post-Covid landscape, building connections has become a new marketing cornerstone, and more important than ever in attracting customers and securing sales. But how do we define ‘community’ in a modern world? Communities aren’t always tangible. They can be found both on and offline, in human connections, online forums, social media groups and most likely a mixture of them all. This dictates a multi-channel marketing strategy defined by your particular audience – in other words, what works best for you, where your followers can be found and where they seek information. Even the most independent individuals need networks and communities to survive. Consider the rise of ‘influencers’ and…

Bothwell Art Club Annual exhibition at Bothwell Parish Church Centre, Main Street, Bothwell G71 8EX during the village scarecrow festival on Saturday September 16, 10am to 5pm and Sunday September 17, 11.30am to 5pm. Canterbury Society of Art Open-air exhibition in the Westgate Gardens, Canterbury, on Saturday September 9, 10am to 4pm; www.canterburysocietyofart.org.uk Carlton-le-Moorland and District Art Group Exhibition at the Village Hall, Brigg Lane, Carlton-le-Moorland, Lincolnshire LN5 9HP, on October 7 and 8, 11am to 4pm each day. Guild of Wiltshire Artists Autumn exhibition at the John Bowen Gallery, Malmesbury Town Hall SN16 9BZ, from 1pm on Friday September 8 until Thursday September 28, 10am to 4pm daily; www.guildofwiltshireartists.com Hempnall Art Club Exhibition at Hempnall Village Hall, Bungay Road, Hempnall NR15 2NG, on October 21 and 22, 10.30am to…

Skies can make or break a landscape, and painting them with confidence, whether from photographs or en plein air, will take you to the next level. You don’t always have to reach for the blues, says Julie Collins; think orange, green, pink and gold instead. From how to paint the effect of rain storms to colour mixing for a vibrant sunset, Julie’s feature on painting summer skies is packed with colour-mixing advice. Tony White follows with his approach to painting loose, interesting clouds as well as discussing essential flat and gradated wash techniques. His final tip says it all about his approach: ‘Let it rip. Don't be timid. We’re only painting!’ And finally, Winston Oh inspires us with his look at painting skies on days when we don’t see the…

Sharing your work I am a long-time subscriber to The Artist and have drawn lots of inspiration from the various contributors over the years. In recent years I have moved from mainly oil painting to trying to improve my watercolour skills. I mainly use watercolour sketchbooks, because they are convenient and always ready for use, together with roughly A4-size blocks of good quality watercolour paper when I need to do a bit more paint manipulation. I recognise that I don't have the best draughting skills but sometimes I do like to get viewer reaction to my work, just to see if a particular piece of work has any kind of positive visual impact. Like most of us, I don't have access to any exhibition spaces but I have recently started…

1 Subdued colour paintings can still be full of light and atmosphere. 2 Palette ‘gunge’ is a good grey colour to use as a mixer to subdue primary colours and dull them down for a more natural look. 3 Don’t use straight primary colours unless you want a colourist painting. 4 The seven main colours all exist in nature (red berries, oranges, yellow daisies, green vegetation, blue seas and skies, indigo mountains, violets), and can make a beautiful painting. Tone them down a bit and you can still get a beautiful painting in shades of greys, black and white, and other muted colours. 5 A reduced palette forces you to experiment and learn. By not using an easy straight-from-the-tube primary colour, the artist is forced to think about how to…

Combining watercolour and gouache seems to appeal particularly to oil painters. Turner and Sargent are two of my favourite examples of oil painters who combined both water-based media. Their paintings have a dynamic range of transparent watercolour washes and opaque gouache marks that are reminiscent of the way oils are often applied, from lean to thick. Combined, the two media have the ability to create a wide range of textural effects that achieve a wonderful sense of depth. Working with water-based media en plein air is a great way to lighten and simplify your painting equipment, freeing you up for more adventurous excursions into the landscape. With a lightweight palette, filled with all the paint I need, some sheets of paper and a couple of brushes, I’m ready to go!…

Sending-in days A Letter in Mind Details: The National Brain Appeal invites artists to get creative on an envelope. The theme of this year’s exhibition is ‘Changing Perspectives’. Exhibition: Artworks will be exhibited at Gallery Different in Fitzrovia, central London, from October 24 to 28, and sold via the charity’s online gallery, from October 25. They will be exhibited anonymously, alongside invited professional and celebrity entries, priced identically at £85. The identity of the artists is revealed at the end of the exhibition, once the artwork has sold. When: Open for entries until September 22. Contact: www.aletterinmind.org Bath Open Art Prize Details: Now in its 11th year, the Bath Open Art Prize welcomes submissions from visual artists around the world, working in any medium. Developed as part of Fringe Arts…

There are many ways of appreciating paintings, like composition, mood, drawing, colour, perspective, drama, technical skill and more. There is one thing, though, that we often like in paintings, but we may not find the word for, and that is rhythm. Rhythm, apart from being difficult to spell, is seen quite plainly in some famous works. The first one I thought of was Turner’s Snowstorm at Sea painted in 1842. This grand impressionist portrayal of snow, wind and sea, looks as if it was painted under the guidance of the swaying arms of an orchestral conductor. The painting moves musically and it has caught the rhythm of real life with its swirling brush strokes and harmonious colour. In some ways rhythm can be more apparent in good abstract work, where…

It would be lovely to think of summer skies as endless expanses of perfect blue, but as we know the weather is very much more varied than that. However, this gives us huge scope for exploring summer skies in watercolour. Living by the sea, the sky will change many times just in one hour. Here, I will give several examples of how to modify your colours for summer skies. But please go outside or at least look from your window for many other possibilities for this great subject. It would be good to spend at least a full week working on skies, as there is enough to learn about this to warrant studying and painting it over a long time. There is something very satisfying about filling two thirds of…