Artists & Illustrators August 2023

Paint the world’s most vibrant places

The art of collage, colour and texture

The natural world

How to paint it in watercolour

TO BE WON!

£10,000 PRIZES WORTH OVER WITH THE BRITISH ART PRIZE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

Eclectic exhibitions

From the Royal Academy’s annual show to Banksy

Regulars

SKETCHBOOK Quick tips, ideas, and inspiration. Plus, this month’s exhibitions

PRIZE DRAW Win £1,000 to put towards an art holiday

WE PRESENT… British Art Club member John Cooney

HOW I MAKE IT WORK

Austrian artist Laura Nitsche shares her art journey

YOU TELL US Write in and win a £50 Atlantis art voucher

PICTURE THIS Cover artist Bern Foster shares what his artwork means to him

Inspiration

IN THE STUDIO With seascape artist Victoria Obolensky

THE BRITISH ART CLUB Join to sell your art commission free

HOW I PAINT Digital artist Brooks Kim shares his love of drawing portraits with pen

THE BRITISH ART PRIZE

Our annual art competition opens for entries

THE BIG INTERVIEW With Botanical artist Carrie Megan

EXHIBITION The Royal Academy’s Annual Exhibition’s most intricate summer paintings

STREET ART A new exhibition of over 300 pieces by several artists including Banksy

Techniques

MASTERCLASS Matthew Haydn Jeanes shows you how he painted a cherished ornament

DEMONSTRATION American artist Noah Saterstrom recreates a snapshot taken in the eighties

TECHNIQUE Create a Sealife lobster with artist Tim Fisher

HOW - TO Naturalist painter Tim Pond shares his tips to improve observational abilities

STEP - BY - STEP Harriet Merry shows you how she created an artwork of a bottle of HP Sauce

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British Art

It is with excitement…great

… that I can announce the return of The British Art Prize. For artists of all abilities, the esteemed competition welcomes every medium, style and subject for the judges’ careful consideration. This year, I’m also thrilled to announce we have some stellar sponsors, not least from creative digital giants Adobe and art luminaires including Derwent, Royal Talens, Atlantic and Pegasus Art. Don’t delay and enter today for the chance to win amazing prizes, have you and your work featured amongst the pages of Artists & Illustrators as well as your winning painting to be hung in the prestigious Gallery OXO on London’s Southbank. If last year’s competition and exhibition were anything to go by, this is sure to be an artistic highlight in 2023’s calendar.

If you’ve already been on your summer holiday – or about to go –we hope you’re inspired by this month’s deliciously seasonal cover, by Spanish artist Bern Foster who paints a scene from Santa Monica Boulevard, all completely imagined – surprisingly, given how vivid his painting is –as he’s never been. Not that you would ever guess; you almost feel like you’re in California, basking in the sun, simply by gazing at the image.

Elsewhere, we have informative step-by-step guides on painting wildly di erent subjects, such as a geisha doll, a lobster, a recreated picture from the eighties and even a bottle of HP Sauce. In a variety of mediums, they are all visually arresting and wonderful. I do hope you give – at the very least – one of them a go.

Then, we have alook at six entrants to this year’s Royal Academy Show and, on the other end of the spectrum, a show on street art celebrating the likes of Banksy. Both shows are wildly di erent but that’s the uniquely great thing about art: it’s universal andfor all.

EDITORIAL

Editor

Niki Browes

Art Editor

Stuart Selner

Assistant Editor

Ramsha Vistro

Contributors

Martha Alexander, Tim Fisher, Matthew Haydn Jeanes, Harriet Merry, Adrian Mourby, Tyler Nicholas, Tim Pond, Noah Saterstrom, Angela Youngman info@artistsandillustrators.co.uk

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Advertising Production allpointsmedia.co.uk

MANAGEMENT & PUBLISHING

Managing Director

James Dobson

Publisher

Simon Temlett

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Subs Marketing Manager

Bret Weekes

Group Digital Manager

Ben Iskander

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© The Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd 2023, part of the Telegraph Media Group, Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place, London SW3 3TQ Phone: (020) 7349 3700 artistsandillustrators.co.uk

BERN FOSTER

Cover star Bernardo

Bejerano Narváez, known artistically as Bern Foster, is a Spanish artist. Starting as an engineer, he funded his retro aesthetic illustrations with his salary. Now a full-time illustrator, Bern’s art captures nostalgia, in uenced by his 80s-90s childhood.

LAURA NITSCHE

Austrian artist Laura studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. With experience as an art guide and teaching since 2000, she has studios in Lower Austria and Vienna. Laura collaborates with a Salzberg art gallery, sharing her artistic talent with diverse audiences in Austria and Greece.

NOAH SATERSTROM

Noah’s art is in uenced by his fascination with the unreliability of memory and the passage of time. Growing up in Mississippi, he explores his history by blending ancestral narratives with his role as a husband and dad . Themes of time, memory and family form the heart of his work.

VICTORIA OBOLENSKY

Victoria’s artwork has been globally collected by high-pro le individuals. Her sought-after seascape paintings are featured in renowned publications. Since 2020, Victoria has sold over 450 artworks and continues to operate from her London studio.

Niki Browes Editor

Sketchbook

EDITED BY RAMSHA VISTRO

Things we love...

British artist Aaron Kasmin’s biggest show to date, Strike A Light, will mark the artist’s fth solo exhibition with over 30 new large-scale works. Inspired by American feature matchbooks, Strike a Light will showcase Kasmin’s signature style of fusing together vibrant colours with striking imagery to shed a new light on American culture. While the matchbooks are small, ephemeral and almost forgotten, this exhibition will bring to life themes from food and travel to fashion and sports as it aims to inject a bit of much-needed fun into our everyday lives. On until 20 July 2023 at Sims Reed Gallery, London SW1Y 6DD. gallery.simsreed.com ▫

The Chef, 2022, coloured pencil drawing, 30x21cm

Are you enjoying the inspiring content in this magazine? If so, nd lots more on the fabulous Artists & Illustrators website. One of the biggest and best digital resources for artists of all abilities, the refreshing new redesign makes our How To guides, competitions and interviews even more insightful to read. artistsandillustrators.co.uk

THE DIARY

Open calls, prizes and artist opportunities

Don’t miss...

a chance to see what the Reading Guild of Artists members’ creative juices have produced over this last year and see who the winners of the Marie Dyson Award and the new Pauline Mercier Award are. The RGA 92nd Annual Exhibition Continuum will run from 10 am to 4 pm between 21 July and 1 August 2023 at The Old Fire Station Gallery, 52 Market Place, Henley-on-Thames, RG9 2AG. rga-artists.org.uk

BY TRISH ROBERTS

CLOTHBOUND CLASSICS

Beautifully designed by Coralie BickfordSmith, Little Clothbound Classics are collectable, small-format editions of short stories, novellas and essays. These irresistible, mini-editions are bound in colourful cloth and stamped with foil, evoking the Victorian bookbinding tradition in which the Clothbound Classics series was rst conceived. Penguin Classics, £9.99 each.

BOOK OF THE MONTH

THE VANITAS & OTHER TALES OF ART AND OBSESSION

Jake Kendall

Spanning 300 years of art history, The Vanitas & Other Tales of Art and Obsession tells the stories of those with an insatiable hunger for creation – those who may sacri ce friendships, careers, romance and even their own happiness in pursuit of a vision.

Weaving art styles such as Cubism, Surrealism, and the Baroque into his prose, Jake Kendall has crafted a vivid and inventive collection. Neem Tree Press, £9.99, 17 August 2023

28 JULY

The Royal Society of Marine Artists is seeking submissions of art inspired by the sea and marine environment. Prizes are worth £10,000 and it’s £20 per work. mallgalleries.org.uk

30 JULY

Applications are welcome from UK artists working in the visual arts for the Dover Prize 2023. A £10,000 Bursary will be paid to an indivdual or collective. Free to enter. cdcf.org.uk

6 AUGUST

The Beyond Future Art Prize is open for artists around the world with a focus on sustainable living and climate change in their work. Free to enter. beyondfuture.art

14 AUGUST

The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust is looking for talented and aspiring craftspeople. Funding of up to £18,000 is available to support professionals. qest.org.uk

SPRING

PAN ART'S HAND - MADE PAPERS

Pan Art’s collection of papers is eco-friendly; hand-made from 100% recycled materials. The range includes individual four deckleedged sheets, in three di erent sizes and weights. These hand-made sheet papers are complemented with a wide assortment of watercolour, drawing and sketching pads and journals in various sizes, many with natural deckle edges and attractive covers. panartglobal.com

Be inspired...

by American artist Amy Sillman’s latest display Temporary Object, which presents a new group of large oil paintings alongside the intimate and more immediate drawings that she develops adjacently. Some paintings – such as Mug, with its feast of greens and reds partially obliterating the crayon outline of a face, or Crank with its Matisse-like layers of attened space – are wrought slowly over many months to their level of complexity. Other paintings – such as Lee or In Rio – reveal rhythmic tempo and zones of chroma through gestures on raw canvas. Taken together, the works disclose the varying times of painting, and thinking – from an instinctual moment to what is sustained over an hour, a week, or a season, from which you can take inspiration and implement in your own painting style.

thomasdanegallery.com

EXPLORE…

Professional artists from across the United Kingdom will be exhibiting in Somerset this summer in a very special ve-week event. The work of selected members of Creative Coverage, the arts organisation, will feature in the Celebrating Art 2023 exhibition at Ilminster Arts Centre from 11 July to 12 August 2023. The exhibition then moves to Cranleigh Arts Centre, Surrey from 15 September to 13 October 2023.  creativecoverage.co.uk

THE ARTIST, THOMAS DANE GALLERY AND GLADSTONE GALLERY, NEW YORK

Exhibitions

THE BEST ART SHOWS TO VISIT FROM JULY ONWARDS

A WORLD OF PRIVATE MYSTERY: BRITISH NEOROMANTICS

8 July to 29 October 2023

Nocturnal landscapes and cityscapes illuminated by crescent moons, ruined cottages covered in tangles of undergrowth and anxious gures sheltering in shadowy woodlands – all hallmarks of British neo-romanticism. A spotlight is being shone on this movement that produced some of the

most innovative and captivating works of art in the mid-20th century in a free exhibition at the Fry Art Gallery. The Fry holds a collection of works by neo-romantic artists who lived and worked in northwest Essex, and is joining forces with The Ingram Collection of Modern British Art to explore this movement through an exhibition of 30 works by various artists.

19a Castle St, Sa ron Walden CB10 1BD. fryartgallery.org

MARY BEALE: EXPERIMENTAL SECRETS

Until 3 September 2023

Experimental Secrets sheds new light on the work of the 17th-century painter Mary Beale (1633-1699). It reveals Beale to be a technically innovative painter and uncovers new details about her practice and life. Experimental Secrets is part of Unlocking Paintings – a series of displays presenting new perspectives. Dulwich Picture Gallery, London SE21 7AD. dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk

JEAN COOKE: UNGARDENING

Until 10 September 2023

Ungardening is the rst exhibition focusing on the garden paintings of Jean Cooke RA (1927-2008). Cooke wasn’t a conventional gardener, but she was reliant upon her gardens for emotional support and creative inspiration. Bringing together Cooke’s lyrical garden paintings and portraiture, it will show rarely seen works by an underrated artist. Garden Museum, London SE1 7LB. gardenmuseum.org.uk

GASTON CHAISSAC

Until 16 September 2023

This an exhibition of paintings, drawings, and collages by 20th-century French artist Gaston Chaissac (b. 1910 in Avallon, France).

The rst comprehensive exhibition of Chaissac’s work in the UK, this display spands the entire length of Chaissac’s career from the late 1930s until his death in 1964. Chaissac earned a remarkable amount of international recognition during his lifetime with exhibitions across Europe and the US. Artists such as Georg Baselitz have cited him as an in uence. Today, his work is held in the collections of several museums including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Collection de l’Art Brut, Lausanne; Espace Chaissac, Sainte-Florence, Vendée; amongst others. Michael Werner Gallery, London W1K 7PZ. michaelwerner.com

SMALL WORLDS

Until 9 September 2023

This is the rst show of Tom de Freston’s drawings. Long an admirer of Maurice Sendak, Jon Klassen, and Leonora Carrington, and having built a career around the construction of multimedia worlds, it is little wonder that de Freston has turned his hand to illustration in the past ve years.

From jointly creating stories around miraculous animals with his wife, novelist Kiran Millwood Hargrave, to being selected to create for the rst illustrated edition of Skellig, he has brought his full range of processes to paper. Monoprinting, collaging, maquettes, and painting, combined with interplays of scale and texture give each nished work depth and intrigue.

No 20 Arts, 20 Cross Street, London N1 2BG. no20arts.com

ALICE’S WONDERLANDS

Until 29 October 2023

Join the Waddesdon this year to celebrate the life, collections and legacy of Alice de Rothschild (1847-1922). Discover her key role in Waddesdon’s history with displays in the Exhibition Room and Family Room in the house.

Alice de Rothschild lived alongside her brother, Ferdinand de Rothschild (1839-1898), who built Waddesdon, and she inherited the Manor after his death. A passionate gardener and great collector of Renaissance and 18th-century art, Alice’s story has often been overshadowed by that of her brother. But not any more. The displays uncover how she put her own stamp on Waddesdon. Waddesdon Manor, Aylesbury HP18 0JN. waddesdon.org.uk

£1000 towards an art holiday WIN!

Reignite your creative spark with the guidance of art tutor and expert MARILYN ALLIS

THE PRIZE

Five winners, chosen at random, will each receive a £200 voucher to put towards a Trio Break of their choice in 2023 or 2024.

HOW TO ENTER

Enter by noon on 29 August 2023, either at artistsandillustrators.co.uk/ competitions or by lling in the form below and returning it to: Marilyn Allis Art Breaks, Artists & Illustrators, Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd, Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place, London SW3 3TQ

TERMS & CONDITIONS

The prize is non-transferable. It is not valid in conjunction with any other o ers. No cash alternatives are available. For full terms and conditions, visit chelseamagazines.com/terms

ART HOLIDAY PRIZE DRAW

Name:

Many artists have creative blocks from time to time; feeling uninspired and unmotivated to produce anything of value. However, leaving your studio and engaging in a tutor-led experience can give you that much-needed recharge.

Embark on a painting vacation designed to refresh and improve your artistic ability with renowned art educator Marilyn Allis.

Throughout the Trio Break, Marilyn and two other accomplished artists will o er their guidance with a variety of techniques, topics and demonstrations while providing studio views of the Bournemouth seaside.

Five lucky readers will have the opportunity to win £200 each to use towards one of the three-day holidays that includes a stay in a ve-star hotel on the coast, three-course meals

and all the creative spark you can handle. The workshop is led by a new teacher each day and each course is tailored to a distinct set of skills. This includes live demonstrations on several subjects, as well as expert advice and criticism.

Marilyn might be a familiar face from Channel 4’s Watercolour Challenge and is a frequent contributor to Artists & Illustrators She is a loose impressionist painter who has published three books, catches light and movement in her artwork and imparts her expertise by teaching on cruise ships.

You can discover video sessions that o er you an overview of her tutorials on her website. There are also monthly and annual membership options for people looking for planned online lessons and painting-related content. marilynallis.com

Address:

Postcode:

Email:

Telephone:

The closing date for entries is noon on 29 August 2023.

Brand New Products from

your favourite brushmaker!

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BA (HONS) CONTEMPORARY PORTRAITURE

New bursary launched to support students applying for the BA (Hons) Contemporary Portraiture programme, the only degree in portrait painting in Europe.

Find out more and apply www.artacademy.ac.uk

Going home, Donegal, watercolour on board, cold pressed, 73x48cm

We present...

JOHN COONEY

Ican remember drawing a head in great detail at the age of only three. My parents made such a fuss and were so enthusiastic that I’ve never forgotten it. My father then encouraged me to paint, and it all really took o from there. Getting praise at an early age for something you love to do is a great motivator, but I wish there had been better advice in my formative years.

I trained as an illustrator at college but as a career, it didn’t suit my personality. Having only a paintbrush for company suits a certain kind of individual and it wasn’t always for me. So, I began to work in a studio in graphic design and advertising. I don’t think people need to go to art college to be an artist, but it’s the opportunity to have time to explore and be in uenced by other artists.

I love painting portraits, but landscapes sell much more easily. I always carry a camera in case I see anything that interests me. Some of the latest phones take brilliant pictures but I still carry my SLR camera. I mostly travel to Donegal for inspiration; the people form the land, but the environment and weather form them. I especially love the northwest Atlantic areas; the wilder the better.

I still nd time to experiment with di erent materials and subject matters. Variety really is essential or you risk getting into a rut. I don’t have a favourite medium, but I mostly paint in watercolour rather than oil. I do still need to explore techniques in watercolour, but it’s always with the intention of returning to oils.

I rarely paint from one photograph, I take the best aspects from di erent ones instead, especially in landscapes. I use Photoshop to combine the di erent elements and change the colours, contrast and so on. I’m sure the Old Masters would have done the same if they’d had access to computers.

I do paint commissions but don’t really like doing them, to be honest. Painting is a business and I’ve had to learn a lot of new skills, especially using social media e ectively to promote sales. Selling originals is great, but a lot of people can’t a ord them. For this reason, I sell signed giclee prints of my work. My art isn’t terribly unique, I think we are all in uenced by other artists.

britishartclub.co.uk/pro le/johncooney

This month’s spotlight on a British Art Club member

An Irish artist who paints people in their real environments, doing everyday things

Obolensky Victoria

This artist paints seascapes inspired by her childhood in Malta and from an array of photographs taken during various trips to the British coastline.  Ramsha Vistro  delves deeper ▸

Impact, oil on canvas, 30x30cm

Evolve, oil on canvas, 30x30cm

Early Evening Rain, acrylic on canvas, 30x24cm

As a five-year-old, Victoria Obolensky used to watch the BBC’s Take Hart, completely captivated by Tony Hart’s artworks. She submitted a painting of a palm tree by the sea, at age 10, which was chosen to be televised in one of the episodes. Since then, her artistic abilities and her love for the arts have only developed.

Although she did art at A Level, she didn’t pursue it as a career until later on in life. At 17, she worked for Homes and Gardens magazine in the publishing department, before moving on to work for Elle, Tatler, GQ and Vanity Fair. “It was whilst working at Conde Nast that I also did a part-time bachelor’s degree. I nanced my degree by working in GQ’s art department.”

Victoria attended the Chelsea College of Art aged 23, as a mature student, studying a foundation course before going to Camberwell College of Art to do a BA in Graphic Design. “After graduating, I focused on photography and moved to the South of France in 2001 to pursue it. I was invited to

exhibit in Monte Carlo; it was there that Prince Albert II of Monaco purchased a couple of my pieces.

“When I returned to the UK in 2004, I began to teach art on a freelance basis. I rented a studio in Chelsea and ran numerous creative workshops for both children and adults. I also travelled to Italy to teach art and take photographs.”

She uses such photographs as reference images to paint from, when she’s back in her studio –a room in her detached Victorian house in west London, encapsulated in high ceilings and adorned with large bay windows, with morning light pouring in and old, large oak trees for a view. “The walls are white; the oors have original oorboards and there is nothing but paint and canvases in the studio; I can’t work surrounded by clutter. My cat, Archie will often come and sleep next to me whilst I paint. The peace and quiet is tangible and when I’m totally absorbed in the painting process, I forget about my surroundings completely.

“I am yet to paint en plein air, mainly because I really feel the cold. Last year, I

went to the Isle of Wight and took hundreds of photos of the sea. When I go abroad or am visiting the coast, I take a lot of photographs while seeking new inspiration.”

Victoria hopes to create art “which works in terms of realism, composition, colour and balance,” and wants viewers to feel “inspired and uplifted.”When she was younger, Victoria would paint everything from rainbows to headless gures, but her art slowly progressed through the years into seascapes, particularly during lockdown.

“My son, Max was born in 2012 and apart from a few abstract commission pieces for the Chelsea Library, I was mainly a full-time mother. I would teach some art workshops in Chelsea and paint occasionally; mainly abstract work with incredibly bright colours. I experimented a lot until 2019, when I created an abstract seascape which attracted a huge amount of attention on Facebook. Originally, my seascapes were all abstract but sold within hours of publishing on social media.

“In 2020, there was time and space to be at home which was an absolute gift for me, ▸

Breakthrough, oil on canvas, 30x24cm

as it allowed me to really focus on painting. I created about four paintings a week; posting and selling them regularly on Instagram. My seascapes developed over the next couple of years, with a strong sense of realism creeping in.

“I love water in all its forms. The sea is so expressive; it can be still and gentle one moment and then roaring and powerful the next. When I look at the ocean, I feel like I’m home. I feel a sense of total calm and relief. I was brought up in Malta and we lived near the sea, which I’m sure in uenced me greatly. I also have a creative background; my mother is an artist and journalist.”

While her time in Malta has inspired her seascape paintings, Victoria rarely paints what now surrounds her. “I reside in west London now, with my 10-year-old son and Ragdoll cat. Though, I have no doubt they would make great subject matters!” Does she ever change what she paints? Only when facing artist’s block. “It’s times like this that I will change my subject matter completely

and paint marbles, for example. Changing the subject matter around helps me to paint more liberally.”

Acrylic is her favourite medium to work with, but some of her paintings are also created in oil. “The clouds, for example, are easier to create with oils, as are those big oceans with re ecting light,” she shares.

Victoria is more of an early bird than a night owl and tends to do her best work before midday. She usually wakes at about 7.30 am and begins her day with “some very strong co ee.” She then feeds Archie, checks the news headlines before doing the school run at 9.00 am. She begins painting as soon as she returns.

“I usually paint for about four to ve hours without stopping and lm parts of the painting process for social media. When I’m right in the middle of painting, everything gets very messy. I don’t have time to tidy up as I’m just completely absorbed in the painting process. However, at the end of the day, I’ll always clear up.”

How long does it takeVictoria tocreate one of her paintings? “A smaller painting will usually take me about six hours, depending on the amount of detail in it A very large painting is likely to take me about a week.”

Her spare time is devoted to looking after her son, going on walks and practising yoga. “More recently, I’ve started to mediate again which helps me to gain perspective. In the evening, I’ll switch o by watching a lm; anything sci- related!”

She believes all artists are “unique and individual; and so is our art. You can ask 10 people to paint the same apple and yet, each painting will re ect that individual in some way. The clouds I create in my paintings are very emotive; I totally let go when I paint them. Every painting I create is a subconscious re ection of where I am; sometimes there are storms and sometimes just light – it’s always very much a re ection of life’s ups and downs. I’ll always try to encapsulate the essence of whatever it is I am painting.”

Is there anything surprising about her art journey? “I never thought social media would be such a powerful tool for artists. Having been brought up with dial phones and no internet, I had to force myself to embrace the technical change and I’m very glad I have.”

Victoria’s favourite part of being an artist is “when a client writes to me about how moved and touched they are by a painting of mine; then I feel very much that this is what it’s all about.”

victoriaobolensky.com ▫

The sea is so expressive. It can be gentle one moment and roaring the next

Calmly , oil on canvas, 40x30cm

Forevermore, oil on canvas, 30x24cm

Welcome to

British A rt THE

CLUB

FORMERLY KNOWN AS PORTFOLIO

Bid farewell to Portfolio – and a big hello to The British Art Club!

You asked – we listened and delivered! We are delighted to announce that Portfolio has been upgraded to The British Art Club on a brand-new, brilliant platform and now working better than ever. Your Portfolio membership will continue as before, including the artworks currently listed on your profile. Don’t worry: you won’t need to pay a penny more than you currently do. Simply log in to your Portfolio account and you will be prompted to reset your password the first time you sign in. Then, all that’s left for you to do is enjoy everything the new club has to offer!

Once logged in, your improved profile will appear and you can share, showcase and sell your artwork commission free. Make your artwork easier for buyers to find by tagging it in the relevant categories – plus, don’t forget to fill in details about the size, medium and price of each artwork. You can also connect with fellow artists, explore a range of artistic inspiration, enter our latest art challenges and keep uploading your work for a chance to feature in Artists & Illustrators (a selection of past featured artists are on the left).

The team has been working hard to bring you this improved platform for you and fellow artists to enjoy. If you have any feedback, please get in touch with us at:  hello@britishartclub.co.uk.

We can’t wait to see what you’ve been creating!

Marti Hall, As in a Dream

Mark McCallum , An Meallan Highlands of Scotland

Anthony Cowland, Dragon ies at Scotney Castle

Sue Gardner, Taynuilt

HOW I MAKE IT WORK

Laura Nitsche

Istudied at the Academy of Fine Arts as well as at the University for Applied Arts, both in Vienna. For years I worked in the art education sector and as an art guide at the Albertina and the Kunstforum museums, where I spent a lot of time around old and new masters and learnt a lot.

I have continually taught art to all age groups; I still do and love doing so. I was always engaged artistically but I really started painting when I was on a course with fellow Austrian artist Xenia Hausner. She opened the world of painting for me and ever since then, I have spent more and more time painting.

I started exhibiting my work about 12 years ago, which has led to numerous opportunities. I have been working with galleries for the last three years and my work has been shown at various museums.

My book Ka eemilch Ka ee Kekse Topfen Marillen. Eine Hommage an die Einkaufsliste (Co ee

milk co ee cookies curd cheese apricots. An hommage to the shopping list) was a major step in my career. I have been collecting shopping lists o the street and from trash cans for years, and then painting the items on the lists in an old masterly way. I was so immersed that I started researching and reading about still lifes, shopping lists and consumerism. Eventually, the idea for a book was born.

I am a natural hard worker and didn’t plan my future; things developed out of my determination and love for painting. The only thing I would change about my journey is I would have participated in more competitions. Now, it’s too late. After the age of 35 and then 40, there is not a single important award in Austria that helps establish your name and career. I had to support myself through my studies so didn’t have time for entries nor the knowledge of its importance back then. Nonetheless, that is my path, and I am glad to have come this far. lauranitsche.com ▫

Austrian artist Laura Nitsche shares how her determination led to a successful art career

FAR LEFT Hunting dogs, 120x80cm, oil on linen ABOVE 1 and a half bread, milk, tea green, tea black, pretzel, 40x50cm, oil on linen

LEFT Pompous still life (cantaloupe, grapes, lemon, owers, milk, sausages, lettuce, tomatoes, sh, eggs, strawberries, cheese), 120x80cm, oil on linen

1

Stay independent Don’t bend your artistic practice for trends, galleries or commissions. Follow your own ideas and interests. Only that can guarantee an authentic approach.

2

Remind yourself that you and your art are unique  Art is one of the few areas where originality and personality play a major role. Respect yourself for that and make sure others do too.

LAURA’S TIPS ON BECOMING A FULL -TIME ARTIST 3

Be aware

Read contracts, exchange experiences with colleagues and, if in doubt, ask for legal advice.

Brooks Kim

A digital artist with a background in animation, BROOKS KIM also likes to draw portraits with pen. It’s a style that has attracted a substantial following, finds Niki Browes

Even though Brooks Kim was born in Seoul, South Korea (and has lived there ever since) it’s only in recent years that the art scene has really exploded in the capital and become a creative magnet for global galleries and art fairs. Even so, art wasn’t big a part of Brooks’ life until he was older. He used to draw as a child but claims his creative talent was lacking – but we suspect he’s either being humble or hard on himself. He would graffiti as a teenager, draw portraits in pen and taught himself digital art by studying books and tutorials on the internet. Still,

a career in art wasn’t an option. “My parents had expectations and wishes for me,” he explains. “A future related to art was not a good option for them.” A degree in Architectural Engineering followed. He learnt the theory of perspective, how to use space, and was able to think deeply about points, lines, and planes. Upon graduation, he joined an animation-related company, eventually making it into a career with a design background – whilst it was also a role professional enough to keep his folks happy.

Instagram: @9brookskim ▸

Maria Eudarda, digital

Haeyo, sketch

I’m still working for a gaming company full-time.

It’s my dream to become a professional artist, but I’m not there yet. I make money from commissions and sales of my tutorials, but it’s not enough to live on. I’m the type of person who is always practising. I’m constantly developing, and my paintings change every year. If I think positively, it seems that my signature is developing over time; if I think negatively, I worry that I am drawing paintings that are too stereotypical. Sometimes, I wonder if I’m simply aligning myself with the preferences of my followers or fans. But in the end, it seems that they like the pictures that I am also happy with.

My digital art takes two or three hours. Compared to traditional painting, digital work can be compressed. For instance, I don’t need time for the paint to dry or to prepare the materials. I also don’t need a studio; I work on my computer at home or draw on my iPad in a cafe. Even when I go away on a trip, I always carry my iPad with me and draw whenever I can. I think this is the big advantage of digital painting because I can draw various kinds of pictures anywhere. In Photoshop, I made a custom brush pack. To brie y explain the process, I start by gently painting the bottom colour and then polishing to complete. Depending on when the brush is changed, the texture of the picture changes slightly.

When there is no such thing as a desktop or laptop, I often draw using pencils or ballpoint pens Drawing on paper is a di erent feeling than digital art; it feels like a completely di erent practice. Even so, I think you can tell that my drawing and digital art is by me, the same person. Drawing helps you see the painting in a completely di erent perspective.

Ultimately, I have always admired oil painters and think my all time goal is to become pro cient in the medium. I try to incorporate the sensibility of oil painting into my digital art. I hope it shows.

Sometimes, the images of my portraits comes from my imagination. But my usual practice involves drawing on platforms like Instagram or Pinterest or asking my friends to be models. While I do take on commissions that involve drawing men, my personal work primarily revolves around the portrayal of women. I want to express many things in my drawing but, for

Marina Mui, digital

Kailee Morgue, digital

I try to incorporate the sensibility of oil painting into my digital art

my personal work, I mainly draw the female form. It’s so much fun to express their emotions and gestures. Maybe that’s why 70% of my fans are male!

There are famous artists who draw

pictures that are not objectively high-quality.

Just because their skills aren’t great doesn’t mean the quality or level of the work is low. The recognition and popularity of their names indicates the value of their work. The fact that their names are known means that their work is valuable.

I have collaborated with Disney+ and occasionally draw covers for comics. More recently, I’ve been collaborating with computer peripheral vendors such as the XP-Pen and TourBox. Still, I know some people dismiss digital art as not ‘real’ art. I think that’s a narrow idea. Art is not

something one can monopolise. They are isolating themselves with such grand ideas. Just as I am planning to branch out into physical oil painting, they should also open their eyes to digital painting. If for nothing else, it’s great fun and informs your skills.

Now there are many di erent platforms in which you can expose your work. You can use powerful weapons like Instagram or YouTube. Get more exposure and you’ll get more feedback in return. In such a process, a meaningful turning point will surely arise. I know this isn’t as easy as it sounds. But try – and you’ll get the answer. ▫

Gracie, pencil

Woman in yellow shirt, digital

Muri, digital

ARTBrıtısh Prıze

The 2023

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Artists & Illustrators is delighted to be back with The British Art Prize 2023 and we’re super excited to have Adobe as this year’s partner. Enter now and you could win some fantastic prizes, have your artwork displayed at a prestigious London gallery and also have your art featured in this magazine

We’re excited to host the annual British Art Prize once again this year, sponsored by digital giant Adobe. A signi cant national art competition, The British Art Prize will provide winning artists of all levels with a broad platform for achieving bene cial exposure and recognition for their artwork.

KIRSTEN TODD

GARY ARMER

ANNA REED

Open to everyone, whether you’re a novice, an up-and-coming artist, or a seasoned painter, all genres, media and methods will be taken into consideration.

The British Art Prize provides artists with the possibility to sell their creations to a combined audience of around one million art enthusiasts and collectors, as well as a rst-of-its-kind amount of national exposure across four major magazine brands. Additionally, there is an enormous prize fund including cash awards, art gift cards and the opportunity to be featured in an exhibition at the esteemed gallery@oxo in early 2024. A spectacular, private opening evening ceremony with artists, collectors and other VIP visitors will be held for the shortlisted artists. Each and every entry will also come with a plus-one admission to the exclusive event.

Prizes

This year, all 50 shortlisted artists of The British Art Prize will each receive at least one award. The prize fund totals over £10,000, including cash prizes from Adobe, plus valuable coverage in Artists & Illustrators, and inclusion in a popular central London exhibition at gallery@oxo

FIRST PRIZE

The overall winner of T he British Art Prize will receive a £2,500 cash prize courtesy of Adobe, a £500 Royal Talens gift voucher, a six-page feature in a future issue of Artists & Illustrators and the winning painting will be shownat the esteemed gallery@oxo in early 2024. adobe.com, royaltalens.com

SECOND PRIZE

A £1,000 cash prize from Adobe and a £500 Derwent gift voucher to polish your skills. Inclusion in the Artists & Illustrators British Art Prize winners’ special issue, where a branded 10-page editorial will include images of all the shortlists and winners. The winning painting will be shown at the esteemed gallery@oxo in early 2024 derwentart.com

THIRD PRIZE

A £500 Pegasus Art Supplies gift voucher and inclusion in The British Art Prize winners’ special issue where a branded 10-page editorial will include images of all the shortlist and winners. The winning painting will be shown at the esteemed gallery@oxo in early 2024 pegususart.co.uk

THE PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD

A £1,000 Atlantis Art Materials voucher and a feature in the March 2024 issue of Artists & Illustrators. The winning painting will be shown at the esteemed gallery@oxo in early 2024

Atlantis will also be providing a £50 art materials voucher for each of the 50 shortlisted artists. atlantisart.co.uk

How to enter

Entering The British Art Prize couldn’t be easier. Visit artistsandillustrators.co.uk/ britishartprize and simply ll out the online form. Attach digital photographs of your artwork when requested and click the submit button to complete your entry. The entry fee for the rst artwork is £17 and £14 for any additional artwork.

Selection process

Submissions close at 5 pm on 28 September 2023. Judging will close on 24 November 2023. Our panel of judges will select a shortlist of 50 artworks, including the three top prize winners.

The British Art Prize 2023 shortlist and winners will be announced online and in the February 2024 issue of Artists & Illustrators, which goes on sale on 22 December 2023. If you’ve entered, visit artistsandillustrators.co.uk after that date to see if your work has been shortlisted. Readers will also be able to vote for their favourite shortlisted artwork at artistsandillustrators.co.uk/britishartprize The People’s Choice Award will be decided by a public vote and announced in the March ‘24 issue of Artists & Illustrators and on our website on 19 January 2024.

Enter for free

The British Art Club members can enter The British Art Prize 2023 free of charge. The British Art Club is an exciting online community that allows you to share, showcase and sell your artwork for as little as £2.49 per month. As well as free entry into The British Art Prize, other membership bene ts include:

• Sell your artwork commission free to an active audience of more than 100,000 monthly visitors

• Access exclusive competitions, opportunities and o ers

• Appear in Artists & Illustrators, social media, newsletters and more!

Sign up to The British Art Club at britishartclub.co.uk

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Carrie Megan

When a lucky break after college leads to an internship with the illustrator Milton Glaser – best known for his now iconic I ♥ NY logo – then you know you’re o to a good start. It was an opportunity that opened doors Carrie Megan didn’t even know existed. It meant she was able to land her rst job as an Art Director for a private label paper goods company, where she learned how to design packaging, work with illustrators and photographers and supervise print runs. Over the years, she worked for several branding and packaging design rms, working on a diverse range of consumer products from Bacardi to Proctor & Gamble, Lever Bros and Nestles, to name just a few. No two projects were the same and in the pre-Mac era, creative development involved research, sketching and creating nely crafted prototypes. She may have continued to work in this eld in New York for the

rest of her career but she met her husband – and life changed dramatically.

A Bostonian, her husband has strong family ties in the area. When he oated the idea of Carrie relocating, he was shocked when she said yes. Gillette o ered her a position as a Design Manager for their writing instruments and, although at rst ambivalent about working on a limited product line, she ended up loving the work. The company was incredibly accommodating and after having three children, including twins – in just 14 months! – they o ered her a two-day work week. But, alas, it was still too much to juggle and after a couple of years, she resigned. Over the years, she undertook various freelance and pro bono design jobsand started a business creating art and decor for children’s’ rooms. But with three young children, homelife was hectic. And then she discovered botanical art – and her life did an about turn once again ▸

After many years working exclusively as a botanical artist, capturing the minute details and ephemeral beauty of plant life in growth and decay, CARRIE MEGAN expanded her focus to take in the broad vistas of nature. It’s a process she’s still learning, she tells Niki Browes

Peach-Glo, oil, 60.96x60.96cm

In 2005, I was playing golf with a friend who mentioned she had registered for a botanical art class at the Wellesley College Botanic Gardens. She knew I had an art background and asked, would I take it with her? I thought it would be fun. She never showed up but I did – and didn’t know then that it would end up being more than a decade-long love a air. We sat in the garden and drew local species. I don’t

remember what my rst drawing was but do know it was pretty horrible. However, it did awaken in me the desire to draw, so I continued to take classes. Creating botanical art was incredible training. It focused observation and honed my drawing and painting skills. I wore glasses greater than my normal prescription and used a magnifying glass. After graduating from the very rst certi cate program class in 2010, I was asked

to teach in the programme, which I did until 2020. I used to tell my students: “If you can’t see it, you can’t draw or paint it.”

Working as closely as I did with the botanicals and using the technique of working in layers was extremely labour intensive.

In fact, I was scheduled to deliver a series of six watercolours on vellum to an annual ▸

Transparent Sky oil and cold wax, 30.48x 30.48cm

Beach Wind, oil, 15.24x15.24cm

Elements, oil, 30.48x30.48cm

Luminous, oil, 60.96x60.96cm

juried show with The Royal Horticultural Society and after completing four paintings, I ran out of steam. Each painting could take a couple of months to complete and I lost the drive to continue. That was when I decided I needed to pivot. With the goal of working larger and with more freedom, I started taking acrylic painting classes at the Danforth Museum in Framingham, Massachusetts in 2015. Taking classes with di erent instructors was helpful in exposing me to di erent ways of working and lead me to one instructor in particular, Margaret Gerding, a wonderful landscape painter, who mentored me and helped to put me on my new path. It was and continues to be a big learning curve.

With my landscapes, I switched from micro to macro.

Working larger in acrylics – and eventually in oils – demanded a whole new way of working. My back and neck su ered from years of working so closely with live or dry specimen. It was liberating to be able to stand at an easel

and let my body move with the momentum of a brush stroke. Everything was new to me: how to create a composition from photo reference or working en plein air, how to block out a composition, mix paints, use mediums and di erent tools. The biggest change I’m still learning is working more intuitively and being less tied to subject matter. With botanicals, I learned how to represent my subject as accurately as possible. The landscape work that I do now demands a di erent level of creativity and the skill and ability to trust what happens on the canvas.

I am lucky to live outside of Boston in an area that is close to nature.

My husband and I belong to the Massachusetts Audubon Society and Trustees of the Reservation, both non-pro ts that have beautiful trail systems throughout Massachusetts. Another big in uence on my landscape

I’d hope my work conjures up the visceral experience of the beach

Peach Light, oil, 15.24x15.24cm

Ocean Sky, oil, 60.96x60.96cm

work has been the many beautiful beaches of New England; the magni cence of the ocean, ephemeral skies and shifting sands plays a big role in the work that I do. I’m nding more and more that most of my paintings are done in my studio. I love the feeling of being out in nature and of experiencing the natural light but sometimes I nd myself getting locked into being too representational when I am outside. When I work in my studio, I try to let go – and it’s a continuing process – of expectations in order to work more abstractly.

I am fortunate to have space in my home for a studio.

After all of my children left home, I converted one of the bedrooms into my studio. It has lovely southern light that streams in through two windows that look out onto several oaks, maples and a magnolia; a veritable wall of green! I had recessed LEDs installed in the ceiling along with an exhaust fan over my palette. Along with this and my easel, I set up my Mac in a corner between the two windows and I have a large drafting table to prepare paintings for shipping.

A typical day starts around 6:30 with a cup of tea and a piece of toast. I then either do a Zoom workout or ride my Peloton bike. After a shower, I have a heartier breakfast of oatmeal and berries. I take a cup of co ee up to my studio, where I go through my emails and tackle any of the administrative jobs that need to be done. Then I’m ready to paint, which I do with a break for lunch until I knock o around 6pm. A full day at the o ce!

So much of my work is in uenced by the visceral experience of walking on the beach.

Every sense is involved: the taste of salt in the air, wind and sun on your skin, the crash of the waves and the incredible vision of a kaleidoscopic sky. I’d like to imagine that my work conjures up that experience in some way and confers a sense of serenity and joy.

My goal artistically has been to evolve away from purely representational art. I started with my roots in scienti cally accurate art, so abstract painting continues to be alearning curve. I continue to learn about di erent tools through workshops and I try to carve out time for experimentation. It’s a far cry from my botanical days. ▫

Shifting Tide, oil, 30.48x30.48cm

Ephemeral Sky, oil, 15.24x15.24cm

The Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition

By Adrian Mourby

This year there were anonymous submissions from countries as far apart as Australia, Canada, India, the United States and Taiwan. In total, 16,500 works, mostly from Britain, were judged initially on photographic evidence. Less than 10% (1,497 pieces this year) were shortlisted and assessed in person at the RA’s headquarters in Piccadilly. A committee of Academicians makes the nal selection. This year, 1,614 artworks (of which 1,135 were public submissions) will be displayed in Burlington House. Of these, 498 of the works selected were by rst-timers which is just about 30% – an impressive tally given that all works (apart from those by the Academicians) are submitted anonymously, so no preferential treatment can be given to “new voices.”

Here are just six works from rst-timers who attended the Non-Members Varnishing Day on 2 June 2023.▸

This renowned annual exhibition is the largest democratic art competition in the world. Anyone can enter – and they do.

Charlotte Russell Stoneham Jugs a Trio

WATERCOLOUR AND GOUACHE, 27X42CM

Charlotte is 41 and this is her second attempt at entering the RA Competition. She studied Fashion Print at Central St Martins University of the Arts London. She also studied embroidery while living in New York City.

“I believe in seeing beauty in everyday objects. I love experimenting with a variety of media and techniques. In this picture, the central jug has been screen-printed and the others hand-painted. All have been cut out to emphasise the shape and form of each jug I am inspired by Patrick

Sandra Ackermann Possibility No 1

MIXED MEDIUM, 29.7X21CM

Caul eld’s Pottery (1969) in which everyday objects were painted in bold playful colours.

I’m interested in our connection to everyday objects, both practical and functional but also how objects jugs, mugs, vases (etc ) evoke sentiment and memories and connection when used. We remember if the object was a gift or where and when we purchased it.

Ultimately, it is a still-life, I knew within myself I needed to start painting jugs it was just a feeling I had and I’m so glad I did.I moved from London in 2018 with my then-baby son, George (now 6 years old). We live in the beautiful Cotswolds while being a full-time (single) mummy, I have been passionate to continue my dream of focusing on my art, working from a tiny studio at home.” studiocrs.co.uk

Sandra (48) has entered the Summer Exhibition before, but none of her pieces have gone beyond the second round of the selection process until now.

“I live in London and a small village on the river Mosel in Germany. I was born and grew up in Germany. I came to London to study at the Slade School of Fine Art for a year. That was in 2000. I met my now-husband back then and started living between Germany and the UK.

I am a full-time artist and I see my work as an ongoing project of cultural observation from a female perspective. This piece is inspired by thoughts about identity: the image we have of ourselves and the simultaneously existing image others have of us.

It is also about inner and outer reality, and the di erent layers of which the self is constructed; the di erent selves that are accumulated in one personality.

Due to my ongoing shoulder pain which comes from years of painting in big format, I have recently started experimenting with di erent techniques on paper.Creating these multi-layered mixed-media drawings feels like a very exciting step forward.

I use di erent layers of paper on top of each other to re ect these di erent aspects of reality and self.”

sandraackermann.de

Janie is 55 and based in Brighton. “I originally trained as an illustrator. For the last few years, I’ve been teaching myself to paint in oils. Fine art is my rst love and I am a keen student of art history.

Janie had had two paintings accepted this year on her rst attempt. “The book with the lemon is called Surfacing. Lemons are a favourite motif of mine and are often depicted in still-life throughout history. They are a way of getting a bright splash of colour into a painting; the shape and texture are good to paint whilst trying to get the feel of the

waxy lemon skin with oil paint. It is good to capture something that will eventually decay: it adds another element. For this painting I simply went into my kitchen to nd something to add to the still life and a lemon jumped out at me.

Surfacing came about while I was working on another piece. I’ve been developing a series of book stack paintings. It’s pretty plain, with neutral colours. A limited palette is quite satisfying at times. And what really drew me in were the ashes of metallic on the lettering and the tape on the black book. The books are good company for each other and are by two of my favourite writers: Margaret Atwood and Joan Didion. The lemon on top gently takes the focus o the books as the central theme, turning it from a book stack to a still-life.”

janielongmore.com ▸

Jaine Langmore Surfacing OIL, 20X20CM

Fiona Geilinger A Sense of Touch

ACRYLIC, 37.6X43.5CM

Fiona says this painting was inspired by her son-in-law, the artist Ruaidhri Ryan, who modelled for the work. “We had a long, amusing session together trying di erent body contortions and poses to get the perfect crop and I wanted that playfulness to come through in the painting which stems from my 15-year investigation into fabric, pattern and the body in silhouette. It is part of a series of tightly-cropped compositions of the clothed gure, focusing on folds and hands.”

This was Fiona’s rst entry to the summer exhibition because the painting has only recently become her primary medium. “I have experimented with a wide range of artistic processes in my career. In addition to a decade working in broadcast television, I studied contemporary dance and garden design and have an MA in Art & Design.” Fiona describes herself as a full-time artist living between Brighton and Emilia Romagna, Italy. “I spend a lot of my time in the garden in Italy, growing architectural plants and vegetables. Their colours and shapes are a constant source of inspiration. I am 61 years young, and life gets better every day.”

onageilinger.co.uk

Peter Meades Passage of Light

PHOTOGRAPH, 30X40CM

Dr Meades is a psychotherapist who lives near the Royal Academy.

“I started taking photos when I moved to London in the 1980s, originally with an analogue camera, and always loved that process. The moment captured in Passage of Light, occurred last winter when the sun was sitting low in the sky

I knew this could be a good photo. The other reason this was a Godsend was because our hallway houses a collection of works of art by Academicians like Tracey Emin, Norman Ackroyd and Eileen Cooper. The sunlight shines over a few favoured pieces Right Here by Tracey Emin; Indigo by Eileen Cooper and Chair and Chair by Rachel Whiteread. Eerily, these are my favourite pieces too – so how did the sun know that? The digital image was taken without hesitation.”

This was Peter’s rst entry ever. “I have always admired the RA and love the summer exhibition. I remember years ago strolling around the exhibition and thinking, “Maybe one day I might enter something here too.” petermeades.co.uk

Daisy Jarrett Soft

PRINT, 22X33CM

Daisy is 37 years old and works as an art technician and teacher of printmaking at a Richmond adult education college.

“Teaching has made me a lot more playful with my own work. I also learn a lot from my students, some have been printmaking for many years. My oldest student is 92! I live in South London, where I was born. My Grandad is also a printmaker, so I have grown up with the form.”

This was the second time Daisy has entered work into the Summer exhibition. Her successful entry is a mono screenprint which means it’s a one-o print painted on a silkscreen with watercolours and pulled once. “I mostly work with monoprints, I love the unpredictable painterly nature of the technique and the happy accidents often make the work for me.

My work is about the modern-day female experience particularly relating to body image and social media. I nd lots of my subjects on Instagram but also through doing life drawing and personal experience. I like to represent bodies that are not usually visible in the media, bodies that people can relate to fat, hairy, saggy boobs and so on.”

daisyjarrett.co.uk ▫

The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition continues until 20 August 2023  royalacademy.org.uk

Street life

Head down to Suffolk this summer to enjoy a world-first opportunity to see a unique collection of BANKSY artworks, says Angela Youngman , some of which no longer exist in reality due to the war in Ukraine ▸

LEFT Replica life size print of Judo, 244x304cm, Banksy RIGHT No, anti-war placard, 244x304cm, Banksy

BRANDLER GALLERIES

Urban Frame: Mutiny in Colour is a huge new contemporary art exhibition containing over 300 artworks by a range of artists including Banksy, Blek the Rat, Pure Evil, the Connor Brothers, Greyson Perry, My Dog Sighs, SPQR, Sherlock, Bambi, Lamont White, Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, Hush and many others. It is the largest such exhibition in the UK and represents a collaboration between West Su olk Council and Brandler Galleries, home to rare works by street artists such as Banksy, the Connor Brothers and Blek Le Rat to name but a few.

The exhibition is split across three venues: Moyses Hall, Bury St Edmunds, The National Horse Racing Museum Newmarket and Haverhill Arts Centre. Visitors can see the exhibition at Moyses Hall and the National Horse Racing Museum until 1st October 2023 , while the opening period is much shorter at Haverhill on 10 July and 12 September 2023.

Works by Banksy are split across all three venues, although the biggest group can be found in Newmarket. Over the past couple of decades, Banksy has become one of the most famous of all contemporary artists, particularly due to his anonymity. To this day, no one knows just who hides behind the name. He specialises in the use of stencilled images which are often applied to walls and other installations secretly overnight but has produced other work including posters, placards and book illustrations.

Urban Frame o ers an opportunity to see just how his work has developed. On display in Newmarket are very early works including images stencilled onto cardboard which were used at anti-war rallies such as a placard showing a little girl clasping a bomb with the word NO in bright red letters. A rat with glasses is stencilled onto a bollard, while in a 2003 work entitled Have a Nice Day, military police are shown lined up around a tank. The threatening image is stressed by the fact that all the police have been given yellow smiley faces signifying they hide behind masks.

By far his most well-known images are the big, spray-painted characters placed in public places. Many of these have since been removed, with great di culty since it involves taking large chunks of wall, away from a building. Among such works on display is Banksy’s Sandcastle Girl mural which was originally painted on a shop wall in Lowestoft, Norfolk during his 2021 ‘spraycation’ visit to the area. It shows a little girl with a crowbar next to a sandcastle.

Placed on display in Moyses Hall, it has been given extra emphasis by being surrounded by sca olding and broken paving. The curator of the Moyses Hall display suspects Banksy anonymously visited the museum a couple of years ago when it was hosting a smaller-scale Moments contemporary art exhibition. Very soon afterwards, Sandcastle Girl appeared in Lowestoft, along with other images at varying locations across Norfolk. Banksy’s Hula Hoop Girl can be seen at Newmarket.

Just like Sandcastle Girl, it was spray painted onto a wall and features a girl playing hula hoop with a damaged bike tyre. A broken bike is propped up nearby. Also at Newmarket are the unique series of life-size photographs from Ukraine. “These are the seven works which Banksy did in Ukraine,” explains John Brandler, the owner of Brandler Galleries. A photographer managed to get there before they were destroyed in the war, and these images are now all that remain. Ukraine has sent over some rubble and personal items left after the bombing in those areas.”

These images have never been seen before outside the Ukraine and are extremely poignant. Almost all are simple black and white stencils, sometimes involving a Banksy stencil transforming an existing gra ti image into something di erent. Among the most dramatic images are those that show people determined to carry on ▸

Urban Frame is more than just Banksy; it opens your eyes to a wide range of street art

Telescopic Heights, 76x102cm, Cyclops

I don’t know about other people but when I wake up in the morning and put my shoes on I think Christ, now what?

115x176cm, The Connor Brothers

The Bathtub, 244x304cms, Banksy

Detail from Gasmask, 244x 304cm, Banksy

with their lives no matter what, such as a housewife wearing a gas mask, or an injured gymnast practising. There are political messages too, such as Judo. This portrays a young boy defeating a grown man at Judo symbolising the struggle between the unequal forces between Ukraine and Russia, especially since Putin is known to be keen on martial arts.

But Urban Frame is more than merely Banksy. It opens your eyes to a wide range of contemporary art styles, some of which may not appeal and there are de nite surprises in store as Dan, curator at Moyses Hall indicates. “We have found that people come to see Banksy and leave saying how much they have enjoyed seeing others like Pure Evil and the Connor Brothers.”

One of the more unusual items is a Citroen Berlingo van featuring 200 eyes, almost like peacock feathers across the exterior paintwork, together with a pair of hanging ‘eye cans’ acting as homage to the popularity of furry dice. This van was originally created for a display at the Coventry Museum by My Dog Sighs aka Paul Stone.

Works by the Connor Brothers inevitably raise a smile. They specialise in stunning retro-style pin-up gurative images complete with witty text. Many of the images are fties-style movie posters, and Mills & Boon novel covers given a slightly di erent emphasis. Tucked away in a corner at Moyses Hall is a typical vintage Penguin

BRANDLER GALLERIES

BRANDLER GALLERIES

Signed Grayson Perry poster, 55x73cm

Young Gymnast, 244x304cm, Banksy

green detective novel cover with the words Connor Brothers at the top, and the title area bearing the words The Secret Garden Party Boris Johnson.

Over at Haverhill, the acclaimed  Argentina artwork by Swoon, one of the rst women street artists, will be on display.

Then, there are also numerous works by Pure Evil (aka Charles Uzzell-Edwards) to be seen at all venues. In Newmarket, America’s Nightmare re ects the dark side of the American dream. Made in 2016 following the election of Donald Trump, it portrays the Statue of Liberty with a single tear dripping down. His famous work I Am a Unicorn along with Just Riot and Celebrity Nightmares are on display in Moyses Hall.

Among other artworks scattered across the three venues are SPQR’s Mayday: a strike force character facing o a Morris dancer; Mutiny showing Felix the Cat with a bomb, Reece Brown’s incredible glitter bear and Nosferatu’s Moorfa with a triangular sign portraying a cow highlighted in a beam from a UFO. Japanese manga takes on a new image in Hush’s portrayal of a boy holding a ri e pointing towards you.

Damien Hirst is better known for sculptural work like the shark submerged in formaldehyde, but in this exhibition, a slightly di erent style is revealed in the form of a painted butter y r ainbow, also the painting title

West Su olk Council and Brandler Gallery’s rst contemporary art exhibition collaboration at Moyses Hall two years ago proved overwhelmingly successful, attracting approximately 25,000 visitors, with over 42% of tickets being sold to visitors from overseas travelling speci cally to see Moments. This provided a major boost, bringing millions of pounds into the local economy, and the organisers believe that Urban Frame will have a similar e ect.

Since the exhibition is split across three venues, attendance gures are expected to far exceed those experienced in 2021.

With entry prices kept at just £7.00 per location, the organisers aim to make it as inclusive an exhibition as possible. Throughout the exhibition, there will be school and community projects, and talks by some of the exhibiting artists are being arranged. One for your summer diaries. ▫

whatsonwestsu olk. co.uk/art/the-urbanframe-mutiny-incolour.cfm

BRANDLER GALLERIES

BRANDLER GALLERIES

Detail from Paparazzi Rat, 91x 33cm, Banksy

Pure Evil Wall, 91x33 cm

Geisha girl

MATTHEW HAYDN JEANES shows you how he painted one of his mother’s cherished ornaments, which now has pride of place in his own home

Sometimes, to find the inspiration for a painting, you have to look inside yourself and reflect on an important moment or object that can bring happiness or fill a void. When my twin brother and I were children in the sixties, my mother owned a geisha doll. This figure took pride of place on her dressing table. We were never allowed to touch her, and I was always fascinated by her beauty. As the years passed, my brother and I grew up and moved out, our mum moved house and the Geisha silently vanished from sight. Years later, after she’d died, we cleared through Mum’s belongings. Hidden at the back of a wardrobe and carefully wrapped in a blanket, there she was: the geisha. A little worse for wear but still beautiful.

She now has pride of place in my house and is still loved, is still untouchable. This painting is for my mum, with love.

matthewjeanes.co.uk ▸

ORIGINAL IMAGE

MATTHEW'S MATERIALS

Winsor & Newton watercolour pans

Burnt Umber, Naples Yellow, Naples Yellow Deep, Yellow Ochre, Cerulean (Red shade), Scarlet Lake, Cadmium Red, Permanent Carmine, Quinacridone Red, Indian Red, Burnt Sienna, Cerulean Blue, Antwerp Blue, Cobalt Blue (Red shade and Green shade), Manganese Blue, French Ultramarine, Winsor Violet, Paynes Grey, Potter’s Pink, Neutral Tint, Perylene Maroon, Indigo, Davey’s Grey, Mars Black, Ivory Black

Gouache: Titanium White

Brushes

Pro-Arte Brushes Series 007: 1, 3, 5, 10, 20, 1” at Support

Artistico Traditional White 18x24 inches – 140lb Artists’ Water Colour Paper by FabrianoHB pencil

Winsor & Newton Colourless

Masking Fluid

Royal Sovereign – Taper Point Colour Shaper No 2

Winsor & Newton Designers

Matthew with his twin brother and the geisha in the sixties

DRAW THE IMAGE

Not only is there strong, re ected sunlight in this image there is the gure, her gold embroidered dress, a glass candlestick, a gilded candlestick, a glass paperweight and a striped trinket box. I draw my image separately and transfer it to my watercolour paper, so you don’t ruin your paper with too much graphite and rubbing out. I use a colourless masking uid and mask using a colour shaper around the window and the geisha. Then, using a basic water wash, I drop in the colours I can see in the background.

SEE EVERYTHING IN TERMS OF LIGHT, SHAPE AND COLOUR

When you look at the background try to see the individual patterns rather than the nished item. Once my initial washes are dry, I mask out the lighter shapes and add in more colour, then mask the abstract shapes again. If I have observed correctly, when I remove the masking near the end, I should have all of the blurred items of the background and the window re ections in place.

MOVE ON TO THE GLASS AND SHADOWS

As sunlight and glass are both invisible, as an artist you have to create these by using the shadows and re ections. To start with, I mask out the extreme areas of sunlight on the window ledge just leaving the areas of shadow. I also look very hard at the strange shapes in the glass. I mask out all of the white areas and then add in delicate washes of French Ultramarine, Manganese Blue and Antwerp Blue using a little Violet and Indigo for the shadows. I mask these again and get darker, again and again, until I have my range of re ected tones.

1 2 3 4

GO FOR GOLD!

This colour is my next challenge in both the gilded candlestick and the embroidery on the geisha’s dress. Whereas glass is transparent and the shapes you need to look for are very de ned, with gold, the shapes are a little softer and the colours re ect into the colour rather than through it. Again, I mask out any strong highlights rst, then add in Ochres, Raw Sienna and Sepias. The shapes to mask are a little di erent but the theory is the same: build up, then add darker tones. ▸

MOVE ON TO THE GEISHA

Once the rst couple of layers of gold and patterns are built up and masked out, I move on to the geisha herself. For the background colours of her dress, I use a mix of Vermillion, Scarlet Lake, Cadmium Red, Alizarin Crimson, Permanent Carmine Violet and my secret weapons Opera Rose and Quinacridone Red. I use a mix of browns, greens and blues on the background. I use Naples Yellow, Scarlet Lake and a wash of Ultramarine on her face and a mix of Indigo, Perylene Maroon, Paynes Grey, Burnt Umber and Neutral tint for her hair.

REMOVE ALL OF THE DRIED MASKING FLUID

The painting needs to be completely dry before this is attempted. I carefully rub areas with my nger and the painting is revealed underneath. Try not to get too despondent by the result; the painting is only half nished and can look rather rough. Now I need to assess what needs to be done next: more washes, more masking, more challenges.

REPRESENT THE STUNNING EMBROIDERY ON THE DRESS

It would be easy to try and paint her and cheat a little to make her show up more, though this could make her look less of a three-dimensional doll and more of a cartoon character. I wanted the patterns to be loose and not over-painted. Here, I start to add layers and shading over the unmasked areas. This will blend any rough edges. It’s also now time for delicate brushwork; I usually use a No 1 or 2 size brush for this. This is the stage where you really need to consider each move. Too much detail can undo all of the lovely loose paint work whilst too little work can make the painting look rough and un nished. My tip is to take your time and do a little bit a day.

5 6 7 8

THE FINISHING TOUCHES

Using an opaque White Gouache with a ne brush can enhance little areas of sunshine and make sense of the elaborate gold embroidery, the light in the bubbles on the paperweight, the refraction on the glass and the sparkle of the candle and the gold. Then leave your painting for a day or two. Sometimes we hate our work when we nish it, but a few days later it can be viewed in an encouraging new light. ▫

Sports day

Raised in Mississippi and educated at Scotland’s Glasgow School of Art, NOAH SATERSTROM ’s interests lie in memory, oil and the canvas. Here, he recreates a snapshot of his sister and her friends in the eighties

NOAH'S MATERIALS

Oil paints

Cadmium Red, Alizarin Crimson, Cadmium Yellow, Paynes Grey, Burnt Umber, Ultramarine Blue, Phthalo Blue, Titanium White

Brushes

Rounds and lberts of various sizes (mostly ragged and poorly maintained)

Support

Pre-stretched and gessoed canvas. I nd that I am less cautious when working on inexpensive supports, so when I’m working on small quick works, I use cheap packs of canvases that I’m happy to ditch if the paintings don’t work

Memory is central to my paintings. The painting process itself is strongly tied to memory, as each mark is the record – memory – of a gesture. Each gesture, then, is made in response to a thought or impulse that lies within the painter. Whether that thought or impulse evolves fully within the painter’s own mind or is a reaction to something seen (a chair, a person, a photograph), the process of translating a concept into paint requires memory. Even the fraction of a second it takes to look between that which is seen and that which will become (i.e., the blank canvas) requires that the painter retain the memory of that object, and at times, its minutiae: an exact curve, a precise glint of light, the deepening colour of

shadow. Painting is many things, some speci c to the painter and some universal to the craft, but I approach my personal painting practices as an exercise in the complexity of memory. Perhaps unsurprisingly, as my work has evolved my subject matter more often than not revolves around ephemera. I often paint from my own family photograph albums, a practice that’s taught me just how much the informal snapshot reveals about the endless intrigue of human relationships. There is a certain otherworldly thrill in the mind’s time travel as I stare for hours at an image that records a hundredth of a second that happened 10, 30, 100 years ago. The following painting was made of a snapshot of my sister and her friends during eld day races at their middle school in 1983. noahsaterstrom.com ▸

MAKE A START

DON'T WORRY TOO MUCH ABOUT COLOURS

1

The rst thing I do – whether I am working from life or photographs – is to loosely ll the canvas with one or two colours based on primary shapes my eye instantly nds. I do not want to think in any conscious way about what I’m seeing, and this method is a way to limit the elucidation of the whole by focusing on the simplicity of what is plainly seen. I use a large brush.

I start by wiggling it around where I see the most basic forms. The colours I use at this stage are irrelevant. Not to the painting; they may end up de ning the atmosphere of the image itself, a fairly important aspect, but I do not choose them to be naturalistic, just to maintain grounding. I think only in terms of light/dark and warm/ cool, and most of my colour choices stay in those simple dichotomies.

KEEP WORKING THE CANVAS

I continue along these lines, bringing in some white which instantly complicates the already applied colour. I keep looking, keep wiggling my brush on the canvas. I’m not burdened with mixing colours on a palette and expecting them to perform, which may be a brilliant painting technique or may be the simple outgrowth of my inability to keep a neat palette (hint: it’s de nitely the latter). Luckily, I’ve learned I have more success working with the colours as they happen instead of forcing them to work for me.

2 3

MOVE ONTO A SMALLER BRUSH

4

At this point, as I start to see a di erentiation before the gures and the background, I choose a smaller brush. I see ve blobs where heads are, 10 legs where legs are, ve colours of shirts, some bits of shadow. Everything is either lighter, darker, warmer or cooler than something nearby. That’s still the extent of my thinking.

LET THERE BE LIGHT

5

The e ect of the light source on all the forms is emerging: the light is coming from the left, and all the shadows are on the right. Each of the legs are angled very speci cally and I try to understand how they all relate by articulating the legs themselves and the spaces between them. I see bits of arms and hands, the di erent heights of the heads, and the light hitting each face uniquely. ▸

KEEP ON MOVING

My brush is still moving all over the canvas all of the time, and I’m still not focused on any one area. At this stage my mind continues to work in simple binaries: warm here, light here, light here, dark here, and so on.

ALL IN THE DETAIL

The gures start to take shape and I go over and over the same areas, each time trying to see them with more sensitivity. The head shapes, angles of faces, angles of arms and legs start to form. The colours become more complex. They are fairly naturalistic in this painting but they don’t need to be. This same painting could be done with all blues and the process would be the same. Light, dark, warm and cool are the only considerations.

REFINE SPECIFIC AREAS

The brushes generally get smaller as I go, but that’s not a xed rule. Sometimes an area gets too tight too quickly, or the strokes are no good and I’ll loosen things back up with a larger brush. For now, some areas will remain as they are and I turn my focus to areas emerging as important to the gures and composition. In other words, instead of working on the entire canvas, I will now be working on certain areas.

ENGAGE WITH THE WORK

9

Once I start to see expressions and gestures implied in the marks that make up gures, I feel I can engage with the piece di erently: I have something to work with. Sometimes, at this stage, nothing is coming together. There’s no dialogue between the forms, nothing to hold my attention. When that’s the case, I scrap it and move on. Life’s too short. But if the pieces are starting to communicate, I will continue to re ne light, dark, warm and cool

CONCENTRATE!

My painting is coming together, and now I know which areas of the image are crucial. A certain light on a face or a single mark of colour, the angle of a leg. Certain places, sometimes very small, are linchpins, and if they don’t work the painting falls apart in short order. I usually don’t know what those areas are until close to the end of the painting…which means the painting is not certain to be OK until the very last marks.

THE FINISHING TOUCHES

From the moment those rst gestural marks hit the canvas, my process is one of revision. What drives each mark is a correction of that which came before. As the painting proceeds, either the corrections are working – the marks coalescing into a meaningful conversation with one another – or they aren’t. This part probably seems like serendipity for some (and to be sure there’s a randomness to what works and what fails) but for me, this is the crux of my work. When the image is forming well, the corrections and revisions become fewer. My eye moves from mark to mark without obstruction and with aesthetic satisfaction, the feeling you get when you look at a compelling vista or well-laid-out room. When a painting is good, I see in it the evidence of the image having discovered itself. ▫

ENJOY THIS FEATURE?

For more demonstrations go to artistsandillustrators.co.uk

Salty seaside lobster

TIM'S MATERIALS

Acrylic paints

Titanium W hite, Yellow

O chre, C admium Red

L ight Hue, C admium

O range, Burnt Umber,

A zure Blue, Purple Knives

RGM 6, 41, Pastrello 38 and bull nose

Surface Plain white primed canvas board,

40.5×30.5cm (16×12in)

Support

Wol carbon pencil, black ne-point pen (permanent marker), Mod Podge®, Golden heavy texture gel, Golden crackle paste, 2.5cm at brush, Found objects from the beach, Printed papers (brochures and magazines)

Working with collage is interesting and challenging. Combining elements of objects and knife marks creates a subject that will help convey a message or idea. Working this way helps to develop creativity, imagination and problem-solving. When on holiday, I collect objects and literature that give a sense of place and incorporate these into paintings combined with knives and acrylics.  This project helps to develop knife skills when in lling or working around complex shapes. The type of knife and the way it is held will hopefully start to become much more natural when applying paint. Collage sometimes includes just fabric and paper cuttings, but in this instance, I have also combined heavier objects such as shells and sand, to get you used to combining di erent knife strokes with a variety of bulkier found materials. ▸

It was only by observing a fellow artist using a knife with acrylics to create wonderful textures that TIM FISHER was inspired to try the same. Here, he goes one step further and incorporates collage collected from his holidays

USING A WOLFF CARBON PENCIL, DRAW IN THE LOBSTER DESIGN

Any mistakes at this stage can be gently removed by dabbing the surface with a soft putty rubber. Once you are happy with the design, strengthen the edges with the black permanent marker pen. Cut out and apply paper collage around the painting using Mod Podge® as the adhesive

ADD FOUND OBJECTS NEXT

Use heavy texture gel to glue these to the surface and allow the gelto dry.

ADD CRACKLE PASTE

3

Make a homogenous mix of Yellow Ochre and Titanium White and add crackle paste to the mix. Sweep this over the lower half of the board with the RGM 6 knife. Allow to dry and let the crackle shapes form.

COVER THE CANVAS

Dilute Yellow Ochre and Cadmium Red Light Hue and wash overany remaining white canvas showing with a 2.5cm synthetic/nylon brush.

1 2 4 5

SPEED THE DRYING TIME UP WITH A HAIRDRYER

After this is done, some of the lobster shapes can be lled in. Starting with one of the large claws, add a mix of Cadmium Orange and Cadmium Red Light Hue using the RGM 6, keeping the knife edge parallel to the outside edge of the claw and working inwards. Add a highlight by mixing Titanium White into the orange–red mix.

INFILL THE LOWER CLAW

ADD SHADOW

Switch to the RGM 41 and use the same colour combination.

CONTINUE TO FILL THE CLAWS

Use the knives that feel most comfortable for working in a particular area. In this instance, I’m using the RGM 41.

TIME FOR THE POURING MEDIUM

For the ne antennae, use the RGM Pastrello and add a little pouring medium to aid ow when producing thinner lines.

7 9 11

ADD HIGHLIGHTS ONTO THE LEGS

Use the side of the same knife and a mix of Cadmium Orange and Titanium White.

ADD THE LAST OF THE HIGHLIGHTS

Darken some shadow areas by mixing in a little Burnt Umber. 6 8 10

For the trickier areas, use the tip of the bull nose, then allow it to thoroughly dry. The now-dried crackle paste has taken on the texture of a sandy surface and sits well against the lobster’s legs and the collage. ▸

RETURN WITH THE PERMANENT MARKER

This will help you improve the de nition of the lost edges in places. This works more successfully if an intermittent line is added, rather than a thick continuous one.

THE SANDY AREA

Extend this around the found objects using a uniform mix of Titanium White and Yellow Ochre with the RGM 6 knife.

THE UPPER LEFT CORNER

Mix A zure Blue, P urple and white and start to add here, working down towards the lobster.

WORK AROUND THE OUTSIDE OF THE LEFT ANTENNAE

Touching the edge of the knife onto it, then dragging away until the entire outer curve is complete.

AND…REPEAT

Do this again around the right antennae breaking up the blue to reveal some of the sandy colour in places.

FOR THE INTERNAL CURVE MADE BY THE LEFT ANTENNAE

Switch to the RGM Pastrello to gain more accuracy when applying the paint.

FOR THE GAPS BETWEEN THE PINCERS

Double-load the RGM Pastrello and apply pale blue into this space.

SWAP BACK TO THE RGM 6

This will help you complete the remaining portion of the upper blue area. Keep turning the board to make the process of cutting around the shape easier.

USE THE RGM PASTRELLO

This will help for the small areas where the legs overlap each other. It may be necessary the revert to the RGM 41 for the small gaps.

USE CADMIUM ORANGE AND THE RGM PASTRELLO

This is for a few ashes of colour that echo the shape of the lobster around some of the edges.

TIP!

You will start to develop an instinct for which knife shape is best to use. When in lling broader areas requiring larger marks, the RGM 6 should be perfect. For more detailed areas, the RGM Pastrello or bull nose may become the knife of choice. Keep doing this until you naturally start changing the size and shape of the knife to accommodate the space you need to ll in.

This is an edited extract from Palette Knife Painting in Acrylics by Tim Fisher, £16.99, Search Press  searchpress.com. Available from July. ▫

WHEN

THE WORK IS DRY

Work around the painting and recover some of the dark pen lines with the permanent marker pen that have become obscured during the painting process.

ENJOY THIS FEATURE?

For more techniques go to artistsandillustrators.co.uk

Study sheets

Astudy sheet can be about anything you nd interesting and you wish to understand better. You can blend brief gestural studies with more detailed work. Investigations into individual parts of the subject can be included, such as a paw study or a close-up of a leaf. You can include anything you like, from written notes to colour swatches. I usually work with a large sheet of paper attached to a light drawing board with a bulldog clip or an open double page of an A3 sketchbook to allow for plenty of space to t the subject on the paper.

ANIMALS IN MOTION

Trying to capture moving or dozing animals helps to bring your drawings to life. Rather than make a formal portrait, you can observe life in its widest pursuits on a study sheet by capturing life in many informal positions. As wild animals are not likely to sit for a portrait, the study sheet will result in a combination of many di erent views. Each pose will allow you to get to know your animal’s character a little closer. You can use a study sheet to record the animal’s physical traits and behaviours, which will be often repeated. Even the best reference material cannot replace the experience of putting in time with live animals.

Gestural sketching takes a keen eye, quick hand movements and a sense of understanding the subject, which will grow over the drawing session with repeated observation and sketching. If I’m drawing an

animal that is moving around, I aim to create a sequence of rapid, owing, undetailed studies. Animals will normally hold a pose for less time than it takes to draw them, but this isn’t a problem because the un nished sketches help you to build a visual memory of the subject through the di erent arrangements of the primary forms. I usually write little thoughts in the corner of the page of the sights and sounds of what I am witnessing as I draw. I often draw on top of sketches to re ne them or have another go without any real

thoughts on technique. This is because the focus of the entirety of my attention is in capturing the shape of the head, body, arms and legs as they ow along a line of action. I try not to worry about the page’s appearance. What is important is that your hand has been activated following instructions from your eyes. Try to feel like you are almost touching the animal, stroking it, feeling the bones and muscles. Rather than being about creating a polished result, study sheets increase our understanding.

One of the best approaches to improving observational abilities and hand-eye coordination is to make study sheets. In this extract from his book, Drawing the Natural World , TIM POND shows you how

Sheep sketches on brown wrapping paper

STARTING THE FIRST SKETCH

Before you begin any drawing, decide what you want to achieve in your mind. Various factors might set parameters of your approach, such as length of pose and choice of media. I always observe for a while before making any mark on the page. I tend to start with a side pose to familiarise myself with the body parts, from nose to tail. Begin by just throwing out a line – the curve of the back, for example, or a series of light loops. Then try to become more ambitious, capturing more athletic postures. I use swift, loose lines while barely looking at the page. I do not bother with an eraser but will rework the sketch to get the right line – the idea is to keep sketching without distraction. Early on, check the proportions of the size of the head in relation to the body, as there is a tendency to sketch the head too big. As frustrating as it is, your model will likely be constantly on the move, but this will give your marks vigour and energy, bringing your drawings to life. Always work quickly. Even though your animal might be momentarily standing still, they will soon move, even if dozing. I quickly switch from one sketch to another one as it changes position. I start and stop every time the animal moves, then return to a sketch as the animal returns to a similar position, resulting in a dynamic page of nished and un nished sketches strewn across the paper. You will be surprised by what you see and get to know your subject a little closer!

A single line can capture every nuance of the animal’s shape and convey a remarkable amount of information. Every animal has a unique character that you get a sense of when working from life that can’t be achieved from sketching from a photograph. ▸

DEEN CITY FARM, UK

King penguins

Emus

Farmyard sketches on sugar paper

BIRDLAND, COTSWOLDS, UK

BIRDLAND, COTSWOLDS, UK

Colobus Monkeys

In this study sheet, I tried to draw the adult monkeys the same size to appear as a troop and interacting with each other. Notice how their tails drop vertically beneath them like bulbs. Each time the animal moved, it presented me with a new set of shapes, like walking around a sculpture and creating a fresh sketching challenge.

HEAD WIDGET

Drawing di erent parts of the animal’s head, such as the ears, cheek and nostrils, at di erent angles will help build a good understanding of its structure in your mind. You can combine these forms to help you understand what the head will look like from di erent angles.

HAND WIDGET

I break the hand down into the main shapes of the palm and three little sections of the ngers and thumb. I combine the four ngers into one articulated block before segmenting it into individual ngers. Count the number of phalanges in your ngers, and see the similarities between yourself and our broader cousins. 2

Eyes sunken in shadow from top light source Bottom lip in light with shading beneath

ABSTRACT SHAPES

Forget your preconceptions about the shape of familiar forms. Try to see your subject as a set of abstract shapes put together to become readable as an animal, a bit like piecing together a jigsaw puzzle.

PLAYFUL INTERACTIONS

I tried to vary the height of the monkeys to create the impression that they were climbing up and down the canopy layer playfully. Play is as essential in design as it is in growing up for mammals.

Section of the sweep of white beard

Asian Rhino

The armoured plating of the Asian rhino creates powerful directional planes that, in a similar manner to a crystal, capture light or half-light or are in shadow. This creates chunks of shading that can be seen as abstract shapes.

Sunlight direction

BATHING RHINO

Re ections, as well as shadows, can add visual interest and drama. Water re ections are typically closer and darker in tonality in normal daylight. Vertical lines are re ected with greater clarity than horizontal. I drew this mirrored image with less detail and included some suggestive watery marks.

Nuchal ligament creates a noticeable ridge

Masseter muscle of the cheek creates a circular pad

WORKING OUT

I work from the closest section of the body and then draw shape to shape along the interconnected shield shapes.

Sunlight direction

Raised dimples catch light from above

DETAILED OBSERVATION

Capture details from di erent angles.

Achilles tendon is a thick powerful chord

Elephant

This study sheet is about learning to hew like a sculptor and capture monumental forms in balance. Before drawing elephants in a herd, take a deep breath and simply observe them. Take a moment to immerse yourself in their world and see if you can pick up on their di erent personalities, from the playful child to the responsible grumpy parent.

SUGGESTIVE BULK

Create evocative scribbles to suggest the enormous bulk on the paper. Search for folds in the loose, wrinkled skin and draw the image as if you were shaping clay, almost kneading the pencil marks.

SINGLE TIPPED TRUNK

The tip of an Asian elephant’s trunk has one ‘ nger,’ but African elephants have two tips.

SHOCK ABSORBER HEELS

A wedge-shaped piece of cushioning soft tissue supports the heel, serving as a shock absorber. As the elephant puts its weight on each foot, you can see how it spreads out. Each elephant foot has ve toes, but not every toe has a nail. The Asian elephant usually has four on the back, and very rarely ve.

BELLY BULGE

The elephant’s bulky torso is an oval bridge between four pillar-like legs. A single adult can weigh between two and ve tons, which is an immense force pushing down. ▫

Drawing the Natural World by Tim Pond, GMC Publications, £14.99, available online and from all good bookshops

For more how-tos go to artistsandillustrators.co.uk

Trunk

The 40,000 or so muscles that move the trunk give it incredible dexterity.

Ears

An elephant’s ears release heat and act as enormous fans.

Core shadow

saucy Feeling

I’m quite interested in the daily routine and the things we do which surround us but that we no longer ‘see.’ Therefore, I’ve recently started doing still life monoprint collages of the classical objects we have around the house, such as washing up liquid, the mugs in our cupboard and baked beans. My kids have lately discovered HP Sauce; something we have always had on our shelf but never really used, so it has had a kind of rebirth in our household. I love it too– and I wanted to depict it This past year, I’ve also been looking for a way to use my daily sketches (which I do all the time of my kids, around the house, on the train, in cafes, in the mirror etc.) but bring in some collage and colour. I often love artists’ sketches more than nished works, so have started combining a monoprint line with collage; using paint sticks for the monoprint on the reverse side of the newspaper, which I then incorporate into the picture as collage. By working quickly and spontaneously with a monoprint, and boldly and abstractly with collage, I hope to retain the light, unconstrained nature of a sketch but also enable a certain detachment from the original object – a kind of celebration of the quotidian! harrietmerry.co.uk ▸

Collage with her own painted papers is HARRIET MERRY ’s medium of choice at the moment, whilst her favourite subject matter is the mundane objects found around our home. Here, she shows you how she created this bottle of HP Sauce

HARRIET’S MATERIALS

Paint sticks

Delgreen G ouache Paint Sticks:L ight Blue, Dark Blue, W hite and Brown (the colours are not named on these sticks)

Tempera Red Paint Stick Support A4 300 gsm

Watercolour Paper, Biro, Sennelier L ight Blue oil pastel No 6, White Posca pen, Newspaper, Newsprint Tracing paper, Scissors, UHU glue

START WITH A PREPARATORY SKETCH

Then apply a monoprint line. This was done by painting a bit of newspaper with a light blue paint stick and then turning it over onto the paper and drawing the basic shape of the HP sauce bottle in front of me with a biro. I did this semi-blind – mainly looking at the bottle – and very quickly the paint stick dries within a minute. I love how as the paint stick dries, the newspaper sticks to the paper creating a kind of ghostly line.

ADD BITS OF COLLAGE

I decided here which bits of my still life I would like to be dominant. My aim was not to create a perfect copy of the bottle in front of me but to think about how the eye works when looking at objects as it doesn’t see everything at once. The sauce lettering was done by creating another monoprint with a white paint stick on top of a red block of colour.

DECIDE ON THE GENERAL COLOURS

Here, I have used blue, light blue, brown and red and painted up some pieces of newsprint with colours which I can use for collaging. The brown sauce in the bottom of the bottle is darker than the top so I mixed some brown and blue paint sticks to make it darker. It’s important to me to retain the mono print, too, so I like to leave a lot of white space and line.

IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE PERFECT!

I really like to use the piece of newsprint from which I made my rst line monoprint at the beginning, so for the right-hand line of shade on the bottle, I used a piece of the light blue block of colour. I already had the line of the bottle and this sometimes helps in getting the piece a little more symmetrical - although I do like to keep some wobble!

KEEP SOME OF THE LINE

There was a lot of light blue on the bottle but, because I wanted to retain the line and lightness of the image, I decided to add a bit of printed smudging on and slightly around the bottle by painting on a piece of newsprint and dabbing it around. This also created a bit of noise around the image which I like to have, as it helps in situating the object and giving it atmosphere.

UTILISE YOUR TRACING PAPER FOR ANOTHER MONOPRINTED AREA

I covered most of the image with some tracing paper and cut out a window for the label. Again, I wasn’t interested in creating a perfect image here – who actually remembers what the picture is on an HP bottle? – more an impression of it. By doing a monoprint, I could focus more on darks and lights and not ddle around with detail.

STEP-BY-STEP

ADD THE BOTTLE’S SHADOW

This was added with more monoprinting; this time I mixed all the colours on a piece of newspaper and used it for a scribble. I like there to be some line here and I let the newspaper stick to the paper a bit for a variety of textures.

DON’T BE AFRAID OF MISTAKES

I made one at this stage! So I cut out one side of the image and put it on another piece of paper.I then added a block of dark blue directly onto the paper and some strips of collage to indicate more shadow and/or table line. The image itself started to become more abstract and I tried to balance white space with blocks of colour.

WRAP IT UP

For the nal touches – these are tiny additions – I enhanced the left-hand line of the bottle with a white Posca pen and also added a piece of newsprint for the shading on the lid. I used a Biro for any darker lines too. I didn’t do much more; for me, the nal stage is often about knowing when to stop – and not ddle!▫

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MESSAGE OF THE MONTH

Chitra Ramanathan

An emigrant from India, I am an established contemporary visual artist and art educator in the US since 1993 following, a bachelor’s degree in Painting. I rst encountered Artists & Illustrators in 2005, while in London on a Visitor Artist invitee by the Head of the Royal Academy of Arts.

As an abstract painter who uses cheerful colours and intricately interwoven textural materials inspired by the e ects of fantasy, music, and evolving seasons, Artists & Illustrators has inspired my professional journey: especially the Editor’s Letter and the works of studio artists; particularly abstract painters and their working processes. I next look forward to an article as a featured artist to o er valuable insights into my techniques, gained through my academic training and professional practices.

Jo Taberner

At the start of 2022, I made a resolution to draw something in my sketchbook every day; I decided on dog breeds. I used photos of my dogs and asked friends and family to send me their favourite dog photos.

The result is six A5 sketchbooks lled with drawings and my rst completed new year resolution. Looking back, I can see an improvement in my drawing skills and feel ready to try other mediums.

The January and February issues of Artists & Illustrators have articles on professional animal artists which have given me some new ideas.

Thank you for a great magazine.

Mike Young

My art is all about what’s happening in the world today. I am a surfer, so I love to cover subject matter linked to the ocean. I usually paint portraits or images with a powerful meaning,  mostly in acrylic and watercolour.

I am self-taught so whenever I need a fresh idea or technique explanation, I pick up Artists & Illustrators, as it really helps me see things di erently and can inspire me to a di erent direction or approach.

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Holiday

Spring-Autumn 2023 with Catherine Stott

Picture this

This illustration mirrors my principles and aesthetic values. Despite being a simple piece, it includes elements that represent the aesthetics that have captivated me since I was a kid: palm trees, the American dream and the seduction of capitalism. I’ve always been fascinated by TV and magazines from the late 80s to early 90s and the pop culture of my childhood period – it’s what I am made of.

My art is made to grab the viewer’s attention so sometimes, it doesn’t have a deeper meaning; it’s made solely for the purpose of attracting the viewer within the rst few seconds.

I used Liquitex soft body acrylic paint on a hot press illustration board. I usually work with an airbrush and a ne brush for details. Soft acrylics are good for airbrushing as these are water-based. I wanted to create a citypop illustration, where you could feel the summer breeze. Before starting an artwork, I use di erent references including photographs I take myself. I am from Chiclana, on the south coast of Spain and never miss an opportunity to take photos of beach cottages, palm trees and anything I nd inspirational as an idea for my next illustration. This artwork was that next idea. bernfoster.com ▫

In every issue, we ask an artist to tell us about a piece of work that holds significance. This month, we speak to Spanish cover artist BERNARDO BEJERANO NARVÁEZ aka BERN FOSTER

Sir Alfred Munnings Munnings: Colour & Light until

22nd October 2023

“Lighting means everything to me. If a sunny day I ask myself which way is the sunlight coming? A grey day is quite as colourful in its way.”

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