Humpback whales were hunted to the brink of extinction in the 1970’s. However, in 2022 they were removed from Australia's threatened-species list. This large perennial wall drawing by Miriam Innes is a celebration of conservation, survival and safe guarding their future.
“Working with Nitram Bloc de Saule, Maxi, & Demi Bâtons is ideal for working on such large scale drawings. The versatility of the Nitram charcoal offers a wide range of application techniques. The shape and width of Nitram large format charcoal provides continuous coverage without compromising on tonal differentiation. Its durability and strength can withstand breakage and excessive shedding while working directly onto the surface of the wall."
~ Miriam Innes
Miriam Innes is best known for her large, dynamic, charcoal drawings. Her work explores the natural material of charcoal and its relationship together with, and in man-made environments. As an Irish artist, who resides in Australia, Innes relates to charcoal, her primary medium and draws parallels to it with the black bog oak found in the area where she grew up. As a child she drew pictures with it; her experience of drawing with charcoal is a reminder of her origins, connection to the land and a representation of her humble upbringing.
www.miriaminnes.com
“Back from the Brink”, 2022, by Miriam Innes on display at the Oceans by Meriton
To watch a hyperlapse of the final stages of this Miriam Innes drawing, visit nitramcharcoal.com/miriam-innes or scan the QR code
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SKETCHBOOK Quick tips, ideas and inspiration. Plus, this month’s exhibitions
PRIZE DRAW Win £1,000 in prizes of quality art materials from The Art Trading Company
WE PRESENT... Portfolio Plus member Christopher James
HOW I MAKE IT WORK With watercolour artist Will Elliston
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YOU TELL US Write in and win a £50 Atlantis art voucher
PICTURE THIS Sky Portrait Artist semi-finalist Fatima Pantoja on her self-portrait
IN THE STUDIO Raw Umber Studios tutor Luca Indraccolo on painting the human form
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HOW I PAINT Figurative artist James Hague on why he always comes back to painting
DIGITAL ART Kate Segal on how she incorporates art into her work as a clinical psychologist
THE BIG INTERVIEW Still life artist Lucy Mckie on her journey into art from observation
THE BRITISH ART PRIZE Vote for The People’s Choice Award
EXHIBITION A major look back at Cezanne’s work at Tate Modern
RETROSPECTIVE See beyond Lucian Freud’s fame and infamy
ART HISTORY Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis: short life, huge legacy
Techniques
IN DEPTH Jake Spicer explores a warm and cool palette in the third of his five-part series
MASTERCLASS Lucy Stopford shows you how to create a portrait in an hour and a half
STEP BY STEP Portrait painting using Rembrandt’s techniques by Brigid Marlin
GUEST EXPERT Cass Art’s Laura Slinn on creating characters with personality
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… to our longest-reigning monarch, the Queen, the world witnessed a once in a lifetime moment in history whilst her passing may leave the country feeling in a state of ux. Which is why art from the past and present helps to keep us grounded at timesof uncertainty. Art is ageless because it connects people of di erent generations, ages and ethnicities. Whether it was created 200 years ago or yesterday, it has a creative, spiritual sense to it that can have a positive, lasting impact on anyone, irrespective of their age.
Take cover artist Lucy McKie. She tells us, “I love walking around art galleries and seeing how painters in the past have captured the very essence of their sitters. It’s such a powerful link with history.” American artist Brigid Marlin encourages you to adapt the techniques of the Old Master Rembrandt into your new artwork, whilst portrait painter Luca Indraccolo remembers being a small boy and marvelling at his rstCaravaggio.
We cover a retrospective of the rst major exhibition of Lucian Freud’s work in 10 years, which brings together paintings from more than seven decades whilst we also look at the work of Cezanne, often cited as “the father of modern art.” Then, we introduce you to the work of Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, the Lithuanian artist and composer and one of the country’s most loved and famous historical gures.
Elsewhere, contemporary abstract artist Kate Segal tells us how she integrates her art into her career as a clinical psychologist to help people – further testimony to the healing power of art.
Niki Browes Editor
New Yorker Kate is a self-taught visual artist, textile designer and illustrator whilst she also has a PhD in Clinical Psychology. Kate’s art incorporates her signature use of uplifting colours and is embedded with themes of nature, spirituality, feminity and the human condition.
Born in Naples, Luca left Italy at the age of 19 to start his advertising career, ending up as a creative director for Saatchi & Saatchi London. Realising that ne art was his true calling, he now lives in Malta. He regularly teaches workshops at the Raw Umber Studios in Stroud.
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Cover artist Lucy was born into an artistic family in Yorkshire. Although she started hercareer as a portrait painter, her love of still life has developed over the years. She was elected a member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters in 2011 and serves as a council member for the society.
JAMES HAGUE
Nottingham born James studied Fine A rt at The University of Northumbria at Newcastle and later did a Painting MA at the Royal College of Art. He has won numerous awards including the BP Portrait Award in 1996. He lives and works in East London and Copenhagen.
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Hurvin Anderson’s worldview was shaped by his immersion in two distinct cultures. Steeped in the vivid colours of the Caribbean and contrasted with urban English landscapes, Anderson’s work disrupts the binaries of place. His first major monograph, published this October, retraces the British painter’s entire oeuvre, from his early career Audition paintings to his latest works on Jamaican hotels.
Hurvin Anderson by Catherine Lampert, Roger Robinson and Courtney J. Martin, £55.00 © Rizzoli New York, 2022 ▫
EDITED BY RAMSHA VISTRO
ANNE CECILIE
ROB SPEYER COLLECTION.
THE ARTIST.
COURTESY MICHAEL WERNER GALLERY, NEW YORK AND LONDON.
PHOTO: RICHARD IVEY
If you love the magazine’s redesign, you’re going to fall head over heels for the new look Artists & Illustrators website. It’s still one of the biggest resources for artists on the internet, but a fresh new feel makes our how to guides, competitions and interviews even more enjoyable to read. artistsandillustrators.co.uk
Open calls, prizes and artist opportunities
…a new immersive installation by Korean-Canadian artist Zadie Xa. Her largest solo exhibition in London to date features fabric walls, paintings and sculptures alongside light and sound elements. The work will explore folklore and the ‘trickster’ archetype, paying particular attention to the ways in which it relates to our current political climate. The display reflects the artist’s continued exploration of hybrid and diasporic identities and a desire to give a platform to the lost narratives of those who are disjointed from their cultural communities. Zadie Xa: House Gods, Animal Guides and Five Ways 2 Forgiveness runs until May 2023 at Whitechapel Gallery, London E1 7QX. whitechapelgallery.org
Discover how to create botanical prints at Gallery45. Studio artist Diana Fitzpatrick will help you master the printing techniques and encourage you to experiment with different methods, papers and inks. The workshop starts at 10.30 am on 8th October 2022 and is suitable for beginners. It costs £50 and includes all materials and lunch. feltongallery45.co.uk
Take your urban sketching skills to the next level with watercolour. Bestselling author and artist Phil Dean (@shoreditchsketcher) provides a step-by-step guide to creating beautiful urban artworks. Get started with the very basics of depicting cityscapes with a pencil or pen, including tips on perspective, measuring, and mark-making. Then, move straight onto the core watercolour techniques you will need to introduce stunning colour and tone to your sketches. With easy-to-follow exercises on everything from negative space to line and wash, this is an essential guide to elevate your urban art. 10 November, 2022. Ilex Press, £16.99
10 OCTOBER
Sir John Soane’s Museum invites creatives for the Artist at Soane residency. You'll get an honorarium of £1,500 to cover materials and expenses. artistatsoane.artopps. co.uk
31 OCTOBER
Enter the NordArt annual exhibition of visual arts in Büdelsdorf, Germany, to win €10,000. Three Public Choice Awards will also be awarded €1,000 each. Free to enter. nordart.de
10 NOVEMBER
Win up to €3,000 by submitting your illustrations for the 18th Tapirulan’s Illustrators Contest, with the theme ‘tilt’. Entry costs €15. illustratorscontest. tapirulan.it
30 NOVEMBER 2022
Open to artists aged 16-25, The Young Botanical Artist
Competition invites artists to submit 2D botanical artworks. shirleysherwood.com/ YoungBotanicalArtist ▸
As we begin to move past the chaos of the last few years, ensuring we find tranquility within our homes has never been so important. The new ‘Slow Living’ trend has become increasingly popular on social media as it urges us to wave goodbye to fast-paced lifestyles and find inner calm with décor inspired to bring relaxation. Infused with nature and calming illustrations, Scandinavian brand Desenio’s prints will ensure homes incorporate this look into living spaces. desenio.co.uk
Coinciding with the 100th anniversary of Lucian Freud’s birth, the Garden Museum will present an exhibition that delves into Freud’s relationship with plants and gardens for the first time. The show will display Freud’s ability to capture the elusive essence of plants in original ways, often acting as Freud’s subjects during times of stylistic change. Bringing together paintings and etchings, as well as drawings from Freud’s childhood, the exhibition will demonstrate the ways in which Freud granted his plants the same gravitas as his human subjects. Freud’s plants often connected his life history to the people he loved, embodied personal childhood memories, and helped him negotiate his identity and heritage. Visit the Garden Museum in London SE1 7LB between 14 October 2022 and 5 March 2023. gardenmuseum.org.uk
…the extraordinary new illustrated collection from Edward BrookeHitching. The Madman’s Gallery: The Strangest Paintings, Sculptures and Other Curiosities From the History of Art draws on a depth of research and images to form a book that surprises at every turn, celebrating the endless power and creativity of human imagination. From the bestselling author of The Phantom Atlas and writer on the BBC Series QI, comes a unique display gathering more than a hundred magnificent works, each chosen for their beauty, weirdness and captivating story. 13 October 2022, Simon & Schuster, £30.00
The first European solo exhibition by Haiti-born painter Andy Robert is challenging a static understanding of history. Through perspective and scale, the artist experiments with colour, line and grids, arriving at a mosaic-like approach. Michael Werner Gallery, 22 Upper Brook Street, London W1K 7PZ. michaelwerner.com
15th October 2022 – 29th January 2023
15th October 2022 – 16th April 2023
From Eric Ravilious, Edward Bawden and Paul Nash to Elisabeth Frink, David Hockney and Lucian Freud, some of the biggest names in British art are coming together in a vibrant, wide-ranging exhibition that explores
the history of British art of the 20th and 21st centuries. Visitors will find various sculptures, paintings and works on paper by some of the bestknown and well-loved names from the UK’s art scene.
The Higgins Bedford, Castle Lane, Bedford MK40 3XD thehigginsbedford.org.uk
A decade of Indian artist Reena Saini Kallat’s work will be showcased this autumn with several new pieces. Kallat has a particular interest in how political and social borders can act as divisions. Her work distils the global and local through various mediums .
Compton Verney, Warwickshire CV35 9HZ comptonverney.org.uk
ANDY ROBERT TI ZWAZO CLARENDON: YOU CAN GO HOME AGAIN; YOU JUST CAN’T STAY
This major exhibition is the first in over 35 years to explore the work of British painter and sculptor Glyn Philpot. It explores early work, made when the artist was a highly sought-after portrait painter, as well as work made after a
14th October 2022 – 29th January 2023
Pioneering artist Helen Saunders, one of the first British artists to pursue abstraction, whose work fell into obscurity for years, will be celebrated in a new exhibition. Saunders was one of only two women to join the Vorticists, an artistic movement that emerged in London on the eve of the First World War. Her extraordinary drawings captured the dynamism of modern urban life and the horrors of mechanised warfare. Following the war, she turned her back on Vorticism, pursuing her own path and working in a more figurative style.
The Gilbert and Ildiko Butler Drawings Gallery, Somerset House, London WC2R 0RN
courtauld.ac.uk
dramatic change of style in the 1930s when he abandoned tradition for the clean lines of Art Deco modernism. Philpot’s sensitive portrayal of young men includes powerful depictions of Black sitters in Modern British art.
Pallant House Gallery, Chichester PO19 1TJ pallant.org.uk
Until 4th December 2022
A mixed media exhibition with immersive illustrated artworks by Ed Merlin Murray explores the relationship between football and religion and how the two often overlap in both expected and unexpected ways. It celebrates football’s ability to champion social causes, promote marginalised voices, and create opportunities for inclusion and diversity in ways no other sport can.
Aga Khan Centre Gallery, London N1C 4DN agakhancentre.org.uk
If you’re looking for new products to add to your art equipment, some of which you can’t seem to find anywhere, get inspiration with our latest prize draw. We’ve teamed up with The Art Trading Company to offer our readers the chance to win four amazing prize packages including oil, watercolour, pastel, acrylic and drawing materials, each worth £250.
Art materials are owner Sue Kemp’s passion. She started The Art Trading Company in 2011 with a simple yet clear philosophy: to provide artists with first-rate art materials, instilling in them the confidence that they’ll be working with quality supplies.
The company has been selling art
Four winners, chosen at random, will each receive a prize package of their choice, worth £250, from the following options:
A package of Michael Harding artist-quality oil paints, mediums, brushes and surfaces.
A package of Atelier artist-quality acrylic paints, mediums, brushes and surfaces.
A package of Daniel Smith artist-quality watercolour paints, brushes and paper.
A package of Sennelier artist-quality pastels, blending tools and paper.
A package of various artist-quality drawing and sketching pencils, pens and charcoal plus sketchbooks.
Enter by noon on 28 November 2022, either at artistsandillustrators.co.uk/ competitions or by filling in the form below and returning it to: The Art Trading Company, Artists & Illustrators, Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd, Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place, London SW3 3TQ
The prize is non-transferable. No cash alternatives are available. For full terms and conditions, visit chelseamagazines .com/terms
materials online and in their Suffolk-based shop for more than 10 years. They pride themselves on selling quality art materials at competitive prices, suitable for artists of all levels.
They stock a focussed range of the best art materials on the market today, to meet the differing expectations of creatives, whatever stage you are at in your artistic development. Their team tests everything before it goes on shelves and if it doesn’t meet their high standards, they simply won’t stock it!
The Art Trading Company knows that artists have a preferred medium that they work with, so our lucky winners will each get to choose which prize package is right for them. Visit: thearttradingcompany.co.uk
Name: Address: Postcode: Email: Telephone: The closing date for entries is noon on 28 November 2022
Please tick if you are happy to receive relevant information from The Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd. via email post or phone or The Art Trading Company via email
From the age of 11, Christopher James was fascinated with drawing faces and creating a likeness, which gradually gave him the confidence to experiment with colour. His first attempts were with watercolours. “They were in tubes, and I liked the way the paint could be squeezed out straight onto the paper. Then, dripping water over the smears, forming interesting effects and hues.”
He received his first commission that same year from a family friend to do a portrait, for which he received £3. “[It] was quite a windfall at the time.”
At 12, Van Gogh’s Potato Ears captivated James with “the austere interior and character of the faces,” introducing him to narrative in painting. But it was at 16 that James was sure he wanted to be an artist, even though he was advised that life as a painter wasn’t a good idea. “Nevertheless, I carried on hoping regardless. I continued to explore other artists. My first introduction to the Old Masters was in an illustrated family Bible; I was in awe of the dramatic light and colours in the paintings.”
Although he tried his hand at acrylics, it’s oils that are his medium of choice. “I’ve painted with acrylics in the past and was very happy with their quick drying time. But during one hot summer in France, when I was painting under the shade of an apple tree, the acrylics dried too quickly, I barely had time to mix the colours on the palette. So, oils became a better option. I like the way they are more versatile and can be wiped off while still wet.”
James is focussed on exploring dramatic light and mood to suggest what the subject may be thinking and feeling. “In my painting The Tapster, I like the way the figure behind the cocktail bar looks like he is meditating or praying. The painting on the wall behind him adds to the narrative.”
He finds inspiration in modern city life, cinema and architecture; interested in the way scenes in films can be evocative of paintings and vice versa. “Cinema and painting can influence a nostalgia for a time and place we may never have experienced.” chrisjamespaintings.com
This month’s spotlight on a Portfolio Plus member CHRISTOPHER JAMESAn artist who describes himself as a serious painter
The
It ’s Naples – the late 70s – and Luca Indraccolo’s cousins are out in the street, playing football under a scorching sun. Not Luca. Instead, the young boy is inside, sitting on his grandfather’s lap, watching as the elderly man paints the landscapes he loves. His grandfather is permanently silent: surgery to remove a tumour has left him unable to speak. But boy and man understand the language of art together.
“I just loved being with him,” Luca recalls. “It always made my day when my grandfather would give me an old brush. That’s the earliest I can remember being drawn to painting.”
Luca’s reaction to art had always been instinctive. As a very young child, he marvelled at his first Caravaggio, blown away that the artist had painted the very dirt under the fingernails of his figures. And then there was a moment in kindergarten. The
LUCA INDRACCOLO is a leading painter of the human form and regularly teaches workshops at the Raw Umber Studios in Stroud. He tells Katie Jarvis about his journey into art
children had been set an activity, to create a figurine in clay. Luca made a kangaroo. At the time, he didn’t understand why; but his teacher called a friend from the prestigious Capodimonte ceramics school. “They took me into a corridor, where they had set up a little table for the two of us. And he taught me how to sculpt roses. I remember to this day how to do them.”
So, a career in art was a no-brainer? Luca laughs. “There’s this whole idea that an artist won’t be able to support himself. And my mum certainly thought that. Her family had bakeries in Naples when she was little. However, because of my grandfather’s illness, he mismanaged the business and lost it all. So, for my mum, the idea of me wanting to pursue a career in art was terrifying.”
Graphic design was the compromise. And not an onerous one, either. Luca enjoyed the idea of commercial art – “To this day, I still love doing a little” – and he was good at it. His work took him all over the world: living in Germany, England and the United
States; the peak was being appointed a creative director for Saatchi & Saatchi.
“The problem was, making a career in advertising means you end up designing less and less. It was a bad time, the last couple of years. I wasn’t creating; I was just managing people. That was when I decided this wasn’t doing it for me.”
Surely that must have been terrifying? Giving up such a prestigious job for the unknown. “ It was very scary! But, if I’m not happy, I need to change things. I didn’t have commitments, and I thought, ‘ you only live once’.” And now? “When people ask me if I miss it, my usual reply is, “I miss the salary .”
His studio space is in a beautiful part of Gozo, Malta. It sits on a plateau looking over a valley that leads to the Mediterranean Sea. “It’s in an old farmhouse that I spent a few years renovating. I’ve added a skylight to the studio to be able to paint with natural light which luckily, we have an abundance of here. I also have a custom built taboret I made myself and a small printing press that
I use to make my dry point intaglio prints.”
His training – some done in tandem with his erstwhile career – has been intense. Luca’s focus on the human figure led him to study anatomy with an illustrator: the scaffolding of the body; the bone structure; learning the landmarks of the body, from cheekbone to breastbone to kneecap. Understanding how muscles influence form, and how those muscles function, so movement can transfer to canvas. “With most subjects, from still lifes to landscapes, you can invent; you can move things; it doesn’t matter. But, if you don’t understand how a knee works, or what makes it appear right, people will notice. They might not be able to tell you what’s wrong with it, but we are all familiar with the human form. They will know that something is wrong.”
Today, Luca is a full-time artist, commissioned to paint portraits – he is considered one of the great contemporary masters of portrait painting – as well as creating his own series of compositions.
“My absolute favourite thing to do is to work on an idea based on experience; something I’ve read or seen in a film. I have sketchbooks – like a comedian might have a pad of paper next to a bed and maybe jot down a punchline in the middle of the night. I make a note – sometimes written down; sometimes a clear image; sometimes it’s a terrible image! Essentially, it’s a way to pin down ideas.”
For the past 12 years, he has also taught art. If you can hold a pen and write, you should be able to paint, he maintains. “ It’s essentially a lot of work, a lot of dedication, a lot of repetition of exercises. At the beginning of my teaching, I had a preconception about who would become a good painter. But I’ve been proven wrong over and over. People I didn’t expect to become good succeeded because they put a lot of work in; because they were super dedicated.”
So, what would Luca define as great art? It’s a tricky question, he muses. “For me, art needs to connect emotionally with people, and not all artwork and all artists connect with everybody. I’ve seen people freeze in front of paintings that didn’t move me at all. In terms of aesthetics, I like chiaroscuro; moody pictures; Caravaggio. But then, if I see Monet’s Water Lilies, I like to stare at the painting for hours. It’s so not the kind of picture I would like to paint –but it does it for me.”
Luca Indraccolo teaches regular workshops at Raw Umber Studios. For more details, v isit rawumberstudios.com
CharleneAfter finishing university in digital art, I wanted to get back in touch with traditional mediums.
After a couple of months, I had quite a big pile of paintings and thought I should try and sell them. So, I put them on eBay. Not long after, I was earning more than I was spending.
My wildlife paintings were the most popular, but I felt the desire to try more ambitious subjects.
So, I relocated to the place that has truly inspired me: Barcelona. Once I moved, I took a hiatus to fully focus on refining my style in painting cityscapes.
The subjects I like to paint are impulsive but usually come from places I’ve visited. Recently, I’ve found street scenes give a great opportunity to capture the magic of watercolour.
Ideally, I would like to paint in different styles and choose different subjects. But when growing an audience, it’s important to stick with what they like you for. When I was creating videos for YouTube, I was doing it solely for revenue. My channel started off brilliantly but soon stopped growing. So, I took a break and whilst doing so, discovered Skillshare. Now, I wish I had started with Skillshare all along. It has invigorated my passion to teach, all whilst giving me another source of income.
My ambitions are still not fully accomplished but being able to support myself through art is something I’m very grateful for. If you paint well enough, people will notice. Gradually, through word of mouth and algorithms, you’ll be able to make a living.
Instagram: @willelliston
Seek out as many streams of income as possible. Teach, whether it be in person or online. You could sell prints. You can license your art out to different companies.
My art has been used on a range of things from cycling clothes to restaurant menus. ‘Sell the Sizzle, Not the Steak’. If you want to increase your following, change the way you promote your art. Popular art-related pages present a strong brand image. Don’t just show the artworks, but the imagery of the art-making process. Be honest with yourself about your art. Compare your art to the artists that inspire you to judge your progress. Anyone can become a master of their craft if they’re able to put the time and energy into it.
WILL’S TIPS ON HOW TO MAKE IT AS A FULL -TIMEARTISTRambla de Mar, watercolour and pencil, 38x28cm Green Woodpecker, watercolour and pencil, 42x30cm Laietana Sunset, watercolour and pencil, 39x28cm
Multiple award-winning watercolour artist Will Elliston shares his journey to becoming a full-time artist in Barcelona
Portrait and figurative artist JAMES HAGUE has won numerous awards, including the esteemed BP Portrait Award when he was just 25. He tells Niki Browes why he always comes back to painting
Growing up in Derbyshire, James Hague was always scribbling and drawing. His mum was a watercolourist who taught him the basics and, at school, he was always making things and creating. But in a tale we hear way too often, no teacher or career officer ever asked if he wanted to go to art school; it simply wasn’t encouraged despite his obvious talent.
Yet, being an artist was clearly going to be a part of his future.
After dropping out of sixth form, he thought he’d washed his hands of school and planned on getting a job. One friend was
studying catering at Chesterfield College and he used to go and occasionally have his lunch with him in the canteen. That’s when he came across the art department. A friendly tutor suggested he bring his portfolio down and, recognising his aptitude, was promptly offered a place on the foundation course where he got to explore, develop and test creative ideas in practice, through a broad range of materials and processes. He flourished and went on to the University of Northumbria in Newcastle, where he completed a Fine Arts degree. That chance encounter – and encouragement – at Chesterfield College paid off.
I did a portrait of my dad when I was 13 and got a good likeness; since then I’ve always been drawn to portraiture.
I don’t know why, because I find it very uncomfortable having someone sitting in front of me. Because of this, I choose my sitters carefully to make sure I enjoy the process and they are usually somene I know.
Working from a life model is different; if someone’s been paid to sit there it takes the awkwardness away for me. But, overall, I much prefer working from photographs and drawings, and working on my own.
After university, I lived in Paris for about three years, mainly busking; working on street paintings of classical copies in acrylic on canvas.
They took ages and every day you’d roll them out and carry on working. The work got us noticed and we got lots of jobs painting murals in bars and cafes. It was whilst I was in Paris that I painted the self-portrait which won the BP Portrait Award (1996). I’d been wanting to enter for about four years before this, but I kept looking at my work and thinking, there’s not much point, really. I finally plucked up the courage. At the time, there were nine prizes and they told me I’d won one; I just assumed it was the lowliest.
Winning was a huge shock – I think it is for everyone – but a dream come true. I guess this was when my career started in earnest and set the trajectory for the next 30 years. But it came at the wrong time for me. I was a bit too young and, in hindsight, didn’t make the most of the opportunity.
Part of the BP prize is winning a commission.
I painted Michael Caine. It took about 18
months from winning to getting him as a sitter but he made it very easy for me. I was given three days, which I’m not sure I’d agree to now, but he was such a great model; he sat there like a statue. In the end, he gave me another two days of his time, because he could see I needed more, which I was very grateful for.
These days, portraits can take anything from a day to a week and I work in oil on board.
Some days, I just get it done. My influences range from the obvious like Lucian Freud, Stanley Spencer and Alice Neel but they’re not always figurative. My influences are really quite broad. That’s not to say there’s not a lot of brilliant figurative work out there – there is; I think it’s having a bit of a renaissance – but I know what I like which is probably a bit more painterly and abstract and not as literal as what I do.
Woman in yellow trousers, oil on gesso board, 90x120cm
Untitled (woman), oil on gesso board, 12x16cm
I hardly ever accept commissions.
I painted one earlier this year and that was the first one in about six years. It was someone I knew, who I had a connection with, so that was OK. I tend to stick to people I know for portraiture otherwise, I’m out of my comfort zone.
For me, Instagram has been phenomenal for promting and selling my work. What started it was the Artists Support Pledge
in the pandemic where you posted artwork and sold it for £200. I put paintings on the site that had just been sitting there in drawers doing nothing or ones I was going to paint over – and they’d sell in a minute. The more I posted, the more people got in contact. Then, I started selling some of the bigger works to collectors all over the world. Soon, I had a backlog of people wanting stuff and I’ve still got a waiting list today. Instagram has been a big learning curve but it works for me because it means I don’t need a gallery.
I stopped painting portraits in the millennium and got a scholarship to go to the Royal College in 2004, where I did an MA for two years.
I was in my late thirties by then and it was a good way to move my practice on. After that, I moved to Denmark where I had an illustration job working on an internal brochure for doctors at the NHS, which I did ▸
Man wearing glasses,
on
Man in blue trousers,
on gesso board,
for about eight years. I had to produce four a year and fill them with portraits; this was back when the NHS still had some money. But I was still painting and selling things every now and then as well as making things like furniture. Then, in 2013, I won a big competition in Demark called Portrait Now! and off the back of that, I sold paintings that I’d already made. But I get bored easily. I moved back to England and did a PGCE –teacher training – for a year at UCL, which was pretty intense. Half the year you spend teaching, mine which I did at a sixth form college in Hackney. It kind of put me off. But it was a steep learning curve and has certainly helped me, not least because I now also teach the Portrait Diploma at Heatherley’s School of Fine Art, which I absolutely love. There’s little paperwork; it doesn’t feel like work.
I’ve got a purpose-built live workspace in North London.
When I’m there I’m just working. I have to be pretty organised because I don’t like mess. I paint upstairs because the light is better and then I make canvases and draw and print downstairs. Fishing is another big passion – I went through a stage of concentrating on painting fish – so my fishing tackle is also in
the workshop. There’s lots of stuff! The rest of the time I’m with my son, Stanley, and his mum in Copenhagen.
There are quite a few of my contemporaries who I’ve met over the years who never stopped painting and are now established, whereas I disappeared for a bit.
So, for the last few years, I’ve kept my foot on the gas. Along the way, I’ve won a few prizes, which is nice. I got an invite to join the Royal Society of Painters and in 2018, won The Ondaatje Prize for Portraiture, and the following year was the winner of The RP Award. The accolades mean I’ve now got a few serious collectors and there’s more of a demand. But I don’t want to fall into a routine of just painting stuff you know you can sell. The more serious stuff, I keep to one side, as it’s not right for selling on social media.
I guess I’m successful in that I don’t have to do anything else. But if you ask any artist, success is a bit subjective. It’s really nice to be able to make a living from painting alone but success is short-lived. I’m just going to keep on painting and learning.
jameshague.uk
Man sitting down, oil on gesso board, 65x85cm Man in blue jumper, oil on gesso board, 75x100cm Woman in green trousers, oil on gesso board, 70x90cm
Woman in orange jumper, oil on gesso board, 35x45cm
Kate Segal grew up in 1990s New York City, and with a long line of female artists on both sides of her family, had the privilege of going to museums such as the MoMA and the Whitney from a young age. So, creating and viewing art had always been a part of her life. “I remember when I was very little, my grandma Marian bought me a book called Katie’s Picture Show and it was about a little girl who went to a museum and was able to climb into various pictures. She climbed into a Kandinsky painting and was hanging off a circle’s landing on one of the squares. I remember feeling really envious.”
Her grandmother was a fashion illustrator back in the 60s, whose work was featured across the likes of The New York Times. Although ▸
This contemporary abstract artist integrates her creativity into her career as a clinical psychologist to help people explore themselves, finds Ramsha Vistro.Mother and Son on Salvation Mountain, digital mixed media
she passed away when Kate was only nine, Kate is still very connected to her. “I think of her all the time. There have been many moments throughout my life since she died, where my parents will notice something that I’m doing, wearing or attracted to, and mention that my grandma had loved it – and I had no idea. We share a lot of the same interests and have similar tastes.”
Kate followed in her grandmother’s footsteps and took elective classes at The Art Students League of New York. But she majored in Psychology at University and went on to do a PhD in Clinical Psychology.
Why? Growing up, she was surrounded by people who were in therapy as it’s much more normalised in Manhattan than it is in the rest of the world. “Many people go to see a psychologist like they go to see primary care physicians,” she explains. So everyone around Kate – including her friends, family and herself – were all in therapy, which she recognises was, and is, a privilege. Her mother is a physician, so Kate was inspired by science and the mind. “This is where I learned that I wanted to be a therapist and decided to major in it in college and then go on to become a Doctor of Psychology. I also
Jungle Boogie, digital mixed media
The Autumn Rooster, digital mixed media
saw becoming a clinician as a more viable career option. I didn’t start considering selling my art or art as a career until 2020, believe it or not. I never thought I could make a living off art until my 30s!”
She’s had a particular fascination for digital art since the tender age of five, thanks to her father’s love for computers, well before they were widely used. “I remember having access to Microsoft Paint on our big clunky computer in the living room. More than any other game, I used the Paint programme.” She always doodled in class or at restaurant tables, usually with a simple grey pencil. “But
when I was on digital art programmes like Microsoft Paint, I could draw an enclosed square and then choose any colour to fill that square. I just loved that I had access to every colour with the click of a button. That same mentality goes for me now that I’m an adult. I have access with Procreate to any paintbrush I desire, any colour-combo and all sorts of tools that can manipulate colour and shapes in ways that are so exciting
“I am also pretty messy and having all these tools stationed on my iPad requires no paint splattering anywhere on my clothes or in my house. My studio is wherever my iPad is. I
Strong and Exhausted Mother, digital mixed media
Fantastic Favolashchia, digital mixed media,
love it [digital art] because I can do it anywhere. I have created countless pieces while riding crowded subways or in my living room. I can get into a flow-state anywhere.”
Flow-states are something Kate works towards, not just in her artwork, but also in her career as a psychologist. “The practice of making art and being present with my clients gets me into a similar flow-state – where time seems to go faster, self-consciousness is not present, and a sense of effortlessness takes over. The more I get into this state in my art, the more it aids my ability to be a skilled clinician and vice versa.”
Her experience as a psychologist lies in working with couples, people with substance issues and those who have experienced trauma. She integrates art into her career as a psychologist every day. “In both, my career as a psychologist and as an artist – when I’m in the moment of creating art or providing therapy – I am doing my best work. I am
coming from my heart and not completely from my mind. Both careers require creativity and art fuels my creativity. It also relaxes me, recharges me and helps me get in the right mindset to provide therapy.
“There is an art to practising psychotherapy in an authentic way. Just like in fine art, an artist may have brushes and colours but knowing what brush, colour or level of stroke to use and when, is specific to the artist and their ability to be open and in tune with the moment. Similarly, in providing psychotherapy, I have lots of tools and interventions under my belt, and there is an art to knowing when and how to incorporate them to help people reach their goals and live the quality of life they desire.”
Kate describes herself as a contemporary figurative and abstract expressionist artist who creates “curvy” art. She has always loved drawing figures and flowers and “random shapes” as a child, which only matured as she aged. “I still draw the same type of things, just in a more complex way,” she shares.
How long does it take her to create an artwork? “Sometimes I can make a piece in an hour. It really depends on my flow or the level of detail of a given piece.” Kate doesn’t usually suffer from creative ruts, but she found herself longing for her desire to create art during her pregnancy. “I really felt like all my creative energy was going to creating the baby but then it came back when I was further along in the pregnancy. At first, I was scared – worrying about where my rampant desire to create art went – but once I made that connection again, it was really relieving and fascinating.”
She’s drawn to three different subject matters, all of which involve lots of bright colours. “I love using colour, it conveys emotion and I create pieces that make me feel good in the moment. I frequently draw nature, especially mushrooms and jellyfish. I see a lot of similarities between them, and they are just some of the most beautiful things on earth to me.” When it comes to figurative art, she tends to draw women of different ethnicities with bigger bodies, “I am a curvy woman myself and always take pleasure in seeing and creating art with bodies that look like my own or are similar in some way.”
Kate’s work features uplifting hues as well as themes of life and spirituality. She uses her artistic talents to support her clients as they grow in self-acceptance and describes creating art as the most authentic thing she can do. If ever you needed testimony of the healing power of art, Kate’s life work is proof.
katesegal.com
Magisterial Mushrooms, digital mixed media
Onward and Upward, digital mixed media
Moon Rocks, digital mixed media
with
A member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, LUCY MCKIE chose not to follow the route of a formal art school education, instead preferring simply to paint and learn from close observation. But whilst her work might be neat, she happily admits she isn’t, finds Niki Browes
Inspired by her parent’s art books and the occasional visits to London galleries when she was growing up, Lucy McKie decided early on that she was going to be a full-time artist. In hindsight, she realises it was quite the leap of faith as she didn’t have a plan B. Perhaps this meant that she had to make it work. Because although there isn’t a set route to becoming a professional artist, hard work,
perseverance and, crucially, learning to accept rejection means she made it her career. Today, she works from a small studio space in her Yorkshire home and credits entering open exhibitions and becoming a member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters in giving her faith in her work, now bolstered by the fact that her portraits and still life paintings are in collections all over the world.
Growing up, we lived in the countryside in Yorkshire but would have occasional trips to London and sometimes visit galleries.
These visits were really important, especially in the pre-internet days as I could see paintings in the flesh, which made the idea of actually being a painter feel a bit more real. I think these trips made me very curious about oil paint and I was lucky to have been introduced to art and painting so early.
I always found portraits especially fascinating and that has never left me.
There were loads of art books at home. I would spend hours by myself looking at them. I would see all kinds of art in the books and although I didn’t understand most of it, I still found it interesting. I can remember finding a photo of what I later learnt to be the brilliant Portrait of Pope Innocent X by Velazquez and finding it really unsettling but had to keep looking again and again. It was years later that I learnt the name of the artist and the sitter, but I
remember being so caught by that piercing expression. I think it left such an impression because I had never seen a portrait that “looked back” with such power.
One thing that has been very important for me was submitting paintings to open exhibitions.
This was absolutely key in helping me to have a bit of faith in my own work and begin to meet other artists. Many of my submissions were rejected but eventually, I got a painting accepted in The Society of Women Artists show at the Mall Galleries. This was wonderful because I had visited the Mall Galleries over the years and loved the place, so it was really exciting to have a painting on the wall. Becoming a member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters has also been a wonderful experience for me and I’ve loved getting to know the other artists and taking part in the society.
I work exclusively in oil and absolutely love it.
I love the depth of colour and also the fact
that it is a very forgiving medium. I like to build up paintings quite slowly, so I know with oils I can do this without having to finish everything at once. It has such strength and weight and can really capture what I’m trying to achieve. I tend to start my paintings firstly with a sketch drawn onto the canvas, then a full-colour underpainting to quickly put some solid weight down. This is a very rough initial painting, but it will establish the overall composition, light and shade and any other key information. I then start to gradually refine this over time, finishing finally with tiny little pieces of detail. Oil is the perfect medium for this approach.
I never expected to paint still life and always thought I would just paint portraits.
It’s been quite surprising to discover how much I love the subject. I began to paint still life mainly for fun and as an occasional break from portraiture but realised that I loved doing it. When people started to respond positively, that made me want to
Four Pears on White Linen
keep going. I enjoy painting really ordinary objects rather than anything grand and like to focus on everyday items. A few people who have bought my still life paintings have said that they have started to look at objects in a different way and notice things like the effects of changing light and so on, which is lovely. To me, inanimate objects seem to have their own personality and character. When I’m looking at subjects and planning a composition, I’ll often choose a particular item because it has a funny little stance or some quirky element. Even fruit seems to do this once you place pieces together.
I often use photography in my work, and this is mainly because I like to establish a definite light condition and tone, and keep that constant throughout the painting.
Much of my work, especially still life, has quite a cool light, so I tend to set up compositions in the cool morning light and then record as much as I can of colour information and light to retain the overall look of the painting. I like to work from life too, but it has a different result. Although I do enjoy the spontaneity of working from life, I like to use photography to record information and reference; this way I can build work up over time without losing the initial look I was aiming to achieve. Because my style can be quite meticulous, this way of working seems to be the best.
My paintings can take a few weeks if there is quite a lot of detail, but often I build several paintings at a time so I always have something to work on if drying is an issue.
Some of my smaller ones can be quicker to work on and I think over the years I’ve found ways of painting detail that are quite fast. I do have to spend time during the first stages making sure my drawing is accurate. If I don’t establish my initial drawing correctly, then the painting never seems to quite work out the way I hope. I often take quite a while fine-tuning the drawing until I let rip with the paint. Over the years, I’ve learnt the hard way not to be too keen to get cracking, and have ruined many a painting!
I love walking around art galleries and seeing how painters in the past have captured the very essence of their sitters.
It’s such a powerful link with history. Historical portraits by artists such as Holbein show us so much about the subjects and give us an incredible connection with the past.
Christina, oil , 20x20mWhen I visit someone for a commissioned portrait, I spend time listening and paying close attention to them, noticing body language and little mannerisms.
I try to gather what is unique to the individual and I love to learn about them. I also listen carefully to find out what they actually want from their portrait, which is crucial. It’s important to understand how a person expresses themselves because although a portrait ultimately depicts a still image, you want it to suggest as much as possible of what makes a person truly them. Commissioned portraits can be an elusive mixture of how the artist sees the sitter, how the sitter sees themselves and sometimes, how the sitter wishes to be seen. As the painter, I feel I need to pull all of these threads together and maintain a clear vision and impression of who I’m painting.
I love so many different artists, it’s difficult to choose a few.
I have always loved Vermeer, and find his work fascinating. I admire many Dutch and Flemish painters and am always absolutely stunned when I see their paintings in the flesh. The Rijksmuseum is an amazing place. My partner Pete and I loved visiting and spending time seeing so much fantastic art; we keep meaning to go back as soon as possible. A couple of years ago I was spending time looking at the Dutch still life art in the National Gallery and the quality of work was awe-inspiring; absolute perfection. I also love Vilhelm Hammershøi and the subtle stillness in his paintings. I love how beautiful and contemplative the paintings are, yet also have quite an uncomfortable feeling.
People have often told me that my still life paintings give them a sense of calm and peacefulness.
I love the idea that the paintings might create this feeling. I want people to enjoy the paintings and simply feel happy when they look at them. It’s always lovely when someone lets me know that they enjoy their painting; for me, that’s the best outcome.
With my still life work, I’m definitely not attempting to capture anything complex, I just enjoy painting them and hope they are uplifting to the people who live with them.
Although my work might look quite neat, I’m definitely not, and have usually stepped in some paint and walked it all around before I’ve even got started.
The studio I work in is small and a bit untidy, but I quite like working in a little room as I
Eucalyptus with Bryony Berries, oil , 16x16cm Four Toys on Vintage tin, oil , 12x12cmcan just go in and get cracking without any other things to do. If I had more space I’d fill it with distractions, so better to only have what I need in there.
I tend to follow a similar working pattern most days and set up compositions before mid-morning while the light is cool.
I paint as much as I can during the day but sometimes other things in life mean I can’t work as much as I would like. If I have to have a break from painting, I find that I really want to get back to it. I often spend time planning compositions and doing little thumbnail sketches of ideas then I’ll set everything up according to the sketch and see how it works. I tend to keep a notebook around in the kitchen, then I can have a doodle while the kettle’s boiling. I’ve had quite a few good composition ideas whilst waiting for the kettle.
I listen to podcasts when I’m working. I like all kinds and have found them to be a
really good way of hearing a lot of opinions and other people’s perspectives. Painting is a very solitary way to spend the day so I sometimes listen to comedy podcasts if I need to perk up a bit. I’ve recently found some great art podcasts that are really inspiring and get you fired up on days when the momentum has slipped a bit.
I’m very prone to overthinking which can be unhelpful creatively.
I can end up rejecting an idea for a composition purely because I’ve thought about it too much before starting and killed it off. Often, it’s better to just dive in; even if
that painting doesn’t work, it will probably hold the keys to the next one. It’s taken me a very long time to realise that creativity is cyclical, and all creative people have times when they are buzzing with ideas and other times when it’s a real struggle. It’s only through talking to other artists that I’ve understood this doesn’t just happen to me, but all of us experience it and it’s totally normal.
Although being an artist is often very unpredictable and has its challenges, I do love being able to paint all the time. Sometimes I quite fancy the idea of trying something completely different such as abstract work and it’s good to know that art is broad enough to let you dabble into other things just for fun and curiosity. I also enjoy tremendously the friends I’ve made through art. Artists seem to have a communication shorthand and understand each other because we all know the highs and lows of being an artist – but also that we couldn’t swap it for the world.
lucymckie.com
It’s taken me a very long time to realise that creativity is cyclicalLemons with Brown Paper
Judging for The British Art Prize has now closed, and we have our final 50 winners. The top three will be revealed in the next issue of Artists & Illustrators but, for now, we’d like to get you voting for The People’s Choice Award
The esteemed judging panel for The British Art Prize – made up of Scottish artist Bruce McLean, professional artist (and Artists & Illustrators columnist) Jake Spicer, The One Show’s Artist in Residence, Adebanje Alade, the Managing Director of edding, Andy Gutteridge and Niki Browes, the editor of this magazine – have cast their votes and the winners have been decided. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves: the big reveal will be in the next issue of Artists & Illustrators. For now, we’d like to get you involved.
This is your chance to vote for your favourite painting from the 50 artworks shortlisted for this year’s competition. To cast your vote and view every artwork up close, simply follow the link above (right). When the deadline closes on 25th October 2022, the recipient of the most public votes will be named The People’s Choice Award winner. Their prize will be £1,000 in cash, a Pegasus Art voucher worth £500 and a feature in the January issue of Artists & Illustrators. We can’t wait to see what you vote for!
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BY THE NATIONAL GALLERY, PURCHASED WITH A SPECIAL GRANT AND THE AID OF THE MAX RAYNE FOUNDATION, 1964
Rule-breakers are hardly rare beasts in art history’s vaults, but by anyone’s standards PAUL CEZANNE was an outstanding rebel, says Martha Alexander
This is why he is frequently described as “the father of modern art”. It was he who consciously moved away from Impressionism, which had dominated painting in Paris in the 19th century and in doing so, paved the way for Fauvism, Cubism and beyond.
But Cezanne’s trajectory wasn’t straightforward: his life and work were full of contradictions. He was torn between a desire for acceptance and acclaim in Paris and his deep-seated belief that he needed to find a new way to paint; one which took him back to his native Provence. All of this and more is to be laid bare in the first major UK retrospective of Cezanne’s work in over 25 years at Tate Modern this autumn. The show will include some 80 still lifes, landscapes and portraits borrowed from all over the world.
To understand Cezanne, one must first understand where he came from, both literally and metaphorically. He was born in 1839 in Aix-en-Provence in the south of France, the son of a well-off milliner turned banker. He was a bright boy but the only subject that truly piqued his interest was art. By the age of 18, he was studying drawing at a local art school. To appease his father, he read Law for a while but escaped to Paris in 1961. Cezanne Senior simmered down enough to ultimately support his son’s artistic endeavours.
In Paris, Cezanne’s application to study at École des Beaux-Arts was promptly rejected and instead, he enrolled at Académie Suisse where he met Camille Pissarro who became a mentor. He spent time in the Louvre, sketching its treasures, but he dreamed of a home in the south.
Throughout his life, he yo-yoed between north and south, struggling to find his place and to be taken seriously as a painter.
Cezanne began to return to Aix increasingly from the 1890s, which was incidentally when his work began to be highly valued by the art market. In 1901, Cezanne acquired a piece of land just north of the city along the Chemin des Lauves on which he built a studio. It’s a traditional two-level Provençale home of about 50 square metres – not overly imposing despite having high ceilings – and is shrouded by gardens. There’s a huge north-facing window and a rather clever tall slit in the wall for pulling canvases through.
His return to Aix wasn’t a move he took lightly. This wasn’t to be a brief interlude but a major commitment that went beyond any faddish pursuit. “He came back to Aix
because he had a deep engagement [with it],” says Natalia Sidlina, Co-curator of the Tate Modern show. “He wanted to build a long-term relationship with the land rather than focus on specific light of the day.”
His immersion in the landscape of his childhood – how he allowed himself to be enveloped by the Bibémus Quarries and dwarfed by Montagne Sainte-Victoire – was central to the success of his work.
“Cezanne was trying to capture on the canvas ‘le sensation’,” explains Sidlina. “This was essentially the sensation of a place.” She quotes Cezanne himself: “I need to
know the geology and geography of the place to paint it.”
Aix and the surrounding landscape – the palette, light and shapes of Montagne Sainte-Victoire and the Bibémus Quarries –are practically patched onto his paintings.
One of the most interesting pieces in the Tate show is Montagne Sainte-Victoire Seen from Bibémus which is borrowed from Philidelphia Museum of Art and is one of between 10 and 14 he painted in situ at the quarries. “The lines and blocks here show just how influential he was to Cubism,” says Michael Raymond, Assistant Curator of Cezanne at Tate Modern.
People like to romanticise Cezanne’s relationship with Provence: It’s not difficult to imagine the solitary days of this shy perfectionist: early rises, long walks and slow painting: 15 minutes could pass between brush strokes. There’s a version of him as a provincial loner and a scruffy outsider and have him marked as of modest, unpretentious means. But this isn’t true.
Cezanne needed to know the geology and geography of the place to paint itPHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART. GIFT OF HELEN TYSON MADEIRA, 1977, 1977 288 1 Mont SainteVictoire, 1902-6
at least, it’s more complicated than that.
The truth is, Cezanne was something of a trust fund baby. His family were wealthy, so his humble image was a choice. Cezanne didn’t make a living from his painting and yet he dedicated his life to painting. The only way that is possible is with a private income. The Bastide du Jas de Bouffan – an elegant, spacious, 18-century beauty on the outskirts of Aix, complete with servants’ quarters –belonging to Cezanne’s father is proof, if anyone needed it, that Cezanne was wealthy. He had a studio in the attic and his father even allowed him to paint all over the drawing room walls. But Cezanne’s relationship with his father was complex and rife with power struggles and secrecy.
The artist married his wife Hortense 20 years after they first met in Paris – and after they had a son together. If this seems an unusual sequence of events, then consider that Cezanne believed his father would not approve of Hortense. Since Cezanne Senior funded his son’s art career, there seemed to be an unspoken agreement that he didn’t want to hear any details he might object to. Cezanne was complicit in this; he hid parts of his life, including Hortense, from his father to ensure he wasn’t financially cut off.
There are some 27 portraits of Hortense, but this is not, says Bruno Ely, Director of Musée Granet in Aix which holds a selection of Cezanne’s work including a portrait of Hortense, indicative of her husband’s devotion. “Hortense could sit for long periods of time,” he says. “This is why there are so many portraits of her.”
Cezanne’s treatment of nudes is also explored in the Tate show – there are a number of examples of his ‘Bathers’ paintings, which typically feature nude figures surrounded by plush greenery. “Bather scenes were imagined, in that he didn’t work from nude models,” says Raymond. “He used sketches from when he was young. It was a question of propriety.”
He would copy nude studies from sculptures including those of Pierre Puget, a Provençale artist from the 17th century and transpose them into his paintings. While it could be argued that this means there are constraints on the paintings, the opposite is also true: this copying surely allowed him to expand his creativity.
Cezanne’s unusual use of colour in his Bathers paintings is also notable, and further evidence of his rule-breaking. “Artists at the time of the ‘Bathers’ used soft shapes and colours on female nudes to depict sensuality, but Cezanne used blue,” says Ely.
The still lifes – a generous handful of the 180 he painted during his career – are
© MUSEO NACIONAL THYSSEN BORNEMISZA, MADRID PARIS, MUSÉE D’ORSAY, DONATION DE M. PHILIPPE MEYER, 2000. PHOTO (C) RMN GRAND PALAIS (MUSÉE D’ORSAY) / ADRIEN DIDIERJEAN Seated Man, 1905-6 Portrait of the Artist with Pink Background, 1875plentiful Three skulls, bowls of fruit, shelves of jugs and other vessels, a plump plaster cupid. They’re all there: the objects of his still lifes, in real life.
It’s both ironic and tragic that Cezanne had such a strong connection to Aix, and he was ridiculed by the people here who dismissed his efforts: the director of The Museum of Aix (now Musée Granet) from 1892 to 1925, Henri Pointier refused to hang his work there. Cezanne died without having felt the pride his hometown has for him.
The first retrospective of Cezanne’s work was held in 1907 at Salon d’Automne, Paris a year after his death. Its impact changed the course of art history as the full force of his powers was finally felt. Over 100 years later, the Tate’s retrospective is a loud echo of his weight and influence – even among contemporary artists including Etel Adnan and Phyllida Barlow who contribute essays to the show. Cezanne’s determination and rule-breaking had not been for nothing.
The EY Exhibition: Cezanne will show at Tate Modern from 5 October 2022 to 12 March 2023 tate.org.uk
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Château Noir, 1900-4
Still Life with Apples, 1893–1894
RIGHT Painter Working, Reflection, 1993, oil on canvas, 101.2x81.7cm
OPPOSITE Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956, oil on canvas, 61x61cm
Bringing to light new perspectives on a lifetime’s work, a new exhibition at the National Gallery looks beyond LUCIAN FREUD ’s fame and infamy to focus on the artist’s uncompromising commitment to painting, says Adrian Mourby ▸
COLLECTION © THE LUCIAN FREUD ARCHIVE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 2022/ BRIDGEMAN IMAGES
Lucian Freud (1922-2011) was a remarkable painter and a remarkable man. By his own admission, he never did anything he didn’t want to do. His own father described him as a “wild animal”. He lied and he stole. His father-in-law, the sculptor Jacob Epstein described him as “that spiv”. Others described him as untameable, selfish and ruthless. He hung out with the Kray Brothers, notorious East End gangsters. His friends included artists, sex workers, bookies and louche aristocrats. He was pretty louche himself. At one point he had five relationships running concurrently, with different girlfriends.He fathered at least fourteen children, and possibly as many as 40 (he did not acknowledge the majority of them). He loved to gossip about fellow artists and his gambling debts were said to run into millions.
Yet Lucia n Freud was one of the most serious British artists of the twentieth century. Friends described him painting 24 hours a day, standing at an easel in his paint-spattered studio in Notting Hill. He demanded months of a sitter’s life just to get one painting right.
Born in Germany, the grandson of Sigmund Freud, he was brought with his immediate family to London in 1933 to escape the Nazis. Lucian was sent to various schools where he misbehaved, but he loved to visit the European painting collection of London’s National Gallery. “I use the gallery as if it were a doctor,” Freud once stated. “I come for ideas and help – to look at situations within paintings, rather than whole paintings.”
In later life, Freud was granted the almost unique honour of unlimited access to the gallery, night or day. He would drive there in the late evening in his old Bentley and emerge at first light.
It is apt therefore, that this is the gallery marking the centenary of Freud’s birth. Lucian Freud: New Perspectives displays his work, on loan from all over the world, in five overlapping sections: “Becoming Freud” (the 1940s-50s), “Portraying Intimacy” (1960s-80s), “Power and Death” (1970s-90s), “Art and the Studio” (1980s-2000s) and “The Flesh” (his final works).
Some artists’ work hardly seems to change in their long creative lives. The old John Constable’s work is remarkably similar to the young. Some evolve gradually but relentlessly over the decades. Picasso’s output is famously divided into nine periods: Early, Blue Period, Rose Period, African Period, Cubism, Neoclassicism,
Surrealism and Later Works. But sometime in the 1950s, the young Lucian Freud transitioned dramatically into the muscular Freud of impastoed oils. He then explored that style for the rest of his long life.
A big chronological exhibition like Lucian Freud: New Perspectives offers the opportunity to see how and when a painter develops. The early Freud worked with small sable-haired brushes, creating two-dimensional imagery in detailed portraits of his first wife, Kitty Garman: Girl with Roses, (1947-8) and Girl with a Kitten (1947). Back in the 1940s, hints of surrealism are visible in strange juxtapositions such as the self-portrait,
Man with a Thistle, (1946) but these are very precise works with hardly a brush stroke visible.
Hotel Bedroom (1954) which is displayed at the very end of “Becoming Freud” conveys not only the desultory beginning of a new relationship with his second wife, Caroline Blackwood but the beginning of a new style in which Freud places his figures no longer abstracted from reality, in rooms.
The biggest shift, however, occurs at the beginning of the 1960s with pictures of his daughter Annie, Head of a Girl (1962) and Naked Child Laughing (1963) which look like the work of a completely different artist. These pictures are celebrated in the second section of the exhibition, “Portraying Intimacy”. There is boldness in the use of oils here, the brilliance of Head of a Girl lies not just in a compelling likeness and sense of personality but in the fact that Freud is celebrating the act of painting itself, creating a face out of brushstrokes.
Daniel F. Herrmann, who has curated this exhibition, talks of how henceforth painting itself becomes Freud’s subject.
OPPOSITE And the Bridegroom, 1933, oil on canvas, 231.8×196.2cm
ABOVE Michael Andrews and June, 1065-6, oil on canvas, 61x 71cm
FAR LEFT The Brigadier, 2003-4, oil on canvas, 223.5x138.4cm
LEFT Head of a Girl, 1962, oil on canvas, 81.2x71.1cm
TOP LEFT Her Majesty
The Queen, 2000-2001 oil on canvas, 23.5x15.2cm
LEFT Naked Child Laughing, 1963 oil on canvas, 34x28cm
ABOVE Sleeping by the Lion Carpe t, 1996 oil on canvas, 228x121cm
RIGHT Francis Bacon (Unfinished), 1956-7, oil and charcoal on canvas, 35.5x35.5cm
OPPOSITE Girl with a Kitten, 1947, oil on canvas, 41x30.7cm
He even painted two “non-finito” portraits, one of himself and the other of Francis Bacon. In Herrmann’s words, these are “pictures whose status as artworks is underlined by their deliberate display of their painterly making.”
In this section of the exhibition, we see the artist becoming increasingly ruthless and uncompromising. His liberal use of the lead-based paint Cremnitz White would become a trademark as would his nudes which are not a comfortable viewing. His favourite models, Sue Tilley, a Job Centre supervisor, then weighing 127 kilograms and the hefty shaven-headed Australian performance artist, Leigh Bowery was not selected for their grace. Freud’s eye when
cast upon the human body betrays the same lack of illusion that we see 40 or 50 years earlier in Stanley Spencer’s Leg of mutton nude (1937).
Freud’s own naked self-portrait, Painter Working, Reflection (1993) is of a gaunt and shuffling emaciated old man. Of Big Sue’s
TATE: BEQUEATHED BY SIMON SAINSBURY 2006, ACCESSIONED 2008 © THE LUCIAN FREUD ARCHIVE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 2022 / PHOTO TATE
body, he stated, “ It’s flesh without muscle and it has developed a different kind of texture through bearing such a weightbearing thing”. Freud was fascinated by the challenge of rendering human skin on canvas. Nicholas Penny, formerly director of the National Gallery recorded that Lucian Freud had no interest in Titian as a narrative artist, but he marvelled at the Italian’s ability to paint skin tones.
Freud only painted his first nude in 1966 but his characteristically raw naked men and women recur through the three sections of the exhibition that follow. The fifth and final section, “The Flesh” contains the large, uncompromising nudes for which Freud became famous, but before them comes an unusual gallery depicting “Power and Death”. This is perhaps a portmanteau term to encapsulate the paintings that Freud did of his dying mother in the 1980s, plus later commissions to paint “power” establishment figures like Her Majesty the Queen (2000-2001) and Jacob, 4th Baron Rothschild (1985) and one of his most uncharacteristic paintings The Brigadier Lucian Freud may have only ever done what he wished to do but he lived with huge debts and had many children, so it is not impossible that the lure of a well-paid commission was hard to resist.
Nevertheless, one gets the impression he found the Queen’s face an artistic challenge that interested him. This is not an average rendition of Her Majesty, but an exercise in what kind of likeness can be achieved in heavy layers of paint.
Most of the time though, Freud selected his models from anyone who caught his eye. Who were the Two Irishmen in W11 that he painted in 1984? There is a good chance that one is a successful London bookmaker and the other his son but from Freud’s point of view, they were just worth painting. His own credo about art was summed up in something he said to Nicholas Penny: “What do I ask of a painting? I ask it to astonish, disturb, seduce, convince.”
The death of Freud’s mother Lucie in 1989 is affectingly depicted in a number of sketches and oils that show an old lady at the end of her life in a hauntingly empty room. In a surreal Lucian touch, the adult Annie Freud is depicted in one of them, lying topless on a bed behind her grandmother. Having become Freud in the late 1940s, he remained very Lucia n Freud to the end.
The Credit Suisse Exhibition Lucian Freud: New Perspectives is on at the National Gallery from 1st October 2022 – 22nd January 2023
One gets the impression he found the Queen’s face an artistic challenge
Painter and composer MIKALOJUS KONSTANTINAS ČIURLIONIS left a profound imprint on Lithuanian culture and is among the country’s most loved and famous historical figures. But the rest of the world knew little about him, until recently. Niki Browes finds out more ▸
M. K. ČIURLIONIS NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ART.
ART HISTORY 54 ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS M. K. Čiurlionis and his wife Sofia, 1909
Rex, 1909, tempera on canvas, 147.1x133.7cm
Until just before Lithuanian independence in 1990, the paintings by Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis [1875-1911] were, for decades, the best-kept secret in the Kaunas Museum that bears his name. The sister of the artist, Valerija Čiurlionytė Karužienė [1897-1982], firmly believed that the only way to preserve her brother’s art – mostly painted in egg tempera on cheap cardboard or paper which was slowly fading – was to keep his works shuttered away in Kaunas, not letting them be shown in any other part of the world. Although a national hero in Lithuania, she managed to keep Čiurlionis' art – and the man himself – a secret from the rest of the world for over 70 years. Now, a major exhibition in London will bring
Sonata No 3 (Sonata of the Serpent) Allegro, 1908, tempera on paper, 61.2x71.5cm
Sonata No 3 (Sonata of the Serpent) Scherzo, 1908, tempera on paper, 60x70.5cm
Sonata No 3 (Sonata of the Serpent) Andante, 1908, tempera on paper, 60x71.5cm
Sonata No 3 (Sonata of the Serpent) Finale, 1908, tempera on paper, 62x72.7cm
together over 100 of his works, with most travelling to the UK for the very first time.
Čiurlionis was a musical prodigy. He could play by ear at age three and sight-read music freely by age seven. Because of his talent, he received a better education than most and received support from the Polish elite, first to study in Plungė and then in Warsaw. After completing his music studies and advanced composition classes, he increasingly turned his attention to painting and drawing. Rather than concentrating on composition, orchestration, and performing, he used his income from private music lessons and conducting a choir to attend drawing and painting courses in Warsaw. He would refer increasingly to himself as a ‘synthesist’, perceiving colours and music simultaneously and the two art forms would cross-feed each other.
For Čiurlionis, his immersion into art began in the middle of 1901, when he decided to further his musical knowledge in a master’s program at Leipzig University, then a school famous for the arts. It was there that he decided to pursue his real love, painting, but without abandoning music which supported him financially for the rest of his life (he worked as a music teacher and performer but devoted most of his time to painting).
There was a beautiful art museum that he frequented in Leipzig and there he came to admire the Symbolists. One year later, he wrote to his brother Povilas on a postcard reproduction of Arnold Bocklin’s Prometheus, boasting: “I have already painted one symbolistic painting.” The fact that he started as a Symbolist, already implies that he was part of the 1900 period.
Čiurlionis would steal from his meagre scholarship stipend for food, to buy paper and paint, and would justify this act by writing that man needs entertainment, and his was the paintbrush. As well as a love for art, Čiurlionis had an intense love of nature. “I have a passionate desire to study nature,” he wrote to Povilas. Many artists of the time, weary of positivism and naturalism, turned to nature for inspiration and relief.
In the immediate period following the first Russian Revolution in 1905, which resulted in the loosening of cultural restrictions on the Empire’s minorities, Čiurlionis’s awareness of his Lithuanian identity took shape. The ban on the teaching of the Lithuanian language in schools was removed in 1906, Lithuanian newspapers appeared and the spread of national theatre, music and art intensified. Around this time, ▸
MUSEUM OF
M. K.
MUSEUM OF ART
Sparks III from the series of 3 paintings, 1906, tempera on paper, 31.3x36.2cm
Angels (Paradise), 1909, tempera on cardboard, 47x61.8cm
Čiurlionis declared, “I intend to dedicate all my past and future work to Lithuania.” Indeed, as a person and artist, he proved his devotion to his country and especially to Lithuanian culture.
In early 1907, he became one of the initiators and participants in the first Exhibition of Lithuanian Art in Vilnius. He showed some of his own works, including the Creation of the World and Storm Cycle During this critical year in his short life, Čiurlionis painted a massive number of new works – around 50 in total – and he completed the orchestration of the symphonic poem, The Sea. He also met the writer and art critic Sofija Kymantaitė (1886–1958). Sofija was not only a writer but also an activist in the campaign for Lithuanian cultural independence. Soon, Čiurlionis, who had grown up speaking Polish, started to improve his Lithuanian language skills with her help and encouragement. In early 1909, the couple got married in Šateikiai, a small town near Plungė.
Čiurlionis believed that the interplay between music and painting is only really determined by certain preconceived ideas. Thus, a cycle of four or five paintings such as Creation of the World – became a sonata. He was also excited about the possibility of life existing beyond the Earth, for example on the planet Mars, and this spirituality is evident in his work. All of this brought him closer to Symbolism than to Impressionism or Neo-Impressionism. Still, all work by Čiurlionis is essentially ambiguous, even when it looks realistic. For instance, a sky pierced by lightning means a storm… or
could that be a manifestation of Perkunas, the god of thunder?
The image of Žaltys, the grass snake and a household spirit in Lithuanian mythology, is more complex. The creature is considered dangerous in some cultures but Čiurlionis
perceived it completely different. In Sonata of the Serpent, Žaltys, the ruler gazes kindly, and with a smile, at a tiny man who is shouting at or greeting the serpent from the edge of a cliff. As with all of Čiurlionis’ work, it is thought to have many meanings.
The richness of Čiurlionis’ inspiration starts with childhood fairy tales and legends, from the imagery and readings of that era and especially from his own vivid imagination. There is a stark difference between the first drawings and paintings he produced in Warsaw – often depicting funerals, coffins and the Grim Reaper – and the great final Rex, the intricate composition of which elevates the spirit. His student
As a person and artist, Čiurlionis proved his devotion to his country and Lithuanian culture
Storm. A series of 6 paintings 1904 (Most likely these works have not survived)
fascination with Japanese culture and Egyptology along with his interest in parapsychology is reflected in many of his more mature works, whilst he rarely signed his artwork (although hidden signatures can be found in several of his paintings).
He worked for long hours without stopping until he experienced complete exhaustion and hallucinations. On Christmas Eve, 1909, Čiurlionis fell into a profound depression and was diagnosed with severe exhaustion. Upon advice, Sofija took her sick husband to the Czerwony Dwór sanatorium in Pustelnik near Warsaw.
On 30 May 1910, Čiurlionis’ daughter Danutė was born. Sofija received a card, dated 5 November 1910, in which Čiurlionis expressed hope to see her and his daughter soon. His health was gradually improving, and his work was being regularly exhibited up and down Lithuania. But in April 1911, he contracted pneumonia whilst out on a walk and died. He never got to meet his daughter.
The lasting and dynamic legacy of Čiurlionis consists of over 200 paintings, hundreds of drawings and sketches, as well as a distinct and steady musical output. Today, the interplay or fusion of fine art and music in his creative work has been written about and studied so much that it remains only to summarise. Whilst his life and artistic career were undeniably short, he will no longer be on the fringes of Western art. With this exhibition and beyond, the legacy of one of Lithuania’s most famous sons will only continue to grow.
M.K. Čiurlionis: Between Worlds is on at Dulwich Picture Gallery until 12th March 2023
ART
OF ART
Creation of the World. III from the cycle of 13 paintings, 1905-06, tempera on paper, 37x31.3cm
In this month’s instalment of his series exploring colour pencil portraits, we’ll be looking at JAKE SPICER’S two-colour warm and cool palette
The notion of colour temperature is both instinctual and cultural, developing from our experiences of red-hot metal and blue glacial ice. While the primary red and blue on our hot and cold taps belong to unequivocally opposing categories of colour temperature, other colours in the spectrum hold more ambiguous positions. Attempts to bisect the colour wheel and separate it into objectively warm colours and cool colours ultimately fail because warm and cool should be seen as relative directions around the wheel, not a fundamental property of a colour.
If we treat orange-red as our warmest colour and cyan-blue as our coolest then we can describe the temperature of a
colour by its proximity to those poles, so we can say that purple is cooler than red because it sits closer to cyan-blue and yellow is warmer than green because it sits nearer orange-red. By the same token, we could even describe a purple-red as cooler than a primary red.
When we’re drawing a face, the warmth of skin often takes precedence in our colour choices, with pinks, browns, oranges and yellows dominating skin-colour palettes and the subtle greys, greens and blues being easily overlooked. The simple palette in this article will help you to recognise cooler colours in the face more easily, catalysing a greater sensitivity to them which can be transferred to drawings made in a conventional colour combination.
If you’re an inexperienced watercolourist like me, then water-soluble coloured pencils are an accessible gateway to painting, allowing you to lean on the crutch of drawn marks before committing to the liquid ow of paint. In this portrait, I’ll be using Derwent Watercolour pencils they are su ciently pigmented to create vibrant colour on the page while having rm enough points for the precise marks that I’ll be making in the later stages of the drawing. The paper is important. I’m using a white, 300gsm hot press watercolour paper for this drawing; it is smooth enough not to interrupt the drawn marks but heavy enough not to buckle when the water is added.
Start with a loose and energetic establishing sketch, pinning down the major tonal shapes of the face in blue. The water-soluble pencil is tricky to erase so keep the marks light, aiming for clearly observed shapes and emphasising important contours, while lightly noting the more ambiguous borders of shadow shapes in the interior of the face.
For the rst layer of tone, add reciprocating blue marks to build up areas of hatched midtone. It is here that the colour you are drawing with should start to a ect what you see in the subject – look for the dark shapes that will require a mass of tonal marks, searching for the cooler colours in the surface of the skin – the grey shadows, or the blueish pallor of skin around the eyes.
Allow time for the blue to fully dry before adding the next colour over the top – you can use a hair dryer to speed up the process. While not appearing entirely naturalistic the addition of red evokes the expectation of warmth that we associate with the blushing cheeks and pink lips of a human face. You’ll be able to create darker tonal values by layering the red over the dried blue, adding the red with consideration to how it will look once it has been liqui ed.
When you add water to your coloured pencil marks they will liquify, leaving a little of the mark behind. Until they are dry that liquid can be moved around the page with a brush just like watercolour and, in case of an error, can be ooded with water and blotted o the page with a tissue. It will dry with the customary dark edge of collected pigment common to watercolour, with a little of the drawn mark still visible beneath.
As you add water to the red hatching, you’ll nd the combined colours come into their own, with the liquid red forming a thin glaze that expresses the fullest intensity of its colour when it is layered over the white paper and approaches purple when it is laid over blue.
Finally, once the last layer of red has fully dried you will be able to introduce nal, drawn marks to the portrait. If you are strictly adhering to the limitations of two pencils you will need to decide whether to render areas of surface detail in red or blue. If you are allowing yourself more latitude in your pencil choice, you might want to introduce a limited amount of black to the drawing. I choose the former and used blue for the short dashes of hair and eyebrow, opting for a purple mixture of layered blue and red in the darkest parts of the face.
While it is the disk of the iris which draws and holds our attention in a portrait, it is the shape of the eyelid and the eyebrow that lend expression to the face and orbital of the eye socket that sets it in context with the surrounding features. When you’re drawing the eye, you should be looking at it as a complete unit rather than focusing on the most attention-grabbing elements.
Rather than drawing the pupil and iris in immediately, draw the negative spaces of the white of the eye – leaving the pupil until later will stop you from being put off by the face gazing back at you as you draw. Draw in the creases of the top and bottom eyelids.
Finally add darker tones to the features, framing the lighter highlights of the white paper. The pupil and the white reflection of light that sits next to it often represent the darkest dark and lightest light in a portrait, the extremity of contrast, enhanced by their proximity.
Establish the outline of the eyebrow and the curve of the eyelash early, checking the shape of the negative space between them to help you focus on structure first.
shape of the
Notice the faint suggestions of the eye socket and feel
its hard bony edge on your own face.
Delineate the pupil and notice where it sits within the iris – it is a black ellipse set within a lens that sits on the front of the eyeball. Draw around the reflected highlight on the surface of the eye and elaborate on the contours of the eyelashes and the directional texture of hairs in the eyebrow.
In spite of following the conventional route of Art School training, my most formative experience was studying the sight size method in Florence, between my Foundation Course and degree in Fine Art. It was under the tuition of Charles H Cecil in the atelier tradition, where students paint alongside tutors. I studied the rigour of accurate observation through working to scale from life, walking back from the easel between each brush stroke for accuracy. I discovered that constant correction allows a freedom from sentimentality and permission to dare, which has informed my approach ever since.
Although I have adapted the method to
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Squeeze out a generous amount of each colour, so as not to starve the palette, laying out the colours from light to dark to create a spectrum of tone and value. I don’t use turpentine, which would dilute the consistency of the paint, but linseed oil to increase its slippery quality.”
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working Alla Prima or wet on wet, the essentials of the discipline remain helpful to get to the essence of my subject. I always work from life, in a combination of natural and artificial light, and walk back regularly from the easel to see the model from a distance so that I can focus on the whole rather than be distracted by detail.
If I had a mantra it would be “simplify, simplify, simplify.” Rather than drawing the image first and then painting, I like to explore the subject in paint, to carve the image out of brush strokes, building a portrait with a scaffold of individual marks. I do this by adding and reducing information until the image is conveyed through a limited number of deliberate and definitive brushstrokes. ▸
“I use one size for each painting, following Picasso’s advice to provide coherence when using an abstract approach.”
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Easel
A Mabef M06 Studio Easel.
“This needs to be upright to avoid distortion, level with the subject so that it is possible to visualise how the head will fit on the canvas. I use a canvas primed with a mid-tone which is a good base on which to set down the values of light and dark.”
LUCY STOPFORD is a British artist whose portraits are conveyed through the delicate balance between realism and abstraction. Here she shows you how she created two in just an hour and a half each
To begin, I stand back from the primed canvas, squint to reduce detail further, and loosely block in the background at speed. This sets the composition, the value range and the outline of the head from the start. I then begin to build up the face by identifying the brow, the nose and mouth with broad – but specifically placed – marks and, soon, the structure of the skull beneath the skin begins to appear. Everything at this early stage is very fluid and laid down as a beginning to correct during the further sittings.
I cut into the early loose brushstrokes refining the image through further considered and decisive marks, almost as if carving into a sculpture. The underpainting remains left last, as it is, as a useful early exploration and provides substance both literally with thicker paint and in terms of observation.
Here requires further refining with brushes of the same size, taking care to leave what works, and working over the whole image including the background with equal energy to provide coherence in the finished piece. I can remember the final mark I made on this painting the dark shadow to the left of the mouth defining the beard.
By constantly re-evaluating and correcting the image, the paint becomes less brash and more bespoke. It’s now that the shapes and the likeness emerges. Keeping the brushwork loose helps to convey the energy of working from life and allows for intuitive response to the subject.
Mixing the paint on the palette – for speed –and wiping the brush between each mark on a rag, I start by describing the background in broad strokes to create the outline of the head. In this portrait, I painted with fluid curved marks following the outline of the head to establish the composition and value range.
The finished image. ‘Paintings are never finished, merely abandoned’. Working from the model in half hour sittings sets a strict time frame which can help prevent overworking.
Working Alla Prima means stepping away from the painting without returning to work further on it, seeing it as a record of the experience.
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Oil paint: Yellow Ochre, Ivory black, Burnt Umber, Burnt Sienna, French Ultramarine, Cadmium Red, Permanent Rose, Titanium White
Acrylic paint: Red Iron Oxide
Egg tempera Eggs
Powdered pigments
Distilled water
A selection of good quality brushes
Soft pencil
Gesso board
Waterproof ink pen Cloth
Turpentine
Linseed oil
Damar varnish
The Old Masters of the Netherlands Renaissance captured such luminosity in their portraits, still lifes and landscapes. These painters were experts in a technique that was lost for centuries and would have remained so had it not been for its revival by Austrian painter Ernst Fuchs. I studied and taught with him and learnt how to capture the magic of the Old Masters. For this portrait, I chose my friend Nicole. Her family came from a combination of Egyptian and Italian aristocracy and I thought she would make an intriguing subject for my portrait. Nicole was an unrepentant chain-smoker, never without a cigarette between her fingers; I wanted to capture that. Rembrandt loved to dress up his sitters in rich velvets and costume hats, as he did himself for his self-portraits. I asked Nicole to come wearing something dark and elegant, reflecting a certain formality and dignity in her character.
I drew a pencil sketch of Nicole straight onto the gesso board, using a soft pencil. One of the most difficult things about portrait painting is capturing a three-dimensional figure in two dimensions. If you get this wrong at the start it is very hard to rescue your portrait at a later stage. The beauty of doing a sketch in pencil before starting to paint is that you can correct any errors very easily.
BRIGID MARLIN shows you how she captured this portrait of her friend
Nicole, borrowing from the techniques developed by Rembrandt
STEP BY STEP
Most artists today paint straight onto a blank canvas or board, but Rembrandt would have started by covering the whole surface with a glaze: a thin transparent coating of colour. I did this by covering my board with a ‘ground’ colour of Red Iron Oxide acrylic paint diluted with a little water. The paint needs to be spread on thickly enough to create a smooth background but thinly enough to make sure the ink drawing still shows through. I used acrylic paint for the ground colour as it is quick-drying and there is no risk of it bleeding into oil-based paints.
Once I was happy with my drawing
I took a black waterproof ink pen and carefully went over the outlines. When the ink was dry, I just wiped the pencil marks off with a cloth dipped in turpentine. You can see how clean it now looks, all ready for the painting to start.
I was now ready to start applying the white egg tempera I had prepared. Rembrandt would have used the same method of making and using egg tempera that was taught in monasteries and artists’ studios from the Middle Ages. To apply the egg tempera I used a very fine high-quality sable brush. I like Windsor & Newton or da Vinci, size no.1 or 0.
To apply the egg tempera, you put a tiny quantity into a small disposable container (bottle tops are handy because they can be thrown away when the egg tempera has dried). Then make sure you shut the lid on the egg tempera jar so it doesn’t dry up. Another bottle top is needed for water because, in order to flow easily, egg tempera must always be mixed with the right amount of water, until it has the consistency of India ink. You are now ready to start your brushstrokes.
Rembrandt and his students usually chose Yellow Ochre for their yellow glaze. Rembrandt dispensed with the blue glaze used by his predecessors, making his technique a little simpler. I mixed my Yellow Ochre paint with an oil-painting medium of half linseed oil (refined artist quality) and half Damar varnish. I was careful not to add too much medium to the mixture. If you do that the glaze will be too dilute and will also take ages to dry. I applied the glaze with a broad no.12 artist’s bristle brush.
At last, my painting of Nicole was dry and I could get going with the next step. I got my palette out and added small blobs of the oil colours I thought I would need to paint Nicole’s clothes. Before applying them, I mixed the blobs of paint with painting medium (i.e. half linseed oil and half Damar varnish) on my palette. I recommend not using more than a pea-sized blob of each paint on your palette. I used Ivory Black for Nicole’s hat and Burnt Umber for her dress.
Next, I switched back to using white egg tempera paint again, with water as the painting medium. I reapplied white egg tempera to the face in tiny lines with even more care than before, using fine sable brushes no.0 and 1. This stage gives you a chance to refine your brushstrokes to as near perfection as you can achieve. At this stage, I decided to finish off the eyes to make the face more real to me. I first painted Nicole’s eyes with egg tempera over the Yellow Ochre glaze. Then I started to put in oil colours with the oil-painting medium. I chose Burnt Sienna to paint the shadowed side of the eyes. This colour, painted over the Yellow Ochre glaze, gave them a warm luminosity. I noticed a rim a round her iris of a green that was almost blue. I captured that using French Ultramarine with a tiny bit of Yellow Ochre. I put in the highlights in the eyes with white egg tempera. This is when the face suddenly springs to life.
Finally, I was ready to switch to oils to colour Nicole’s face. I chose Cadmium Red and Permanent Rose, Titanium White and Burnt Sienna. I added a small amount of Burnt Umber and Ultramarine. When I had painted a basic pinkish flesh tone over the face, I let it dry before adding the shadows. I was careful to smooth the shadows into the face to avoid harsh lines
This is an edited extract from Techniques in Painting: Learning from the Dutch Masters by Brigid Marlin
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Give your characters a small back story. This helps to create scenarios that they would get into, what they would wear and how they would behave.
Ideveloped my current style while studying Illustration at Middlesex University. My work varied from very detailed fineliner drawings, inspired by late 19th century illustration, to large ink drawings created with a bamboo brush, as seen in Japanese ink paintings.
It seems fitting that I’ve settled on using a brush pen and ink. My favourite brush pen to use is the Pentel Brush pen as you can take it anywhere due to the ink being in handy cartridges. Using a brush and ink to create smooth-flowing lines helps to give my lines a sense of movement and gesture. You have less control over the accuracy of a line, so it feels less pressured to be exact. I like to use Cass Art Heavyweight cartridge paper because it is smooth, Brilliant White and can be used with a variety of mediums. If I want to use colour in my illustrations, I will use acrylic gouache or scan my
drawings and add colour digitally.
My inspiration to illustrate comes from my love of storytelling and creating narratives between characters. When designing a character, it’s important that I convey their point of view as well as their appearance; this makes it easier to drop them into different scenarios and know how they’d behave. Friends often recognise themselves or someone they know in my animal characters. The typography I use in my illustrations is fun and plays with the character’s sense of style. I enjoy this part of the process as you have to problem-solve the layout like a puzzle.
Printmaking has always been part of my practice, as it’s a great way to reproduce clear and simple line drawings like mine. I use Speedball fabric screen printing inks to create the fabric merchandise I sell in my Etsy shop and at art markets
Create initial sketches from reference photos and then have fun creating loose expressive rough drawings from them.
Use a Lightpad to trace rough drawings straight into ink. This will help keep the initial movement and flow from the sketch and there’s no need to rub out any pencil lines which can dull your ink colour or even smudge them!
See Laura’s work at lauraslinnillustration.com.
Like Laura, all Cass Art’s staff are artists and happy to share their expert advice and top tips in store.
Find your local Cass Art store at cassart.co.uk/stores.
ABOVE
Laura Slinn is an Illustrator and the Visual Merchandising Manager at Cass Art. We asked her to share her illustration journey and top tips on creating characters with personality
I restarted painting and sketching in August 2020, after a long gap and decided to share my art journey online. The support from other artists has been incredible.
Artists and Illustrators has always been a source of inspiration for me. The helpful step-by-step and how-to guides for watercolour painting was where I started to learn. My recent art collaboration, to produce the
I’ve recently picked up acrylic painting again, having done oil painting when I was younger. I’ve always drawn, but with the free time in the summer holidays (I’m 15) I picked up the paintbrush again. My grandad is my inspiration as is my beloved 1961 signet sailing dinghy.
When I saw the paintings by Jenny Aitken on the front cover of the last issue, I felt that I had to send my paintings to you!
I’ve spoken to other artists at an open studios event and was surprised to nd how artists used things like credit cards to create texture which I am interested in experimenting with.
Before acrylic painting, I had a few attempts at watercolour and dip pen. This is partly why I feel more comfortable with acrylic as I can use water and not spirits whilst the medium has a quick drying time which I think suits me better.
cover artwork for Anderson Rocio’s newly released single Mood Swings, came as a complete surprise to me as an unknown, self-taught artist. It has been a delight to see my artwork in music magazines, iTunes and Spotify. I want to encourage other self-taught artists that it’s possible to do exciting things with your art without having specialist equipment or resources.
Fine art has been my passion since I was young. I love to work on my paintings, and am often inspired by life and nature. As a realism artist, my approach to a subject matter is to portray it as it really appears in life; I do admire other art styles too, such as impressionism and abstract art.
I use oil paints to create my art. Painting in oils is a traditional form of art that many of the Old Masters
used for their masterpieces – I hope to be as much of an accomplished artist as they were.
Artists & Illustrators is such an inspiration and has helped me in my practice a lot. I wait every month to get the magazine and read the articles that include practical instructions on drawing and painting in di erent media; competitions and special o ers. I look forward to its continual inspiration.
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Self-portrait, pastels and charcoal on paper, 38.1x55.9cm
In every issue, we ask an artist to tell us about a piece of art that means a lot to them. This month, we speak to Sky Arts Portrait Artist semi-finalist FÁTIMA PANTOJA.
As a child, I would steal my dad’s watercolours. I also saw my mum writing messages with lipstick to my dad. So, I took her bright red lipstick and painted some of the furniture. I thought it was a great idea; my mum didn’t agree. My passion for painting and drawing didn’t go away with time; the opposite happened, and I am lucky enough to have a supportive family.
Every now and then, I create something that I call an ‘anchor piece’. It’s where something clicks; feels like a step forward. The
mark-making and applying of pastels [in this piece] have a bit of Paula Rego and Joaquin Mir about them. My colour palette is influenced by Impressionism and Fauvism. I wanted to create something interesting, visually and technically and I managed to keep it fresh and found elements that I had never used before. When I finished, I thought I had ‘it’, so I submitted the painting to the Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year 2019, where I reached the semi-finals. Instagram: @fatimapantoja.artist
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CHARCOAL
CHALK FIGURE DRAWING
