Artists & Illustrators August 2022

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TO BE WON with The British Art Prize

The RA Summer Exhibition Winners revealed

Is this the best connected man in art?

We ask Mark Cass from Cass Art

How to... PAINT YOUR GARDEN • DRAW A PORTRAIT IN COLOURED PENCIL

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Contents A RT I S T S & I L LUS T R AT OR S • AUGUS T 2022

Regulars

5 SKETCHBOOK Quick tips, ideas and inspiration. Plus this month’s exhibitions 13 PRIZE DR AW Win £1,000 of Expert Art Tuition with St Ives School of Painting 21 HOW I MAKE IT WORK With oil artist Jemma Powell 30 WE PRESENT... Portfolio Plus member Roger Aslin 79 YOU TELL US Write in and win a £50 Atlantis art voucher 82 PICTURE THIS Harriet Pattinson reveals what her artwork means to her

Inspiration 14 IN THE STUDIO Simon Davis discusses comics and fine art in his East London workspace 22 HOW I PAINT Lucy Kent shares the techniques behind her oil landscapes 28 THE BRITISH ART PRIZE Last chance to enter our fabulous art competition 32 THE BIG INTERVIEW Cass Art owner Mark Cass on his family’s artistic legacy 38 BOOK EXTR ACT Inspiration from Watercolour The Natural World by Tim Pond 44 EXHIBITIONS We speak to six first time winners from the RA summer show

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Techniques 52 HOW TO Luis Morris recreates a canal in summer 58 SERIES The latest guide from art tutor, Ann Witheridge 62 STEP BY STEP Peter Keegan paints an English garden in the style of the Impressionists 68 TECHNIQUE Sandrine Maugy captures sweet summer flowers 72 STEP BY STEP Lizet Dingemans explains the Gestalt Theory on drawing shapes 76 DEMO Jake Spicer comes over all colourful with Derwent’s Lightfast Pencils

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THIS MONTH’S COVER ARTWORK

By Lucy Kent

We hope you find... …an abundance of inspiration and encouragement in your August issue of Artists & Illustrators. Contemporary landscape artist Lucy Kent is this month’s cover artist, whose work focuses on light, colour and atmosphere.

How charming is the cover image, Orange Bikini, featuring holidaymakers on the beach front? It’s certainly got us in the mood for our summer holidays, while the magazine is the perfect summer read to while away those hours in the sun.

Elsewhere, Lizet Dingemans explains Gestalt theory, an incredibly useful tool for your drawing practise, whilst Luis Morris demonstrates painting a dreamy canal scene in oils. We also interview six first-time exhibitors to the RA Summer Exhibition, billed as the world’s most joyful art experience because, quite literally, anyone can enter. All this and much, much more.

While we’re on the subject of art competitions, can I remind you this is the final call for entries to our annual British Art Prize 2022, in partnership with edding. It’s open to artists of all abilities, whether you’re an amateur, an emerging artist or a seasoned professional; all ideas, mediums and techniques will be considered.

As well as a prize fund worth more than £15,000 the competition will provide winning artists with a platform to gain important exposure and recognition for their work, including their paintings being exhibited at a major London gallery. Last year’s winner Lotta Teale told us having her work exhibited like this was hugely important to her personally and professionally whilst the win has opened up new doors for her art career: “I would encourage all artists to apply,” she says. So don’t delay: get your entries in today!

EDITORIAL Editor Niki Browes Art Editor Stuart Selner Assistant Editor Rebecca Bradbury Contributors Lizet Dingemans, Sarah Edghill, Peter Keegan, Sandrine Maugy, Luis Morris, Adrian Mourby, Jake Spicer, Ann Witheridge

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INTRODUCING

ADRIAN MOURBY

Arts journalist Adrian Mourby met Emma Chambers and Paul Anderson at the opening of the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition. Both artists had submitted works into what is often described as the most democratic art exhibition; in June they were successful for the first time.

4 ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS

SAR AH EDGHILL

Having worked as a journalist for many years, Sarah is now writing fiction.

Her latest novel, His Other Woman, was published in May. She has really enjoyed working with the Artists & Illustrators team on this issue, and suspects art may feature in the plot of her next book.

LUIS MORRIS

Luis spent 25 years as a banknote designer before deciding to devote all of his time to painting. He was elected a member of the ROI in 2009, he has exhibited at the Mall galleries and the National Portrait Gallery and was a finalist in Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year competition in 2013.

PETER KEEGAN

Peter is a professional artist and tutor. He is the co-presenter of Ask an Artist: the podcast dedicated to offering free advice on the business side of being an artist. He’s also a brand ambassador for Michael Harding Oil Paints and Rosemary & Co brushes.

Write to us!

Send us your latest paintings, tips or artistic discoveries and you could win a £50 voucher: info@artistsandillustrators.co.uk @AandImagazine /ArtistsAndIllustrators @AandImagazine @AandImagazine

Sketchbook T I PS • A DV ICE • EX H IBI TIONS • NEWS • R EV IEWS

E D ITE D BY SAR AH E D G H I LL

Things we love...

No one knows much about the notoriously secretive Banksy, but a new book about the world’s most famous street artist claims to have been semi-authorised by the man himself. Banksy is a vast catalogue of his legacy, from his early days of turning vandalism into an international news event, tagging the walls of Britain, to ambitious projects like Dismaland.

GIRL WITH A PIERCED EARDRUM (2014) BRISTOL

Banksy by Stefano Antonelli and Gianluca Marziani, published by Rizzoli Electa, £29.95

ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS 5

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Join us online!

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

BOOK OF THE MONTH THE COLOUR OF ART

by Chl Chlöe Ashby A fascinating new book by Chlöe Ashby, looks at how colour has always been an essential part of art, allowing artists to express their individuality, evoke particular moods and pass on subliminal messages.

The Colour of Art looks at the greatest artistic palettes in history and specific artworks are accompanied by a graph of the colour palette used, to show that colour isn’t just a tool, but the secret of a painting’s success.

Frances Lincoln (The Quarto Group), £25.

THE DIARY Open calls, prizes and artist opportunities

1 5 AUGUST Submissions are invited from new and emerging illustrators for the Global Healthcare Illustration Awards. No entry fee, with a top award of £3,000. theaoi.com/ghia

19 AUGUST If you’re a wildlife artist, you can’t afford to pass up the annual opportunity to have your work exhibited at The Mall Galleries in October. mallgalleries.org.uk

A RT IS T S ’ BIN GO Here’s the perfect gift for any bingo-loving art fan. Artists’ Bingo features major artists from the last 100 years, from Georgia O’Keefe and Andy Warhol, to Jean-Michel Basquiat and Banksy.

Wait for the famous luminaries to be called out, tick them off on your bingo card and complete your very own masterpiece.

Bingo has never been so high-brow!

From £22 via online retailers.

31 AUGUST Get your entry in for the Abstract category of Wild Art Photographer of the Year. Capture nature's patterns textures and forms.

Just £6 per entry. wildartpotyentries.com

31 AUGUST The theme of this year’s Chaiya Art Awards is ‘Awe and Wonder’, and the competition is open to all UK residents over the age of 16, Entry costs from £20. chaiyaartawards.co.uk

ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS 7

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Don’t miss...

SUSTAINABLE ART Gallery Climate Coalition is a charity aiming to make environmental improvements within the art world, providing advice on everything from the transportation of art works and how galleries can cut down on their energy use, to wrapping artwork in recycled products. There is a digital carbon calculator on the website so artists can estimate their carbon footprint. Last year GCC established Artists for ClientEarth, auctioning paintings by artists including Cecily Brown and Antony Gormley raising millions for Client Earth, which works to keep fossil fuels in the ground. galleryclimatecoalition.org

Art of Mothering

Mothering is a series of exhibitions and events providing a platform for artist mothers and artists whose practices draw on notions of motherhood. The first edition is currently on at the Kupfer Gallery in Hackney, East London, where 17 artists – parents and non-parents – display work including painting, sculpture, moving image and performance, which approaches motherhood from multiple angles, drawing on the struggles, dreams, longings and concerns revolving around the many ideas and images of motherhood. kupfer.co ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS 9

ONE BY PENELOPE KUPFER

WHO TELLS WHOM ABOUT WHAT ?

Two Czech artists, David Böhm and Jifi Franta, are staging a fascinating exhibition, which takes place both indoors and outside. Large-scale images of their paintings have been hung on the fences outside the Czech Embassy in West London. Inside the nearby Czech Centre Gallery are detailed city models by the same artists, whose work reflects on the meaning of borders and neighbourhood and views the imaginary cities as crossed and fragmented miniature worlds.

WOLFGANG TILLMANS; DONATED TO GCC BOOTH, FRIEZE LONDON 2021

PAVEL HORÁK

a month of exhibitions alongside art and sculpture-based activities at the Watts Gallery, Artists’ Village. This unique Arts & Crafts gem, near Guildford in Surrey, displays Victorian paintings and sculpture by GF Watts, and a current exhibition, A Fragmented Legacy, gives a unique insight into his creative studio practice.

While you’re there you can also take a tour of Limnerslease, home to George and Mary Watts.

During August it’s possible to visit the Make Space area to get stuck in and try different techniques in artist-led workshops – perfect for keeping small hands occupied during the summer holidays.

Book sessions in the Make Space from 3 – 28 August; A Fragmented Legacy runs until 2 October. wattsgallery.org.uk

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Exhibitions IMAGES © THE ARTIST, COURTESY YORKSHIRE SCULPTURE PARK

T H E B E S T A R T S H OW S T O V I S I T T H I S AU G U S T

BILL LY NC H: THE EXILE OF DION YSIUS 6th August to 15th October This is the first major UK exhibition of work by American artist Bill Lynch, who died in 2013. He was, by all accounts, a force to be reckoned with, but lived on the fringes of the New York art world, which never took him to its heart. He 10 ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS

was influenced by Warhol and Alice Neel and his work in the 1970s and 1980s was mainly on salvaged ply and other found materials. This exhibition traces his wide-ranging interests, from mythology to ancient Chinese painting.

Brighton CCA, University of Brighton, Dorset Street BN2 0JY Brightoncca.art

REFR ACTIVE POOL: CONTEMPOR ARY PAINTING S IN LIVERPOOL To 8 Jan 2023 This exhibition, curated by Josie Jenkins and Brendon Lyons, showcases Liverpool talent and features a diverse mix of artistic practices. Some of the artists have previously exhibited at the Walker, but for others this is the first time their work has been displayed in a major gallery.

Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool L3 8EL Liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/refractivepool

REFRACTIVE POOL © ROBIN CLEWLEY

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© BILL LYNCH, THE APPROACH

JANINE BURROWS, TABLE TO TIDE: A YORKSHIRE CONVERSATION To 23rd October Artist, designer and illustrator, Janine Burrows, celebrates her birthplace and all things Yorkshire.

Using mixed media – gouache, acrylic, pencil, oil pastel, even household paint – she depicts the countryside and coastal areas using subtle colour and delicate detailing. Her work deals with memories and captured moments, from her kitchen table and back garden to the North Yorkshire coast.

Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield WF4 4LG ysp.org.uk

NATURE ’S ART, GARDENS IN LEIC E STER AND BE YOND 6 August to 30 October This colourful exhibition looks at arts and crafts inspired by nature, and shows how gardens are resources of pleasure, healing and inspiration.

Objects on display range from ceramics and watercolours, to welly boots, and the exhibition explores the history of gardens in the region. There is work by William Morris, along with lesser-known Leicester artists like watercolourist Isabella Charters.

Newarke Houses, Leicester LE2 7BY

KE ATING ’S ALLEGORIE S OF C HANGE 20th August to 27th November Sean Keating was an Irish romantic realist artist, known for his images of the Irish War of Independence, and the subsequent Civil War. This exhibition looks at his role as a political commentator and chronicler of one of the most tempestuous periods in Irish history. His work, An Allegory, painted in 1924, focussed on the divisive nature of the conflict, and is a central part of this exhibition, marking the conclusion of the Decade of Centenaries.

National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin nationalgallery.ie ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS 11

TILE DESIGNED BY WILLIAM DE MORGAN, MADE AT THE SANDS END POTTERY, FULHAM, 1888-1897

ROYAL COLLECTION TRUST © HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II 2022

XXXXXXXXX PRESENTED, FRIENDS OF THE NATIONAL COLLECTIONS OF IRELAND, 1952

ANATOM Y: A MAT TER OF DE ATH AND LIFE To 30 October This fascinating exhibition looks at the practice of dissection of human bodies and covers 500 years of medical exploration. It opens with sketches by Leonardo da Vinci, which led to greater understanding about the human body and the role of anatomy in the development of medical knowledge, then looks at Edinburgh as a centre for medical study. Items on display include a ‘mort safe’ - an iron box placed over a coffin to deter body snatchers – a full-body anatomical model, and casts of body parts and depictions of 18th Century operating theatres.

Also on display are William Burke’s skeleton and written confession, after he and Hare were convicted of killing 16 people and selling the bodies. The exhibition examines the circumstances that led to the murders and the relationship between science and deprivation, looking at the public reaction to the crimes and the anatomical practices responsible for them.

National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh Anatomy: A Matter of Death & Life is part of Edinburgh Art Festival edinburghartfestival.com

© Mary Fedden Melons 1989, Gouache

MARY FEDDEN SIMPLE PLEASURES

9 JULY – 16 OCTOBER 2022, VICTORIA ART GALLERY, BATH ONLINE BOOKING ADVISABLE WWW.VICTORIAGAL.ORG.UK

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ST IVES SCHOOL OF PAINTING

t some point, all artists will find themselves stuck in a creative rut.

Whether it’s down to a lack of motivation or frustration at how much progress you’re making, there is one failsafe way to start creating again: an inspirational art course. We’ve teamed up with the prestigious St Ives School of Painting to offer 12 online courses to 12 lucky readers of Artists & Illustrators.

Based in the stunning location of the historic Porthmeor Studios, overlooking the ocean at St Ives, the school was opened by two young officers in 1938. They decided that if they survived the horrors of war, they would one day live and paint in St Ives. The school was an instant success. Attracting students from all over, the school occupied a creative and imaginative space and continues to do so to this day. Nearly 85 years later, brushmarks by famous artists from the

St Ives School still occupy the studio walls and it continues to occupy a unique position in the thriving arts scene of St Ives.

With the School’s varied and exciting course programme now also available online, you can capture a bit of St Ives’ magic without the need to travel: the School’s online webinars are broadcast live from Porthmeor Studios. Alongside an everexpanding programme of live webinars, these Zoom courses are the closest thing to attending an in-person studio course.

Benefitting from small group sizes, expert tuition and the chance to get to know your fellow students and build camaraderie wherever you are in the world, you can also continue to share your work and be part of an online community after the course finishes in the School’s thriving Online Alumni Group. schoolofpainting.co.uk

THE PRIZES Two winners, chosen at random, will win a place on either one of the following courses: Modern Japanese Wood Block Printing: 11 – 21 October. Six live sessions over two weeks. Worth: £225.

Inspired by the semi-abstract modernist tradition of St Ives, experienced woodblock artist Adrian Holmes teaches you to compose, carve and print your own designs.

The course features an introduction plus six live sessions over two weeks and access to the course for six months.

Beginner Oil Painting: 29 November – 6 December. Four sessions over two weeks.

Worth: £225. A thorough introduction to this versatile and accessible medium spread over two weeks: learn simple and dynamic approaches to painting with oils, responding to landscape and working from still life. The course features an introduction plus four live sessions over two weeks and access to the course for six months.

10 runner-up prizes are then up for grabs for winners to choose any of the St Ives School of Painting popular pre-recorded webinars.

Worth: £25 - £80.

HOW TO ENTER Enter by noon on 2 September 2022, either at artistsandillustrators.co.uk/ competitions or by filling in the form below and returning it to: St Ives Prize Draw, Artists & Illustrators, Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd, Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place, London SW3 3TQ TERMS & CONDITIONS No cash or course alternatives are available. For full terms and conditions, visit chelseamagazine.com/terms

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Please tick if you are happy to receive relevant information from The Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd. via email post or phone or Raw Umber Studios via email

Taslima, oil on linen, 50x40cm

H O W I W O R K I N T HE S T UDI O

Simon Davis You’ll find this artist painting in his home studio in East London and, depending on the time of year, he’ll either be illustrating comics or creating fine art, as Rebecca Bradbury discovers ▸

ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS 1 5

H O W I WORK IN T H E S TUDI O

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t’s debatable whether or not a comic can be considered a piece of fine art. What is not in contention, however, is whether a comic book illustrator can also be a fine artist, because Simon Davis is living proof that it’s possible to be a master of both art forms.

A member of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, the East London-based artist spends half his time wowing the art establishment with his contemporary oil portraits, while the remainder of his working hours are spent creating pictures in gouache for fans of Britain’s cult sci-fi comic book, 2000ad, most notably on the Slaine and Sinister Dexter strips.

But don’t expect the cartoonish superhero figures, neon colour palettes and surrealist imagery typically associated with comic books. Instead, currently working on Thistlebone, he brings the folk horror story to life with dark, disquieting and painterly spreads, usually of foreboding forests interspersed with close-up, graphic faces.

Yet, all painted by hand, it remains a traditional process.

“I’m very much an old-fashioned comic book illustrator,” Simon explains. “I don’t even scan my paintings to send to the publishers, but take them up to Oxford to submit in person.”

After studying technical illustration at art school in the late eighties, he tried his hand at graphic design for a few years before fulfilling his dream to become a comic book illustrator. It would be another decade before he took up portraiture, yet the techniques he adopted while developing his unique comic book style have proved essential for his fine art practice.

“When I paint on my comics, I use flat, square watercolour brushes with gouache,” he says. “I really like layering on flat and solid colour, and tonally mixing it by eye, rather than blending. And it’s the exact way I paint in oils.”

Of course, with quicker drying times and no need to work in layers, gouache is better suited to the more energetic images and quick turnaround times required by comic book illustration. But Simon has long held a fascination with the painters who developed the square brush technique at the end of the 19th Century. Although attributed to the Impressionists working in France, Simon prefers the work of the British artists who took up the technique, citing Henry La Thangue of the Newlyn School as a particular favourite.

The process involves using the flat edge of a square brush to lay down the paint in a

16 ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS

Thistlebone: Poisoned Roots bookcover, oil on board, 45x35cm

I really like layering on flat and solid colour and tonally mixing it by eye jigsaw-type pattern of brushstrokes. “It’s an incredibly bold style, yet also so delicate and subtle,” he says. “I’d rather mould a face through angles of brushstrokes than blend it.”

Studying Simon’s portraiture, with its sculptural rendering and visible brushstrokes, the influence is clear. What inspired him to have a go at the genre of portraiture, however, was being introduced to the work of Phil Hale – a British based American artist who illustrated comic strips and Stephen King books before

Thistlebone interior page, gouache on watercolour board, 45x35cm

H O W I WO R K I N T HE S T UDI O

Plaits, oil on linen, 66x46cm

Ray Ching, oil on board, 25.5x20cm

Phil Hale, oil on board, 25.5x20cm

Chris Riddell, oil on board, 25.5x20cm

Mike Mignola, oil on board, 25.5x20cm

18 ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS

H O W I WO R K I N T HE S T UDI O Manko and Myrtle, oil on board, 65x45cm

making an impact in the fine art world with his raw, shocking and confrontational figurative works.

Hale is one of the artists Simon paid tribute to in a recent exhibition celebrating the people who have impacted his practice.

The idea came to him when his father, a professional landscape painter who worked in watercolour, passed away four years ago.

“Just before he died, it struck me that what’s fascinating about art and art history is that everybody is linked in some way,” he says. “Nobody works in isolation. If painters say I’m without influence and have a completely unique voice, I just think that’s untrue. So, I thought it would be nice to do some little paintings of artists who have been influential to me. I started with my father and then just backtracked to when I was eight years old.”

The result is I Am Because You Are, a series of 30 front-on portraits, powerful thanks to the simplicity of their composition. One of

If painters say I’m without influence and have a unique voice, I think that’s untrue Simon’s favourite subjects was Raymond Ching, the illustrator of the 1969 Reader’s Digest Book of British Birds. As a child Simon would slavishly copy the ornithological illustrations and discovered the New Zealand artist now lives just outside Bath.

He paid a personal visit to Ching’s house and took some photographic references, before returning to the studio in his Victorian terrace house to paint up the portrait.

This was the standard procedure for most artists featured in the project, which includes comic illustrators as well as fine artists such as Bernadett Timko, Melissa Scott-Miller and Brendan Kelly. It’s also

indicative of his wider practice. For his comic strips, he takes photos of his family and friends pulling extreme faces and positioned in exaggerated poses to use as references. He even did the “Roy Lichtenstein thing” of blowing up these photographs to paint when he first started his fine art journey. Now, however, he tends to shoot sitters in his studio.

“I’ve always worked from photographs,” he says. “If you view photos as just a part of the process, I think they’re a valuable tool – I use photos as information to interpret rather than to copy.”

One of Simon’s top tips for photographing sitters is to always use natural light and make sure it’s coming from the side – not front on – as it makes for a more descriptive face. With the references secured, he’ll do some thumbnail sketches to nail down the composition. The next step is to get an accurate drawing on the support before laying down the paint.

“I don’t get too hung up on capturing a likeness,” he says of his painting process.

“The little portraits from I Am Because You Are were all done in about four hours. I didn’t want them to be overworked. So speed is very important to me, it’s a nice way of injecting a bit of energy.”

Also significant is his use of Prussian Blue, which is perhaps the secret behind the dreamy flesh tones he creates. “A lot of my painter friends say it’s a crazy colour to use,” he says. “But I just think it’s fantastic. It’s hyperaggressive and if you use a lot, it can go out of control very quickly, but if you use a little bit, it’s so amazing. It’s such a versatile colour.”

Simon seems to have cultivated friendships with many other creatives. His most recent series could not have been possible without reaching out to those who have inspired him. It’s an approach he also took when deciding to take his portraiture seriously, contacting painters he admired for advice.

However, something is always at the forefront of his mind: “I’m fascinated by what painters listen to when they’re painting,” he says. “Some like silence, some like music. I listen to radio plays or story books. Usually, it’s what I call cosy crime like Agatha Christie.”

This mystery will probably never be solved, but if it’s working for you, Simon, please keep it up – both the comic book and fine art worlds are infinitely richer thanks to your dazzling output.

Follow Simon on Instagram: @simon_davis_painter ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS 19

G UE S T CO LUMNI S T

H OW I M A K E I T WO R K

Jemma Powell

Artist JEMMA POWELL tells us how she combines a hectic home life with the challenges of being a full-time artist

B

efore I was a painter, I worked as an actress, but I have always painted from as early as I can remember.

My husband secretly set up an Instagram account for my artwork as he felt strongly that to be an artist you must let people see your work. I was nervous and self-conscious when I found out, as I had never been so open before. But the response was very positive and completely changed my view on sharing my work.

Now I really cherish Instagram.

It’s wonderful to have a global community and a platform for my paintings.

My creative process begins wherever I am with my paints, whether it’s in my studio painting flowers, on my travels or out in the Oxfordshire countryside where I live.

My life is chaotic with three kids and four dogs and then my studio is next to the kitchen amongst the hustle and bustle of family life.

Painting is my meditation: I need it to find stillness amongst the madness. If I have complete silence, I don’t feel I can channel what I want to say in paint.

I like to be surrounded by a support network of people, which allows me to make the art I want to make: work that is honest. I feel lucky to have found galleries that let me do that. They listen to me and are patient through times when I am not in flow and my output of work is slow. The important thing is to always trust that it will come back. It’s part of the journey and the rocky ride of being an artist. jemmapowell.com Instagram: @powell.jemma.art

JEMMA’S TIPS ON MAKING IT AS A FULL -TIME ARTIST MISTAKE S Don’t be afraid of making mistakes when painting.

Often the mistakes take you down a path that leads to something quite exciting. Things can appear and a painting takes on a life of its own.

Painting can be very spiritual in that way.

TR AVEL New places inspire new ideas. If I am in a creative rut, I try to go somewhere different, whether it’s abroad or just to stay with a friend in a different place. A change is as good as a rest and allows the energy to flow freely and unlock new ideas.

T O P Stormy Boccadasse, oil on board, 76x102cm A B OV E Lunch with Lucy, oil on board, 75x87cm R I G H T Christmas Teapot, Pears and Paperwhite, oil on board, 75x100cm

DON ’ T PAINT FOR OTHERS Paint what you love or what moves you. In that way the work will always be honest. Honesty is compelling in art, it’s what draws people in.

Even when I do a commission, I am painting for others but within that framework I try to look for the thing that excites me. I make it personal to me, and through that I think it becomes personal to everyone else. ▫

ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS 21

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ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS 21

Big Clouds, Tiree, oil on panel, 50x58cm

H O W I WO R K HO W I PA I NT

Lucy Kent

Many artists admit it takes them years to find their metier and LUCY KENT is no exception finds Sarah Edghill

L

ucy Kent is a contemporary landscape artist, who focuses on light, colour and atmosphere, but she began her artistic journey studying at a traditional atelier, a portrait school called Charles Cecil Studios, in Florence. While she loved the initial drawing in charcoal, she struggled when it came to the painting that followed. With hindsight, she realised it was because students there were taught in the way of the Old Masters, using a limited colour palette. From an early age, Lucy had known she was a colourist, seeing and wanting to reproduce all the varied colour in her subject

matter, so it didn’t sit well with her to have to restrict her palette.

After leaving Florence early, she went to the London Fine Art Studios, where the teaching process nurtured the individual and suited her better. However, this was also a school that specialised in portraiture; by then she had realised that landscapes were what she really wanted to paint. But her experience at the two schools had given her a strong foundation and been invaluable in terms of training her eye and technique, so she moved forward on her own and taught herself to paint landscape in oil. ▸ ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS 2 3

H O W I WORK HOW I P A I N T There is nothing more satisfying than a thick wedge of impasto oil paint applied with a palette knife. I love the luminosity you can achieve with oils and how versatile they are. They are great to move around and I can work wet into wet/alla prima which is important for painting en plein air. I also love how you can play around with thick and thin paint. I use Michael Harding, as I think they are beautiful quality, have a high pigment content and some incredible colours: Green Gold, Kings Blue Deep and Transparent Yellow Oxide are some of my favourites.

I paint in all weathers, snow being a favourite subject. But I’m a bit of a haphazard painter and never quite manage to have all the right kit. I wear lots of layers, hats and thermals and I wear silk glove liners underneath wool mittens, which means you can still use your fingers which isn’t the case with bulky gloves. But there’s a definite time limit to how long you can stay out in freezing temperatures, so I tend to work small and fast, then work up different larger works in the studio, using the smaller paintings as well as memory and photos. I like my plein air paintings to remain a one-sitting, fresh work, purely studied from life - there’s a risk that I lose the gestural marks if I work over it back in the studio. I prefer loose paintings to tighter works, which is why the plein-air paintings are so important to inform any works I later make in the studio. They remind me to keep it loose.

There is such power and energy in a big sky and I love the light and shadows cast by clouds on the land below. I love drama in a composition and it’s much more interesting to have billowing clouds than a flat blue sky. With clouds I feel there is room to build atmosphere and keep the marks gestural, almost abstract. I also love the play and juxtaposition of keeping some areas thin, then building up thicker areas of impasto paint for the crest of the clouds. I used to paint portraits - dogs and children - but the feeling I get from painting the land is just so different. Being fully immersed in nature and the scene in front of me is a wonderful feeling and really invigorating. I enjoy the challenge of light changing and having to be quick and instinctive, changing with it.

I feel lucky to have got to a place where people collect my work, but it took a long time. When I started out, I worked in a bar, life modelled and worked part-time in a gallery to help support myself. My first studio was a disused garage in Bayswater, which I shared with a jeweller, another 2 4 ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS

Big Clouds over Uley, oil on board, 52x57cm

Twilight, Marrackech, oil on panel, 30x36cm

I enjoy the challenge of light changing and having to be quick and instinctive artist, a sculptor – and a lot of rats! I lived off baked beans because I was so broke. My current studio is my husband’s office – although he’s not happy about it because I’m

very messy. We’re building me a studio at the moment which is going to have concrete flooring and raw plaster walls, with a corner floor-to-ceiling glass door to allow in lots of light. It’s going to be my sanctuary, as well as a place for my collectors to come and have a cuppa and look at my work in person.

I formed the Art for Charity Collective in 2020, which is a global artist collective raising awareness and funds for various charities. It was intended to be a positive response to the pandemic and a way of harnessing the desire to give back, ▸

Summer Cows, Pink Clouds Oil on panel, 30x37cm

ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS 2 5

Fiery Sun, El Fenn, oil on panel 30x35cm

Big clouds, Tiree, oil on panel 50x58cm

which was a strong feeling amongst the artist community during the lockdowns. We are now 100 artists, and to date we have raised £220,000 for some amazing causes, such as the Khadija Saye IntoArts Programme, GOSH, A Space Between, The Hands Up Foundation, The Flipflopi Project and more recently Choose Love, in aid of the Ukrainian crisis. I’m spending a lot of time on it at the moment, working with my brilliant co-founder Flea Chipchase. It is very fulfilling and rewarding and all the artists are incredibly supportive; we had our first in-person exhibition in June. The Collective has also given me a strong sense of community, which is something I’ve missed since I moved out of London.

Morning Looking over Durdle Door, oil on panel, 30x35cm

I have shown with galleries in the past, but never quite found the right fit for me. I made a conscious decision a while ago to represent myself but I would love to find a gallery that nurtures and encourages me: all

Instagram is invaluable for connecting you to a much wider audience artists are looking for someone to be on our team. I work with a few brilliant art consultancies and many of my clients in America and further afield have found me through Instagram, which is invaluable for connecting you to a much wider audience.

It is liberating being able to paint what I like and what inspires me. But to find my way, my style I almost had to start again, pare back from quite a raw place.

I had to practise, practise, practise. It can be frustrating but I fully believe in the theory of clocking-up 10,000 hours in any skill you’re trying to be better at. It does work! Art is a very personal journey and something you must enjoy and feel passionate about. I am still learning and think I will forever, but over the last few years there has been a confidence in my work, which wasn’t there before. I think that came from when I stopped doing commissions and chose instead to paint exactly what I wanted. It’s very liberating and I hope it shows that I love what I’m painting and that my passion shines through. lucy-kent.com Instagram @artforcharitycollective artforcharitycollective.com ▫

Blue Morning, Marrackech, oil on panel, 30x36cm

ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS 27

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MARY STUBBERFIELD

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2022

ABI WHITLOCK

I N PA R TN E R S H I P W ITH

S U P P O R TE D BY

Artists & Illustrators is thrilled to be back with The British Art Prize 2022. Enter today for the chance to win some truly great prizes, have your work exhibited at a major London gallery and have your work featured in this magazine Finest artists‘ colours www.schmincke.de

M E D I A PA R TN E R S

2 8 ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS

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e’re delighted to be back with our annual British Art Prize in association with edding, the go-to specialists in writing, marking and visual communication. This major national art competition will expose winning artists of all levels to a far-reaching platform to gain valuable publicity and recognition for their work.

Open to everyone – whether you’re an amateur, emerging artist or a professional – all styles, media and techniques will be

CO MPE T I T I O N

Prizes

The British Art Prize has five fantastic prizes. They are: STELLA BAWDEN HOLLIS

FIRST PRIZE

FLETCHER SIBTHORP

MICHAEL SOLE

The overall winner of the British Art Prize will receive a £3,000 cash prize, a seven-night luxury AmaWaterways river cruise for two on the Seine worth more than £5,000, a £250 gift voucher from Rosemary & Co, a six-page feature in a future issue of Artists & Illustrators and the winning painting will be shown at an exhibition at a major London gallery.

considered. To celebrate our joining up with edding, this year there will also be a one-off extra prize: the edding acrylic prize where the only requirement is that the submitted painting is completed in the medium.

The British Art Prize offers an unprecedented level of national exposure over three major magazine brands and the chance for artists to sell their artwork to a combined audience of almost one million art lovers and collectors. There is also a whopping prize fund worth more than £15,000, which includes cash prizes, art vouchers and the chance to be included in an exhibition at a major London art gallery in the autumn of this year. Shortlisted artists will be invited to a prestigious opening night reception alongside artists, collectors and other VIP guests. Everyone who enters will also receive a +1 invitation to the exhibition.

The seven-night luxury AmaWaterways river cruise for two on the Seine, worth over £5,000, includes: ● Seven nights luxury accommodation in an outside stateroom ● All onboard dining in a variety of venues including Chef’s Table speciality restaurant ● Unlimited fine wine, beer and soft drinks with lunch and dinner ● Sip & Sail Daily Cocktail Hour ● Wellness Programme with a dedicated Wellness Host ● A wide choice of included excursions with small groups and knowledgeable local guides including: ∙ Monet’s home and gardens in Giverny ∙ Artists’ walk through Auvers-sur-Oise, the final home of Vincent van Gogh ∙ Honfleur, regarded as the birthplace of the Impressionist movement ∙ Guided hiking and biking tours, with complimentary bicycles for independent exploration

SECOND PRIZE

A £500 cash prize and a Derwent Lightfast wooden box (with 100 pencils) and Lightfast paper pad 12x16” (together worth £520).

Inclusion in the Artists & Illustrators British Art Prize winners’ special issue where a branded 10-page editorial will include images of all the shortlist and winners. The winning painting will be shown at an exhibition at a major London gallery. derwentart.com

THIRD PRIZE

A £500 cash prize, £500 worth of Schmincke Horadam Supergranulating Watercolours and inclusion in the British Art Prize winners’ special issue where a branded 10-page editorial will include images of all the shortlist and winners. The winning painting will be shown at an exhibition at a major London gallery.

THE EDDING ACRYLIC PRIZE

The only requirement is that your paintings are completed in the medium. The winner will receive £500 worth of edding acrylic materials and inclusion in the Artists & Illustrators British Art Prize winners’ special issue. The winning painting will be shown at an exhibition at a major London gallery. edding.com

THE PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD

A £1,000 cash prize, a Pegasus Art voucher worth £500 and a feature in the January 2023 issue of Artists & Illustrators. The winning painting will be shown at an exhibition at a major London gallery. pegasusart.co.uk

How to enter

Entering The British Art Prize couldn’t be easier. Visit artistsandillustrators.co.uk/ britishartprize and simply fill out the online form. Attach digital photographs of your artworks when requested and click the submit button to complete your entry. The entry fee for the first artwork is £18 and £15 for any additional artwork.

Selection process

Submissions close at 5pm on 31 July 2022. Our panel of judges will select a shortlist of 50 artworks, including the three top prize winners. The People’s Choice Award will be decided by a public vote.

The British Art Prize 2022 shortlist will be announced online on Friday 30 September and in the November issue of Artists & Illustrators.

If you’ve entered, visit artistsandillustrators. co.uk after that date to see if your work has been shortlisted. Readers will also be able to vote for their favourite shortlisted artwork at artistsandillustrators.co.uk/britishartprize

Enter for free

Portfolio Plus members can enter The British Art Prize 2022 free of charge Portfolio Plus is an exciting online community that allows you to share, showcase and sell your artwork for as little as £2.49 per month.

As well as free entry into The British Art Prize, other membership benefits include: • Sell your artwork commission-free to an active audience of more than 100,000 monthly visitors • Access exclusive competitions, opportunities and offers • Appear in Artists & Illustrators, social media, newsletters and more!

Sign up to Portfolio Plus at artistsandillustrators.co.uk Terms & Conditions Complimentary stateroom is for a seven-night Paris and Normandy Seine cruise departing in March 2023. Accommodation is based in a Category E stateroom and includes port charges. Stateroom can be claimed within 60 days of departure date, subject to availability and capacity. The winner can choose to upgrade their stateroom at 50% of the brochure upgrade rate (not applicable to A+ or Suites). Roundtrip airfare, transfers, on-board gratuities, insurance and any onboard expenditure, including discretionary gratuities, are at the expense of the winner. This prize has no cash value and is non-transferable. Standard Terms & Conditions apply. For full details visit amawaterways.co.uk

ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS 29

We present...

This m o n t h ’s spotlight on a Portfolio member

ROGER ASLIN

An artist who describes himself as a modern-day flâneur

W

e all love to people-watch; there is something fascinating - and slightly addictive - about studying strangers, speculating on their lives and even creating imaginary worlds for them. Throughout history, those who did this and used it to inspire their creativity have been known by the French term, flâneur. The expression was coined by Baudelaire, who talked about the flâneur as a gentleman stroller of the streets: a wanderer, an observer who focusses on the immediate and whose creativity is fuelled by what he sees.

Acrylic artist, Roger Aslin, describes himself as a modern day flâneur. “My work takes me into the city where I take images on camera or phone, later to be refined and honed digitally in the studio before commencing painting on paper, board or canvas. A number of my paintings were inspired by trips to overseas locations where I found myself drawn to the figure in an urban setting.”

Manet was considered to be the quintessential flâneur: an independent thinker, who added his unique spin to our way of looking at the world. Aslin has always been intrigued by city life.

“It combines many of the elements I’m interested in: people, architecture, both interior and exterior, elements of landscapes in parks and other open urban spaces.”

He creates his paintings by taking elements from various scenes in his photographs to make a draft composition. This is then the basis for the initial drawing in pencil on paper, canvas or board. “During the drawing process further changes often occur. Painting begins when I am satisfied with the final piece. Although I have a clear idea of the colours I am going to use, this also changes during the painting process. The use of acrylics enables me to over-paint as the work progresses.”

Admirers of Aslin’s work have said it reminds them of film stills – there is a sense that we are glimpsing one moment of a story, which will continue elsewhere, in another scene. “I have always been drawn to the narrative of film,” he says. “Film photography uses light, shade and movement to communicate mood, whilst also conveying the story. Often, I am drawn to scenes in bright sunlight or night scenes where the filmic quality of light emerges. I spent a lot of time working in and around London and always enjoyed the energy the city created.” portfolio.artistsandillustrators.co.uk/rogeraslin- ▫ 3 0 ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS

Hotel, Twilight, acrylic on paper, 84x66cm

Fractured Image, Doorway, Lake Garda, acrylic on paper, 78x57cm

Cafe Scene with four figures, acrylic on paper, 84x66cm

T H E BI G I N T E R V I E W L E F T Mark at the Cass Art Selfridges Pop Up in 2019 R I G H T Antoine Langenieux-Villard, acrylic on silk, 180x140cm B E L OW Nikki Cass, acrylic on wood panel, 31x27x3cm

Mark Cass He’s the man behind Britain’s leading art supplies retailer, Cass Art. But art, and supporting artists, is more than just business for him. It’s his life’s mission, he tells Niki Browes

32 ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS

M

ark Cass, the founder and CEO of Cass Art, was destined for a life in art. He was first introduced to art materials at the age of 12 when his father, Wilfred Cass, was the Chairman of Reeves, the world’s oldest paint manufacturer. But it wasn’t his first introduction to the world of art: it’s in his family’s lineage, and it’s an impressive lineage at that. Mark’s ancestors Paul and Bruno Cass(irer) were key art dealers in the early 20th Century art world, and their gallery - Die Berliner Kunstsalon - was largely responsible for bringing French Impressionism to Europe at a time when it was generally misunderstood. World renowned artists such as Van Gogh, Degas, Monet and Cezanne were among those whose work they introduced to Berlin, because of their steadfast belief in the movement.

This passion – and a zeal for business - has been prominent in the Cass family throughout the years. Mark’s father escaped Nazi Germany in 1936 and within five years had started his first company which led on to an extraordinary career in electronics, manufacturing and retail. He decided to use his retirement years to build The Cass Sculpture Foundation, in 1992, while his son was making a name for himself in the world of photography. But working with artists – and Cass Art - is Mark’s life’s mission. ▸

ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS 3 3

My father only told me one thing when I was young and that was to never go under his bed. We lived in a small house in north London and he was buying modern artist’s prints that he loved, yet the walls were full, so he put them under his bed.

The first Cass Art store opened in 1984 and was in an old Reeves store at 13 Charing Cross Road, probably the best located art shop in the world thanks to its many famous visitors, including Winston Churchill and Claude Monet. Being on the high street, it was accessible at a time when 3 4 ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS

there weren’t that many stand-alone art shops. A great many art supply stores in London had ceased trading; most of the closures were as a result of the emergence of the digital world. WHSmith had art shelves, but the quality of the products wasn’t very good. So I was clear: to be successful we’d have to be different. We wanted to swim against the tide of the increasingly digital world and get everybody using their hands to make and create again.

I think everybody loves an art store, don’t they? It’s the smell of the paper

T HE B I G I NT E R V I E W

A B OV E L E F T Tricia Gillman, acrylic on Canvas, 140x125cm L E F T Wilfred Cass, Mark’s father A B OV E Johan Anderson, oil on canvas, 140x120cm

ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS 3 5

and the mediums; the materials are tactile, making the retail spaces almost like non-edible sweet shops. Today, along with our online store, we’ve got 14 retail spaces in most of the key university towns. Our USP is that our staff are real artists who are passionate about their trade. We support artists by providing the best quality products, at the best prices, whilst helping explain to our customers just how much you can do with them.

‘Let’s fill this town with artists’ is our mission. It’s intentionally aspirational. Not everyone has to be a gifted painter or able to draw. Anyone can derive pleasure from pouring paint onto canvas, working with colours, and finding their own way.

36 ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS

T HE B I G I NT E R V I E W

L E F T Liesel Thomas, oil on wood panel, 15x12x 3cm A B OV E Greg Mason, oil on linen / 50x50cm B E L OW Laura Slinn, goauche on wood panel, 15x20x6cm

Working with artists is a life mission.

It’s all about support. We’re a communitybased business and have spaces in most of our shops where artists can host exhibitions and workshops for free. It’s my way of saying thank you, as I don’t think there’s a moment when I haven’t been touched by art. Most of the paintings you see here are bought from staff and students over the years. We also work with universities, colleges and charities, providing bursaries, prizes and art materials as I believe in the power of art and know the freedom and joy it brings.

You’ll see more Cass Art shops and pop-ups in vibrant cities in the future.

Anyone can visit our stores and try out a product they want. That’s why Cass Art exists.

Our USP is that our staff are artists who are passionate about their trade We want to encourage artists and hobbyists alike to try new things.

Fundamentally, it’s about bringing the joy of creating art to our customers. We’ve been working with the best brands in the world for 30 years and have used this knowledge to develop our own Cass art materials, a range of what we think are amazing products for incredible value.

Our customers are front of mind in everything we do - even today, at weekends I still like to go into the shops

and talk with our customers, to find out exactly what they want. It’s the very best way of doing research I don’t know if I’d say I’m the most connected man in art. I would say that the art world is very broad and covers many disciplines. Over the years I have worked with artists directly - be that when I worked with photographers at Image Bank and Getty, when I was connected to the Cass Sculpture Foundation, or today with the many painters I see through Cass Art. What I do know is that, over the last 60 years, I have met and been immersed in the art world daily through my family and the different professions I’ve worked in. I know, just like my forefathers, it’s what I will do for the rest of my life. cassart.co.uk ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS 37

Anatomy

Watercolour has an incredible immediacy that focuses the artist’s attention while building up transparent washes.

This medium can be used in a variety of ways to create images that range from lively impressions of landscapes to detailed botanical studies, while the liveliness and immediacy of watercolour makes it ideal for capturing the movement of animals. For this study, we’re going to look at the grizzly bear, the lynx and the penguin.

Grizzly Bear A mighty apex predator, the grizzly bear is also known as the North American brown bear. Grizzlies are typically brown, though their fur can appear white-tipped or grizzled, giving them their name.

Although they are not fussy eaters, much of their diet consists of nuts, berries, fruit, leaves and roots. They also feast on salmon, which provide them with valuable nutrition to sustain them through the long winter ahead. Dramatic gatherings of dozens of grizzly bears can be seen at Alaskan waterfalls, when the salmon leap upstream for summer spawning.

ANATOMY

Knowing a little about the anatomy can help you understand what you are looking at and inform your painting.

BONES

Knowing the bones can give your drawing structure and the feeling that the legs are supporting weight.

Tibia

Scapula Massive scapula for powerful muscle attachments

Fibula

Tarsals

Metatarsals

HEAD

Capturing the barrelled nose with a slightly upturned snout is key in expressing the ‘beariness’ of the bear. The head is large with disc-like shapes, with small eyes and ears.

PAWS

There are five digits on each limb with long, curved, nonretractable claws.

Femur

Infraspinatus

Trapezius

Brachiocephalicus

Grizzlies are so hairy that you can’t see the muscles, but some knowledge can help with bulking out your painting.

Glutes Tensor Fasciae

Vastus Lateralis Deltoid Semitendinosus

Triceps Pectorals

Biceps Femoris

Gastrocnemius Extensors of paw and wrist Extensors of foot 3 8 ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS

MUSCLES

Flexors of paw and wrist

SHOULDER HUMP

Grizzly bears have well-developed shoulder muscles for digging and turning over rocks.

These muscles appear as a prominent shoulder hump between the front shoulders, which is visible in profile.

of a...

E X T R A CT

In an edited extract from his new book, Watercolour the Natural World, TIM POND talks you through the anatomies of three species of animal and shows you how to paint them in watercolour

DIFFERENT GAITS

Terrestrial mammals are classified into three groups, depending on their walking stance and the arrangement of bones in their limbs.

PLANTIGRADE STANCE

Bear’s hind feet are plantigrade, which is similar to those of humans, with the heel planted on the ground. Cats and dogs are digitigrade, as are many mammal predators (although not all). Think of the stance as walking on tiptoes to quietly sneak up on someone. Ungulates are animals that walk on toenails. Think of a blade runner with an explosive spring of escape.

Plantigrade

Digitigrade

French Ultramarine

Payne’s Grey

Burnt Umber

1

Try to capture the posture and attitude of the bear in your initial sketch. Bears are all about bulk, so use round, looping marks.

2

Next, create a blue-grey underpainting with a combination of French Ultramarine and Payne’s Grey.

Ungulate

Yellow Ochre

Raw Umber

3

A variety of combinations of Yellow Ochre, Raw Umber and Burnt Umber can be used to create slight modulations of warmer and cooler shades of colour across the pelt.

ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS 39

Lynx

Cats are a supple and elastic subject to sketch, combining incredible speed, agility and coordination into a single bound, none more so than the powerful lynx.

There are four species of lynx (Canadian, Iberian, Eurasian and Bobcat) which enjoy the cool conditions of North America and Eurasia. It is one of the most adaptable of all the wild cats and has a vast territory, from rocky mountain slopes to woodlands.

All lynx are noted for their characteristic pointy ears and a moustache-shaped sweep of fur on their cheeks. They have a lithe, muscular body with powerful hindquarters. An acute sense of sound and binocular vision combined with lightning reflexes makes them a very successful predator.

ANATOMY

Their principal prey is deer, goats and any hoofed mammal up to four times their size and even smaller animals such as hares, which are a speciality of the Canadian lynx.

The Eurasian lynx inhabits both mountainous and woodland regions from Northern Europe to East Asia. It has a white underbelly, as do all lynx, and a rusty ochre back. To help break up the body’s shape, the cat’s coat is peppered with spot and stripe markings.

As climates get colder and more northerly, different species of lynx gain progressively thicker and lighter coloured fur and their paws become larger and more padded so they can walk on the cold, soft snow.

EARS

Knowing a little about the anatomy can help you understand what you are looking at and inform your painting.

The ears are large and funnel-like, which can point in different directions to draw in information about the prey’s whereabouts.

Trapezius

MUSCLES

This Canadian lynx muscle anatomy illustration applies to all species of lynx and all cats in general.

Glutes

Infraspinatus

Whiskers Long, highly sensitive whiskers help navigate the environment

Tensor Fasciae Vastus Lateralis

Brachiocephalicus Caudal Femoris

Deltoid Pectorals

Biceps Femoris

Triceps

Gastrocnemius

Extensors of hand and wrist

Flexors of the paw and wrist 40 ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS

E X T R A CT PREDATOR STANCE

STEREOSCOPIC VISION

The foot stance of all cats is digitigrade (walking on toes).

There are five digits on the front foot and four on the back. Each digit has a curved retractable claw that sits above the pad on the bottom of the foot. These pads are surrounded by fur, which assists in silent hunting and insulation.

Forward-facing eyes, that can contract to a slit to create the classic cat-eye shape and dilate to a large pupil disc, are excellent for night hunting.

SNOWSHOE PAWS

The Canadian lynx has really big paws that look disproportionate to the size of its body. These are an adaptation to help it walk in deep snowy conditions without sinking.

Hind paw 4 claws

Front paw 5 claws

MOVEMENT AND ACTION 1

5 2 1

4 3

4

2

Yellow Ochre

1

French Ultramarine

Apply Yellow Ochre with a granulation medium. The coat is darker on the top and lighter on the stomach. Apply more water to create the gradation.

3

Watercolour is ideal for capturing the movement of animals because of the liveliness and immediacy of this watery medium. Particles of pigments floating around in the water are in themselves a kinetic medium full of spontaneity and happy accidents. In this study, loose brushwork helps capture the lynx as it leaps and preens. Lively brush marks capture the pelt of the animal as it wavers in the wind. Form and detail can simply be suggested without getting tied into intense detail and destroying the feeling of the animal being alive on the page.

Raw Umber

2

A light wash of French Ultramarine helps to solidify the form and capture the light and shade.

3

Finish by adding the spots in Raw Umber.

Lynx have a short tail.

Look out for grooming behaviour and use short fl ick marks to suggest hair.

Capture the character of the sweeping shape of the moustache-like cheek.

Notice how the powerful rump can appear higher than the shoulders.

A R T I S T S & I L L U S T R A T O R S 41

Penguin Penguins are the flightless birds of the Southern Hemisphere, with only one species, the Galápagos penguin, found north of the equator enjoying a tropical climate. It is a commonly mis-held belief that penguins only live in cold temperatures. Penguins have been successful in colonising every continent of the Southern Hemisphere, including Africa.

There are around 16 to 19 recognised species of penguin. They are distributed in coastal regions and tend to get larger the further south they live. It is advantageous to be bigger in the freezing Antarctic weather, with a lesser surface area to volume ratio.

Penguins are highly distinctive with their tuxedo-like appearance.

Having a white belly and black back is called countershading and is a highly successful form of camouflage – seen from below, their white belly blends with the light catching on the ocean’s surface; from above, their dark back disappears into the colours of the ocean’s depths. Penguins are born camouflaged to their land environment and develop this adult sea camouflage as they mature. Telling male and female penguins apart is challenging and can only really be done

by DNA testing.

BONES

Knowing the bones can give your drawing structure and the feeling that the legs are supporting weight.

Femur Tarsus

Tibiotarsus fused lower leg

ANATOMY

Knowing a little about the anatomy can help you understand what you are looking at and inform your painting.

FISHING BEAK

Penguins are carnivores. Fish and krill make up the bulk of an Emperor penguin’s diet, along with squid and crustaceans.

AN UNUSUAL TONGUE

Backward-pointing barbs on the tongue stop slippery prey from escaping.

FEATHERS

A penguin’s body is covered with 70 percent more feathers than a typical flying bird. It is helpful to keep this in mind when considering the texture you are trying to depict in your painting.

DOWN FEATHERS

Down feathers are not waterproof, and chicks must remain out of the water until they acquire their juvenile plumage.

Humerus

Scapula

OILY SECRETION

Penguins continually waggle their beak on their tail, preening an oily secretion into their feathers to waterproof them for fishing trips.

BALANCING TAIL

A short, stiff tail helps them keep their balance on land.

WEBBED FEET

A penguin’s feet are at the bottom of the body, giving them greater speed in the water. Think of a speedboat’s outboard motor compared to a paddle steamer, like that of a duck. These feet have powerful claws to help grip ice or rock when emerging from the sea. The feet are also helpful when tobogganing or sliding on their bellies to conserve energy.

42 A R T I S T S & I L L U S T R A T O R S

Radius Ulna Metacarpus

Note that the leg goes up inside the body.

E X T R A CT TOES

Penguins have a small hallux, or first toe, which is hard to see when sketching in the field. It is a little reminiscent of a thumb.

Raw Umber

EMPEROR PENGUINS

Cadmium Yellow graduating to Lemon Yellow

Ultramarine + Payne’s Grey

The Emperor penguin is bigger than the King penguin, but not as brightly coloured. It can hold its breath for 20 minutes and dive to a staggering depth of 1,500ft (450m) to catch fish. Although a little ungainly on land, once in the water, the penguin is a dynamic torpedo, essentially flying through the water at incredible speeds.

KING PENGUIN STUDY SHEET

King penguins are the second-largest penguin and are found from Antarctica to the Falkland Islands.

Watercolour the Natural World

by Tim Pond, GMC Publications, RRP £14.99, available online and from all good bookshops ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS 4 3

EXHIBITION

The Royal Academy Summer Show: First timers THE ROYAL ACADEMY SUMMER SHOW

is billed as the world’s most joyful art experience.

Adrian Mourby meets six of this year’s artists ▸

4 4 ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS

46 ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS

E X HI B I T I O N

he Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition, in London’s Piccadilly, is one of the greatest democratic displays of art in the world. I say democratic because anyone can enter anything. Academicians, those elected to permanent membership of the RA of whom there are around 80, are entitled to enter up to six pieces on the basis that all will be displayed. The rest of the exhibition however, which averages around 1,500 artworks every year, are selected in a blind open competition. The nine-strong committee of Academicians, who view well over ten thousand works a year, never know the artists’ names. They select purely on the merit of what is presented before them. Some works may be by old hands who have tried for years to get noticed. Some are hand-delivered by painters, sculptors, video artists and photographers who have never before ventured into the RA’s prestigious premises in Burlington House. Many artists have gone on to professional success after being selected by the Hanging Committee. Here we look at six who, in 2022, were chosen for their first time to be displayed for two glorious months at the Summer Exhibition. This year’s theme was Climate, but many have interpreted this topic more loosely as our relationship to this planet and its weather.

Royal Academy Summer Exhibition runs until 21 August

Emma Chambers ◂ Nettles And Ragwort 2 OIL ON BOARD, 5 4X4 4C M

Based in Kingston upon Thames, Emma Chambers describes art as simply something she does all the time.

“Several years ago, I was in Cornwall and had planned to finish a watercolour of thistles in an open field above the sea. Halfway to my destination it started to rain. I took shelter under an old crab apple tree. With my back to a stone wall and a bank of nettles in front of me there was nothing else to paint except the nettles. This was the beginning of a fascination with this much-maligned yet striking plant. I also realised the viewpoint from which I was painting, at ground level, was unique and offered the viewer a different perspective.

“I go to the Summer Exhibition every year but have only applied on one other occasion, three years ago at the start of lockdown. I felt this picture had a good chance because a lot of people have been connecting with it - so perhaps the judges would too.

“These plants have not been a subject for many painters in the past, not even for botanical artists, so the subject itself is unusual. I painted them with water-mixable oil on gesso panel.” emmachambersart.com ▸ A R T I S T S & I L L U S T R A T O R S 47

◂

Paul Anderson Nature’s Way

AC RY LIC , 1MX500C M

◂

Max Angus Oystercatchers’ Away Day 4 BLOC K LINOCUT PRINT, 2 3X40C M

Max Angus lives in a Kent village and is a member of the Society of Wildlife Artists.

“I have the support of a superb range of galleries from Kent, Cambridge, Suffolk and Norfolk, which exhibit my artwork throughout the year. With Oystercatchers’ Away Day I had the pleasure of experiencing the wildlife spectacular at the Wash near Snettisham. Early in the morning, when the tide is high, all the wild birds, including the oystercatchers, fly up in the air as the tide engulfs the mudflats. It is an awesome sight. Speedily the oystercatchers fly along the coast as though they’re off to work. It’s like an ‘Oystercatchers away day’.

“It’s all about seeing, noticing things and watching. Every image starts as black and white, then different blocks are cut for each colour. I print using a cast iron Albion Press made by Henry Watts in Southwark in 1859. All the inks are hand rolled on to the plates. The results are original prints that are alike but all slightly different.” maxangus.co.uk 48 ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS

Artist, writer and musician Paul Anderson is 70 and lives in Middlesex, where he works as a school caretaker.

“But art is my prime focus, it always has been, since I was 13 years old. Last year, I was walking down a Teddington back street, where there is a house which is almost totally obscured by trees and shrubs. The property projects a sense of unease as if hiding behind the foliage to disguise the fact that it could fall apart at any time. Nature is taking over the house. I knew this was a great opportunity for me to combine all my years of experimenting visually and reflect the fact that nature will win, in Nature’s Way. Over the years I have painted a series of works I label Temples. It was not a great leap for me to introduce a temple behind trees which gave the deserted building the sense of unease I felt when passing the house.

“I have submitted work to the show before and every year I visit. I do enjoy it: an environment of love and hate and everything in between. It is an amazing chance to see what people are thinking as they follow their dreams.” masterartist.co.uk

E X HI B I T I O N

◂

Marcus Walder Morning Sunlight St John’s Playing Fields OIL ON C L AY BOARD, 2 3X30C M

Marcus Walder lives in Cambridge. After graduating with a Fine Art and History of Art degree he has spent the last 25 years working in IT sales.

“This was completely unplanned and is still a bit of a surprise to me. I have spent the last few decades primarily painting copies of Old Masters to give me a creative outlet within my life in the corporate sector. Over those years I thought many times about

creating a series of original artworks. Finally, during the pandemic, I completed a few small-scale landscapes, cityscapes and still life paintings. I think, like a lot of people, that time made me reassess what I wanted to do with my life.

“Nowadays I just paint whatever takes my fancy and purely focus on the basics of the joy of depicting light and colour, with minimal brushwork and drawing. For me, the subject matter is secondary to that, and I’m really happy just striving to achieve that goal these days.

“I absolutely love the Summer Exhibition. I love the fact that it is open to all and is accepting of figurative and non-figurative art. It contains artworks with depth as well as light-hearted and often quite funny pieces.” marcuspaints.com ▸ A R T I S T S & I L L U S T R A T O R S 49

EXHIBITION

◂

Fay Lachenal Let in the Light

AC RY LIC ON C ANVAS, 104X 104C M Fay Lachenal is 35 and lives in North Wales. She works as an occupational therapist within a primary school.

“Painting is something I’ve always done alongside my day job, but only recently have I begun getting my paintings into galleries. I love my job, but it is my dream to paint full-time for a living.

“Some health issues arose last year which meant I needed to take a few months off work - I struggled mentally with this and threw myself into painting. Let in the Light was painted during my recovery, when I was beginning to feel like I was coming out the other side so to speak. To me the light breaking through the clouds reflected this.

Whilst I am always in awe of our beautiful planet, the RA theme ‘Climate’ actually inspired me to think of the changing climates we endure in life rather than the planet itself.

“This is the first time I have submitted work to the RA so I feel incredibly lucky to have been selected. I can’t wait to drag my partner and children along and tell them all about it.” faylachenalart.com

Christian Kuras Pattern ◂

OIL ON BOARD, 2 2X 2 3C M

Christian Kuras makes his living as a website and app designer in Manchester.

“To outward appearances, my painting practice might look like a hobby, but to me it’s a life-long interest that I approach as a vocation.I love it.

“This painting was completed in winter 2021.

It is quite clearly a landscape, but has abstract elements. I’m not interested in replicating what the eye can see, but rather in capturing something more subjective that blends expectation, memory and direct experience. So the place depicted is imaginary. The title, Pattern, refers to a formation of blurry shapes, hovering above a watery landscape. The formation itself is derived from the shifting shapes of a murmuration of birds, the motion making it impossible to pick out individuals.

“This was my first time submitting work to the Summer Exhibition. I’ve visited the show in previous years, and was impressed by the range and quality of the work. I love the tradition of the Summer Exhibition. The opportunity to connect to such an establishment is very welcome.” christiankuras.com ▫ 50 ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS

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ORIGINAL P LE I N A I R I M AG E

52 ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS

I

first went to the Basingstoke Canal at Odiham during the long hot summer of 1976, when I was 12. In the decades that followed, the canal became a haven of peace and tranquility for me as it has been for so many people.

When painting the canal, I have always tried to capture not just an image, but the feeling I get when I go there. To me there is something cathedral-like in the way the light tumbles down through the trees and onto the flat green water. For this particular painting, I decided to take a small plein air piece I did of a pleasure barge on the canal, and work it up in the studio, hoping to recapture and even enhance that feeling of tranquility on a summer’s day by the canal.

Before I even make a mark on the canvas, I like to load up my palette with a rich variety of colours mixed from my basic range. For this painting it’s especially important to start exploring all the different greens in the landscape. When looking at the light coming down through trees, you can see huge variations in the greens, from bright zingy yellows, through warm olives to cool, silvery greens, and deep blue-greens in the shadows. I also mix warm and cool extreme dark colours, and from these make various tones of grey, which help bring down the saturation when needed.

LUIS' S MATERIALS Oil paints Titanium White, Viridian Green, Ultramarine Blue, Alizarin Crimson, Cadmium Red, Cadmium Yellow Deep Hue, Cadmium Yellow Pale Hue Brushes Two short flat acrylic brushes, sizes 6 and 8 Support Oil painting paper with a fine canvas texture, prepared with a mid-grey primer and taped to a board Low-odour thinners and industrial blue paper for cleaning brushes and lifting paint from the work Wooden palette with a pear-shaped palette knife (also useful for scraping fine lines in the picture) ▸

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HO W T O

STEP -BY-STEP

1

FIRST MARKS I made my first marks with my size 9 brush, using some of my extreme dark colours to establish that end of the tonal range as early as possible. As well as cool dark greens, I used some warm dark browns in shady areas. I wanted to make the early marks vigorous, to retain some of the urgency of the plein air piece. Although abstract at this stage, there was already a suggestion of branches and part of the canal bank.

3

FINGER SMUDG ING Fingers are the most underestimated of art materials. Here they were valuable in dragging paint down to give an impression of soft reflections in the water. The canvas texture also helps to give a ‘halftone’ effect when the right pressure is used. These soft areas will contrast nicely with the carefully placed, sharp marks to be added with the brush.

4

BUILDING THE IMAGE Broad flat dabs of colour tumbling down the canvas, smeared in places with fingers and paper, and sharp marks placed to draw in the boat and suggest branches, gradually built up the image. Broad horizontals added perspective and, along with vertical willows, started to frame it. The extreme blue hues were established in the sky, playing against the warm yellow and silvery grey ground which still showed through everywhere, underpinning the whole painting.

5 4 ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS

2

DISTANT LIGHT Next it was important to get down some of the lighter colours in the tonal range, to represent things in the distance, such as the lower sky and far away trees and bankside. I started to use the range of light greens and blues to achieve the silvery, shimmering quality of light I felt was central to this painting. At this stage I also found the area on the canvas where the boat met the water, a key element in the composition.

XXXXXXXXXXX

5

FOCUSING IN All paintings are a balancing act between abstraction and representation. As the focal point of the picture, I wanted the boat to have some more areas of sharp detail and be more ‘realistic’. Hopefully this would allow other elements in the painting to be kept as abstract and sketchy as possible while still being convincing. The boat was built up in the same way, with a combination of dabs of colour and carefully placed sharp lines. The people and tiny details in the boat help give a sense of distance and overall scale to the picture. ▸ ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS 5 5

H O W TO

6

STRENGTHENING THE FR AMEWORK Now it was time to commit to a few more decisive marks around the painting, to hold it together. I added some indications of branches and built up the foreground shapes, scratching out some lines with my palette knife to suggest reeds or grass. The overall compositional effect I wanted was that of a leafy tunnel, down which the eye could travel until it reached the boat.

56 ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS

7

8

9

10

ADDING ATMOSPHERE To make the distant objects appear as if they were being seen through a veil of silvery light, I used my trusty index finger, this time to gently graze light pastel colours over the canvas texture in certain areas like the trees behind the boat. Although a lot of fun, it’s important not to overdo this technique in case it smothers the brushwork.

BUILDING THE FOREGROUND At this stage I felt the painting needed more work in the foreground, especially in the water as it led up to the boat. I added soft horizontal smears of blue and lilac to reflect the sky, every now and then adding a sharp horizontal line to show a ripple. I added some points of light around the trees and in the plant life in the foreground.

Throughout the painting I was trying to strike a happy balance between soft fuzzy patches and sharp stabs of colour.

MIXING ON THE BRUSH This would have been heresy for me a few years ago, when I insisted each colour be painstakingly mixed on the palette. The time constraints of plein air painting have made me rethink this dogmatic approach, and be freer about using the brush to make subtle mixtures between the colours already prepared on the palette. Clean the brush after each application so the colours don’t get muddy.

FINISHING TOUC HE S At this late stage it’s important to avoid tinkering – any marks must really earn their place on the canvas. The most important additions were pools of light reflected in the water and coming through the plants on the near bank, and a darkening in the trees to bring that light into sharper contrast. I was happy I’d captured something of the dreamy tranquility I’d felt on that summer’s day by the canal. ▫ ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS 57

Tree, oil on linen 20x15cm This shows shifting blues, from Ultramarine Blue at the top to Cerulean lower down, to the whiteness along the horizon line.

Into the blue

In this fourth article, ANN WITHERIDGE shows you how to tackle skies, essential for any successful landscape painting

SERIES

IMPROVE YOUR LANDSCAPE PAINTING Part four of five

In this series, we have been looking at composition, values and colour harmonies for landscape painting. Here we will be discussing skies, which are the most important element to think about, once we have done the composition and drawing. I love skies and their variety gives us an endless number of options for composition and for depicting the colours we see in nature.

Sky is the source of light: without it we would not see colours, so the colour and the mood of the sky dictates the mood of the painting; from sunrises to sunsets, overcast to sunshine, every sky will influence the overall feeling of your work.

ANN' S MATERIALS Titanium White Cadmium Red Alizarin Crimson Yellow Ochre Ultramarine Blue Cerulean Turpentine, oil I often work with PM2 by Michael Harding as it has a little siccative - drying agent - in the mix, which helps the paint dry quicker.

This is useful when working outdoors and alla prima Brushes I like working with filberts or rounds. I would discourage flats and short flats in the sky as they rather dictate your paint handling; with the sky we are conveying atmosphere, created with soft shapes.

Canvas panels

BLUE IN THE SK Y

A sky can make us stop in our tracks, especially when we see a yellow sky, an amazing sunset or shapes in the clouds.

The colours we see are all due to the lengths of waves of light.

The strongest wave is blue, which is why most often we see a blue sky and a blue sea since it reflects the sky – and the blue is the harmonising colour holding the painting together. But even this varies from the top to the bottom of the sky. Look above you and it is a redder blue, moving to purple, as the blue moves to the horizon line it becomes greener, for instance moving from Ultramarine Blue to Cerulean. This is because the lower we look, the more atmosphere there is between us and the sky. We aren’t seeing a flat surface, but a far greater distance than the landscape we see in front of us; imagine holding a card and tilting it towards you. If we think of Leonardo’s blue distant mountains, there is an even greater distance of view in the sky.

Always tone your canvas with a little warmth, perhaps a touch of Cadmium Red. Then mix up big piles of blues.

Ultramarine Blue by itself is a little too inky so use blue with white and perhaps a touch of red for the top of the sky; as you move down the canvas add a touch of Yellow Ochre, or change blues and move into Cerulean. Phthalocyanine Blue, which is often the pigment used in Cerulean Blue Hue, is very different and can be quite acidic, so add some Yellow Ochre to temper it a little. ▸ ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS 59

Painting of Clouds reducing in scale as they approach the horizon line, oil on linen 25.5x30.5cm This shows clouds reducing in scale as they approach the horizon

TACKLING CLOUDS

Perspective works similarly with clouds. The ones above us are much closer to us, they will be larger clouds with bigger under-planes. The clouds nearer the horizon are much further away, so their shapes are smaller and the underplanes are narrower. Imagine the clouds are boxes floating in the sky varying in scale, but with clear side and underplanes: the transition can be soft and subtle, but they are still always there. Be careful not to over-soften or melt the edges.

Painting boxes as clouds, oil on linen 14x20cm This method helps understand under-planes and scale 60 ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS

Clouds and Pathway, oil on linen, 20x15cm With this simple subject matter, the clouds added a nice balance to the composition

ARE THE CLOUDS NEEDED? The sky and clouds will change as you paint. Do we need the clouds? If your subject matter is already busy, you may want a clear sky to balance the landscape adding calm and support; the sky doesn’t want to compete with the subject. As in a still life, you don’t need to paint every fold in the fabric behind, so the colour and value of the background is important but not the detail. With a landscape the sky is the equivalent of the background, but it does set the atmosphere. I find it difficult to ignore or falsify the mood of the background when painting in the studio as it’s so essential when plein air painting.

SERIES

Sunset over Saint Pantaleon, oil on linen 25.5x11.5cm

A cloud is white, but every white has colour in it. Add a touch of Yellow Ochre to convert the warmth at the top with a touch of blue on the under plane. Avoid black or brown: try and find the colour in the values, keep it light and fresh.

Just before sunset the sky is often a wonderful green or yellow. Try to look for the colour we wouldn’t expect in the sky; it’s often only when we push colour, that we start to see it. Don’t be formulaic with your skies; really look at what’s there and then borrow the

colours you’ve used in the sky and incorporate them into your landscape. Every colour we see in the landscape is bathed in the light from the sky, the colours may have more chroma or value, but there will still be an overriding colour harmony.

In this painting looking at Westminster, the sun moved around so the buildings were a near silhouette. This was very helpful, but it’s not the windows and architectural details that make the painting iconic but the silhouette of the building. We have to learn what to leave out when looking at a complicated subject matter.

The sky was so stunning with wonderful effects in the water, so it would be too much to also put the information in the building. In this case, is the real subject the sky and the reflection in the water?

Westminster, oil on canvas 20x25.5cm

Cloud Study, Ultramarine Blue base, oil on canvas 25.5x20cm

Ann Witheridge teaches landscape painting at London Fine Art Studios. londonfineart studios.com ▫

Cloud Study, Cadmium Red base, oil on canvas 25.5x25.5cm

See next month’s issue for the final instalment

ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS 61

Making an

Impression S T E P BY S T E P

PETER' S MATERIALS Paint Michael Harding Oils: Titanium White, Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Red, Crimson, Ochre, Cobalt Blue, Ultramarine Brushes Rosemary & Co Hog Filbert brushes, sizes 2 - 8 Daler-Rowney Canvas Paper 40x50cm Zestit Paint Thinner

Nothing invokes a choice of colourful possibilities better than a traditional British summer garden.

PETER KEEGAN shows you how to paint one in the style of the Impressionists, in particular Monet

F

rom the walled gardens of grand stately homes to the quintessential cottage garden, painting the garden has been a great source of inspiration to artists across the centuries. Perhaps the most famous was Claude Monet. Not only was he known for his landscape paintings, which captured the transitional qualities of light and colour, but he was also asked to design other people’s gardens, based on his experience of creating his famous waterlily garden at his home in Giverny, just outside

Paris. When constructing this, he made sure he was involved in the choice of flowers, so he had constant inspiration available throughout the year for creating his paintings.

Using the same approach as Monet, I wanted to tackle a scene with a range of colours and a variety of textures and shapes. The dappled, Impressionistic manner of painting is perfect for this as it applies small individual brushstrokes that keep the purity of colour and perfectly represent the movement of light.

1

DR AWING THE BASIC OUTLINE Begin by drawing out the composition. I do this using a thinned mixture of Ultramarine Blue, Ochre and a little White on a size 4 hog brush, making sure to keep it pale so it doesn’t show up too much as the painting develops. The focal point for this painting is the urn so make sure it’s placed slightly to the left-hand side of the canvas. This left-right balance is then enhanced by the placement of the wall behind the urn. Then I loosely paint the main shape areas of the shrubs and flowers. Even at this early stage, I indicate the shapes of some of the leaves with the direction of my brushstrokes and slightly shade the darkest areas of the scene. ▸

ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS 6 3

STEP BY STEP

2

L AY IN THE MAIN COLOURS Now begin the important stage of scumbling in the main colours of the painting. I start painting the dark background shapes of the trees using a mixture of Ultramarine and Ochre with a size 8 brush and also use this colour in the very darkest areas of the foreground foliage. I then add a little Cadmium Yellow to this mixture to create the mid-tones of the greens, aiming for a mixture of sage and apple-like greens. Before adding the highlights on the greens, I swap to a size 6 brush and paint in the warmer colours of the wall, made using a mixture of Cadmium Red, Cadmium Yellow and White, with a little Crimson to make it slightly more orange in places. Use a mixture of Crimson and Ultramarine to create a deep purple colour for the shadows on the back wall and the shadows of the pot.

Finally, add in the lightest tonal values of the yellow-greens of the foliage with a size 4 brush.

6 4 ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS

HO W T O

3

KEEP IT LIGHT Important: for the oil painters amongst you, it is essential this first layer is as thin as you can make it. By thin, I don’t mean using any mediums like linseed or turpentine, but just a very thin, scumbled application of oil paint. If the surface of the canvas is too thick with paint at this stage, simply take a palette knife and scrape away any heavy oil paint. The colour or stain should remain on the canvas afterwards. Acrylic painters do not need to worry about this as the paint will dry very quickly.

4

FOCUS ON THE DARKE ST TONE S This is the stage where you add the thicker, smaller brushstrokes giving the painting that authentic Impressionistic look.

Using a mixture of Ultramarine and Cadmium Yellow, start applying the very darkest tones across the painting, particularly in the foreground where the texture is most needed. Be careful not to rub or blend these new brushstrokes into the first layer, but try and keep every brushstroke visible. Where cooler greens are needed, make these by using Cobalt Blue and a dash of White, all with a size 4 brush. I also try to make the brushstrokes resemble the shapes and directions of leaves, whether that is small and circular or long and spiky.

MOVE ONTO THE FLOWERS When painting leaves and flowers, I am careful to stick to working dark to light (this is the traditional way of working with oils, but I would recommend you do the same if working with acrylics). So, as I get a little lighter, the paint is applied more thickly.

At this mid-tone stage, start adding the reds and pinks of the flowers, using a mixture of Crimson and White and Cadmium Red and Cadmium Yellow for the flowers on the left. ▸

5

ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS 65

STEP BY STEP

6

CONTR AST THE COLOURS At this stage, a smaller brush is helpful to capture the unique shape of the urn and some of the smaller flecks of light and colour in the flowers. Using a size 2 brush, pay particular attention to the urn, noting how the light falls across it. Create the unique shape of the urn using a mixture of cooler purples, made by mixing Ultramarine and Crimson and some of the cooler Cobalt Blue for the subtle highlights on the body of the urn. These cooler colours act as a wonderful balance to the warmth found in the wall and the flowers that surround it.

TAKE YOUR TIME AND DON ’ T PANIC! There comes a point where the painting may become too muddy or saturated with the oils. If this happens, do not worry: you’re doing it right! Allow the painting to rest and dry for a few days before you consider adding more marks. It’s a little known fact that Impressionistic paintings were not done in one sitting.

Monet famously took weeks or months on his garden paintings, adding layer upon dry layer of paint to build up both the textures and quality of light. It takes a while to build up a painting to achieve that true Impressionist look.

7

8

C HEC K WITH FRE SH E Y E S I never label a painting ‘finished’ the day I paint it. I always give myself a few days to get some physical and emotional distance from it. After a day or so, I’ll look at it again, with a fresh pair of eyes, where I’ll be able to see the painting’s strengths, but also which areas aren’t quite right and may need small adjustments.

Based in Buckinghamshire, Peter Keegan runs painting courses and holidays on the authentic ways of Impressionistic painting. For further details, see peterkeegan.com or social media at @peterkeeganartist ▫ 66 ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS

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Page 1

The sweetest thing In this edited extract from her new book, Botanical Watercolours through the Seasons, SANDRINE MAUGY shares her love of painting sweet peas at a perfect time of year SANDRINE' S MATERIALS Paints Daniel Smith Watercolours: Hansa Yellow Light, Quinacridone Coral, Quinacridone Pink, Quinacridone Lilac, Phthalo Blue Red Shade, Phthalo Green Yellow Shade Brushes Watercolour brushes, sizes 000, 1, 3 and 5 Support Fabriano Artistico HP Watercolour paper, Extra White, 640 gsm Cartridge paper Pencils 2B and HB, plus eraser Transfer paper

68 ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS

P

ainting plants gives a wonderful rhythm to the year. Following the subjects around the seasons, from the fresh flowers of spring to the dead leaves of winter, I never run out of inspiration. Nature surrounds my art and she willingly shares her moods, her colours and her textures. I have always loved watching the effect of the seasons on the garden and becoming a botanical artist has made me even more aware of the changes, month after month. I never feel like painting blossom in November or a gourd in March because it wouldn’t make sense. The seasons are the guide to my inspiration.

Running an ethical art practice is important to me and this is as much a feature of Botanical Watercolours through the Seasons as colour-mixing or tone studies. I try to ensure I am not doing anything harmful to the nature that so inspires me. This means avoiding plastic, not using any toxic pigments, painting with cruelty-free brushes and vegan watercolour paper, drawing on recycled paper and passing on these ethical principles when I paint and teach.

This piece is an extract from one of the book’s summer tutorials. I love the delicate flowers and fresh colours of sweet peas. Bringing them into the studio to paint them is always a pleasure, as their gorgeous scent envelops every brushstroke. I chose some soft pink and strong coral varieties to add contrast to the composition.

TIPS ON COLOUR MIXES Soft pink mix: Quinacridone Pink + Phthalo Green Yellow Shade.

This mix is softer than pure Quinacridone Pink and is perfect for the paler sweet pea Dark green mix: Phthalo Green Yellow Shade+ Phthalo Blue Red Shade Harmonic shadows mix: Phthalo Blue Red Shade + Quinacridone Pink + Hansa Yellow Light

T E CHNI QUE

Lathyrus odoratus ‘Rosy Frills’ and ‘Parfum Coral’, Watercolour, 40x32cm ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS 69

1

WORK ON THE SHADOWS Trace and transfer the refined drawing to watercolour paper using Tracedown. The harmonic shadows mix of Hansa Yellow Light + Quinacridone Pink + Phthalo Blue Red Shade is used at three different dilutions creating three different strengths.

Paint in the shadows before the colour washes, making sure the light source is consistent over all the parts of the subject.

5

L AY ER ON THE COR AL FIRST WASH Painting this darker shade of pink requires a new approach.

Whereas the paler sweet peas called for different colours to be blended into the same wet-in-wet wash, this darker colour is more suitable for the layered technique. The colour is applied more heavily and each transparent layer modifies and enhances the colour of the previous washes. The first wet-in-wet wash is pure Quinacridone Pink.

DR AW SOME ROUGH OUTLINE S Sweet peas can be tricky to draw, especially the frilly kind.

Once the drawing is right, the painting is not as difficult.

With this kind of subject, I start by drawing some rough outlines with a thick pencil, trying to see the overall shapes and ignoring the details. Once I have the outlines, I go back with a harder pencil and fill in details, folds and frills.

START TO BUILD UP THE COLOUR The sepals and receptacles are painted with variations of Phthalo Green Yellow Shade, sometimes pure and sometimes mixed with Phthalo Blue Red Shade. As you go down the stem, the flowers start to have stronger pink edges. First use the soft pink mix and add paint to the edges while each petal is still wet. If this isn’t strong enough, go back with a dry brush loaded with Quinacridone Pink.

2

6

T E CHNI QUE

3

START WITH THE C LOSED BUDS As the buds on the soft pink sprig are less open, painting them has to be the priority – there isn’t much time before they unfold and change colour. The unopened buds are a yellowy shade of ivory painted with diluted Hansa Yellow Light, getting greener towards the base of the petals and appearing greener over the shadows too.

4

NEX T PAINT THE UNFURLING PETALS The unfurling petals are the same ivory colour; for this use a pale wash of Hansa Yellow Light. The green is more localised at the very base of the petals. The outer edges are painted wet-in-wet, running a 000 brush loaded with the soft pink mix on the edge, letting it bleed into the pale yellow. This creates a crisp line on the outside while being soft on the inside.

8

7

THEN DO A COR AL SECOND WASH The second wet-in-wet wash is pure Quinacridone Coral.

This is a strong colour and also a peculiar pigment that behaves in a unique way: applied thinly and highly diluted it has a definite pink bias but applied more thickly with less water the bias shifts towards orange, turning the pink a coral hue. This is a very useful quality for this sweet pea.

ADD THE FINISHING TOUC HE S Some of the veins are hinted at as part of the initial wet-in-wet washes, but paint more distinct ones with a tiny dry brush loaded with Quinacridone Lilac. As soon as a vein is painted, I use a damp size 2 brush to blend it into the petal texture. The blending means the veins look like they are part of the texture and not drawn on top.

Botanical Watercolours through the Seasons is published by Search Press, £19.99 sandrinemaugy.com Instagram: @sandrinemaugy ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS 7 1

Outof the shadows STEP -BY-STEP

Gestalt is a German word meaning ‘shadow’ or ‘shape,’ and getting to grips with the theory can be incredibly useful for your drawings, as demonstrated in this step-by-step guide by LIZET DINGEMANS

G

estalt theory emerged in the early 20th Century and its premise is that the mind will construct meaningful pictures and ideas by seemingly unrelated forms and shapes. A good example of this would be looking at pictures in the clouds. It is unlike any other drawing technique in that it relies on copying abstract shapes, making an understanding of the object itself unnecessary.

Normally, when drawing or painting, the instinct is to outline every element of the drawing, and focus on a ‘finish’. But the brain has an amazing capacity to fill in and imagine with limited information.

This is actually what happens in real life - we don’t always see the full outline of what’s in front of us, but are still able to understand what we’re looking at. If artists keep this in mind, it can help us make more realistic drawings.

7 2 ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS

THE FIRST LINE S Simplify the face into a series of geometric shapes. Start by placing the top and bottom of the block of the skull on the page; this will decide where the portrait will be, and will be the main thing you relate to when measuring. Follow this with the centerline, and divide the face into thirds: go from the hairline to the browline, then from the browline to the bottom of the nose then, finally, the bottom of the nose to the chin. Focus on measuring angles and big geometric blocks, using a measuring or charcoal stick to determine the angles of the lines.

1

2

BRE AKING IT DOWN Once you’re satisfied with the bigger shape, subdivide this into smaller pieces, keeping in mind the principle of Gestalt and not drawing what you think ‘should’ be there, like eyes or nose. Instead, try to break down the drawing in the biggest, straightest lines possible. This can be tricky, so a good question to ask yourself here is: ‘How can I break this up into one single line?’

T I P ! Don’t draw from the wrist, stand back and use your whole arm to shade. This lets you apply even pressure on the charcoal and makes it easier to create long, flowing lines.

XXXXXXXX

LIZET' S MATERIALS Daler-Rowney Smooth Heavyweight 220gsm Cartridge Paper in A4 Peel and Sketch Charcoal Pencil (medium hardness) Coates Willow Charcoal in various sizes Faber-Castell Kneadable Art Eraser A sharpening block for charcoal A blending stump or brush for blending

ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS 7 3

4

MAPPING OUT THE TONE S At its simplest, Gestalt consists of just two tones - dark and light. In the case of this drawing, these are the white of the paper and the darks of my charcoal.

Although later you may add more tones, always aim to have a drawing that works with just the two. I approach my drawing with this in mind, ignoring any half tones for now and continuing to break down the shapes using a geometric design. You may wonder how it is all going to come together, but as the shapes get smaller and more precise the face will start emerging.

SWITC HING TO MASS DR AWING Once you’re satisfied with most of the big proportions and outlines, change tactics. The temptation will be to break down the lines further, but lines will no longer be used. Instead, focus on quickly putting down big, geometric flat tones, separating the shadows and the lights by adding large areas of flat charcoal.

Again, work from big to small shapes, simplifying them into the largest triangles and rectangles you can see.

3

ADDING IN SOF T EDGE S At this point, the drawing should look precise, but quite flat and graphic. This is easily fixed by adding soft, big gradations. I use a soft synthetic brush for these, slowly and gently going along the edges of my shapes. You can also use a stump, tissue or even your finger. Try to feel out the area.

The rounder it is, the softer the transition from the darks into the lights. Clean your blending tool sporadically, or it may deposit the charcoal in the light areas instead of softening and blending the tones.

7

T I P ! A good general rule is to always keep working from big to small shapes.

Imagine a sculptor, chipping away at a block of wood - they wouldn’t start with the eyelashes!

S T E P-BY-S T E P

6

FINISHING UP ON THE SHAPE S This is where Gestalt comes into its own. At this stage, all the previously drawn shapes should start to resemble a portrait. While it’s still harsh and lacking in detail, her likeness is emerging from the page. These shapes are the bones of the drawing, and they will inform any further decisions you make. At this point of the drawing, stop making any big changes and start focusing on finishing the portrait.

5

REMOVING LINE S As in the previous steps, flat geometric shapes can accurately convey a portrait when placed in the right areas. You can take this even further by erasing all the remaining lines on the portrait, relying completely on Gestalt to convey her likeness. At this stage, erase all outlines left from the previous steps and use a rubber to start picking out any small light shapes peeking from the shadows. Again, rely completely on small shapes to show the curve of the ear, rather than an outline.

8

REINFORC ING THE DARKS Finally, use a compressed charcoal pencil to go darker in the shadows. Try not to work inside the shadows at this point, instead, build up the tone alongside the shadow edge. The previous step will help with this - all the soft, blurred edges will make it obvious where a darker line should go.

Shadows don’t need much internal information, but what can make a difference to the realism of your drawing is looking at the transition from light to dark. Is it a sharp, clear transition, or a soft gradation? The more variety there is in this, the more realistic the drawing will feel.

T I P ! If your drawing feels too ‘graphic’ you have too many hard edges. If it feels cloudy and blurry, you have too many softs. Try adding softer/harder edges and see how it transforms the drawing!

Lizet Dingemans is an award-winning Dutch artist working from her studio in Stroud. In addition to her own workshops, she teaches online portrait classes every Sunday at RawUmberStudios.com ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS 75

Light fantastic JAKE SPICER demonstrates how Derwent’s prestigious Lightfast coloured

pencil range is the perfect medium to use for portraiture

T

here is always a certain thrill that comes from opening a new tin of coloured pencils. Prising open the lid of Derwent’s Lightfast 100 in preparation for this article, I was particularly delighted to discover not just two, but three trays of sharp pencils arrayed in neat rows – a huge range of colours ready to use.

For a long time, coloured pencil drawing languished in relative obscurity, but in recent years the medium has been growing in popularity and recognition, with high-profile artists like Curtis Holder showing what can be done with a humble pencil and awards like the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize and the Derwent Art Prize providing platforms for recognising great drawing. With increased opportunities to show coloured pencil works in gallery exhibitions, comes the added pressure of making sure those drawings will last, which is why the accompanying leaps in material technology that have given rise to Derwent’s Lightfast coloured pencil range all lightfast for 100 years or more under museum conditions - is particularly reassuring for all artists concerned about the longevity of their finished work. In this article I want to showcase just some of the colour range of the new 100-pencil tin, with a portrait of Glasgow-based life model and poet, Nasim Luczaj.

DerwentArt.com

76 A R T I S T S & I L L U S T R A T O R S

COLOURS USED Autumn Red Chestnut Golden Sun Yellow Ochre Foliage Mid Ultramarine Light Aqua Mid Blue Wild Lavender Mars Violet Purple Salmon Derwent Red

DE MO

1

LINE DR AWING It is good to get into the habit of beginning a portrait with a light and energetic under-drawing, made with a loosely held pencil. This is as much to allow you time to explore the face and pose of the sitter, as it is to lay down the larger shapes of the composition. Mars Violet is a good colour to start with: warm enough to be sensitive to the hues of the skin and pale enough not to overwhelm later colours. Make sure you are happy with the proportions of the drawing and don’t be afraid to make changes; failure to resolve issues at this foundation stage will come back to haunt you later. ▸

ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS 7 7

DEMO

2

BUILDING COLOUR The colours you select for a portrait will influence the colours you see in your subject. Like people who put extra salt in their soup before tasting it first, reaching for a ‘skin colour’ pencil before properly observing the colours in the model is a lazy habit which is hard to break. For this portrait I picked out light red, orange, green, yellow, blue and lilac pencils, combining a dark red and blue for the darkest tones. I avoided blacks, browns and pinks until they were absolutely necessary, in order to encourage myself to mix more adventurously and search harder for colour in the skin.

4

FABRIC Fabric provides a visual bridge in a portrait, helping to lead the eye from hands to face and back again. The tessellating shapes of light and dark tones that make up a creased garment can be immensely satisfying to get lost in, but for this drawing it seemed important for the viewer’s eye to have room to breathe between the focal points of hand and face. A loose, underhand treatment of the fabric seemed more suitable than a detailed rendering of the surface.

78 ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS

3

FE ATURE S Likeness resides in the shape of the features and some liberties can be taken with the dimensions of the face while still preserving the character of the sitter. For this portrait I stayed true to Nasim’s proportions as they appeared in my reference image. To draw the viewer’s attention to the eyes, nose and mouth, I used colours that didn’t appear elsewhere in the face, most notably in the eyes, where I introduced an isolated dash of Foliage to the irises.

5

HANDS A cropped head leads the viewer directly to the face, but the introduction of hands adds a new dynamic, taking the viewer on a journey from features to fingers and back again. While sitters might pose their faces consciously, they forget about their hands, revealing more candid emotions. As a professional model, Nasim’s elegant gestures are far from accidental, but still represent a subtle positioning that is unique to her.

You can shop the full Derwent Lightfast range, from £40 - £459.99, in fine art stores and at DerwentArt.com ▫

You tell us Hana Auerová Thank you for the amazing Artists & Illustrators magazine, which I have had sent to the Czech Republic for several years now. In return I send greetings to all of you from our sunny summer Art Studio (ARTstudio.app). Outside the flowers, bushes and trees are in full bloom and they are a great inspiration to me. I’m drying the frames on the hibiscus on the below picture.

ME S S A G E S

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Alexandra Lavizzari

M E S S AG E O F T H E M O N T H Susan Temperley

Thank you so much for your article on the work of Jake Spicer. I had begun a drawing in soft pastel, but took a break when it didn’t seem to be working. On reading the article I felt inspired to take up the pastel drawing again, this time with pastel pencils, which I used to accentuate the figures, along with the light and shade. An added benefit was that this gave the finished work more texture.

Karl Simpson I recently appeared on Drawers Off, a Channel4 art programme, presented by the comedian, Jenny Eclair. Amateur artists compete in a life drawing competition to reveal their naked ambition and win a cash prize. Anyone who followed the programme will know by now that I didn’t win. However, I’m a subscriber to Artists & Illustrators

and just before the filming took place, the latest issue landed on my doorstep. I was delighted to read the article by Jake Spicer, where he showed how to draw a model using pastels and charcoals. It was a real boon and perfectly timed to give me inspiration before I took part in the programme. Thank you for a great feature on drawing the model; I have certainly learned a lot from it.

Congratulations to Alexandra Lavizzari for winning our latest Editor’s Pick competition with her pastel artwork It’s All About Colour. Alexandra says: “Thank you so much for this wonderful distinction. I feel really honoured and motivated to continue on my creative journey.

Viewing other artists’ work is always a great opportunity to learn. Since I subscribed to Artists and Illustrators I am nicely challenged and always presented with new ideas.”

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Picture this

In every issue, we ask an artist to tell us about a piece of work that means a lot to them. This month, we speak to professional portrait artist HARRIET PATTINSON I have always been fascinated by the association of women with fruit. From a very young age that symbolism resonated with me and I started to see it everywhere. The link between fruit and women is an obvious one, bearing fruit or children but also how they ‘ripen’ and quickly turn ‘rotten’. This is still, unfortunately, an all too common message projected within society - that women soon ‘go over’ and therefore ‘spoil’.

The Greek Myth of Persephone has always been a favourite of mine because of its clear link between women and fruit. I wanted to use this myth to express my experience of a woman - all of it: the joys and the 82 ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS

pain. The pomegranate symbolised fertility in Ancient Greece and you can see why. The shape is uncannily the same as a womb and the blood red fruit inside is another very visceral association. Persephone ate six seeds leading to six months of abundance on earth and six of barren. I, therefore, used six different images of a pomegranate, layering and cutting through them to create a jigsaw-like collage in oil paint. I wanted to contrast the beautiful jewel-like fruit in its prime against the moulding that follows. I created different textures: drips and running paint, thick, palette knife impastos, and long strokes of translucent Alizarin Crimson. Instagram: @harrietpattinsonart

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