Table of contents for September 2017 in Paint & Draw

About TONY Bedfordshire, UK Tony specialises in line and wash and is a regular contributor to art publications. He prefers to work en plein air and favours buildings. Not surprisingly, he’s a keen urban sketcher. tonyunderhill@me.com I love to sketch outside in pen and watercolour, travelling as light as possible. I aim to capture the character of the scene in front of me rather than worrying too much about accuracy and detail. This helps me work quickly using a simple, easily repeatable process that delivers the spontaneity I like. But working indoors with more time and equipment available (as well as a self-imposed expectation to produce better results), it’s easy for our paintings to become overthought and overworked. To avoid this, I bring my outdoor process inside, and try to…

Marie Antoniou guides you through the use of negative shapes and how these can be used to bring out the main feature and add interest About MARIE Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex Marie is well-known for her unique depictions of wildlife, which have earned her numerous awards and accolades. Marie is a great champion of acrylics and her paintings are part of many private collections. www.marieantoniou.com As a full-time artist, one of the things I often think about is standing out from the crowd. I realise that the interpretation of a subject is just as important as the subject itself. You can convey so much by adding that little extra to your painting, which keeps the painting process exciting for me and hopefully interesting for the viewer too. I love painting wildlife and…

IBOLYA TALIGAS Ibolya is a Hungarian watercolourist who loves to sketch from life. She organises walking and sketching sessions in the UK as well as painting holidays in mainland Europe. www.ibolyataligas.com My sketchbook is full of experiments made during my travels. My subjects vary from figures to seascapes, to animals and whatever else inspires me. I approach different subjects in different ways, and gather information about a place and its atmosphere. My outdoor kit is light and simple: a pen, pencil, one brush, a pocket box of watercolours and a sketchbook. I carry all of this in a waterproof rucksack. Fuerteventura beach "I love painting wet sand, which I achieve by applying washes on very wet paper. I tilt the paper slightly and let the paint do the rest." African…

About REBECCA Exeter, England Rebecca specialises in pastels, producing lively and energetic work. She teaches around the UK and in Italy, demonstrates widely, and co-founded The New Pastel School. http://bit.ly/pad_rdm In this last article of my six-part series on pastels, I want to share ways to create surfaces using pastel primers. Using primers means you can have a more textured surface to work on than paper, which holds more layers of pastel. Primers also allow you to vary that texture. For me, the most exciting thing about them is the way that I can create an underpainting to work over, which gets my paintings off to a lively start, and takes away that ‘fear of the blank canvas’. By underpainting first, you combine painting and drawing skills even more than…

FRAN MCGARRY Fran is a self-taught watercolour artist living and working in Bristol, where she teaches watercolour painting one day a week. She fell in love with watercolours at a local art class in 2004, and has since won several awards. www.franmcgarryartist.com 1 Squirrel Watercolour, 7.5x7.5in “I captured this photograph while out on a walk with my partner. I spotted this cute little squirrel and tried to take his photo. He immediately ran up the tree, peered around the trunk for a second and then he was gone. I managed to get a great photograph of him and later produced this watercolour.” 2 A Fox Went Out On A Chilly Night Watercolour, 4.5x4.5in “I was inspired to paint this piece because I had a family of foxes living in my…

Caroline Ritson defies categorisation. She made a name for herself with her calming, atmospheric seascapes. But scroll down on her website, and you’ll find a photo-real representation of a watery reflection. The next painting might be a highly textured painting of an old, decaying door, with thick paint on roughly textured canvas. “I paint anything that inspires me… you see something and you think: ‘Ah, yes! I have to do that.’ And then that leads to other things and then there’s something else…” she trails off. “The difficulty is, everywhere you turn is inspiration.” Then: “That’s good isn’t it? It would be sad if you sat there thinking ‘Oh my god, what shall I paint?’” The way in While Caroline’s subjects are diverse, the spark of inspiration is often ignited…

About JAKE Brighton, UK Jake is an artist, author of a bestselling series of how to draw books and head tutor of independent drawing school Draw. He uses drawing as a tool for communication. www.jakespicerart.co.uk The humble pencil is a ubiquitous and versatile drawing tool. Over the next few issues, I will be exploring the potential of graphite as a drawing medium, introducing you to fun and simple exercises and techniques to help you really get the most out of your pencil. In this first instalment, we start with some important considerations when picking your pencils, followed by an introduction to the most fundamental unit of drawing – line. Like the rest of the series, this will provide a sound foundation for novices and some useful reminders for more experienced…

About STEPHANIE Oakland, USA Stephanie primarily works with watercolours. She is the author of a series of watercolour technique books, Dreamscapes, and the creator of The Shadowscapes Tarot. She’s also known for her dream-like paintings and botanical art. www.shadowscapes.com Beside my studio desk I have a collection of ammonite fossils, whose various textures, in addition to their spiraling form, are always an appealing distraction. I decided to paint them in the style of traditional botanical art, which takes a scientific, very detailed and faithful approach, while also maintaining a simple compositional aesthetic. To select which fossils I wanted to paint, I went through my collection, touching each fossil and making my selection based on contrast of texture. I also looked at colour and chose the fossils with the most visual…

 Company : STRADA Designs Web : www.stradaeasel.com Price : $299 (also available: Mini, $265; Micro, $245) “It takes less than a minute to go from box in backpack to ready to squeeze out paint” The STRADA Easel is the favourite of many leading painters. Its inventor, Bryan Mark Taylor, came up with the easel’s design after going on a painting trip and having his expensive wooden pochade box smashed in transit. Bryan says that he’s seen other artists arrive at their destination, only to find their traditional wood box damaged or in pieces. His experience – and that of fellow artists – inspired him to come up with a better solution that is “almost bulletproof.” From the beginning, the STRADA Easel was recognised as a great step forward. The simplicity…

Signac: Reflections on Water Author : Marina Ferretti Bocquillon Publisher : Skira Price : £29.95 Web : www.skira.net/en/ GROWING UP in late 19th-century France, Paul Signac was hugely inspired by the revolutionary artists of the time. Aged 15, he was even thrown out of the Impressionist exhibition of 1879, by Paul Gauguin no less, for the crime of sketching a painting by Degas. But although Signac was a fan, he had no interest in imitating their style. Indeed, he helped push the movement forward as a member of the Neo-Impressionists, and was a major force in developing the Pointillist style. Following a recent exhibition at Italy’s Museo d’Arte, art publisher Skira brings together 140 of Signac’s works in a 192-page volume. It documents the various stages of his artistic development,…

EXHIBITION ON SCREEN: SEASON FIVE Starts 26 September, Various locations, www.exhibitiononscreen.com Several new films are being released for the fifth season of the Exhibition on Screen project, which offers millions around the world the chance to experience exhibitions they might not otherwise be able to attend. The series includes a film dedicated to Canaletto released on 26 September, followed by David Hockney (21 November) and Cézanne (23 January 2018). COMING OUT: SEXUALITY, GENDER AND IDENTITY Until 5 November , Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/comingout Currently showing at Walker Art Gallery is the UK’s largest contemporary art exhibition exploring LGBT themes and history, part of a programme of activities marking the 50th anniversary of the Sexual Offences Act 1967. Visitors to the…

Transform your sketches with a trace monotype SOMETIMES YOU NEED to shake things up with your drawing, and let go of the impulse to do too much. One of my favourite ways to do this is by creating transfer drawings, also known as trace monotypes. With this printmaking technique, you can transform an ordinary sketch into something almost nostalgic, with a gritty texture and bold contrast. The monotype process creates one print, with the potential for a second variation of that print, but no more. So, in many respects it is similar to a singular drawing. With a piece of paper placed against an inked plate, you can create a drawing, and through pencil pressure, ink is transferred as a print. I prefer to draw directly on the paper without…

1 I STARTED to create texture on my canvas by pasting on layers of tissue using a 50:50 mix of PVA glue and water. 2 ON THIS canvas, I slowly built up layers of acrylic paint. Here I used Payne’s grey, Titanium white, Alizarin crimson and Cerulean blue. The paint catches in places, which helped to highlight some of the texture layered underneath. 3 NOW THE FUN starts. I built up more layers of paint to bring out the detail and texture of the peeling paint using a fine brush. 4 THIS IS A DETAIL from the finished painting. You can see how the textured canvas works with the painted areas to create the illusion of distressed metal.…

Originally established as The Southend Art Circle in 1929, this art society of 250-plus members is one of the oldest and largest in the UK. Its long and winding history saw it disbanding during the Second World War and renaming itself as the Southend Art Club in 1969, but its aim of promoting the appreciation and practice of art in the area has remained constant. This worthy goal is achieved with a mixed calendar of events, including workshops, exhibitions, social events and occasional outings to places of interest. “We also hold demonstrations by known and experienced artists,” says the club’s exhibition organiser, Malcolm Perry, who adds that the club even has its own cottage. “Winter demonstrations are fortnightly at the Beecroft gallery, while in the summer they’re at our cottage.”…

About SARAH Pembrokeshire, Wales In her previous maritime career, Sarah developed a deep understanding of the sea. Now her oil paintings capture its atmosphere and movement. See her website for current exhibitions. www.sjbart.co.uk If you’ve ever been on a boat or ship at sea, you might recall the smell of the sea air, the salty spray on your lips and the physical effort required to compensate for the rolling and pitching motion. For this workshop, I decided to recreate these sensations in the studio using a combination of sketches and photo references, but mostly drawing upon my own vivid memories of what it feels like to be at sea. For me, capturing feeling and energy is more important than ‘photographic’ visual accuracy. I’m interested in recreating the emotions that the…

Company : Stabilo Web : www.stabilo.com Price : RRP £37.39 Hailing very much from the art side of the STABILO stable, the CarbOthello Pastel Pencil Set is aimed at mid-level artists. And as with most STABILO products, you’re guaranteed a high level of quality. This 24-pencil set comes in an attractive two-piece tin (21.5x18.5cm) and includes a comprehensive spectrum of colour choices. The great advantage of the pastel pencil is the lack of mess. The CarbOthello pencils sharpen very well, so you can fashion a good tip with a new scalpel blade and a sandpaper block. The pencils' dry stroke is perfect for blending, but the fun really starts when you begin adding water, with some particularly interesting results achievable when working in wet areas with dry pencils. Playing about…

About DAVID CHANDLER Frome, England David teaches weekly classes and painting courses, and writes and presents Seeing Things, a local radio show about art. www.davidchandler.net I am gazing over a student’s shoulder at a piece that I can most charitably describe as ‘experimental.’ “I just waved my hand around and there it was!” Jenny enthuses.“And that is exactly what it looks like,” is the response I never make. The thing is, Jenny is so utterly delighted with her work. She’s spent the last hour, splashing paint around (bathing in it, almost) and relishing the mixtures that oozed across her piece of paper as she twizzled her paintbrush about like a Disney fairy godmother, conjuring a coach-and-four with her wand. I can’t disparage her enthusiasm, but the result in Jenny’s case…