Tabla de contenidos para February 2023 en Leisure Painter

Learning objectives ■ How to paint from photographs ■ Practise a variety of watercolour techniques ■ Work out the best composition by following seven exercises It's cold, wet and grey outside, but painting winter scenes can be a lovely way to get through the dark winter months, especially when you are safely indoors and out of the rain and ice. In this article, I will show you how you can use photographs in a way that is helpful and inspiring, but not limiting. Where I live in Connecticut, USA, it is regularly -9 to -1 Celsius in January and February, and often much colder, so painting from photographs is an important part of my practice. If you do not have snow images of your own, I recommend using a copyright-tree…

Learning objectives ■ Paint figures, trees and a wintry landscape ■ Create the effect of snow ■ Practise essential watercolour techniques In last month's issue I introduced this snow scene with two figures walking through a wooded area after a fresh fall of snow (below). Winter is a cold time of year so painting en plein air is not normally an option so I suggested taking images of a scene and uploading those on to your PC or laptop once you return home. When you have the bigger image on the screen you can see clearly all the elements you need to tackle it if you are to be successful when painting a watercolour. My advice was to split the scene into three small studies. I used Windows 10 editing…

Learning objectives ■ Practise a variety of watercolour techniques ■ Learn brushstroke dexterity as you work with your smallest brushes ■ How to create a miniature in paint Following last month's introduction to painting birds, and parrots in particular, in miniature, this month I would like to take you through the process I used to paint a yellow naped Amazon parrot (below). Drawing the composition at such a small size may be difficult. If this is so, make a larger drawing then reduce it to the desired size using a computer. I would strongly recommend trying to draw the parrot rather than tracing it as you will be practising your drawing skills. Squint your eyes and look at the bird as a series of shapes if you can. Check your…

‘This is not a picture I would normally have tackled due to the complexity of the snowy tree branches and my own lack of confidence in being able to paint it. I did however love the contrast of the figures against the snowy background and the play of light on the distant branches so decided to set myself a challenge! ‘Colin's demonstration and his way of breaking the subject down into smaller segments was helpful to me. I also felt that his suggestion of an overall wash of raw sienna beforehand really helped to lift the final painting, and I was quite pleased with the final result.' ‘I was inspired by the subject and approach that Elena Parashko chose for bringing together all her drawing lessons over the past months.…

Best in show Altrincham Society of Artists The Altrincham Society of Artists' autumn exhibition was a great success with the club flourishing and getting back to normal post Covid. Established in 1937, there are now 170 members, working across a range of media and the society has its own studio which members can use at any time. Informal painting sessions take place during the Leisure Painter ART CLUB CHALLENHE February challenge Leisure Painter's January challenge received lots of wintry responses from our readers, full of sensitivity, creativity and humour. We have selected Michael Berry's acrylic, Almost Here (left) to share with you and will show another wintry entry next month so that we are able to give readers a little more time to complete their February challenge. The February challenge…

Hazel Jarvis Anglo-American artist, Hazel Jarvis grew up in Bristol then studied and worked in Japan before moving to Connecticut where she spends most of the winter safely inside, staying warm and watching the snow fall. To learn more about her work and the art classes she teaches, please visit www.HazelJarvis.com or find her on Instagram at HazelJarvisStudio…

Learning objectives ■ Practise rubbing, indenting and lifting out ■ Choose appropriate techniques for your subject ■ How to use directional strokes to create the effect of texture Sometimes you want to go beyond regular shading to create unique textures in your coloured-pencil drawings. Four techniques to consider are rubbing, paper indenting, lifting out and the application of varied directional strokes, which are all shown in the following demonstration. Before you begin working in earnest, think about which techniques would work best in your drawing, based on your reference picture. Rubbing This technique works best on larger areas. You can place textured objects underneath the drawing paper and shade over them with medium pencil pressure. This technique works well on thin paper. Indenting Paper indenting is good for working on…

Learning objectives •How to pour acrylics to create an interesting background •How to use transfer paper to trace your subject •Mix harmonious tones of colour In this second instalment pi my seven-part acrylic painting series, we continue the marine life theme by painting a turtle onto a pour painting background. This technique is a last and fun way to create an effective underwater backdrop. I will also demonstrate how to use transfer paper to trace our turtle drawing, as well as mixing harmonious tones of colour from a mother colour. Next month, I continue this marine life series with a demonstration of a trigger fish on a textured background created with Clingfilm. We will explore more acrylic painting techniques by stippling, mixing shadow colours tor white, dry brush blending, creating…

Learning objectives ■ Mix clean, bright colours ■ Questions that need answering before you begin ■ Use a traditional oil-painting process to complete a beach scene You will need ■ Surface • White gessoed board or canvas 11¾X15¾in. (30X40cm) ■ Gamlin oils • Titanium white • Cadmium yellow light • Cadmium orange • Cadmium red • Ultramarine blue • Turqoise • Dioxazine purple • Sap green • Ivory black ■ Brushes • A selection of flat, Round and filbert brushes, suitable for oil paints ■ Miscellaneous • Alkyd resin • Solvent (lowodour mineral spirit) • Paper towel • Powdered chalk (whiting) Many years ago, I visited and photographed Wells beach in Norfolk. Back home, I painted this picture (above right), using oils for the first time. It took me 45 minutes…

Opportunities DSWF's Wildlife Artist of the Year 2023 Entries for the DSWF's Wildlife Artist of the Year, founded by the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation in 2008, open in early January. The competition uses the power of the arts to celebrate wildlife and raise vital funds for endangered species. Find out more at www.davidshepherd.org Society of Graphic Fine Art The Society of Graphic Fine Art promotes works of high quality in colour or black and white with the emphasis on good drawing and draughtsmanship. Entries are invited to its annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries, London, from 13 to 17 March. The closing date for entries is 6 January. For more information go to www.sgfa.org.uk Royal Watercolour Society The RWS Open invites artists to submit works on paper in any water-based…

Most artists at some time find inspiration hard to come by, and don't know what to paint next. They are in a rut, and during Covid the ruts seem to have got a lot deeper. How do you cope with this phenomenon? My own answer is to overload my life with exciting sketching and hiking trips so that I have several lifetimes' worth of sketches and photographs to work from, but of course that's not everyone's answer. Even so, getting out more to bag sketches will undoubtedly help your approach to the problem. This involves not only looking for subjects, but visiting exhibitions and attending demonstrations by inspiring artists, as these may well set you on a new course of artistic action. Seek out subjects that you have a great…

Learning objectives n Compose a scene from various sources n Draw a vehicle n Transfer your image Quite a few years ago, when my son was a toddler, we used to watch a BBC children's programme, called Little Red Tractor. They were lovely stories about a farmer, called Stan, voiced by Stephen Tompkinson, who ran Gosling Farm with the help of his little, red companion and friends. You can imagine how excited my son was when, on a visit to Yorkshire, we came across several tractors abandoned in the snow — one of which looked exactly like the red tractor ol the TV series. I took photos and made a mental note to paint the scene later. Fast forward to the present and researching for this painting project I came…

Learning objectives ■ The materials needed for decorative folk art ■ Understand the basic designs and how to paint them ■ Practise your brushstrokes Some years ago, I was lucky enough to attend an English waterways rally. I became interested in the beautiful bright and vibrant paintings on both the sides of the narrow boats and on the household utensils displayed on the boat decks. The origin of English narrow boat painting is somewhat vague, but it possibly evolved from the production of japanned metalware and papier mâché goods produced in the Midlands in the late 1700s to 1800s. These goods were transported by canal and people would have spent many days on these boats. The artists who decorated the japanned tinware and papier mâché goods probably started to decorate…

Learning objectives ■ Practise essential watercolour techniques ■ How to create a three-dimensional effect ■ Add fine detail with a Rigger The following painting is an unusual subject tor me, a still-life set-up, rather than a landscape, painted en plein air. It's all done tor a good reason though, as this is the cover painting tor my new book, Watercolour Rescue (see last month's issue for a look at some of the highlights from the book.). This is all good practise for painting in watercolour, and I hope you enjoy following along with me. You will need ■ Surface • Langton Rough 140lb (unstretched) paper 11¾×8in. (30×20cm) ■ Aquafine brushes • Flats 1½in & ¾in. • Round No. 8 • Rigger No. 4 ■ Daler-Rowney Aquafine watercolour • Ultramarine blue…