Tabla de contenidos para June 2023 en Leisure Painter

Over 140 artists will open their doors this summer for the North Yorkshire Open Studios. The event takes place across the first two weekends of June, on 3 and 4 June and 10 and 11 June, and offers an opportunity for the public to discover works from emerging and established artists in the region. This year, the organisers have teamed up with the North York Moors National Park to host a three-month-long preview exhibition, which will be held at the Inspired by… Gallery at Danby Lodge National Park Centre, near Whitby, until 21 May. The exhibition will showcase some of the artists who will be opening their studios as well as special artists' talks and demonstrations. To find out more about the event, art trails map and the artists taking…

Learning objectives ■ Build confidence with colour mixing ■ Follow a traditional oil-painting process ■ Understand the importance of tone Last month I discussed various methods of drawing from this photograph of macarons and raspberries then how to transfer the drawing to the canvas. This month, I will demonstrate how I tackled this still life using traditional oil-painting methods. A note about colour While the names of colours are the same across all brands, they are different when you start painting. This means that Winsor & Newton alizarin crimson for instance will be different to Gamblin alizarin crimson. It is important in colour mixing not to assume the same result, instead study your colours via colour notes to remember the colour mixes they give you. Organise the colours by going…

Learning objectives □ How to draw the eye to your focal point □ Adapt a less-than-perfect photograph □ Follow a step-by-step watercolour process In this series of articles, I want to look at how we compose a painting. The difference between a mediocre painting and a great one is often in the composition. Badly composed paintings do not grab your attention even if the colours, brushmarks, values and subject matter are all interesting. Of course, these things are important, but the eye is first and foremost drawn to a good composition. It's that which holds the viewer and makes your painting stand out in the crowd. There are several ways to compose a good picture, but I want to start with one of the simplest – the use of directional…

Learning objectives ■ How to paint like Turner ■ Use a limited palette ■ Practise a variety of traditional methods Can I paint like Turner? It would be presumptuous to answer ‘yes' to that question, however, up to the beginning of the twentieth century artists were trained in the methods of previous artists to learn their craft – so why shouldn't Turner be studied today? Practising the craft of painting is a way for painters to develop skills then move forward in developing their own paths. The quotation by Isaac Newton – ‘If I see further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants' – is a valuable and useful piece of advice. In this article I want to look at the materials and techniques that Turner used in…

Mike Jarvis Find out more about Mike and his work by visiting www.somersetartist.com…

WWW.PAINTERS-ONLINE.CO.UK This painting marked the start of a new direction for artist, Hazel Money as she pushed herself to use a new palette of greens in her work. Here she describes how this change affected the mood of her painting. To see more of Hazel's work, post a comment or upload your own image, visit www.painters-online.co.uk ‘Oddly, despite green being my favourite colour, it's one I rarely use. Avoiding pre-mixed greens, I make my own, but always end up mixing on the yellow end of the scale, with bluer tones looking alien to me. Nearly a third of this painting is taken up with a range of greens so this was a challenge to relish. ‘In 2005 I was lucky to be able to study fine art at Aberystwyth University,…

Learning objectives □ Create texture using soft pastel □ Work on a dark-coloured surface Before you begin, gather your materials. You will need a board and masking tape to fasten the card down. You will also find a roll of kitchen towel useful to clean fingers occasionally. I used Senelier La Carte pastel card for this demonstration, which has a cork powder surface with a tooth to take plenty of pastel. Take care, however, not to get any moisture on the paper or the sandy surface will some off and the pastel will not take. Draw an outline of the distant mountain using any colour that you can see against the blue and show where the patches of snow will lie. Sketch the dark hillside on the left and the…

Learning objectives ■ Create a background using rollers ■ Paint without conventional brushes ■ Follow a mixed-media approach to this fun project For the sixth article in my series on painting marine life using acrylics, we will take an experimental approach and complete the whole contemporary painting without the use of brushes. The background is laid down with a roller and a jellyfish takes shape with the help of PVA glue and an eye dropper. The technique of diluting paint will also be used for a transparent effect. In the July issue, I continue this marine life series by demonstrating how to paint clown fish in sea anemone. We will cover the techniques of mixing and shading a shadow, mid-tone and highlight, as well as dry-brush blending and painting eyes.…

Learning objectives ■ Why a sunset needs a light-toned ground ■ How to bring your painting to life through reflected light ■ Build confidence and skills The success of a painting relies on the artist knowing what they want to achieve. If you know what you want the picture to look like, you can choose a method that will suit your intention. For the past two projects (April and May issues) I used the ebauche method, which starts with a dark mass, from which you evolve your picture. You work from dark to light. It is a good all-round method that can be made to work perfectly well for most paintings, but if you want to achieve luminosity and you want your picture to glow, it might be better to…

MINI WATERCOLOUR PAPER STARTER PACK Twenty five sheets of top-quality watercolour paper including Arches, Saunders and Bockingford, for only £14.95. The pack includes a variety of weights, sizes and textures, in an eighth imperial size. Perfect for experimenting with and finding the perfect paper for you. www.artsupplies.co.uk/p/mini-watercolour-paper-starter-pack RE-LAUNCH OF PASTEL PENCILS Caran d'Ache have re-launched their Professional quality extra-fine dry pastel pencils. There is a new natural plant-based binder that improves the quality of the leads. They are 100% vegetal based making the pastel pencils vegan. info@jakar.co.uk - Tel. 020 8381 7000 ROSA WATERCOLOUR – MADE IN UKRAINE Watercolour full pans, set of 35 assorted colours Rosa Gallery artist quality watercolours have extended their range to 70 assorted colours in full pans (2.5ml) and tubes (10ml). The 10 new colours have…

Learning objectives ■ Make thumbnail and tonal sketches ■ How to interpret, not copy from a photograph ■ Practise mixing greens Renowned for its beauty, Riverhill Himalayan Garden near Sevenoaks in Kent is a perfect choice for artists and, having discovered the wonders of this garden, I have since returned to tutor outdoor painting workshops there. Like all gardens, it changes with each season, providing wonderful and varied compositions, textures and colour. Although a garden of 12 acres within a short distance of the main house, a variety of garden styles can be found, including a formal walled garden with bright borders of flamboyant peonies and purple alliums in May, a colourful rose garden, rock garden, vegetable garden and natural woodland areas. My favourite season is late spring to early…

Kerry Bennett Kerry is a professional artist and art tutor living in Battle, East Sussex. She holds regular online watercolour lessons including live Zoom classes and workshops. Visit Kerry's website and sign up to her newsletter for full details. Kerry also teaches, demonstrates and runs workshops throughout East Sussex and Kent. Visit www.kerrybennett.co.uk Facebook & Instagram kerrybennett.artist…

Learning objectives ■ Create a regular sketching habit ■ Draw as much as you can from life ■ Combine images Sometimes exciting ideas for compositions can occur when you look back through your sketchbook at the drawings you've made. You may have enjoyed sketching subjects of interest without any plan of what paintings could be composed from them. Combinations not thought of at the time can emerge later. This happened to me after I decided to go to the British Museum with my sketchbook. Museums are great places to work. There are always many interesting things on which to practise drawing skills. The objects are stationary and the lighting consistent so there is plenty of time to study them. A quiet corner in which to look at the object or…

Learning objectives ■ The convenience and versality of watercolour ■ Top tips for painting with watercolour MIKE'S TOP TIPS • If you are just beginning to paint with watercolour, it's important to keep the light areas clean and to avoid muddying the paint with too much mixing. • Always think of connecting images on the painting so the viewer's eye can flow around the painting. • Above all, enjoy yourself. It really doesn't matter how the painting turns out; it is the process that is the best bit. The older I become, the more I realise an artist sees the world slightly differently to other people. My wife, for instance, may see a row of trees as we drive through the Somerset countryside, while I notice the sunlight dancing on…