Tabla de contenidos para March 2025 en Leisure Painter

Welcome to a new era of Leisure Painter as we merge with our sister magazine, The Artist (from page 71). This 132-page issue is packed with practical advice, step-by-step demonstrations, exercises, tips and techniques and inspiration for all artists, from beginners and less-experienced amateurs to art teachers and professional painters. Alongside our various online offerings at painters-online.co.uk, this is your one-stop-shop for everything drawing and painting, which will help you to improve your skills and confidence, and inspire you to practise your art more frequently. Alongside our regular practical features, product reviews, interviews and advice, the expanded Leisure Painter & The Artist offers a raft of news and views from the art world, opportunities to be part of open shows and exhibitions, book reviews, and the latest news from art…

In the intense heat of the sun, I was relieved to get amongst the trees to sketch Bran Castle (page 13). Direct sunlight on your work can badly affect your tonal judgement as well as hurt your eyes, but this hot atmosphere seemed desperately unsuitable for painting this haunt of Dracula, where notices warn you to leave before midnight. Suddenly an almighty thunderclap rent the air and the sky darkened. Skies don't come blacker than they do in Transylvania, something that is especially striking when a sliver of strong light breaks through the gloom. The bushes rustled in the wind and I paused my drawing to check where I'd put the sharpened stake and string of garlic. Drawing with a sanguine (gulp!) pen assumed a more urgent pace and as…

Welcome to the third article of my graphite wildlife art series. In this article, I want to share some of my favourite tips for creating realism – techniques that have helped me bring animals to life on paper and made my artwork more impactful. Capturing realistic wildlife is about more than just details; it's understanding light, texture, and the unique character of each animal. Realism can be challenging and there are common pitfalls that can easily derail your progress. I've faced many of these obstacles myself, whether it's struggling to get the proportions just right or losing the sense of depth in my shading. I want to share these lessons with you – not just the successes but the missteps, too – so you can avoid those frustrating moments. Now…

Edvard Munch Portraits National Portrait Gallery St Martin's Place London WC2H 0HE 020 7306 0055 npg.org.uk Edvard Munch Portraits at the National Portrait Gallery, London, from March 13 to June 14, will be the first exhibition in the UK to focus on Munch's portraits, featuring intimate portraits of artists, collectors, family, friends, lovers, writers and patrons, as well as a number of rarely seen self-portraits. A programme of events accompanies the exhibition, including curator, Dr Alison Smith's introduction to the exhibition on Friday March 28, 7 to 8pm; and a beginner-friendly weekend workshop with portraitist Charlie Schaffer, on April 26 and 27, exploring portrait painting and taking inspiration from work on show in the exhibition. For full details contact the National Portrait Gallery. Saturday SKETCH Don't miss the second Saturday…

• Composition Once I have a subject in mind, composition is my first priority. Whether working onsite or from sketches and photos in the studio, the key thing is to be selective, simplify and not bite offmore than I can chew. Using the viewfinder or cropping ‘Ls', I decide if I'm working to a portrait or landscape format and look for a few key shapes and some interesting details with a strong tonal pattern whilst paying close attention to how the light is affecting the scene. • Eye level I establish my eye level to check the perspective of architecture, furniture and the height of any figures, usually placing my focal point on a third within the picture space. • Preparing the surface I then cover the board or canvas with a…

EXHIBITIONS LONDON ■ Bankside Gallery 48 Hopton Street SE1 020 7928 7521 banksidegallery.com ‘Mini Picture Show’: annual exhibition by members of the Royal Watercolour Society and the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers, until 26 January. ‘The Society of Wood Engravers', 4 to 23 February. ■ Courtauld Gallery Somerset House, Strand WC2 020 3947 7777 courtauld.ac.uk ‘Drawn to Blue’: artists’ use of blue paper, until 26 January. ■ Dulwich Picture Gallery Gallery Road SE21 020 8693 5254 dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk ‘Tirzah Garwood: Beyond Ravilious', until 26 May. ■ Mall Galleries The Mall SW1 020 7930 6844 mallgalleries.org.uk ‘Pastel Society’: annual exhibition, 22 January to 8 February. ‘Royal Society of British Artists’: annual exhibition, 26 February to 8 March. ■ National Gallery Trafalgar Square WC2 020 7747 2885 nationalgallery.org.uk ‘Discover Constable & The Hay Wain',…

Question Am I layering or blending? What is the difference? Answer These words are used interchangeably, but while they're done at the same time, they aren't necessarily the same thing. Layering Basic layering means working with soft and even pressure from the start to fill an area with colour then going over and over the area with additional layers of increasing pressure until you have ‘layered up’ enough to cover the texture of the paper with a smooth and consistent flat colour (Figure 1, above right). More advanced layering is the same principle, but you're introducing other colours by sandwiching them in between. Because coloured pencils are a semi-transparent medium, it is possible to adjust and shift the overall colour of an area. The more layers of one colour you…

Want to comment on something you've read, or seen? Email me at theartistletters@tapc.co.uk or visit our website at www.painters-online.co.uk/forum Working on the issue this month I was reminded of the passion our contributors have for their art and their generosity of spirit in sharing what they do with us. Our cover artist, Tushar Sabale, is the subject of our In Conversation feature in which he talks to Caroline Saunders about his fascination for capturing moments of life in paint. From a young child growing up in India he was unwavering in his ambition that one day he would be a professional artist. His journey has been an interesting and high achieving one, via architecture and product design, but for him fine art is his ‘passion and his addiction’ and it…

New English Art Club Details: Artists are invited to submit work for exhibition alongside members of the New English Art Club at the NEAC annual exhibition 2025, showcasing members’ works as well as aspiring artists. The exhibition offers over ten prizes and awards including the NEAC Climate Emergency Prize. Exhibition: Selected work will go on show at the Mall Galleries, London, from June 12 to 21. When: Closes for entries on March 14. Contact: mallgalleries.org.uk/open-calls Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours (RI) Details: The Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours seeks the best in contemporary watercolour and water-media painting for the RI's 213th exhibition. The show offers the opportunity to win prizes and awards worth over £7,000 and have your work seen by thousands of visitors to the…

Charles Williams is the president of the Royal Watercolour Society and member of the New English Art Club. Since leaving the RA Schools in 1992 he has consistently maintained a studio and exhibited regularly in London, the UK, Europe and the US, making paintings, sculpture and watercolours. Interested in the role of the visual arts in the contemporary world, he has written two books on drawing and painting, and many articles for this magazine, and many others, including open publications with susakpress.com He is currently represented by New Art Projects, London. The Royal Watercolour Society aims to be a place for excellence in watercolour. Since it began in 1804 as the Watercolour Society, it has been a forum for exhibiting the work of the best painters in watercolour, mainly British…

This is the first of a three-part series about the main source materials we use for painting and in this first part I will be looking at painting from photographs. I am pretty sure that photographs are probably the most common resource used by painters but they do have major potential pitfalls. A camera is not the same as our eyes and brain. The camera simply records the image of what is in front of it. The first problem with this is that the camera cannot see depth and yet as landscape painters, creating the illusion of depth on our flat sheet of paper is probably our biggest challenge. Understanding aerial perspective can certainly allow us to make allowances for this problem but to understand fully aerial perspective and more…

Sarah Edmonds is the marketing manager for Pegasus Art, a freelance art marketing consultant and a watercolour painter. Sarah studied a short course at the Slade School of Fine Art followed by a degree in marketing and has worked in the industry ever since. sarahedmonds-marketing.com You will know something of William Morris who famously said, ‘have nothing in your home that you do not deem to be beautiful or useful,’ master craftsman, Pre-Raphaelite and a giant of the Victorian age, director of Morris & Co, tastemaker and radical philosopher But how much do you know about Jane Morris, wife of William and muse of Gabriel Dante Rossetti? She is too often seen as a footnote and simply an artist's model with no personality of her own. The real story is that…

Hahnemühle Watercolour Book Deckle Edge The new Hahnemühle Watercolour Book Deckle Edge combines artistry and craftsmanship, featuring 250gsm 100% cotton paper with three hand-torn edges for an elegant, tactile finish. Its 60 cold-pressed pages offer exceptional durability and vibrant colour rendering for all wet techniques. A robust binding, moisture-resistant cover, ensure sophistication and functionality. Sizes available: 10.3cm X 15.3cm up to 20.5cm X 15.3cm in portrait and landscape formats from £21.40 – £34.20 RRP www.hahnemuehle.co.uk Rosa Travel Brush This versatile round travel brush, featuring a blend of sable and synthetic bristles, comes in four sizes (No. 2, 4, 6 & 8), perfect for a range of watercolour techniques. Lightweight and compact, it's the ideal companion for travel or plein air painting. The innovative design allows the brush head to detach…

Last month I introduced my holiday photo of the Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ in Riga, Latvia and suggested that rather than replicating the photo you use it to create your own unique version of the cathedral, capturing and showcasing what you felt were its most striking features. Hopefully some or all of my thoughts and suggestions were helpful and you enjoyed the challenge. The features that caught my eye the most were the domes, particularly the gold one and the bell tower below it, along with the arches and shutters. So, I planned to exaggerate all of those a little in my version and to leave the stonework as the unpainted white of my paper to showcase the striking decorative banding better. I also liked how the readymade…

Email theartistletters@tapc.co.uk or write to The Editor, The Artist, Warners Group Publications, The Maltings, West Street, Bourne, Lincolnshire PE10 9PH Please note we may have to edit letters for reasons of space Winter trees Trees often play an important role in my landscape paintings, whether using oils or watercolour, and more often in their winter finery, so I found Ian Sideaway's article in The Artist February 2025 of particular interest. He's showcased some wonderful examples of his work in his feature, including his sketchbook workings. There are a number of ways I approach the challenge of depicting winter trees – from subtle washes (watercolour) or blocking in (oils) of neutral blue/greys for those trees in the distance – to more detailed brushstrokes for the foreground trees, teasing out those delicate…

Born in Glasgow in 1959, Peter Graham is one of our most vivid and distinctive modern colourists. He has been an impressive presence on the British art scene for over 45 years, exhibiting regularly with many of the royal societies. His work is often associated with the four Scottish Colourists of the early 20th century, although his flamboyant style is uniquely his own, characterised by detailed brushwork and fluid strokes of pure colour and tone. A painter of brilliant light, Peter has travelled the world painting en plein air, capturing the essence of his subject with brushstrokes full of rich colour from the harbours and cafés of the South of France to the elegance of New York and London dining rooms. Peter Graham studied at the Glasgow School of Art from…

Paul Talbot-Greaves teaches watercolour and acrylic painting in workshops and demonstrations to art societies throughout the UK. Paul is a member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours and has received many accolades and awards, including The Artist Award in 2017 and 2021 at the Patchings Art Festival, and The Chaoshan Watercolour Award at the 2021 RI watercolour exhibition. He can be contacted by email info@talbot-greaves.com or through his website talbot-greaves.com Acrylic by its very nature dries quickly with definite, hard edges, that can lead to some frustrating issues especially when painting loose or if you are wanting to create ambiguous areas in your work. A few years ago in my painting courses, I coined the phrase ‘start with a mess, end with finesse'. One of the biggest…

● Tombow drawing pens are among my favourites (some have duel nibs), but whatever brand of pen you choose, it's important to make sure that they are waterproof and reasonably lightfast. ● Rotring Tikky fineliner pens are great for outdoor sketching. They are made with ‘free ink’ technology for consistent line quality and long usage. These pens are equipped with a plastic grip zone for comfort and an ink level window to show the amount left in the reservoir. I can highly recommend them. Many of my sketches shown in this feature have been drawn with the Rotring Tikky 0.2mm size nib. ● Derwent Line Maker These are free-flowing fineliner pens in sepia. They have opaque ink for creating solid lines and a robust Japanese nib that will withstand heavy pressure. They…

MONTH THREE This month has been an eclectic mix of exhibiting, demonstrating, teaching and experimenting. The exhibiting of work came about having been invited some months ago to join an art collective with seven other creatives. Working towards our first group show has been bubbling along in the background for a number of months but turned into something of a full-time focus in the final days and weeks before we opened. The entire experience from start to finish was an interesting one for many reasons, not least because initially I was working with seven strangers. It all began when a fellow Surrey-based artist, Lorelei Hopkins, discovered my work and invited me to exhibit with her and associates of hers. Without giving it too much thought or research I said ‘yes’…

Forests, Woods & Groves Ed Philippa Beale The Arborealists is a diverse group of artists that was formed in 2014 to raise public awareness of deteriorating ecosystems. This compilation, the group's second publication, showcases the work of 37 of its 43 members, including Ann Blockley. As the title implies, the subject matter is trees and woodlands and the intention is to capture atmosphere rather than simply present a series of portraits. Woodland cover in the UK has doubled in the last 100 years, but mostly with non-native species. The work here is impressive and builds into a hymn of praise to ancient trees. Looking into this book is like walking through woods in a variety of conditions. Undergrowth creates deep shadows and rich earth colours, marginal views open up unexpectedly,…

Mike Barr is a Fellow of the Royal South Australian Society of Arts. He has won over 80 awards, including 17 first prizes. You can find more of Mike's work at mikebarrfineart.com To put it plainly, traditional or representational art is often regarded by the modernists and abstractionists as being rather dated, or worse still, has become irrelevant in today's world. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. When it comes to affecting the senses of other people who may view our work, nothing works better than a bit of realism and I don't mean photo-realism. After all we are on an artistic path that seeks to highlight the wonders of our world, in whatever mundane circumstance or however ordinary it might be. It's what people identify with, it's…