Tabla de contenidos para June 2025 en Leisure Painter

This month’s issue kicks off with a salute to our Great British weather – rain, mist and grey cloud! From the use of razor blades to soft brushes and sponges, Greg Howard offers an array of traditional and more unconventional methods that will help you to add atmosphere and drama to your watercolour landscapes. He encourages you to experiment with techniques and materials (and use white gouache) to create misty passages, lost-and-found edges, and a variety of different effects that will enhance your skills and your landscape paintings. (Next month, there’s more drama from Greg as he tackles lightning, wind, frost – and finally, sunshine.) “It takes courage to rid yourself of the fear of failure, and several serious attempts at painting… to make you realise that it is so…

I think it’s fair to say that most painters are overwhelmed on their first attempt at painting a woodland scene, therefore I always suggest that the objective should not be to imitate what you see, but to make a personal statement and let reality take second place. I took a group of students out to the woods, who had not painted in a woodland environment so I wasn’t surprised that the first question asked was a simple one: Where do we start? I suggested beginning by taking a long, careful look at the scene. This is the ‘seeing session’, when the following questions could be asked. How will I paint this? What will make a good composition? How much can I edit? What colours will I need? Which direction is…

Welcome to the sixth instalment of my graphite wildlife art series. This marks the first part of our drawing project, where we’ll bring together all the techniques and tips that we’ve covered so far to create a stunning African painted dog. Its striking patterns and intricate textures make it the perfect subject to showcase everything you’ve learned. This is your chance to put all the tips into practice, but remember, it’s not about achieving perfection on the first attempt. Take your time, enjoy the process, and embrace the opportunity to learn as you go. The subject Here you can see the reference photo of an African painted dog that I chose for our project (right). It’s full of stunning details, from the unique fur patterns to the striking textures of…

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 The judging for our TALP Open competition has now taken place and, having seen the accomplished work that has been accepted for exhibition, we are getting excited to see the work gracing the walls at Patchings Art Centre in the next few weeks when the show opens on April 27. The exhibition will remain open until June 15. Do try to visit if you can. The very high quality and imaginative work in both the Leisure Painter and The Artist sections promises an excellent and varied exhibition. As our featured artist in Sally Bulgin’s ‘A day in the life of’ series, Greta Vilidaite offers five top tips for aspiring professional artists.…

Sending-in days Cass Art Prize Details: The Cass Art Prize 2025 champions contemporary art from across the UK and the Republic of Ireland, with a first prize of £10,000 cash and a free stand at The Other Art Fair in spring 2026, plus additional prizes worth £15,000. Exhibition: Selected works will go on show at the Copeland Gallery, London, from October 24 to November 1. When: Closes for entries on May 13. Contact: Enter online at cassart.co.uk Chelsea Art Society Details: Entries are now invited to the 76th annual exhibition by the Chelsea Art Society. Submissions are welcome in painting, sculpture, drawing and printmaking, with over £9,500 worth of prizes to be won. Exhibition: Selected works will go on show at Chelsea Old Town Hall, London SW3 5EE, from June…

In the previous issue, I discussed the importance and advantages to be gained from sketching directly from observation whenever possible. The camera is a valuable tool for recording details and fleeting transient subjects, but I maintain we get a better understanding of scale, tone, form, depth, perspective and overall atmosphere, not to mention sharpening up our observational and pencil skills, when sketching from real life. A drawing that I’ve lived and experienced at first hand will provide invaluable reference and memories of the moment for a studio painting, weeks or even years afterwards. Paul Weaver is a full-time artist, tutor and demonstrator, based in Bristol. He is a fully elected member of the Pure Watercolour Society and demonstrator for St Cuthbert’s Mill and Ken Bromley Art Supplies. For further examples…

Greta Vilidaite talks to Sally Bulgin about her daily practice painting light-filled landscape, floral and animal paintings Hazel Soan shares her tips and techniques on watercolour painting from her workshop at Dumfries House, with details of how you can take part in her next workshop in June 26 Rosi Robinson captures the world with wax and dyes. Find out all about her eye-catching batiks and how to you can have a go too with her step-by-step project Ann Flynn, winner of The Artist Award at last year’s Royal Society of Marine Artists’ exhibition, talks to Caroline Saunders about how she creates sparkle in her oil paintings Find out how Rodney Kingston is getting on in his first year as a professional artist as he reaches the half-way point…

Caran d’Ache is a renowned Swiss brand known for producing high-quality art materials, and I am excited to review the latest release of their new Neoart 6901 Wax Oil Pastels. Whilst exploring their packaging, texture, colour range, performance and overall value, I hope to provide an insight into the experience and learning journey I encountered. These pastels are carefully crafted from a wax and oil-blended formula. The wax component provides a smooth, silky texture, while the oil base ensures depth and vibrancy. As a result, these pastels glide effortlessly across the paper or canvas, allowing artists to layer and blend with ease, and without worrying about crumbling or dusting. Presentation The wax oil pastels arrived in an elegant and sturdy, cellophaned box. Each stick was wrapped in a protective paper…

This month I’m using acrylics, a medium I love for its versatility and generally forgiving nature. A lot of the methods I use in pastels, which I discussed last month, apply equally to acrylics. I work on a layering basis – from a blocking-in layer, to more definition, then onto the final layers. With pastels, I generally work in a small section (mainly to keep it from smudging), but with acrylics, I initially block in the first layers then revert to working a small section at a time. Advantages I love working with acrylics because they dry so quickly and allow me to add layer after layer and adjust as much as I like. I also enjoy working on a stretched canvas – something that is ready to put on…

Question Help! My layers on drafting film never look smooth. What can I do? Answer This is probably the most common complaint when working on drafting film. The slickness of the surface, its thinness, even the transparency all play a part when laying down colour, but so does your pencil pressure, the evenness of coverage and to some extent the pencils you use. Let’s tackle the thinness issue first. The thinness of the film can be a factor or rather, what’s under the film can be. Just like a brass rubbing, you can accidentally transfer whatever lumps and bumps are underneath onto the film with every stroke. So, if you’re working on top of any texture, like woodgrain, paint spills, dings and notches, put something smooth and untextured down first,…

Perspective is an essential element to get right when drawing and painting if you wish to capture your subject in three dimensions, so this article considers one element of perspective that can intimidate a lot of painters: foreshortening. Foreshortening involves making elements of a drawing or painting look smaller than they are. This is needed to compensate for the angle from which the viewer is looking at the subject relative to the horizon. Use of foreshortening creates a sense of depth, helping to capture the elements of the subject that do not appear parallel to the plane of the paper and instead move into the picture at an angle away from the viewer. The greater that angle to the plane of the paper, the more foreshortening is needed. A measuring…

■ Association of Formby Artists Spring exhibition at Holy Trinity Parish Hall, Rosemary Lane, Formby, Merseyside L37 3HA on Saturday 10 May (9.30am to 4.30pm). Admission £1; refreshments available; raffle; pre-loved art equipment and books for sale; and homemade cake sale. Follow on Facebook: Association of Formby Artists. ■ Bramhall Art Society 56th annual art exhibition at Bramhall Village Club, Lumb Lane, Bramhall SK7 1LR, from 25 to 27 April. Open Friday and Saturday from 10am to 6pm; and Sunday from 10am to 5pm. For more information visit bramhallartsociety.com or follow on Facebook: bramhallartsociety ■ Bedale Art Group Annual exhibition at Bedale Hall, Bedale, North Yorkshire on 22 to 24 May. Thursday 22 May, preview evening from 7 to 9pm (entry £3 includes a glass of wine); Friday 10am to…

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 STAR LETTER Pissarro – the first Impressionist With reference to the May 2025 issue of Sarah Edmonds Learn from the Masters series, yes, Camille Pissarro, quite rightly can be considered a leading light in French Impressionism. However, we shouldn’t overlook our very own English painter of light, JMW Turner when we speak of Impressionists. Turner’s oil, Norham Castle, Sunrise, is thought to have been painted just prior to the artist’s death in 1851, and looks very much like an Impressionist’s painting to me. In the 1890s was Paul Cezanne being patriotic by overlooking Turner when he said ‘Pissarro…

Greta Vilidaite began painting after experiencing burn out in her previous career in academic research. She soon committed to her creative practice with her ‘100-paintings-in-100-days’ project and won the Search Press Award for her painting Mother and Calf. Greta became a full-time artist after receiving the Arts Council DYCP grant in 2022. She has exhibited in several local and national art exhibitions, such as the Chelsea Art Society, Cambrian Art Society, and The Artist exhibition at Patchings Art Centre, where her plein-air painting Early Spring at Padley Gorge won two awards. Greta is also passionate about spreading the joy of painting, being a regular contributor to The Artist magazine, and running painting workshops and demonstrations in Yorkshire, Derbyshire and beyond. Greta is a multi-award-winning painter, art tutor, nature-lover, and former neuroscientist.…

Following on from my two previous articles where I have used various colours for effect, this month I aim to show simple printing using just three colours: white, sky blue and black. Once again I will take a loose approach, using Essdee soft lino and watercolour paper and I will be showing the reduction method with the image copied onto the lino in reverse and each colour printed from light to dark separately. REFERENCE PHOTO The subject matter shows the increasing numbers of swans in the harbourside in Brixham, South Devon. Whatever you wish to call them, a bevy, a flock, or a bank, they are simply eye-catching. It was my intention here to create a contemporary feel as previously I have been successful with cyclists, canals and pathway subject…

The ‘Olympics’ for botanical artists is The Royal Horticultural Society’s (RHS) Botanical Art & Photography Show, held annually at the Saatchi Gallery in London. • Artists are vetted before they can exhibit and compete for gold, silver, silver gilt and bronze medals. • Those winning gold medals can reap the benefits of being recognised as a top botanical artist on a prestigious international stage. • Between ‘want to enter’ and ‘awarded a medal’ is a complex and lengthy process – and this article explains how to enter and win a medal. The RHS Botanical Art Show aims to elevate the practice and quality of botanical art and illustration. It’s the only exhibition in the world that requires an exhibit of at least six top-notch artworks on one botanical theme, and…

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 The inimitable Leonardo da Vinci needs no introduction: multitalented genius, master painter and polymath who left an indelible mark on the history of art. Not only did he furnish patrons and palaces with masterpieces, but his legacy extends to sketchbooks filled with jaw-dropping inventions including designs for a flying machine, a tank and the first solar energy, all sketched and annotated with his famous back-to-front mirror writing. They are astonishing and the documents can be viewed online as part of the Codex Forster on the…

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 I had a revelation just a short while ago while looking through an exhibition. I had stopped to study a nice seascape that had some action in it, but there was something about it that just didn’t seem quite right. Even while I was looking at the painting, the problem and solution jumped out at me! Because this seascape had an obvious mid-distant focal point, the hard sea horizon robbed the real focal point of a good percentage of power. Nice theory, some may say, but the horizon on the sea both in real life and in a…

Caran d’Ache Neoart 6901 Permanent Pastels Introducing Neoart 6901 – the first-ever wax oil pastel with the highest lightfastness of the colours for up to 100 years. Crafted by Caran d’Ache in Switzerland, these pastels are set to redefine the way artists approach pastel work. With 48 vibrant shades offering exceptional colour intensity, Neoart™ 6901 combines the softness of wax with the richness of oil for a texture like no other. These pastels adhere seamlessly to a wide range of surfaces, including paper, cardboard, canvas, glass, and wood. Sold individually (RRP £2.99), or in sets of 12 (RRP £37.99), 24 (RRP £73.99) and 48 (RRP £156.99) Info@jakar.co.uk www.jakar.co.uk Melanie Cambridge Artist Brushes Explore Melanie’s range of ‘vegan friendly’ brush sets for watercolour, gouache, oils and acrylics, created using only synthetic…

Painting allows deep personal contemplation, and an exploration of our relationship with the world around us. Objects and possessions are significant elements of our lives and we place great value on the things we own and desire. A collection of inanimate objects can transcend aesthetics, implying an intimate portrait or narrative. It can communicate nostalgia relating to by-gone eras, or simply be a comment about consumerism. The still-life genre is not only fascinating and versatile, but it also provides fantastic opportunities to develop your skills regarding the craft of painting. I hope perusing last month’s article in relation to planning and composition inspired you to pick up your brushes and follow me step by step, as we work together to create this colourful project. Reference material The planning stage enabled…

LONDON ■ Bankside Gallery 48 Hopton Street SE1 020 7928 7521 banksidegallery.com ‘RWS Spring 2025’, featuring works in water-based media, until 26 April. ‘RE Original Prints 2025’: annual exhibition of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers, 2 May to 8 June. ■ Burgh House New End Square NW3 020 7431 0144 burghhouse.org.uk ‘Helen Oxenbury: Illustrating the Land of Childhood’, and ‘Victorian Idylls: Kate Greenaway and Helen Allingham’, until 14 December. ■ Courtauld Gallery Somerset House, Strand WC2 020 3947 7777 courtauld.ac.uk ‘Goya to Impressionism’: masterpieces from the Oskar Reinhart Collection, until 26 May. ■ 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 ‘Beyond the Prize: Celebrating Contemporary Figurative Art’, 16 to 26…

Royal Society of Portrait Painters The annual Royal Society of Portrait Painters (RP) exhibition will go on show at the Mall Galleries in London from May 8 to 17, bringing together some of the best painted and drawn portraiture selected from both national and international submissions. ‘The society’s annual open exhibition is probably the largest and most significant celebration of portrait painting in Europe,’ writes the RP president, Anthony Connolly. ‘The show is always selected by a jury of practising portrait painters, no critics, no journalists, no celebrities – just painters.’ For more information about the show, visit mallgalleries.org.uk AFLOAT or Ashore Afloat or Ashore at Exeter Custom House until May 11, brings together an exhibition of marine art celebrating historic vessels around the UK – featuring the winning and…

Ann Flynn lives in Dublin with her three children. She comes from an illustration and graphic-design background, and graduated from Dublin Technological University with a degree in visual communications. A regular contributor to the Irish Times, her work was much in demand in the cut-throat world of advertising where she was widely regarded as one of the top illustrators in the country particularly in the notoriously difficult area of equine art. She has been selected to exhibit with the Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin; the Royal Ulster Academy of Arts, Belfast; and also exhibits with the Royal Society of Marine Artists, the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, and the Society of Women Artists among others. Ann regularly takes on commissions and along with selling in galleries across Ireland she showcases up to…

Rosi Robinson was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, graduating with a BA Hons in history from Vassar College, New York, USA. However, it was in Bristol, UK, 55 years ago, when she was studying for her PGCE (Postgraduate Certificate in Education), that she was introduced to batik. Working as an art specialist in primary schools in Bristol and as head of art in a prep school in Sussex for 28 years, she spent every spare moment and vacation teaching batik workshops as well as exhibiting her work and exploring the many possibilities that batik has to offer. Rosi has become internationally renowned as a figurative batik artist and has been invited to exhibit her batik paintings at international batik symposiums and in art galleries throughout the world. She is the author…

Eric Ravilious Through the Eyes of his Contemporaries Eric Ravilious Much has been written about Eric Ravilious who, along with others such as Edward Bawden and John Minton, came to de? ne a distinctly English style of mid-20th-century art and illustration. One image from any of them provokes instant nostalgia. As Alan Powers notes in his introduction, dying young means that your contemporaries are likely to record their impressions, so what appears here are recollections, portraits and snapshots of Ravilious in life. Fellow alumni of the Royal College of Art bring memories of student days, the text of a radio talk by Noel Carrington is included and Ravilious’s only published writing, Preface by the Engraver in the Lanston Monotype Almanack of 1929, is reprinted in full for the first time.…

MONTH SIX Regular readers of this series may recall that last month I wrote about some wobbles along the way since going full-time as an artist. That was to be expected I guess as it was never going to be an easy transition from employment to self-employment. If I was looking for signs that I’d made the right decision then this month has given me plenty. My plan for the month was to take part in the Strada Easel daily painting challenge. The idea is to paint or draw from life every day and post the work on social media with the hashtag #stradaeasel. Around 1,500 artists worldwide took up the challenge on day one and by the end of the month about 900 remained having completed the 31 days.…