Tabla de contenidos para February 2026 en Leisure Painter

Welcome to the February 2026 edition of Leisure Painter & The Artist, a fresh issue filled with practical projects, inspiration and techniques to help you learn, experiment and take joy in your art. This month, we're celebrating mood, light and the quiet beauty of winter. Inside, you'll discover a rich blend of step-by-step demonstrations, materials advice and creative prompts suited to every pace and preference. We open with Greg Howard's fast, expressive approaches to painting winter trees in watercolour, from initial research and sketching to creating bark texture with mixed media and granulating colours. Naomi Jenkin follows with a luminous mixedmedia snow scene. Tim O'Brien invites you into the world of nocturnes, exploring tonal contrast, silhouettes and highlight mixing to bring dramatic night scenes in oil to life. Amanda Hyatt…

You will learn How to research and sketch trees for your paintings Incorporating mixed media to add texture The best brushes to use for watercolour trees A well-painted tree or 10 can be a fantastic addition to any landscape painting. Trees can be used to add colour or contrast to a scene. They can be added to provide a sense of scale. You can even use them to indicate the locality of a scene. On the other hand, a badly painted tree can completely ruin the whole painting, and unfortunately, it is all too easy to fall into that camp if you don't watch what you're doing. Some good news for you, though, before you get all doomy and gloomy, which is that there are a few simple techniques you…

You will learn How to start simple daily drawing habits Enjoying the process over results Putting together a materials kit Like many ex-creatives, I was always drawing as a child. I went to art college in my teens, and my first job was in a drawing office. But by the time I was 21, life had taken over, and I stopped drawing. For nearly three decades, I didn't even think about it. My return to art happened almost by accident. When I left my job to care for my husband, I knew I would need something to take my mind off things, and I remembered that I used to draw. My leaving gift included some pencils and a sketchbook, and I distinctly recall that first page, those scratchy scribbles. I…

Your next challenge is ‘Spring’ for the May 2026 edition. Email artclubs@painters-online.co.uk for the chance to be featured!…

Soft Edges: An exhibition by Guest Members of the RWS 16 to 28 January 2026 RWS Gallery, London, WC2H 7HA Soft Edges will bring together the Guest Members of the Royal Watercolour Society for their first group exhibition. This exhibition will showcase the work of young and emerging artists who are expanding the possibilities of watercolour within a contemporary context. Taking inspiration from the medium's inherent softness - its fluid washes, translucent layers, and unpredictable edges – these artists experiment with scale, surface, and material, challenging traditional assumptions that works in watercolour must be delicate and controlled. Alongside Guest Members of the RWS, artists Greg Becker and Alex Dipple will feature in the exhibition, as winners of last year's RWS Open Exhibition Prize. Visit royalwatercoloursociety.co.uk for more information. Lucian Freud: Drawing…

Sarah Middleton is a painter, art historian and lecturer. She studied Italian and History of Art at UCL and a short course at the Slade School of Fine Art. She works as a communications consultant and as a history of art lecturer in the Cotswolds; sarah-middleton.co.uk The Birth of Venus is part of our visual lexicon – we have all seen her, but what do we really know about this goddess? All the medieval fantasy and symbolism of 14th century Florence are wrapped up in Botticelli's graceful, linear style. No-one quite captured the curvaceous femininity of the female form like Botticelli, the long-plaited locks, the bee stung lips and almond eyes that are synonymous with Botticelli's women. After returning from Rome in the Spring of 1482, Botticelli executed a series…

Buy it! For a guide that takes its subject and reader seriously Flowers in Watercolour Lois & Morgaine Davidson In spite of its subtitle billing as being “for the complete beginner”, this is really a guide to bringing subtlety, depth and presence to flower painting. It is not, perhaps, quite a masterclass, but a good degree of familiarity with both medium and subject would be advisable before tackling it. The exercises and their accompanying instructions are presented simply, but thoroughly, and there are detailed illustrations where you want them. The lists of materials and equipment are comprehensive and there is no attempt to cut back on the palette, either – if three shades of blue are required, three shades there will be. This is not a “two brushes and three…

In 2026, the Royal Scottish Academy celebrates 200 years with a nationwide programme of exhibitions, talks, performances and events across more than 70 venues. Central to the celebrations is the 200th RSA Annual Exhibition (9 May to 14 June 2026). From the Highlands and Islands to the Borders, more than 70 cultural organisations across Scotland and beyond are coming together to celebrate Scottish art and architecture as they look ahead to their third century. Celebrating Together will include exhibitions, performances, talks and special events led by partners organisations in museums, galleries, universities and community spaces. Whether it's new work by exciting emerging artists, or a fresh look at historic collections, the celebrations will highlight the artists and architects supported throughout the history of the RSA. Other highlights span major spaces…

You will learn Leaving areas unpainted to add a sense of light Mixing four colours to make a full palette Using different tones of light and dark for added depth Personal taste in art is highly individual. It is often determined by populism, monetary value, point in time and trend. It is also conditional on subject matter, medium, style, colour, mood, detail, lack of detail, modernism, history and many other labels. But for the bulk of art appreciators, it is just a case of what one likes. If you like a bright red Spanish flamenco painting, that's fine. If you like a blank white canvas called ‘Snow’, that's fine as well. But I like traditional moody tonal impressionistic realism. That's a mouthful, but it basically means that you let tone…

■ Cookham Arts Club Spring Art Exhibition and Sale, Pinder Hall, Cookham Rise, SL6 9EH. Friday 6th (2pm to 6pm), Saturday 7th (10am to 6pm) and Sunday 8th (10 to 4.45pm) March. Free admission. More information at website - cookhamartsclub.com ■ Finchley Art Society Saturday 10 January to Monday 9 February, Lauderdale House, Waterlow Park, Highgate Hill, London, N6 5HG. Admission free, lauderdalehouse.org.uk ■ Huddersfield Art Society's Online Annual Exhibition Until 1st February, huddersfieldartsociety.com ■ Imperial Colleges Art Club Society 4 to 20 February 2026,9am to 5pm. Main Entrance, South Kensington Campus. Free admission. imperial.ac.uk/events ■ Ringwood Arts Society Salisbury Hospital Exhibition 13th Jan to 17th February, 9.30am to 5pm, Odstock Hospital, Salisbury, SP2 8BJ. ringwoodartsociety.ore ■ Walsall Society of Artists 75th Diamond Annual Exhibition, 12th December 2025 - 15th…

Self-taught oil painter, Dave West, has had his work selected for the Royal Society of Marine Artists (RSMA) open exhibitions several times. In 2025, he celebrated being chosen as the winner of The Artist Award. His journey as an artist has taken him from Illustration to Art History and then to Fine Art – and during that time, he's moved from Wales to Ireland, where he now lives. Dave first submitted work to the RSMA in 2008. “I was thrilled to get in that year, as it was the very first juried show I ever got into. I submitted sporadically over the years, but around four years ago decided to be a bit more focused with the type of work I was entering into competitions.” In 2025, Dave decided to…

You will learn Create tonal contrast within a dark scene Including silhouettes in your work Mixing the right colours for highlights Emotions, mood, atmosphere, mysticism, dreams, or the transient effects of artificial and natural light are elements that have fascinated many artists throughout the centuries when capturing nighttime scenes. My current favourites are Nighthawks (1942) by Edward Hopper, Rainy Midnight (1890s) by Childe Hassam, Nocturne in Black and Gold – The Falling Rocket (1875) by James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Moonlight, a Study at Millbank (1797) by JMW Turner and Starry Night Over the Rhône (1888) by Vincent van Gogh. Although I do also like the old masters’ use of pulling the light from the shadows and darkness to evoke emotions, such as Rembrandt's The Night Watch (1642). Ambiguity can also…

1 Reduced colour paintings can still be full of light and atmosphere. 2 Palette ‘gunge’ is a good grey colour to use as a mixer to subdue primary colours and dull them down for a more natural look. 3 Don't use straight primary colours unless you want a colourist painting. 4 The seven main colours all exist in nature (red berries, oranges, yellow daisies, green vegetation, blue seas and skies, indigo mountains, violets), and can make a beautiful painting. Tone them down a bit, and you can still get a beautiful painting in shades of greys, black and white, and other muted colours. 5 A reduced palette forces you to experiment and learn. By not using an easy, straight from the tube, primary colour, the artist is forced to think…

Best in show Don't forget to invite visitors to your exhibitions to vot for their favourite painting in the show. Send us details and a high-resolution image of the winning painting and we will publish it in a future issue of Leisure Painter. Send the details to artclubs@painters-online.co.uk Thanks and congratulations, to this ‘Best in Show' artwork.…

After autumn, winter in the Northern Hemisphere is a period of darkness. The days are short, and natural light disappears in mid-afternoon. For the painter, this means shorter painting days in natural light. Winter means that less is growing; if you want subjects from your garden, everything will be decayed or disappear. There is always plenty of encouragement to painters to choose colourful subject matter with lots of freedom to express the subject in so many expansive ways. To express yourself, working big and loose is the recommended way to go. And this is most certainly one of the right things to do. But it should not deny the interest in the intricate detail and ordinariness of small things (which can also be made big). The small and humble is…

Belinda Eaton was born in Kenya, schooled in Franco's Spain and earned her art degree from Saint Martins, London. She also spent time in New York, France and Karachi, Pakistan. She has appeared on BBC's Extraordinary Portraits and Star Portraits. Belonging to the Society of Women Artists has been a great showcase for her work leading to awards and gallery representation. She scooped the Catto award in 2023. Travelling the world, with a nomadic lifestyle, Belinda Eaton's unique style derives from an infusion of diverse cultural influences. With arresting portraits of giant birds and tattooed women, set on decoratively patterned backgrounds, she draws attention. Eagerly she instinctively responds to her senses. Belinda has synesthesia, the neurological phenomenon where stimulating one sense involuntarily triggers experiences in another sense such as; seeing…

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 After many years as an artist, there are some important pieces of advice that I would like to give to my younger self. One of the most important things for any artist and even if we only intend being an amateur, is to take advantage of opportunities that arise. I can personally quote outcomes in my own artistic journey that started from opportunities that arose many years before. As with any pursuit, standing still inhibits progress. This often means taking at least a few steps forward to start some positive momentum, even though there may not be any…