Indholdsfortegnelse for April 2023 i The Artist

Email me at theartistletters@tapc.co.uk or visit our website at www.painters-online.co.uk/forum We start this month’s features with a fascinating conversation with photorealist artist Sarah Graham, who reveals the motivations behind her unusual still-life subject choices, often borrowed from childhood, and her meticulous, highly coloured oil-painting style. Her work suggests a wealth of inspiration to be discovered in items from our past, such as childhood toys and sweets, as well as the more traditional objects associated with the genre. As she shows, these can also be great vehicles for working with bright colour, elevating everyday, and often overlooked objects into colourful compositions full of visual impact. There’s plenty of inspiration and advice for the watercolour painter, too. Robert Brindley demonstrates a seasonal landscape, and explains why snow can be so beneficial for…

Art for Charity Collective Over 30 artworks by female artists from the Art for Charity Collective will be for sale on an online auction to coincide with International Women’s Day on March 8. The week-long auction will run from March 6 to 10, and takes place on the @artforcharitycollective’s Instagram page. Art for Charity Collective (ACC) is a global group of artists raising awareness and funds for carefully chosen charities, with a focus on supporting and promoting both artists and worthwhile causes. For more information go to www.artforcharitycollective.com Followers of the auction will be able to bid for the works throughout the week, culminating in a live auction when 12 works selected by a panel will be sold to the highest bidders. Twenty-five-per-cent of the sale from each artwork will…

Take time to assess your work before declaring it finished. Try asking yourself some of the following questions at this stage. By doing this myself, I nearly always find I need to adjust a few things. Does the composition work? A successful painting should have a visual path through the painting, leading to a strong focal point. Note here how I have used a slight angle in the foreground shadows as a subtle lead in. Does the tonal sequence and colour harmony work? Tone is all important, therefore I often squint my eyes to assess the tones more accurately. Look carefully at the impact of the colour you have used. Once again, squint your eyes to assess the colour harmony. If any areas of colour jump out too much you…

Paul Riley runs residential courses from his home and studios in south Devon. For more information email lara@coombefarmstudios.com Telephone 01803 722 352 or visit www.coombefarmstudios.com Watercolour portraiture is tricky enough at the best of times; adding hands is an added frisson to say the least. My first serious painting was, in fact, a self-portrait. I was about ten years old. It was exhibited at a mixed show on Richmond Hill Terrace, and I was so proud! My mother was an illustrator and a Slade-trained portraitist in oils. It was she who taught me the basics and was my sternest critic. Back then I worked in oils which wasn’t usual for someone my age. When I finally attended art college oils, and then acrylics, dominated. There was practically no watercolour work…

Wallace Seymour Fine Art Products can be purchased from Artreq (www.artreq.co.uk), based in Glasgow but also from other stockists up and down the UK and worldwide. If you enter your postcode at www.wallaceseymour.co.uk/stockists you can find your nearest stockist. Some shops keep selected inks and drawing stones. For more information about Wallace Seymour products, email info@wallaceseymour.co.uk or find them on Instagram @wallace_seymour Renaissance Drawing Chunks can be purchased from A. Gallo Colors, Assisi, Italy (www.agallocolors.com). They supply worldwide and it is definitely worth looking at all 20 colours available as they are so unique and versatile with which to create new and intuitive artworks. Andrew Field graduated from Lancaster University with a first-class honours degree in fine art and is a qualified teacher with a Master’s in education. He teaches…

Sarah Edmonds is the marketing manager for Pegasus Art and gallery manager at Art Cotswold. She lives and breathes art by promoting artists, writing about art, consulting, selling and painting herself. 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; www.sarahedmonds-marketing.com What makes an artist a professional one? It’s a question I posed to painter Ange MullenBryan who responded in a way that I didn’t expect. ‘I’ve never been wholly sure what classes an individual as a professional artist. I don’t think that professionalism has anything to do with how much money you make from your work or how many other jobs you have to do to support yourself. I think it has…

Email theartistletters@tapc.co.uk or write to The Editor, The Artist, Warners Group Publications, The Makings, West Street, Bourne, Lincolnshire PE10 9PH Please note we may have to edit letters for reasons of space You never know your luck Having left Britain for Austria in the ‘70s, the isolation gave me the kick I needed to start painting. Perseverance paid off with exhibitions and a few prizes and ten years ago my own gallery - perhaps the only one run by an artist here devoted to watercolour. Imagine my surprise when, last summer, a major publishing house phoned me asking permission to use one of my paintings of a local farmhouse for the cover of the latest book from one of Austria’s most successful writers, Judith Taschler. She’d turned down the illustration…

The annual exhibition by the Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) opens its doors at the Mall Galleries in London, from March 2 to 11. This year is special as it will be the 200th anniversary exhibition, with pieces by young and emerging artists invited to join the exhibition alongside established professional member artists. Over 400 works will be on show and for sale, featuring painters, sculptors and printmakers. Society members will be available throughout the exhibition running workshops and demonstrating their knowledge and techniques. For more information contact the Mall Galleries on 020 7930 6844 or visit www.mallgalleries.org.uk To find out more about the Royal Society of British Artists, go to www.royalsocietyofbritishartists.org.uk…

Visit Watts Gallery near Guildford this spring for its Saturday Sketch: Slow Gaze in Nature on Saturday March 25. Artist Anna-Marie Garrett will lead the session which consists of mindful drawing outdoors in the Limnerslease woodland. For more information contact the gallery on 01483 810235 or visit www.wattsgallery.org.uk for details of other workshops and talks taking place this spring.…

3RD OF 3 PRACTICAL Emma Colbert graduated at UCA Maidstone with a BA Hons in Illustration in 2007 and began working on portrait commissions and producing her own series of wildlife pastel paintings. Endorsed by Unison Colour Pastels, she has created several colour selections of soft pastels for them introducing other artists to the beauty of the medium. Emma loves to paint all subject matter and regularly accepts people and landscape commissions too. Her experiences inspired Emma to start a blog sharing her pastel tips, and later a Youtube and Patreon channel, which has inspired many new artists to pick up the medium of soft pastel. Emma’s work has become recognised worldwide, but her attention is now driven towards creating a library of information all about soft pastel to help the…

Q: Can you tell us a little about your journey towards becoming a professional artist? A: I always use the best materials I can afford and never compromise on the quality of canvas or paint. For years I made all my own stretchers and wooden panels to get the best (most professional) quality finish I could. After university I put on my own exhibitions before I began to show work in more established galleries. I would rent local spaces and do my best to curate professional and beautifully presented exhibitions. I would sell just enough work to cover my costs and that felt like real success. The work was always warmly received, and my following gradually grew. My goal was to really be as authentic and honest as I could…

Sending-in days Aviation Paintings of the Year 2023 Details: The Guild of Aviation Artists invites entries, from both members and non-members, to its annual exhibition, featuring the best in aviation artworks. Exact details are still awaiting confirmation. Keep checking the website for up-to-date information. Exhibition: Imperial War Museum, Duxford, Cambridge CB22 4QR, from June 22 to 25. When: Dates tbc. Check website for details. Contact: www.gava.org.uk DSWF’s Wildlife Artist of the Year 2023 Details: Founded by the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation in 2008, DSWF’s Wildlife Artist of the Year is an internationally renowned wildlife art competition open to amateur and professional artists.The competition uses the power of the arts to celebrate wildlife and raise vital funds for endangered species. Exhibition: Mall Galleries, London, from September 11 to 16. When: The…

Keep painting My sister gives mean annual subscription for The Artist each year for my birthday. If I’m ever short of inspiration, I look back through the old copies and I usually come away with more ideas than time to do them all. I have just looked back through February 2004 and I’m ready to launch forth! I see you were the editor then too. You’ve seen a lot of art over all those years. I wrote to you back in early 2021 and you sent me a lovely reply - extra special as it was handwritten. To me that was lovely as I’m totally digital free; not even a mobile phone (or microwave). My grandchildren don’t know how I survive, but I’ve got to 86 without them. I’ll just…

For all paintings, especially watercolour, it is essential to keep things simple: a few colours and brushes, plus a surface to work on is all that you need. Learn how to handle edges in a variety of ways, from soft to hard. Watercolour is an extremely difficult medium to master, even for artists with years of experience, so always respect the medium and don’t get overconfident. The following quotation is worth bearing in mind: ‘If you are not in trouble, then you’re in trouble’. A successful painting is a combination of accurate observations and statements that work as a whole. Tone is the key to all successful paintings. Composition, drawing and colour are important too, of course, but if the tonal sequence is not well observed, the painting falls apart.…

Paul Talbot-Greaves teaches watercolour and acrylic painting in workshops and demonstrations to art societies throughout the UK. He has received many accolades and awards including The Artist Award in 2017 and 2021 at Patchings Art Festival, and The Chaoshan Watercolour Award at the 2021 RI watercolour exhibition. He can be contacted by email ptgart@outlook.com or through his website www.talbot-greaves.com Acrylic paint is quick, slide and the possibilities for creativity are endless: it can take on the appearance of a watercolour painting, or that of an oil painting; it is amazing for graphical depiction; and it can be used super opaque or thin and transparent all within one sitting. For me, the freedom this brings allows me to express myself in ways that differ from oil or watercolour painting. It took…

Back in the studio, with the aid of sketches and photographic reference, wildlife paintings can be made in comfort, in abundance, in any size and with any media. Complex detail and compositions can be tackled without any need to hurry. To keep the paintings animated, and to avoid slavishly copying any one photograph, flick between several of the same subject, taken under a similar light, remembering tones change across the body as an animal moves. The principles I’ve outlined in my latest book still apply in the studio, and following them will ensure lively paintings. Close-up and detail Good photographs give you time to study and paint detail, and particularly portraits. The temptation to include every hair, whisker, spot and claw may be irresistible, but there is no obligation. I…

 Add interest and depth by combining media. Work with the Wallace Seymour drawing stones combined with charcoal to create further interest and introduce a greater range of tones to add depth and drama to your work.  Take advantage of the unusual shapes of the charcoal. The charcoal sticks and oak chunks have unusual edges and can be used to create unexpected marks adding interest to your work.  Organise your drawing stones and charcoals together Figure 6, above. This will encourage you to pick up a range of drawing materials and work instinctively, taking advantage of their unique qualities.  Don’t be intimidated by the size of the drawing stones and charcoal chunks. Work on a larger scale and allow the size of the materials to create more expressive qualities.  Apply plant-based…

The Acrylic Flower Painter’s A to Z The Acrylic Flower Painter’s A to Z by Lexi Sundell is published in paperback by Search Press, £12.99, available from our online bookstore at bit.ly/ARTI BOOKS There can be few people who do not enjoy the sight of flowers, whether growing wild in fields and hedgerows or carefully arranged indoors in vases. But for the artist they are more than just an occasional delight - they provide a superb and hugely varied subject matter, inspiring ideas for many different painterly treatments. The flowers themselves will fade and die, indeed their transitory nature is part of their charm, but the artist can capture them in the glory of their full bloom, thus immortalizing a moment in their life cycle and creating images that will…

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 www.mikebarrfineart.com In life there is hardly any success without momentum. Whether it is in the business world, sport, home-life and, yes, even in art, momentum plays a huge part in progress. The winning ways of momentum can be seen first-hand in sport. Two teams may be evenly matched in skills, but in the end, momentum and the associated mental confidence that accompanies it will irresistibly win the day. Momentum is the force of something that moves. A goods train may take a while to get going, but once it builds up a head of steam it is hard to…