Innehållsförteckning för April 2024 från Artists & Illustrators

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SEBASTIAN THOMMEN’S ARTISTIC ROOTS trace back to the idyllic landscapes of Devon. At just five years of age, a teacher’s task to paint the outdoors sparked a flame for en plein air painting that would endure. Nurturing his innate connection to nature through his teens, Sebastian delved into the world of drawing, captivated by the intricate illustrations found within the pages of books. This early exposure sowed the seeds for a passion that would blossom into a distinctive artistic journey. In the midst of his parents’ separation, Sebastian’s teenage solace was found in fishing expeditions with his neighbour, Brian. Their silent companionship by the pond created an unspoken bond. Tragically, Brian’s sudden death in a car accident resulted in an unexpected legacy for Sebastian. In a poignant gesture, Brian’s wife…

FOR THIS INSTALMENT, my plan is to build up layers of washes. These are a light mixture of skin tones that will continue to increase in saturation as I carry on the painting process. The next stage is where I get to a point of painting with watercolours, just like I would if I were using oils. During this phase, I completely forget that I’m using watercolours and just paint boldly and directly with very little diluting of the paint from the tube with water. I learnt this technique from the great American representational painter, Burton Silverman. I don’t actually go about my watercolours exactly as he does, but the knowledge I gained from his worldclass book, Breaking the Rules of Watercolour, has been instrumental in helping me develop a…

PAINTING ANIMALS USING WATERCOLOURS can be challenging as it requires multiple skills: close observation, accuracy, capturing the animal’s character and then applying watercolour techniques. Even with a fair knowledge of watercolour, exploring animal subjects was a new challenge for me. But as with everything, breaking down the process into smaller, more manageable steps made it achievable. Animals are amusing, each with their own unique behaviours and personalities, and the process of studying and painting them brings us closer to the natural world and makes us appreciate it more. I began by drawing from observation, and although I wanted to hide my first sketches deep underground so no one would ever find them, with time and practice, they improved. The next step was to apply my existing watercolour knowledge to this…

IN JEFFREY HAYES’ CHILDHOOD HOME hangs a grand reproduction of Autumn on the Hudson River by Jasper Cropsey: a depiction that subtly nudged the young artist towards fascination. Jeffrey recalls, “I spent countless hours standing on the couch looking into the world of that beautiful painting. I still love seeing it.” Later, at the age of six, a museum outing with his father would shape his artistic perspective. A particular painting – with its intricately glazed lace over a figure’s forearm – imprinted itself in his young mind. The astonishment lingered; the disbelief that paint could achieve such intricate finesse. “Both of these experiences instilled in me an intense curiosity about how simple paint could be transformed into such wonders.” Jeffrey’s family also played a pivotal role in nurturing these…

Raw Umber Studios is a non-profit art school and studio based in Stroud. They run short, focused workshops teaching the skills needed to create representational art, whilst also running regular online sessions. This August, they are behind a live, free-to-enter portrait painting competition with £3,500 of prizes up for grabs. Could you be one of the participants? This could give you the chance to pit your artistic skills against the best of your peers in a live paint-off at a prestigious London location. On Friday 16th August, 10 artists will gather at Mall Galleries in Central London to compete and paint a portrait from life in just four hours. At the end of the session, a panel of three professional artists – made up of Stephen Bauman, Lizet Dingemans and…

VAST FRONDS CASTING INKY SHADOWS on jewel-hued expanses, families relaxing in sun-bleached rural idyls, repurposed clippings from fashion magazines and childhood photo albums; these are just some of the offerings at Soulscapes, a dazzling new exhibition at Dulwich Picture Gallery. Including works by over 30 artists from the African diaspora such as Hurvin Anderson, Phoebe Boswell, and Njideka Akunyili Crosby, the show is visually spectacular while promoting themes of belonging and identity. Covering a variety of mediums – including tapestry and film – it’s the paintings that are likely to make the biggest impact. It is these, after all, which are most directly compared like-for-like with traditional – that is to say, European – landscape paintings. These in Soulscapes feature tropical greens and deep warm mustards; the pastel palettes of…

MESSAGE OF THE MONTH Kelvin Martin Facebook has been sending me a lot of adverts for art courses lately, especially ones on how to sketch. They look great and are very reasonably priced, but I think they may be missing the point. The question is not about skill, materials, how to sketch or even what to sketch; the important thing is what you learn and why you are taking the time to draw your subject. Hockney points out that “when you’re drawing, you’re always seeing more.” I trained as an illustrator, have sketched all my life and made many road trips. We have just done a trip across the backwaters of the southern United States. I went for the music history; my wife went for the the Civil War and…

For artists, creativity knows no bounds, and the tools they use must mirror their boundless imagination. That’s where the Xencelabs Graphic Tablet steps in; a masterpiece designed by creative industry professionals and working artists to redefine your digital drawing experience. Embodying the essence of minimalistic design, this tablet offers a drawing surface that mimics the feel of paper, turning your creative visions into digital reality. But it doesn’t stop there; Xencelabs has loaded this masterpiece with features that promise faster workflows, unbeatable convenience whilst also making editing a breeze. It’s all about prioritising function and comfort to enhance your creative process, making it more enjoyable and infinitely more productive. For more than just artists, the Xencelabs graphic tablet is a versatile companion. Its expansive 16:9 surface, softly lit by adjustable…

MY JOURNEY to becoming a full-time artist was very short. I always knew I would be an artist since early childhood. My parents met in art school, so this was not a foreign thought. I entered professional training in art school at 15 years old. At 19 I was hired for a full-time position at a leading advertising agency in Hollywood to do concepts for movie posters. At 20, I was painting the actual posters for multi-million-dollar campaigns. I wouldn’t change anything. I achieved commercial success as an illustrator but I’m not an illustrator anymore. Illustration was changing a lot in the 1990s, so I felt compelled to go back to my first love: painting from life, and I found my voice from art school again. Illustration had really taken…

ANS DEBIJE WAS BORN AND RAISED in the Netherlands. The eldest of five children, she developed a love of art and drawing from an early age. After leaving school, she studied industrial design at the Design Academy in Eindhoven, graduating as an interior and fashion fabric designer in 1984. Despite continuing to paint and draw, she only took up art full-time after losing her job in 2018. Since then, she has become a successful still life artist, renowned for her ability to capture the glint of light reflecting off glass and metal. ansdebije.nl My early paintings were somewhat surreal. In retrospect, the Design Academy course didn’t get me what I wanted. Drawing and painting lessons were not the most important ones there, they were just subjects to support the design…

THE MOST CULTIVATED WOMAN IN EUROPE.” This was the accolade bestowed “ upon Swiss 18th century artist Angelica Kauffman in her lifetime but, today, many may not recognise her name. A welcome retrospective at the Royal Academy – of which she was a founder member – hopes to remedy this, retracing her life in an exhibition encompassing years as a child prodigy to her career as one of Europe’s most acclaimed Neoclassical artists, celebrated for her portraits, historical paintings, engravings and interior designs. Born in Chur, Switzerland in 1741, Maria Anna Angelika Kauffmann was passionate about both art and music as a girl, encouraged by her enlightened artist father for whom she worked as an assistant as they travelled Europe. Kauffman gained useful proficiency in several languages because of this…