Innehållsförteckning för May 2025 från Artists & Illustrators

Atmosphere, energy and startling colour are just some of the things that make a painting pop. Our cover star, Canadian artist Mark Laguë, manages this with aplomb. For him, the magic is capturing urban environments, cityscapes and architecture, whilst he finds the rain and darkness add mood and atmosphere. Another lover of street scenes is world-renowned watercolour master Alvaro Castagnet. In this issue, he demonstrates his second pillar of watercolour: shape, with his painting of a lively central London scene. Both are exciting stories from artists at the top of their game. But, we know you like more than just this one genre which is why we always strive to mix it up. Portrait artist Jane French shows you how she painted a fellow painter in a colourful headscarf, satisfying…

31 MARCH If you’re fascinated by mathematical art, enter the Anomalous Mathematical Patterns Sci-Art Contest. Free entry. sites.google.com/view/anomalousmathematicalpatterns 31 MARCH Submit your art for the Women In Art Fair Prize, an initiative tackling gender imbalance in the art world. The prize fund totals £2,650 and it costs £50 to enter. womeninartfair.com 14 APRIL UK-based artists can apply for the Rise by Henley Festival Emerging Artist Prize, celebrating early-career talent. Prize fund totals £2,000. Entry is free. henley-festival.co.uk 15 APRIL Enter the FiKVA Award, a competition for representational and figurative painters, offering a €5,000 prize fund and an online exhibition. fikva.art…

THIS ARTIST IS A GENUINE CHANGE MAKER in how she shares her content and advice, giving other artists the chance to plug into her network and learn about marketing themselves, which many find unnatural. The secret? It’s all about practise. Since starting out seven years ago, her social media channels along with a YouTube network and her fantastic art, has propelled her business. It’s an inspiring story for anyone wishing to explore and make it as a professional artist. alexgoddardart.com I absolutely love experimenting with different mediums, but when it comes to commissions, I tend to stick to acrylic paint. It helps me maintain consistency in both the look and feel of the artwork, plus it makes things easier when it comes to drying time and keeping the pricing straightforward.…

Fountain pen ink Robert Oster Graphite. Also consider: Robert Oster Barossa Grape, Diamine Earl Grey or Cult Pens Matthew Fountain Pen Inks available from: cultpens.com, purepens.co.uk, diamineinks.co.uk Paper Bockingford 140lb Hot Press (smooth surface) white watercolour paper Brushes No 24 watercolour (Winsor & Newton Cotman), No 10 watercolour (Artists Discount), No 6 watercolour (Artists Discount), No 2 Half Rigger (ProArte Masterstroke) Please note that I only use brushes with synthetic hair. Bleach will melt animal hair! Pen Noodler’s Creaper fountain pen. Support Artboard, masking tape 2B pencil Putty rubber Household bleach Small bottle with a screw cap to hold a tiny amount of bleach Mixing palette Water pots and water Roll of kitchen towel…

1 DRAW THE BASICS Draw the outlines of the head. Include all necessary guidelines for the eyes, mouth and nose. The guidelines for the nose and mouth should be slightly higher than usual to accommodate a big smile. Draw the hairline, the ears, and the neck and shoulders. 2 Now, draw in the basic features. Because the eyes are squinting, the shape of the eye will overlap the circles for the irises. Draw the mouth. Smiling stretches the lip, so the top lip is thinner than usual. 3 REFINE THE FEATURES Rub out any guidelines that are no longer needed, including parts of the iris. Begin to refine the features. Draw a few lines to indicate wrinkles from the way the face moves with a smile. Most definition will be…

I painted this last Spring when Southern California was in full swing. Our lemon and orange trees are loaded with blossoms, filling our backyard with their lovely fragrance. The roses are covered in blooms; some as large as my hand. The birds are singing and the sun is shining. I wanted to capture Spring’s euphoria on canvas. I gathered roses and lemons from my garden, strawberries purchased from fields nearby and a cucumber from my kitchen. I arranged the objects and painted from life. My style is contemporary impressionism. The hallmarks of impressionism include ordinary everyday subjects and visible brushstrokes. I believe my job as an artist is to help viewers see the beauty in the ordinary things around them that perhaps they have never noticed. I’m particularly drawn to…

For artist Roxana Halls, the work in her most recent show, Threesome, saw her take the unusual step of working with other painters. To create the exhibition, the artist, Sadie Lee and Sarah Jane Moon painted themselves, each other and performer Ursula Martinez for a project that interrogates the female gaze. “I generally explore my own concerns and have solo shows,” says Roxana, “so it was quite a new framework.” And investigating new ways of working is at the heart of her role as Course Leader for Contemporary Portraiture at London’s The Art Academy. The only course of its kind in the UK, the foundation diploma has studio practice at its core with much higher than average teaching hours – almost 24 hours a week – compared to other art…

Alla Prima is Italian for “at the first” and in painting terms means completing a painting at once, in a single sitting or session. The overall aim is to capture an immediate impression of the subject in an uncomplicated and direct way. This direct way of painting is one of the great historic approaches to painting as observed in the work of everyone from Diego Velázquez and Frans Hals to Anders Zorn and John Singer Sargent. Working in the alla prima method allows me to focus on what really matters – the shapes, tones and colours – while forgetting about the fussy details and the temptation of overworking. I love how this economical and exciting way of painting can really give life to a portrait, as if the sitter may…

One of the main issues when painting any skin tone is the lack of strong colour. White is generally over-used to create pastel tints that can look chalky and dull. For darker skin tones, some may overuse Burnt Umber. Beginners may even be tempted to plump for a tube of Flesh Tint, which in no way is representative of the multitude of real-life skin pigments. Skin tones tend to look consistent from a distance and colour may come from an accessory someone is wearing or a shot of colour in the background. On closer inspection, skin has a variety of subtle hues. These colours can be affected by illness, bruising, light, temperature, or reflected colour and can vary with age. Initially, it’s important to simply be open to seeing these…

Many artists strive to find the most well-balanced or harmonious composition in their drawings or paintings as this creates an image that’s impactful and accessible to the viewer. Some may even shroud the design in expressive mark making or fancy detail but behind the façade there’s generally a strong compositional foundation. Most beginners just want to get painting straight away and work things out as they go. I prefer to do plenty of planning before beginning a painting, even more so now as my style has become looser and more expressive. I think about the overall design and any preliminary drawing before I begin painting. The drawing is concerned – not with details but rather – with establishing the most important elements. To some, these guidelines may dampen the immediacy…

NICK STEWART Nick has spent much of his working life in service to many of London’s top creative agencies and visualising studios as well as a sessional tutor at the University for the Creative Arts. Since 2015, he has been exploring fountain pen ink for use in illustration and calligraphy – with stunning results. ALEX GODDARD What started as painting her brother’s dog has snowballed into a much bigger practice. Alex has transformed this hobby into a full-fledged business and now has several different art income streams including commissions for pet portraits, an Etsy shop, participating in craft fairs and a YouTube channel. STEVE CALDWELL Steve specialises in intensely observed portrait paintings in acrylic. After studying medical illustration at the Northeast Wales Institute, he worked extensively in the publishing and…

SOMAYA CRITCHLOW: THE CHAMBER Until 20 July 2025 A one-room display of new commissions by British artist Somaya Critchlow, this display marks her debut solo show in a UK public institution. Inspired by Dulwich Picture Gallery’s historic collection, Critchlow presents six new works, including three large figurative paintings, alongside sketches and Old Master paintings. Drawing from classical poses and narrative traditions, she reinterprets themes of power, mythology and the female form. Dulwich Picture Gallery, Gallery Road, London SE21 7AD, UK. dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk AN ARTIST’S PRESENCE 17 May to 15 September 2025 This exhibition explores how artists embed themselves within their work. Showcasing works from the Gallery’s permanent collection, the exhibition spans the 18th to the 21st century, featuring artists such as William Orpen, Elisabeth Vigée-Le Brun, Seán Keating and Nancy Lee…

THIS PAINTING HAS A MORE GRAPHIC FEEL compared to my usual style of watercolour paintings. The reference was taken at Barcelona Airport, but I decided to simplify it by dropping a few figures and details. The characters are rendered realistically, while the surroundings resemble theatrical decorations, at times transforming into symbols that convey either my own emotions or those of the characters. The reference also required cropping and minor adjustments. Afterward, I created an outline drawing in a chosen square format and added subtle highlights with a wax crayon to the background figures. To achieve a more graphic appearance, I decided to use only two colours: Sedona Genuine and Hematite Genuine, both granulating PrimaTek paints by Daniel Smith. konstantinsterkhov.com 1 FIRST WASH Apply the initial wash for the figures, covering…

1 DRAW THE BASICS Firstly, draw the outline of the head. Include all necessary guidelines for the eyes, mouth and nose. Draw the ears and the neck and shoulders. 2 Now, draw in the basic features. Because the eyes are squinting, the shape of the eye will overlap the circles for the irises, and the skin under the eyes will bunch. The eyebrows are slightly raised. Draw a nose with flared nostrils, and an open mouth with its corners tilting upward. Draw the teeth and outline the tongue. Sketch curved lines around the mouth and begin to refine the ears, eyebrows and hair. 3 ADD TONE Rub out any guidelines that are no longer needed. Add a light layer of tone, concentrating on the subtle wrinkle lines at the top…

The face is the most expressive part of the human body… making it both the most crucial aspect of drawing people and the trickiest obstacle for any artist. Worry not, as Portraits All you need to know will help you overcome and master such a challenge! With instructions and step-by-step projects for creating an array of portraits, this all-inclusive supplement covers everything about portraiture, one of the most popular drawing and painting topics. Ideal for all artists who would like to experiment with different mediums, it will teach you how to create expressive and realistic faces in watercolour, pastel, oil and acrylic. Afraid of painting yourself? James Otto Allen shares why you are your own best model so embrace your face! Then, Aine Divine describes how mixing mediums can have some…

WATCH AND LEARN I am self-taught but there were lots of inspiring books and videos which helped me learn. Richard Schmid’s Alla Prima: Everything I Know About Painting is a great source of knowledge, alongside his videos. More than 10 years ago, I was lucky enough to receive the Daniel Gerhartz’s video Her Mother’s Locket as a present. It was the first time that I saw a great artist paint. There are many other videos from great artists such as Jeremy Lipking and Quang Ho. richardschmid.com; danielgerhartz.com; lipking.com; quangho.com PERFECT PAINT Michael Harding oil paints are rich in pigment, last well and have beautiful consistency. I use them runny to begin with and then, as I progress a painting, without medium. michaelharding.co.uk THE BEST BRUSHES My preferred brushes are Rosemary…

SWITCH YOUR MEDIUM Consider how you might stretch and develop your range by attempting to make images with mediums and approaches that are unfamiliar to you. It may surprise you into a new way of working WORK FROM LIFE If you have grown accustomed to using photography, try not to go too long without working observationally from life. Dealing with ‘true’ colour and depth rather than the compressed image, plus the constraints of your model’s time and patience, are the best technique builders MAKE TIME TO CHAT Interview your sitter before starting a portrait. Everyone has a tale to tell and a small detail could inform the direction of your painting and make it more interesting TAKE LOTS OF PHOTOGRAPHS When taking reference photographs, maintain communication to keep your model…

Here I’m capturing another favourite subject in mixed media: the human head. I was lucky enough to have Aonghas MacNeacail, the wonderful poet and songwriter from the Isle of Skye, as my sitter. I love his shock of white hair, the bushy brows over earnest eyes, and his wonderful capacity for weaving a tale out of thin air – all wonderful attributes for an artist’s model. I want to give special mention to a particular medium and, for this demonstration, it’s the turn of oil paint. Oil paint has such weight and substance, from Rembrandt’s lacy collars to Lucian Freud’s fleshy nudes. There is a lush, buttery feel to it that is second to none. It sings out from the matt surface of dry acrylic paint and the combination really…

Most artists agree that portraiture is the most difficult genre to conquer when drawing or painting. Achieving a large percentage of a likeness can be dragged down by minor inaccuracies. The first and most important strategy for painting portraits is: Don’t show what you don’t need to. In fact, this is my general rule for any artwork. The more information you convey, the more ammunition for an overly critical viewer. Obviously, you may need more accuracy with features, but you’ll be surprised what details can be left out. Do you really need to show all the eyelashes, wrinkles, blemishes and moles? In fact, your sitter might thank you for underplaying them or leaving them out completely. You may even just concentrate on getting one eye right and blur the other,…

AIM Here is an exercise to explore a richer palette of strong, warm colours. Darker skin tones are a great place to start if you want to use more saturated colour. With less pastel tints, colours will have a chance to spark to life. MATERIALS For both of the exercises in this feature, I painted on a 61x76cm canvas using Daler-Rowney System 3 flat brushes, ranging in size from one to two inches. My palette of Amsterdam acrylic paints included Titanium White, Azo Yellow Medium, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Azo Orange, Pyrrole Red, Primary Magenta, Yellow Green, King’s Blue, Cobalt Blue, Primary Cyan, Prussian Blue, Ultramarine Violet and Permanent Blue Violet. WHAT YOU WILL LEARN By building with solid, flat-brush strokes, using darker tones and balancing complementary colours, you will…

1 BALANCE A good composition must be balanced to create unity 2 CONTRAST Variations in tones, colours and textures add interest 3 DEPTH Consider the shape and size of your subjects in relation to one another 4 REPETITION Similar patterns, including shapes or colours, can effectively link a scene 5 MOTION Lines, such as shadows or rows of buildings, can be manipulated to direct the viewer’s eye 6 EMPHASIS Use visual clues to draw the viewer into areas of interest or a focal point…

Being able to draw provides the confidence and perception to create a convincing representation of a subject. The skill creeps up on you through practise and ingrains as a habit making the act so much more instinctive. The other skill you acquire is simply the patience to look at something. You break it down, conceptualise it, and put it back together in some kind of creative form; you might even leave bits out or reinvent the thing altogether. It becomes tricky when balancing the need to master the drawing mechanics with the instinctive, creative urge to simply express yourself. In painting – and especially portraiture – the outline you use to guide your path can become the shackles that restrict the free movement of your arm and your imagination. You…

Editor’s pick… A major exhibition will bring masterpieces from the esteemed Iveagh Bequest at Kenwood, London, to Gainsborough’s House, in collaboration with English Heritage. Nearly 30 exquisite works by British and French artists, including Romney, Kauffman and Gainsborough, will be displayed in Sudbury, Suffolk. Masterpieces from Kenwood offers a fresh perspective on Gainsborough’s artistic world. Highlights include six of his paintings, notably Mary, Countess Howe and Lady Brisco, celebrating the richness of 18th century portraiture. From 3 May to 19 October 2025. gainsborough.org SKY ARTIST OF THE YEAR MASTERCLASS This spin-off series, offering expert-led tutorials, returns with insightful episodes featuring Artists & Illustrators friend Tom Croft. Available to stream on Sky Arts and Freeview via Now TV, the series offers a look at artists’ creative processes. Croft presents two episodes:…

I was always drawing as a child, and my teacher and parents were supportive as long as it did not interfere with my schoolwork. My earliest inspiration came from the covers of novels I would borrow from our local library. I didn’t have much access to galleries or fine art, so illustration and commercial art became a formative influence. My love of realist painting began when I attended an Arts Foundation course in my late teens at Wirral Metropolitan College. A course tutor introduced me to the works of Andrew Wyeth and Norman Rockwell, and I experienced a lightbulb moment. Making a painting that felt real and truthful became an obsession. The course also included life drawing classes which I took full advantage of. My path to becoming a full-time…

1 Choosing your surface Oil painting requires patience, practice and an understanding of the right techniques and materials. The surface you choose influences your painting technique, visual effect and the artwork’s longevity. I usually paint on canvas and wooden boards, as they provide different textures and effects that complement various styles. 2 Selecting paints and mediums Choosing the right paints and mediums significantly impacts your painting experience and the final result. I prefer using brands like Michael Harding and Winsor & Newton for their high pigment concentration and consistency. 3 Be efficient Thoughtfully preparing your palette saves time and reduces frustration. By organising colours, mixing efficiently and maintaining cleanliness you streamline your workflow and maintain creative focus. With these preparations in place, you’re ready to start your oil painting with…

FOUNTAIN PEN INK ART is a personal project that re-imagines a product produced for a now increasingly obsolete purpose. It explores possibilities to enhance its potential for use within other creative contexts, where taking risks and making mistakes is encouraged to create exciting visual outcomes. When a single dye-based fountain ink is applied to water on a high-quality watercolour paper, the coloured dyes that make up that ink may be released from the solution. So, although you are using one ink, several colours can be in play. The chromatic process is not only visually dramatic, but very much serendipity-led, and the beauty of the final visual outcomes is invariably dictated by this. If you then add in a touch of alchemy (bleach), the fountain pen ink goes to a whole…

One of the many challenging aspects of drawing human faces is that it’s not really just one expression you need to grasp, but many. And one of the best ways to learn how to draw expressions is to make faces in the mirror and observe what happens to different features and muscles. You can even take a selfie to study, or a short video and then review it frame by frame to see the subtle changes. Here are a set of portraits I drew that capture different emotions, and the main takeaways from each that may be helpful when trying to capture emotions through drawing. Neutral expression There are no discernible facial muscle contractions and the face is relaxed. Use this expression to compare the actions and movements of other…

Babies grin gummily, seemingly submerged deep inside inky pools of turquoise. Women lie back in washes of magenta or violet. Then the focus changes as if the lens of a camera has been switched and there’s a paisley headscarf in crisp detail, or the sepia back of a girl with long, dark plaits. Ali Cavanaugh’s paintings, which almost exclusively feature women and children, have a luminous quality, an otherworldly glow, and yet they are powerfully real. They embody an acute sensitivity and seem to offer a glimpse into a hyper-reality. More than 200 of the Missouri-based artist’s pieces are gathered into a hardback book, Modern Fresco Paintings, showcasing her working life over the past 11 years. “It is a milestone and encompasses a big era in my life,” she says…

What’s a good starting point for painting from life – an entry-level challenge? Painting a plaster cast is a great way to start. They are useful to work with because they don’t move and there are no complex colours to deal with, as there would be with a still life or a life model. It’s mainly black and white with some reflected colours. Small portable plaster casts can be found for a reasonable price to serve as a reusable training tool. What are the benefits of working from life over reference photos? I find photographs do not capture the richness and subtlety of colour the way my eyes can. Working from life, for example, I won’t miss the warmth of a person’s cheek or the cooler colours of their temples.…

I mused over this article, wondering how worthwhile it is when there are no steps showing the progress of the paintings. Then I remembered, especially with mixed media, the process is evident in the finished painting. It’s there in every layer, ready to be picked apart and explained in detail. This is my opportunity to explain why mixed media holds such appeal for me. It’s a spontaneous slapping-on of whatever works to convey what I’m seeing and feeling. It keeps the creative impulse alive. It is common knowledge that our creative brains respond well to novelty. This brings me to the painting Lake (left). This riot of colour marked the end of a barren period for me. Fed up with the self-flagellating that accompanies a blocked phase, I took to…

1 GET IN POSITION I find the energy at the outset is important. A confident stance works wonders here, so get in a posture of openness where you are making brushstrokes from the shoulder. I wanted something I could work back into and wipe away, so I laid on a strong layer of Yellow Ochre with a 2-inch brush for the hair. The runs enlivened the drier, scumbled paint underneath. At the outset, I aim to surprise myself, to take risks, and be open to chance. To this end, I like to push for bolder marks, even if they read as ugly for a while; it gives me something to sink my teeth into later. 2 BE DIRECT To capture the dishevelled chaos of curls of Aonghas’s hair, I vigorously…

AIM The key to this exercise is to look for large shapes first: the forehead, the cheekbones, the chin and the neck. You could use a large flat brush and block those in fairly quickly. Trickier are the nose and mouth, which will require more thought, and trickier still are the eyes. If you’re a complete novice when it comes to portraiture or even acrylic painting in general, you may be tempted to sketch a quick outline of the face first. This can stifle free-flowing brushstrokes though so try to keep the drawing to a minimum. If you don’t have someone who can sit for you, use my reference photo and attempt a portrait like the one below. MATERIALS For this exercise, I painted on a 51x61cm canvas board, using…

AIM If your portraits look a little colourless, here’s an exercise which initially replaces pastel tints for vibrant colour. Choose a reference photo with some contrasting tonal ranges and also replace the idea of dark and light with warm and cool colours. Warm colours will be used in light areas and cool colours used in dark areas. Some earthy or neutrals can be used to balance out some of the vibrancy and white can be added too, but the bias is mainly towards colour. MATERIALS Use the same brushes and palette of colours as the previous exercise. WHAT YOU WILL LEARN By changing your focus from tone to temperature, you will discover how to introduce and integrate brighter colours into your paintings. Process 1 Apply a grey-blue base colour using…

AIM Notan is extremely useful when dealing with figures on busy backgrounds, full figures or multiple figures in a scene. A simple Notan study can indicate the most valuable shapes and highlight what to prioritise in the scene. MATERIALS A canvas board, Carbon Black and Titanium White acrylic paints and a 0.5-inch flat brush WHAT YOU WILL LEARN When working from life or a photograph which shows everything, your main concern is to edit the information down. By employing a Notan study you will see how to immediately identify the unwanted clutter and direct light towards the face. Process 1 Choose a complicated scene to paint. I used a photo of a busy street with pedestrians in the background. The model, Marie, is in the mid-ground, slightly cropped at the…

AIM For this exercise, I’ll show you how to create and develop the basic structure of a portrait in a three-quarter view. You have nothing to lose at the start of a painting but as logic sets in you can lose some of that creativity. The aim here is to try holding on to that creativity as long as you can, so the artwork reflects you rather than the image you’re trying to replicate. MATERIALS I painted this portrait of Ricky with acrylics, which does allow for quick over-painting when I make mistakes but not much time to blend, due to their relatively rapid drying times. I used the following colours from the Amsterdam Standard Acrylics range: Titanium White, Azo Yellow Medium, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Pyrrole Red, Primary Magenta,…

To avoid clashing, stick to a few pigments and white. For this portrait, I used Burnt Sienna and Phthalo Blue Turquoise. There is no need to draw. Use a large, flat-head brush and apply large amounts of paint. Certain areas can be neat pigment, while others can be mixed with white. Use directional brushstrokes but avoid excessive brushing. Add single layers. I also use a palette knife and plastic card to create effects. Allow paint to settle and use an outline to establish where the drawing will go. From here stick to two colours, and use light and dark variations to bring features forward. Incidental marks speak volumes avoiding the need to over-develop areas. The more polished the final portrait, the more contrast there will be against early chaotic marks.…