80 PAGES • WATERCOLOURS • ACRYLICS • OILS • COLOURED PENCILS & MORE!

artist
www.painters-online.co.uk JANUARY 2019 £4.50

THE PRACTICAL MAGAZINE FOR ARTISTS BY ARTISTS – SINCE 1931

PLUS
Your 2019 Open
Competitions
Guide

Paint portraits in
watercolour
with Jake Winkle
PLUS

PLUS
ACRYLICS NEW SERIES COLOURED PENCILS l David Remfry MBE, RA discusses
his large-scale watercolours
l Tips from Richard Pikesley on
working on the spot
l Colour-mixing ideas for achieving
distance in your landscapes
l Advice on painting successfully
from photographs
!

How to paint your first Learn how to depict Develop your techniques &
realist still life animals with confidence achieve striking results   
incorporating ART & ARTISTS
First established 1931
ISSN 0004-3877
Vol 134 No.1
ISSUE 1063
WELCOME
Publishing Editor:
Sally Bulgin PhD Hon VPRBSA
Deputy Editor:
Deborah Wanstall
from the editor
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suewoodgates@warnersgroup.co.uk s we look forward to a new year of creativity, we’re pleased to announce full details
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artist Caxton House, 63/65 High
Street, Tenterden, Kent TN30 6BD Telephone Whatever your creative plans for the New Year, I and my colleagues at The Artist and
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THIS MONTH’S COVER Best wishes

Sally Bulgin Publishing Editor

Jake Winkle Miles Davis, watercolour

on Arches 140lb (300gsm) Rough,
121⁄2⫻181⁄2in (32⫻47cm). Let us know what you think at • theartistletters@tapc.co.uk • www.painters-online.co.uk/forum
See pages 24 to 27 • www.facebook.com/paintersonline • twitter.com/artpublishing

artist January 2018 3

 55

15 20 18

CONTENTS
35 Paint your first realist still
life in acrylics
Tim Gustard reveals how to paint a
realist still life step-by-step, explaining
that it’s all about observation

38 Coloured pencil techniques

FEATURES PRACTICALS Alyona Nickelsen shows you how to
adapt painting methods and techniques
15 Instinctive responses 20 On the spot for coloured pencil work with amazing
IN CONVERSATION David Remfry Richard Pikesley explains why it can be results
MBE, RA talks to Caroline Saunders liberating to work with the constraints of
about his large-scale watercolours time, changing light and limited painting 44 Develop a sense of
gear proportion
18 Artist, muse and poet A new ten-part series by Ruth Buchanan
Susie Hodge reviews an exhibition 24 Portraits in watercolour on how to draw and paint animals with
devoted to the life and work of Jake Winkle shows how painting portraits confidence begins with advice on how to
Christina Rossetti in watercolour is easier than you think, and develop a sense of proportion
demonstrates his points with a self portrait
78 Marketing yourself – 48 New directions
an overview 28 Capture a moment in time James Hobbs urges you to use your
Mark David Hatwood begins a Julia Trickey demonstrates how to paint a sketchbooks to work out ideas and
new seven-part series on the faded rose in watercolour, using wet-in-wet experiment rather than filling them with
business side of being a layers perfect, social-media ready images
professional artist
32 Complex compositions 51 Space and perspective in
Yael Maimon shares her top ten tips for the landscape
EDITORIAL CONSULTANTS successfully designing and painting Colour-mixing ideas for creating aerial
Ken Howard OBE, RA complex compositions in the last of her perspective and a sense of space in your
studied at Hornsey School of Art and the current series landscape paintings from Clare Bowen
Royal College of Art. He is a member of
the NEAC, ROI, RWS, RWA and RBA. He
exhibits extensively and has won
numerous awards.

Jason Bowyer NEAC, RP, PS

studied at Camberwell School of Art and
the Royal Academy Schools. He is the
founder of the NEAC Drawing School and
exhibits his work widely.

David Curtis ROI, RSMA

has won many awards for his en plein air
and figurative paintings in both oils and

51
watercolours. He has had several books
published on his work as well as DVD
films, and exhibits his work extensively.

4 artist January 2018 www.painters-online.co.uk

 JOIN OUR FRIENDLY ART COMMUNITY ON
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FREE online gallery
l Give and receive comments, feedback and
IN
constructive criticism
l Chat with other artists on a wide range of art-
related topics FEATURES
l Connect with art tutors and art clubs
l Find details of art courses, art shops, galleries, t IN CONVERSATION
framers and more Winner of The Artist
l Be inspired by practical painting and drawing Award in last year’s
demonstrations
l Enter our competitions with great prizes up for Pastel Society exhibition,
grabs Melodie Cook explains
how she creates her
characterful pastel
portraits

Register today at PRACTICALS

www.painters-online.co.uk u Follow Vivienne
Cawson’s
demonstration and
55 Dynamic surfaces for watercolour learn how to create
Make your watercolours more dynamic by using watercolour a striking floral
grounds in your work, says Jane Betteridge
composition in
59 Yes you can paint from photographs watercolour
Bob Brandt shows you how to use your reference photos as
visual prompts to achieve successful paintings

PLUS
7 The Art World 10 Your views 66 Exhibitions
69 The Artist guide to open competitions and
exhibitions in 2019 and beyond
COMPETITIONS, NEWS & OFFERS
12 Enter our TALP 2019 Open competition to win
one of more than 40 prizes worth over £17,000!
62 Subscribe to The Artist, save money, and enjoy
free delivery direct to your door
64 Save money on discounted practical art books
from our online bookshop
65 See your work published in The Artist and win
£50 worth of vouchers to spend on Jackson’s art
materials. Simply upload your work to our
PaintersOnline gallery for the opportunity to be
chosen for our monthly Editor’s Choice Award
77 Win books from Search Press in this month’s
PaintersOnline competition
www.painters-online.co.uk
also
l Learn how to capture eyes successfully in the 2nd of
Ruth Buchanan’s 10-part series on drawing and
painting animals
l Kevin Scully suggests taking a different perspective
and using gouache to create more interest in your still
lifes
l Follow Paul Brown’s limited palette and colour-mixing
ideas for painting landscapes in oils
l Top tips from Adele Wagstaff on drawing the
structure and form of the head
plus
l Paint expressive landscapes in mixed media with
Soraya French
l Mark David Hatwood explains how to use apps
as an artist’s marketing tool
And much more! Don’t miss out:
our February issue is on sale from December 28
artist January 2018 5
 Cotswold A vast range of picture
Mounts mount sizes & colours

In production
A NEW FILM WITH
ANDY EVANSEN
Available early 2019
All lms available now
on DVD & VOD
( Video On Demand)

• Huge range of mounts

• Wide range of colours
• Choice of cream, white and black core
• Bespoke sizes available (minimum quantities apply)
• Shipping throughout the UK, Ireland and Europe.

Visit our website or telephone for

your free sample pack.

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Log on to: soc-botanical-artists.org
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Tel 01756 792929 • Fax 01756 790909
Please support the charity Reg. No. 1110869 admin@proarte.co.uk • www.proarte.co.uk

6 January 2019 www.painters-online.co.uk

THE ART WORLD
NEWS, VIEWS, INFORMATION AND SPECIAL EVENTS IN THE ART WORLD
French painter and printmaker, Pierre
Bonnard was born in 1867 and is now
recognised as one of the greatest
colourists of the early 20th century.
Pierre Bonnard: The Colour of
Memory at Tate Modern this spring will
concentrate on work he completed
from 1912 until his death in 1947 – the
period when colour became his primary
concern. Bonnard preferred to work
from memory.
Most of his works are narrative and
www.painters-online.co.uk
compiled by Jane Stroud
p
autobiographical – interiors, nudes and
Pierre Bonnard Dining Room in the Country,
flower-filled gardens, subjects that
oil on canvas, 643⁄4⫻81in (164.5⫻205.7cm)
concentrate on intimate scenes of
everyday life, often including his wife,
Marthe de Meligny. He didn’t paint from
life, preferring instead to draw his
subjects (occasionally also
Pierre Bonnard: The Colour of
photographying them) and make notes
Memory is at Tate Modern, Bankside,
on the colours. ‘I have all my subjects to
London SE1 from January 23 to May 6.
hand,’ he said, ‘I go back and look at
Tickets are available from the gallery by
them. I take notes. Then I go home. And
telephoning 020 7887 8888; email
before I start painting, I reflect, I dream.’
ticketing@tate.org.uk; www.tate.org.uk
January 2019 7
 FBA Futures
Nearly 70 works by outstanding 2018 art graduates for
the UK will go on show at FBA Futures 2019 at the Mall
Galleries, London, from January 8 to 19. This will be the
largest exhibition of emerging contemporary figurative
art to date, featuring new practices and ideas of
represenatation, abstraction and draughtsmanship
across a range of subject matter. The gallery is open daily
from 10am until 5pm. For more information, go to
www.mallgalleries.org.uk

t Tomi Olopade Austin’s Barbers II, 2018, oil on canvas,

471⁄2⫻323⁄4in (121⫻83cm) from FBA Futures

ARTpicks
p Nancy Farmer Sinking to New Depths, watercolour
with gold leaf, colour lithograph, 161⁄2⫻113⁄4in
(42⫻30cm), from the Open Prizewinners’ Exhibition at
Ilminster Arts Centre, from January 2 to 19. The
exhibition highlights and showcases the work of the
winning artists in the 2018 Ilminster Open Competition;
www.themeetinghouse.org.uk
For more informatipon on open competitions and
exhibitions see our special guide on pages 69 to 73.

t Dante Gabrielle Rossetti Joli Coeur, 1867, oil on panel,

143⁄4⫻113⁄4in (37.5⫻30cm) from Lowry & The Pre-Raphaelites
at The Lowry, Salford until February 24. The exhibition
brings together more than 40 works by Pre-Raphaelite
artists, including Rossetti, Ford Madox Brown, Sir Edward
Coley Burne-Jones, and others. For opening hours and full
details go to www.thelowry.com

8 January 2019 www.painters-online.co.uk

Looking for
Georgia
A visit to the Georgia O’Keeffe exhibition
in London’s Tate Modern in 2016,
inspired contemporary Polish-born
artist, Lydia Bauman to make her own
journey. She wanted to discover
whether the iconic American artist’s
paintings represented the true character
of the landscape. Packing a pair of
sturdy shoes, a hat, a sketchbook and a
camera, Lydia set off for New Mexico in
search of Georgia in September 2017.
She writes: ‘I’ve been a painter of
wilderness for many years. I interpret it
in a complex mixed-media technique
involving combining pigments with
plaster, resin, wax and other
unconventional materials to create
textured surfaces evocative of the look
and feel of the landscapes I observe
around the world....It was immensely
moving and inspiring to follow in the
footsteps of the great American painter.
I learned a lot by looking at and
sketching the very locations where she The results of her search can be seen in p Lydia Bauman Red Hill, Ghost Rance, New
lived, walked and painted and directly Looking For Georgia: New Mexico in Mexico, mixed media with silver leaf on canvas,
comparing them to her paintings. I was the Footsteps of Georgia O’Keeffe at 471⁄4⫻55in (120⫻140cm)
struck by the degree to which O’Keeffe the Mall Galleries, London from February
simplified forms and colours’. 25 to March 2; www.lydiabauman.com

Winter courses
l Sculpture by the Lakes in Dorset has a range of winter
courses to keep you occupied over the colder months. Look out
for: Drawing From Nature with Laura Rich on January 25, using
material gathered during the day; Composition & Imagination in
Landscape Oil Painting with Julie Ann Scott, a two day oil-
painting course on February 1 and 2 aimed at intermediate and
more experienced artists; and The Art of Ink for beginners, with
Jessamy Keily on February 23. Later in the spring, on March 29
and 30, there’s a two-day course on an Introduction to Botanical
Painting on Vellum, with Sarah Gould; Portraiture: Painting the
Head in Oils with Adele Wagstaff on March 22 and 23; and
Vibrancy of Spring: Abstract Ink Art with Jessamy Keily on
April 6. For full details and to book, telephone 07720 637808 or
visit www.sculpturebythelakes.co.uk/artscrafts
l Revival and Survival at Watts Gallery – Artists’ Village,
Guildford, running on Mondays (11am to 1pm) from January 7 to
February 4, coincides with the exhibition, Christina Rossetti:
Vision & Verse at the gallery until March 17. Various speakers will
explore the art and ideas that paved the way for the Pre-
Raphaelite movement as well as looking at the patterns of p Draw from nature with Laura Rich at Sculpture by the Lakes
transformation and change seen across architecture, painting and
the decorative arts. For more information contact Ellen Love at Peterson on 0124 307210 or visit www.bedsartsociety.co.uk
learningcooridnator@wattsgallery.org.uk l Paul Arnott will demonstrate computer art to the Tewkesbury
l Artist, Penny German will demonstrate how to paint a still life Art Society on Tuesday January 22 (10.15am to 12.30pm) at the
in oils to members and visitors of the Bedford Art Society on Methodist Church Hall, by the Cross, Barton Street,
Friday January 4, at Putnoe Heights Church, Bedford MK41 8EB, at Teweksbury, Gloucestershire. Non-members, £5. Telephone
7.30pm. Entry is free for members; £5 for visitors. Contact Jean 01985 219391 for details or visit www.t-a-s.info

www.painters-online.co.uk January 2019 9

YOUR Email theartistletters@tapc.co.uk or write to The Editor,
VIEWS Letters, emails and comments The Artist, 63/65 High Street, Tenterden, Kent TN30 6BD

X
manufacturing process? Perhaps zinc white is
okay for field studies and Mr Brown uses lead
STAR LETTER white for his other works? Is there any
additional information about Gamblin zinc
white that would be good to know?
In remembrance Jola Kedra, by email
I have spent many decades
Paul Brown replies: ‘Having discovered that
working on officially
zinc white becomes brittle over time I
commissioned military
switched to titanium white. My limited palette
paintings for museums and
was great fun to use, especially when
units around the world but painting en plein air. It was easy to set up the
now paint mainly non- palette on location and it was also quick to
military subjects. However, I replenish the colours as there were so few. My
recently painted The Terrible findings are discussed in more detail in next
Rain (right) to month’s issue .’
commemorate the
centenary of the end of the Missed opportunity
First World War. As John K Austin commented in Your Views in
This is a young regular the December 2018 issue, David Hockney was
soldier (indicated by the commissioned by the Dean of Westminster to
pre-utility pattern of his design a window for Westminster Abbey to
uniform) who has yet to see celebrate the Queen’s reign and her love of
active service: the country the countryside. The design, manufacture and
has experienced more years installation of this work was described in The
of peace than has been BBC TV programme Imagine. The
known for a very, very long time. Perhaps he is on manoeuvres and, with a sense of commissioning process appeared to start with
youthfulness and summer fun, he has picked a poppy for his forage cap and one to an overwhelming desire to have a work by
tuck into his faithful mount’s accoutrement. Hockney and to persuade him to design
The vertical and horizontal brushstrokes, just visible, suggest that the warp and weft something of national importance. It resulted
of the fabric of those nations affected by the First World War will never be the same. in an impression of a hawthorn tree and
Those same vague brushstrokes below the silhouettes also suggest the wall of a trench blossom in colours and a style more evocative
with vertical ladders and horizontal firing platforms. There are some thinner vertical of the Californian landscape which, as the
‘dribbles’ like tears running down from the ‘trench’. artist said, is hardly surprising because it has
The soldier’s and horse’s feet are deliberately slightly blurring into the ground as if been his home for the last 30 years.
they are going on a journey that will absorb them into the earth itself. Mr Hockney, who has previously declined a
The colours of the Armed Forces are incorporated into the picture in various ways, knighthood and an invitation to paint the
including that of the future Royal Air Force formed towards the end of the war by an Queen, said while watching the installation
amalgamation of the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service. that it had just occurred to him that this
The poppies are few in the foreground but gradually increase until those among the window could be in place for hundreds of
silhouetted figures are numerous, symbolising the death toll to come. Wearing their years. Yet apparently he was the only artist
poppies, this young soldier and his horse will not be among those returning home. who was considered suitable for the honour
Alix Baker, by email of creating a tribute to the Queen in this
historic building. Having recently visited the
This month’s star letter writer will receive a £50 gift card, courtesy of Society of Wildlife Artists’ annual exhibition I
GreatArt, to spend on over 50,000 available products. Gift cards can believe some of the artists represented could
be redeemed in-store at GreatArt Shoreditch, 41-49 Kingsland Road, have produced something more relevant and
London E2 8AG, telephone 08433 571 572, and online at pleasing. Carry Akroyd, for example, has
www.greatart.co.uk created some striking modern representations
of the British countryside in a style which I
think would translate well onto stained glass.
Or an open competition could have engaged
Limitations of zinc white the complicated chemical reactions but, the wider public and resulted in the best work
Paul Brown's article ‘Take six colours’ in your with all the oxidization process all oils go available.
June 2018 issue shows how to mix a very through, this pigment is susceptible to This window was a good idea but, sadly, I
extensive and interesting palette from just peeling and, if used in underpainting, may think the Dean (who came across as being
six oil colours. He used Michael Harding cause the whole painting to fail. rather starstruck by Mr Hockney) has missed
Artist oils with the exception of Gamblin Trying to mix this palette of colours with an opportunity. We’ll never know how the
zinc white. I have read that zinc white in oils titanium white is not going to work because Queen would describe this intended tribute –
is to be avoided or reserved for the very top these two pigments are very different. I was ‘interesting’ perhaps?
thin layers. I have forgotten the details of wondering if Gamblin uses a different Sandra Jones, by email

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10 artist January 2019 www.painters-online.co.uk

Christina Rossetti: Vision & Verse
13 November 2018 - 17 March 2019

Book online at wattsgallery.org.uk

Guildford, Surrey GU3 1DQ
 TALP
orGAnised by

artist &
OPEN CALL For
2019

we are looking for the best two-dimensional works in any media

including drawings, paintings, printmaking and digital artwork from
amateur painters in the Leisure Painter category, and from more
experienced and professional artists in The Artist category. Up to 140
selected works from each category will be exhibited at Patchings Art
Centre in two separate galleries, opening on the first day of the 2019
Patchings Festival of Art, Craft & design on July 11 until August 11, 2019

over 40 individual Prizes worth over £17,000 will be awarded to selected artists including:

£5,000 artist Purchase Prize Award

selected by guest judge Lachlan Goudie roi

wiN!
for a work up to the value of £5,000
www.painters-online.co.uk

£1,700 artist exhibition Awards

over 40 prizes
Up to 10 selected artists from the 2019
The Artist’s category will be awarded a
mixed exhibition at Patchings Art Centre in

to be won
2020, worth £1,700
www.patchingsartcentre.co.uk

worth over
artist highly Commended Award
A subscription worth £100
www.painters-online.co.uk

£600 Batsford Awards

Four prizes of batsford art books to the
£17,000!
value of £150 each 2018 The ArTisT exhibiTion AwArd
www.batsford.com Peter Burgess Green Marble with Jug and Bowl,
oil, 121⁄4x101⁄2in. (31x27cm)

£500 Caran d’Ache/Jakar Awards

Two prizes of £250 worth of art materials
www.jakar.co.uk £1,800 the harbour Gallery
Award JUdGes
(All art materials prizes are quoted at the rrp)

£500 Clairefontaine Awards one year’s representation by The harbour

Two prizes of £250 worth of art products Gallery, Cornwall sally Bulgin,
editor The Artist
selected from the Clairefontaine Graphic & www.theharbourgallery.co.uk
Fine Art range David Curtis roi, rsMA
www.clairefontaine.com £2,600 Award
Guest judge
one prize of a showcase feature on
Lachlan Goudie roi
£850 Daler-rowney Awards a selected artist in Leisure Painter
Five sets of materials to the total value of £850 magazine ingrid Lyon,
www.daler-rowney.com www.painters-online.co.uk editor Leisure Painter
John sprakes roi, rBA, MAFA
£500 GreatArt Awards highly Commended
Award
Liz wood,
Two prizes of £250 worth of art materials artist and co-owner of
from the UK’s largest art materials’ supplier A subscription worth £100 Patchings Art Centre
www.greatart.co.uk www.painters-online.co.uk

wiTh ThAnKs To oUr AwArd sPonsors

WINSTON OH
in partnership with Patchings Art Centre
eNtries
2018 The ArTisT PUrChAse Prize
hilary Carr Wonder,
oil, 191⁄4x17in. (48x43cm)
2018 dALer-rowney AwArd
eilidh smith Ready for a Ceilidh,
acrylic, 223⁄4x271⁄4in. (58x69cm
£450 Patchings Award
A gift voucher worth £450 to be
used at Patchings Art Centre in
nottinghamshire
www.patchingsartcentre.co.uk
£600 Premium Art Brands Awards
one prize of daniel smith watercolours
worth £350 and one prize of Pan Pastels
worth £250
www.premiumartbrands.com
£300 ProArte Awards
Two prizes of brushes to the value of
£150 each
www.proarte.co.uk
EntEr
online at
www.painters-online.co.uk
Closing date for entries
April 12,
2019
2018 ProArTe AwArd
Benjamin hassan Flora,
oil, 213⁄4x18in. (55x46cm)
£300 royal talens Awards
Two prizes of £150 worth of art
materials
www.royaltalens.com
£600 st Cuthberts Mill Awards
Three prizes of £200 worth of
watercolour paper
www.stcuthbertsmill.com
£400 winston oh Award
A painting course worth up to £400 of
your choice, provided by winston oh
www.winstonoh.com
PLUs People’s Choice Awards
how to eNter
the competition is open to artists worldwide.
two-dimensional artwork in any media, including
drawing, painting, printmaking and creative digital
artwork is welcome. Only original work completed
within the last two years will be considered and
paintings based on reference photographs must
have been taken by the artist or used with the
permission of the photographer. Photography,
except where incorporated into collage, is not
acceptable.
1 the entry fee of £18 covers up to tHrEE entries of
two-dimensional works in any media. to give more
amateur artists the chance to exhibit, just OnE
work per entrant will be accepted for exhibition in
the Leisure Painter category. Please ensure you
enter the correct category. Artists can enter either
The Artist category Or the Leisure Painter category -
nOt both. the Leisure Painter category is for
amateur painters and The Artist category for more
experienced and professional artists.
2 no entry should be larger than 120x150cm
WHEn FrAMED (canvases do not need to be
framed).
3 tO EntEr upload digital files of your image(s) via
our website at www.painters-online.co.uk clicking
through the links entitled tALPOpen2019. Closing
date for entries is 12 noon on Friday, April 12, 2019.
Upload digital files of the images you wish to enter
and pay your entry fee using our secure server.
4 Entries will be judged after April 12, 2019 and
selected works called for exhibition. these must be
framed (canvases excepted) ready for exhibition
from July 11 to August 11, 2019 at Patchings Art
Centre. ALL works entered MUSt be available for
exhibition.
5 Successful entrants will be notified by mid-May
about delivering their work between June 14 and
June 30, 2019 to Patchings Art Centre,
nottinghamshire.
6 All care will be taken with entries but no
responsibility can be accepted for loss or damage
in transit, incoming or outgoing, whilst on the
competition premises or during the exhibition.
Originals selected and submitted for final
exhibition must be fully insured by the artist and
left with the organisers throughout the exhibition.
7 All entries must be original. Submission of entry
in this competition automatically constitutes
acceptance of all the competition rules and
agreement to allow The Artist and/or Leisure Painter
to publish, republish and repurpose entries in print
and digital formats including but not limited to
magazines, promotion materials, websites,
databases and as part of downloadable digital
products.
8 By entering the competition, entrants agree to be
bound by the conditions of entry.
ALL eNtrANts
will receive a complimentary
one-day entry ticket to the
Patchings Festival of
Art, Craft & design,
worth £10
 Half page horizontal 190w x 130hmm

PR L B
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14 January 2019 www.painters-online.co.uk

Instinctive responses
Caroline Saunders talks to David Remfry MBE RA, about his large-scale
watercolours of dancers, his portraits and his links with the fashion industry
D
avid Remfry has a long
established reputation as a
draughtsman and
watercolourist. He trained as a
painter/etcher and is unschooled in the
traditional techniques of watercolour,
having relied on, and enjoyed, the
process of discovery and happy
accidents, as well as being frustrated by
the elusive nature of the medium. ‘I
was somewhat dismissive of
watercolour until I contracted
sarcoidosis in 1969. As the disease
affected my respiratory system and all
joints, lifting a glass of water was a
major effort so oil painting, even during
recuperation, was out of the question. I
started to make watercolours and quite
quickly became hooked on the medium
for its capriciousness and immediacy.’
David painted simple still lifes of
china crockery, portraits, or young
women sitting at tables. Although these
paintings were very successful, by the
late 1980s he had become tired of such
straightforward subject matter and was
looking for renewed inspiration. A
breakthrough came in the form of three
www.painters-online.co.uk
I N C O N V E R S AT I O N
female stilt-walkers, dressed in black
drapery, who were roaming around the
Henley Festival. They agreed to model
for him and he captured their
performance in his sketchbook at
Kensington Gardens. Since that series
David has felt empowered to paint
anything from figures dancing salsa to
accordion players.
Fashion world
In 2002 Stella McCartney approached
him to produce a series of drawings for
her exclusive collection of women’s
clothing for her own label, after seeing
one of his drawings on the cover of the
second edition of Image magazine,
dating from 1972. She favoured his
bold, direct mark making and
combination of graphite drawing and
painting. David embarked on the
project not as a fashion illustrator, but
as an artist. In doing so the focus was
not solely on the garments, but on the
person wearing them. His delicate,
feminine drawings captured a moment
in fashion. They had more expression
and incorporated a more human
p Dancers, watercolour on paper, three
panels each 593⁄4⫻393⁄4in (152⫻101cm).
‘This commissioned work was in progress for
about six months. It is composed from
drawings already in existence and drawings
done specifically, many from various tango
clubs in New York; however, these have been
modified to suit what I wanted to achieve
with the overall painting.’
element that can sometimes be missed
in both fashion illustration and
photography. The retro styling and the
sensual mood that is characteristic of
David’s style, and Stella McCartney's
designs inspired by 1960s and ‘70s
fashions, were the perfect match.
‘In addition to appearing in all major
fashion magazines, one of my drawings
was reproduced as a giant ten-storey
poster appearing on the side of the
Mondrian Hotel in Los Angeles to
coincide with the launch of the project
‘Absolut Stella’, a campaign for Absolut
Vodka at the Chateau Marmont. It was
incredibly striking as a billboard
advertisement and luckily the project
artist January 2019 15
I N C O N V E R S AT I O N
was a great success. The response was
decidedly positive.’ In 2003 the Victoria
& Albert Museum exhibited the work in
a show titled ‘David Remfry Drawings
for Stella McCartney’. David adds,
‘Young designer Sadie Clayton is
currently sitting for me. I have drawn
several designers: Jean Muir for the
NPG, Zandra Rhodes, Stella McCartney
and Zaldy Goco, who designed clothes
for Michael Jackson.’
Paper and drawing
For many years David has used Arches
153⫻101cm, 640gsm Not paper. ‘It is a
tough resilient paper. I have a range of
plant sprayers and misters, some with
nozzles that I have modified so they
have a laser-like cut through paint, and
p Untitled, watercolour and graphite, 483⁄4⫻80in (149⫻203cm).
‘This work is comprised of drawings from different occasions being brought together. I was
interested in the partial obliteration of the drawing. In other works this process has been even
more severe.’
16 artist January 2019
others dampen the surface. I used to
use a hairdryer to speed drying. The
paper is always supported vertically
which makes precipitation a part of the
process.’
Almost always David begins with a
drawing, although sometimes very
small and slight. He does not have a
particular method for achieving a
successful composition. Ideas go on
bits of paper and in sketchbooks; if
they need colour it is watercolour. ‘With
the larger works I usually make an
originating drawing at one-third of the
scale of the final work, which makes it a
simple matter to scale up, by eye and
measurement checks. Unfortunately,
this process is no longer so easy for me
due to eyesight problems, but I will
p Three Heads, watercolour and graphite on
paper, 133⁄4⫻593⁄4in (35⫻152cm).
‘Three graphite drawings with watercolour of
one of my favourite New York sitters. I love
the way her hair ascended and have
accentuated this even more; it seemed on
some occasions like dense black smoke
rising.’
find a way. I sometimes use a graphite
line to start; it becomes a part of the
work often swallowed up by paint.
Sometimes drawings take many starts –
but I do not give up easily. Recently
I’ve been re-working a painting
153⫻203cm, begun in 2000.’
Brushes and paint
‘I use sable brushes for oil and
watercolour, though for watercolour I
usually prefer squirrel. Also hog-hair
rounds and flats for watercolour. I am
fastidious about cleaning brushes so I
still have some that are 40 or 50 years
old, although I cannot stop buying new
ones. I’ve been trying the newer animal
friendly ones and some are quite good.
I use German graphite sticks with
rounds of varying hardness.
‘My palette varies so I am unable to
specifically name colours as it is a
shifting thing. All that I learnt about
colour theory is stored somewhere in
an unused part of my brain. I do use a
restricted range of colours but the
range varies. Black is the prince of
colours, according to Manet and yes, I
use black.’
Inspiration
David gleans a great deal by looking at
the work of other artists. ‘Emil Nolde
has been a great inspiration, although
not politically. His watercolours include
vivid, brooding stormscapes and
expressive choice of colour. Another
inspiration is Edward Burra, with his
intriguing depictions of the urban
www.painters-online.co.uk
underworld, black culture and the
Harlem scene of the 1930s.’ Other
influences include Turner, Goya, Francis
Bacon, Ingres for his drawing, as well as
Philippino Lippe, who advocated ‘a line
every day’. ‘His father Fra Filippo Lippe
painted a work that I find most moving:
Annunciation, also known as Murate
Annunciation (c1443), that now hangs in
Munich at the Alte Pinakothek.’
David has collaborated with the Royal
Academy on a number of projects. He
curated ‘Only Connect’ for the RA Art
Sales programme, an exhibition that
explored the relationship between the
artist and the drawn line. He has
developed an exclusive range of items
for the RA Shop, all featuring his
characterful portraits of dogs. We Think
the World of You: People and Dogs Drawn
Together is his latest book; it explores
the relationships that develop between
dogs and their owners. In his studio at
the historic Hotel Chelsea, New York,
David has been painting his friends
and neighbours with their pets for the
past decade. His graphite and
watercolour portraits reveal the mutual
understanding and sympathy of these
partnerships accompanied with
touching tales the sitters told about
their canine friends. TA

David Remfry talks about his love of drawing

and painting dogs in this video clip:
https://painte.rs/2Od61GR

David Remfry
graduated from Hull College of Art in
1964 and has since had more than 50
international solo exhibitions. He was
elected a member of the Royal
Watercolour Society in 1987 and was
awarded an MBE for services to British
Art in 2001. In 2006 David was elected a
member of the Royal Academy of Arts
and in 2007 was invited to receive an
Honorary Doctorate of Arts by the
University of Lincoln. He was awarded
the Hugh Casson Drawing Prize at the
2010 RA Summer Exhibition and in 2016
he was appointed the Eranda Professor
of Drawing at the Royal Academy
Schools. www.davidremfry.com
p Untitled, watercolour on paper, 593⁄4⫻30in (152⫻76cm).
Photograph of David Remfry at the Chelsea Hotel by ‘This work was made using a number of existing drawings of models, although in essence it
Dudley Reed echoes the clubs and parties we went to in New York during the 20 years we lived there.’

www.painters-online.co.uk artist January 2019 17

Artist, muse and poet
Susie Hodge reviews an exhibition at the Watts Gallery, the first for 25 years,
dedicated to the art, poetry and life of Christina Rossetti
B
orn into a highly intellectual
and creative family, Christina
Rossetti (1830–1894) was one of
the greatest English Victorian
poets, known for her lyrical, intense
and expressive work that inspired
plenty of visual interpretation. She is
especially famous for writing Goblin
Market and ‘Remember’, but perhaps less
well known for the words of the
Christmas carols ‘Love Came Down at
Christmas’ and ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’.
Alongside her work, the exhibition
includes many connected objects, such
as her own annotated prayer book,
paintings by her brother, Dante Gabriel
Rossetti (1828–82), and illustrations
made for her poetry by artists such as
Arthur Hughes and Frederick Sandys.
There are also photographs by the
pioneering Victorian photographer Julia
Margaret Cameron.
Inspiration and muse
Christina wrote poetry from the age of
12, and experimented with sonnets,
hymns and ballads, frequently inspired
by the Bible, the lives of saints and folk
tales. When she was 18 two of her
poems were published in the Athenaeum
and she sat for several of Dante's
paintings, including The Girlhood of Mary
Virgin and Annunciation, Ecce Ancilla
18 artist January 2019
Domini. She also sat for the face of This exhibition and the accompanying
Christ in William Holman Hunt's The book, Christina Rossetti: Poetry in Art,
Light of the World, while both John edited by co-curators Nicholas Tromans
Everett Millais and Frederick Sandys and Susan Owens, asserts that despite
illustrated her poetry. A line from her her frequent bouts of ill health, Christina
poem ‘Who shall deliver me?’ inspired was well-connected in the London art
a painting by the Symbolist painter world and cared deeply about how her
Fernand Khnopff entitled I Lock My Door work was understood and appreciated.
Upon Myself. Under the pseudonym On display are objects from her early
Ellen Alleyne, she contributed to the life with her family and original
literary magazine, The Germ, published illustrations of Goblin Market and The
by the Pre-Raphaelites and edited by
her brother William. When she was 31,
her most famous collection, Goblin
Market and Other Poems, was published
and received widespread critical praise,
establishing her as the foremost female
poet of the time.
u John Brett Portrait of Christina Rossetti,
1857, oil on panel, 51⁄2⫻4in (13.5⫻10cm),
private collection.
In 1860, after Christina had refused marriage
with John Brett, she wrote a poem called ‘No
Thank You John’. Before this rather public
humiliation, John Brett created this small,
unfinished oil portrait. It is not inscribed but
on the back, Brett's granddaughter wrote,
'Christina Rossetti? Mickleham 1857.’ The
work shows clear indications of the influence
of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, painted
meticulously on a white ground
t Thomas Matthews Rooke, after a design by
Edward Burne-Jones, Memorial to Christina,
1897–98, oil on five panels, on loan to All Saints
Church, Margaret Street, London, photograph by
Andrew G. Prior.
In the last years of his life, Edward Burne-Jones
received a commission to create an ornamental
altar screen in memory of Christina Rossetti for
her church. When the funds were not raised by
the church to pay Burne-Jones, he asked his
studio assistant, Thomas Matthews Rooke, to do
it. Rooke was a watercolourist and religious
painter, and Burne-Jones allegedly completed a
pencil and chalk compositional sketch with a list
at the bottom of the colours to use. This is the
completed screen by Rooke, with five individual
mahogany panels depicting Jesus and the four
evangelists
www.painters-online.co.uk
Prince's Progress and Other Poems by her
brother Dante, as well as later editions
of Goblin Market illustrated by Arthur
Rackham. There are some of her books
for children, and many portraits of her
by artists including her brother, John
Brett, and Lewis Carroll. Also on display
are her own intriguing and virtually
unknown drawings, plus five of her
paintings: a portrait of her mother
Frances in profile; three drawings of
animals (a squirrel, a fox and a
wombat); and a drawing of a cross with
flowers that she made on the back of a
calling-card. Work by Dante includes Three animal studies:
approximately eight portraits of Christina Rossetti, A Fennec Fox, Squirrels
Christina at different times in her life. and a Wombat, c.1862, pencil on paper,
private collection.
Christina's art These pencil drawings demonstrate that
Christina studied drawing at the North Christina shared her brother Dante's love
London School of Drawing and of animals. These appear to have been
Modelling. While studying there she drawn from life
drew closely observed portraits of her
family and friends. Susan Owens, the
exhibition co-curator, says: ‘My theory is
that she learned drawing in order to
teach it – at this time she and her
mother ran a small school, and it would
have been another string to her bow.
She mostly drew with pencil and
occasionally added a little colour with
coloured pencils or watercolour.’
Christina never painted with oils or
extensive watercolours, although she
later concentrated on making drawings
to illustrate manuscripts of her own
poetry and copies of favourite books.
These were private drawings, not
intended to be shown, but only to be
shared with family and close friends.
When her publisher saw a group of
them, she hastily explained: 'they are
merely my own scratches and I cannot
draw.' It is a fascinating insight into the
Victorian world and particularly
appealing to view her work alongside
her brother's and other contemporaries,
and to wonder how much of an
influence they all were to each other. TA

Christina Rossetti runs until March 17 at the

Watts Gallery, Down Lane, Compton, Surrey
GU3 1DQ as one of the gallery’s ongoing
exhibitions dedicated to the work of female
artists. Adult tickets from £5.75, children go
free. www.wattsgallery.org.uk

u Dante Gabriel Rossetti Portrait of

Christina Rossetti, 1866, coloured chalks,
31⫻25in (79⫻63.5cm), private collection.
Dante Gabriel Rossetti's skills in the use of
pastels developed after the mid-1860s,
helped by his friend Frederick Sandys. This
reflective portrait is one of his early works in
pastel, and is infused with his poetic
imagination and individual interpretation

www.painters-online.co.uk artist January 2019 19

 On the spot
Richard Pikesley explains why the constraints
of time, changing light and limited painting gear can be a
liberation when working in front of the subject

F
or me, the best part of painting
has always been working in front
of the subject. In a curious way
it’s a situation that forces
decisions – in both senses I am on the
spot. One particular painting
demonstration has stuck in my mind.
Last year, whilst taking a The Artist
holiday in Puglia with Spencer Scott
Travel, I’d been talking to my fellow
painters about my delight in painting
as the light moved from afternoon sun
to electric light and dark sky. An
informal demonstration followed as we
walked into the town after dinner.
Summer evening ambience
The view was a long diagonal across the
little square and, as the daylight faded,
the feeling of a warm summer evening
began to emerge in the changing
balance of natural and artificial light. In
this situation I knew that, however short
a time I took, it would be a process of
constant revision right from the start.
This urgency gets me out of feeling any
sort of blank-canvas fright – I’ve just got
to go for it. I quickly mixed puddles of
colour on the palette; as marks started
to go down I was working out enough
drawing to see how the subject would
sit on the board and placing broad
blocks of colour. Finish was never going
to be an issue here; what I wanted was
a record of how the square looked in a
particular five or ten minutes as the
light changed. A white building with a
little bell tower was right in front of me
and, as I started to paint, its walls were
decidedly darker than the sky beyond.
p La Passeggiata, study, oil on board,
7⫻10in (18⫻25.5cm).
This was painted very fast as a
demonstration, in rapidly changing light. I try
to relax my gaze to take in the whole subject
in one eyeful, which makes it easier to
register the tonal structure
Within just a few minutes this tonality
had reversed with the darkening sky,
but the walls themselves were now far
from white as the electric lights were
giving me the lightest tones (above). I’d
pre-prepared my board with a layer of
primed muslin to give a bit of tooth
and a wash of an umber and white mix
to give a mid-toned ground. This meant
I could wipe paint off the board, leaving
enough of the drawing showing in the

20 artist January 2019 www.painters-online.co.uk


Richard’s travelling painting kit
Every artist will have different
strategies about what can be carried
and what to prioritise. My choice has
evolved over many years of familiarity.
If I want to be able to work in oils,
watercolours and make some drawn
notes, I have to think carefully about
what I’ll really need.
Drawing stuff
l Pocket-sized sketchbook with good-
quality cartridge paper
l A variety of pencils and a decent
sharpener
Watercolour
l A tiny box of artist-quality half-pan
colours
l Artist-quality tube colours: lemon
yellow, cadmium yellow, Indian
yellow, vermilion hue, carmine,
French ultramarine, cobalt blue,
p Last Light, towards Golden Cap, oil on
board, 6⫻16in (15⫻40.5cm).
One of three paintings as the sun dropped
through cloud and the landscape dissolved in
light
little pits of the muslin texture and
quickly restate. The mid-tone of the
ground meant that my lights would tell
right from the start and save a lot of
labour in working out the tonal
structure on a white surface.
The light was changing alarmingly
quickly and, with little light left from
the sky, I was aware that my reading of
the colour in my emerging painting
would be altered as the warmer electric
lights became dominant. I didn’t want
www.painters-online.co.uk
cerulean, terre verte, cobalt green,
raw umber
l Permanent white gouache
l Plastic palette
l Water bottle and water pot
l Roll of brushes
l Masking tape
l Lightweight drawing board (mine’s a
sheet of foam core board, very light
and surprisingly strong)
l Sheets of good-quality watercolour
paper, heavy enough not to need
stretching, cut down to the size of
your drawing board; I find quarter
sheets plenty big enough. One or
two small watercolour sketchbooks if
there’s room
Oils
l Assorted brushes from big hog
brushes to tiny synthetic sables
l Palette knife
to let this little study drift on and
become a muddle, so I stopped after
about 15 minutes and we adjourned to
a bar to continue the conversation in
rather less smelly surroundings.
Cliff-top sunset
Back on home turf I’m lucky to have the
Jurassic coast on my doorstep; the cliffs
at Burton Bradstock are a favourite on
evenings when the sky is colouring up
as I can get there and be painting very
quickly if things look promising. The
painting (above) was one of three I
made on one such evening, looking
west towards the distinctive profile of
Golden Cap. This high hill often seems
to wear a plume of cloud and my three
studies tracked its changing
PRACTICAL
l Artists’ oil colours: titanium white,
cadmium lemon, cadmium yellow,
yellow ochre, cadmium scarlet,
vermilion, Rowney rose, French
ultramarine, Winsor blue, terre verte,
opaque oxide of chromium, raw umber
l Supports: muslin on thin MDF boards,
sized and primed with two coats of oil
primer and one of mid-toned oil
colour. To be able to carry finished
paintings in two or three different
sizes/proportions, I stick matchsticks
on the back, around the edge, and
take batches of same-sized boards.
Wet paintings can then be stacked
with an unpainted board on the top;
two or three rubber bands will hold
them all together so they can be
carried easily in a bag or rucksack.
Alternatively, oil sketching paper is
lightweight and can be cut to size
l My smallest box easel
l Something to sit on
l Bottle of painting medium
appearance as the sun dropped behind
the cloud and re-emerged for just a few
minutes before sunset.
For this third painting I had just one
letterbox-shaped board left. There’s no
time to think much about proportion or
golden sections, but I’d noticed that
the line of the beach in the lower right
made a near-vertical and I liked the
way that the painting wanted to resolve
itself into a series of rectangles. As I
painted, a wash of light seemed to fall
across the face of Golden Cap, bringing
its tone close to that of the sky beyond.
Painting the sun itself in a painting
like this means I had to be absolutely
sure of the other tones within the
painting and I was careful not to let the
spreading vapour trail which makes the
artist January 2019 21

‘The main problem
when working outside
in watercolour
through an English
winter can be waiting
for washes to dry
sufficiently to overlay
cleanly’
only diagonal in the composition, get
too light.
Painting in Weymouth one evening, I’d
got myself wedged into a corner where
I could paint across the harbour with
my pochade box balanced on my
knees. It’s a viewpoint I’ve used before
as I love the way that the foreground
falls into shadow while the far side of
the harbour is bathed in warm evening
light. I started with the broad division
and drew marks to define where all the
buildings on the far side would be
placed. The many boats on their
moorings could be considered along
with the buildings and emerged
quickly. As the sun dropped behind me
the harbour fell more quickly into
shadow; a window on the far bank
reflected its light brightly and this was
further reflected in the water of the
22 artist January 2019
harbour. As I painted a succession of p Stour, after the Swans, Winter Afternoon,
homecoming yachts motored past me, watercolour,121⁄2⫻17in (32⫻43cm).
coming in quite slowly to turn and pick
up their moorings.
You can't always hurry watercolour. This one
was painted through a winter afternoon,
Fleeting light
allowing gaps between washes for the paper
to dry and while I made drawings on another
Sometimes I work in watercolour and, sheet. There's a degree of guesswork and
although everyone always seems to say
how wonderful the medium is at
anticipation in planning how things might
look in an hour's time. I quite like having the
capturing fleeting light effects, it can be ghost images of the swans, just visible in the
a fickle and at times frustrating dark washes
medium. Stour, after the Swans, Winter
Afternoon (above) was painted on a
smooth sheet of heavy HP paper. It
started with some pencil drawing to
place the main elements before adding
some broad, simple washes. As I began
to develop the painting, a group of
swans settled on the grass on the far
bank of the river. The main problem
when working outside in watercolour
through an English winter can be
waiting for washes to dry sufficiently to
overlay cleanly. For this reason my
washes went in quite dark so as not to Richard Pikesley
need too many layers. As I knew where studied at Harrow School of Art,
the sun would emerge below the cloud Canterbury College of Art and the
layer, the bright patch of sky around the University of London Institute of
sun was reserved from an early stage Education. He is a past president of the
and this area was completed quickly New English Art Club and a member of
right at the end. The swans, of course, the Royal Watercolour Society. Richard
decided to move off before I’d finished, has exhibited widely and won many
so one of the final washes painted awards. He will be leading a The Artist
them out, although I was quite pleased holiday to Iceland in May, see page 79
that their ghost images just about for details.
remain to give me the title. TA
www.painters-online.co.uk
 p Yacht Coming In, Weymouth, study, oil on board, 9⫻14in (23⫻35.5cm).
A painting about light as the foreground dropped into shadow. The yacht coming in was a composite of several as they followed
each other into the harbour

p Swimmers and Watchers, Adriatic, watercolour, 8⫻12in (20.5⫻30cm).

From this high viewpoint in Polignano I liked the water's edge high in the frame with a scatter of figures in and out of the water.
Painting quickly like this you grab what you can and I think some of these figures were composites, built up from numerous glances
as different bathers moved through the same positions

www.painters-online.co.uk artist January 2019 23

Portraits in watercolour
Jake Winkle debunks the myth that watercolour is a difficult medium for
portraiture and demonstrates how to paint a self-portrait in his trademark style
I
’ve heard it said that portraiture,
which requires the artist to work
into the paint and remodel it in
order to capture a good likeness, is
better suited to media such as oil,
pastel or acrylic. However, creating a
likeness doesn’t mean painting every
wrinkle or eyelash, or indeed agonising
over the exact positioning of features,
but instead is more about simplifying
the subject into areas of tone with just
minimal detail. Painting a watercolour
portrait requires a unique skill-set,
different to those used in almost every
other subject. Not only do I aim to
t Maasai Woman, watercolour on Arches
140lb (300gsm) Rough, 181⁄2 ⫻121⁄2in (47⫻32cm).
This was a 30-minute painting sketch for a
workshop. Restricting the amount of time you
have forces you to be selective about what to
include in the picture
24 artist January 2019
interpret, I want to maintain a good
likeness, and this can be daunting
because the paint must be applied
briskly to achieve the required effect
and there are just seconds to study the
form during the painting process!
Sketch first
Good observational skills are essential
to make an accurate sketch of the face.
Even if you choose to trace you still
need to be careful and know what you
are looking for. Simplification is a way
of seeing that requires the artist to be
selective about those elements that are
p BB King, watercolour on Arches 140lb
(300gsm) Rough, 121⁄2in⫻181⁄2 (32⫻47cm).
In this semi-abstract painting I wanted to
capture the essence of the musician as he
concentrated on his guitar work
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important and those that can be left
out. I usually start with the eyes and
work downwards to the mouth, or
better still, if there are strong shadows
and highlights I may just sketch these
shapes and then knit the features into
them. I find the outline of the face is
hardest because it’s usually a very
subtle long single line, whereas the
features are made up of short lines
connected together.
As a watercolourist I like to paint the
light, which means I concentrate more
on areas of light and shadow than I do
on detail. When designing a portrait I
will carefully arrange the way my
subject is lit. I like the light to come
from the side and slightly behind, so
the face is formed by shadow shapes
and negatives (white shapes). Flat-lit
subjects are difficult to form as there
are no sharp defining highlights or
interesting areas of dark. In Maasai
Woman (below left), the subject is lit
from the left, which establishes shadow
areas principally on the right side of
the face, the sockets of the eyes, under
the chin and around the mouth. In turn
these shadows reveal the negative
highlights and it’s this pattern of light
and dark that reveals the face.
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Make use of accessories
The shapes of accessories such as hats,
headbands, spectacles and even
beards help to break up the features,
which in turn makes it easier to draught
accurately. They also give points of
interest and bursts of colour in the
PRACTICAL
painting. The man in The Tourist (left)
has lots of accessories! His hat forms a
great shadow that travels across his
face; his beard and moustache hide
some of the awkward subtlety around
the mouth and his spectacles fuse into
the dark area around the eyes. It may
sound a silly comparison, but it is much
easier to capture likeness on a dog
portrait than it is a human! Not that I’ve
painted many dogs with hats and
glasses but their fur covers so much
subtlety in the face that as long as you
can paint ‘good’ eyes you’re halfway
there.
t The Tourist, watercolour on Arches 140lb
(300gsm) Rough, 181⁄2⫻121⁄2in (47⫻32cm).
Notice how the sharp-edged shadow from
the hat and spectacles create a sense of
strong sunlight. The beard has been fused
wet-in-wet to the face to prevent it looking
‘stuck on’ and the glasses fuse into the eye
sockets to unify the features
q Miles Davis, watercolour on Arches 140lb
(300gsm) Rough, 121⁄2⫻181⁄2in (32⫻47cm).
I knew I had to deal with the deep red
corduroy jersey so it didn’t monopolise the
t
painting
artist January 2019 25
W AT E R C O L O U R P O R T R A I T S
DEMONSTRATION Self Portrait
t STAGE ONE
I sketched using a 2B pencil. At this stage I will lightly shade a few
features so that I am comparing tonal shapes in the sketch with tonal
shapes in the photograph. This is important as there are no lines on the
human face so comparing shapes with lines in the sketch is not that
simple. I then painted on dry paper starting in the shadow area on the
right side of the face. It was important for me to use a variety of soft
and hard edges and cool and warm colours. Whilst this was moist I
worked into some of the shadows to give deeper tone. The hard-edged
negative shapes had to be left with conviction. Notice the shadow on
the upper lip and the white on the lower. I merged the dark colour of
my hair and my jersey with the damp flesh tones and scribbled into the
clothing to fragment the shape so that it didn’t dominate the picture

MATERIALS
l Arches Rough watercolour paper, 140lb (300gsm)
l 2B pencil
l Winsor & Newton watercolours: cobalt blue, French
ultramarine, crimson alizarin, Winsor violet, cadmium
orange, lemon yellow, Winsor green and warm sepia
l Luxartis kolinsky sable round brushes, sizes 16 and 18

u STAGE TWO
I continued into the left side of the face and exaggerated the light
and dark to help keep the painting easy and fresh. My spectacles
were applied with dark dry brushstrokes of thick colour. This meant
they wouldn’t appear too linear as the brushstroke fragmented

Use props
A portrait doesn’t have to be formal, so
I decided to paint a couple of
musicians. The inclusion of a prop
should add interest or movement to
the overall design as well as shape and
colour. In BB King (page 22) the viewer
can pick out a few essential elements
but there are also areas of pure lost-
and-found and abstraction; the body
and hands are hardly revealed at all. I
have been selective in the level of
detail I have included, so the viewer
doesn’t get bogged down in the parts
of the picture that aren’t important, and
also to allow them to fill in some of the
spaces, to add their own story to the
painting. Notice how his eyes are
screwed up and painted as wet-in-wet
smudges, and how the use of cool and
warm colours provides energy and
luminosity. The mouth was simply
rendered as shadow on the upper lip
with the lower lip left as a light shape
revealed by the dark shadow on the
chin. The use of spatter in the
background enhances the movement in
the painting.
Miles Davis (page 23) was a real joy to
paint. Although it has elements of
abstraction, these weren’t happy
accidents as I already had a plan in
place. First the face was painted on dry
paper using mainly cool deep blue
shadow merging occasionally into areas
of warmth. The eyes and hair were
dropped in with sticky mixtures of dark
paint, wet-in-wet, to fuse into the face
colour. The light coming from the right
meant I could exaggerate the light and
shade on the jersey, in effect keeping it
red but fragmenting it with lots of white
paper. The brushstrokes in the jersey
became almost calligraphic as opposed
to the softer marks in the face. These
marks are probably the most important
in the painting, their role being to
convey his red jersey but without
creating distracting shapes; after all, the
reason for fragmenting the clothing in
the first place was to avoid the

26 artist January 2019 www.painters-online.co.uk

 PRACTICAL
Jake’s paintings can be viewed in numerous
galleries including The Wykeham Gallery in
Stockbridge and Collier Dobson in Fordingbridge.
His work is also available from his website. Jake’s
book Light and Movement in Watercolour is
available from Batsford Books and his instructional
DVDs from Town House Films. Jake uses the
Luxartis range of kolinsky brushes available from
www.luxartis.biz. www.winkleart.com

p STAGE THREE
I added the eyes. I deliberately did this as a
separate stage so I could concentrate solely
on getting these shapes right

distraction of too much dense red.

Finally the trumpet was revealed by
painting the bell and a little of the shaft
of the instrument. Notice again how the
hands are almost indistinct.

Self portraits
I think if you can accurately draw the
figure or a portrait then you can draw
anything. The subtlety of the human
form in perspective is one of the
hardest subjects to sketch and draws
on all your observation skills in order to
portray a good likeness. Although I
could have used a mirror for my self
portrait, I used a photo that showed
good light and shadow in my face. p FINISHED PAINTING
Painting a self portrait is just like Self Portrait, watercolour on Arches 140lb (300gsm) Rough, 131⁄2⫻91⁄2in (34⫻24cm).
painting someone else, although the I checked the composition for balance and added a little background colour to reveal the lower
sitter can sometimes be more critical! TA left side of the face, although I could have left it as lost-and-found in the white paper

www.painters-online.co.uk artist January 2019 27

Capture a moment
in time
I
am a big fan of painting specimens
at a less than perfect stage, such as
autumnal leaves, seed heads or
fading flowers. My interest in the
latter subject came about by accident,
when the pressures of family life didn’t
allow me time to paint a fresh bunch of
flowers immediately. I love the way the
colours become muted and petals
twist, sometimes becoming translucent.
Nowadays, I dry out flowers, especially
for painting purposes. Some, such as
roses, fade better than others. I might
leave a whole bunch of flowers in a
vase without water, or hang them
upside down in a warm, dry place,
although once desiccated there may
28 artist January 2019
Award-winning botanical artist Julia Trickey
demonstrates how to paint a faded rose in wet-
in-wet watercolour layers
only be one or two specimens that
appeal to me.
Layers for form and depth
Botanical artists use a variety of
watercolour techniques to build up
their paintings but most paint in layers
to achieve the desired depth of tone
and richness of colour. Some use
several initial pale washes whilst others
may complete an entire painting using
small, dry brushstrokes throughout. I
favour starting by looking at the form
and shape of each petal and endeavour
to recreate what I see using wet-in-wet
watercolour layers. Working with the
paper flat I will wet a section with clear
water and, when this area has an even
sheen finish (but no surface water), dab
in colour. As long as the area is still wet,
this colour can be teased into place or
other hues added. However once the
wetted section starts to dry or loses its
sheen it is important to stop, even if
you haven’t finished what you are doing.
One of the golden rules of any style of
watercolour painting is never to fiddle
with drying paint. If you do you will lose
the freshness that is so associated with
this medium. After the section or petal
has completely dried (another golden
rule) the wet-in-wet process can be
repeated, and areas adjusted
accordingly. When each petal has
sufficient form, controlled washes can
be used to enhance and deepen the
colour of each section. It is important at
this stage to compare each shape with
its neighbour, assessing which is lighter
or darker, brighter or duller, cooler or
warmer in colour. As the painting
progresses it is worth looking at the
image in a mirror or at arm’s length to
check the overall balance of colours
and tones. Fine detail such as the
veining can be added towards the end
of the process using small amounts of
paint on the tip of the brush.
What with the careful observation of
colours and detail and the application
of paint in every increasing dry layers,
there is no rushing botanical art. This is
in complete contrast to other styles of
watercolour painting. Yet the process
can be satisfyingly absorbing and
meditative as it takes you out of the
pace of normal life. So why not rescue a
flower otherwise destined for the
compost bin and see what you can
discover and depict?
Painting the rose
I was attracted to the rose used for this
demonstration because of the
challenge of capturing the dark, velvety
petals in watercolour. Not enough paint
and the petals would not appear rich
enough. Too much and they would look
heavy and, ironically, rather dead. To
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achieve the desired effect, I identified
areas of brightness as well as touches
of real dark such as under the folds in
the petals and in the creases where the
petals meet. Capturing a whole range of
tones can really bring the painting to
life (I think this is key for any painting
in any media). Note also the blue-grey
appearance of the very edges of
otherwise dark petals.
As well as observing the lights and
darks I spent some time just turning
and viewing the flower in different
positions until I found an angle that I
liked. Depicting it from the front
seemed too obvious and complicated
whereas a back view enabled the
inclusion of characteristic sepals and
reduced the number of petals to be
painted.
DEMONSTRATION The Last Rose
MATERIALS
l Drawing equipment
l Transfer paper
l Fabriano Artistico HP paper
640gsm (pre 2016 stock)
l Sable brush size 6 with a good
point
l Watercolour paints: Daniel Smith
quinacridone gold, Mayan dark
blue; Winsor & Newton perylene
violet, quinacridone magenta
l China plate for mixing
l Water jar and water
l Cotton cloth or kitchen towel
u STAGE THREE
Working wet-on-wet on one petal at a time I
focused on the underlying creams that I saw
on the back of some of the petals, adding in
pale, dusky pinks if time allowed
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I set the flower up in front of me,
lighting it from both sides in order to
illuminate all the crevices and detail
(rather than lighting it from just one
side as I might usually). I often take
reference photos at this stage though
always prefer to work from the real
specimen if at all possible, finding this
the best way to explore the nuances of
colour and detail – I will use a
magnifying glass if need be. Because
the flower tends to shrink in the
process of desiccation I like to depict it
larger than life and in this case the
image is over twice the size of the
original flower. I decided to take some
artistic liberties as the original flower
was bolt upright, which I felt was less
lyrical.
In botanical art it is usual to celebrate
p STAGE ONE
To create the mottled background
I thoroughly wetted the paper then
daubed in patches of pre-mixed creams
and beiges. Whilst the paper was still
wet I added markings and flicked in
specks of grey
PRACTICAL
a subject in its own right and
accordingly display it on a pristine,
white background. But to create a
vintage feel in keeping with the fading
rose I decided to give the background a
mottled texture to reflect the foxing
found on the pages of old books or the
markings found on calfskin vellum.
Just four watercolour tubes were used
for this painting and all the colours
needed were mixed from these four
hues. The violet is close to the petal
colour but on its own dries dull and so
was enriched by adding magenta. Small
touches of the blue or gold were then
added to this mix for the petal shadows
or the brighter areas. These two were
then mixed together to make the basic
colours needed for the stem and
sepals.
p STAGE TWO
The initial drawing was made on tracing paper
to avoid spoiling the surface of the watercolour
paper through any necessary adjustments or
erasing. Once happy with my drawing I used
transfer paper to trace the basic outline of the
rose
t
artist January 2019 29
D E M O N S T R AT I O N CONTINUED

p STAGE FOUR
Further layers of wet-in-wet were applied to strengthen the colour
and express the form on each section of the flower
p STAGE FIVE
When happy with the general form of the flower I focused on deepening
the colour in each area using damp washes and drier brushstrokes
(without wetting the paper first). From my chosen view most of the
petals are seen from the underside, but I noticed that where any upper
surface was on show the colour tended towards a richer magenta. In
every case, each shape was compared with its neighbour to check for the
correct relative colour and tonal value

t STAGE SIX
Drier detail and veining were added and adjusted, using small amounts
of paint on the tip of a damp brush. For this I picked up the drying edges
of previously mixed paint found on my plate. I could have swapped to a
smaller brush for this, but was so absorbed in the process that I forgot. As
long as I have a decent size, quality brush with a good point I can use it
for every stage of painting

p STAGE SEVEN
The sepals and stems were strengthened and general adjustments
made by checking, at arm’s length, the relative lights and darks of
each part of the flower

30 artist January 2019 www.painters-online.co.uk

 p FINISHED PAINTING
The Last Rose, watercolour on paper, 81⁄4⫻81⁄4in (21⫻21cm).
I tend to paint on bigger paper than needed so the intention was always to trim this picture
before framing. I concluded that a torn edge (left) would complement the vintage feel of the
image, achieved by scoring along a border then placing a ruler along this line. With one hand
pressed firmly on the ruler the paper was torn carefully along the scored path. The painting will
be floated within a picture frame to accentuate the torn edging

Julia Trickey
is an award-winning botanical artist; she exhibits
internationally and teaches botanical art classes and
workshops. Her book Botanical Artistry is to be published by
Two Rivers Press on January 21. Details of her resources for
aspiring botanical artists and online tutorials can be found
at juliatrickeyart.teachable.com. www.juliatrickey.co.uk

www.painters-online.co.uk artist January 2019 31

Complex compositions
Yael Maimon concludes her series on composition by demonstrating how to
design and paint a complex composition, with her ten top tips for success

T
rying to incorporate more
complex compositions in your
work can be intimidating and
challenging, but there are some
practical ways to achieve effective
results. One good way to learn is to
analyse an artwork and apply what you
learn to your own work. For instance,
take a good look at my painting Dinner
is Served (right); consider how I handled
the composition, how I used colour,
how I created depth.
Double-triangle composition: the
placement of the cats creates two
triangles (right). These triangles
balance each other out well.
Circulation of the eye: the frame is
filled with multiple subjects. The
repetition of colour, as well as the
shape and light variations, encourages
the eye to travel several times around
the composition.
Sense of space: the warm orange
colour, dominantly placed in the
foreground, increases the feeling of
closeness between the viewer and the
subject, and invites the viewer into the
pictorial space. The cool blue was not
to lighter values of
grey towards the mid-
ground and
foreground,
contributes to the feel
of depth and space.
Mood: the
combination of the
uplifting energy of
orange and the
calming energy of
turquoise creates the
desired subtle drama
of an intimate dinner
scene. Also, the
touches of blue and
Double triangle composition magenta add a sense of calm and quiet.
The various hues of grey, orange and
p Dinner is Served, acrylic, 17⫻231⁄2in turquoise on the cats' white fur reflect
(43⫻59.5cm). their surroundings and interact to set
In this painting I wanted to capture some of the dining mood and enhance unity
the street cats engaging whilst eating within the composition.
Low viewpoint: thereby becoming more
used in the foreground, but in the more attractive to the viewers who are at the
distant cats, and that enhances the cats' eye level. It unconsciously helps
sense of depth. Finally, the gradation of to bridge the gap between humans and
the background colour from a dark cats and communicates a sense of
shadow placed in the top of the painting empathy and understanding.

DEMONSTRATION Tails
This demonstration will give you a guide to holding a complex composition together.
This process can be applied to any style, any subject matter and any painting medium

t Reference photo
I loved the compelling arrangement of
shapes, contrasts, and the raised tails.
Generally, I prefer to have the cat's face as my
centre of interest, but here none of the
subjects is facing the viewer, so I had to ask
myself where is the area(s) of emphasis in this
scene, where do I want to lead the viewer's
eye?

MATERIALS
l Fabriano watercolour paper 140lb
(300gsm)
l Watercolours: cobalt blue,
ultramarine blue, Prussian blue, violet,
burnt sienna, burnt umber, red,
viridian green, Payne’s grey
p STAGE ONE
I made a preliminary study with pencil on an
almost square format. My choice of format
was intuitive and I was pleased with the
result

32 artist January 2019 www.painters-online.co.uk


Simplified background: mostly hues of
neutral grey over a thin layer of orange
as the scene itself is busy enough, and I
wanted the cats to stand out and shine.
Some areas I decided to leave with an
unfinished look as I felt it added
spontaneity.
Next time you are faced with a
complex composition, try my following
ten tips for a simplified approach rather
than becoming overwhelmed by the
complexity.
l Take the first step. There is a quote
by Lao Tzu that I recommend to keep
in mind: ‘The journey of a thousand
miles begins with one step’. All
artworks started with one first step,
even The Night Watch by Rembrandt.
The first step should be quite easy and
positive, for instance make a very quick
loose sketch – no pressure.
l Analyse your resources. You don't
want to get stuck in the middle of a
painting, running out of colour or other
significant resource. Before you begin a
complex painting project ask yourself
how much time do you have, how much
energy are you willing to put in, do you
have the colours you need, do you
have a big enough format for what you
have in mind?
l Gain confidence. It could be
intimidating to jump into a multi-
subjects painting, so build up your
confidence by making a small version
of the painting or studies. Studies
enable you to ignore details so you
could get a better understanding of the
subject and composition. With each
study you produce, you will feel greater
readiness to try something more
ambitious.
l Don't skip the planning stage. If you
plan to spend valuable time creating a
complex artwork, take some time to be
clear about what you want to convey in
your painting and consider how to
achieve it – what to do and in what
order. A lot of mental work goes into
this planning stage. Once you have
made these decisions and choices, you
feel more prepared and it assures a
stream of positive thinking that leads to
better results. I find the planning stage
crucial when it comes to a complex
painting.
l Visualise the finished painting.
Before you begin painting, try to see
the finished painting in your mind's
eye, in the clearest way possible. You
can also try to visualise a couple of
versions of the finished painting to see
which is your favourite. Make sure you
don’t miss crucial warning signs of
possible problems in colour, value and
light. During the painting process, again
PRACTICAL
close your eyes and visualise the
finished painting; this will help you
push your painting forward towards that
finished, awe-inspiring look you see in
your mental image.
l Simplify the background. For a
complex painting, I generally prefer a
simple background. Since there are lots
of subjects for the viewer to enjoy, you
don't want a messy background that
will be distracting and leave the viewer
frustrated and confused.
l Multiple points of interest. If trying
to incorporate multiple subjects in the
frame, there can be multiple points of
interest and attractive elements to lead
the eye around the painting. Not
enough points of interest might result
in a complex painting that just doesn't
work.
l Better late than never. Even with a
most complex composition, don't forget
that it's never too late to make changes;
add or omit objects in order to create a
stronger composition.
l Evaluate your progress. As you work
on a complex composition, take notes
of what was right and what should be
removed, added or adjusted. Such
notes can be so helpful for staying
focused and avoid getting confused
when there are so many things to be
done in a painting. You can also set

p STAGE TWO u STAGE THREE

I sketched in the composition, keeping the design quite simple,
breaking down the subjects into geometric shapes and drawing the
main directional lines. The very dark far background was painted first,
graduating to a lighter tone towards the middle-ground and
The mother cat was my focus at this stage. I applied transparent
glazes of colour to render the shades of the white parts of her fur.
Then, the shadows of the kittens and mother cat were added
t

foreground. The darks on the mother cat were also added

www.painters-online.co.uk artist January 2019 33

COMPOSITION: 5TH OF 5
p STAGE FOUR
I moved on to work on the two dark kittens using blues and
browns, applying the colour with the soft side of a kitchen sponge
feasible milestones so that you would
always stay positive at each stage of
the painting process.
l Don't panic! Painting a complex
scene shouldn't be a stressful
experience, even if the composition
turns into a big mess, or if the painting
34 artist January 2019
doesn't go in the direction you wanted.
This is your time to take a deep breath,
close your eyes, and count to ten.
Focus on what has already been
accomplished, identify shortcomings,
celebrate progress and, most
importantly, stay calm.
p STAGE FIVE
I finished painting the two dark kittens and
felt it strengthened the overall rhythm of the
light-dark value masses in the composition.
Next, I applied a couple of very thin layers of
colour on the white kitten
t FINISHED PAINTING
Tails, watercolour, 18⫻161⁄2in (45.5⫻42cm).
I continued to build up the form of the white
kitten. I also added viridian green around the
white cat to direct the viewer's gaze. My final
touch was scratching this cat with sanded
paper in order to reveal the white of the
paper underneath and create fur texture
Yael Maimon
has painted professionally since her
early 20s. Her work has been shown in
solo and collective exhibitions in Israel
and abroad and she has won many
awards. Yael is a member of the Pastel
Society of Colorado
(www.pastelsocietyofcolorado.org).
www.yaelmaimon.com
TA
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Paint your first realist
still life in acrylics
If you find the thought of painting your first realist still life a daunting prospect,
Tim Gustard offers some encouraging advice as he talks you through the process

Tim Gustard
has a BA in fine art. As well as
numerous solo shows, his work has been
selected for exhibition at the Royal
Academy and with the Royal Institute of
Oil Painters, the Royal Institute of
Painters in Water Colours, the Royal
Glasgow Institute, the Royal Scottish
Society of Watercolour Painters and the
Royal Scottish Academy.
Keep up to date with Tim by following
him on Facebook or his Facebook page:
Tim Gustard Fine Art.

My first still life

I
painted my first still life (above
right) in 1990. My wife wanted one
for her birthday and when I said no,
she appeared with a basket of fruit
and told me to get on with it! After a
couple of hours I was really beginning
to enjoy it – there were so many
different textures and colours. I suspect
that somewhere deep inside my wife
knew this was the future. At the time I
was semi-professional but switched to
painting only still life after the secretary
of the Royal Scottish Academy bought a
simple still life I painted for one of
their shows.
Making a start
Where do you begin if you have never
painted a realist still life before? I
suggest you look round the home and
find a couple of objects and fruits that
appeal to you and compose a simple
Still Life, acrylic, 43⁄4⫻71⁄2in (12⫻19cm).
This is my first still life, painted in 1990. The technique is similar but you can see how I’ve
changed over the years. Compared to the paintings I do now it seems a little dull, my colours
seem cleaner, but it’s nice to have it still to compare
arrangement. When composing it’s easy demonstration painting Cherries and
to put them in a line and I have done Chytra (over the page). A chytra is a
this (pages 36-37) to keep the forms simple unglazed terracotta pot. This
separate, the only overlap being the ancient pot may or may not have had a
knife in front of the pot, which helps to black flat glaze on it, or the black may
connect the composition and keeps the be from the fire when it was made.
eye moving back into the painting. It’s The background was established first,
usually a good idea to have an then the table. I scrubbed and
asymmetric composition that is roughly scumbled on top of a base of white
triangular; symmetry seldom works in a mixed with cobalt blue and raw sienna;
painting and actually looks awkward. then glazed with raw sienna mixed with
Try something more complicated for burnt umber followed by a darker glaze
your next still life with items of black, ultramarine and burnt sienna
overlapping and influencing one in several layers. Draw the objects
another. carefully with a soft pencil as you can’t
This is the process I followed for my really go back to it if you have

www.painters-online.co.uk artist January 2019 35

STILL LIFE IN ACRYLICS
DEMONSTRATION Cherries and Chytra
MATERIALS
l Winsor & Newton or Fabriano Artistico HP 300lb
watercolour paper
l Gesso ground

l Winsor & Newton series 7 sable brushes sizes 000, 00, 2

and 000 miniature
l Sterling Acrylix series 201 brush

l Worn sable and small hog brushes, assorted

l 2B and 3B pencils

l Derwent soft art eraser (black)

l Ruler, mirror

Winsor & Newton Professional acrylic paint: black,

ultramarine, indanthrene blue, cobalt blue, burnt umber, raw
umber, burnt sienna, raw umber, pyrrole red, alizarin
crimson, cadmium red, cadmium orange, dioxazine purple,
titanium white, mixing white

p STAGE ONE
The background and table are complete and
the underpainting for the pot has been done.
I have begun the cloth, up to where I
introduce the third cherry (having been back
to the shops to get fresh ones)

u STAGE TWO
The cherry and cloth are finished and the
bowl in place; notice how I’m letting the
terracotta show through on the pot, and the
white and black I’ve discovered underneath.
It’s not just painting it’s observing: sit and
stare at your objects and find the subtleties
that make it what it is

damaged the surface with the pencil.

The table was roughed in with an
underpainting of white with raw sienna
and burnt umber; once dry I glazed it
with a mixture of burnt sienna and
ultramarine, following the general
pattern of the grain, finally picking out
the grain adding dioxazine purple to
enrich and then picking out the lighter
colours, all with my Winsor & Newton
series 7 sable brushes in 000. You may
want to use a slightly larger brush to
avoid overworking; using tiny
brushstrokes to create texture is a skill I
have honed over several decades.
Establishing other items
The cherries were first blocked in with a
mixture of cadmium red and orange,
depending on the underlying colour I
wanted to show through and several
coats were necessary. I then began to
glaze the shape with pyrrole red and
alizarin crimson, adding a little, and I
do mean a little, dioxazine purple for
the shadow, all done with a tiny brush.
There is almost a transparent layer
between the outside and the flesh of a
cherry, an illusion I was trying to
achieve. I finally picked out the
reflections and then the stalk.
Using the No. 2 sable, I began the
serviette by picking out the shadows
with a mixture of cobalt blue,
ultramarine, raw sienna and raw umber.
Play around with combinations of those
colours, use only the best paints and
be careful not to finish up with a sea of
mud. Then it was back to my tiny
brushes, picking out the weave with
strokes almost crisscrossing, picking the
edges and the stitching with pure
white. The stripes were finally painted
with alizarin and small amounts of
white; be careful to follow the flow of
the material, it never lays flat.
On to the bowl, which I painted in
precisely and with the shadows roughly
in place, then went back to the little
brushes to paint layer after layer until
the shape eventually appeared. My
colours were white, cobalt blue, raw
sienna and raw umber. Once dry I drew
in the pattern, gently but precisely
using indanthrene blue, a little black
and a little alizarin; then finally the
reflections to give it that shine.
The knife was drawn in precisely and
just underpainted to establish its
position in front of the pot. The pot was
drawn and then painted with a flat layer
of burnt sienna with a touch of burnt
umber and white to represent the
terracotta – I imagined the pot without
all the encrustations as it was first
made. Once completed I could see
some black underneath – it’s possible
this pot was glazed flat black when it
was new and that it has worn away over
the years before becoming encrusted.
Honing the details
I painted the little handles first before
moving on with some old worn brushes
– some sable, some bristle – dabbing
and scrubbing in the texture, layer on
layer. I painted a few dashes in white,

36 artist January 2019 www.painters-online.co.uk

 PRACTICAL

u STAGE THREE
I was developing the pot; it’s good to spread it
out over several days rather than going too fast.
Each morning when you start you will see
where you may have gone wrong. If you are
desperate to finish it and keep scrubbing away
you may suddenly lose what you had

q FINISHED PAINTING
Cherries and Chytra, acrylic, 9⫻11in (23⫻33cm).
I hope to see this exhibited at the Royal
Institute of Painters in Water Colours at the Mall
galleries in April!

almost covering them so they show
through in patches along with the black.
I wasn’t obsessed with recreating the
encrustations exactly, the main concern
was getting shape into the pot, and I
used glazes and scrubbing with mainly
ultramarine and burnt umber to
achieve this.
Keep standing back, and use a mirror
to check proportions, this will help you
to see when the shape is right.
Remember, this is an illusion you are
creating, not a photographic
representation. Realism it is,
photorealism it isn’t.
Once I was happy with the pot I
moved onto the knife, this is the make-
or-break stage, there’s no compromise
with the knife, it’s almost an incidental
item but because of its function and
position it is the first thing the viewer
engages with.
Silver is created by painting what is
reflected not the silver itself so give
your silver a good polish before using
it; dull silver will make a painting look
dull. Looking at the handle I could see
darkness in the wood so used burnt
umber and sienna with some dioxazine
purple and ultramarine, painting dark
to light and then dark glazes for the
shape and form. When painting the
slight sheen on a wooden handle, I
often use Winsor & Newton mixing
white as well as titanium white; it’s
transparent and great for those tricky
reflections like the cloth and the stripe
of the pattern, again reflected with just
a touch of alizarin. TA

www.painters-online.co.uk artist January 2019 37

 Coloured pencil
techniques
Alyona Nickelsen explains how you can adapt painting
methods and techniques for coloured pencil work whilst continuing to
enjoy the amazing benefits of this dry medium
Alyona Nickelsen
is a contributing writer for Colored
Pencil Magazine and the author of
Colored Pencil Painting Bible and Colored
Pencil Painting Portraits: Master a
Revolutionary Method for Rendering Depth
and Imitating Life. She has exhibited
widely and won many awards.
www.brushandpencil.com
A
s a painter at heart and a
natural control freak I want to
enjoy the spontaneity, fast
application and the ability to
develop values from dark to light and
vice versa that is offered by paints. At
the same time, I do not want to give up
the precision, control and absence of
extended drying times that are the
hallmarks of coloured pencil.
Coloured pencil artists accept the
medium is slow and tedious, they
preserve the white of the paper for the
brightest highlights; they gradually
darken values to develop shape; and
are aware that the number of layers is
limited by the properties of the
working surface, etc – none of which
suited me well, so I began looking
outside the box to remedy the
situation.
Fast background rendering
First, I changed my support from a
traditional cotton-based paper to a
sanded paper because it can withstand
38 artist January 2019
DEMONSTRATION
Sunset Roses
t STAGE ONE
After transferring the outline onto sanded paper
and protecting the foreground with masking
film, I quickly covered the entire background
with Faber-Castell Polychromos light ochre. I
applied it with a very light pressure shaving off
pigmented particles from the pencil core against
the surface grit and allowing them to fill the
crevasses of the surface. I used only three
quarters of a single pencil to cover this large
area.
Since Polychromos pencils are less waxy, they
blend easily with Powder Blender using a large
rounded sponge. In just a few minutes this
generated very even and seamless coverage of
the huge background. After I was happy with
this layer, I secured it with a couple of coats of
ACP Textured Fixative allowing each one to dry
completely
t STAGE TWO
I followed that with a layer of Faber-Castell
Polychromos burnt umber applied in the same
manner. This time, I only used about a half of a
single pencil, which would be unheard of for
such a large background working on a
traditional cotton-based paper and constantly
sharpening the pencil point. I also blended this
layer with Powder Blender quickly and
effectively securing it at the end with a few
coats of ACP Textured Fixative
t FINISHED PAINTING
Sunset Roses, coloured pencil, 27⫻31in
(681⁄2⫻781⁄2cm).
I then darkened the values of the background
with Faber-Castell Polychromos dark indigo,
burnt umber and Caran d’Ache Pablo black,
worked from the farthest areas of the
background toward the viewer and developed
the main subject of the composition
www.painters-online.co.uk
 PRACTICAL

many rounds of layering, blending and form, it can be blended, corrected or

erasing. This sped up the coloured
pencil application process and
encouraged me to move my work to a
larger scale, which is a goal of many
coloured pencil artists. Also, contrary to
the general belief that sandpaper ‘eats’
your pencils, this approach turned out
to be very economical. Sunset Roses
(below left) is the largest piece I have
created in the shortest period and with
almost no waste of coloured pencil.
Quick and easy highlights
The next task was to create the
brightest values, such as highlights, at
the end of the rendering, rather than
being forced to preserve the white of
the paper at the beginning. Titanium
white was my answer to this challenge.
It contains the most opaque white
pigment available, one that is used in
every manufactured white coloured
pencil core. When applied in its dry
erased to generate very soft edges.
When mixed with Coloured Pencil
Touch-Up Texture, it creates an opaque
mixture that hardens when dried and
allows you to colour over it with
additional layers of pencil if needed. In
Exercise in Red (below), you can see how
I generated the brightest values at the
end of the rendering. Note the
simplicity of this process, which is quite
cumbersome otherwise.

DEMONSTRATION Exercise in Red

1 STAGE ONE
I created the underpainting of the background with Faber-
Castell Polychromos burnt umber and then blended it with
Powder Blender to create smooth coverage. I darkened the
values with Faber-Castell Polychromos black and secured
the entire surface with ACP Textured Fixative

2 STAGE TWO
Here I roughly indicated the overall shape of the glass
using Faber-Castell Polychromos burnt umber and black to
create the impression that the glass is located closer to the
viewer and on top of the fabric folds. I applied Prismacolor
white coloured pencil to the elevations of the folds in the
lit areas. Then, the entire surface is sprayed again with ACP
Textured Fixative to both isolate underpainting layers and
to regain the partially filled surface tooth

3 STAGE THREE 1 2
I covered the folds with Caran d’Ache vermilion and
blended it with Powder Blender. Additionally, I worked
with Prismacolor Premier crimson lake and pomegranate
in the shadows and permanent red in the mid tones and in
the lit areas. I kept the application as transparent as
possible in the shadows and worked more opaquely in the
lit areas. The entire surface was then secured with ACP
Textured Fixative

4 FINISHED PAINTING
Exercise in Red, coloured pencil, 11⫻7in (28⫻218cm).
I continued the modelling of the fabric by darkening the
shadows and ‘pushing’ them back with Prismacolor
Premier indigo blue. I glazed over mid-values with Caran
d’Ache purplish red to create some colour and
temperature variations. I reinforced colours of the lit areas
with more Prismacolor permanent red and crimson lake in
the mid-values.
I worked on the local colour of the glass, wine, and the
reflections with previously used reds as well as
3 4
Prismacolor Premier dioxazine purple hue and indigo blue
for the darkest areas. For maximum contrast on the dark
range of values I added touches of Faber-Castell black. I As you can see, with the right approach, you can adopt the
brightened the reflections with Prismacolor premier white, methods and techniques for paints for the coloured pencil medium
more transparently in the shadowed areas and more and continue to offer the amazing benefits of being a dry medium.
opaquely in the lit areas. The brightest highlights were You can read all about this approach in detail in my book, Colored
created with a mixture of Touch-Up Texture and Coloured Pencil Painting Portraits: Master a Revolutionary Method for
Pencil Titanium White Rendering Depth and Imitating Life.
t

www.painters-online.co.uk artist January 2019 39

COLOURED PENCIL TECHNIQUES
Dark-to-light versus light
-to-dark
Traditionally, coloured pencil artists
develop values by gradually darkening
them, ie working from light-to-dark. The
reason for this approach is due to the
natural ability of coloured pencil to fill
the crevices of the working surface with
wax more and more with every new
layer. Therefore, at the very end, when
the brightest values are needed the
most, there is no exposed tooth of the
paper left and coloured pencil simply
slicks off the smooth surface without
leaving any significant marks.
Therefore, coloured pencil artists are
left with only one half of the tools that
are available for painters who can as
easily work from dark to light and vice
versa.
I always thought that modelling a form
only by gradually darkening values was
an unnecessary hardship imposed on
us coloured pencil artists. For example,
when creating a shape that has details
on its surface, all their values must be
kept in mind and maintained correctly
from the beginning while still
developing the overall shape itself.
This often causes mistakes and results
in flat or misshapen objects. Rendering
depth in a composition is a
tremendous task on its own, but it
becomes even more challenging when
artists are restricted in the methods
that are readily available in other
media.
I wanted to eliminate this problem
and to liberate coloured pencil artists
from these traditional constraints. In my
work I overcome the natural reduction
of friction during the layering (lost
paper tooth) with the use of ACP
Textured Fixative. It hardens when dry
and restores the surface due to its
textural element allowing me to work
from dark to light with virtually no limit
on the number of layers. TA

DEMONSTRATION The Thinker

In this piece I adapted the traditional approach of oil painters to work on the darkest
shadows first and then proceeded to the lit areas and details

p STAGE ONE p STAGE TWO

I transferred the outline onto a sanded paper. To create the
background, I used a light-to-dark approach of developing values. First,
I lightly applied Faber-Castell Polychromos magenta with a dull point to
the entire background and blended it with a large rounded sponge
dipped in Powder Blender. I allowed the original brightness of paper to
shine through the translucent coloured pencil layer to indicate the
farthest plane in the composition. I secured this layer with ACP
Textured Fixative letting it completely dry and harden. When fixative
hardens, it provides grit to the surface that can be covered with
additional coloured pencil layers
I followed with a light application of Faber-Castell Polychromos
burnt umber and blended it with Powder Blender in the same
manner. I did not cover the entire background, just the areas that
needed to be darkened. This method also allowed me to merge
both layers seamlessly and to slightly tone down the intensity of
the previous layer without completely obstructing it. Again, the
background was secured with ACP Textured Fixative

40 artist January 2019 www.painters-online.co.uk

 PRACTICAL

Key points to remember when

working with this method:
l For the very first layers I use less waxy brands of
coloured pencils, such as Faber-Castell
Polychromos, Derwent Procolour, Caran d’Ache
Pablo and Lyra Polycolour.
l I apply pencils with a light touch allowing them
to glide over the sharp ‘tooth’ of sanded paper and
shave off the pigmented particles from the pencil
core. The less pressure you apply to the pencil, the
easier it will blend later.
l I blend applied pencil lightly with various sizes of
sponge applicators and using the transparent dry
coloured pencil lubricant, Powder Blender. This
allows me to create seamless value and colour
transitions, as well as soft edges and out-of-focus
backgrounds that are hard to achieve with a
traditional coloured pencil application.
l I can adjust, erase and correct applied pencil
with kneaded eraser, mounting putty or scotch tape
endlessly to accomplish the result I want without
the time restriction of liquid media.
l I secure the applied coloured pencil with ACP
Textured Fixative, which allows for virtually
indefinite layering.

p STAGE THREE
I used Faber-Castell Polychromos dark indigo and
black in the darkest areas of the background to
increase the contrast of the entire image. This
generated a dark background with a subtle hint
of colour in the most lit areas of the furthest
plane of the composition. In other words, the
Faber-Castell Polychromos magenta is shining
through the layers of colour rather than sitting on
top of them, which is a hallmark look of
developing values from light to dark

u STAGE FOUR
To create the impression that the main subject is
closer to the viewer and emerges from the distant
background, I began value development from the
farthest shadowed areas toward the lit areas
using Faber-Castell Polychromos burnt umber,
dark indigo and black. To model shapes I blended
applied pencil working from the darkest parts to
the lightest and using the wipe-off technique –
this involves lightening the value by lifting
already applied pencil with various sponges,
short bristle scrubbing brushes, kneaded eraser
and scotch tape. After the overall modelling was
completed, I secured it with ACP Textured Fixative
in a few light layers letting them dry completely
before continuing

www.painters-online.co.uk artist January 2019 41

D E M O N S T R AT I O N
CONTINUED

u STAGE FIVE
Here I worked on the veiling (or dead layer)
with Faber-Castell Polychromos white in the
mid-values and with the addition of Coloured
Pencil Titanium White to the lightest values.
This allowed me to indicate the lit areas and
to elevate the protruding elements of the
face, hand, shoulders and the hair curls. This
stage will also help to make the colours
applied over white underpainting look
brighter and more intense. The rest of the
subject’s underpainting will make the
subsequent coloured pencil layers look
darker and duller, visually pushing them back
into the depth of the background. I secured
this application with ACP Textured Fixative as
well and let it dry completely before
proceeding further

Coloured Pencil Titanium White, Powder Blender,

Textured Fixative, Touch-Up Fixative and Final
Fixative are available from Jackson’s Art Supplies.
www.jacksonsart.com

p STAGE SIX
I warmed up the shadows with Caran d’Ache
Pablo vermilion, working very lightly and
spreading it thinly with Powder Blender using
various sponges

u FINISHED PAINTING
The Thinker, coloured pencils, 20⫻16in
(51⫻40.5cm).
I developed the face using the following
pencils: Faber-Castell Polychromos white,
cadmium yellow, raw umber, fuchsia, rose
carmine, magenta, caput mortuum violet,
cobalt turquoise, dark indigo, burnt umber,
black. Caran d’Ache Pablo fast orange, salmon
pink, granite rose, vermilion, flame red,
purplish red. Caran d’Ache Luminance burnt
ochre 50 per cent, burnt sienna, raw sienna,
crimson alizarin, light cobalt blue, turquoise
blue, white, black.
I completed work on this project with the
mixture of Touch-Up Texture and Titanium
White in the brightest highlights and then
secured the entire rendering with a few layers
of ACP Final fixative

Watch Alyona render a nose using coloured

pencils in this video:
https://painte.rs/2Od61GR

42 artist January 2019 www.painters-online.co.uk

www.painters-online.co.uk artist January 2019 43
Develop a sense of
proportion
Learn how to draw and paint animals with confidence in this new
ten-part series from Ruth Buchanan. This month she explains how to
develop a sense of proportion
D
eveloping a sense of
proportion actually comes
from a mixture of observation
(learning to look) and practice
(experience), although it helps to have
a knowledge of structure, and there are
various exercises that can help with
that. It would be impossible for me to
give you a template for every species,
and even within a species there can be
many variants – think the differences in
the proportions of a dachshund and a
greyhound!
There are, however, some general
Figure 1
The skeletal forms of a
human and a horse
Note that the horse’s spinal column
sits lower than you might think.
The shape of the horse’s back is
created by ‘spinous processes’ that
elevate from each vertebrae
Skull (head)
Scapula (shoulder blade)
Humerus (upper arm)
Radius (forearm)
Phlanges (fingers and toes)
Spine
Pelvis
Femur
Tibia
Cervical vertebrae
44 artist January 2019
pointers on what to look for, and some
surprising commonalities. Learning
about proportion is best done from life.
In working from a photograph you can
inadvertently replicate a lens distortion
(smartphones are the biggest offenders
here), or the angle from which the
photograph is taken can cause
foreshortening, especially of the lower
limbs if the angle is slightly from above.
To practise drawing, it does not matter
what animal you use, you can even use
a human if you look for a good life-
drawing class. The idea is to get a feel
for ‘learning to look’. Once
you get the basic feel you
can start to sketch, draw
and paint animals with
more confidence.
In my article ‘How to
draw the horse’ (January
2018 issue)** there
are specific
approaches that
Ribs
Patella (knee)
are more applicable to developing a
sense of proportion. I term these
construction approaches. The main
ones that can help are maquette,
keyline, engineering (triangulation and
proportional measuring using the head
length as a unit) and negative space.
The drawing
For most of the drawings here I used a
Paper Mate felt-tip pen to show up
better on the scans (normally I would
use pencil). They are drawn in an A3
Seawhite cartridge sketchbook. I find
that I often draw more freely in pen,
though I sometimes have a pencil
construction drawing underneath.
When I get stuck on a drawing I find it
easier to work out proportions based
on the form of the skeleton (ie keyline).
There are basic similarities in the
structure of human and animal
skeletons, but large variations in the
relative proportions. As a child of seven
I remember asking why dogs’ or horses’
legs ‘bent the wrong way’. It was not
until many years later when I studied
anatomy that I realised why, and maybe
if I had been answered then I would
have been a vet rather than an artist!
TIP
I often use a layout designer’s pad for
developing drawings. I start from the
back and work forwards so that I can
do a construction drawing, then lay
the next page over it to refine the
drawing rather than completely re-
draw from scratch. It is important not
just to trace from the under-drawing
as that can simply replicate any errors
and the drawing can become stiff and
‘dead’.
www.painters-online.co.uk

The skeleton
Believe it or not, while birds, reptiles
and amphibians have varying numbers
of vertebrae in their necks, nearly all
mammals have seven cervical (neck)
vertebrae. It is just the proportions that
are different. The exceptions are two-
toed sloths (5–7), three-toed sloths
(8–9) and manatees, which have six.
Bovines (cattle) have prominent
spinal columns and pelvic bones, wide
foreheads and large, rounded noses.
Giraffes are quite angular but do not
have prominent pelvic bones. They
have a more sloping back, are a bit
knock-kneed and have a split upper lip.
They are also very, very tall. The one
shown is a smallish female at Yorkshire
Wildlife Park, while the cow is a largish
Holstein from my friend’s herd. The first
exercise is to start looking at the
animals around you and seeing how
they vary in shape and proportion.
TIP
Using the skeletal structure also helps
you see if the animal’s weight is
correctly balanced. If the weight is
wrong the whole picture will look
wrong. Look at what bones and joints
stack up over each other.
Figure 2
The horse as shown in Figure 1 but
drawn using a combination of a
simplified skeleton (keyline) and
maquette approaches. You can see how
the keyline is based on a simplified
skeleton. Keyline gives angles and
proportions, but maquette gives more
idea of mass, so I often use these two
approaches in combination
Figure 3
A shortish female giraffe (cow)
and a bovine cow
The giraffe and the cow have the same basic
structure, just different angles and relative
proportions. Animals we term as ‘exotic’ are
simply wildlife that have adapted to their
surroundings for survival. The cow’s body and
legs, like the horse, goat, sheep and long-
legged breeds of dogs, sits into a square (see
maquette drawing in January 2018 article).
They also share a basic proportional
measurement from the withers (base of the
neck) to the back of the quarters, being two
head lengths (with some slight variations for
individuals)
PRACTICAL
Other interesting
skeletal facts
l Only climbing or burrowing
creatures have collarbones. Cats
have floating collarbones, but dogs,
horses, cows etc do not have them
at all.
l Dogs and cats have four toes (the
fifth being the dew claw). Sheep,
goats, cows etc have cloven hooves
(two toes). Horses have one toe,
which is the equivalent to a human
middle finger or toe.
l Many mammals have more sets of
ribs than humans.
l While a horse’s tail has a ‘dock’, ie a
few vertebrae that form the top of
the tail from which the hairs grow
down, they are counted as sacral
vertebrae. A cow, cat or a dog has
many more bones in its tail and
another set of vertebrae called
caudal (tail) vertebrae.
15ft
10ft
6ft
5ft

Keyline drawings
Applying the basic skeletal structure to Same
keyline drawings provides a quick way structure,
of showing a basic proportion when different
drawing animals, including humans. The angles and
key to developing a sense of proportions
proportion is practice: repeating
exercises, life drawing, observational
drawing, construction drawing. They all
help that sense to develop, to give you
an idea of where things sit in space, so
that when you draw you don’t have to Cows, giraffes, horses, dogs and most other mammals, including humans,
over-focus on it. have the same number (7) of cervical (neck) vertebrae. Cows and giraffes are
Once you get the idea of skeleton and even-toed ungulates, so distantly related

www.painters-online.co.uk artist January 2019 45

D R AW A N D PA I N T A N I M A L S : 1 S T O F 1 0

EXERCISE On the Ball

p STAGE ONE p STAGE TWO p STAGE THREE

This is the start of a drawing of my friend
launching a ball for Scribble, using the
keyline approach. At this stage I also make
checks by the triangulation and head unit
measurement (engineering approaches).
I also check that I have the weight in the
correct place on both the man and the dog
I ‘fleshed-out’ the figures using some
maquette shapes. Remember, the keylines
describe the structure, not the outline, as that
sits over the musculature. I make further
checks to ensure that the negative space is
consistent with the drawing of the subjects
I added the thrower’s clothing and wellington
boots and a single mid-tone shading, which covers
most of the construction lines. Any construction
lines that are still visible can simply be lifted out
with an eraser

TIP:
Be ‘the dog with the ball’
In workshops I always start by asking
people to be kind to themselves.
Watch a dog chase a ball: if he misses Can you draw Then you can draw these
the ball he does not tell himself off
for not catching it, he just thinks
this?
‘where’s the ball?’ and chases it. Be 1 2 3 4 5 6
the dog with the ball – keep chasing
until the drawing is right. It is easy to
get disillusioned with a drawing or
painting when you reach an ‘ugly
stage’ and it is easier to make sense
of it or rescue it with shading, but if
the construction is not sound the
drawing will be wrong. I would rather
have a sound, ugly drawing than a
pretty, wrong one – I can always
shade to make the ugly one pretty!

proportion, it is a smaller step to p Figure 4

looking at and understanding animals
in movement and/or perspective than
just trying to draw without
understanding what you are seeing. I
will more closely look at how animals
move in the May issue. I will also show
how you can use maquette and keyline
approaches to change the angle and
perspective of an animal in the July
issue. Next month I will look at drawing
and painting animals’ eyes and how
they sit in the structure of the head. TA
Stickman
The first figure (1) was drawn by a child. If you can do this it is not a large step to the second
figure, which simply adds a line for shoulders and hips and adds points for joints on the limbs.
Take this a stage further to (3) by making the head more egg-shaped, using shapes to suggest a
ribcage and using two ovals for the wings of the pelvis, which sit more together at the base
(groin). The rough proportions pencilled on the far right figure are based on the head length as
a measurement; (2) uses the accepted 7.5–8 heads, but I tend to elongate the legs a little (as in
the rest of the figures) to stop the figure looking stubby. Children, older people and some
individuals do not fit this ratio and baby animals also have different proportions but that is OK.
Seeing where an individual is unique helps you to draw that by seeing where the
measurements are different. Once you get the idea, applying this approach to animate your
subject is an easier step than starting from scratch

46 artist January 2019 www.painters-online.co.uk

 PRACTICAL

Ruth Buchanan
studied and worked in graphic design and
illustration, then taught Print Media and Film
Studies at a Further Education College. She
exhibits nationally and internationally, and her
work is in private and corporate collections in
the UK and abroad. Ruth is a member of the
International Watercolor Society (England), the
Society of Equestrian Artists and the Association
of Animals Artists, and a signature Member of
the Institute of Equine Artists. She has won
awards for her work. Ruth has led drawing and
watercolour workshops in the UK and USA and is
represented by The Simone Galleries, North
Yorkshire and the Marylebone Gallery, London.
www.ruthbuchanan.co.uk

The finished drawing

On the Ball, graphite pencil, 11⫻93⁄4in (28⫻25cm) ** You can read this on PaintersOnline at
https://www.painters-online.co.uk/techniques-
and-tips

Neck
Skull
u Figure 5 (cervical
vertebrae)
Skeletal drawing of a dog, based on my whippet, Scribble
Pelvis Spine (thoracic and
lumbar vertebrae)
Hip joint
q Figure 6
A simplified skeleton Should blade
keyline dog Tail (caudal (scapula)
vertebrae)
My young artist drew me a stick dog,
which I made into a keyline Upper limb
construction drawing. You can see Thigh (humerus)
how it relates to the skeleton when (femur)
Elbow joint
compared to Figure 5 and how the Ribcage
Knee
skeletal structure ‘gives’ the patella)
proportions. Dogs are a more varied Forearm (radius
and ulna)
species in terms of proportions, with Shin (tibia)
specific breeds adapted for specific
uses, so I have included a simplified Hock (tarsal joint – Fetlock (carpal joint –
human = ankle) human = wrist)
skeleton/maquette drawing of my
friend’s dachshund, Twinkle, to
compare

Ruth talks us through her sketches and the working processes behind her watercolour
composition of a polo pony and rider entitled Conquistador at: https://painte.rs/2Od61GR

www.painters-online.co.uk artist January 2019 47

p Swasky Three Heads, fountain pen and brush pen, 4⫻113⁄4in (10⫻30cm).
‘This double page was an exercise that I recommend as an ice-breaker. On the left I took my watercolour palette and tested my yellows and then I
finished with the rest of my colours. On the right is an exercise for creating a pattern with watercolour.’

New directions
Use your sketchbooks creatively to work out ideas, experiment, make notes,
limber up and be bold, says James Hobbs

W
hile we all know it can be a
great idea to keep a
sketchbook, there is, of
course, no right or wrong
way to use them. They can be whatever
you want them to be to suit the way
you work. They may embrace colour, or
be relentlessly monochrome. Their
pages may reveal images straight out of
the imagination, or show scenes drawn
from observation that are rooted to a
time and specific place. But to view
some work online it is easy to assume
that the aim is to make sketchbooks
immaculate, perfect, social media-
ready images.
The advent of social media
In the days before the internet, an
artist’s sketchbook was more likely to
have been retained as reference. They
may have occasionally gone on display,
and pages may have been removed
from them to be framed and then
exhibited or sold.
But social media has revolutionised
the way we share our sketchbook work,
particularly Instagram and Facebook,
meant we can, within minutes, share
our images with a worldwide audience,
and get the dopamine hit that a wave
of likes and comments can bring. We
work to present ourselves on social
media in what we consider the very
best way, and so rather than the
experimental, ambitious or simply
playful work that we may produce, we
know from experience that it is likely to
be the traditional, realist, middle-of-
the-road approach that is likely to
gather a consensus online. Work that
takes us in new directions, or doesn’t
t

filled from front to back with but also Pinterest and Twitter, have immediately have our usual look, may

u Swasky Marina and Joan,

watercolour, 4⫻113⁄4in
(10⫻30cm).
‘Here I practise the use of
line and how different
drawing tools behave. In this
case I used a calligraphic
fountain pen and a brush
pen. For me what is really
important is firstly control
and afterwards,
improvisation.’
www.swasky.es

48 artist January 2019 www.painters-online.co.uk


A more relaxed and looser relationship with sketchbooks may take
us in the following directions
Experimentation
Freed from the incentive to create a polished, figurative
image, it can be beneficial to try out your regularly used
medium, or another you have never tried, in a series of
marks or patterns, filling the page. This could include
layering and perhaps in a variety of colours to explore the
effects they can create and how transparency and opacity
interact, or making a blind contour drawing, without
looking at the paper. By making these experiments in the
sketchbook rather than on random loose sheets they are
more easily retained for later reference, although often the
real value of an experiment is in the act of doing them and
what comes later rather than the immediate outcome.
Loosening up
The tentative way we may understandably approach a
scene – particularly the first of the day, or after a gap in
painting or drawing – can be alleviated by using a series of
loosening marks to limber up beforehand.
Making notes
Sketchbooks are for more than just sketches. They are
ideal for taking notes about colours, locations, media and
PRACTICAL
ideas for subsequent works. These notes may take the form of a
diary or journal to create a narrative theme to the works in the
sketchbook. The personal nature of written thoughts and notes
on a page mean they are unlikely to be shared online but, from
personal experience, these are often what come to be seen as
the most precious.
Taking a punt
The fear of failure – especially when faced with the first page of
a new blank sketchbook – can have a restricting effect. But cast
caution to the wind. There is nothing to be lost and everything
to be gained. It is a willingness to tackle new ideas that drives
us forward with our work, rather than sticking in a rut.
Many readers will already be using their sketchbooks in these
and other ways. We all look to find the route that works best for
us. But don’t believe that making a ‘perfect’ sketchbook full of
polished, finished images that you can share online to gain
thousands of likes and many new followers is necessarily a goal
to aspire to. Sketchbooks can be at their best when they are
treated as arenas to experiment and fail, to scribble in and try
things out, to analyse and refine – without any audience in
mind.

Making notes
p Isabel Carmona Battersea Power Station, London,
watercolour pencil, 51⁄2⫻153⁄4in (14⫻40cm).
‘The notes on this drawing were quick annotations relating
the sketch with my previous experience of the site. It is a
special site for me as I worked as an architect on one of the
earlier power station projects in the 2000s. Writing in a
sketchbook adds to the drawing – it may be annotations on
smells, voices heard, personal thoughts that are triggered
by the act of drawing.’ www.isacarmona-art.com

Trying things out

u James Hobbs Pembroke Scene, marker pens and ink,
4⫻6in (10⫻15cm).
‘This scene was drawn from a selection of old black pens in
my bag that I was about to discard because they had dried
up. It occurred to me that rather than ditching them, their
diminished ink flow could be used to try to create the
foliage of this rural Welsh view. Sometimes these things
work, and sometimes they don’t, but it is impossible to
know without trying.’

www.painters-online.co.uk artist January 2019 49

SKETCHBOOKS
well get less attention. Gradually,
perhaps unwittingly, we can find
ourselves trying to make work that will
be most liked, loved and wowed, and
not what will help us find the way of
working that is right for us as
individuals. Our most ‘liked’ work is not
necessarily that which leads us in our
best direction in terms of our work’s
development.
Rather than thinking of sketchbooks
as places to create just our most
finished, presentable work, it is vital to
remember that they are hothouses for
50 artist January 2019
Drawing exercises
t Liz Loxton Ben, ink, 8⫻10in (20⫻25cm).
‘Drawing without looking at the page is a great exercise. There are always
a few of these among the pages of my sketchbooks. I like the mismatch –
the haphazard results combined with recognisable features. And because
I like to use up spaces, there is a sketch of my daughter on this page as
well, although not drawn in the same way.’
Developing new techniques
q Lis Watkins Chelsea School of Art, watercolour, 81⁄4⫻231⁄2in (21⫻60cm).
‘The drawing of Chelsea School of Art was made on a Sunday morning
before a London Urban Sketchers meet-up. I got there early, started on
the right-hand side but was running out of time by the time I got to the
building in shadow on the left. So I put the whole shape – building and
shadow – in one big shape of wash. I quite liked the effect.’
www.lineandwash.co.uk
Awkward angles
t Isabel Carmona Tate
Modern, London, pencil,
51⁄2⫻153⁄4in (14⫻40cm).
‘This view was not exactly as
I wanted it; I had to stand up
against the glass, looking
down to see all the actions of
the latest Turbine Hall exhibit.’
creative ideas, places to try things out
and mess things up, to scribble and
experiment, to make notes and
reminders, to limber up and be bold.
These are not the pages that artists
often share on social media, but all the
best sketchbooks probably contain
them. As the artist Swasky says: ‘Your James Hobbs
sketchbook is the place where you go is an artist and freelance journalist. He
to fail – you have to give yourself the has exhibited widely and is an Urban
opportunity of going wrong. Mistake is Sketcher (www.urbansketchers.org). For
part of creation and experimentation, more information and details of his
so we have to accept them in order to books, see www.james-hobbs.co.uk
learn.’ TA
www.painters-online.co.uk
Space and perspective
in the landscape
Clare Bowen shares her colour-mixing ideas for achieving aerial perspective
and creating a feeling of space in landscape painting
T
he term aerial perspective
describes the way objects in the
distance appear lighter, bluer
and hazier than those closer to
us. It is the presence of water vapour
and dust in the atmosphere that filters
red light from distant objects giving
them a bluish taint. There are many
ways to help create the effect of this
depth in a painting: using dark to light
tonal values, warm to cool colours, and
big contrasts to small contrasts.
In this painting I have used warm to
cool colours in combination with high to
low saturation to portray the feeling of
receding space. The view really lends
itself to aerial perspective: an open
space with close, rich greens and far
away pale blue hills and sea on the
horizon line. Although the painting is
mainly about colour, it was also
important to get the tonal values right
as they help to create the feeling of
space. The tonal contrasts appear
strongest in the foreground with the full
range of light to dark – the trees and
bushes are the darkest tone. As it
recedes back into the distance the
tonal contrasts become weaker and
close together.
Working process
I find that burnt sienna works especially
well as a base for landscapes as the
reddy-brown complements the greens
and helps make the colours sing. I keep
the drawing loose at this point so it is
not ‘filled in’ with paint and I can
change and develop it as the painting
progresses. While the underpainting is
drying I select my main colours, which I
mix on my palette and which can later
be mixed together creating harmonious
colours and nuances. I mainly use
Michael Harding oils, which I find have
good consistency, quality of pigments
and texture, and Rosemary & Co
Ultimate brushes – they are springy,
clean well and hold their shape. My
www.painters-online.co.uk
favourites are the filberts and long flats.
When I decide on colours I think of
the colour wheel and pick the ones that
are leaning to the colour needed. For
example, for a warm blue I would pick
ultramarine or kings blue, for a cool
blue, cerulean or cobalt.
Complementary colours are opposite
each other on the colour wheel and I
use them when mixing to reduce the
intensity of a colour. For example, a
green made from cadmium yellow and
ultramarine blue can look too bright
and unnatural. When mixed with a
touch of burnt sienna – an earth
equivalent of red and complementary
to green – the green is both greyed and
desaturated and looks more natural.
The colours I mixed are listed on page
52 but there are so many combinations
that would work for this painting!
Once I’ve established the darks, I
tend to work immediately adjacent to
them so I can check how the tonal value
and colours compare with each other.
These first colours you put down will
often determine how light or dark the
overall painting will be so it is
important to get the tonal values right.
Once all the areas are in, stand back
from the painting and assess and adjust
TIP
I use a viewfinder (below). I have
cut out a small hole through which
to isolate and view specific areas (a
colour isolator). This eliminates the
distraction of the whole view and
helps compare the colours and
tonal values within the subject. If
you cannot decide or are unsure of
a colour to mix, look through the
hole and ask yourself questions
such as:
l Is the strip of blue sea on the
horizon warmer or cooler than the
sky? Answer: The sea is warmer and
the sky is cooler.
l Is the foreground grass lighter or
darker than the trees? Answer: The
grass is lighter and the trees are
darker.
Evaluating each area and comparing
it to another helps with colour mixing.
any tone or colour to create an overall
balance.
I then photograph the painting and
check it on the screen to make sure it
works as a whole, ie the colours used
portray the feeling of space and aerial
perspective and the tonal values work.
Converting the photograph into black
and white is also helpful to make sure
that the front of the painting is darker
t
and the distance appears lighter.
artist January 2019 51
LANDSCAPES IN OILS
DEMONSTRATION The South Downs

Colours mixed p STAGE ONE

MATERIALS I began by drawing in the main compositional
I used two whites in this
l Oil colours: titanium white, zinc elements using a small filbert brush and burnt
painting. Titanium white is very
white, lemon yellow, cadmium sienna diluted with solvent. I paid attention to
opaque and strongly lightens yellow, Indian yellow, Naples aspects that will convey a sense of aerial
and cools the colour. It is useful yellow, yellow ochre, permanent perspective: a high horizon line helps to show
for creating really light, bright rose, cerulean blue, king’s blue
the landscape receding; some bigger trees in
colours. Zinc white is more deep, ultramarine, burnt sienna.
the foreground and smaller ones in the
transparent and subtle with its l Winsor & Newton Sansodor to thin distance help to create the illusion of depth.
lightening and is useful when the paint, especially in the initial
Then, simplifying the scene to three or four
lightening darker colours. stages.
tones, I scrubbed in loose tonal shapes with a
Greens l Rosemary & Co brushes. bigger brush. I use Sansodor to thin the paint
Foreground trees and hedges: l Support: I prepared a 3mm MDF as I work progressively lighter. The drawing
dark in tonal value and a warm board with three coats of white and tonal scrub provides a solid foundation
green – ultramarine blue, acrylic gesso. from which to work
cadmium yellow mid, Indian
yellow, a touch of burnt sienna.
Grass: mid-tone and a warm
green – yellow ochre, lemon
yellow, ultramarine and zinc
white.
Middle ground: mid-tone and a
cool green: the grass green mix
and sky mix plus burnt sienna
Blues
Distant sea: light tone and
warm blue – kings blue,
ultramarine, burnt sienna and
titanium white.
Distant sky: light tone and cool p STAGE TWO
blue – cerulean blue, Naples Having prepared my colour mixes I started painting with the darkest darks, in this case the tree
yellow and titanium white. greens. I aimed to go quite dark in these areas, as it is easy to lighten them later but harder to
darken them. Don’t forget to look for shadow areas, such as under the trees
Violet
To add if the colour mix needs to
be cooled: it goes well with
greens – permanent rose and
ultramarine blue.
After I have mixed the colours
but before I start painting, I see if
they look good together on the
palette. If they do I know it’s a
good start with making the
colours work on my painting.
Also check if the tonal values are
working – I do tests on my
painting, like the little sky dab,
checking it’s the correct colour
and tone. p STAGE THREE
I worked in areas adjacent to the darks, letting small areas of the burnt sienna show through, as it
makes the green stand out and brings overall harmony to the finished painting

52 artist January 2019 www.painters-online.co.uk

 PRACTICAL

Clare Bowen
studied Fine Art & Illustration at
Portsmouth School of Art. She has
exhibited with the Royal Institute of Oil
Painters and the New English Art Club,
and won the Royal Talens and The Artist
p STAGE FOUR Exhibition Awards in The Artist Open
The middle distance was the trickiest part so I used my colour isolator to work out that it is Competition 2018. Clare is to have a solo
green in colour, less saturated, cooler and lighter in tone than the foreground greens. I added exhibition entitled ‘London, Venice, Coast
more blue and white as it recedes towards the horizon so it becomes lighter and cooler (if it’s & Country’ at The Studio, 73 Glebe Place,
too bright I add burnt sienna to reduce the intensity and make it a grey green) London SW3, from May 14 to17.
www.clarebowen.co.uk

Points for colour and

aerial perspective
l Warm and cool: in general terms,
warm colours in the foreground and
cooler hues in the distance.
l Choose tube colours that lean
towards warm or cool to help your
colour mixing.
l Intensity and muted – place
complementaries next to each other
to intensify or mixed together to grey
down your colours.
l Use the white that helps you
achieve the effect you want.
l Use a colour isolator for p STAGE FIVE
comparing and deciphering colours The sea is a warmer blue and is slightly darker in
and tones. tone than the sky. The sky was muted with Naples
l Mix your main colours before you yellow as I want it to recede back in the painting. I q FINISHED PAINTING
start painting. checked the direction of the sun and added some The South Downs, oil on board,
lighter areas to the trees and a touch more shadow 8⫻193⁄4in (20⫻50cm)

www.painters-online.co.uk artist January 2019 53

 ov

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54 January 2019 www.painters-online.co.uk

DynamicWC_QuartPage_Jan19.indd 1 06/11/2018 15:18:21
Dynamic surfaces for
watercolour
Jane Betteridge shows you how to make your watercolour paintings more
vibrant and more dynamic by using watercolour grounds
Mackerel on a map
Because this transparent watercolour ground
is colourless, it is ideal for using on top of
printed papers, allowing their pattern to show
through when watercolours are painted over
it, as shown strikingly here
www.painters-online.co.uk
W
atercolour grounds have been
quite a revelation for me, and
have taken my work forward to
another level. They are a
manufactured primer medium that allows
artists to use watercolours on otherwise
unpaintable surfaces. Canvases and boards
are normally meant for the use of oils or
acrylics and are primed accordingly with
gesso, but when re-primed with this
medium, you can paint on them using
watercolours. Other surfaces, including
plastic, wood, metal, ceramics and even
leather can be primed and painted on
using watercolour with this primer. It really
is so versatile.
It is available to buy in large and small
plastic bottles and tubs. I favour the white
and transparent ground but the medium is
also available in black, buff and gold.
Without the preliminary preparation of
applying the ground, watercolour paint will
simply run off some surfaces. For this
reason, aim to cover the surface
completely with the ground, unless the
surface you are preparing on is already
suitable for watercolours (watercolour
paper, for example).
Priming with transparent
watercolour ground
Transparent watercolour ground is best
applied with an acrylic brush – these are
stronger than watercolour brushes, which
can be damaged by the medium – and
‘feathered’ out to the edges to a smooth
finish by using very light strokes. This
feathering technique takes a little time but
is well worth the effort, as the result is a
really smooth finish, free from lines and
brushmarks.
1 Simply pour out a small amount of the
ground onto your surface, then begin to
smooth it out with light strokes of an old
brush.
2 Continue feathering out the surface, then
leave to dry. It will dry clear, allowing
t
whatever is beneath to show through.
artist January 2019 55
D Y N A M I C W AT E R C O L O U R S

Painting on printed paper

Pre-printed papers can act as a fantastic base for
your painting. To prepare the paper for
watercolour, adhere it to a piece of mount card
using spray mount glue, then cover it with
transparent watercolour ground to make sure
that the paint does not bleed into the printed
paper. In concert with being stuck down to
mount card, the watercolour ground helps to
stop the paper from cockling too

p Painting Butterfly Music

I tried to portray the fluidity of this lovely orange-tipped butterfly by
letting the paint and ink that I used flow away from the main body of
the insect to give it movement. It is painted on commercially-bought
printed paper (available from craft shops) – the musical design worked
well with the butterfly image

p Painting Owl on Paper

Using spray mount, I secured a commercial piece of printed paper
to a piece of mount card, smoothing it out to eliminate any creases
or air bubbles. I then applied a coat of transparent watercolour
ground using the feathering method so that hardly any brushmarks
remained. When this was dry I used watercolours, inks and gouache
to paint this woodland scene over it, allowing some of the lovely
patterned paper to show through.
I didn’t need to protect this with the watercolour fixative when it
was completed, as it was being framed behind glass

Painting on canvas
Watercolour is not compatible with the
gesso primer used to prepare most
canvases for oils or acrylics, but
p Painting Ink & Flowers
I used acrylic inks and granulation medium alongside
watercolour ground applied over the
my watercolours for this canvas painting, allowing the
gesso makes this exciting surface
painting media to run and merge together and create
available for the watercolourist.
a lovely background effect on the chunky canvas
Chunky canvases are really popular as
surface.
they are ready to hang as soon as the
When this was dry, I added some hydrangea petals,
paint has dried – there’s no need to
secured to the canvas with PVA glue, then covered
frame them, though you can if you wish.
p The use of transparent everything in transparent watercolour ground and left
Not as rigid as boards, canvas can be
watercolour ground allowed me to to dry overnight. I then used two of my favourite
quite springy and flexible to work upon.
paint directly over the hydrangea watercolours, verditer blue and lilac, and painted on
This can be controlled with the little
petals secured to the surface. Note top. I added a little gold bronzing powder too. Once
pegs that are supplied with most box
that the ground has been applied so dry, I protected the surface with a watercolour fixative
canvases, but the movement and
thinly that even the delicate detail spray.
flexibility can help to add still more
of the flower’s structure remains The acrylic ink and granulation effect remains visible
dynamism and excitement to your
visible – a wonderful contrast with through the transparent ground, all adding to an
painting
the coarse grain of the canvas interesting, unorthodox piece of work

56 artist January 2019 www.painters-online.co.uk

 PRACTICAL

Painting on board
Canvas-covered boards have a similar texture to
traditional canvases, but they are more rigid, and very
cheap to buy. I like to work on boards and canvases
for a change, especially blocky, chunky canvases as
they don’t need framing. Before starting to paint, you
will need to prime the surface of the board with a fine
watercolour ground to make the surface suitable for
using watercolour paints

p Painting Golden Hedgerow

In this piece of work, skeleton leaves and thick cotton thread were stuck
down with PVA glue onto a chunky canvas before I used an old brush to
cover it all over with the fine watercolour ground. This not only primed the
canvas, but primed the texture-making materials as well. When this was
completely dry, I added paint, inks and a little gold bronzing powder,
letting some of the paint flow around the leaves and thread and carried on
painting as I would normally. This wouldn’t have been possible without the
use of the ground. I protected the painting with a watercolour fixative

p Painting Purple & Gold

This woodland painting was done on a board. I used paints, inks,
granulation medium and gold bronzing powder

p Painting Peaceful View

I primed a canvas board with white, smooth,
watercolour ground. Wanting a soft finish to this piece This extract is adapted from
of work, I used a large acrylic brush to apply the Dynamic Watercolours by Jane
medium and feathered it out to the edges to a smooth p Marks or not? Betteridge, published by Search
finish by using very light strokes. The feathering method will help to Press, ISBN: 9781782215578,
When the prepared board was completely dry, I leave a smooth surface as shown here. rrp £15.99. Readers can save £2
began to paint as I normally would when working on However, brushmarks and palette- and enjoy free p&p by ordering
paper. Because this painting will not be framed behind knife marks can be used deliberately from our online bookshop:
glass, I protected it with a watercolour fixative spray to suggest trees, clouds, foliage and www.painters-online.co.uk/store
horizon lines if you want to leave more and click on the link for books
noticeable marks in the medium

www.painters-online.co.uk artist January 2019 57

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Yes you can paint from
photos!
F
or over 200 years artists have
used a variety of optical devices
to produce designs for paintings
and cameras, as we know them,
have been used extensively by graphic
and fine artists as design tools since
they were first produced. The camera is
clearly a very convenient way of
capturing images for paintings in busy
situations like streets and bars, yet the
taint of using photographs as reference
lingers.
We think that the camera cannot lie,
but in reality how a camera ‘sees’ is
totally different from the way we
humans see, and copying a photograph
with all the skill in the world can only
produce a painting that looks just like a
photograph! The key to using photos as
reference is to allow them as a visual
prompt, to take you back to the time
and place when they were taken, so
you recall that actual experience.
Every photograph records, in a
fraction of a second, the scene in front
of the camera in complete detail. Our
eyes cannot do that. We have to scan
the area around us, taking in small
www.painters-online.co.uk
Bob Brandt shares his tips for using photographs
as a visual prompt for your paintings
areas at a time and assembling them be aware of our surroundings, to keep
mentally to create a general impression re-establishing the position of our body
of where we are and what might be of within its surrounding space. To do this
interest. David Hockney experimented we use the phenomenon of perspective
with this ‘assembled snap-shot’ effect in its varying forms. The most obvious
in the Polaroid photograph collages he is linear perspective – the tapering
made in the 1980s. railway lines effect – and my reference
photo (below) contains very obvious
Perspective and texture linear perspective, running from the
In everyday life it is very important to distant houses decorated with flags to
u This photograph was taken
late one summer evening, on
the spur of the moment. Later,
when looking through my
pictures this particular image
brought back the magic of that
moment. All I needed to do was
to translate the language of the
camera into the language of
human vision. The evening
light tested the camera’s ability
to record the scene, with the
sky bleached out and the
darkest shadows solid black. In
my painting I had to avoid
these extremes
DEMONSTRATION The Lord Nelson
MATERIALS
l Canvas-covered board, pre-treated with gesso by the
manufacturer. Staedtler Permanent, Special F Lumocolor
drawing pen
l ProArte Sterling and Acrilyx brushes, mostly flat synthetic
l Winsor & Newton Griffin Alkyd oil colours: permanent rose,
phthalo blue, Payne’s grey, alizarin crimson, cadmium orange,
cadmium yellow, cadmium red medium, burnt sienna,
titanium white, Naples yellow, Indian yellow
l Daler-Rowney Georgian oil colour: light blue
l Liquin medium
t STAGE ONE
I made a sketchy ‘tracing’ of the image with a Lumocolor drawing pen
on canvas panel, scumbled over with a wash of permanent rose and
phthalo blue, and with some highlights lifted out with a soft rag
artist January 2019 59
PA I N T I N G F R O M P H O TO G R A P H S

p STAGE THREE p STAGE FOUR

I blocked in the basic structure using a cool range of colours, more To complete the atmosphere – the general feeling of being there –
phthalo blue and rose, darkened with a little Payne’s grey. I also added I added a range of warm colours: alizarin crimson, cadmium red,
light blue, to suggest the chill you feel as the sun goes down burnt umber and cadmium yellow. This established the relative
positions of the important structures

My top tips for using Comparing areas of the reference photograph with corresponding sections of the painting
photo reference at this stage shows how I had greatly simplified details in the distant buildings, the nearer
brickwork, the inn sign, the windows and even the road surface
l Take all reference photos with
possible paintings in mind.
l Ideally, take them in good lighting
conditions – it is very difficult to add
sunlight to a dull picture.
l Think carefully before selecting a
photo to use. If you are doubtful, try
preliminary lay-out sketches to see
how the design might work.
l Expect to have to crop your photo,
using just part of it for your design.
l Make sure your design contains
depth and also enough interest to
attract a viewer’s attention.
l Keep any tracing or copying of your
chosen design as free as you can so
you are not constrained by it and fall
into the trap of ‘painting-by-numbers’.
l Extract information about shapes
from your photo but simplify them and
leave out any details that add nothing the figures in the right foreground. I records all textures equally we are only
to the story. have recorded this accurately in the really concerned with those we are
original drawing. Then there is aerial likely to come into contact with. How
l Pick up the idea of colours from
perspective – the phenomenon that we cope with detail is important
your photo but be willing to colours appear bluer and less contrasty because a major problem with using
exaggerate them. with distance. Again, in this case the photos is that we may be tempted to
l From about half-way through trust photograph was useful because the fill in details that are obvious in a
your painting, rather than the original colours it showed to the left were photo but which we would not give
photo, to show you the way ahead. generally cooler than those to the right. much attention to in real life. In this
l Never get trapped into copying Finally, we are aware of the texture of instance the completed painting (right)
your photo – simplify, simplify, things near us, seen as surface detail. recalls that evening for me more clearly
simplify! Detail tells us a lot about the nature of than even the photo I had based it on
different surfaces, but while the camera could suggest. TA

60 artist January 2019 www.painters-online.co.uk

p STAGE FIVE
While I had derived the idea of the warm colours from the photograph, I
had exaggerated them. Such exaggeration is part of the process of turning
a photo into a painting. But when I was walking towards the light, the
pupils in my eyes had adjusted to the brightness, and the painting, though
still sketchy, was beginning to look generally too vivid. Using a slightly
blurred and darkened version of the reference photo as a guide, I covered
the whole canvas with a second scumble of the cool and warm colours
already on my palette, reducing the clarity and contrast of my painting
www.painters-online.co.uk
p STAGE SIX
The next stage was painting the light, adding a pattern of
highlights. I try to avoid using unmixed white – in this case
titanium – because it can be very deadening. The light marks
used include hints of phthalo blue, permanent rose and cadmium
orange. I was tempted to describe the figures as precisely as
possible but that would have been distracting; this is about them
as a group, enjoying a chat and a drink on a warm evening
t FINISHED PAINTING
The Lord Nelson, oil on canvas panel, 20⫻20in
(51⫻51cm).
I worked over the whole painting, modifying
areas with adjustment glazes and adding
additional highlights. This is the time when
‘fiddling’ by using smaller brushes and
putting in too much detail can freeze a
painting, not leaving enough for the viewer
to explore. To pull the painting together, a
few areas of heightened brightness were
created with smears of Indian yellow, the
‘liquid sunlight’ it is only too easy to over-use
Bob Brandt
is a full-time artist, teacher and writer.
He is a past president of the Institute of
East Anglian Artists. His paintings are in
many collections, including the
National Trust and in recent years he
has exhibited with the Royal Institute of
Oil Painters and the Royal Society of
Marine Artists.
www.clockhousestudio.co.uk
artist January 2019 61
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Painters Online editor’s choice
sponsored by

Anthony Cowland Winter Heron, oil, 9⫻12in (23⫻30.5cm)

Meet this month’s churchyard, it represents (in Christianity)

its supposed ability to shed tears for the
editor’s choice winner crucifixion, as well as providing
movement and life. Painted in variations
from our PaintersOnline of background colours, its position and
textural contrast to the stone and snow
gallery, who receives a draws the eye and, by overlapping the
£50 Jackson’s Art churchyard, buildings and sky, unifies
background elements.
Supplies gift voucher ‘I used marine ply as my support,
primed with three coats of gesso, before
overpainting the drawing with a marble
through the subsequent layers of
drybrush oil paint. Drying between layers
was helped by ‘tonking’ (the removal of
excess oil paint from the support by
blotting with paper). Colour and tone
were the first priority, with the sky and
some background elements painted wet
into wet. A drybrush technique was used
on the textured areas, with lighter colours
overlaying darker tones. The red flowers
(also symbolic) provide a visual and
compositional counterpoint to the

W
inter Heron by Anthony Cowland
is one of a series of 12 small,
quick and loose paintings,
which were spread around the
dust and emulsion texture paste applied relatively subdued palette. Last in the
to specific areas, but not the sky or heron. process was adding detail to the heron
The work was then underpainted with and buildings – sometimes scratched into
warm dark acrylic colours, which peep the wet paint.’

WIN £50 TO SPEND AT JACKSON’S!

studio and painted concurrently using
various techniques. He tells us:
‘The location is Steeple Ashton

Upload images of your own work, receive valuable feedback

churchyard and manor house in Wiltshire.

and the chance to see your work published in The Artist and
I visited the village several times as I was

win a voucher to spend on art materials with Jackson’s by

once asked to paint the church to help

visiting our website at www.painters-online.co.uk/gallery

raise funds for its upkeep. I confess that
the snow is imagined for this painting.
The heron is symbolic in various cultures
and religions. Here, with the crucifix in the

www.painters-online.co.uk January 2019 65

EXHIBITIONS
GALLERY OPENING TIMES AND EXHIBITION DATES CAN VARY; IF IN DOUBT, PHONE TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT

LONDON
Bankside Gallery

☎ 020 7928 7521

48 Hopton Street SE1.

www.banksidegallery.com
Mini Picture Show; works on a
small scale by members of the
RWS and RE,
November 30 to January 20.

Barbican Art Gallery

☎ 020 7638 8891

Silk Street EC2.

www.barbican.org.uk
Modern Couples: Art,
Intimacy and the Avant-
garde; exploring creative
relationships across painting,
sculpture, photography,
design and literature,
until January 27.

Dulwich Picture Gallery

☎ 020 8693 5254; www.

Gallery Road SE21.

dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk
Ribera: Art of Violence;
until January 27.

Estorick Collection of
Modern Italian Art

☎ 020 7704 9522

39a Canonbury Square N1.

www.estorickcollection.com
Works from the Iannaccone
Collection;
until December 23.

House of Illustration
2 Granary Square,

☎ 020 3696 2020; www.

King’s Cross N1.

houseofillustration.org.uk
100 Figures: The Unseen Art
of Quentin Blake;
until January 27.

Jonathan Cooper
Gallery

☎ 020 7351 0410

20 Park Walk SW1. Millennium
Gallery,
www.jonathancooper.co.uk Sheffield
Soar; new bird paintings by
p Dod Procter RA Lillian, 1923, © courtesy of the Procter Estate / Bridgeman Images, oil on canvas,
Tim Hayward,
until December 8.
201⁄2⫻161⁄2in (52⫻42cm), at Darkness into Light: The Emotional Power of Art at the Millennium Gallery, Sheffield
Mall Galleries

☎ 020 7930 6844

The Mall SW1.
selected 2018 graduates, Royal Academy of Arts Turner Prize;
www.mallgalleries.org.uk January 8 to 19 (see page 8). until January 6. REGIONS
☎ 020 7300 8000
Piccadilly W1.
Royal Society of Miniature Edward Burne-Jones;
Painters, Sculptors and National Gallery www.royalacademy.org.uk until February 24. BATH
☎ 020 7747 2885
Gravers; Trafalgar Square WC2. Klimt/Schiele; drawings from
until December 9. the Albertina Museum, Vienna, Tate Modern Victoria Art Gallery
☎ 020 7887 8888 ☎ 01225 477244
Royal Institute of Oil www.nationalgallery.org.uk until February 3. Bankside SE1. Bridge Street.
Painters; annual exhibition, Courtauld Impressionists:
untilDecember 9. From Manet to Cézanne; Tate Britain www.tate.org.uk www.victoriagal.org.uk
Pierre Bonnard: The Colour
☎ 020 7887 8888
Art for Youth London 2018; until January 20. Millbank SW1. Nick Cudworth: Bath Night
December 12 to 14. Mantegna and Bellini; of Memory; Paintings 2003-18;
FBA Futures 2019; work by until January 27. www.tate.org.uk January 23 to May 6. December 1 to Feburary 17.

66 artist January 2019 www.painters-online.co.uk

BRISTOL
Royal West of England
Academy
☎ 0117 973 5129
Queens Road.
www.rwa.org.uk
Albert Irvin and Abstract
Expressionism;
December 8 to March 3.
CHICHESTER
Pallant House Gallery
☎ 01243 774557
9 North Pallant.
www.pallant.org.uk
Karl Hagedorn: Rhythmical
Expressions;
until February 3.
Julian Trevelyan: An Artist
and His World; Also, Mary
Fedden: Colour and
Simplicity,
until February 10.
Norman Ackroyd: Wild Isles;
landscape etchings,
until February 24.
DITCHLING
Ditchling Museum of
Art & Craft
☎ 01273 844744
Lodge Hill Lane, Hassocks.
www.ditchlingmuseum
artcraft.org.uk
Max Gill: Wonderground
Man; maps, illustrations and
humorous works by Max Gill,
younger brother of Eric Gill,
until April 28.
FRODSHAM
Castle Park Arts Centre
☎ 01928 735832
Frodsham.
www.castleparkarts.co.uk
The 33rd Annual Open;
until December 22.
GUILDFORD
Watts Gallery
☎ 01483 810235
Down Lane, Compton.
www.wattsgallery.org.uk
Christina Rossetti: Vision &
Verse; portraits and drawings,
until March 17.
In Print: Making
Impressions; celebrating the
art of printmaking,
until January 6.
Inspired by Nature; original
prints and paintings by local
artist, Celia Lewis,
January 12 to February 24.
ILMINSTER
Ilminster Arts Centre
The Meeting House, East
☎ 01460 55783
Street.
www.themeetinghouse.org.uk
Open Prizewinners;
featuring work by seven
www.painters-online.co.uk
prizwinning artists in the
2018 Ilminster Open
Competition,
January 2 to 19.
KENDAL
Abbot Hall Art Gallery
☎ 01539 722464
Kirkland.
www.abbothall.org.uk
Grayson Perry – Julie Cope’s
Grand Tour: The Story of a
Life;
until February 16.
John Harden (1772-1847):
watercolours;
until February.
KINGSBRIDGE
Harbour House
☎ 01548 854708
The Promenade.
www.harbourhouse.org.uk
Present Maker; Christmas-
themed exhibition by ten
members of the South Hams
Arts Forum,
until December 9.
Craggy Cliffs and Sunny
Coves; oils by Chris Elsden,
December 11 to 16.
LIVERPOOL
Tate Liverpool
☎ 0151 702 7400
Albert Dock.
www.tate.org.uk/liverpool
Fernand Léger;
until March 17.
Op Art in Focus;
until June 16.
NORWICH
Norwich Castle
Museum and Art
Gallery
☎ 01603 495897; www.
Castle Hill.
museums.norfolk.gov.uk
Visible Women; women
artists from the modern and
contemporary collection,
until April 28.
John Sell Cotman in
London;
until June 9.
NOTTINGHAM
The Barn Gallery
Patchings Art Centre, Oxton
☎ 0115 965 3479; www.
Road, Calverton.
patchingsartcentre.co.uk
A5 Christmas Exhibition;
small works for Christmas,
December 1 to 24.
The Djanogly Gallery
Lakeside Arts, University of
☎ 0115 846 7777
Nottingham.
www.lakesidearts.org.uk
Beyond Camden Town: The
Late Works of Harold
Gilman;
until February 10.
PENZANCE
Penlee House Gallery
and Museum
☎ 01736 363625
Morab Road.
www.penleehouse.org.uk
Penlee Inspired;
until January 5.
SALFORD
The Lowry
☎ 0843 208 6000
Pier 8, Salford Quays.
www.thelowry.com
Lowry & The Pre-Raphaelites;
until February 24.
SHEFFIELD
Millennium Gallery
☎ 0114 278 2600
Arundel Gate.
www.museums-
sheffield.org.uk
Darkness into Light: The
Emotional Power of Art;
until January 13.
WOKING
The Lightbox
☎ 01483 737800
Chobham Road.
www.thelightbox.org.uk
Impressionism: The Art
of Life;
until January 13.
Cyril Mann: Painter of Light
and Shadow;
January 12 to March 31.
YORK
York Art Gallery
☎ 01904 687687
Exhibition Square.
www.yorkartgallery.org.uk
The BFG in Pictures;
original illustrations by
Quentin Blake,
until February 24.
Lucie Rie: Ceramics &
Buttons;
until May.
IRELAND
DUBLIN
National Gallery of
Ireland
☎ +353 1 661 5133;
Merrion Square.
www.nationalgallery.ie
Curious Creatures – Frans
Post & Brazil; animal
drawings and paintings by
the Dutch artist, Frans Post
(1612-1680),
until December 9.
SCOTLAND
EDINBURGH
City Art Centre
☎ 0131 529 3993
2 Market Street.
www.edinburgh
museums.org.uk
Edwin G. Lucas: An
Individual Eye;
until February 10.
Scottish National
Gallery
☎ 0131 624 6200
The Mound.
www.nationalgalleries.org
Pin Ups: Toulouse-Lautrec
and the Art of Celebrity;
until January 20.
WALES
CARDIFF
National Museum
☎ 0300 111 2333
Cathays Park.
www.museum.wales/cardiff
Kyffin Williams: the Artist
and Amgueddfa Cymru;
marking the 100th
anniversary of Kyffin’s birth,
until May 1.
ART SOCIETIES
Berkhamsted Art
Society
Winter exhibition at the Civic
Centre, 161-163 High Street,
Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire
HP4 3HD, from December 2
to 8. Open Sunday, 2 to 4pm;
Monday to Saturday, 9am to
5pm; www.berkhamstedart
society.co.uk
Gateshead Art
Society
The 70th anniversary
exhibition at the Shipley Art
Gallery, Prince Consort Road,
Gateshead NE8 4JB, until
December 23. Open
Tuesdays to Fridays, 10am to
4pm; Saturday, 10am to 5pm;
closed on Sundays and
Mondays; www.
gatesheadartsociety.org.uk
Stevenage Arts
Society
The 50th anniverary
exhibition at The Denington
Galleries, Springfield House,
Stevenage Old Town SG1
To submit details of an exhibition for possible
listing here, email Jane Stroud at
jane@tapc.co.uk; telephone 01580 763673
artist
CONWY
Royal Cambrian
Academy
☎ 01492 593413.
Crown Lane.
www.rcaconwy.org
Roger Cecil and RCA
Members’ Christmas
Exhibition;
until December 29.
Open Exhibition 2019;
January 5 to February 9.
PENZANCE
Penlee House Gallery
and Museum
☎ 01736 363625
Morab Road.
www.penleehouse.org.uk
Penlee Inspired;
until January 5.
SWANSEA
Glynn Vivian
☎ 01792 516900
Alexandra Road.
www.swansea.gov.uk/
glynnvivian
In-sight 16; new work by
artists from North Wales,
until January 27.
Dylan Thomas: Music of
Colour;
until February 10.
3EJ, until December 8;
www.stevenage
artssociety.org.uk
Saddleworth Group
of Artists
Annual winter exhibition at
the Saddleworth Museum,
High Street, Uppermill,
Oldham OL3 6HS, from
December 1 to early
January; www.saddleworth
artists.co.uk
Salisbury Group of
Artists
Annual winter exhibition at
Salisbury District Hospital,
Odstock Road, Salisbury SP2
8BJ, until January 4;
www.salisbury
groupofartists.co.uk
Tewkesbury Art
Society
Winter exhibition at the
Town Hall, High Street,
Tewkesbury, Gloucester,
on December 5 and 6;
www.t-a-s.info
January 2019 67
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68 January 2019 www.painters-online.co.uk


OPEN cOmPETiTiONS
& ExhibiTiONS 2019
PLEASE NOTE
These listings are in
chronological order
according to the
month in which the
event will run.
Submissions and
handing-in dates are
highlighted in blue
JANUARY
The Harley Open
Details: biennial competition
open to professional and amateur
artists working in any medium.
Prizes include The harley Prize,
£1,000; the Storycatcher’s Prize,
£250 plus The People’s Prize.
Exhibition dates: January 19 to
march 24 at The harley Gallery,
Welbeck, Sherwood Forest.
Submissions deadline: January 2 to 6.
Contact: more information and
entry forms available from
www.harleygallery.co.uk
World Illustration Awards 2019
Venue: Somerset house, London.
Details: Entries invited from
illustrators working in any
medium, context or geographical
location. Work can be entered
into one of eight categories,
either as a New Talent or
Professional.
Exhibition dates: tbc, followed by UK
tour for 12 months.
Submission deadline: January 31.
Contact: Enter online at:
www.theaoi.com/world-
illustration-awards
☎ +44 020 7759 1012
FEbRUARY
The Merrion Plinth
Details: New biennial
contemporary art prize, granting
€5,000 to the winning artist
chosen through open submission
to create a new work to be
displayed for two years in the
Garden Foyer of The merrion
www.painters-online.co.uk
artist
hotel, Dublin, ireland.
Submissions deadline: February 8.
Contact: Email: themerrionplinth@
merrionhotel.com;
www.merrionhotel.com
☎ 353 1 603 0600
Natural World Art Society
Summer Exhibition of
Wildlife Art
Venue: Natural World Gallery,
banham Zoo, banham, Norfolk
NR16 2hE
☎ 07999 785155
Details: NWAS will be holding a
series of exhibitions of wildlife
and animal art at the Natural
World Gallery at banham Zoo and
at other venues in East Anglia.
Dates to be confirmed.
Submission forms and
information available early in
2019 from: www.
naturalworldartsociety.co.uk
Exhibition dates: Various dates
throughout the year, tba.
Submissions deadline: tba.
Handing-in dates: tba.
Contact: Email:
secretary.nwas@gmail.com
☎ 07999 785155
mARch
St Barbe Museum and Art
Gallery Open Exhibition 2019
Venue: St barbe museum and Art
Gallery, New Street, Lymington,
hampshire SO41 9bh.
☎ 01590 676969
Details: Now in its 19th year,
anyone can enter up to two
works of art, including sculpture
on any theme. Prizes include £300
for the best contemporary work,
and the People’s choice award of
£300. Entry will be online
www.stbarbe-museum.org.uk
Exhibition dates: march 22 to June 2.
Submissions deadline: February 24.
Handing-in days: march 14 and 15.
Contact: St barbe museum and Art
Gallery, as above,
www.stbarbe-museum.org.uk
Royal Birmingham Society of
Artists’ (RBSA) Open All Media
Exhibition
Venue: Royal birmingham Society
of Artists’ Gallery, 4 brook Street,
St Paul’s, birmingham b3 1SA.
A special guide to keep
☎ 0121 236 4353
Details: Artists working in all media
may enter up to three 2D or six
3D works. Entry fees are £13 per
2D work or £13 per two 3D works;
digital submissions in the first
instance. Please conusult the
application pack for full details.
Exhibition dates: march 14 to
April 13.
Submissions deadline: January 30.
Handing-in day: march 10.
Contact: Download application
packs from www.rbsa.org.uk
or send sae to RbSA Gallery, 4
brook Street, St. Paul’s,
birmingham b3 1SA.
Royal Watercolour Society
Contemporary Watercolour
Competition 2019
Venue: bankside Gallery, Thames
Riverside, 48 hopton Street,
London SE1 9Jh.
☎ 020 7928 7521
Details: Established by the Royal
Watercolour Society, this annual
competition aims to encourage
innovation and experimentation
in all water-based media and
provides a prestigious platform
for both established and
emerging artists. Submission fee:
£15 per entry, with discounts on
multiple entries. Prizes include
artists’ materials, cash, exhibiting
awards and much more.
Download application pack at
www.royalwatercoloursociety.
co.uk/competition
Exhibition dates: march 8 to 20.
Submissions deadline: January 14,
11.59pm
Contact: The Royal Watercolour
Society; www.royalwatercolour
society.co.uk
☎ 020 7928 7521
Young Masters
Details: Established in 2009 by
cynthia corbett, director of the
cynthia corbett Gallery, the
Young masters Prize is a biennial
prize offering emerging and
established artists opportunities
to exhibit and develop their work.
Entries are invited from
contemporary artists interested in
historical themes.
Exhibition dates: Tours continuously
throughout the year.
Submissions deadline: opens march.
Contact: Email info@young-
masters.co.uk or register interest
on the website at www.young-
masters.co.uk
☎ 0208 947 6782
APRiL
Royal Institute of Painters in
Water Colours (RI)
Venue: mall Galleries, The mall,
London SW1.
☎ 020 7930 6844
Details: Annual open exhibition
featuring the best in modern and
traditional contemporary
watercolour painting. Acceptable
media are watercolour or water-
Nigel Whittaker One Minute
soluble media, including acrylic,
to Midnight, oil, 30⫻23in
ink or gouache painted on paper
or a paper-based support, but not (76⫻58.5cm), prize winner
water-soluble oils. This year will in the 2018 RBSA Prize
be the 207th exhibition. Artists Exhibition
over the age of 18 may submit up
to six works; up to four may be Details: 114th annual open
selected. Entry: £18 per work; exhibition of works in all media,
under-35s, £12 per work. except photographs; two works
Paintings must be framed in a may be submitted.
light-coloured mount under glass Exhibition dates: may 18 to June 30.
and no larger than 941⁄2in (240cm) Handing-in day: may 11, 10.30am to
in the largest dimension. Online 4pm at the Victoria Art Gallery,
submission for preselection at
www.registrationmallgalleries.
bath.
Contact: check information on the
org.uk. Numerous prizes and website and download forms at
awards, including the Winsor & www.bsartists.co.uk; collect
Newton Award, £3,000; and the details from the Victoria Art
Leathersellers’ Prize of £1,000 Gallery or from the bSA secretary:
awarded to an artist aged vivienneabolton@gmail.com
☎ 07976 380147
between 18 and 30; the matt
bruce memorial Award for the
most outstanding use of light and
Hertford Art Society Open
colour, £500; the Schmincke
Exhibition
Award and many other prizes. All
Venue: cowbridge halls,
work must be for sale, minimum
cowbridge, hertford,
price £450. Download full terms
hertfordshire SG14 1PG.
and conditions from Details: 67th annual open
www.mallgalleries.org.uk exhibition. Any media accepted,
Exhibition dates: April 3 to 18.
excluding photographs; up to six
Submissions deadline: January 4, 12
2D or 3D works may be
noon.
submitted. All work must be
Handing-in day: February 9, 9am to
labelled according to the
5pm.
Contact: mall Galleries, as above.
instruction on the submission
form. Works for hanging must be
in appropriate frames with strung
‘D’ rings on the reverse.
mAY Submission fee: £5 per artist; £3
handling fee per work. Prizes
Bath Society of Artists include best abstract, best work
Venue: Victoria Art Gallery, bridge in show, best 3D and best
Street, bath. watercolour.
☎ 01225 477233 Exhibition dates: may 4 to 18.
artist January 2019 69

James Hague Mette, oil, 35⫻26in (89⫻66cm), winner of The Ondaatje Prize for Portraiture
2018 at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters annual exhibition
Handing-in day: April 27, 9am at
cowbridge halls. Unaccepted
work must be collected between
3 and 4.30pm on the same day.
Contact: Download entry forms:
www.hertfordartsociety.co.uk/cal
endar/annual-open-exhibition, or
email radleymichael@yahoo.co.uk
Royal Birmingham Society of
Artists’ (RBSA) Prize Exhibition
Venue: Royal birmingham Society
of Artists’ Gallery, 4 brook Street,
St Paul’s, birmingham b3 1SA.
☎ 0121 236 4353
Details: Artists working in all
media, except photography, may
enter. Please consult the
application pack for details of
prizes, fees and full terms and
conditions.
Exhibition dates: may 22 to June 22.
Submissions deadline: April 3.
Handing-in day: may 19.
Contact: The Royal birmingham
Society of Artists’ Gallery, 4 brook
Street, St Paul’s, birmingham b3
1SA; telephone 0121 236 4353;
email: rbsagallery@rbsa.org.uk;
www.rbsa.org.uk
70 artist January 2019
Royal Society of Portrait
Painters (RP)
Venue: mall Galleries, London SW1.
☎ 020 7930 6844
Details: The RP seeks submissions
of new and traditional artistic
models and perspectives in
portraiture from artists aged 18
and over. All media accepted,
including original prints but
excluding sculpture. Prizes
include the Ondaatje Prize for
Portraiture, £10,000, plus the
society’s gold medal for the most
distinguished painting in the
exhibition; the de Laszlo
Foundation Award, £3,000, plus a
silver medal for the most
outstanding portrait by an artist
aged 35 or under; The Prince of
Wales’s Award for Portrait
Drawing, £2,000; the burke’s
Peerage Foundation Award,
£2,000 for the most classically
inspired portrait in the exhibition.
A maximum of three works may
be submitte; up to three may be
selected, maximum size 941/2in
(240cm) in the largest dimension.
Works must have been
completed in the past three years
and not previously exhibited in
London. Entry: £18 per work;
under-35s, £12 per work.
Preselection at www.
registrationmallgalleries.org.uk.
Download terms and conditions
from www.mallgalleries.org.uk
Exhibition dates: may 9 to 24.
Submissions deadline: February 22,
2019, 12 noon.
Handing-in day: February 23, 10am
to 5pm.
Contact: mall Galleries, as above.
Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait
Prize 2019
Details: Entries are invited from
both established and emerging
artists living and working in the
UK and ireland. All media
accepted including drawing,
painting, watercolour, print,
collage, photo-collage, mixed
media and low-relief sculpture.
An exhibition of selected work
will go on show at Piano Nobile in
King’s Place, London. £10,000
prize offered.
Exhibition dates: may to September.
Submissions deadline: Opens for
submissions in January.
Contact: Email:
info@ruthborchard.org.uk;
www.ruthborchard.org.uk
Wildlife Artist of the Year
Details: The David Shepherd
Wildlife Foundation’s (DSWF)
annual competition is open to all
amateur and professional artists
aged 17 or over in all genres
(excluding photography). Entry
fee: £25 per work, concessions
£10 and £10 entry for those aged
17 to 25 entering the human
impact category. First prize,
£10,000; runner-up, £1,000; other
category winners, £500 each. For
full details and online submission,
see www.davidshepherd.org
Exhibition dates: mall Galleries,
London, may 29 to June 2.
Submissions deadline: February 18,
10am to 5pm.
Contact: Full details and entry
forms at www.davidshepherd.org
☎ 01483 272323
JUNE
BP Portrait Award 2018
Venue: National Portrait Gallery,
St martin’s Place, London Wc2.
☎ 020 7306 0055
Details: Now in its 40th year, the
competition encourages artists to
focus on and develop portraiture
within their work. Entrants must
be aged over 18, but there is no
upper age limit. Open to artists
from around the world. Work
must be predominantly painted
in oil, tempera or acrylic and must
be on a stretcher or board,
preferably framed and unglazed.
No watercolours, works on paper
or pastels will be considered, nor
will work previously submitted for
the competition. The painting
should be based on a sitting or
study from life and the human
figure must predominate. One
entry per person, cost £40. Digital
selection in the first instance.
First prize £35,000 plus a
commission worth £7,000; bP
Travel Award open to all entrants;
bP Young Artist Award for the
best portrait painted by an artist
under 30.
Exhibition dates: June to September,
tbc, then tours.
Closing date for entry: call for entries
closes Jan, tbc.
Contact: Full details available on
line at www.npg.org.uk/bp
Derbyshire Open
Venue: buxton museum & Art
Gallery, Terrace Road, buxton,
Derbyshire SK17 6DA.
Details: Organised by Derbyshire
county council with sponsorship
from the Friends of buxton
museum and Art Gallery, the
Derbyshire Open, now in its 37th
year, attracts amateur and
professional artists of all ages
www.painters-online.co.uk
competing for a range of prizes
and a place in the museum
collection. Top prize worth £750.
Entry information should be
available to download at Easter
from www.derbyshire.gov.uk/
leisure/buxton-museum
Exhibition dates: July 6 to
September 13.
Handing-in day: June/July, tbc.
Contact: buxton museum and Art
Gallery, as above.
☎ 01629 533540
New English Art Club (NEAC)
Venue: mall Galleries, The mall,
London SW1.
☎ 020 7930 6844
Details:The NEAc seeks work that
demonstrates excellence in both
concept and draughtsmanship.
Artists over the aged of 18 may
submit paintings, drawings,
pastels and original framed
prints, not photography or
sculpture. Up to six works may be
submitted; up to five may be
selected. maximum size 941⁄2in
(240cm) in the largest dimension.
All work to be submitted online at
www.registrationmallgalleries.
org.uk. Entry: £18 per work;
under-35s, £12 per work. All work
must be for sale, minimum price
£300, framed prints, £180;
unframed prints, £120. Prizes
include The Doreen mcintosh
Prize, £5,000 and The bowyer
Drawing Prize: £1,000. Full terms
and conditions from:
www.mallgalleries.org.uk
Exhibition dates: June 14 to 22.
Registration deadline: February 22,
2019, 12 noon.
Handing-in day: April 6, 10am to
5pm.
Contact: mall Galleries, The mall,
London SW1;
www.mallgalleries.org.uk
☎ 020 7930 6844
Royal Academy Summer
Exhibition 2019
Venue: Royal Academy of Arts,
Piccadilly, London W1J 0bD.
☎ 020 7300 5929/5969
Details: The Royal Academy’s
Summer Exhibition is the world’s
largest open-submission show.
Valuable prizes include the
£25,000 charles Wollaston Award.
Up to two works may be
submitted; handling fee, £35 per
work. The initial round of
selection will be from digital
images. Please see website for full
details:
https://summerroyalacademy.
org.uk
Exhibition dates: June 10 to
August 12.
Submissions deadline: February 13,
11.59pm.
Receiving days: To be advised. At the
time of going to press these dates
were unavailable. Please check
website for full details.
Contact: Entry forms available
online from January 3; https://
summer.royalacademy.org.uk
☎ 020 7300 5969/5929
Society of Portrait Sculptors
Venue: La Galleria Pall mall, 30
Royal Opera Arcade, London
SW1Y 4UY.
Details: FAcE2019 is open to all
artists worldwide. Up to two
works may be submitted of a
head, bust or figure, human or
animal, in 3D or bas relief. First
prize is the society’s prize of
£1,000 for the best three-
dimensional human portrait.
Entry: £35 per work for those
aged 31 and over, or £25 per work
for those aged 30 and under on
April 3, 2019.
Exhibition dates: June 3 to 8.
Entry deadline: February 22. Works
accepted from initial selection to
be submitted for judging: April 2.
Contact: Download entry forms or
apply online at www.portrait-
sculpture.org or contact: The
Society of Portrait Sculptors, 126
Greenhill Road, Winchester,
hampshire SO22 5DU.
☎ 07787 514622; email:
sps@portrait-sculpture.org
JULY
Artsdepot Open
Venue: Apthorp Gallery, Artsdepot,
5 Nether Street, Tally ho corner,
North Finchley, London N12 0GA.
020 8369 5454
Details: Annual exhibition
celebrating the work of artists
from barnet, north London, and
beyond. Submissions are invited
from emerging and established
artists. Up to three works may be
submitted; £10 per work, tbc.;
Young Artists £3 per work, tbc.
Please refer to website for
updates: www.artsdepot.co.uk
Exhibition dates: July to September.
Application deadline: early June, tbc.
Handing-in: early July, tbc.
Contact: Download application
forms from www.artsdepot.co.uk
☎ 020 8369 5454
Buxton Spa Prize
Venue: Green man Gallery,
hardwick Square South, buxton,
Derbyshire SK17 6PY.
Details: Open art competition to
celebrate the culture, natural
beauty and heritage of the town
of buxton. Artists of all ages and
abilities are invited to paint en
plein air in the town in may and
June. Any 2D media accepted and
up to two completed works may
be submitted for exhibition.
Details of prizes and judges at
www.buxtonspaprize.co.uk
Exhibition dates: July, tbc.
Registration: Spring, 2019, tbc.
Contact: buxton Spa Prize, c/o The
Old hall hotel, The Square,
buxton Spa, Derbyshire SK17 6bD;
www.buxtonspaprize.co.uk
Clifton Arts Club (CAC)
Venue:The Undercroft, Victoria
methodist church, Whiteladies
Road, bristol bS8 1NU.
www.painters-online.co.uk
Details: Open exhibition of original
works of art. Non-members may
enter up to four works. Prizes
include £300 prize for excellence
and £100 member prize. check
website for updates.
Exhibition dates:July/August, tba.
Handing-in day: July, tba.
Contact: Download details from:
www.cliftonartsclub.co.uk, or
from Submissions Secretary,
clifton Arts club, 12 Ridgeway
Road, Long Ashton, bristol
bS41 9EU.
☎ 01275 392141
Exhibition Wildlife Art (EWA)
Venue: Gordale Garden centre,
South Wirral ch64 8TF.
☎ 07748 533448
Details: Entries invited of work
inspired by the natural world.
Selected exhibition.
Exhibition dates: July 26 to 28.
Submissions deadline: tbc.
Closing date: tbc.
Contact: Exhibition Wildlife Art
(EWA); email: info@ewa-uk.com;
website: www.ewa-uk.com
☎ 07748 533448
Guild of Aviation Artists
Venue: mall Galleries, London SW1.
☎ 020 7930 6844
Details: The 49th Aviation Painting
of the Year annual summer
exhibition. Any aviation subject is
accepted, modern and historical,
in any hand-applied medium
including sculpture. Up to four
works may be submitted by non-
members. Full details at
www.gava.org.uk. Awards and
trophies include a £1,000 Aviation
Painting of the Year Award and
the £1,000 FlyPast Fellows Award
for Excellence. Submissions at the
mall Galleries.
Exhibition dates: July 22 to 28.
Handing-in day: may 12.
Contact: Entry form and
submission details available to
non-members, on receipt of £5,
from Administration, Guild of
Aviation Artists, Studio 100 Rye
house, 113 high Street, Ruislip
hA4 8JN; admin@gava.org.uk;
www.gava.org.uk
☎ 0333 130 2223
Royal Scottish Academy Open
Exhibition
Venue: The Lower Galleries, The
Royal Scottish Academy building,
The mound, Edinburgh Eh2 2EL.
☎ 0131 225 6671
Details: A selected exhibition of
small works sourced by open
selection from artists across
Scotland and further afield.
includes new paintings, drawings,
sculptures, prints, photographs,
film and architecture. Full details
of submissions procedures and
dates will be available from the
wrbsite in due course, so please
keep checking for updates:
www.royalscottishacademy.org
Exhibition dates: July to August, tbc.
Submission deadline: tba.
Contact: Download entry forms
(from spring 2019) from:
www.royalscottishacademy.org
☎ 0131 225 6671
Royal Society of British Artists
(RBA)
Venue: mall Galleries, The mall,
London SW1.
☎ 020 7930 6844
Details: The Royal Society of british
Artists (RbA) seeks submissions of
work displaying the highest
standards of skill, expression and
concept of draughtsmanship for
its annual open exhibition. Artists
over the age of 18 may enter up
to six works in any medium; of
which three can be original
framed prints. Up to four works
may be accepted. maximum size
941⁄2in (240cm) in any dimension.
Entry: £18 per work; under-35s,
£12 per work. Online submission
for preselection at www.
registrationmallgalleries.org.uk.
Prizes include The de Laszlo
Foundation Prize of £1,500 to an
artist aged 35 or under; The
Patron’s Prize of £500; The Artist
Award of a feature in the
magazine, and many other cash
and artists’ materials prizes, tbc.
All work must be for sale,
minimum price £300 per work;
unframed prints, £120.
confirmation of dates, terms and
conditions at:
www.mallgalleries.org.uk
Mark Elsmore Multi-Storey, gouache, 231⁄2⫻371⁄2in (60⫻95cm), winner of the Winsor &
Newton Award at the 2018 exhibition of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours
Exhibition dates: July 4 to 14.
Entry deadline: march 15.
Handing-in day: April 27.
Contact: mall Galleries, as above.
Tabernacle Art Competition
and Exhibition (MOMA)
Venue: mOmA (museum of
modern Art), The Tabernacle, heol
Penrallt, machynlleth, Powys
SY20 8AJ.
☎ 01654 703355
Details: One entry per person is
invited on a theme (tbc). Art
competition packs will be
available from February. Two-
dimensional works in any media
are accepted, plus low-relief
collages, providing these are
contained in a frame and can be
wall-mounted. Entry fee: £10 for
adults, £3 for under-18s.
Exhibition dates: July/August, tbc.
Handing-in dates: late June, tba.
Contact: Telephone 01654 703355;
email info@momawales.org.uk
www.momawales.org.uk
TALP2019Open
Venue: Patchings Art centre, Oxton
Road, calverton, Nottinghamshire.
☎ 0115 965 3479
Details: Organised by The Artist
and Leisure Painter in partnership
with Patchings Art centre. The
exhibition, in two separate
categories, is open to all
professional and amateur artists;
any 2D media accepted. Prize
awards worth over £17,000,
including The Artist Purchase
Prize selected by guest judge,
Lachlan Goudie. Selected and
additional highly commended
works will be shown online, with
a People’s choice prize. Up to
three works may be submitted for
either category; just one work will
be accepted for exhibition in the
Leisure Painter category. Entry fee
of £18 per artist covers three
works. Entries submitted online,
via www.painters-online.co.uk.
Exhibition dates: July 11 to
August 11.
Submissions deadline: April 12.
Contact: Full details appear on
pages 12 and 13; then in the
February and march issues of
The Artist and Leisure Painter
magazines; www.painters-
online.co.uk
☎ 01580 763673/763315
AUGUST
Clevedon Art Club
Venue: The Science block Atrium,
clevedon community School,
Valley Road, clevedon, Somerset
bS21 6Ah.
artist January 2019
Details: 63rd open exhibition.
Open to all artists working in any
media. Up to four paintings
and/or sculpture may be
submitted. check www.clevedon
artclub.co.uk for updates.
Exhibition dates: August 17 to 26,
tbc.
Handing-in days: August 11, tbc.
Contact: Entry details will be
available from the website:
www.clevedonartclub.co.uk
☎ Steve Jenkins: 01454 776311
or Sue bryant: 01275 847043
National Eisteddfod of Wales
Visual Arts Exhibition
Venue: Llanrwst, conwy county.
Details: Open to those born in
Wales or who have one parent
born in Wales or any other person
who has resided or worked in
Wales for the three years prior to
the Eisteddfod dates, or any
person able to speak or write
Welsh. A mixed exhibition of
contemporary fine art and
applied art. Awards include the
Gold medal for Fine Art plus
£5,000; the Gold medal for craft
and Design plus £5,000; and the
Young Artist Scholarship of
£1,500. Entry £20; up to six jpgs
may be submitted.
Exhibition dates: August 2 to 10.
Closing date for entries: February 14.
Contact: gwyb@eisteddfod.org.uk;
www.eisteddfod.wales
☎ 0845 4090 900
United Kingdom Coloured
Pencil Society (UKCPS)
Venue: The Station, Richmond,
North Yorkshire DL10 4LDS.
Details: The 18th annual
international exhibition, open to
all artists. Work must be original
in concept, design and execution.
Artists must demonstrate
compositional and drawing skills
and the ability to use coloured
pencil. Entries must not have
been shown in any previous
UKcPS exhibition. Each work
must comprise at least 50 per
cent dry coloured pencil; the
71
remaining 50 per cent of the work
may contain less than 50 per cent
of any other media. For full details
and to enter go to:
www.ukcps.co.uk
Exhibition dates: August 3 to
September 4.
Closing date for online entries: may 19.
Handing-in: August 2.
Contact: www.ukcps.org.uk
SEPTEmbER
Exeter Contemporary Open
Venue: Exeter Phoenix, bradninch
Place, Gandy Street, Exeter
Ex4 3LS.
☎ 01392 667058
Details: All media including
drawing, painting, sculpture and
photography are invited for entry
to the Exeter contemporary
Open. £1,500 in prizes. Entry is
£20 per artist, tbc.; concessions
£15, tbc. A maximum of four
works may be submitted. Finalists
will be selected by a panel. Full
details should be avilable on the
website from April.
Exhibition dates: September to
November, tbc.
Handing-in days: June, tbc.
Contact: Application forms will be
available to download from April:
www. exeterphoenix.
org.uk/category/art;
address as above.
Society of Equestrian Artists
Open Exhibition (SEA)
Venue: Sally mitchell’s Gallery, 1
market Place, Tuxford,
Nottinghamshire NG22 0LA.
Details: The horse in Art Open
exhibition. Entry fee: £12 per
work. All details tbc. check the
society’s website for updates.
www.equestrianartists.co.uk
Exhibition dates: September 15 to 29.
Submissions deadline: July 21.
Handing-in: August 25.
Contact:
admin@equestrianartists.co.uk
www.equestrianartists.co.uk
☎ 0300 0110 185
Society of Women Artists (SWA)
Venue: mall Galleries, London SW1.
☎ 020 7930 6844
Details: 158th annual exhibition,
open to non-members. Up to four
works may be submitted in many
media, both wall hung and three-
dimensional. Entry fee is £15 per
work, £8 for young artists. major
prize: The SWA £2,000 Fine Art
Award, also a special prize for a
young artist (age limit 35) and
The Artist Editor’s choice Award
Work may be submitted digitally
for pre-selection. For full details
see www.society-women-
artists.org.uk
Exhibition dates: September, tbc.
Digital submissions: June, tbc.
Handing-in day: tbc.
Contact: For entry forms email
Rebecca cotton at:
rebeccacottonswa@gmail.com
72 artist January 2019
Renee Spierdijk Striped Dress, oil, 28⫻193⁄4in (71⫻50cm), winner of the Michael Harding
Award at the 2018 Royal Society of British Artists exhibition
Sunday Times Watercolour
Competition
Venue: mall Galleries, The mall,
London SW1.
☎ 0203 653 0896
Details: Now in its 32nd year, The
Sunday Times Watercolour
competition is the largest and
most prestigious prize for
contemporary watercolour
painting in the UK. Whether it be
through abstract or figurative,
contemporary or traditional, the
competition aims to celebrate
and redifine the beauty and
diversity of watercolour and
water-based media. At the time of
going to press, details are still to
be decided. Please check the
website for up-to-date
information.
Exhibition dates: September, tbc.
Entry deadline: June, tbc.
Contact: Enter online at:
www.sundaytimeswatercoour.art
opps.co.uk. For queries, contact:
watercolour@parkerharris.co.uk
☎ 0203 653 0896
OcTObER
Chelsea Art Society
Details: 72nd annual open
exhibition. Admissible media
includes painting, sculpture,
drawings and prints and artists of
all levels of experience and of any
age are eligible. Prizes include the
Wedlake bell Award for a Young
Artist (maximum 35 years), worth
£1,000.
Exhibition dates: October, tbc.
Submissions deadline: Sept/Oct, tbc.
Contact: Email
chelseaartsociety@gmail.com
www.chelseaartsociety.org.uk
Royal Society of Marine Artists
(RMSA)
Venue: mall Galleries, The mall,
London SW1.
☎ 020 7930 6844
Details: Submissions of painting
and sculpture are invited that
involve the sea and the marine
environment, for example
portraits of persons connected
with the sea, shipping, creeks,
wildlife, beaches – anything that
moves with tidal waters.
Accepted media are oil, acrylic,
watercolour, original prints of any
media, pastels, sculpture or
drawings. Artists aged over 18
may submit a maximum of six
works, up to three may be
selected. maximum size 941⁄2in
(240cm) in the largest dimension.
All work must be submit online
for preselection at www.
registrationmallgalleries.org.uk.
Entry £18 per work; under-35s,
£12 per work. All work must be
for sale, minimum price, £300;
unframed prints, £120; framed
prints form a limited edition not
exceeding 50, £200. Prizes and
awards available to win. Terms
and conditions from:
www.mallgalleries.org.uk
Exhibition dates: October 10 to 19.
Registration open: April 8 to July 5,
Handing-in day: August 10, 10am to
5pm.
www.painters-online.co.uk
Contact: mall Galleries, The mall,
London SW1;
www.mallgalleries.org.uk
☎ 020 7930 6844
Royal West of England Academy
Annual Open Exhibition (RWA)
Venue: Royal West of England
Academy, Queen’s Road, clifton,
bristol bS8 1Px.
☎ 0117 973 5129
Details: 166th annual open
exhibition of works by emerging
and established artist. includes
painting, printmaking, drawing,
sculpture, architecture and
photography. most works for sale.
For more information visit the
RWA website: www.rwa.org.uk
Exhibition dates: October 7 to
November 25.
Handing-in days: tbc.
Contact: www.rwa.org.uk
Society of Graphic Fine Art
(SFGA)
Venue: The menier Gallery, 51
Southwark Street, London SE1.
☎ 020 7407 3222
Details: Annual open exhibition of
contemporary and traditional
drawings, paintings and prints,
showing evidence of drawing by
hand. Non-members can submit
up to three works, £15 per work.
Exhibition dates: October, dates tba.
Application deadline: July, tba.
Sending-in days: tba.
Contact: www.sgfa.org.uk
Enquiries@sgfa.org.uk
Society of Wildlife Artists
(SWLA)
Venue: mall Galleries, The mall,
London SW1.
☎ 020 7930 6844
Details: Any work depicting
wildlife subjects is admissible,
botanical and domestic animals
are not. Artists over 18 may
submit up to six works in any
medium, including painting,
sculpture and original prints; up
to six may be selected. maximum
size 941⁄2in (240cm) in largest
dimension. Work previously
exhibited in London is not
admissible. All work to be
submitted online for preselection
at www.registrationmallgalleries.
org.uk. Entry: £18 per work;
under-35s, £12 per work. All work
must be for sale, minimum price
£200; unframed prints, £95. Prizes
and awards available to win. Full
terms and conditions from:
www.mallgalleries.org.uk.
Exhibition dates: October 24 to
November 3.
Registration open: April 29 to July 26,
12 noon.
Handing-in day: September 7, 10am
to 5pm.
Contact: mall Galleries, as above.
Wells Art Contemporary
Venue: Wells Art contemporary,
bishop’s Palace, Wells bA5 2RA
☎ 01458 830 078
Details: A showcase for
contemporary art in the south
west, aiming to promote and
display work of all media.
Experienced and emerging artists
are invited to submit works. First
prize: solo exhibition of work in a
London gallery. Further prizes of
£1,000, £500 and £250. Please
contact Parker harris for up-to-
date information.
Exhibition dates: October, dates tbc.
Registration open: Open from mid
march.
Handing-in days: Early July.
Contact: Parker harris; email
info@parkerharris.co.uk
NOVEmbER
Café Gallery Annual Open
Venue: cGP London, The Gallery,
Gallery by the Pool, 1 Park
Approach, Southwark Park,
London SE16 2UA.
Details: in its 35th year, all artists
are invited to enter. At the time of
going to press, details yet to be
decided. For up-to-date
information please keep checking
the website: www.cgplondon.org
Exhibition dates:
November/December, dates tbc.
Submission dates: tbc.
Contact: admin@cgplondon.org
☎ 0207 237 1230
Elephant X Griffin Art Prize
Details: Annual award for UK-
based graduates, (previously
Griffin Art Prize). Open to any UK-
based artist whose primary
activity is painting or drawing
and has graduated with a bA, mA
or PhD from a recognised
institution since 2010. Up to four
works to be submitted at a cost of
£15, tbc. Prizes include £5,000;
£2,000 studio rent in a location of
the winners’ choice in the UK;
£3,000 art materials, plus
professional support and
mentoring from the Elaphant
team. Full details published in
spring, 2019. check website:
www.elephant.art/elephant-
griffin-art-prize
Contact: Email Lucia@Elephant.art
www.elephant.art/elephant-
griffin-art-prize
Great Sheffield Art Show
Venue: The millennium Gallery,
Arundel Gate, Sheffield S1 2PP
Details: Art show/sale for amateur
and professional artists. Up to six
works may be submitted. All
media accepted, excluding
photographs. hanging fee £5 per
work. At the time of going to
press, details yet to be decided.
Please check the website for
updates:
www.greatsheffieldartshow.co.uk
Exhibition dates: November, tbc.
Handing-in day: November, tbc.
Contact: Enormous Art Ltd.,
95 brookhouse hill, Sheffield
S10 3TE; info@enormousart.co.uk
☎ 0114 230 9800
www.painters-online.co.uk
ING Discerning Eye Exhibition
Venue: mall Galleries, The mall,
London SW1.
☎ 0203 653 0896
Details: The exhibition comprises
publicly submitted works and
works independently selected by
six prominent figures from
different areas of the art world:
two artists, two collectors and
two critics. Each section is hung
separately to give each its own
distinctive identity. The
impression emerges of six small
exhibitions within the whole.
information available at
www.discerningeye.org. Apply:
www.thediscerningeye.artopps.
co.uk
Exhibition dates: November, tbc.
Handing-in days: September, tbc.
Contact: de@parkerharris.co.uk
☎ 0203 653 0896
ING Discerning Eye Drawing
Bursary
Venue: mall Galleries, The mall,
London SW1.
☎ 0203 653 0896
Details: Five artists will be
shortlisted for the bursary and an
exhibition of their selected work
will be shown as part of the iNG
Discerning Eye Exhibition at the
mall Galleries, London in
November, 2019. £1,500 first
prize; £150 to each runner-up.
Exhibition dates: November, dates.
Handing-in days: October, dates tbc.
Contact: Apply online at:
www.dedrawingbursary.artopps.
co.uk. contact
de@parkerharris.co.uk
☎ 01203 6530896
Royal Glasgow Institute of the
Fine Arts (RGI)
Venue: RGi Kelly Gallery, 118
Douglas Street, Glasgow G2 4ET.
Details: Annual exhibition to
promote contemporary art in
Scotland. Open to all artists.
Accepted media are painting,
drawing, printmaking, mixed
media and sculpture. Full details
will be available by August.
Exhibition dates: November, tbc.
Handing-in days: September, tbc.
Contact: RGi Kelly Gallery, 118
Douglas Street, Glasgow G2 4ET;
theroyalglasgowinstitute@
gmail.com;
www.royalglasgowinstitute.org
Royal Institute of Oil Painters
(ROI)
Venue: mall Galleries, The mall,
London SW1.
☎ 020 7930 6844
Details: Artists aged over 18 may
submit up to six works in oils.
Acrylic and water-soluble oil paint
is acceptable if it is framed as an
oil. Glazing or wide mounts
between painting and frame, as
in watercolours, are not
acceptable; up to four works may
be selected. maximum size 941⁄2in
)240cm) in the largest dimension.
Work must have been completed
in the past three years and not
been exhibited in London
previously. Prizes include The
Phyllis Roberts Award, £2,000; The
Stanley Grimm Prize – two awards
of £700, to the painters whose
works receive the most votes
from visitors to the exhibition;
Winsor & Newton Young Artist
Awards (for artists aged 35 or
under) – first prize £1,000; second
prize, £600; and third prize £400
worth of Winsor & Newton fine
art materials. Submit online for
preselection at www.
registrationmallgalleries.org.uk.
Entry: £18 per work; under-35s,
£12 per work. All work must be
for sale, minimum price £300. Full
terms and conditions from:
www.mallgalleries.org.uk
Exhibition dates: November 27 to
December 8.
Registration deadline: may 28 to
August 30, 12 noon.
Handing-in day: October 12, 10am
to 5pm.
Contact: mall Galleries,
The mall, London SW1;
www.mallgalleries.org.uk
☎ 020 7930 6844.
Royal Society of Miniature
Painters, Sculptors and Gravers
(RMS)
Venue: mall Galleries, The mall,
London SW1.
☎ 020 7930 6844
Details: Annual open exhibition of
miniature art. Up to five works
may be submitted. At the time of
going to press, details yet to be
confirmed. Please check website
to up-to-date informaiton and full
conditions and schedules at:
www.royal-miniature-
society.org.uk
Exhibition dates: November-
December 2019, tbc.
Handing-in day: mid-November, tbc.
Contact: Executive Secretary, 89
Rosebery Road, Dursley,
Gloucestershire GL11 4PU;
info@royal-miniature-
society.org.uk
Rugby Open
Venue: Rugby museum and Art
Gallery, Little Elborow Street,
Rugby cV21 3bZ.
☎ 01788 533201
Details: Annual exhibition for
artists living and/or working
within 15 miles of the art gallery.
Up to three original works can be
entered. Acceptable media are
painting, sculpture, drawing,
print, photography, film/video
and craft. Performance and
installation are not acceptable.
Fee, £5 per work, £12 for three
works, tbc. Prizes and awards. Full
details available later in the year.
Exhibition dates: November to
January 2020, tbc.
Registration deadline: late October.
Contact: Details and application
forms available from end
September; www.ragm.org.uk
☎ 01788 533201
South West Academy of Fine
and Applied Arts (SWAc)
Venue: Exeter castle, castle Street,
Exeter Ex4 3PU.
Details: 20th annual open
exhibition for artists from the
south west region of England. All
media will be considered; up to
four works may be submitted.
cost £15 per work, tbc. Prizes and
awards to include new Young
Artist's Award. Digital
submissions. Full details at:
www.southwestacademy.org.uk
Exhibition dates: November, tbc.
Submissions deadline: August, tbc.
Contact: Download conditions of
entry and submission forms from
www.southwestacademy.org.uk
The South West Academy of Fine
and Applied Arts, 3 birchy barton
hill, Exeter Ex1 3ET.
DEcEmbER
onwards
Broadway Arts Festival
Competition
Venue: Little buckland Gallery,
Little buckland, broadway,
Worcestershire WR12 7Jh.
☎ 01386 853739
Details: biennial competition open
to all artists, in all media,
including photography, sculpture,
film, ceramics and design
makers.The next competition will
be in 2020. Entry fee, £10 per
piece entered. £3,000 worth of
prize money.
Exhibition dates: may 29 to June 21,
2020. Registration opens
September 2019.
Deadline for entries: may 3, 2020.
Handing-in days: may 15 to 17.
Contact: Download form from:
www.broadwayartsfestival.com
from September 2019; for more
information email:
ajkiszely@aol.com
Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize
Venue: mall Galleries, The mall,
London SW1.
☎ 0203 653 0896
Details: The Lynn Painter-Stainers
Prize aims to encourage the very
best creative representational
painting and to promote the skill
of draughtsmanship. £35,000
worth of prize money.
Exhibition dates: Spring 2020.
Submissions deadline: Winter 2019.
Contact: lps@parkerharris.co.uk.
www.lps.artopps.co.uk
☎ 0203 653 0896
Pastel Society (PS)
Venue: mall Galleries, The mall,
London SW1.
☎ 020 7930 6844
Details: The Pastel Society seeks
the best in contemporary pastel.
Acceptable media are pastels,
including oil pastels, charcoal,
pencil, conté, sanguine or other
dry media. many prizes and
artist January 2019
awards, including caran d’Ache
Sponsor’s Award and £5,000
Zsuzsi Roboz Prize for artists
under the age of 35; The Artist
Award of a feature in the
magazine. Artists must be aged
18 or over. All work to be
submitted online for preselection
at www.registrationmallgalleries.
org.uk. Entry: £18 per work;
under-35s, £12 per work, tbc. Full
terms and conditions available at:
www.mallgalleries.org.uk
Exhibition dates: February/march
2020, tbc.
Registration deadline: November
2019, tbc.
Handing-in day: January 2020, tbc.
Contact: mall Galleries,
The mall, London SW1;
www.mallgalleries.org.uk
☎ 020 7930 6844.
Royal Cambrian Academy Open
Exhibition
Venue: Royal cambrian Academy,
crown Lane, conwy, LL32 8AN.
☎ 01492 593413
Details: Open exhibition for artists
and students aged over 18 and
who live and work in or outside
Wales. All media, 2D or 3D,
including painting, sculpture,
ceramics and photography. Fee is
£15 per work, £25 for two. See
website for full details.
Exhibition dates: January 11 to
February 8, 2020.
Submissions deadline: Thursday 5
and Friday 6 December.
Contact: Royal cambrian Academy,
address as above. Entry forms will
be available to download from:
www.rcaconwy.org or email
admin@rcaconwy.org
The Royal Scottish Society of
Painters in Watercolour (RSW)
Venue: The Royal Scottish
Academy building, The mound,
Edinburgh Eh2 2EL.
Details: 139th annual winter
exhibition of the Royal Scottish
Society of Painters in Watercolour.
Works in water-based media only.
Up to four works may be
submitted at a cost of £10 per
work plus £30 hanging fee per
work, tbc.
Exhibition dates: January 2020, tbc.
Submissions deadline: October 2019.
Contact: For full details and to
submit online, see
www.rsw.org.uk or send c5 sae to
Lindsay Neil, c/o Robb Ferguson,
Regent court, 70 West Street,
Glasgow G2 2QZ.
DATE chANGES
information was correct
at time of going to
press but details and
dates may change;
please check with the
organisers
73
ART COURSES & HOLIDAYS SHOW
Dedham Hall
2019

‘Diwali Parade’ by Amanda Hyatt

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*T&Cs apply. Subject to availability. Non-member associate fee £10pp may apply. Details correct at time of going to press
(Oct18) Visit hfholidays.co.uk/terms for full T&Cs.

74 January 2019 www.painters-online.co.uk

WCASE 2019 To help you choose the painting course or holiday to
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www.painters-online.co.uk January 2019 7575

ARTNET
ART COURSES & HOLIDAYS
THE ARTIST’S DIRECTORY OF COURSES, MATERIALS & SERVICES

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Paint with watercolour artist Amanda Cooper. Viktoria Prischedko, Slawa Prischedko,
Roger Dellar, Kevin Scully, Grahame Booth,
Stay in the beautiful Lygon Arms Hotel in David Poxon and many more. Exclusive - St Ives/Nicholson style
frames available on-line
Broadway, in the Cotswolds. Spectacular location 3 minutes
from the coast. Call 01427 787318 or visit
Three nights bed, 01395 516284 www.ashcraftframing.co.uk/store
breakfast and dinner Art Net Jan_Art Net special page Dec 06/11/2018 info@eastdevonart.co.uk
10:49 Page 1
www.eastdevonart.co.uk
with full use of hotel spa East Devon Art Academy,
and pool. Three full days Old Fore Street, Sidmouth EX10 8LS
painting and tuition.

19th to 22nd May, 2019 Sign up for our FREE e-newsletter

www.painters-online.co.uk/art-community/newsletter-registration.htm

artnet FOCUS
Email: iphhello556@gmail.com Mobile: 07927 214676

Paint in India
If the thought of winter is getting you down, why not book a
painting holiday in India? Painting in Europe in association with
Arte Umbria have a trip
planned for March with Belinda
Biggs, Seraphina Moody and
David Moody. You’ll spend a
week at Udaipur and at Jim’s
Jungle Retreat in Uttarakhand,
where you
might see
leopards,

Pain�ng Retreat jackals, tigers, elephants and other exotic

animals. As an optional extra, you can book
Chateâu de la Chesnaye
Pegasus Art
three nights trekking, bird watching and
painting in the Himalayas.
in the Loire Valley
Griffin Mill Trading You can find full details on the website.
Demonstra�ons and Estate, London
discussions Road,
on art by
Jackson Wrede from Notre Dame University.
Private, luxurious en-suites. Wholesome French cuisine.
Fabulous regional wines. Pain�ng materials included.

Sandra Kelly Williams

+353 86Telephone
045 5888www.leperc
www.chesnaye.com
01986 788853
info@chesnaye.com www.paintingineurope.com
76 January 2019
 THE ARTIST’S DIRECTORY OF COURSES, MATERIALS & SERVICES
To advertise contact Anna-Marie Brown Telephone 01778

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392048 Email: annamarieb@warnersgroup.co.uk

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A web comp Jan 2019_Layout 1 12/11/2018 16:38 Page 1 Shop online
T: 01778 392048 www.pegasusart.co.uk
Art materials - Workshops - Canvas Making
E: annamarieb@warnersgroup.co.uk Free shipping over £50
01453 886560

PAINTERSONLINE
and Search Press Competition
PaintersOnline, the online home of Leisure Painter and The Artist,
has teamed up with Search Press, to offer you the chance to win one
of ten copies of The Field Guide to Drawing & Sketching Animals
ENTER NOW
by Tim Pond worth £14.99 (rrp) each. To win one of ten copies of
The Field Guide to Drawing &
The Field Guide to Drawing & Sketching Animals Sketching Animals by Tim Pond
takes you on a journey of discovery that will please visit:
enable you to develop the skills, techniques
and knowledge to sketch a broad range of www.painters-online.co.uk
wildlife, encompassing mammals, reptiles,
birds, fish and insects. It includes quick, gestural the online home of Leisure Painter and
sketches as well as linear and tonal studies, in a The Artist magazines, and click on the
variety of media - pencil, pen and ink and links to competitions. Closing date
watercolour. The result is a treasure chest of for entries is February 15, 2019.
fascinating facts, studies, sketches and Winners will be selected at random
annotated drawings that will not fail to ignite from all online entries .
your enthusiasm for drawing animals from life.
When completing your details please make sure
Search Press is the leading art and craft you opt in to receive our great regular email
publisher in the UK, specialising in fine art, newsletters so that we can keep you up to date
textiles, general crafts and children’s crafts. For with what’s new at Painters-Online, including
more information please visit the latest features, images in the galleries, new
www.searchpress.com competitions and other great offers.

January 2019 77
ART BUSINESS: 1ST OF 7
Marketing yourself
– an overview
Mark David Hatwood introduces a new series in
which he looks at the business side of being a
professional artist
fter completing an artwork
A there is nothing more
important to any artist than
selling it. Even if you’re ‘only
in it for the glory’, what better
accolade can there be than someone
handing over their hard-earned
money for your art? My aim, over the
next six issues, is help you to achieve
that, to give you the edge over
everyone else and make sure your
work is seen by potential clients.
With that in mind, here’s a list of the
subjects I’ll be covering in this series
of articles:
February issue – using apps to
create great content
Online presence
First up, if you haven’t already, you’ll
need to set up your website and social
media presence. These are essential for
turning leads into sales and attracting
more fans. You’ll find my articles on this
subject in the April and May 2018 issues
of The Artist, or on my website* if you
missed them.
Without a good website, with PayPal
buttons, you’re missing out on sales. If
you don’t have one of these, the bare
minimum would be an
ArtRehome/Etsy/Artfinder shop.
Otherwise all your hard work on
directing people to your various
resources will be wasted if people can’t
actually buy anything of yours when
they get there – and believe me,
‘Call/mail me for prices and to buy’ is a
sure-fire way of missing a sale. You need
to support that impulse-buyer by using
direct sales on your website whilst you
have their attention!
Make sure all your images are true. We
all have different resolutions and
settings on our monitors, phones and
tablets, but if the images are as true as
you can get them before you share
78 artist January 2019
March issue – paying for social media
advertising
April issue – working with partners
May issue – professional databases
and contacts
June issue – newsletters and your
‘voice’
July issue – Copyright
One or more of these topics may
seem insignificant, but I assure you that
every one of these is as imperative as
the other if you’re really going to drive
sales forward. There are literally tens of
thousands of professional, semi-
professional and amateur artists in the
UK alone, but you have one thing they
don’t: your personality.
them, the more attractive your work will
look. If you over-expose them to look
better, you’ll have returns from people
who are disappointed. If you under-
expose them, you’ll have fewer people
‘liking’ them in the first place. I often see
images on artists’ websites that are dark,
out of focus, or taken in a room full of
distractions. If you don’t bother, it’s
doubtful others will.
Be professional in all you do. Take well-
lit, well-positioned images that aren’t
cluttered with studio ‘stuff’. Sure, take
images of your studios if you like, but do
that separately. Your work needs and
deserves to star on its own and it
doesn’t (or at least shouldn’t) need any
props to enhance its magic. Make sure
your photos are taken under white or
natural light. Yellowing light from studio
or household bulbs tan your work and
take away from its glory. Make sure the
images are straight-on and not skew-
whiff. And more than anything make
sure they’re sharp and not blurred.
It’s worth spending the time to find
the right ‘environment’ for your photos
as you’ll be doing more and more of it
as your sales increase. Show us you care
Mark David Hatwood
FRSA
is the proprietor of Harbour
Gallery, 8a The Quay, Portscatho,
Cornwall, telephone 01872 580807,
www.theharbourgallery.co.uk and
founder of the website
www.britishcontemporary.art
about your craft and we’re much more
likely to honour that effort. There’s little
point in spending days/weeks/months
over your artwork, then photographing
it badly and in a hurry. Go the extra mile
here – you’re worth it!
Facilitate those sales
Once your work is ready to be
presented, with a light watermark if
required, make sure you do it well on all
platforms: website/sales page and social
media accounts such as Facebook,
Instagram, Twitter, etc., and always with
an instant buy button! I’ve had enough
sales after 11pm to know that people
surf the internet at night and will
happily click on buy buttons if they’re
there. Give them time to think about it
and they will – catch them at the
moment they are tempted and they’ll
jump. So please, if you do anything,
make sure this part of your business is
easy for your customers!
I’ll be giving a deeper insight into all
these things over the coming issues. For
now, take a look at my previous articles
and action as many points as you can in
advance.
Make 2019 all about you! If we all
improve our presence, it’s my belief we’ll
all help the industry rise, too. It’s why I’m
writing these articles: to help us all soar
above our expectations and let people
know we’re serious about what we do. In
the inimitable words of Alexandre
Dumas: ‘All for one and one for all’! TA
*www.theharbourgallery.co.uk
www.painters-online.co.uk
 artist PAINTING HOLIDAY

Paint Iceland’s Natural Landscapes

with Richard Pikesley RWS NEAC Vapour Trails, Charmouth Beach,
oil by Richard Pikesley

Iceland’s landscapes, seascapes and skies are

Richard Pikesley
dramatic and on a scale that takes your breath away.
This is a wonderful opportunity to capture the
immensity, intensity and atmosphere of Iceland’s
natural phenomena with the assistance of a very
experienced guest artist. Richard Pikesley will be
working in oil, watercolour and mixed media.

Y ou’ll be painting on the remote

and largely undiscovered
Tröllaskagi Peninsular on the north
12 –20
May 2019
coast. Known as ‘Troll Country’, this
is a sparsely populated area with deep
fjords where mountains drop sheer into
the sea. The beauty of the landscape has
inspired many of Iceland’s ‘sagas’.
You’ll be based less than 25 miles from the
Arctic Circle in Siglufjörður - Iceland’s most
northerly town. Siglufjörður nestles near the
entrance to a beautiful fjord and was Iceland’s
herring capital from 1905 to 1965. Fishing is
still at the heart of the community, but until
the building of the Hedinsfjörður Tunnel in
2010 the town remained very isolated and its
population declined to 1,182. The town started
welcoming visitors in 2015 when the Hotel Siglo
opened. The hotel has a superb location on the
water’s edge with spectacular views across the
fjord and the harbour. You’ll be able to sketch
the views from inside the hotel and paint
outside from its wooden walkways.
There is plenty to paint in
Siglufjörður and it is easy to walk
around. There are brightly painted
wooden houses, a working harbour
with traditional fishing boats, yachts
and a fish factory as well as the fjord,
meadows, a small forest and snow-capped
mountains. A minibus and the local bus will
be used to paint nearby fishing villages and
fjords and the night sky from a fjord where
there is no light pollution.
In May the daytime temperatures and
daylight hours are increasing as the period of
the midnight sun approaches, providing long
days for painting the different light. Spring
flowers should be in the meadows and there
will still be plenty of snow in the mountains.
The unpolluted air and changeable weather
means there will be times of great clarity of
light with clear skies interspersed with
dramatic cloud formations and moody skies.
Richard Pikesley RWS NEAC is a leading figurative
painter who incorporates abstract elements in his
work. To reflect the mix of subjects around the town
and harbour and the wilder subjects beyond, Iceland
lends itself to working on bigger boards and canvases
and on more varied sizes. To help you, Richard will
provide some group teaching and demonstrations
and pre-trip worksheets, as well as individual
guidance on an ad hoc basis. He believes students
learn by watching each other work and is very happy
to paint with an audience and to talk about it. This
semi-structured painting holiday is ideal for
intermediate and experienced students.
• Number of students 8 to 12
• Media Oil, watercolour and mixed media
• Price per person £4,495
• Single room supplement £700
• Price includes Flights, 4-star hotel and all meals,
guest artist and travel escort.

FOR FULL DETAILS CONTACT 01825 714310 art@spencerscott.co.uk www.spencerscotttravel.com

Other well-known artists leading our painting holidays in 2019 include Lucy Willis to The Holy Land, Lachlan Goudie ROI to Petra,
Peter Brown Hon PNEAC, ROI, RBA, PS, RP to Istanbul, Haidee-Jo Summers ROI, ARSMA to Symi, and Hazel Soan to Venice and The Serengeti
The Artist magazine has been offering overseas painting holidays since 1990 led by professional artists. These holidays are organised by fully licensed operator Spencer Scott Travel Services CAA ATOL 3471
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