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TIPS • TECHNIQUES • IDEAS • INSPIR ATION June 2018 £4.40
Expressive
FLOWERS
Some simple tricks to try
DRAMATIC
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How to add atmosphere
using dry brush technique
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A recent visit to the Picasso 1932 – Love, Fame, Tragedy exhibition at
Tate Modern got me thinking about our creative journeys. The
COVER IMAGE WILLY RUSSELL,
TRACK FROM VAU, ACRYLIC ON PAPER, works on display suggested a painter who was almost unimaginably
62X86CM © WILLY RUSSELL
assured about his practice, from his bold palette to his confident
brushwork. Whether or not that impression is a true account of the
great painter’s experience is another matter. I imagine that Picasso,
despite the heights he scaled, walked a similar path to the artists I
Stay interviewed for this issue. Both Willy Russell (page 32), writer of Blood Brothers
inspired and Shirley Valentine, and the painter Ann Blockley (page 54), shared stories of
with a their bumpy journeys to creative fulfilment in paint. What unites them is that
subscription... learning helped them to build the confidence to plough their own furrows.
One thing I am certain about is that – however far into our painting
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Online: mixed-media flowers (page 60) and Anne-Marie Butlin’s dry brush masterclass
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82
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Start with
passages of
thin paint,
and reserve
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© STEPHEN CHAMBERS
It’s never too late to start making 44 21 Painting Experiment with dry brush
art, says Laura Boswell Problems Solved technique using our step-by-step
36 10 Minutes With... Our expert artists help with 70 Essential Acr ylics
Explore
Portrait artist Emma Hopkins your most common frustrations Advice for choosing a support
82 What I’ve Learned 52 Your Questions 73 Perfect Proportion Laetitia
Royal Academician Stephen Helen Brown on printmaking Jake Spicer helps you to master Yhap’s studio
Chambers shares his painting tips and the landscape figure drawing on pa ge 24
4 Artists & Illustrators
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as asked to give some help to 2 Jubilee Place is a frame?
n elderly lady who, in earlier London SW3 3TQ Gill Web The
ears, had been an enthusiastic wrong frame can
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esult of a stroke, she had lost andillustrators.co.uk artwork. The right
he use of her right hand and frame helps every piece
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he hour or so we spend of the month’ will receive Dave Edwards Spot on. Couldn’t
ogether is, she tells me, one of a £50 gift voucher from agree more.
he highlights of her week, and our partner GreatArt, Ann Robinson I pick up frames
he resulting paintings, made who offers the UK’s from charity shops, all shapes
nto cards, have winged their largest range of art and sizes. I always choose ones
way to her many friends. I have materials with more in good condition and keep
een astonished at the dogged than 50,000 art supplies several in stock. I sometimes
determination she has shown. and regular discounts paint them. This helps keep my
Most of the work is in gouache – more forgiving than watercolour and and promotions. prices down and means I can sell
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another person has been very rewarding. Ann Courtney The frame is there
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What a lovely story, David. We’re hoping to cover art and wellbeing in a artwork. A frame can make or
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ILLUSTRATING HISTORY I have made many drawings and Angelita Arroyo Picking the right
When I retired as an art teacher paintings, including a 10x7ft mural frame makes a world of
I joined our local museum in and illustrated leaflets for children. difference. Still learning.
Nantwich as a volunteer. I soon I know there are a lot of excellent Lorna Metcalfe I’m looking
discovered significant events in the professional historical illustrators forward to choosing frames for
town – Roman salt-making, a great but are there any amateurs like my first show later this year.
fire in Tudor times, and a siege and me out there? I would love to Join our regular Talking Points
battle during the Civil War – hear from them. at www.facebook.com/
occurred well before photography, Leslie Pickford, Haslington, ArtistsAndIllustrators
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9 ARTISTIC THINGS TO DO IN
PAUL GADENNE
from 18 to 24 September. Enter up to
four artworks by 25 June.
sundaytimeswatercolour.artopps.co.uk
the diary
d o n’ t
mis s!
read
EGON SCHIELE, STANDING MALE FIGURE (SELF-PORTRAIT), 1914, GOUACHE AND GRAPHITE ON
4 Modernists and
JENNIE WEBBER
DISCOVER
5 Canvas-making Workshop
Get your art off to a great start by learning how
to prepare a canvas with Chris Bingle, Pegasus Art’s
in-house canvas-maker, on 23 June, in Stroud. The
tutorial cost includes materials.
www.pegasusart.co.uk
learn
6 WATCH
I, Claude Monet 7 VISIT
Broadway Arts Festival 8 compete
Holt Festival Art Prize
9 Pleasures of
Illustration
Told in his own words and Get your creative kicks in the Actor John Hurt, who died last with Merlin Strangeway
shot in locations where he Cotswolds from 8 to 17 June year, trained as an artist at The artist will take you
painted, this film – which is with a line-up that includes Central Saint Martins and through a series of projects
back in cinemas by popular talks from top artists, as well was involved with this prize exploring techniques, such as
demand – reveals the artist’s as The Great Broadway Paint from its inception in 2010. drawing and printmaking, at
MERLIN STRANGEWAY
fascinating process. Catch Off, in which amateurs and Don’t miss the chance to this fun introduction which
it from 22 May. professionals compete to win. enter before 17 June. starts on 21 June and runs
www.exhibitiononscreen.com www.broadwayartsfestival.com www.holtfestival.org for four weeks.
www.houseofillustration.org.uk
7
Exhibitions
JUNE’S BEST ART SHOWS
LONDON New English Art Club The Credit Suisse Exhibition: Portrait of the Artist:
Aftermath: Art in the Annual Exhibition Monet and Architecture Käthe Kollwitz
Wake of World War One 15 to 23 June Until 29 July 30 June to 30 September
5 June to 23 September Figurative paintings, drawings Explore the French artist’s Thirty-six self-portraits and
Explore how artists responded and prints from aspiring and affiliation with buildings paintings of working women.
to the scars left across Europe. established artists. through more than 75 works. Ferens Art Gallery, Hull.
Tate Britain. www.tate.org.uk Mall Galleries. National Gallery, London. www.hcandl.co.uk/ferens
www.mallgalleries.org.uk www.nationalgallery.org.uk
Edward Bawden Sonia Boyce
23 May to 9 September Sir Richard Wallace: The EY Exhibition: Picasso Until 22 July
Bringing together 170 works The Collector 1932 – Love, Fame, Tragedy The first retrospective of work
that emphasise the versatility 20 June to 6 January 2019 Until 9 September from this exciting artist, plus
of this important artist. The inaugural exhibition in a Explore more than 100 a new commission.
Dulwich Picture Gallery. www. new space, marking 200 years paintings, drawings and Manchester Art Gallery.
dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk since the birth of the founder sculptures from an intensely www.manchesterartgallery.org
and his fantastic art collection. creative period.
The Wallace Collection. Tate Modern. www.tate.org.uk Kaleidoscope: Colour and
Henry Lamb: Out of the Shadows www.wallacecollection.org Sequence in 1960s British Art
26 May to 30 September ENGLAND – THE NORTH Until 3 June
Known for his unusual portraits, Henry Lamb RECOMMENDED LAST CHANCE Explore the relationship
went on to become one of the leading British Summer Exhibition 2018 BP Portrait Award 2017 between colour and form,
figurative painters of the early 20th century. In 12 June to 19 August Until 10 June sequence and symmetry.
this first retrospective since 1984, visitors can Grayson Perry RA coordinates Catch the touring show Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool.
explore townscapes and cityscapes, early the talent for the gallery’s of award-winning and www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk
pictures of Ireland and Brittany, and work he 250th year in this prestigious shortlisted artworks.
produced as a war artist in both world wars. open-submission show. Sunderland Museum and Life in Motion: Egon Schiele/
The Salisbury Museum. Royal Academy of Arts. Winter Gardens. Francesca Woodman
www.salisburymuseum.org.uk www.royalacademy.org.uk www.sunderland.gov.uk 24 May to 23 September
Intimate and unapologetic
portraits from the artist
and photographer.
Tate Liverpool. www.tate.org.uk
School Prints
Until 3 June
Lithographs for children by
the likes of LS Lowry.
The Hepworth Gallery,
Wakefield. www.
hepworthwakefield.org
ENGLAND – MIDLANDS
About Face: The Rugby
Collection 2018
Until 16 June The Enchanted Garden
Self-portraits by celebrated 23 June to 7 October
artists such as Lucian Freud The British love of the garden has
HELEN ALLINGHAM, COTTAGE WITH FIGURES, DRAWING, BODYCOLOUR AND WATERCOLOUR ON PAPER © LAING ART GALLERY
and Eduardo Paolozzi. inspired artists for generations.
Rugby Art Gallery and Museum. Taking The Dustman or The Lovers
www.ragm.co.uk (1934) by Stanley Spencer as a
starting point, this exhibition
Created in Conflict: shows major works by British and
British Soldier Art from French artists who explored the
the Crimean War to Today garden as a stage for the
Until 10 June extraordinary, magical,
Artworks made by soldiers atmospheric and nostalgic.
from the 19th century to It gathers works from the
the present day. Pre-Raphaelites and French
Compton Verney. Impressionists, as well as the
www.comptonverney.org.uk Bloomsbury Group and
20th-century abstraction, taking
The Art of Industry: in artists as wide-ranging as
From Joseph Wright to Edward Burne-Jones, Dante
the 21st Century Gabriel Rossetti, Claude Monet,
Until 17 June Beatrix Potter and Francis Bacon.
Examine the changing ways Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle.
artists portray industry. www.laingartgallery.org.uk
Museum and Art Gallery,
Derby. www.derbymuseums.org
of the artist’s death. and printer’s landscapes. 23 June to 25 July
ENGLAND – THE SOUTH Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne. Jerwood Gallery, Hastings. Small- and medium-sized
Animals and Us www.townereastbourne.org.uk www.jerwoodgallery.org works from the award-winning
25 May to 30 September artists go on show.
Contemporary and History of the Royal Academy Virginia Woolf: An Exhibition The Royal Scottish Academy
20th-century artists’ Until 9 June 2018 Inspired by her Writings of Art and Architecture,
encounters with animals. A display of Royal 26 May to 16 September Edinburgh.
Turner Contemporary, Margate. Academician’s work, including Exploring her relationship with discover www.royalscottishacademy.org
www.turnercontemporary.org JMW Turner, LS Lowry and feminism, with work from more the
David Hockney. than 80 artists. artist’s WALES
America’s Cool Modernism: Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal. Pallant House Gallery, landscape Kyffin Williams
O’Keeffe to Hopper www.abbothall.org.uk Chichester. www.pallant.org.uk legacy on Until 23 June
Until 22 July page 26 Impasto works to mark 100
Explore the ‘cool’ in American Munnings and the River SCOTLAND years since the artist’s birth.
art in the early 20th century. Until 31 October A New Era: Scottish MOMA, The Tabernacle,
The Ashmolean, Oxford. This show offers a rare Modern Art 1900-1950 Machynlleth. moma.
www.ashmolean.org opportunity to explore the Until 10 June machnynlleth.org.uk
artist’s landscape paintings. More than 100 paintings,
Bringing Home the Catch: The Munnings Art Museum, sculptures and works on paper. Oriel Davies Open 2018
Art and Fishing in Newlyn Dedham. www. Scottish National Gallery of 23 June to 5 September
1880-1940 munningsmuseum.org.uk Modern Art, Edinburgh. The biennial open submission
Until 9 June www.nationalgalleries.org show for emerging and
See how the famous artistic Picasso: Paper and Clay established artists.
set captured the growing Until 24 June Lee Lozano: Slip, Slide, Splice Oriel Davies Gallery, Newtown.
fishing industry. Celebrating the great artist’s Until 3 June www.orieldavies.org
Penlee House Gallery, experimentation with drawing, Work from a major figure in
Penzance. printmaking and ceramics. the New York art scene of IRELAND
www.penleehouse.org.uk The Lightbox, Woking. the 1960s and 1970s. Circus250: Art of the Show
www.thelightbox.org.uk The Fruitmarket Gallery, 9 June to 14 October
Edward Stott: A Master of Edinburgh. Artworks and archive material
Colour and Atmosphere Wilhelmina Barns-Graham: www.fruitmarket.co.uk to celebrate the 250th
25 May to 16 September Sea, Rock, Earth and Ice anniversary of the first circus.
Poetic portrayals of rural 13 June to 7 October RSA Open Exhibition of National Gallery of Ireland,
scenes, marking the centenary Four decades of the painter Art 2018 Dublin. www.nationalgallery.ie
David Grossmann
“The forest, the transitions of colours in
the sky, the quiet watchfulness of deer and
birds, the flow of time and seasons, this is
where I look for refuge,” says the Colorado-
based American painter. It’s an atmosphere
that oozes from his oil painting September
Forest with Yellow Leaves, creating a sense
of the peace he feels when working en plein
air among nature with its muted, delicate
colours. Cool grey, mauve and blue tones
contrast with warm yellow and scattered
orange in the pattern of the leaves. It has
an almost meditative stillness.
“It is such a gift to be able to stand in one
spot for a few hours and really observe my
surroundings; to watch the changes in light
and weather, and in my own emotions,”
says David. “My hope is my paintings will
convey a sense of shelter, and be reminders
of the peace and beauty that surrounds us
when we pause to watch and listen.” This
work was inspired by his wanderings
through forests near his home. He says:
“There was a feeling of embrace in the
groves of aspens, an invitation to stop and
watch the falling leaves. I wanted to capture
time passing and the shifting of seasons.”
But there is also an intriguing tension in
the opposing sense of depth and flattened
space. “Working with the patterns of lines
and dots in this composition was an
interesting challenge,” adds the artist. “I
enjoyed creating the ambiguity of which
leaves are falling, and which are still
suspended or on the ground.”
David Grossman’s latest exhibition, Haven,
is at Jonathan Cooper gallery, London, SW10,
from 7 to 30 June. www.jonathancooper.co.uk;
www.davidgrossmann.com >
Yuko Shimizu with international success ever since. drawing with Japanese calligraphy
When the Folio Society contacted “I used to work with illustrators when brushes on larger paper. I scan in and
New-York based Japanese illustrator I was in PR,” she says, “and I was colour in Photoshop. The process is 50
Yuko Shimizu about a job, she didn’t dreaming about working on the per cent by hand, 50 per cent digital.”
think twice. “Many illustrators have illustrators’ side.” Many of her peers have chosen to
the Folio Society on their dream client The animated monsters in ‘The go entirely digital, but Yuko is
list,” she says. “There was no way I Invisible Man’ story in Japanese Tales attached to the physical process.
was going to say no.” The project – to started with hours of careful research “I like imperfections and Asian
illustrate 170 Japanese tales – had online and in her bulging stock of calligraphy brushes are harder to
instant appeal too, letting her indulge Japanese art books. Many of the control than shorter, western ABOVE Illustration
in the brush-line painting techniques creatures were taken from old watercolour brushes,” she says. for The Invisible
for which she’s known. masters of Yokai (monster) art, “Every imperfection, mistake and Man, Japanese
In 1999, Yuko gave up her working from historic paintings and success makes the hand-drawing calligraphy brush
corporate job and swapped Tokyo for notes in the text. “I do tons of small medium so special.” and India ink on
New York, where she studied a Master rough sketches until the composition The Folio Society edition of Japanese paper, coloured
of Fine Arts at the city’s School of is just right,” she says, “then a tighter Tales is available from www.foliosociety. in Photoshop,
Visual Arts. She’s been illustrating pencil-sketch stage and an ink com; www.yukoart.com > 43x56.5cm
www.schmincke.de
Fresh Paint
Michele Illing endearing face on the right draws you smooth texture, creating a beautiful ABOVE Raising
It was Jackie Matthews’ dedication to in with an appealing, innocent gaze. and touching dedication to the Funds for
international charity Operation Smile To get a composition right, Michele hundreds of volunteers who help Operation Smile,
that inspired her friend and Portfolio sketches the scene, working from Operation Smile every day. pastel on paper,
Plus artist Michele Illing to create this reference photos, before applying www.artistsandillustrators.co.uk/ 53x69cm
painting. “I wanted to help,” she says, charcoal to midtone Canson micheleilling
“and do something that could raise Mi-Teintes pastel paper. “I use a
awareness of their amazing work.” multi-layering approach with pastels,”
The organisation provides free she says. “I use fingers to blend, and
surgeries for children and young maybe a torchon in smaller areas such
adults born with cleft lip, cleft palate as around the eyes and mouth.” For your chance to feature in Fresh Paint, sign up for
and other facial deformities across Each figure is treated differently. your own personalised Portfolio Plus page today.
the world, and this artwork “For the darker skin tones, I laid a You can also:
encapsulates the care and attention midtone of pale terracottas and earthy •Showcase, share and sell unlimited artworks
of the individuals involved. “I wanted reds first, then added highlights as I commission free
to portray deep emotion and feeling in saw them,” she says. “I added darker •Get your work seen across Artists & Illustrators’
this painting,” she adds, “and I think marks of purple and dark blue around social media channels
the pure pigment and intensity of the eyes, nose, mouth and chin, and •Submit art to our online exhibitions
colour certainly helps with that.” for shadows on the arm.” •Enjoy exclusive discounts and more
Although the composition focuses Jackie’s gentle gesture is reflected Join today at www.artistsandillustrators.co.uk/
on the mother and child, the in the soft pink of her glove and the register
the
eyes
have it
t
SHANI RHYS JAMES he beautiful, winding drive to Shani Rhys James’
MBE is one of the house in deepest mid-Wales tells you a lot about
how she has chosen to live and work as an artist.
UK’s most respected
Here’s a painter who has been hailed as one of
living painters. On the greatest talents of her generation – a Jerwood Prize
the eve of her latest winner who was made an MBE for services to art. She is
London exhibition,
© SHANI RHYS JAMES COURTESY CONNAUGHT BROWN, LONDON
Saint Martin’s, an abstract art school, so I could create my farmhouse where she and her husband Stephen raised
own way of seeing figuratively, and I did loosen up. I had a their two sons sits a long barn where she has her studio.
studio at Butler’s Wharf and showed in things such as the The room is alive with colour, from the riotous blooms of
Whitechapel Open and at the Royal Academy of Arts. Then I her flower paintings to the blood reds and limpid blue eyes
had the kids and was teaching one-and-a-half days a week of her portraits. It’s clear she has two different palettes
in Holborn, so it was only after we came to Wales when I – one for work done in Wales, and one for work in France,
ABOVE Shadow on was 34 that I started having time – and my career picked up.” where she spends a significant amount of time each year.
a Red Table, oil on Regarding the respect and recognition she has since “France has a different light, a different atmosphere, a
linen, 100x100cm achieved, she is likeably grounded. “You want to be in the different feel,” she says. “I work on gesso board, which
RIGHT Shock, oil on establishment but also, being here, you don’t think about it. absorbs the oil quite a lot but also creates luminosity; you
linen, 122x122cm You just do your work.” can use transparencies with it, and it’s quite lovely.”
A MOTHER’S INFLUENCE
Her latest body of work ranges from
flower paintings to portraits of her
mother – a strong influence, not least
because of her involvement in the
theatre. She brought her from Australia
© SHANI RHYS JAMES COURTESY CONNAUGHT BROWN, LONDON
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IN THE STUDIO
Laetitia
Yhap
ANNE-KATRIN PURKISS asks the artist about
her studio and long career in painting
You are taking part in a recording mother, abandonment and
for the British Library’s National loneliness in the post-war years
Life Stories ‘Artists’ Lives’ project. meant I was driven into an interior
What does it involve? world at a young age. Images
It is an oral history project, which assumed a huge significance. They
started at the British Library in seemed to hold a magic charge and
1990 in partnership with Tate compensated for the grim reality.
Archive. The recordings are available THE COAST
to the public. It involves relating your When was your talent spotted? The artist has
life story. They are intense sessions I went to a girls’ secondary school in been working
held in my home and studio. Fulham and was lucky to have a there were connected to William in Hastings
sympathetic art teacher. Her Coldstream and the Euston Road for 50 years
Does it include your earliest teaching was based on school of thought, which was based
memories, as well as your observational drawing and I began on strict observation.
development as an artist? to thrive. She would set homework
Yes. It brought back memories of of a kitchen still life and these The experience of art school in
growing up in London during the drawings would be given marks. the 1960s must have been very
Blitz. My father was Chinese, born in Recently I found one I did in 1956 different to now?
what was then British Guiana, and when I was 15, with her comments. Yes, it was. There were no women
my mother was from Austria, an teachers. By the time I was in the
orphan sent to escape the horrors. What was the next step? final two years, we were four girls to
I was born in 1941 to these exiles. My art teacher recommended 20 boys. I had been puzzled by the
Camberwell School of Arts as attitudes of the male tutors towards
Did these experiences influence particularly suitable so, aged 18, I female students. The remarks they
your decision to be an artist? went to do a four-year course, from made about us and our chances
With an absent father and a broken 1958 to 1962. Many of the teachers were what we now call sexist.
COPYRIGHT OF WORKS BY KYFFIN WILLIAMS. OWNED BY THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF WALES AND REPRODUCED UNDER LICENSE
observed the energy, focus and
self-discipline that defined him and
shaped his long and prolific career
as an artist.
When I spoke at his funeral in
September 2006, I described him as
a born communicator. He found KYFFIN WILLIAMS ON FARMHOUSES
multiple ways to engage with people “I’ve always liked the Caernarfonshire cottages and
and knew instinctively how to transmit farmhouses because they were part of the landscape
his message in whatever medium he I knew as a child. People lived in them and they were
chose – an oil painting, a pencil solid, interesting, abstract shapes, sometimes
drawing, a piece of writing, a television against a dark mountain and sometimes against a
interview or a one-to-one encounter. light sky. But I also drew them because I knew that
He understood narrative structure, they would disappear. After the war people wanted to
both visual and verbal, and brought live in more modern houses so they were often
these skills to all forms of abandoned and left to decay and this is why I made a
communication. And what made him conscious decision to record them before they were
so fascinating, both as a man and as gone. I’ve made hundreds of drawings of these old
an artist, was that he could be the stone buildings so that there would be a historical
entertainer with wonderful comic record for future generations to see.”
timing, yet dark and melancholic in his
COPYRIGHT OF WORKS BY KYFFIN WILLIAMS. OWNED BY THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF WALES AND REPRODUCED UNDER LICENSE
COPYRIGHT OF WORKS BY KYFFIN WILLIAMS. OWNED BY THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF WALES AND REPRODUCED UNDER LICENSE
PAINTING PEOPLE – NICHOLAS he had known. He only ever said he was looking for a
SINCLAIR ON KYFFIN WILLIAMS likeness when painting portraits and stayed away from
“It was Kyffin’s natural affinity with people from all claims of psychological insight but it is clear, when
walks of life, coupled with his exquisite, idiosyncratic studying his best work, he was able to bring great
draughtsmanship and acute observation that enabled feeling to his portraits. An alchemical process took
him to become a portrait painter. His portraiture started place while the painting was being made, particularly in
at the Slade School of Fine Art in the early 1940s and the rendering of the eyes, that gives us the sense we are
continued throughout his career. Some pictures were looking at something beyond just a physical likeness.
made in the studio with the sitter present, others made He was fascinated by the expressive power of the face ABOVE Rosanna
from memory and some coming directly from his and the possibility of evoking the physical and Maunder, 1971,
imagination or from a composite of different characters emotional presence of his sitter simultaneously.” oil on canvas,
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t
o my huge delight, I have been elected to the Royal won art residencies, taught myself to teach and become
Society of Painter-Printmakers. Apart from the thrill successful enough to make art my full-time job.
of adding letters to my name, it is a great honour to When I look back at my late return to art, I’d say the
have been judged good enough by the finest printmakers most useful thing I did was to accept that most of the time
in the UK to join their ranks. Not bad for a woman who, I would be out of my comfort zone. That’s as true today as
having taken an arts degree in the late-1980s, didn’t so it was 13 years ago when I started. It isn’t easy to keep
much as lift a pencil to sketch for 18 years. saying ‘yes, I’ll have a go’ and even less so to say ‘yes, I’ll
ABOVE Small Trees, I hope my story will encourage anyone who is coming make a start’, but once you make a choice to take your art
Big Sky, linocut, late to art, whether it’s to forge a career or to enjoy being seriously and push yourself forward, there’s no stopping.
52x27cm creative. It is, literally, never too late to start. For me, the www.lauraboswell.co.uk
“Towers, Tortelli & Time To Paint” June 23-29 and July 1-7
With Norinka Ford
ARTIST WATERCOLOUR
“Watercolour and beyond capturing a sense of place” AVAILABLE IN
With Seana Mercedes Mallen Aug 31 Sep 6 and Sept 8-14 FULL AND HALF PANS
Also
included is a
Cooking Demo
and a visit to an
Artisan Cheese
Maker
W
illy Russell’s trajectory from ladies
hairdresser to acclaimed dramatist
seems to bear the hallmark of a
polymath with profound creative
gifts, who effortlessly excels at
anything he tries. So it might not, at first, seem surprising
that when the playwright, lyricist and composer behind
stage and screen hits Blood Brothers and Shirley Valentine
turned his hand to painting, two successful solo shows
resulted. Last year Willy Russell: Another Aspect showed at
the Kirkby Gallery, near Liverpool, and Seeing Better: Willy
Russell Paintings 2008-2017 was on display at London’s
Coningsby gallery. What might be more surprising is the
prevalence of landscape in the work of someone widely
regarded as a great son of Liverpool. But, as we meet Willy
at his studio, it becomes clear such simple narratives belie
complex beginnings – and the bags of hard work he puts in.
He explains with typical humility that before he began
painting, he thought of himself as a writer who lacked a
visual imagination: “I would say to stage designers, ‘Until
I see it, I just don’t know.’ I think for a large part of my life
I used my ears first and my eyes second.” This lack of
confidence he blames on the fact that art didn’t form part
of his upbringing. “I have no recollection of having painted
at home when I was a kid,” he says, and school provided an
even poorer introduction. “I was smacked around the head
and told to get out of the art room – the only thing I would
ever be able to draw, if I was lucky, was the dole.”
FIELDS OF JOY
But Willy did enjoy a kind of country childhood. “In every
interview I’ve done I’ve talked about the fact I was raised
rurally, but nobody prints it because I’m indelibly
associated with Liverpool – a city I don’t originally come
from,” he says. Born in 1947 in Rainhill, outside the city’s
boundaries, Willy and his family later moved to Knowsley.
“The estate we were on was thrown up during the war as
cheap housing for munitions workers,” he adds, “but it was
in the middle of fields. I would be out pea-picking, spud-
picking, roaming all day through woods, streams and fields.
That’s why I’m still terribly moved by landscape.”
Yet the idea of responding to it – or any other subject –
© WILLY RUSSELL
in paint didn’t come until he was in his fifties and, even RIGHT Homer Wood,
then, it was almost by accident. “I was in Portugal,” he acrylic on paper,
says. “I couldn’t sleep because of a crisis happening back > 71x89cm
rarely, if ever, apply a brush stroke to it. Some of what the his tutor’s idea of applying cement-like textures to canvas.
accidental gives you is incredible. Ten years ago I don’t “I hated the gritty effect,” says Willy. “But I liked where it
think I would’ve been able to see it and, not only that, was heading. I remember thinking ‘There’s another way.’ So
I would’ve said to you, ‘I’m not doing that, it’s cheating.’” I put a load of kitchen paper in a bucket of PVA.” Now he
These days, his technique depends on his subject and uses this mix – to which he adds cardboard and “all sorts
style. He sketches outdoors with pencils and Quink. For of things” – to create textured works such as Homer Wood.
open vistas and works using brushes, he’ll create a watery He utilises syringes, too. “I like to run lines along the ridges
wash and draw loosely on a ground, blocking in the main of cling film when it’s on the picture. Sometimes you’ll get
areas before completing a work using Liquitex Heavy Body an air bubble and I want to examine what it would be like to
acrylics. For experimental paintings, he’ll add, among other put pure paint in the bubble.” For Willy, art represents
© WILLY RUSSELL
things, an atomiser, Daler-Rowney acrylic inks, bleach and exactly this kind of endless creative experiment, with no
watercolour, and roll paint around, spraying, shaking, and end point. He paints and draws every day, just enjoying
creating marks with cling film and other materials. He has the journey. “I love to learn,” he says. “Love it to bits.”
been developing a technique using PVA glue, inspired by www.coningsbygallery.com; www.willyrussell.com
© WILLY RUSSELL
I learned how to mimic
the body’s shapes and
textures in ways that
translate into painting
10 MINUTES WITH…
Emma Hopkins
NATALIE MILNER asks the self-taught artist and youngest member of the
Royal Society of Portrait Painters why she loves painting the human form
When did you start painting? built in layers so that it creates the illusion of skin. Our
I would find time to paint alongside studying and working, skin is translucent. You can see through it to different
but it wasn’t until after I graduated in 2010 [in prosthetics layers of colour – veins and blood vessels – and you can
for performance at The University of the Arts, London] that also see this in my paintings.
I bought a set of oils and became obsessed.
Why do you work from life?
Did your background in prosthetics help your art? It helps you experience the world and opens your mind
I have always seen myself as a mix of a scientist and an to really seeing what’s in front of you. I find it equally
artist. I had to study the anatomy of the body. I worked with important to know the person as well as I can before I paint
people and their bodies for long periods of time while them. So we hang out – have coffee, go for lunch – then
casting, sculpting and applying prosthetics. I learned how I take reference pictures and pull all of my ideas together in
to mimic the body’s shapes, colours, textures in ways I the studio. It’s impossible to capture the huge spectrum of
have translated into my paintings. things that come into play within one singular painting, so
I open it up as a project, normally producing a series of
You’ve exhibited at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters paintings that can span months or years.
Annual Exhibition for three consecutive years. How does it
feel to show work for the first time as a member in 2018? What artists do you look up to?
I am excited and honoured. I was awarded the Bulldog I come back to Louise Bourgeois, Egon Schiele, Matthew
Bursary by the Royal Society of Portrait Painters in 2014 Barney, Paula Rego, Jenny Saville, Otto Dix, photographers
at a time when I felt a complete outsider to the art world. Cindy Sherman and Diane Arbus, sculptor Alberto
Their belief in my work and the support they gave helped Giacometti’s paintings and old medical illustrations. One of
me to believe in myself. Being a member means that for my favourite places is the Wellcome Collection in London.
the first time in my artistic career I have something to look I love how it combines the arts and the sciences.
forward to every year.
How does your studio work for you?
Your four works in the exhibition feature two individuals. It’s organised chaos most of the time. I don’t like drawers.
Who are they and why did you choose to paint them? I like to be able to see the different materials I use so I can
One is Doreen Wallace. I’ve known her all my life. She works grab them at any time, which is great when I’m in the flow
for an education service for young people with complex of painting. Some people have said that my studio can be
learning difficulties and autistic spectrum conditions. I overwhelming. I like to see my previous paintings, and
wanted to commemorate a woman who is, for me, a role I have inspirational images on most walls and my floor is
model. Last year I worked with Roderick McClancy, whom I fast becoming a palette in itself.
have known for over five years, to produce a series of eight
paintings exploring his experiences, both mentally and What are your top portrait painting tips?
physically, of becoming ill and effectively dying three times. Be patient. Really look at what it is you are painting and
understand how it is made. I have been painfully drawn to
Why do you focus on portrait painting? getting things in proportion, but I admire artists who are
I have always been fascinated by the human mind and free from this worry. If your work is authentic to how you
body, and the connection and disconnection between the feel, this will shine through. There is no right or wrong in
two. I remember as a child feeling distraught at the idea art and that’s why I love it.
that I’d only ever see the world from inside my own head.
My work allows me to understand as best I can what it’s What is next for you?
like to live inside someone else’s mind and body. I’m working on a few new projects and I have also teamed
up with an architectural designer. I often paint on
Tell us a bit about your process. transparent materials that let light through, so I am
I tend to work in layers and on a few paintings at the same designing a show that will finally bring my paintings off
time. This allows me to be free and expressive in some and walls and into a space.
THE OTHER RICHARD
more methodical in others. The freer works can include See Emma’s paintings at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters
pencil, charcoal, inks, varnishes, spray paint and acrylics. Annual Exhibition from 10 to 25 May at Mall Galleries, London,
The more methodical ones are usually oil. The oil paint is SW1. www.mallgalleries.org.uk; www.emmahopkinsartist.com
June
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8 – 17 JUNE 2018
A Celebration of the Arts in the North Cotswolds
BEAT
B R OA DWAY
See Britain’s top designers and artisans
demonstrating their skills & selling work
Printmakers - Illustrators - Sculptors
8 – 10 JUNE Ceramicists - Jewellers - Glassworkers
Acrylics
TERENCE CLARKE answers the all-important questions
1
HOW DO I KEEP THE MEDIUM WET?
Keeping acrylic wet, especially in warm weather, is difficult. It can also
be an expensive problem. The best solution is to use a small misting
spray. Bottles are available in chemists. You can use the fine spray at
different distances from the canvas to control the wetness. A regular
little spray can keep the whole painting workable, even outside. >
4 HOW DO I USE
ACRYLIC’S
OPACITY TO MY
seemed to have a vivid
quality. For this reason
I wouldn’t use acrylic
ADVANTAGE? for a very tonal study.
Acrylic paint is what is I use acrylic as a
termed semi-opaque. bright, spontaneous
Because it is alternative to oil paint.
essentially a water- My solution to the
filled plastic, acrylic brightness of the
can’t achieve the pigment is to go with
absolute opacity of it and intensify the
most oil paints. So inherent brilliance with
covering an area or a free-flowing, splashy
over-painting can and vivid application.
2
CAN I USE ACRYLICS IMPASTO?
Consistency is another problem with the medium and it
varies between brands. You can’t get an impasto effect
without building layers or using a heavy body white – these are
the solutions to impasto in acrylics. In the image above you can see a To p t i p
wide range of thin to thick (impasto), building the solidity of the pot. To crea
te impa
effec t s st
in acr yli o
will nee c yo u
d to u se
h e av y b a
ody whit
or build e
layers
6
HOW CAN However, if you return
I COPE to a dry painting and
WITH try to match the same
ACRYLICS tone you can see on
DRYING DARKER? the canvas, it will not
Because acrylic is be accurate – it will
filled with water, it dry a semi-tone
reflects more light darker. The solution is
when wet. The tone to mix a lighter tone
darkens as the water and test it on paper.
evaporates. If you are Terence Clarke’s work is
working quickly and on show at the Claremont
using a spray, this Gallery, Sevenoaks, and
doesn’t cause too York Fine Arts York.
much of a problem. www.terenceclarke.co.uk
PAINT PROBLEMS SOLVED
Watercolour
Painter RAY BALKWILL helps you master this tricky medium
7
MY PAINTING LOOKS WASHED OUT. HELP!
A common problem, particularly with beginners, is using too much water
and not enough pigment. The resulting paintings lack contrast and look
far too light. Squeeze generous quantities of pigment onto your palette
and use less water. I would also recommend using tube colours rather
than pan colours. When mixing, be sure to make the mix stronger than
you think you will need as watercolour always dries lighter. >
To p t i p
8
HOW CAN I STOP BLOOMS OR BACKRUNS? When e
These happen when you add a more water-loaded colour to a xperime
with wa nting
ter
colour that is drying. They can be frustrating, particularly if paper, b colour
uy sing
they occur in a sky, for instance. Get your second colour on sheet s le
rat her
the paper faster before it starts to dry or let the paper dry completely than blo
ck s
before you apply a second colour. In some instances, blooms can be
removed with a slightly moist brush, working slowly along the hard-
edged mark. Many painters use these accidents to create textures.
11
I’VE MADE A
MISTAKE. WHAT
your darks and lights
will fall in the
CAN I DO? picture. Reserving
Mistakes cannot be the white paper for
easily rectified in highlights early on is
watercolour, so if you vitally important.
start without a plan Masking fluid is
you will soon run useful for this.
into difficulties. Working up quick
Before you begin to tonal studies
paint, think about beforehand is
your procedure and, never time wasted.
in particular, where www.raybalkwill.co.uk
PAINT PROBLEMS SOLVED
Oil
Get the best from your paint with MARTIN KINNEAR’s help
12
WHY DO I GET to aim for clean
DULL COLOURS? mixes in the first
The medium offers place, using as few
very bright and pure colours as possible.
colour but most Wait before you
people don’t let oil work over an oil
dry, so subsequent painting in progress
layers mix and and practise colour
create greyed-down mixing if you intend
tones. It is also best to work directly. >
PAINT PROBLEMS SOLVED
13
HOW CAN I GET MY OILS TO DRY FASTER?
Oil dries by oxidisation, not evaporation. Working on a
traditional absorbent ground or gesso is the best
solution, but you can also work thinly, and use solvents
or mediums to speed up drying time – or even add special driers or
‘siccatives’ to your mixes.
14 HOW CAN
I REDUCE
NASTY SMELLS?
This is easily avoided
by working thin and dry
to thick and buttery.
The paint itself is not Start with broad
smelly, but solvents, passages of thin paint,
particularly terpenoids, and reserve your
are. Use a combination palette knife for the
of modern alkyd final impasto flourish.
mediums, which are
turpentine free, and an
odour-free mineral
spirit, such as Gamsol
16 WHY DO SOME
OILS DRY
WITH A DULL FINISH?
or Sansodor. It is given lustre by its
oil content, which
15 DO I HAVE
TO WORK
LEAN TO FAT?
varies from colour to
colour, so will dry
differently. You can
Because oils dry from correct this by working
contact with air, it’s with a medium to even
important not to out lustre or by topping
smother a thick, your finished oil with a
slow-drying layer with varnish when dry.
a thin, fast-drying one. www.makinnear.com
17
HOW CAN I GET THE EXACT COLOUR I NEED?
Even if you have every soft pastel ever produced,
it’s still unlikely you will have the exact colour you need
for every element in your painting. You will have to
simulate it by placing one colour over another, or perhaps next to it, to
create the illusion of a single colour. Your painting will retain a livelier
appearance if colours aren’t blended together too much, as this can
deaden the fresh look you should be striving for.
18 HOW CAN I
CREATE A
SMOOTH SURFACE
board with sheets of
lining paper, securely
taped down. If you use
this outside. If you’re
bothered about
inhaling particles,
darken a painting.
Frame as soon as
possible with a spacer
personal choice. You
may like to arrange
them in blocks of
TO WORK ON? pastel card, it will be wear a mask. Softer between mount and colour, including tones.
If you are using pastel sufficiently thick. pastels create more painting. Spray from Break pastels in half
paper, which is dust than hard ones. about 12 inches, and remove the
relatively thin, attach
it to a smooth board
using low-tack masking
19 HOW CAN I
DEAL WITH
THE ACCUMULATION
Pastel card holds more
pigment than paper,
so won’t create as
holding a work
vertically to avoid
drips. A few light
wrappers from one half
but keep the other half
covered to provide the
tape or drawing-board OF LOOSE DUST ON much of a problem. sprays are better than name or reference.
clips. Any undulation in A PAINTING? one heavy application. Kevin will run two
the board’s surface will
cause an impression
when dragging the
Don’t blow it off. Turn
the painting around
and tap the back of the
20 WHAT’S THE
BEST WAY TO
FIX THE FINISH? 21 HOW SHOULD
I ORGANISE
five-day pastel courses
at Marlborough College
Summer School in July.
pastel. Alternatively, sheet so dust falls Spray lightly – too MY PASTELS? www.kevinscully.co.uk;
cover your drawing away. Preferably, do much fixative will This is a matter of www.summerschool.co.uk
PRINTING THE
LANDSCAPE
Printmaker and teacher HELEN BROWN
explains how she captures the magic
and movement of the countryside
Can you explain your process for my block using a blend of light to dark over time. [For example] the carved lines
creating a woodcut and a linocut? blue in the sky, and brown to green for on the block reflect the lines carved into
First I draw the image on the paper from land. I roll the colours on the one block. a ploughed field.
life, enabling me to capture the feel of I lay the Chine-collé papers in place with
the land. Once I have the drawing, I glue and print the block using a press. You draw directly from the landscape
transfer it in reverse to the block. It Once the print is dry I wash the areas onto a wood block. How does this
needs to be in reverse because the needed with a mix of coloured inks. work, and what is the advantage of it?
block will print a mirror image. It is vital. I always draw from life. I spend
Once the block is cut, I ink it up to Why is printmaking a good way to the summer months making sure I get
proof. Next I prepare Chine-collé papers depict the landscape? enough drawing done to last the year.
for the sky and any other areas where I A relief print is sculptural, just as the Drawing from life means that I capture
want paper. I cut these to size. Then I ink landscape has been sculpted by nature not only what I see but what I feel, the
ANN ROBINSON: I like to work with wood and some types of lino but do not
mixed media and wonder if I could use vinyl. Turn the block slightly as you
incorporate it in to my work? use the tool, always keeping your fingers
I have many students who have used behind where you are cutting and cut
printmaking and mixed media. It’s quick away from yourself at all times.
to print once the block is made so there
can be lots to work into. You can collage What tools do you recommend?
and use different paints on top, or Lawrence in Hove sells a great set of
cutouts – there’s a lot to be done. tools, which I always recommend. The
Japanese Woodcut set costs £35. I use
MARCIA COREY DOUGLAS: I learned short, square-handled Japanese tools
to do linocuts on textiles in college. Is from Intaglio Printmaker, London. I have
the process similar? a range of sizes in the Komasuki and
sun, wind, sound of the birds and the The cutting of the lino is the same, but Sankakuto tools. These are my
ache of the legs – everything. My work the block type may differ. Some people favourites but they are expensive so,
ABOVE would lack energy and spirit otherwise. use a flocked-in or textured vinyl if you are a beginner, start with the
Birling Gap, because the inks are different. You need Japanese set. Or, if you want a finer
woodcut What products do you use to achieve an ink that is not oil or acrylic, so it sinks tool, the economy Japanese tools
jigsaw with your bold colours? into the fabric and is fixed for washing. from Intaglio are good.
Chine-collé I buy my inks from India. The Chine-collé Helen is teaching wood, lino and vinyl
on paper, paper used in the sky is from Japan and How do you create beautiful, fluid lines? printing courses at bip-Art in Brighton in
45x60cm infused with gold and silver leaf. Colour Use decent tools. Find ones that fit your June and a woodcut taster day at Ditchling
TOP RIGHT is very important in my work. It has hand and you have control over, and Museum in Sussex. www.bip-art.co.uk;
Etching taken me years to source and find make sure they are sharp. Find out if you www.ditchlingmuseumartcraft.org.uk;
press exactly what works for me. like cutting wood, lino or vinyl best. I love www.helensprints.co.uk
returning
home
SALLY HALES visits artist ANN BLOCKLEY at her Cotswolds studio
to find out how her past and future came together in her latest paintings
ANN BLOCKLEY
t
he beauty of the natural
world is omnipresent in the
Cotswolds village in which
painter Ann Blockley lives.
Ancient trees, open skies and
rambling countryside reveal
themselves around every corner
making her recent obsession with
painting hawthorn trees and
hedgerows seem a natural choice.
But, for this artist, the route to
painting the countryside around her
home has been a long and winding
road – itself a kind of homecoming.
Ann’s childhood was dominated by
the career of her father, iconic
watercolourist John Blockley – who
painted the countryside and wrote
books pushing the contemporary
boundaries of technique. But, until
recently, it was an inheritance she
fought against.
“I didn’t spend time going around
with my dad learning to paint,” says
Ann. “I went the other way. The only
thing I was good at in school was
writing.” She even toyed with the idea
of studying English at university before
taking a foundation art course and
later completing a degree in illustration
at Brighton, under Raymond Briggs
and John Vernon Lord.
When watercolour came calling for
her, success soon followed and Ann
became well known for her expressive
flower paintings, and her own books
featuring innovative techniques. Yet, a
few years ago, she felt the need to
explore a new path. “I had an
interesting conversation with my son,”
says Ann. “He said, ‘Mum, your
biggest influence is the fact that you
don’t want to be influenced by your
dad.’ And I thought, ‘Wow, that’s
absolutely right.’ So I gave myself
permission to try landscapes.” >
LEFT Spring
Hawthorn,
watercolour,
30x35cm
WAT E R C O L O U R WO R KS H O P
ADDING OTHER
MEDIUMS
Here ANN BLOCKLEY explores some
new and exciting ways to work
PASTEL PAPERS
Award-winning artist SOPHIE PLOEG reveals the secrets
to getting your paintings off to a great start
58 Artists & Illustrators
There are dozens of pastel supports out GREAT for GOOD for fine
there. Although it’s fun to try them all,
sometimes you just want to get going
1 soft effects
Pastelmat by Clairefontaine
2 detail work
Sennelier Pastel Card
with a good-quality ground. Choosing Hugely popular among pastel artists, this (La Carte Pastel)
the best one for your work depends on heavyweight 360gsm card has a velvety or This heavyweight 360gsm pastel card
how you paint. A light and fine Ingres suede-like texture. Painting on it gives a has a beautiful soft-but-grainy texture
paper might be ideal for a delicate slight fuzzy effect so the paper lends itself to made from cork. It is much softer than
portrait sketch, but not so good for atmospheric pieces. It can take a surprising Pastelbord or Colourfix, yet rougher than
those who want to apply numerous number of layers – I can’t fill the tooth. It is Pastelmat. It is good for multiple layers
layers of heavy pastel. And, if you like also suitable for wet media as well as pastel and heavy-application pastel painting.
mixed media, some pastel supports are – handy for mixed-media artists – and comes It comes in various colours – including
unsuitable for water-based mediums, in various mainly cool colours, pads, sheets many earth tones – pads and sheets.
such as acrylics or watercolour. and 3mm boards. www.sennelier-colors.com.
www.sophieploeg.com www.clairefontaine.com. Available Available from Cass Art. www.cassart.co.uk
from Jackson’s Art. www.jacksonsart.com
4. FLOWERS
AINE DIVINE finds inspiration in the everyday
to create bold and beautiful artworks
WHY WORK ON
MULTIPLE PAINTINGS?
ROSES
These roses (right) started life
in acrylic. Then I worked in oil to
bring out the lights. Suddenly
opportunity to pull out some of the darks and lights in the something inexplicably died – I didn’t know what to do
flowers and leaves with oil paint. next to resolve the now-mundane painting.
The bulk of the vase was explained with a torn piece When painting flowers I resist going for photorealism.
of patterned tissue paper, and the tabletop with a few I put the painting to one side and only uncovered it again
splashes of inky paint from a two-inch brush. Once dry, months later when I happened to be working in oil pastel
I masked off the tabletop’s horizontal line and scumbled on another picture. The flowers were long dead, but the
on Cerulean Blue with a rag for the background wall. oil pastel colours in my hand put me in mind of the
The underpainting in the flowers was made with broad shades they had been. I started to play with the bright
sweeps of tone applied, again, with a large brush and rag. Sap Green in the stem and leaves. I found some bright
reds and crimsons in the shadows on the roses, the
CYCLAMEN flashes of bright Cobalt Blue brought the surrounding
This plant (above) was painted spontaneously one night space to life and, suddenly, I was excited and absorbed
before bed, as the potted plant sits on my bedside table. again. I put Turquoise Blue on the table and verticals in
I came across a torn scrap of watercolour paper with the the background – and I was done.
remnants of an old painting on it: the greens and pinks in This is the joy of mixed media – anything is possible.
the watercolour already had a feel of the cyclamen. I Come with a willingness to experiment and a range of
reached for oil pastels, glue and the torn pages of a media, and new life can be injected into a work even
gardening magazine. when all hope is gone. Now that spring is at last upon us,
First, I wanted to sculpt the flowers, so I painted the there’s inspiration everywhere. Give it a go.
negative shapes with oil pastel. I stuck on torn pink Aine will teach a flower-painting workshop from 16 to 17
magazine-paper petals and found the shadows on the June at Cockenzie House near Edinburgh. Email the artist
leaves with the deep Prussian Blue oil pastel. I always for more details at aine@divineportraits.co.uk
MAKING
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MASTERCL ASS
DRY BRUSH
ANNE-MARIE BUTLIN uses this Anne-Marie’s
interesting technique to convey materials
the dramatic light and shade she
observed in beautiful woodland •Oil
Winsor & Newton artists’
I
went on a gorgeous of the lighter background oil colours: Titanium White,
coastal walk with my colours to draw and refine Yellow Ochre, Cadmium
husband when staying at a the intricate shapes of the Yellow, Burnt Sienna, Raw
National Trust house near branches. I would normally Umber, Davy’s Gray, Payne’s
Dartmouth. It was a still and work wet on wet, but I Gray, Indigo, Turquoise,
sunny evening, the warm sun decided to experiment with Ultramarine, Prussian Green,
sparkled on the water and dry brush, which works well Olive Green, Alizarin Crimson
was beautifully framed by when light paint is applied •Support
the trees between the over dry, darker colour. 60x60cm ready-primed
coastal path and the sea. This technique suits the linen stretcher from Bird
Having taken a number of quick-drying qualities of & Davis, Southgate
photographs to capture the acrylic paint, but I stuck with •Brushes
moment, I was determined my usual oils because I felt Pro Arte Polar 32 white nylon
to make a painting that they would give the richness square-edged brushes, sizes
conveyed the strong mood of of colour important in the ¼in, ½in, 1in; decorator’s
the scene: the drama of the darkest areas of the trees. brush, 1in
contrasting light and shade, Anne-Marie is opening her • Primer
the subtlety of colours in the home and studio as part of Winsor & Newton
deeply shaded wooded area, Crouch End Open Studio Galeria Gesso Primer
and the atmospheric blue- on Saturday 12 May and •White spirit
grey of the sky and coast. Sunday 13 May, from noon •Turpentine
My initial thought was that to 6pm. www.crouchend •Newspaper
I could map in the dark trees openstudios.org.uk; •Kitchen paper
and then use the application www.anne-mariebutlin.com
To p t i p
To blur
t he e dg
of t he t es
ree s , u s
dr y brus ea
h on it s
to pick side
up the li
sur face nen’s
t ex t u r e
Dry brush needs to be done on a textured or I used Burnt Sienna which, at this stage,
uneven paint surface. Using a stiff decorating was slightly diluted with turpentine. Again,
brush, I applied acrylic gesso primer thickly in I was deliberately aiming for an uneven,
several directions, making sure I was leaving interesting surface, leaving thicker and thinner
lots of brush strokes as a ‘key’ to capture the areas. I then had to be patient and leave it for
colour when it was applied. a few days to dry thoroughly. >
Mixing dark colours in varying quantities of Having left these slow-drying colours for
Indigo, Alizarin Crimson, Prussian Green and around three days, I used the Payne’s Gray,
Olive Green, I began to draw in the trees using Yellow Ochre and Titanium White, along with
a worn brush, putting the paint down roughly. tiny touches of Ultramarine, to mix the lovely
I wiped paint from the brush onto kitchen blue-grey colour of the land in the distance.
paper, and used scumbling and dry brush to I continued to use a dry brush, aiming to build
push and stretch paint into the linen. the colour slowly in layers.
I began to look more carefully at the tree The flashes of warm green and Yellow Ochre
silhouettes. I felt they were still too dark and on the leaves and foliage brought the scene
uniform in colour. Using warm Burnt Sienna, to life. To paint these convincingly I needed to
greys and the white of the water, I lightly use fairly strong colour, but again tried to use
brushed over the dry areas. This mimicked either a dry brush or undiluted paint. I also
the blurred edges and slightly out-of-focus used a completely dry brush over the top to
effect I had experienced in reality. blur the paint slightly.
The pattern of branches was important to the When the difficult areas of foliage were done I
composition and I was determined to simplify stopped, pleased with the mood. I don’t think
it. I used paint diluted with turpentine to draw consciously about technique and, although I
thin lines and dots, and filled in background often use dry brush instinctively, I wouldn’t
colour, painting up to – and over – branches. usually use it as the main technique. It was
I also lightly scratched with a palette knife. effective in creating texture and atmosphere.
u
sing acrylics on varnished surfaces will
result in paint cracking and peeling.
You may not notice this for a while but,
if you are planning to paint a masterpiece, it
might not stand the test of time. This also
goes for previously used canvases painted
with oils. The water-based acrylic will not
adhere to the oil content on the surface. If you
are applying acrylics on varnished wood, sand
down the surface beforehand.
KEEP IT SIMPLE
There are plenty of straightforward supports
available, including paper, boards, panels and
canvas. There are also acrylic pads, which
have a surface texture similar to canvas but
are already primed so acrylic can glide nicely
over it. You can use watercolour paper, but it’s
unprimed so paint tends to drag and sink into
the grain. Run some gesso, a priming medium
or white acrylic over it first to seal the surface.
Boards and panels come in wood and
aluminium. Aluminium that has been treated
to take acrylic is a rigid, lightweight support,
which is not prone to warping over time. My
preferred support is canvas for one main
reason: there is less need for framing. Simply
run a cord behind and it’s ready for hanging.
5. SUPPORTS aluminium. They can be made to measure. Linen canvas is the most
expensive and is great for flowing applications of paint. Cotton is more
economical and comes in various thicknesses. You can tell a good-
HASHIM AKIB on the options you need quality canvas by how taut it is. Think of a drum: the tighter the better.
to consider when choosing your surface
WHERE TO SHOP
Loxley has a very reasonably priced standard canvas with a lovely
smooth surface. For artist-quality I use Daler-Rowney – it is as close
to a drum as I’ve found – and Winsor & Newton. If you want bespoke
sizes or larger quantities, it’s worth looking up independent makers.
Canvas is great if you want to recycle or repaint the same surface.
I use thick paint and find two to three repaints is the limit before you
start to lose adherence. Avoid leaving a canvas next to
a heater or exposed to sunlight as the stretcher will warp (check
TOP St Paul’s at Night, canvases to see how level they are). Warping can be rectified by a
acrylic on canvas, thick frame but it will be noticeable in an unframed painting on a wall.
45x60cm See Hash’s art and find out about his workshops at www.hashimakib.co.uk
pp
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Why artists love t
Cornish seaside tial
acr ylics
s and techniques
ho me dia
Sk et c fig ur es
Top t ip the
Double- check
th e sh ou lder s
width of
the head.
compared to
mos t life
This is where
out
drawings ll fa
of pr op or ti on
Top t ip
reliant on
Don’t be too
pr opor tions
conventional
pose s are
– bodies and
ready
different. Be
pe cted
to draw unex
shap es
Jake’s
w
hen I’m teaching life drawing, the
most common question posed to materials
me is ‘how do you draw the body
in proportion?’ To deal with the problems of
proportion, you need to understand why you •A charcoal
are making the drawing in the first place. As pencil
well as being an exercise in representation, •Conté crayon
life drawing allows you to look hard at your •Plastic eraser
subject in order to see the model in front
of you exactly as they are. You will have to
learn to be objective in your looking; so the
process of drawing becomes a means
of exercising your observational skills.
Studying the proportion of the figure
through rigorously observed drawings will
train your eye to see with greater clarity and
teach your hand to respond directly to your
observations. Once you are confident in your
ability to see your model clearly, you’ll be
ready to exaggerate and caricature the figure
effectively to capture the gesture, weight and
balance of the form in selective studies. After
all, a life drawing should never simply be a
technical diagram of a human body.
www.jakespicerart.co.uk
STARTING WELL
Develop a consistent approach that you can
practise and refine. A common mistake beginners
make is to start a drawing from a small area of
detail and complete it piece-by-piece, taking
proportions from the last shape drawn. Standing
back, they realise is has gradually grown or shrunk.
Roughly sketch the entire body in the first few
minutes of the pose. Give yourself time to make
big corrections early on before committing to more
detailed surface shapes.
LIMITS
At the start of your drawing, dash the limits of the
body down on the page – top, bottom, left and
right – giving yourself a rough shape to work within.
Imagine a box around your model. Is it square or
rectangular? Landscape or portrait format?
BIG SHAPES
Look for big, simple shapes in the pose before
drawing the body in detail. Lightly and quickly draw
the shapes and sit back from the drawing to
compare your sketch to the general shape of your
model. Does it look about right? If not, make
changes now and check it again.
Ears
Chin
Collarbone/
shoulder
CHECKING AND CORRECTING
A life drawing should be made as part of an intuitive
process of looking and mark-making, allowing you to fully
Nipples engage with your subject. Every now and again, it helps
to pull back and check how your drawing is developing,
amending proportions as you go. Here are some
Belly button elements to consider as you draw.
Elbow
NEGATIVE SPACES
Wrist When you are translating a three-dimensional form onto a
two-dimensional page, you are simplifying the body to a
Top of leg jigsaw puzzle of interlocking shapes. The negative spaces
(Halfway
point when surrounding the body can be a good indicator of whether
standing) your drawing is maintaining good proportion. Does the
negative space you are seeing look the same in the
model in front of you as it does on your page? If not,
Knee there might be a problem.
LANDMARKS
As you draw you will be constantly judging the relationship
between points and shapes on the model, and translating
them to the page. Know what those landmarks are to
avoid getting lost. They could be structural – bone
Ankle
Heel masses such as the skull, ribcage or pelvis – or external,
such as facial features, nipples or the belly button. On
the left are some key landmarks to look for.
Toes
Artists & Illustrators 75
F I G U R E D R AW I N G
FORESHORTENING
When you are looking across a reclining
figure, or seeing the end of the knee
in a bent leg, you will notice the
proportions you expect become
distorted. The visual effects of
perspective make the nearest parts of
the body seem larger, and more distant
parts seem smaller. Learn to trust your
eye and simply draw what you see, as
you see it. Start a foreshortened figure
by comparing the height of the pose to
the width to judge and spend plenty of
time plotting out big shapes before
developing your drawing.
HORIZONTALS
AND VERTICALS
Compare horizontal and vertical
relationships between landmarks
across the body to check that your
drawing has stayed in good proportion.
Use your pencil as a visual aid to
compare to the figure and notice which
landmarks should be in line with one
another across the body.
To p t i p t line s
Use straigh
d rniture
fu
in walls an
e subjec t to
around th
the model’s
help judge l
and vertica
horizontal s
relatio n sh ip
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THE CLASSIFIED DIRECTORY
Artistic Flare
$IIRUGDEOHDUWIRUWKHKRPHDQGRIÀFH
T: 020 7736 7921
M: 07854 734 290
www.jacquelinemidgen.wordpress.com
E: jackiemidgen@hotmail.co.uk
Visits to studio by appointment only
ART TUITION
JONATHAN NEWEY Pearmans Glade, Shinfield Road Reading RG2 9BE
Tel: 0118 931 4155 Email: jnewey210@gmail.com
Web: www.jonathannewey.com
Distance: 75 Miles Media: Watercolour, Acrylic, Pencils
Special subjects: Landscapes, Architecture, Wildlife
COURSES
COURSES
Portrait workshops
With Anthony O’Keefe
HOLIDAYS
UK & BEYOND
Join our exciting painting holidays & workshops (abroad & UK) Paint with artist tutors
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Book now for New Zealand, Tuscany, Malawi, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Galapagos, Japan, Slovenia,
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day workshops nationwide
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TUSCAN
PAINTING
HOLIDAY
with ANNE BARNHAM
3rd-10th June 2019 PAINT BY THE AEGEAN SEA
Staying at the vineyard and May & June Full,
olive farm, A Few Places In September.
Ancora del Chianti
Discover the culture, history and
South of Florence
friendly people of this beautiful coastal location.
Friendly, fun and informal We promise one to one tuition, inspirational settings
tuition, including 2 full Total relaxation and the best food ever!
Excursion Days and a
Wine Tasting!
Half Board, all ground floor, From only £695. All meals, trips and materials included
en-suite rooms www.turkishpaintingholidays.com
For more information please contact Anne
enquiries@turkishpaintingholidays.com
Tel: 01526 320626 Or call us for more details on
e: annebarnham@hotmail.co.uk +44 (0) 7971082605 / 2088838545
www.saa.co.uk/art/annebarnham
PRINTING
www.artistsandillustrators.co.uk
important. A good idea without being able to Familiarise yourself with drying time. Love it.
THE HEONG GALLERY/COURTESY STEPHEN CHAMBERS STUDIO
articulate it is as good as whistling in the I’ve never tried to learn a technique, I don’t
wind. Believe in the idea and don’t fuss. know how to glaze, do encaustic, impasto
or whatever, but I can do Stephen Chambers
it doesn’t
have to be
3 COLOUR RULES For me, colour is
the ignition. It is the spice and the
flavour. I don’t, though, underestimate the
paintings better than anyone else.
The Court of Redonda is on display at The
Heong Gallery, Downing College, Cambridge,
a strugglE importance of tone. Where the background
is painted in, it is the last thing I do and it is
until 20 May. www.heonggallery.com
- let it never adjusted. At this point there is nothing ABOVE Stephen Chambers LEFT Magda,
spew out I can do, the painting either lives or dies. la Encantada 1, oil on panel, 39x48cm
visit1066country.com/art
amsterdam.royaltalens.com