Leisure Painter September 2024

We have great pleasure in presenting the chosen artwork from this year's inaugural Young Artist of the Year Award. We received a wide variety of energetic and interesting drawings and paintings from two categories of entrants – under-18s and 18-30s – and the judges enjoyed studying and discussing the artwork during our TALP Open judging day back in April. These paintings will be on show at Patchings Art Centre, Calverton, until 11 August alongside the TALP Open Leisure Painter and The Artist exhibitions, if you didn't manage to visit the shows during Patchings ARTfest this month. And don't forget to take part in our People's Choice Awards by voting for your favourite painting in both categories on painters-online.co.uk Elsewhere in this issue, you'll find demonstrations, practical advice, and tips and…

Young Artist of the Year Award Meet the three young artists whose work has been selected by the judges in this year's inaugural Young Artists Awards. Their work will be on show as part of TALP Open 2024 exhibition at Patchings Art Centre, Calverton, until 11 August Grace Rogers Aged 17, Grace is an A Level student from the north east of England. She writes: ‘My painting Commuter (left) is an ode to my love of oil portraiture and street photography. Currently, most of my work relates to a fascination with observation, mundanity and the nuances of everyday experience. There is a unique intimacy that lies in the mundane that I don't think can be achieved anywhere else; it is its own thing entirely. ‘I am inspired by others who…

The National Gallery of Ireland celebrates the 150th anniversary of the first Impressionist exhibition that took place in Paris in 1874 with a major international loan exhibition. Women Impressionists focuses on four women artists associated with Impressionism – Berthe Morisot (1841-1895), Eva Gonzalès (1849-1883), Marie Bracquemond (1860-1914), and Mary Cassatt (1844-1926). All but Eva Gonzales exhibited at Impressionist exhibitions (of which there were eight over the following 12 years). Women Impressionists will include some 60 works that have been drawn from collections worldwide. The exhibition explores how each of these artists navigated complex personal and professional networks to create and exhibit their art. It highlights their collective desire to make modern art and shows how they interpreted the evolving idea of Impressionism in individual ways. Women Impressionists continues at National…

LONDON  Mall Galleries The Mall SW1. 020 7930 6844 www.mallgalleries.org.uk ‘Minerva 2024’, work by contemporary Japanese artists, until 27 July.  National Gallery Trafalgar Square WC2. 020 7747 2885 www.nationalgallery.org.uk ‘Discover Degas & Miss La La’, until 1 September.  Royal Academy of Arts Piccadilly W1. 020 7300 8000 www.royalacademy.org.uk ‘Summer Exhibition 2024’, until 18 August. ‘In the Eye of the Storm: Modernism in Ukraine, 1900-1930s’, until 13 October.  Tate Britain Millbank SW1. 020 7887 8888 www.tate.org.uk ‘Now You See Us: Women Artists in Britain 1520-1920’, until 13 October.  Tate Modern Bankside SE1. 020 7887 8888 www.tate.org.uk ‘Expressionists: Kandinsky, Münter and the Blue Rider’, until 20 October. REGIONAL  Kennaway House Coburg Terrace, Sidmouth, Devon. 01395 516284 www.artistcollective.uk ‘The Artist Collective’: an eclectic exhibition of work by eight selected artists, until 31 July.…

Watercolour Birds are one of my favourite subjects to paint, and before I even pick up my brushes, they are also relatively simple to draw. There are always just two egg shapes to be found in the head and the body. I have taken so many photographs of birds in my back garden, especially during lockdown, and I must have painted most of them. My favourite, as always, is the long-tailed tit. I took all three of these images (right) on a cold snowy day so my subjects were extra puffed up and cute looking. How to draw a bird For each bird, I usually print the image and draw the egg shapes for the head and body; note how they overlap. To help with the proportions of the bird,…

Since beginning my art journey, I have always specialised in creating wildlife as subject matter, and I don't remember ever wanting to create anything else. But out of the thousands of species I can possibly choose to depict in an artwork, a part of me is always drawn to big cats and endangered species. I am in awe of these incredible animals, and I find myself constantly inspired to try to recreate them in my photorealistic technique. I love trying to capture the life in their eyes, their complicated fur patterns, or trying to recreate a texture that the observer can almost feel. Living in rural Staffordshire has given me the opportunity to be closer to the wildlife I love to create, yet having the time to go out and…