Sommaire pour July 2024 de Leisure Painter

The Granary Gallery at Berwick-upon-Tweed in Northumberland will be showing 20 of Lowry’s seascapes, specifically of the North Sea, which he captured from the Northumberland coast over several decades. Works on show include oils, drawing in pastel, charcoal and pencil from both public and private locations. The exhibition runs from 25 May until 13 October. For tickets visit www.maltingsberwick.co.uk…

There are numerous methods of enhancing or creating a moody scene, and here we will look at some of the most powerful ways of injecting that atmospheric quality into your landscapes. The first thing you should consider is whether the mood should be light, and airy, or sombre, dark, threatening, tranquil, restless, perhaps even sinister – in fact whatever you feel most fits your subject and the manner in which you wish to portray it. 1 AN ALTERNATIVE METHOD OF CREATING ATMOSPHERE Layering is a useful alternative to the wet-in-wet technique, especially where you may wish to suggest a weak, but reasonably sharply defined background feature. It is simply a series of layers, or glazes, laid over an already painted area, and is invaluable in suggesting an ethereal mood. 2…

TOP TIP You should always let the painting dictate how long it takes and not rush to finish it. Take breaks and let the painting stand for a while. A look with fresh eyes will tell you if it is complete. You will probably always see things that need fine-tuning so avoid overworking it. With practice, you will develop one of the most important skills in painting: knowing when to stop. This painting is of a Ruby-topaz hummingbird (Chrysolampis mosquitus) and Cardinal’s Guard flowers (Pachystachys coccinea) from the Caribbean island of Tobago, and is based on my field sketches and my own photographic reference of plant details. Notes on materials Acrylics I used a mix of acrylics for this painting. Winsor & Newton acrylics are quite thick and solid, while…

Dragonflies are so beautiful, and many are extremely colourful which attracts me to paint them. I found the resource image (above) on Pixabay but had already decided my painting would represent far more colour than the image suggests. I also chose to angle the dragonfly for more compositional interest. I felt that the combination of watercolour and inks would work particularly well – the Schmincke watercolour for some of the translucency with added elements using the FW ink colours for the sheer vibrancy and patterns that these can create. The drawing was developed not with pencil, but with a water-soluble pen, which was used just to place some of the initial tones. The inability to erase errors can provide movement to my paintings, whereas the wax resist was chosen to…

In this second article on painting trees through the seasons, we come to the vitality and growth of trees in summer. This is a time of active growth for them, their branches now extending upwards and outwards as they reach for the warmth and sunlight that provides nourishment for them to grow and thrive. The young foliage that clothed the trees in spring, flourishes further to display abundant and verdant variety of shapes and hues of green. You will need ■ Surface • Ampersand Artist Panel 16×20in. (40.5×51cm) ■ Brushes • Panart Flat Nos. 6, 10 & 20 • Rosemary & Co long flat Ivory No. 8 • Panart pointed Round, No. 4 • Hog fan brush ■ Oil colours • Green gold • Hooker’s green • Indigo • Bright…

Afloat or Ashore is a new competition from the Royal Society of Marine Artists (RSMA) in conjunction with National Historic Ships UK, that invites artists of all levels to paint and celebrate any of the 2,000 vessels on the National Historic Ships Register – from large ships to canal boats in locations all over the UK: www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk/page/afloat-or-ashore-painting-competition It is hoped that you will visit a location yourself to sketch, photograph and absorb the atmosphere. A first prize of £1,000 is offered, and there is also a junior category with special prizes for young artists between 11 and 16. The competition is open for entries from 3 June until 20 September. Enter online at https://rsma.oess1/.uk…

Scotland provides an incredibly diverse range of scenery, from coastal views and harbours to immense vistas and, of course, wonderful mountain landscapes. Although I’ve lived in Scotland for a20 years, I still haven’t experienced all this wonderful country has to offer. For the landscape artist, the subject matter available is never ending. In this two-part project, I will take you with me as I sketch, paint and take photographs as a source of future paintings. Next month I’ll guide you step by step when I paint an iconic scene using one of my photos from a popular destination in the Highlands, Glencoe. I always suggest working from your own photos or sketches when you can. The painting you produce will mean so much more to you. Sketching process I have…

Product review When it comes to coloured pencils, only five things matter: softness, saturation, durability, lightfastness and price. Made in Germany, Faber-Castell Polychromos coloured pencils offer excellent saturation and durability. A vast majority of them are lightfast, which means resistance to fading in 100 or more years under museum conditions. Polychromos pencils are also competitively priced among the professional group of coloured pencils, however they are not the softest ones for one reason – you can achieve maximum detail with a strong lead that’s not too soft. Their main advantage is the extreme detail you can achieve when using them. Constant sharpening is key. Don’t try to draw the details with a dull coloured pencil point. Sharpen them often to make strong outlines, definite edges and dark tones. Surfaces Polychromos…

Having raised close to £1.8 million for charity, and worked with some big names like Marie Curie, McDonalds and Manchester United, Ben’s work can be found in private collections around the world. Hailing from Baldock, in Hertfordshire, Ben took a BTEC Diploma Art Foundation course at the University of Hertfordshire followed by a BA Honours Fine Art Degree at the University of Liverpool. Live painting, creating a piece in front of a large audience, all while against the clock and so in a pressured environment is something Ben particularly enjoys. By translating the excitement and energy of an event onto canvas, in real time, Ben aims to encapsulate the raw emotion. ‘It was incredible to live paint at the World Class Saatchi Gallery during the Frieze Art week. What a…

Sunsets are ever popular subjects to paint but they are a difficult subject in any medium. The brilliance of the colours can look garish and hard, and easily become contaminated by each other. Many beginners in painting tend to use too much black, especially when working from photos, where the darks are often seen as black. Rather than fall into this trap, it is better to use deep purples and warm dark blues to give the contrast to the sunset colours. When working in pastel and blending the colours together it is important to keep your fingers as clean as possible so have wipes or kitchen paper to hand. I worked on Sennelier La Carte pastel card for this painting, which is susceptible to water damage so make sure your…

Sketch for Survival Entries are now invited for the 2024 Sketch for Survival competition in which artists are invited to submit original artwork featuring a threatened species or wild space. One hundred artworks will be chosen for an exhibition tour in the autumn, including venues in London and Edinburgh, and an online auction will take place in November. The closing date for entries is 30 June. To find out more and to enter visit https://explorersagainstextinction.co.uk A Letter in Mind The National Brain Appeal’s art fundraiser, A Letter in Mind, is once again inviting entries on a plain white envelope. This year the theme is ‘The Wonder of Colour’. Entries include works by well-known artists and celebrities, such as Sir Grayson Perry, Joe Lycett, Greg Wise, Chantal Joffe and and Mark…

I love to paint outdoors and even when I’m inside, I use the same method – I work at speed using a minimal colour kit to give a frisson of movement and liven up a painting, and stop me from including unnecessary details. Once a painting is mounted on the wall at a distance of several feet, the human eye will invent an enormous amount of detail, o? en all the artist has to do is suggest the mood and introduce the basic elements. It is this method of working I most enjoy, and I hope you will, too. Demonstration Quiet Lane to Beeley Lodge First, begin by painting your canvas with a diluted glaze of yellow ochre, which is a nice cheerful colour to gladden the heart of even…

If you are a purist, you should probably turn over to the next feature quickly, as this series of articles may send a shudder down your spine. But before you dismiss mixed media, please consider line and wash. You might not think of it as mixed media because it is such an accepted combination. Perhaps if you explore, you may find other combinations that work just as harmoniously. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to see how far you can push this versatile medium and expand your artistic horizons at the same time? WATERCOLOUR MIXED-MEDIA TECHNIQUES The creative possibilities are only restricted by your imagination. Here are just a few examples: 1 A favourite technique is to incorporate collage elements. Artists can combine watercolour with cutouts from magazines, newspapers, or handmade papers…

TIP At this time of year, use colours that are lighter and brighter to capture new plant growth. For example, make lemon yellow, transparent yellows (azo, aureolin) and phthalo blue and green a part of your palette. At last, the mornings become lighter, and I do not have to do the chicken’s breakfast in dawn twilight. They are starting to lay now the day lasts longer. Trees are coming into leaf and in the soil below, spring bulbs appear where yesterday there was nothing. In a month almost everything will be up, growing and flowering, with colour everywhere, although here in the north of Britain everything is approximately two weeks behind the south of the country. There is enormous energy in all living things, and plants, flowers, birds and mammals…

Exhibitions ■ Cononley Art Group Exhibition at Cononley Village Institute, Main Street, Cononley BD20 8NU, from 25 to 27 May, 10am to 4pm daily. ■ Deepdale Art Group Summer exhibition at Deepdale Community Centre, Deepdale Lane, Boston Spa LS23 6EH, on Saturday 13 July, from 10am to 4pm. ■ East Sussex Arts Club Exhibition at the Stade Hall, Hastings Old Town, from 25 to 29 May. Open daily, 10am to 5pm; closing at 1pm on final day. ■ Poole & East Dorset Art Society ‘Celebrate’: an exhibition to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the society at The Gallery Upstairs, Upton Country Park, Poole BH17 7BJ, from 24 May to 10 June (See also page 78.) For more information visit www.pedas.org.uk ■ Reading Guild of Artists Exhibition at the University of…