Table of contents for September 20201 in Leisure Painter

EVENTS Figurative Art Now In celebration of the growing popularity of figurative art, Figurative Art Now is a new online exhibition from the Federation of British Artists (FBA) at the Mall Galleries, featuring works chosen from open submission, as well as paintings by elected members of the FBA, prize-winners, regular exhibitors, FBA Futures alumni and artists new to the Mall Galleries. In total there will be over 400 works exploring all aspects of representational painting, drawing, sculpture and printmaking in the UK today. The exhibition will be available to view online until 20 September. To view the exhibition, go to www.mallgalleries.org.uk Worcestershire Open Studios The August bank holiday weekend will see artists across Worcestershire opening their doors for the popular Worcestershire Open Studio event, 28 to 30 August. Visitors will…

LEARNING OBJECTIVES ■ Create texture with Chinese ink and salt ■ Apply Chinese ink, wet in wet and wet on dry ■ How to draw your subject accurately I always have great fun painting chickens and although I have chosen to paint a white chicken for this project (left), I will be using mainly black Chinese ink. I will also have fine salt on hand to create the fluffy feather effect. To begin drawing the chicken and to ensure you are working with the correct proportions, simplify the shape first by drawing the outline of the subject in three, four or five straight lines (below left). This will help show you the negative spaces, which will in turn help you to view the angles of the curved lines, such as…

LEARNING OBJECTIVES ■ Follow an oil-painting process from initial blocking in to final brushstrokes ■ Practise mark making using brushes and painting knives ■ Add texture to your oil paintings Summertime is a season of long and hot, lazy days with muted colours and hazy light. Most of us will spend some time on the coast, taking advantage of warmer weather and enjoying the wide-open spaces and big skies that seascapes can give you. The sea can be a mesmerising and hypnotic subject to paint. Time spent just watching, looking and observing can be invaluable when approaching a seascape, and painting it en plein air will teach you even more. Dramatic seas can be exciting, but I love the peace that can be found in calm and tranquil seas, where…

LEARNING OBJECTIVES ▪ How to work with acrylics ▪ Learn from a famous impressionist painter ▪ How to mix colours Have you ever visited an art gallery or museum and found a smattering of people sat on the floor drawing or painting? They will be studying then copying the various artworks within the room, and it can be interesting to see how each person tackles their subject. To see an artwork, be it painting or sculpture, full scale and unfiltered, creates a bond. It can be as if you are standing behind the artists as they paint or sculpt. Details can be more apparent, and colours will be exact. Look closer, and you can see the directions of the brushstrokes or the marks of the chisel. Photographs very rarely do…

This month’s demonstration piece is inspired by the glossy iridescence of beetles. We’ll begin with a line drawing and add colour with successive glazes. If you don’t have glaze medium, you can dilute your paint with water, but the effect won’t be quite as transparent or luminous. We are building up the image, without making strong statements too early on. The painting evolves gradually so it’s a good exercise in creative decision-making and self-discipline. We’ll constantly evaluate which areas to glaze and which have sufficient colour. For my reference material I’ve used a selection of images: sketchbook drawings, historic watercolours and an Egyptian scarab hieroglyph. You can make the image your own with other insects or different reference material. You will need ■ Surface • Hardboard, 12x12in. (30x30cm) Sennelier Abstract…

You will need ■ Surface ● Watercolour sketchbook, 14x21in. (35.5x53.6cm) ■ Drawing pencil ● Sepia ink pen ■ Watercolour ● Cobalt blue ● Violet ● Burnt sienna ● Yellow ochre ● Olive green ● Hooker’s green ● Cadmium yellow ● Burnt umber Step 1 Here is the working sketch, with all the essential colour and tonal notes. Step 2 Carefully draw the scene, leaving enough space at the top for the sky and the castle, and for the three arches of the bridge and the foreground foliage. Finally, space out the outline of the trees and the distant hills on the skyline, adding the small buildings above the bridge at the end. Step 3 First, wet your paper over the entire sky area then quickly brush on cobalt blue, allowing…

Marine artists The Royal Society of Marine Artists’ (RSMA) annual exhibition opens at the Mall Galleries in London on 30 September until 10 October. With the sea and tidal waters as its common theme, works by members and paintings selected from open submission will include historical subjects, busy harbour scenes, regattas, boatyards and still life in a range of styles, techniques and media. The galleries are open daily, from 10am until 5pm. Please note that the exhibition will be closed all day on Sunday 3 October for the London Marathon. Booking is essential. Telephone 020 7930 6844 or visit www.mallgalleries.com LONDON ■ Bankside Gallery 48 Hopton Street SE1. 020 7928 7521; www.banksidegallery.com ‘Chelsea Physic Garden: A Year in the Life’, selected artists from the RWS and the RE who have…

LEARNING OBJECTIVES ■ Begin the process of painting a semi-abstract or abstract painting ■ Don’t be too prescriptive – leave the subject to the viewer’s imagination ■ Tips & techniques for painting with acrylics Following last month’s introduction to the way I produce my abstract acrylic paintings, this month’s project centres around a seascape photograph (below), from which I will demonstrate how to paint an abstract next month. I love the vitality of this photo, which was taken by a friend, who lives in A Coruna in northern Spain. I plan to change the photograph’s colours to give a fresher, more summer-like feel and use its tones to give perspective. I wanted to make a landscape out of a seascape. Colour choices Painting a semi-abstract or abstract picture sounds very…

LEARNING OBJECTIVES ■ Create the effects of sunset on a beach ■ Paint reflections on sand and sea ■ Build brushstroke confidence This painting is not too complex a subject, especially as all the figures are in silhouette. Druridge bay is my local beach, here in Northumberland, and it is a gift to paint in all weather conditions. I hope you enjoy painting along with this demonstration. Give it a go. Although it isn’t too complicated to paint, it’s quite a striking looking little picture. Demonstration Druridge Bay at Sunset You will need ■ Surface ● The Langton Rough 140lb 12x18½in. (30.5x47cm) ■ Brushes ● Flats 1½in. & ¾in. ● Round No. 8 ■ Daler-Rowney Aquafine watercolour ● Cobalt blue ● Ultramarine blue ● Light red ● Hooker’s green ●…

LEARNING OBJECTIVES ■ Build further on what you’ve already learned about painting outdoors. Apply your existing skills, but with the freedom of ‘no expectations’ about the result. ■ Always gather photo references, for later indoor use. ■ Relax as you improve your skills and confidence, and enjoy the whole experience In my previous two articles in this series we’ve looked at the practicalities of taking your painting outdoors, whilst aiming for no more than modest results. I’d like to repeat how important it is not to expect too much from yourself each time you venture out. It takes time to start seeing the real value of working this way reflected in your paintings. Equal to the practical side of being outdoors is the importance of inspiration gained from it. Although…

LEARNING OBJECTIVES ■ Tips and techniques for painting small and fast ■ Find inspiration in the smallest of spaces ■ Build confidence in painting with oils DENIS’S GARDEN PAINTING EQUIPMENT ● Jackson’s oil colours ● Griffin Alkyd white ● Jackson’s painting panels, 8x10in. ● Jackson’s pochade painting box ● Brushes (various) ● Rag ● Painting medium, turps or a low-odour thinner ● Viewing frame, sketchbook and pencil Gardens offer a variety of painting subjects other than just flowers, and your garden is convenient and private, and most suitable for initial experiences into plein air painting. Frequent short painting sessions in this private space, therefore, will help you to progress along your painting journey, especially if you remember that the process is more important than the end product. Observational painting helps…

LEARNING OBJECTIVES ■ First steps with easy printmaking ■ Develop your creativity ■ Try something different I am a painter who likes exploring, and I want to show you simple and effective ways of adding creative printmaking to your work as painters and draughtspeople. You may have had some experience of printmaking, such as lino cutting, at school. I will discuss simple lino printing later, but unless you have access to a printing press and tools, the complexity of cutting and printing can be a problem. I want this article to enable you, as a painter, to work with materials that are easily found, and to explore ways of using forms of simple printmaking alongside and involving drawing and painting Here I discuss methods that I have updated and adapted,…

Shirley Fenwick Peacock Butterfly, watercolour and gouache on handmade cotton paper, 4x6in. (10x15cm). This was inspired by Milly England’s step-by-step butterfly demonstration last month. Shirley writes: ‘My father is a beekeeper, volunteer at Severn Valley Country Park, and has encouraged me to be interested in entomology. The gouache was used where I was a bit clumsy in not leaving white spaces!’ Colour choices First, let me compliment you on Andy Walker’s sketchbook series (LP February to August 2021). I found it very inspiring and it has helped me start to enjoy and embrace my sketchbook. I have recently taken up watercolour and I am enjoying it very much. I’m going on holiday in the Maldives and I want to spend some time practising my painting. I want to create a…

The Frazer Price Palette Box ‘I found this to be one of the easiest and most robust paintboxes to work with. The design allows deceptively large watercolour paintings to be produced. The build quality is excellent, making this light, compact unit one of the best I have ever used, and I will have no hesitation in using it frequently in the future.’ Tim Fisher I was introduced to the Frazer Price Palette Box only recently and I must confess that I had never heard of this product before. The palette is supplied in a gold-lined blue presentation box and, upon opening, I was most impressed with the design and workmanship that was displayed in the bright brass-lacquered finish. It measures 110mm long, 68mm wide and 44mm deep, and the palette…

LEARNING OBJECTIVES ■ Practise the glazing technique using acrylics ■ How to work with glaze medium ■ Follow a step-by-step acrylic process This month we discover a useful technique for acrylic painting, called glazing. This is when we apply a layer, or multiple layers, of transparent colour over an existing part of a painting. The initial marks remain visible, but the colour is modified. The effect is similar to thin washes of colour in watercolour, but the colour is usually stronger with acrylic. Glazing relates to velatura, which means a translucent layer or layers of paint. The underlying layer must be completely dry before applying the glaze so each layer retains its own colour. This is known as optical mixing, as the two colours are not physically mixed together. The…

EXERCISE Depicting the structure of trees with a knife can result in a lot of straight edges. It’s better to paint larger pieces of artwork, which makes the tree framework look convincing. When using both the angled blade and the tear-drop knife, start with a thin sliver of paint along the blade edge. The position you get into when painting will determine which side of the blade the sliver is applied. I work off a flat surface, using a disposable palette and spread the paint thinly onto the face of the palette. TIP Smooth surfaces work best for this technique. I like using Canson Figeras oil painting paper, which has a minimal texture and is easy to work.  1 Dragging the knife through this thin layer will apply a…