welcome

As well as spring cleaning our studios, we decided to have a good old tidy up of the magazine this month too. We’ve been working on some little design tweaks to make each issue of Artists & Illustrators even better and we really hope that they add to your experience of the magazine (a huge shout out to our art editor Lauren here). Our Sketchbook pages will be packed with even more quick tips each month and we’re giving across more space to a few of your favourite features, like the masterclass and the big interviews, so that you can really get closer to the artworks and the people who made them. And in that serendipitous way that often happens when you pull a magazine together, lovely little connections have emerged during…

letters

60 SECOND CHALLENGES Today I hosted my “Art with a Heart” Zoom class which has been running during the lockdown as a means of reaching patients who we support at East Lancs hospice. They thoroughly enjoyed the challenge I set, whereby they had to draw 20 sketches based on uplifting stories from 2020 in just 20 minutes – one minute per sketch! It was great fun and something I’d highly recommend trying. Liz Swan, Ribchester, Lancashire What a great idea, Liz. If other readers have been setting similar artistic challenges for each other during the lockdown, we'd love you to share them with us. A NEW SOLITUDE As an artist working independently and in solitude, I am a person knotted in expectation and apprehension for my own moves amongst those of others. I have always worked…

letter of the month

KEEPING CONNECTED I have been a subscriber to Artists & Illustrators for several years now and January [Issue 425] was particularly welcome. I belong to an art group of 26 members and, in line with most other art groups, our meetings had to cease at the start of the first lockdown. Because several of our members are classed as “vulnerable” we have not seen each other since March 2020. As some of our members would struggle to use Zoom meetings to stay in touch, I decided to create a monthly email newsletter in the hope of keeping our group together. It was a difficult year and motivation levels have really plummeted. However, I have been encouraged by the response from members who have not only provided me with photos of their paintings…

write to us!

Send your letter or email to the addresses below: POST: Your Letters, Artists & Illustrators, The Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd., Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place, London SW3 3TQ EMAIL: info@artists andillustrators.co.uk The writer of our ‘letter of the month’ will receive a £50 gift voucher from GreatArt, which offers the UK’s largest range of art materials with more than 50,000 art supplies and regular discounts and promotions. www.greatart.co.uk WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO EDIT LETTERS FOR PUBLICATION…

exhibitions

1 EILEEN AGAR: ANGEL OF ANARCHY 19 May to 29 August Eileen Agar is said to have expressed surprise after she was included in the landmark International Surrealist Exhibition at London’s New Burlington Galleries in 1936 alongside the likes of Salvador Dalí and Yves Tanguy. Even though she was drawn to surrealism’s anarchic tendencies, she was equally interested in other aspects of art, seen in paintings such as the Cubist-style Quadriga and the fantastical Lewis Carroll and Alice [above]. Both paintings can be seen here alongside collages, photos and assemblages. Whitechapel Gallery, London. www.whitechapelgallery.org 2 NINA HAMNETT 19 May to 30 August Nina Hamnett was the muse who inspired many renowned modernist artists, including Walter Sickert and Roger Fry. Yet the “Queen of Bohemia” was also an accomplished painter. Thanks to her own experiences as a model,…

sketchbook

NEW KIT Freshen up your practice with our pick of the new materials for artists 1 Cobra Oil Paint Paper Oil sketching just got easier with these 300gsm, FSC-certified pads. www.royaltalens.com 2 Hahnemühle Natural Line This new range of acid-free artists’ papers includes a 290gsm Agave watercolour range. www.hahnemuehle.com 3 Faber-Castell Goldfaber Aqua Pencils 12 new pastel shades are available, either as a separate tin or part of a 36-colour set. www.faber-castell.co.uk 4 Derwent Line and Wash Paint Pan Set A mix of bold and muted watercolour pans are ideal for sketching on location. www.derwentart.com 5 Jackson’s Alcohol Inks Add punchy, saturated colour to graphic artworks on a variety of surfaces. www.jacksonsart.com 6 Schmincke Liquid Charcoal Try underpainting with three vegan-friendly shades made from charred fruit seeds. www.schmincke.de/en 7 Lyra Graduate Mark All Illustrators can add a little applied colour via these water-based ink markers.…