Table of contents for May 2026 in Leisure Painter

Your work is described as ‘abstracted landscapes’ exploring the patterns we leave on the land. Could you talk us through how this concept first developed and what it means to you as both an artist and someone living on a working farm? I have seen the farming methods change over the last 20 years. The colourful patterns are a metaphor for the amount of work done in the fields. The straight lines are representing mechanical in contrast to the natural. I wanted to paint the farmers challenges with the changes in weather, in crops, weed control and the use of modern machinery. How do you translate specific elements of the agricultural landscape, such as fields, machinery and the marks made by farming, into your oil paintings? Do you sketch on…

What first drew you to landscape painting, and can you remember the moment you realised it would become your primary subject? I've always been moved by the idea of the sublime; that spine-tingling tension between awe and overwhelm. I remember standing under a sky that felt far too big for the earth beneath it, watching a storm break. In that moment I realised the landscape wasn't my focus; it was the drama of light playing out that fascinated me. I didn't want to paint the grass or the trees, I wanted to paint the power of the light hitting them. That was the moment I knew light on the landscape would be my lifelong subject. Over time I've come to realise how much of my own emotion finds its way…

What was it like to participate as a Wildcard contestant in Series 11, Heat 5 of Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year? I have followed the programme over the years but had never given it a serious thought about applying, until I was encouraged to do so, very close to the deadline. Trying not to over-think what would be involved if I was selected, I just went for it. Finding a piece for submission was the hardest part, as artworks that I felt were my best examples had already sold and I would have to have my submission available for filming. Grrr, what should I submit at this short notice? As I had just finished a local landscape, I submitted that with my online application form, even though I…

Wiltshire Museum, Devizes, SN10 1NS, 7 March to 7 June 2026 In 2026, Southampton City Art Gallery will stage an extensive exhibition of over 100 works showcasing how British artists responded to the Modern Art revolution that swept across Europe and beyond. It has been over a century since Roger Fry caused an art sensation in Britain with his 1910 exhibition Manet and the Post-Impressionists. 23 years later Herbert Read's seminal book Art Now reviewed how the mostly France-based avant garde artists had impacted the British art scene. Art Then! British Painting, Sculpture and Drawing, 1910-1960 (opens September 2026) continues this modern art story with a selection of paintings, sculpture and drawings, from over 100 artists, such as Paul Nash, Barbara Hepworth, David Bomberg, Henry Moore and Lucian Freud, demonstrating…

Stella Downing's pastel works showcase a masterly command of the medium, exploiting the vibrancy and immediacy that only pastels can provide. Nature comes to life in her paintings in a delicate, yet dynamic way, where the pastels encourage a raw sketch-like energy, combined with fresh colour palettes and luminous textures. Winner of our Painters Online award in this year's Pastel Society's annual exhibition, Stella's path to pastels has been a gradual journey. “We were a creative family,” Stella explains. “My Polish father was always making things, growing things in the garden, spinning and knitting colourful blankets for us all and even making clothes for us when we were children. My mother also loved embroidery, gardening, walking, and poetry.” This artistic mindset was present from the start, but Stella's early life…

My favourite walks tend to be beside rivers or streams, as there is something fresh and alive about these features, and of course they can provide stunning painting subjects, whether by a placid, meandering river, a wide wind-rippled estuary or a tumbling mountain stream. The combination of water and rocks really can inspire, and the peculiar Lakeland sport of gill-climbing, where at times you are climbing waterfalls and hanging over deep, dark pools, has given me some of the most exciting sketching of water and rock scenery. Tackling these various types of water effects and blending them together, where for example, a rushing white-water torrent turns into a calm dark pool on one side, can be challenging. Here I will look at a variety of ways to approach these irresistible…

This major exhibition will bring the British landscape to life through the eyes of some of the most inspiring artists from the 18th century to the present day. United by an exploration of place and national identity, the exhibition will feature works that reimagined the countryside and coastlines of the British Isles as powerful symbols of culture, creativity and resilience. Drawn from the Gallery's renowned collection and long-term loans, the exhibition will trace a lineage from 18th century masters such as Gainsborough, Alexander Cozens and John Robert Cozens through celebrated 20th century figures from Paul Nash, Eric Ravilious and Wilhelmina Barns-Graham to Norman Ackroyd and Michael Andrews. 30th May to 1st November 2026 Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, PO19 1TJ pallant.org.uk…

Open Studios are often viewed as something artists do once they are already established. In reality, they are one of the most direct, human and commercially effective ways to reach buyers, build confidence and take control of your visibility. If you aspire to sell your work - or have recently stepped into professional practice - an Open Studio may be the missing piece in your plan. What is an Open Studio? An Open Studio is exactly what it sounds like; an artist opens their workspace to the public for a defined period, often over a weekend. Visitors can see finished work, work in progress, sketchbooks, tools and materials and, crucially, meet the artist behind the work. You don't need a dedicated studio to host one. Open Studios can take place…

Any basic scene such as this can be simplified and adapted slightly to create a wonderful painting. I kept the main composition the same, but I added two more cows and changed them from brown to black and white, as I felt that would work better against the fresh spring grasses and pretty white flowers in the hedgerow. A few larger, blossom covered trees add interest to the middle ground. Limiting the colours of the flowers to only white and yellow helps add to the springtime feel of this piece. Sketch the scene lightly in pencil, then draw using waterproof black fineliners for the outlines and shading, Masking In order to preserve the white paper, use a small brush – an old one will be ideal – to apply masking…

Your next challenge is ‘plein air’ for the August 2026 edition. Email artclubs@painters-online.co.uk for the chance to be featured!…

Sarah Middleton is a painter, art historian and lecturer. She studied Italian and History of Art at UCL and a short course at the Slade School of Fine Art. She works as a communications consultant and as a history of art lecturer in the Cotswolds; sarah-middleton.co.uk From a dark corner of a boudoir, the suspicious eye of an odalisque gazes out from over her shoulder. The luxurious interior points to the fashion for exotic concubines – the headdress, silk embroidered curtains, peacock feathers, hooker pipe and bejewelled medallion in the foreground. There is a tension between the softness of the fabrics and the porcelain skin of the subject, against the hard stare and lack of expression. This painting has always held such beauty and mystery for me, that I'm very…

MATERIALS • Paints: Daniel Smith Extra-Fine Watercolours; Lemon yellow, cadmium orange, French ultramarine, cadmium red hue, raw sienna, burnt umber, spring green, transparent red oxide, buff titanium • Brushes: Rosemary & Co.; squirrel mop, No.4 round sable, No.10 round sable, half-inch flat, small eradicator brush, old rigger for applying masking fluid • Surface: Saunders Waterford NOT 140lb • Misc: Masking fluid, 4B pencil STAGE 1 My aim was to create a simple sky, so I began with a wash of lemon yellow, leaving a patch of untouched white paper above the stream, blending in some weak cadmium orange to the left. Without pause I then stroked in the background trees and bank with a No.1 rigger, using a mixture of French ultramarine and cadmium red and then introduced some raw…

Every year, just as winter's final grip begins to loosen, the earth surprises us with its first gentle flowers. Spring bulbs - snowdrops, crocuses, daffodils, bluebells - emerge quietly and gracefully, reminding us that life renews itself in cycles. For painters, these moments are pure inspiration. Their fragile beauty, set against bare trees and lingering winter light, offers both a challenge and a delight. In my painting Snowdrops in the Woods, I wanted to capture the fresh, uplifting feeling of early spring - the quiet joy of change when the first bulbs push through cold soil and damp, leafy ground, announcing that brighter days are on their way. This article takes you behind the creation of that painting, and I hope it inspires you to pick up your brushes and…

Given a preference when painting a landscape, I will more often, than not, gravitate towards an urban scene as I like painting architecture, with vehicles or people to add a sense of scale, or a coastal maritime composition. Having said that, as a remedy to all that detail, structure and order, I do like painting fields and trees too as there is something almost therapeutic in painting a simplistic rural scene. Although, throughout my career when I have been commissioned by collectable merchandising firms to paint an illustration featuring the countryside, the brief often requires a vintage aircraft overhead or a cricket match/agricultural activity to add an extra collectable element for the product. The legacy of my commercial illustration past is that when I am out painting a plein-air countryside…

Question How do I avoid that childish green colour when drawing landscapes and the natural world? Answer If you've ever bought a full tin of new pencils, chances are you've tested the greens and thought ‘Wow! Those are bright! And while they may be vibrant and punchy, just right for tropical parrots, they're less convincing for foliage, grass, trees and landscapes. Real foliage is layered, muted and full of surprising colour shifts. The good news? You don't need dozens of green pencils to create believable natural greens. You just need to understand how to mix, mute, and layer into the greens you already have. Why ‘out-of-the-box’ greens look unrealistic Nature is messy and complex. Leaves age, reflect the sky, are translucent, sit in shadow, grow in different lighting conditions. One…

The tradition of great landscapes has its firm roots through artists like Constable and Turner. They transformed the landscape – Constable by enlivening them with human activity and Turner with his dramatic and atmospheric skies. It was a way of romanticising an otherwise tame or staid scene and even though romanticising is discouraged and frowned upon in some art circles, I firmly believe it is a legitimate way of transforming landscapes into greatness. The opposite of a great landscape, in my opinion, is one that has been copied exactly from life or photographic reference. On Facebook a painting was recently hailed as a masterpiece by the public, and for no other reason than it looked like a photo. The painting lacked design - the positioning of the many figures was…

This month I am taking a look at the built environment and specifically how to place a building naturally into a landscape setting, so it looks like it belongs. To help illustrate I have chosen to paint a group of pale, rural buildings set within a clearing of trees. A hard edged, man-made structure can contrast wonderfully with natural undergrowth. By paying close attention to edges, I will explain where the buildings stand proud of their background along key ‘found edges’, whilst disappearing elsewhere into the foliage along other, less important ‘lost edges’. It makes it interesting to include a variety of lost and found edges in one painting but more importantly, man-made ‘blocky’ subjects can be made gentler, when areas are blended, to suggest the building is nestled in…