Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2017 i Artists & Illustrators

I’m going to let you in on a secret: I hate New Year’s resolutions. I’ve always thought: why begin the year under a cloud of guilt? But it turns out even guilty clouds can have a silver lining, because 2017 doesn’t have to be about giving something up, instead, it can be about trying something new. Are you a die-hard watercolourist who’s suddenly acrylic curious? Or an oil painter who wants to cross into the messy world of mixed media? Then this issue is for you. Looking to ‘new horizons’, we asked five artists to swap media and experiment with an unfamiliar paint. Find out how they did on page 46. Many reluctantly accepted our ‘paint swap’ challenge, but as you’ll discover, they soon got into the swing of things.…

We were overwhelmed with entries for Artists of the Year 2017, with more than 1,000 submissions in completely different styles and use of media. The standard was extremely high this year, so it wasn’t easy, but we’ve finally chosen our 50 shortlisted artists. All the selected artworks will appear in our Artists of the Year 2017 Exhibition at Mall Galleries, London from 23 to 28 January. In the meantime, you’ll be able to vote for your favourite artwork on our website. The artist with the highest number of votes will be awarded the coveted Reader’s Choice award. The list of the Artists of the Year 2017 final prize winners will be announced at the end of January. Keep an eye on our website for updates. www.artistsandillustrators.co.uk…

1 HIS PRINTS MADE HIM FAMOUS Although most know Rembrandt for his paintings, he produced around 300 etchings in his lifetime. In his depiction of light and dark, his style was quite loose and painterly. The medium gained him international fame as his prints could be easily transported across the world and viewed by a range of people with varying economic backgrounds. 2 HIS PAINTINGS INSPIRED A HOARD OF FAKES Copyists have duplicated Rembrandt’s work for centuries, leading to a problem with authenticity. The Rembrandt Research Project (RRP) was founded in 1989 in order to establish the artist’s definitive body of works. Self-portrait, wearing a Feathered Bonnet (pictured top right), was proven as authentic by Rembrandt specialists in 2014, following an extensive technical investigation. 3 HE WAS A COMPULSIVE COLLECTOR…

“MY FIRST INSTINCT WAS TO MAKE THE PERSPECTIVE THE WRONG WAY AROUND IN THAT SORT OF BLOODY-MINDED SENSIBILITY” When you were an art student in Leeds, was there a tutor, or tutors, that influenced you? I had two. Muriel Atkinson picked me out and allowed me to study art because I was going to be a writer at the time but they wouldn’t have me on the writing course and I took art instead. And the other teacher was John Jones. The two of them were influential, she especially. Your first 3-D ‘reverspective’ work, Sticking-out Room was made in 1964. Could you give me your definition of reverspective? Everything in ‘reverspective’ is back to front, and thereby front to back, back to front. It has to be both. Mine is…

QUICK FIXES GET A HANDLE ON YOUR WATERCOLOURS WITH WIL FREEBORN’S PAINTING TIPS CERULEAN BLUE Watercolour kits always include French Ultramarine Blue. It took me ages to discover Cerulean Blue, which I find a more subtle blue that is great for skies. LUNAR BLACK This paint contains iron particles that produce a charcoal look, which is really effective for atmospheric paintings. HOT-PRESS PAPER Smooth paper is great for linework, dry-brush and detailed paintings. DROPPING COLOUR Experiment with adding different colours into your washes while they are still wet. REFILLING PANS Save money by refilling your watercolour pans from tubes of watercolour paint. GETTING GOOD GREYS Mix French Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Umber to achieve a full grey scale. MASTER TIPS: EDOUARD MANET DISCOVER THE PAINTING TECHNIQUES OF THE WORLD’S GREATEST…

Create a mixed media portrait Terence used a combination of drawing and paper collage to create his unconventional likeness of the British musician Tinie Tempah It’s good to draw. And it’s good to experiment every now and then. Trying to do something unusual in terms of your normal techniques can promote new ways of working out your ideas. My approach here was to be experimental with a mixed media drawing. The image was intended as a kind of illustration. I collected a wide array of materials including a biro to draw with and collage papers, acrylic paints and coloured pencils. The whole idea was to let the collage lead me into the look of the drawing. Picasso used collage as a stimulus to creative development and in some sense, it’s…

1 Explore and use your personal artistic ‘handwriting’. This shows who you are, what defines you and distinguishes you from others. It demonstrates your technique. 2 Make good design choices based on personal inspiration. Capture a subject seen in real life. Think about movement, lighting and the expressions of your subject. 3 Get under your subject’s ‘skin’. Feel how it moves, what it feels and sees. This emotion and feeling of connection will show in your final artwork.…

THE JUDGES The Portrait Artist of the Year judges include English portrait painter Tai Shan Schierenberg, art historian and broadcaster Kate Bryan and curator Kathleen Soriano, with Frank Skinner and Joan Bakewell presenting. The show helps viewers step inside the artistic process as portraits are made before their eyes, with painters working against the clock. The judges select those who will progress to the semi-finals, and thankfully they know a thing or two about great painting. Here they share their thoughts on the work of three of the show’s contestants. KIMBERLY KLAUSS Born in the USA, this emerging artist quit her career in graphic design to pursue painting in 2014, and now resides in London TAI SHAN SCHIERENBERG “Apart from their choice of colour, the way a painter applies his…

“I TRIED TO INVENT A TOOL THAT COULD ACCOMPANY ME ON THE CANVAS LIKE A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT” Tell me about your studio, where is it located? Near Paris, in the countryside. The area is called Le Vexin. It’s a very important place in art history because the famous painters Van Gogh, Pissarro and Daubigny, all visited. I designed [the space] with my husband to complement my act of painting because nature is essential to my work… The studio has some rooms that are totally open to the garden, because contemplation is very important for me. Other rooms only have ceiling light for maximum concentration during my painting sessions. You work on such a large scale, with brushes suspended from the ceiling. What is it about this process that you cannot…

THE SCREAM, EDVARD MUNCH A prolific yet troubled artist, Edvard Munch (1863 to 1944) was preoccupied with human mortality, and he expressed these obsessions through intense colour, distorted forms and enigmatic themes. Unlike the focus on direct observation and light that had been endorsed by the Realists and Impressionists, Munch concentrated on his imagination and as a result became one of the most controversial artists among a new generation of painters. This is one of four versions of a painting originally entitled The Scream of Nature. It has been suggested that the unnaturally harsh colours may have been due to the dust from the eruption of Krakatoa in Indonesia in 1883, which produced spectacular sunsets around the world for months. DETAILS 1. THE HEAD Along with the Mona Lisa (c.…

The brief set for this article was to ‘paint outside of your comfort zone by using a medium you don’t generally use’. The medium was to be acrylic paint. Having settled into being a watercolour artist for the last 10 years, there are a lot of media (oils, gouache, tempera, pastels, coloured pencils) that I have worked in at some point but not touched for a long time. The last piece I did in acrylic was about 25 years ago. So, where to start? And what to paint? Looking through photos I had taken (and put aside to paint), I searched for something ‘bold’ and ‘painterly’. Acrylic is an interesting medium, as it dries quickly (into a plastic). Its colours are bold and vibrant, it mixes with water and can…

How can I bring more character to my animal portrait; what sort of ‘expressions’ should I be looking for? What defines a painting with a lot of character? It could be capturing the character of the animal or showing the character of the artist. The choice of subject is very important, as is its posture, your choice of background, lighting, composition and your ‘handwriting style’ on top. Making good decisions beforehand defines your end result. Ask yourself: what expression do you love? Is it funny, joyful, emotional, mysterious, serious or dangerous looking? Especially with a commissioned portrait: what’s the ‘feeling’ the animal shows in its eyes? As an artist, you need to crawl into this mood too. I love capturing loving or naughty glances in the eyes, or adding a…

Painting is not only a visual experience but also a tactile one, and in all great art, there is a fascinating dialogue between the subject and the artist’s medium. Every painter responds to a subject in a different way, displaying in their work emotional and physical characteristics as unique as their personalities. Always the first important decision for an artist is which medium to use. It’s a crucial decision because the medium can have a significant influence on the scope and success of the work. Gaining the confidence and ability to paint with real impact and finding your own ‘voice’ will take time, but with perseverance and a willingness to experiment you too will discover exactly what your chosen medium can offer. This series offers an insight into four leading…

Not everybody has the luxury of a dedicated painting studio and life model on call. Life drawing classes that offer a single, long pose can be the best opportunity many of us have to make a sustained figure painting. In order to make the most of the time that you have in front of the model, you’ll need a clear process to work through; good time management and clarity of intention paves the way for a rewarding painting session. The exercises over the next few pages split the process of making an effective figure sketch in oils into three 45-minute sections with two breaks for the model – one third spent sketching in pencil and two thirds making a separate oil sketch. MATERIALS FOR THE DRAWING •PAPER Cartridge paper •SOFT…

In Britain we get what we might consider to be more than our fair share of wet days, and on such occasions, many plein air painters will have a rest day. This is a shame, as wet days can provide some really interesting and exciting painting subjects. Although my oil painting colleagues can soldier on through at least some of the rain, watercolourists need shelter as even a few drops can be enough to ruin a work. The car is an option but so too are archways, awnings and other forms of shelter. In all of these cases, one major issue will be that of the extremely slow drying washes. This can initially feel like a major problem but it will give you plenty of time to play with the…