Innholdsfortegnelse for September/October 2025 i Artists Magazine

“I’ve experienced many studio ‘disasters’—sitting on a palette, a palette falling on a painting, a palette knife going through the back of a painting. The important thing to know is, we survive these things.” JULIETTE ARISTIDESARTIST “Never waste a sheet of paper. Every disaster in the creative process is an opportunity for a stylistic breakthrough. There are no failed works, only a conservative mindset that fears change and adjustment.” CHIEN CHUNG WEIARTIST “John Singer Sargent described watercolor as ‘making the most of an emergency.’ When painting in this medium, timing is crucial, and averting disasters is frequently balanced with discovering new avenues and possibilities. When we think a work in progress is going over the cliff, we have two options. The first is to start over. The second is to…

There’s something extraordinary about the choice of subject matter and manner of presentation in the keenly observant paintings of Amy Werntz. Her creations are as enigmatic as they are straightforward. While her depictions of elderly individuals seem as timeless as a work of classical art, they also exude a contemporary, ephemeral quality—as though the image is simultaneously present before us while also being excerpted from our own memories. “In my current work, my aim is to capture ordinary moments in people’s daily lives,” says Werntz, “those seemingly insignificant moments that are quickly forgotten, yet make up the majority of our lives.” Specifically, the artist focuses on older generations as subject matter. “Society has become so fixated on youth as the standard representation of beauty and seems to have lost reverence…

It’s well known that when Pope Julius II proposed Michelangelo (Italian, 1475–1564) decorate the Sistine Chapel ceiling with frescoes depicting the Twelve Apostles, the artist protested that he was a sculptor, not a painter. The irony was that once Michelangelo reconciled to the assignment, he went all in, returning with a schema that entailed more than 300 figures in a complex and sometimes mysterious theological plan. Straightforward—if highly inventive—were the narrative scenes from the Old Testament, culminating in the depictions of a physically active God moving through space while creating the heavens and man. More open to interpretation is the significance of the ignudi, or athletes—the 20 male nude figures painted at the corners of the ceiling’s central panels. They don’t have any apparent connection to the Biblical scenes they…

For artists who are drawn to pastel, it’s love at first touch. The tactile medium leaves behind crystals of pigment as it’s scraped along or pushed into the surface, reflecting light and color in different directions. As a pastel artist, my arm is my paintbrush, my pastel sticks my paint. The size, shape and texture of each stroke depends on the pressure I apply, the angle of the stick and, most crucially, the characteristics of the surface receiving the mark. The unique properties of pastel as a dry medium make an artist’s choice of surface especially important. Each type of paper has its own personality, so to speak. Therefore, it’s worth taking some time to get to know the upsides and downsides of working on different surfaces. Thanks to the…

JEAN EMMONS SEEDS OF INSPIRATION Artist and avid gardener Jean Emmons, of Washington state, describes botanical art as a fusion of art and science. “Botanical art grew out of botanical illustration, but their purposes are different,” she says. Emmons explains that botanical illustration is intended for scientific purposes—imagery that’s meant to support and enhance a botanist’s written plant description—while botanical art is meant to hang on a wall, to be appreciated for its aesthetic impact. The difference, she says, “is in the artist’s intention.” Whether it’s illustration or art, for both types, “the emphasis is on the plant,” Emmons says. This points to the main distinction between botanical art and other flora-inspired art. “It’s an approach of extreme accuracy and detail, and reverence for the plant,” she continues. “The plant…

FACING REALITY “The main process … is a unique one, in which the drawing is at least 80 percent resolved before the painting is ever really begun,” says author Steve Forster of Painting Luminous Portraits for Artists (Rockport Publishers; available August 26). The book is divided into two distinct sections—drawing as a foundation for color and dynamic flesh color. Part of the “For Artists” series, the book focuses on how to create a radiant, realistic likeness in oil by capturing form and light through a diverse range of perspectives, flesh tones and light effects. Forster, an award-winning portrait artist and co-director of the Long Island Academy of Fine Art, offers 10 comprehensive chapters suitable for all skill levels, each with skill-building exercises and QR codes linking to instructional videos. BACK…

Primarily a mixed-media sculptor, New York artist Lori Horowitz continues to evolve with every piece she creates. Her current sculptures—made from paper, cloth, encaustic wax and photographic prints—emerge as layered, dimensional forms that transcend flat surfaces and traditional frames. Her journey has always been driven by intuition, experimentation and a refusal to stand still—both physically and artistically. Trained in traditional fine arts and shaped by decades of experience in commercial art and set design, the artist’s work resists easy categorization. Seamlessly blending sculpture, photography and painting, she notes, “The materials I use evolve over time.” A LAYERED BEGINNING In her early creative days, Horowitz was happiest when painting in layers—one on top of the next—realizing her process was inherently three-dimensional. That realization made her first job out of college, working…

My process for a longer session drawing or a figure painting begins much the same way that I start a quick 20-minute drawing, like this one. To someone watching me draw, it might appear that I simply start on one side of the figure and keep drawing until I reach the other side. The following demonstration provides a more thorough accounting of my approach—and all the various considerations I make along the way. STEP 1 Whether I actually draw it in or not, I usually start by establishing the overall gesture of the figure. Sometimes I establish it in my mind before I ever lay pencil to paper. Other times I might map it out on the paper, as I've done here, using very lightly sketched vector lines called “lines…

Illinois ELIZABETH CATLETT: A BLACK REVOLUTIONARY ARTIST AND ALL THAT IMPLIES THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO AUGUST 30, 2025–NOVEMBER 24, 2026 ARTIC.EDU A deft sculptor and printmaker, ardent feminist and lifelong social activist, Elizabeth Catlett (1915–2012) was a defining artist of the 20th century. Across nearly 100 years—from Jim Crow segregation through the Cold War and into Barack Obama’s first term as president—Catlett remained steadfast in her commitment to both her art and her political beliefs. Born in Washington, D.C., Catlett grew up during the Great Depression, witnessing class inequality and racial violence firsthand—all while pursuing an art education grounded in modernism. In 1946, she settled permanently in Mexico, where she worked for the rest of her life to amplify the experiences of Black and Mexican women. No matter where…