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ISSN NO. 1473-4729

Ken Howard RA once told me a theory, and I'm paraphrasing wildly

here because I have the memory capacity of a forgetful goldfish, that
many of the world's greatest artists can paint a great picture, but
only a select few were capable of producing moments of genius day
in, day out. We were talking about Claude Monet at the time and
COVER ARTWORK NATALIE OBERG
the thought popped up again while I was looking at the French
Impressionist's series paintings for this issue.
STAY INSPIRED Monet's repeated studies of haystacks, cathedrals and even Britain's own
BY SUBSCRIBING Houses of Parliament are full of light and magic, the contrasts between
Artists & Illustrators different times of day and weather conditions just helping to confirm his
Tel: +44 (0)1858 438789 otherworldly skill at observing and interpreting the world. That's not to say
there isn't plenty to learn from his approach and I hope the advice from current
Email:
artists@subscription.co.uk landscape painters in that piece encourages you to try that technique at home.
In this issue, our Artists of the Year 2017 winner Anna Perlin reveals how
Online:
www.subscription.co.uk/ she made the work for her second solo exhibition with London's Thackeray
chelsea/solo Gallery. Her first came as a direct result of entering our competition and almost
Post: Artists & Illustrators, sold out. From being an avid reader of the magazine, she has now established
Subscriptions Department, herself as full-time professional artist and deservedly so.
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Artists & Illustrators 3


32
REGULARS
5 Letters
Win a £50 GreatArt voucher
6 Exhibitions
Discover August's best art shows
9 Sketchbook
Quick tips, ideas and inspiration
14 Fresh Paint
New artworks, fresh off the easel
24 The Working Artist
With our columnist Laura Boswell
25 Prize Draw
Win £1,000 of top art materials
82 Meet the Artist
With the illustrator, author and
avid ornithologist, Matt Sewell
INSPIRATION
18 Prof ile
Explore the art of Dame Paula
Rego ahead of her new Tate show
4 Artists & Illustrators
Contents
18
Dame Paula
Rego 's latest
exhibition
The true subjects were not
local fields but changing
effects of light and weather
– MONE T ' S HAYS TACK S , PAGE 2 6
68 op
Fo ur t tist s
fe ar
w il dli exp e r t
26 Art Histor y 52 Demo s h a r e g t ip s
in
Capture magical light with the help How to draw a tree trunk in pencil paint e 56
of Claude Monet's series paintings 56 Tips – pag
32 In The Studio Inspiring paintings and expert
Kew Gardens and The Jungle Book advice from four wildlife artists
have inspired Lucille Clerc's art 62 Composition
Think cleverly about your next
TECHNIQUES still life painting subject
38 Masterclass 64 Mark Making
Hashim Akib shows how to tackle Bring an expert finish to charcoal
groupings of animals in style with our simple blending advice
44 Technique 68 Anatomy
Learn to capture sunlight and A three-part series on the figure
shadows with real accuracy begins with a look at the torso
48 Colour Theor y 74 How I Paint
Draw Brighton's Jake Spicer Our Artist of the Year 2017 readies
sets a final colour mixing exercise for her second London exhibition
 Letters
LET TER OF THE MONTH
OPEN TO CHANGE
Encouraged by my wonderful
tutor, my larger acrylic
portrait of Tope was a
“painting from a painting” –
created more freely from
imagination and memory
whilst only referring briefly
to my smaller original
oil painting.
The acrylic portrait [left]
is now in the BALTIC Open
Submission exhibition in
Gateshead (until 5
September) and also BALTIC
Open Out, whereby images
of some of the artworks, including my own, have been put on
billboards across Tyne and Wear Metro and public transport
systems to take art out into the local communities.
I am very proud to be in this exhibition after retiring and
completing a BA in Fine Art from the University of Sunderland
in 2019 at the age of 60.
As a subscriber to Artists & Illustrators for a number of years now,
I hope this letter inspires other readers – it is never too late to
develop your creativity or undertake a fine art diploma or degree.
Christine Leedham, Tynemouth
Over those same months I had
started painting along with Portrait
Artist of the Week, every Sunday
morning. I absolutely loved it and
I am sure that it was helping me
stay sane. On 22 January 2021
I completed my first marathon in
my garden. I decided to combine my
skills and paint a self-portrait of me
running on the route that I should
have run on, knowing that one day I
will run a marathon distance again,
exactly where I should have done it.
Melissa Pattemore, via email
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The writer of our ‘letter
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GreatArt, which offers
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than 50,000 art supplies
and regular discounts
and promotions.
www.greatart.co.uk

Congratulations Christine on a wonderful portrait and sharing an FREEDOM CARDS

inspiring story for us all.
SOAKING UP INSPIRATION
Running a busy lifestyle gives me
significantly less time for reading.
When I receive the monthly
subscription to Artists & Illustrators
magazine, I thoroughly enjoy
reading it while in the bath along
with a cup of tea. Call me crazy,
but this is the only “me” time I get,
and I make the most out of it.
Thank you for being a part of it.
Marinela Caldarus, via email
WELL, WELL, WELL
I am a project administrator by
profession and an amateur artist.
Just before lockdown in 2020,
I launched my personal project,
Creative Wellness, online with the
aim of helping and supporting
others in a safe environment.
My passion for creativity became
a valuable resource in lockdown.
Now over a year later I launched
my own website, www.creative
wellnessjourney.co.uk, and provide
online classes for beginners to
learn. Art for wellness is my future
and I look forward to exploring and
sharing with friends and members.
Debbie Crouch, via email
THE LONG ROAD BACK
I just wanted to write to you and
share my experience of lockdown.
Prior to it all starting I had taken up
running, a hobby that I thought I
would never enjoy but sometimes
we surprise ourselves. I had
planned to do my very first
marathon and had started training.
As the months went by, I realised
that things were not going to change
quickly so decided to do my training
on a very quiet, long road. I then
found myself running in my garden.
Just came across your magazine and
I'm feeling refreshed and delighted
by the sense of freedom: all those
artists, each being themselves, and
something new is born. I’ve been
isolated for 14 months in the
Pennines and I made 816 greeting
cards. I can’t really draw so I just
fool around. It’s so much fun!
Madhuri Z K Ewing, via email
Share your stories
HAPPY TO HELP and get a daily
I was reading the latest Artists & dose of Artists &
Illustrators today and noticed the Illustrators tips,
question: how has art helped you advice and inspiration
during lockdown? I loved this as by following us on
I have noticed more people our social media
empowered and confident to share channels...
their art and start creating online.
I worked on a Covid ward during @AandImagazine
the pandemic, and although it was ArtistsAndIllustrators
difficult to create pieces and paint,
AandImagazine
I always had my art to distract me.
I hadn’t been asked this question AandImagazine
until now, so thank you.
Emmie Tapper, via Facebook

Artists & Illustrators 5

 Exhibitions
AUGUST’S BEST ART SHOWS
AD MINOLITI: BIOSPHERE PLUS
24 July to 8 May 2022
Biosphere 2 was one of the strangest
experiments in the history of science. Begun
in 1991 and aiming – yet failing – to replicate
Earth’s eco-systems, eight people were sealed
in a high-tech glasshouse in Arizona for two
years. Forgotten by many, this bold project
has now been critically reimagined by
6 Artists & Illustrators
LUCIAN FREUD: REAL LIVES
24 July to 16 January 2022
Lucian Freud may have rejected the idea that
an artist’s life matters to their art, but deeply
private and painting only those closest to him,
his works are all we have left to understand
the man behind the masterpieces.
With this in mind, this presentation of
Freud’s work focuses on his sitters, revealing
those who came in and out of his life, as well
as the personal and artistic changes he went
through over his 60-odd-year career. Rarely
seen etchings will be on display too.
PHOTO: AURÉLIEN MOLE. COURTESY THE ARTIST AND CRÈVECOEUR, PARIS Tate Liverpool, Liverpool. www.tate.org.uk
Argentine artist Ad Minoliti. Yet rather than
isolating a minority, Minoliti’s first UK solo
exhibition is an inclusive space. Her playful
paintings have roots in geometric abstraction,
while she intends to use part of the gallery as
a space for visitors to explore feminist and
queer theory via twice-weekly art workshops.
BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art,
Gateshead. www.baltic.art
SIDNEY NOLAN: COLOUR OF THE
SKY – AUSCHWITZ PAINTINGS
LEIGH BOWERY, 1991. © THE LUCIAN FREUD ARCHIVE/BRIDGEMAN IMAGES
Opens 13 August
Despite deserting the army during the
Second World War, Australian artist
Sidney Nolan (best known for his stylised
Ned Kelly artworks) clearly had the
horrors of Auschwitz at the forefront of
his mind when he created a number of
holocaust paintings in the early 1960s.
Collected here they are minimal and far
© SIDNEY NOLAN TRUST
less colourful than his usual canvases.
The Rodd, Presteigne, Powys.
www.sidneynolantrust.org
 Dates may
change during
the Covid-19
restrictions
Always check
gallery websites
beforehand

FRANK BOWLING:
LAND OF MANY WATERS
Until 26 September
While his knighthood hit the headlines in
October, abstract painter Sir Frank Bowling has
been catching the art world’s attention for six
decades now, particularly with his experimental
surface textures and lyrical exploration of colour.
Celebrating his career’s 60th anniversary,
this exhibition brings together new works made
throughout 2020, as well as other paintings from
the past decade that revisit old techniques, such
© SIR FRANK BOWLING

as those used to create his iconic “poured

paintings” of the 1970s.
Arnolfini, Bristol. www.arnolfini.org.uk

COAST, COUNTRY, CITY

20 August to 7 November
Going on holiday overseas is not
straightforward at the moment.
But we still have a wide variety of
different places on our doorstep to
visit, something this new exhibition
of UK destinations painted by British
landscape artists reminds us.
With works by the likes of David
Hockney, Edward Bawden and
Catherine Yaas, all predating 2020,
viewers are invited to reassess their
perceptions of Britain after more
than a year spent in various states
© JERWOOD COLLECTION

of lockdown.
Harley Gallery, Nottinghamshire.
www.harleygallery.co.uk

Artists & Illustrators 7

Lucian Freud (1922-2011) Girl with Roses, 1947-48 British Council, London, ©The Lucian Freud Archive/Bridgeman Images

Adrian Ryan, South of France, 1957, oil on canvas

John Minton (1917-57) The Hop Pickers, 1945 ©The Royal College of Art / Bridgeman Images

For the first time this exhibition

brings together the early work
of Adrian Ryan and his friends
John Minton and Lucian Freud

10 July – 19 Sept 2021

Victoria Art Gallery, Bath

Book your tickets online

www.victoriagal.org.uk
01225 477785

August
Added Value
S IÂN D U D LE Y shares tips for creating stronger, richer dark tones in watercolour
1 REACH FOR TUBES
Adding water to watercolour
increases the transparency. The
easiest way to make a colour as
dark as it can be is to add as
little water as possible. In short,
pale tones are thinner and dark
tones are thicker.
Dark tones are easier to achieve
using tube paints rather than
pans as less water is needed to
make the pigment workable. It is
also easier to produce dark tones
in big quantities with tubes.
SKETCHBOOK
TIPS • ADVI CE • ID E A S
2 MIX THINGS UP
Don’t just rely on a single
colour. Mixing dark tones, rather
than using a perceived dark
pigment such as Indigo, makes
things more visually interesting,
especially if the mix is varied
slightly across the painting.
3 PLAY WITH
CONTRASTS
There comes a point where
colour straight from the tube is
still not dark enough. When this
happens, add a tiny amount of
the complementary colour – the
one opposite it on the colour
wheel – to the mix. It will darken
the tone without noticeably
changing the hue.
Use the colour wheel only as a
guide. Test possible combinations
on scrap paper, then substitute
pigments until you find a pleasing
mix. For example, Ultramarine
should be darkened by an orange
– Translucent Orange works well,
but Burnt Sienna is even darker.
4 PLAN YOUR
PALETTE
When choosing your palette,
consider which pigments will be
used for dark tones to ensure a
more unified image.
In the painting above, the
bright green needed to be fresh.
A purple, rather than a red,
mixed with Viridian gave fresher,
bluer shadow colours when
used both thin and thick
(behind the flowers).
www.moortoseaarts.co.uk
Artists & Illustrators 9
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 SKETCHBOOK

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“ASASYOU’RE
LONG

LEARNING,
PHOTO: YALE UNIVERSITY ART GALLERY/ILLUSTRATION: BETT NORRIS

YOU’RE NOT
FAILING ”
— Bob Ross

MASTER TIP
We tend to let the subject of a painting dictate
the format: a portrait format for a figure, a
landscape format for a scene.
Many Japanese and Chinese artists flipped
this logic, using a portrait format to showcase
tall trees, snow-capped mountains and a
greater sense of depth. Take inspiration from
Wang Jian’s Landscape after Yang Sheng [left]
and turn your next painting on its head to
access a whole new way of arranging pictures.

Artists & Illustrators 11

 SKETCHBOOK

NEW HUES
LEMON YELLOW
Discover a new colour
ever y month
First made in the 19th century from various
chromates, Lemon Yellow took a while to
establish itself commercially yet became
a firm favourite on artists’ palettes after
use by Monet, Renoir and Gauguin.
As an artificial yellow, the colour changes

Push your colours from brand to brand (PY3 is a common

pigment), yet Michael Harding offers a true
barium chromate (PY31) that has a vaguely
For your next portrait, try exaggerating observed colours. acidic green tint that mixes to make
If you spot a blue shadow in the hair, for example, use interesting fleshy greys.
a brighter, bolder version in your portrait on purpose.
Working like this for a while helps you tune into these
subtle shifts. Set up two varied light sources – one natural,
one artificial – to bring out those unexpected hues further.
ISTOCK

The Diary
31 JULY
Submit by today
to feature in the UK
Coloured Pencil Society’s
20th Anniversary Gala,
which runs from
14-24 October at
London’s Bargehouse,
Oxo Wharf Tower.
www.ukcps.org.uk
20 AUGUST
Midday is the cut-off to
enter wildlife and natural
world inspired art to the
Society of Wildlife
Artists’ 58th Annual
Exhibition, held at
London’s Mall Galleries
TOP TIP in October.
mallgalleries.oess1.uk
Summer is the best time to try landscape
painting. “Working in the field directly, whether 7 SEPTEMBER
sketching or plein air painting is the best ING Discerning Eye
starting point for works created back in the 2021 submissions close
studio, since observation is key to all landscape today. This year’s six
works,” says painter Lucy Marks. “I personally selectors include painter
never work from photos always choosing to Pete “The Street” Brown
have experienced the environment directly.” and Art Matters podcast
Lucy’s exhibition, Dawn to Dusk, runs until presenter Russell Tovey.
19 September at Petworth House, Sussex. www.discerningeye.org
www.lucymarks.co.uk
BOOK OF
THE MONTH
Peter Blake: Collage
David Hockney introduces
this delightful compendium
of cut-and-paste work by his
former Royal College of Art
chum Sir Peter Blake.
The art veers between
overcrowded Victoriana and
primary-coloured mod
graphics, occasionally within
the same frame. There’s also
insight into the Sgt Pepper’s
creator’s process via photos
of his West London studio, a
veritable cabinet of curiosities.
While it could be opened as a
museum, it also explains how
he hordes his source material.
Thames & Hudson, £30.
www.thameshudson.co.uk

12 Artists & Illustrators

 PART TIME
DAY &
EVENING A range of courses for beginners as
well as more experienced artists

COURSES ALSO: Full time Diploma courses in

portraiture and sculpture
Enrolling now

Heatherley School of Fine Art

Chelsea
HEATHERLEYS
Established 1845
020 7351 4190
info@heatherleys.org
www.heatherleys.org
 Fresh
Paint
Inspiring new artworks, straight off the easel

Karen Mai
The magic of a still life is it can reveal new ways of looking
at ordinary objects. Cue the work of Hong Kong-based
watercolourist Karen Mai, whose recent painting In the Sun
was selected for this year’s Royal Institute of Painters in
Water Colours’ Exhibition.
Intelligently plotted marks in luscious orange hues bring
to life the juicy, plump, good-enough-to-eat clementine
segments, while subtle strokes hint at the texture of the
shadowy inner peel. It’s a painting that forces us to
re-evaluate the beauty of a subject usually destined for
consumption or, in the case of the peel, the rubbish bin.
However, elevating the everyday is not Karen’s only aim.
KAREN’S
“Still life is usually not considered the most difficult TOP TIP
[subject],” she says, “but they’re actually difficult to do “Cheaper brushes
well… I think it’s a very good subject for you to challenge can be better when
yourself and experiment with new ways of doing things,” it comes to creating
From architecture, interiors and industrial scenes to different textures in
watercolour”
landscapes, gardens and figures, Karen’s rich array of
subjects proves her versality. Becoming something of a
signature, however, is her clever incorporation of the white
of the paper into the composition.
It’s a technique Karen uses regularly in her architectural
paintings in order to enhance the shape of the buildings
and create a sense of space for the viewer. Yet in her still
life, the purpose might be to create a particular mood or
highlight a certain form. “In the Sun required more peace,”
she explains of the reasoning behind the composition.
“I was trying to make it simple and make it stand out…
Although I do have a really light wash on [the white paper],
some warmer greys, but you probably don’t quite see that.”
In line with her economical attitude to the composition is
Karen’s carefully considered brushstrokes. Although they
might appear to be detail-orientated, that’s not the full
story. “The trickiest thing is not painting all the details but
trying to indicate them without making them too obvious,”
she says. “I try to make each stroke precise, as with
watercolour it’s challenging if you want to make changes.”
Also consistent is Karen’s last step on any painting:
turning to smaller brushes to adjust the relationship
between different objects. Just look at those atmospheric
cast shadows, linking the forms with their orange tints,
for a masterclass on how to do it.
www.karenmaiart.etsy.com

14 Artists & Illustrators

Fresh Paint

Karen Mai, In The

Sun, watercolour
on paper,
26x26cm
Fresh Paint

ABOVE Nigel Turner,

Watching the Water
Waiters, acrylic on
canvas, 60cm diameter
Nigel Turner
Maybe it’s the round canvas calling to mind the shape You can almost feel the sea breeze blowing in your hair
of a spyhole, but there’s something about Portfolio Plus and hear the far-off cry of hungry gulls.
member Nigel Turner’s painting Watching the Water “It’s layer upon layer of paint,” Nigel says, explaining
Waiters that makes you very much aware of your presence his process. “I paint to music,
as a viewer. In fact, it’s not the first time that this has been so it’s quite percussive. It’s like
pointed out to him. “Somebody asked me if it was dabbing your brush in time to
intentionally like you’re looking through a telescope, but I the beat. It’s a random pattern, Every month, one of our Fresh Paint
hadn’t thought that was the case,” the Staffordshire-based but the movement is very artists is chosen from Portfolio Plus,
artist reveals. “I just thought a round canvas was not only repetitious and rhythmical, our online, art-for-sale portal. For your
a novel way to paint, but it also takes away those corners… and I find that’s the best way to chance to feature in a forthcoming
If you remove them completely, you really have to focus on create the ripples on the water.” issue, sign up for your own personalised
what is going on in the middle.” For the artist, who is also a Portfolio Plus page today. You can also:
The painting is part of a series called 12 Rounds, full-time product design • Showcase, share and sell unlimited
inspired by the north Cornwall coast and, as the name lecturer, it’s a meditative artworks commission free
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sand beneath and evoking day-dreamy beach days. nigel-turner

16 Artists & Illustrators

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 Dame
PROFILE

Paula
Rego
Ahead of a landmark retrospective
of the Portuguese-British artist’s work,
MARTHA ALEXANDER speaks to curator
Elena Crippa to get an insight into seven
decades of fairytale, fear and freedom

I
n 2004, a retrospective of
painter Paula Rego’s work at the
Serralves museum in Porto was
forced to keep its doors open
24 hours a day to accommodate
demand from visitors.
Now, more than 15 years later
Tate Britain prepares to open the
largest and most comprehensive
UK showcase of her life to date
and it’s safe to say that there’s a
substantial buzz around an exhibition
that will feature more than 100
works, including collage, paintings,
large-scale pastels, ink-and-pencil
drawings, etchings and sculpture.
“This is my life’s dream,” says
curator Elena Crippa of compiling
this collection. “I keep hearing how
excited everyone is – colleagues at
tell me that they have stories about
Paula – whether as a student,
meeting her at an opening, or being
taught by her – saying how generous
she was with her time. There is
something extraordinary about her as
a human being as well as an artist.”
Paula’s career to date has spanned
almost 70 years and has earned her
a damehood, legions of fans and even
a museum dedicated to her work,
The Casa das Histórias Paula Rego
(or “Paula Rego House of Stories”),
in her native Portugal.
Britain has played an important
role in her life, however. Paula lives
and works in north London and it is
here that her practice first developed.
She is at once an artist, storyteller,
feminist, activist, mother and child
TATE. © PAULA REGO

Tate and beyond. I really feel this whose work combines darkness, pain
retrospective is so overdue and so and injustice with warmth, humour
needed. The number of people who and expressions of pure pleasure.

18 Artists & Illustrators

 PROFILE

ABOVE The Dance,

1988, acrylic on
paper on canvas,
212.6x274cm

Artists & Illustrators 19

20 Artists
PROFILE

& Illustrators
LEEDS MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES (LEEDS ART GALLERY) UK/BRIDGEMAN IMAGES/© PAULA REGO

There’s a lot of darkness in her paintings but there’s also humour
and pleasure too. Irony and magic... All these things are there
ABOVE Love, Paula Rego was born Maria Paula
1995, pastel on Figueiroa Rego in Lisbon, Portugal,
paper mounted on 26 January 1935. As a child, she
on aluminium, would spend hours indoors drawing.
120x160cm By the age of 17, she was in London
studying at The Slade School of Fine
Art where she recalls struggling to
make accurate “to scale” drawings.
It was during her time at The Slade
that she met her future husband, the
artist Victor Willing, who was seven
years her senior. The pair had a shaky
start, not least because he was
initially married to someone else and
Paula became pregnant with his child,
but by 1959 they were married and
settled together in Portugal.
In 1962, her father bought the
PRIVATE COLLECTION. © PAULA REGO
couple a house on Albert Street in
Camden Town, by which time she had
LEFT The Artist in become established in what was still
Her Studio, 1993, seen as a male-dominated profession
acrylic on canvas, and she was showing work as part of
180x130cm The London Group alongside the likes
of Frank Auerbach and David
Hockney. Since then, she has worked
consistently on paintings and prints
which are almost always political.
Paula grew up under the fascist
dictator António de Oliveira Salazar
and some of her early paintings tackle
the injustices he inflicted over
Portugal and beyond. One notable
work in this respect is 1960’s Salazar
Vomiting the Homeland, a piece
indicative of the artist’s bravery –
this was, after all, a time when having
an opinion on the government was
dangerous, let alone challenging
its authority.
Paula has also tackled many other
important subjects. Her 1998
Abortion series featured lone women
enduring the after-effects of
“backstreet” terminations and came
about as a result of a referendum to
legalise abortion in Portugal failed.
This haunting series forced viewers to
PROFILE
consider the reality of removing
choice for women and is credited
with helping to bring about a
second referendum.
Yet while the Portuguese-British
artist never shies away from the
grimness of reality, she also leans
heavily into the world of folklore and
fairy tale – and regularly uses
childhood motifs in her works. “There
are lots of little fairies or little dolls in
her paintings,” says Elena. “These are
all elements which connect to an
experience of the magic of childhood.
This is so important for Paula… The
child within is the most important
thing for her to retain.”
Animals regularly feature in Paula’s
work, especially dogs and cats, often
as a way of expressing difficult human
emotions. Because for all the
nostalgic references to childhood,
Rego’s work is dark. It is designed
to, if not frighten, then unnerve.
The themes are not comfortable
or easy ones but to say her paintings
are only macabre or gloomy is also
too simplistic. Having spent time
immersed in her portfolio, Elena
warns audiences not to overlook
the lightness involved.
“Yes, there’s a lot of darkness but
there’s also lots of humour and
pleasure too,” she notes. “Irony and
magic… All these things are there.”
The Tate Britain exhibition is
essentially the 86-year-old artist’s
career laid bare or, as Elena
describes it, a means to show her
“succession of ways of thinking”.
Like a story book, there are 11
“chapters” to the show, each one
addressing different themes or ideas.
“The more naturalistic pastels are
her better-known works, but I really
wanted to show the entire range of
the work,” says the curator. “Some
works have never been seen or shown
only once decades ago and have
never been seen since. In terms of
lenders and loans – this is an
extraordinary collection.”
The earliest work was painted in
Artists & Illustrators 21
PROFILE
Walking into Paula’s
studio is like entering
Aladdin’s cave… You can
see her love for the quirky
22 Artists & Illustrators
1950 when Paula was just 15 years
old. Interrogation is essentially a
depiction of a woman being tortured
and rather set the tone for her career.
It shows that the way in which women
are treated, their fears and the need
to speak up about this and other
types of abuse, has always been
central to her work.
One of the forthcoming exhibition’s
highlights is set to be the “chapter”
that brings together works first shown
at London’s Serpentine Gallery in
1988. That collection proved a
turning point in Paula’s career as the
mix of early collages and drawings
alongside brand-new character
paintings firmly established her
reputation within the UK art world.
One painting that didn’t quite make
that Serpentine exhibition was The
Dance – it had been intended as the

centrepiece of the collection, but the
artist couldn’t finish it in time. The six
months she spent completing it were
well spent, however, as it remains one
of her most famous works. “This will
be an occasion to show that body of
work in a way that Paula would have
wanted at the time,” says Elena.
The Dance has many elements
typical of her style. For one, it has
ABOVE a surreal, dreamlike quality, in part
Interrogation, thanks to the moonlit backdrop.
1950, oil on It shows women both at different
canvas, stages of their lives, and as vessels
50.5x61cm or charms for men.
PRIVATE COLLECTION. © PAULA REGO
Elena has worked closely with
TOP RIGHT The Paula in preparing the show, spending
Little Murderess, time in her north London studio –
1987, acrylic on seemingly a near-perfect artist’s
paper on canvas, space, large with high ceilings and
150x150cm a skylight.
“When you walk in it’s like entering
Aladdin’s cave, that’s the first
impression,” recalls Elena. “There’s
all these objects: a chest covered
in little doll statuettes, fake flowers
collected over time… You can see
her love for the quirky. There are also
lots of props and dolls that she has
been making.”
They are an important part of
Paula’s process and she has
previously said that she feels she
must “become” the things she paints.
By making these objects herself, this
idea is more achievable. In fact, on
visiting her studio, Elena says she
recognised real-life pieces of furniture
from the paintings – the same mirror,
chair, and so on. There is a collection
of dresses, too, that the mannequins
will wear.
PROFILE
Then there are her materials.
Paula has worked in most mediums
throughout her career, but latterly
seems to favour etching or pastel
painting, particularly as she can
scratch through layers in the latter.
“There are trolleys with layer after
layer of pastels,” says Elena.
“It’s extraordinary to see the sheer
quantity of colours that she has.”
Dame Paula’s studio, it seems, is
much like the retrospective will be –
a labyrinth of ideas, histories and
stories from an artist who has always
worked on her own terms, never
pandering to popularity or easy wins.
“Art is the only place you can
do what you like,” she once said.
“That’s freedom.”
Paula Rego runs until 24 October at
Tate Britain, London. www.tate.org.uk
Artists & Illustrators 23
COLUMNIS T

Collaborations can mean so many

things. It could be pure pleasure,
celebrating a creative friendship with
a shared outcome, making artwork for
sale, or stretching your skills. Whatever
the reason, it’s important to be clear
up front about what you want from
the project and how the collaboration
After a particularly isolated year, our columnist will work. It’s easy to be caught up in
LAURA BOSWELL is ready to collaborate – the romance of the idea but agreeing
but establishing ground rules are important to some ground rules with your fellow
artist – and checking you are both

H
BELOW ave you ever collaborated with a fellow printmaker, Will Francis. happy and committed to collaborating
Laura Boswell, a fellow artist? Collaborations We are sharing printing work to create – is essential for a good experience.
Barley Crop, can be a great way to explore an edition that we will divide and sell Along with deciding the aim of the
Warm Afternoon, new ways of working and create fresh between us. I’m loving the experience collaboration, work out how you will
linocut, 29x45cm motivation. I’m currently working with and thoroughly recommend it. share skills. Will you be making a
single artwork together, a series of
joint pieces, or separate pieces in
tandem? Decide how much time
you can both devote and set an end
date for the project to keep you
accountable and ensure a finished
result. Will you work together in
person, take turns to work alone,
or will the work divide with each of
you working separately throughout,
bringing everything together at the
end? Do discuss money; there are
almost certainly expenses involved in
making the artwork to be divided and,
if the results are to be for sale, you’ll
need to agree some proper terms.
A vital part of any collaboration is
to explore and experiment together.
It’s essential to be open to new ideas
and flexible with the work. We artists
can find it hard to let go of the reins at
times. Will is an expert in traditional
pigments, so I have handed colour
decisions to him, which took a lot of
nerve on my part. Conversations
throughout are essential to keep work
on track, but far more importantly,
you can both explore and share ideas
as the work develops. Collaborating
on a project means a real investment
in working together and a unique
opportunity to really push your creative
thinking with a like-minded partner.
www.lauraboswell.co.uk

Collaborating on a project
means a real investment
in working together

P R I Z E D R AW
£1,000 OF ART
MATERIALS
Enter our LONDON GRAPHIC CENTRE prize draw for the
chance to win new materials for your next masterpiece
Experimenting with art materials you’ve
never used before is a sure-fire way to spark
up your creativity. That’s where the London
Graphic Centre comes in. The online arts
supplier, which also has a flagship store in
Covent Garden, can help with every artistic
eventuality and offer expert advice on how
to get the most from your new products.
This month, London Graphic Centre is
kindly offering four lucky Artists & Illustrators
readers the chance to each win a themed
bundle worth £250. Two of the packages
have been put together with our wildlife
painting special in mind. From a Bob Ross
Master set of oil paints to Liquitex acrylics
and Winsor & Newton markers pen, the
“Wildlife Art” bundle is perfect for the animal
artist looking to mix up their mediums.
Meanwhile, the two “Charcoal Inspired”
bundles have all the materials needed to get
to grips with the medium. Highlights include
Nitram Liquid Charcoal and a Cretacolor
drawing set for artists who love to sketch.
Wildlife Art
Charcoal Inspired
London Graphic Centre has been supplying
the UK’s artistic communities with quality
art materials since 1973. From everyday
essentials to specialist items, you’ll always
find what you’re looking for.
www.londongraphics.co.uk
THE PRIZE
Four winners, chosen at random, will each
receive a themed bundle of art materials
from London Graphic Centre worth £250
each. Prizes available include:
• Two “Wildlife Art” bundles
• Two “Charcoal Inspired” bundles
For a full list of the materials included in each
bundle, please visit www.artistsand
illustrators.co.uk/competitions
HOW TO ENTER
Enter by noon on 3 September 2021 at
www.artistsandillustrators.co.uk/
competitions or fill in the form and return
it to: London Graphic Centre Prize Draw,
LONDON GRAPHIC
CENTRE PRIZE DRAW
Name:
Address:
Postcode:
Email:
Telephone:
The closing date for entries is noon on 3 September 2021.
Please tick if you are happy to receive relevant information from
The Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd. via email , post or phone
or London Graphic Centre via email
Artists & Illustrators, Chelsea Magazine
Company Ltd., Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place,
London SW3 3TQ
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Choice of bundle is random and prizes are
non-transferable. No cash alternatives are
available. For full terms and conditions, visit
www.chelseamagazine.com/terms
Artists & Illustrators 25
 ART HIS TO RY

Claude
Monet
Lockdown has made the Impressionist’s series paintings more
relevant than ever, says STEVE PILL, who has enlisted leading
artists to find out how they were done

I
f it wasn’t for Claude Monet,
many of us would never have
given the Cathédrale Notre-
Dame de Rouen a second
thought. Part way between Paris and
France’s English-facing coast, it has
been built and rebuilt a number of
times over the 800 years prior to
the Impressionist painter’s first visit
in 1892, even briefly becoming the
world’s tallest building several years
OPPOSITE PAGE, prior to that point.
CLOCKWISE FROM Yet it took Monet’s multiple
TOP LEFT Rouen depictions – more than 30 in total –
Cathedral, of the French cathedral’s west façade
West Façade for the world to really sit up and take
(Sunlight), 1894, notice. In many cases these weren’t
100.1x65.8cm; studies, but rather full-scale canvases
Rouen Cathedral measuring more than a metre tall.
Façade and Tour He used every inch of the stretched
d'Albane (Morning linen to carve out a very vivid
Effect), 1894, impression of this stately building
106.1x73.9cm; in pastel hues and dazzling golds.
Rouen
Cathedral, West
Look closely at any one of these
paintings, now sadly almost all
Façade, 1894, separated out across the globe as
100.1x65.9cm; far afield as the National Museum
Rouen Cathedral, of Serbia and Japan’s Pola Museum
Portal (Grey
Weather), 1892,
of Art, and one can see the sheer
quantity of oil paint piled up on the
100.2x65.4cm. surface, every meticulous stroke like
All oil on canvas. a chip into weathered stone.
However, it is only when the works
are viewed together that their true
power reveals itself. Monet first
exhibited 20 of them as a collection
in 1895 and clearly intended for them
to be seen as a whole. It is as if the
artist had access to several years’
worth of time-lapse footage of the
cathedral and he had cherry-picked
the most dramatic and symphonic
frames. Comparing them allows us
to pick up on changes that we might
take for granted today yet were
considered revolutionary when
observed so honestly 125 years ago.
Dull weather lowers the overall tonal
range of one, while the pastel pink
hues of morning and shown in
another are pitched almost within
the same single value. Likewise, the
It is as if Monet had access
to time-lapse footage of Rouen
cathedral and cherr y-picked
the most dramatic frames
background sky fluctuates between
being brighter than the west-facing
façade in the morning as the sun rises
behind the building, to being far darker
and more saturated during the day.
And while Cubism gave us multiple
perspectives on a single subject
within the same composition, Monet’s
series helped to build a far fuller
picture of a location. When one
has seen the deep shadows of the
cathedral’s main arches in the
noon-day sun coupled with the softer
dappled strokes of morning light,
Rouen’s structure seems far more
three-dimensional and real than any
single image could ever show.
Such subtleties are the product
of a very clear and focused attempt
to see a subject first-hand at many

26 Artists & Illustrators

 NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON/MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON/MUSÉE D'ORSAY, DIST.RMN/PATRICE SCHMIDT/ GOOGLE ART PROJECT

Artists & Illustrators

 NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON/GOOGLE ART PROJECT

ABOVE The Houses different and very specific times of
of Parliament, the day and even year. It is this in
Sunset, 1903, particular that makes this part of
oil on canvas, Monet’s portfolio so timely, given that
81.3x92.5cm many of us have spent the last 15
months forced to stay close to home
TOP RIGHT Houses and focus our attentions on familiar
of Parliament, landscapes day in, day out.
Sunlight Effect, It is a popularly held belief that
1903, oil on canvas, Monet and his fellow Impressionists
81.3x92.1cm were the first artists to really explore
the joys and benefits of painting
the landscape en plein air. In fact,
artists such as JMW Turner and John
Constable had already experimented
with this idea, the latter painting his
famous cloud studies many decades
prior. Monet would also have been
familiar with the work of the French
artist Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes,
whose 1800 treatise Reflections and
Advice to a Student on Painting,
Particularly on Landscape extolled
the virtues of painting what he called
a “landscape portrait” – a depiction
of a scene completed in portrait-style
sittings in front of the subject.
In Rouen, Monet did just that,
often working studies up into larger
paintings either back home in Giverny
or simply across the street from
the cathedral where he rented a
temporary studio. However, Monet was

28 Artists & Illustrators


the first truly prominent oil painter to
return to a single, unchanging subject
over the course of several years.
He first began this approach in
1890, as he ventured out into the
fields near his Giverny home. It was
here that his depictions of haystacks
proved a huge breakthrough in his
artistic career and indeed his whole
approach to painting.
It’s def initely worth
returning to the same spot
BROOKLYN MUSEUM/GOOGLE ART PROJECT
throughout the year to see
how the light changes
While he had painted the landscape
from life countless times before, the
important difference here was that
the subjects in the traditional sense
were almost arbitrary – these great
cathedrals of hay were simply a motif
for the artist’s enquiries. For Monet
the true subjects of these paintings
were not his local fields but rather the
changing effects of light and weather
upon them.
So how does one even attempt to
replicate them in one’s own work?
Regular observation and practice are
key, so it is little surprise that some
of the best contemporary painters of
Monet-style series are the ones who
are seemingly addicted to the act of
painting on location every single day.
One such artist is Bristol-based
Tom Hughes, who regularly ventures
across London, Wales and England’s
A R T H I S T O RY
southwest to capture changing light
effects with his trademark smooth
transitions and elegant line work.
For Tom, seasonality is important.
The key to series painting for him is
establishing a sense of how markedly
different any given scene can look at
different times of the day, throughout
the year. “In summer, the morning
light transitions seem to happen very
quickly as the sun rises more rapidly,
whereas in winter, the sun stays so
low throughout the day, creating a
slower transition. I find the sky colour
to be more exciting at dawn on a clear
winter morning than it is in summer.”
“It’s definitely worth returning to
the same spot throughout the year
to see how it changes,” he adds.
“The green summer foliage is just
as dramatic a shift in terms of hue
as the angle of the sun is in terms of
Artists & Illustrators 29
ABOVE Haystacks shadows. I find myself drawn more NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA, CANBERRA/SCOTTISH NATIONAL GALLERY/GOOGLE ART PROJECT

(Midday), 1890, to contre-jour scenes [in which the

oil on canvas, subject is viewed against the light]
65.6x100cm in winter as the landscape appears
more tonal due to the lack of
saturation in foliage. The low sun in
winter also creates many contre-jour
scenes, often blinding ones.”
Andrew Gifford is another of
Britain’s leading landscape artists,
regularly creating brilliantly observed
studies on location that he then
works up on a larger scale in his
Brighton studio. He is currently
RIGHT Haystacks working on a series of blossom
(Snow Effect), paintings in various light conditions
1891, oil on and he has also painted Monet-style
canvas, 65x92cm series everywhere from the River

30 Artists & Illustrators


METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART/MUSÉE D'ORSAY, DIST.RMN/PATRICE SCHMIDT/GOOGLE ART PROJECT
Monet's haystacks proved a huge
breakthrough in his artistic career
and his whole approach to painting
Thames to Fez, Budapest and beyond.
As such he has plenty of advice for
prospective series painters. “Firstly,
I would say that it’s important to know
where the sun is going to go, so that
you know roughly what is going to
happen later on in the series,”
he says. “Do you want to paint the sun
setting in your composition or the sun
illuminating the subject? Also, pick a
subject or view that the changing light
will alter in an interesting way. Have
your canvases or boards prepared.
“If you can return to the place for a
few days in a row, then write down the
time you started each study on the
back so that you can work on the right
one at the right time the next day.”
A R T H I S T O RY
It’s worth noting that while the TOP Haystacks
emphasis with painting en plein air
is usually placed on being out in the
(Effect of Snow
and Sun), 1891,
landscape, you can of course make
many of these same observations
oil on canvas,
65.4x92.1cm
from the comfort of your own home
or indeed anywhere with a window
overlooking a view that appeals to you
aesthetically, as Andrew has done.
“I once painted a simple view
looking over some buildings in
Queens, New York from a hotel
window as a large snowstorm came
in,” he recalls. “I painted a painting
an hour from the afternoon into the ABOVE Haystacks
evening as the snow turned from (End of Summer),
mauves to pinks as the city lights 1891, oil on
came on.” canvas, 65x100cm
Artists & Illustrators 31
 IN THE STUDIO
1

ci ll
L u Clerce
From her communal London studio, this French illustrator is exploring
the interaction between urbanisation and nature – and wants to take
us along for the ride, as REBECCA BRADBURY discovers

Y
ou might think you’re
familiar with the story of
Frances Hodgson Burnett’s
The Secret Garden, but
you’re probably yet to experience
Lucille Clerc’s fantastical
interpretation, brought to life in her
illustration of the same name. It’s
a place where mythical creatures,
1 Lucille tropical birds and larger-than-life
Clerc draws plants awaken at night, transforming
surrounded the V&A, for which it was drawn, into
by inspiration a garden like no other.
Dreamy, delicate and infinitely
2 This King detailed, Lucille’s work combines
Louie print is the familiar with the out of this world
part of a Jungle and, as a result, dismantles our
Book series perceptions of reality. Think intricate
depictions of buildings, butterflies,
blooms and everything in-between,
distorted in scale, kaleidoscopic in
composition, and transfixing with an
ethereal colour palette of soft pinks,
dusky teals and emerald greens.
Then hidden beneath the surface,
but just as interwoven, is the concept
of time. As an antidote to today’s
fast-paced news cycles and ever-
updated content streams, the
illustrator places prime importance
on the longevity of her work, adding
a multitude of subjects into a single
piece as a way to build up a
relationship with the viewer.
“A lot of what we see right now
are simplified images,” she says.
“They are very quick, and they have to
be easy to understand. I do that for
commercial work and there’s a reason
and it’s valid. For my personal work I
have a longer time with the viewer, so
I like to hide little details so you can
look at the images again and again.”
As these more elusive elements
emerge, big themes also become
apparent. Most prominent is the
relationship between urbanisation
and nature – a source of great
inspiration for Lucille. “It’s a challenge
for the future,” she explains. “Does a
city go against nature or does it find
a way to integrate it? Is it a symbiotic
relationship? Or does one destroy the
other? I’m really interested in trying

32 Artists & Illustrators

2
IN THE STUDIO

For my personal work,

I like to hide little details
so you can look at the
images again and again

to find the balance between the two

and how we can make it work.”
London’s profusion of green spaces
is one reason Lucille moved to the city
to study for an MA in communication
design at Central Saint Martins – and
decided to stay afterwards. Prior to
this, she had grown up above her
father’s carpentry workshop in Nancy
– a city in northeast France where
the art nouveau École de Nancy
was founded in the 1900s – and
completed an undergraduate degree
in the artistic hub that is Paris.
Since finishing her MA in 2008, the
artist has worked on a wide variety of
projects, from illustrating books and
magazines (using a 0.5mm mechanical
pencil and Kuretake Gansai Tambi
watercolours) to painting large-scale
murals for the Great Pagoda at the
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Whatever the commission, Lucille is
sure to swot up on the subject matter,
comparing herself to a performer.
“When you’re an actor, you want to
live several lives and playing different
parts is like achieving that,” she says.
“For me, it’s a bit the same – I have
to understand what they are doing, if
it’s a writer, a scientist or a historian.
So, I get to learn a lot about each
topic. It goes beyond just drawing.”
Another skill in the illustrator’s
repertoire is printmaking, something
she’s been practising for more than
10 years at Print Club London,
located near her home in Dalston,
East London. Alongside its communal
printing space, where members can
3 A pineapple book a screen bed for a few hours at
from Around a time, is an open-plan studio home
the World in to Lucille’s main workspace.
80 Plants “There are no walls per se, but we
all have our own little area,” she says.
4 Lucille has “I really like this kind of atmosphere.
worked with There are always people working and
Jonathan Drori 4 clients coming in, and the artists
on two books themselves always exchange tips and

34 Artists & Illustrators


advice. We all have a very different
style, but there’s something very nice
about showing and discussing your
work with different people.”
Every morning, after a coffee,
watering her plants and clearing
her email inbox, Lucille does a few
warm-up sketches before turning
her full attention to her illustrations.
How does she begin these?
“When it’s a personal project I
usually start very abstract, like big
washes of watercolour,” she explains.
“Then I draw on top some very
delicate, intricate elements with a
mechanical pencil. I’m using 2B so it
can get really dark or really light – you
can get a nice contrast. Sometimes
I’ll use coloured pencils, too. And I’ll
6 add a bit more watercolour on top
once the drawing is dry.”
IN THE STUDIO
One of Lucille’s personal projects is
her London Landmarks series, made
up of dreamlike amalgamations of
architecture that, despite the unique
perspectives, is unmistakably from
the English capital. Each “portrait”, as
the illustrator calls her architectural
artworks (a label in line with her
tendency to anthropomorphise
buildings), represents her own
experience of the place and in doing
so preserves her memory of each visit.
A place in London particularly close 5 Kew Green
to Lucille’s heart is the Royal Botanic House is now
Gardens, Kew. Even before she was on to a second
asked to paint the mural in the Grand print edition
Pagoda, the attraction was one of her
favourite hangouts, securing herself 6 Lucille at
an annual pass as soon as she work in Print
arrived in the city. The project went on Club London’s
for more than a year, enabling her to shared studio
Artists & Illustrators 35
7
regularly sketch the trees, plants and 9
greenhouses and eventually turn her
sketchbooks into a screenprint series.
Opting for the CMYK method of
screenprinting – individual layers of
cyan, magenta, yellow and “key” (or
black) – is a challenge Lucille loves.
“You have to find a way to combine
the drawings into a layer of dots,”
she explains. “It’s a fine balance as
the thinner the dots are, the closer
you are to the quality of your original
drawing, but the more difficult it is to
print… It can make stains if there’s
too much ink.”
An element of problem solving is
also required when thinking about
what colours to use. With just the
four colours at her disposal, it’s
remarkable how Lucille produces
such a wide assortment of hues.
“I never print green,” she notes.
“I print yellow dots and cyan dots, and
it’s magical when they overlap, and
you have a new colour appearing.”
“There are a lot of steps you have
to get right,” she adds, “like the way
you prepare a screen, the way you
coat it, the way you expose it, the way
you rinse it. So, when you get a good
one, it’s such a fine feeling.”
Requiring a different sort of
accuracy are the botanical
illustrations that the French artist
has recently completed for Jonathan

I like to mix different perspectives

and scales… I want to take the
viewer on a journey

Drori’s new book, Around the World
in 80 Plants. It follows the pair’s
collaboration on Around the World
in 80 Trees and, this time, Lucille felt
more at ease with the precision
required from the art form.
Citing observation, practice and
experience as the key to her accurate
depictions, the illustrator has also
added her own flair to the book.
Alongside pictures of plants (some
of which she copied from specimens
grown in her mum’s garden in Nancy,
8 France) are little characters, patterns
or references to a particular plant’s
origin. “I wanted to give it that feeling
you get when you flip through a travel 7 Day at Kew
journal and you feel like you’re is filled with
jumping from one country to another.” well-observed
Whether transporting us around botanical detail
the world, offering up one-of-a-kind
experiences of a familiar city, or 8 Lucille
plunging us into fantasy realms checks her next
overtaken by nature, Lucille never screenprint
fails to immerse the viewer in her in progress
unique narrative. “I like to mix
different perspectives and points of 9 A softer side
views and scales,” she adds. “I want is seen in her
to take the viewer on a journey.” 4 Elements –
www.lucilleclerc.com Water image

Artists & Illustrators 37

38 Artists & Illustrators
 MASTERCL ASS

Busy
COMPOSITIONS
Instead of tackling a standard wildlife portrait, HASHIM
AKIB shows how a more complicated grouping of animals
offers the chance for a more painterly approach

W
hen it comes to might look at how repetitive these
painting animals, are, or focus on the effects of light
it’s common for and dark. In simple terms, look at
artists to go for a everything other than how detailed

Hashim's photographic likeness, perhaps

with a heavy helping of cuteness.
the reference material is. Drawing
and proportions are vital when it
materials It’s worth considering a few other comes to adding naturalism but best
options before you start your next tempered by some self-expression.
wildlife painting to help it stand out For this exercise, I will be talking
•Paints
from the crowd. you through how I painted a group of
Azo Yellow Lemon, Azo Yellow
For starters, avoid obsessing over flamingos in acrylics, going through
Medium, Azo Orange, Pyrrole
the source image and allow yourself the various challenges and choices
Red, Primary Magenta,
to break free by using colours or made. I based the painting on a
Quinacridone Rose,
marks more expressively. This photo I took at Berlin zoo. I loved
Ultramarine Violet,
reflects the wildness of the subject the soft tints against dark and the
Permanent Blue Violet, Sky
matter and adds a creative twist. various intricate shapes formed from
Blue Light, Brilliant Blue,
Try looking for patterns – these might the extended heads and legs.
Cobalt Blue (Ultramarine),
be interesting shapes or colours, you www.hashimakib.co.uk
Phthalo Blue, Greenish Blue,
Prussian Blue (Phthalo),
Permanent Green Light,
Phthalo Green, Yellow Ochre,
Burnt Sienna, Warm Grey
and Titanium White, all
Amsterdam Standard acrylics
•Brushes
Daler-Rowney Skyflow large
flat brushes, sizes 1/2”, 1”,
1.5” and 2”
•Support
Stretched cotton canvas,
60x75cm
•White plastic
mixing tray
•Kitchen roll
•Water pot ORIGINAL PHOTO

Artists & Illustrators 39

1 Mix up colo ur s
Working on a grey base colour mixed from Brilliant Blue, Burnt
Sienna and Titanium White, I sketched out the flamingos to make
sure everything fitted on the picture plane.
On my mixing tray I added plenty of Titanium White, reds, oranges
and earth colours, along with small dabs of blues and purples using a
slightly damp 2” flat brush. All the flamingos will have a combination
of these colours so be generous with squeezing out the paint. The
central pool of colour on your palette can then be split into sections as
your mixes develop, with stronger reds, slightly browner mixes, blues
for cooler combinations, and a creamy mix with extra Titanium White.
2 Let paint s t reak
Each flamingo was painted using a 1.5” flat brush, starting with
a few semi-circular strokes for the body. The paint was used neat to
add an impasto effect and colours were slightly under mixed to create
some streaking, which mimicked the flow of feathers.
I added creamier tints for highlights and blue-grey tints for shaded,
cooler areas. For smaller dabs, I either used the edge of the brush or
switched to smaller flats. I used a warmer combination of colours on
a few of the flamingos to make them stand out with some marks
delicately placed to avoid smudging.

3 Wo rk s m a ll a r e a s
I wanted to do very little blending, so the painting
process was more a case of weaving blocky marks together.
If you intend to blend acrylics, it’s best to do so while the
paint is still “live”. The quick drying time of acrylics, even
with thicker applications, is hard to estimate – under normal
4 Fin d a f o cus
I made the decision early on that the two preening flamingos would be
the painting’s focal point. I used my strongest lights on these two, while the
conditions, it can take minutes rather than hours. I find that blues contrasted the warm colours around them. In order to avoid chalky tints,
using a retarder or water to dilute the paint can also dull I added some Azo Yellow Lemon to inject some heat. I also avoided flattening
colour so try working on small pockets of the painting at a the colour too much by over mixing. A few of the strokes didn’t work out, so I
time instead to allow the opportunity to integrate the colour. used a damp sheet of kitchen roll to lift the unwanted paint away.

40 Artists & Illustrators

 MASTERCLASS

5 B l o ck t h e b a ckg r o un d
With the flamingos painted, I could work on the background.
Essentially this was made up of dark, neutral colours, designed to
draw the tints forward, though the area around the two main birds
contained a warmer range of colours to draw them out further.
I used a damp 2” flat to mix Warm Grey, Yellow Ochre and various
greens, blues and violets, as well as touches of Azo Orange and
Titanium White to create a main pool of colour that I could expand
upon. A few blocks of this were applied to measure the effect against
the tints. Again, colours were left under-mixed for their streaky effects.
6 Enrich th e palet t e
As more of the background was covered, I varied the colours
as I went, primarily to add interest and avoid generic mixes. Richer
combinations of Primary Magenta, Yellow Ochre and Azo Orange were
added to the main background mix around the focal point with varying
brushstrokes. I also applied Prussian Blue to heighten the darks and
add crispness around the main flamingos’ necks, though I kept these
extremely limited as acrylics dry darker and will flatten out.

Top tip
Avoiding
thoroughly mixing
paint and allowing
streaky colour to
show through can
help resuscitate
lifeless areas

7 Ad d e a r t hy h u e s
The earthy combinations of colour in the
background were an important contrast to
the warmer tints but I held off using actual
earth colours like Burnt Sienna or Raw Umber.
It’s worth spending time mixing interesting
browns from reds and greens, this way you
can vary quantities for richer colour.
Try to avoid painting the background up to
the very edge of a drawn outline as this will
look fussy. Instead, simply block-in close to
the edge so things can still be adjusted
towards the end of the painting.
8 Fin d s om e b alan ce
I added more greens into my original background mix
to suggest the foliage. The reference photo provided extra
information here but blurring or underplaying the detail gave
the painting a clearer focal point.
I mixed a warmer green here by introducing Azo Yellow
Medium while the very top background contained a little
Prussian Blue to frame some of the heads. Once all the
elements were in place, I had a clear idea of the overall
balance and how each part fits together.

Artists & Illustrators 41

MASTERCLASS
9 Plan yo ur mixin g
For this painting, I used two mixing trays. As I made
new mixes on the larger tray, I would occasionally dip into the
original pool for colour. If you’ve been generous squeezing out
paint, your palette may become corrupt. It’s worth spending
a couple of minutes skimming off that corrupt colour with
a palette knife to avoid muddying mixes.
I often use several brushes but rather than cleaning them
each time, I wait to see if I could return to that particular
colour. The acrylic doesn’t dry as quickly on the brushes as
the dampness in the bristles maintains the paint’s freshness.
11 Enh an ce t h e e dg e s
To flesh out the legs, I applied a couple of reflections
and spent some time adding lighter pink highlights. Fairly
refined applications were required at this latter stage. Overall,
they’re probably less impactful but these adjustments help to
sparkle up the image.
I used my smallest flat brush with a mix of Titanium White,
Azo Yellow Lemon and a little Sky Blue to enhance certain
edges, such as the necks, the feathers and parts of the face.
42 Artists & Illustrators
10 B r e a k up h a r sh lin e s
I had a choice at this stage of the painting whether to indicate the
legs or not. On the one hand, floating flamingos probably would look odd, but
on the other the legs might clutter the composition and create harsh lines.
When in doubt, I stuck to the original plan of showcasing the legs.
To indicate the legs, I simply used the edge of a clean 1” flat brush to draw
a line, leaving an occasional break in the stroke to avoid too many harsh lines.
Colour-wise, I used a blue-grey mix of Titanium White, Cobalt Blue, Burnt
Sienna for some legs, and a mix of Primary Magenta, Titanium White and
Yellow Ochre for the others.
12 Finishin g to uch e s
Along with those previous highlights I mixed a strong dark from
Prussian Blue, Burnt Sienna and various greens and purples. Some darks were
lightened slightly and applied to the beaks, while the purer darks were used to
sharpen edges and accentuate the curves. To make the colours pop, I added
purer versions of reds and oranges where required and lifted the duller pinks
on the left-hand flamingos with some cleaner combinations. I avoided adding
too much detail in the faces, particularly the eyes, so the finish was less fussy.
It’s important to trust that the overall shapes are interesting enough.
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Artists & Illustrators 43

Sunsets
TECHNIQUE

and
shadows S
GRAHAME BOOTH explains why the laws
of perspective can help when plotting cast
shadows and how contre-jour lighting affects
colour and contrasts in the landscape
unsets are possibly one of the most popular
painting subjects – at least when you’re starting
out. More experienced painters are often wary of
such subjects as it can be quite tricky to portray
those beautiful sunset colours and tones without slipping
into garishness.
In a sunset, almost all of the interest will be in the sky.
The bright setting sun will be directly in front or slightly to

44 Artists & Illustrators


the side of us, creating what is essentially a silhouette
of the landscape. One of the challenges with this type
of subject – especially in watercolour – is working out how
to subdue the daytime colours and make the silhouettes
appear dark enough while maintaining sufficient light
contrasts to avoid the painting becoming flat and
uninteresting. You can’t shortcut this effect – painting an
evening landscape with all of the varied colours and tones
TECHNIQUE
A camera is unable to
render the full range
of tone that is visible
to the naked eye
you would see in the middle of the day just doesn’t work.
When it comes to sunsets, apart from the sky colour itself,
it is this strong directional lighting in front of the subject –
an effect known as contre-jour – that creates the drama.
If sunsets don’t appeal to you visually, much of that
drama can be found at any time of the day as long as the
sun is more or less directly in front of us. Unlike a sunset,
the same type of lighting earlier in the day will almost
completely bleach out any sky colour because of the
more direct, brighter light but the higher sun position
will create more tonal variety in the ways in which the
light hits the landscape.
Painting sunsets en plein air is particularly challenging
simply because the light changes very rapidly so, unless
you are pretty quick with your brush, a photographic
reference can often be better. The problem with such
photos is that a camera is unable to render the full range
of tone that is visible to the naked eye. As a result, either
the colour will be lost from the sky and it will lack that
beautiful richness, or the landscape will become a single,
dark unyielding mass.
Many modern cameras are rather clever in that they
effectively solve much of this problem by automatically
superimposing two photographs, one with the exposure
balanced for the sky and one balanced for the landscape.
This is known as HDR (high dynamic range) and even many
smartphones will have a setting to allow this to be used.
Something else we must consider with the sun in front
of us is how it will affect shadows. With the light coming
from such a great distance, the sun produces beams of
light and cast shadows that will be subject to the usual
laws of perspective.
Parallel receding horizontal lines will appear to slope
towards eye-level and meet at a single point known as the
“vanishing point”. When the sun is from the side, any
perspective angles are much less obvious but with the sun
directly in front of us (or behind) the effects of perspective
become very obvious indeed.
ABOVE Promenade Fortunately, the perspective rules for such shadows
des Anglais, Nice, make it fairly easy to check our accuracy with the angle
watercolour on and the length of these cast shadows. The laws of
paper, 51x38cm perspective apply exactly only to lines that are both
Contre-jour light horizontal and parallel but even in a landscape where
created exciting shadows may be being cast onto ground that may not
tones and strong be perfectly horizontal, the rule will still give sufficient
shadows guidance to allow realistic shadows to be rendered.
Artists & Illustrators 45
ABOVE Wexford Quay,
watercolour on paper, 51x38cm
For this plein air painting, I got
everything ready and waited
until the light was just right.
Most major shapes were created
in a feverish few minutes as
failing light prevented any fuss.

Sun Applying the rules

The perspective of shadows being cast from the sun in
front of us is similar to the single-point perspective that
we would see in a street scene. The vanishing point (VP) of
Horizon/eye level VP shadows cast on horizontal ground is always at eye level,
and always directly below the sun.
Say, for example, there is a fence post in the scene
you wish to paint. The angle of the post’s shadow can be
calculated by drawing a line from the base to the vanishing
point and continuing this line in front of the post.
Calculating the length of the shadow introduces another
vanishing point, the vanishing point of light, which will
always be the light source: the sun. The shadow length
can be calculated by taking a line from the sun passing the
Sun
top of the post and continuing until it meets the shadow.
It’s worth noting that the rules concerning artificial light
or light from the sun behind us are slightly different.
Likewise, you may find that the laws of perspective don’t
Horizon/eye level always fit exactly with reality. Take the photo opposite.
VP The vanishing point sits in line with the sun, as it should be,
but it is actually slightly below the horizon. How can this be?
In fact, the road sloped down very slightly towards the
kerb, meaning that the shadows of the posts were not
exactly horizontal. The posts (and shadows) were still
parallel to one another, so they still created a vanishing
point as they receded, but it was one that was slightly
below eye level. You can see the opposite of this where
the shadows run slightly uphill over the grass bank. If you

46 Artists & Illustrators

 TECHNIQUE

LEFT Ballydorn Lightship

on Strangford Lough

BELOW LEFT AND

BOTTOM LEFT Ballydorn
Lightship, watercolour
on paper, 38x28cm

check with a ruler you will see that the vanishing point
for these shadows is slightly above the horizon but still
directly below the sun.
Reality will often appear not to correlate with
perspective rules, but this will be simply because lines
are not perfectly horizontal, perfectly parallel or both.
The rules of perspective can be confusing but making an
effort to understand and accurately apply them, however
roughly, makes drawing so much simpler and takes away
so much of the guesswork.

Strengthen contrasts
Sunsets benefit from a simple approach. As the landscape
is relatively dark at that time of day, much less detail
is required in a painting in order for it to be convincing.
More important is establishing that strong contrast
between light and dark. Remember, the stronger you
make your darks, the lighter your lights will appear to be.
The subject of Ballydorn Lightship was a boat used as
a novel clubhouse for a sailing club on Strangford Lough
in County Down. I began with an overall wash, creating the
blue in the sky and continuing with warm colours in the
lower sky and on to the bottom of the paper. This was my
“light” and I remembered that with the sun so low in the
sky, the light and colour needed to be very strongly
reflected in the sea.
When this was completely dry, I added a second
grey-blue wash to create some variety in the sky and to
introduce the local colour and lighter
tones of the landscape.
In the first stage I was really
thinking only of the light, as I tried to
create interest without things getting
too dark tonally.
The land seen in the second photo
of the painting was created as simply
as possible using two or three layers
of increasingly dark washes but taking
care to leave the all-important light on
such places as the superstructure of
the ship, the roadway and the lighter
parts of the beach.
I was aiming to create strong tonal
contrasts so, for example, I ensured
that many of my darkest tones were
adjacent to my lightest ones. I also
avoided using any bright colours,
apart from the sky and its reflections.
All other colours, such as the natural
bright red in the lightship or the green
of the grass or trees, appeared
significantly dulled at sunset.
www.grahamebooth.com

Artists & Illustrators 47

 CO LO U R THEO RY Colour vs tone
When viewed tonally, saturated colours like bright red or deep
blue can have the same value as an ochre or muted green.

4. Tone
To conclude his four-part series on the
building blocks of colour mixing, Draw
Brighton’s JAKE SPICER sets some tonal
exercises to help you think differently

I
n this final article looking at the
fundamental elements of colour,
we come to our third and final
dimension: tone. Tonal value
describes the light or dark of a colour.
Convert a colour photograph to
monochrome and you are effectively
removing the hue and saturation
(explored in the previous two articles)
to leave only the tonal expression
behind. In fact, we see very little true
white or black around us, so, when
we strip the hue and saturation from
a subject, we are presented with a
patchwork of various shades of grey.
This has some benefits. The less
saturated a colour, for example, the
more easily we can assess its tonal
value. By contrast, we often judge
saturated colours like bright reds,
blues and greens to be lighter than
they really are, mistaking more intense
saturation for a lighter tone.
In this article we’ll look at how
to think of tone in relation to the
colour wheel, how to balance
representational accuracy with the
atmospheric potential of tone, and
finish with some different ways you
can make a tonal study in paint. Original colour Tonal equivalent

2D colour wheel 3D colour space

A light, desaturated turquoise

Tone

Saturation
Hue

Colour space
A colour wheel that shows hue around
its circumference and saturation along
its radius has no room to represent
variations of tone; to make space we
must turn the two-dimensional circle
into a three-dimensional colour
space. If you imagine a tonal scale
running vertically through the neutral
grey at the centre of the wheel, like a
dowel pushed through a cardboard
disk, you create a space in which
progressively lighter colour wheels
could be stacked above, and darker
wheels below. This three-dimensional
cylinder represents a space within
which all colours might be imagined
and described by three coordinates:
hue (named colour family), saturation
(how intense or chromatic it is) and
tonal value (how light or dark it is). For
the curious, Munsell’s colour space
presents a more accurate and nuanced
representation of perceived colour.

48 Artists & Illustrators

 C O L O U R T H E O RY

Observed subject 1. A representational study

Aim to match the tones you see in your subject.

Tonal range
Learning to represent tonal values
Palette tonal range as you see them is an important
observational skill, but it shouldn’t
limit the expressive potential of your
work. Tone is a powerfully emotive
tool, and you can remain true to your
Observed tonal range
observations of tonal shapes while
making creative choices about how
2. A high key study 3. A low key study you represent tonal values to create
Limit your palette to a light range of tones, Limit your palette to a dark range of tones, different moods in an image.
eliminating black and using lighter equivalents. eliminating white and using darker equivalents. Start by thinking about tonal range,
from your lightest light to your darkest
dark. In a painting there are three
ranges to consider: the tonal range
of your subject, the tonal range of
your palette (the potential tones you
can achieve with your paints) and the
tonal range of your image (how you
will use the range of your palette to
represent the range of your subject).
If your aim is to make a visually
accurate tonal painting, you’ll be trying
to align all three, but you can choose
to make more active decisions, limiting
yourself with a narrower palette,
or mixing colours within a narrower
tonal range that is kept within a lighter,
darker or central portion of the overall
range possible.
To explore different interpretations
of observed tone, try making three
studies of the same subject under
the same lighting conditions, similar
Palette tonal range Palette tonal range to the ones on the left. You should still
represent the shapes of light and dark
that you see rather than inventing
them, you are just shifting how you
Observed tonal range Observed tonal range represent them.

Artists & Illustrators 49

C O L O U R T H E O RY

New ways to tone
To become more confident in your
tonal use, let’s make some studies
that lay thoughts of hue and
saturation aside completely in favour
of representing the values and shapes
of tone in your subject. These studies
don’t have to be desaturated; they
should simply make tone their focus.
Tonal paintings can be made by
mixing and applying shapes of opaque
tone, by using the transparent qualities
of paint to create tonal range through
dilution, or by a combination of the
two. The opacity of the paints you use,
the tone of the ground underneath,
and the method you use to lighten or
darken your colours will all affect the
expression of the study. As you will see
in my four examples below, lightening
by dilution will create more saturated
mid-tones, whereas adding black,
white or complementary colours will
desaturate the starting mix. The
choice of tube colours also affects the
potential tonal range of your palette.
www.jakespicerart.co.uk

Ultramarine Blue

White ground

1. Lighten by dilution
Make a tonal study on a white ground with a darker tube colour and a solvent. Leave the white ground clean to
represent your lightest lights, use dilute tube colour for your mid-tones, and neat tube colour for the dark tones.

Titanium White

Dark ground

2. Darken by dilution
Starting with a dark ground and white, make a study which reverses the previous approach. Use neat paint for
highlights, dilute paint for midtones, and leave the dark ground showing to represent the darker tones.

50 Artists & Illustrators

 C O L O U R T H E O RY

Missed
parts 1-3? Titanium White
Order a back issue
at www.chelsea
magazines.com
/shop

Ultramarine Blue

Ultramarine Blue
+ Burnt Sienna

3. Tints and complementaries

As we explored last month, a mixing complementary is one which combines with your starting paint to create a
neutral colour – it should be from roughly the opposite side of a colour wheel. Use white to lighten your starting colour
(creating a "tint"), use the colour itself for your mid-tones, and use the colour mixed with its complementary for the darks.

Lemon Yellow

Ultramarine Blue

Ivory Black

4. Shades and false lights

Using black to darken a colour creates a "shade". Doing so is considered a colour-mixing taboo due to the desaturating
qualities of black, but it shouldn’t be entirely discounted. For an unusual and chromatic tonal study, replace your white
with yellow to mix the light tones, using it only for its tonal properties, and not for the hues that it creates.

Artists & Illustrators 51

 DEMO

BEECH TREE
in Pe n ci
52 Artists
l & Illustrators
Drawing a colourful subject in graphite
shouldn’t be viewed as a challenge,
says DENIS JOHN-NAYLOR, but
rather a welcome opportunity to
use a little artistic license

1 2
3 4
Denis' materials 1 D r aw outline s
This drawing was made in the
studio using sketches and photos
•HB, 2B, 4B and 6B made on location. I drew the main
graphite pencils trunk and root shapes with an HB
•A3 cartridge paper
•Putty eraser
•Eraser shield
pencil. In life, objects do not have
lines around them, so these lines
should get lost as we introduce
•Craft knife tone. Don’t include any
•Scrap paper background at this point.
Use the side of a pointed 2B
pencil, held underhand, to lay an
initial tone within this outline,
using a light circular action.
Always test the working edge of
your pencil on scrap paper first to
check it makes the required mark.
2 Pu sh the tone s
Working from the top of the
image, add variable toning to
suggest form. Use short, vertical
strokes with slightly blunt 2B and
4B pencils. Add pressure to
extend the range of tones and
texture with the 4B pencil. Where
lightening is required, shape the
end of a putty eraser and lift the
graphite with a dabbing motion.
Keep moulding the eraser to
clean the working edge.
3 Fe el out the ro ot s
Continue with textural and
tonal mark making across the
trunk using the 2B and 4B pencils
and the putty eraser. Start on the
ground to get a feel for its tone and
texture against that of the roots.
Working from a coloured image
gives scope for interpretation.
Even when transposing a subject
DEMO
to grey tones, you can add
contrasts in tone and exaggerate
or subdue light and texture to
make this image your own.
4 Show forms
Render the large right-hand
root, showing its form with
contour lines and marks around
its diameter. Vary these so they
aren’t simply complete circles
around the root. Repeat on other
roots where required. Continue
placing larger and darker tones
to establish form in other areas.
5 Increa s e tex ture
Work areas of ground texture
with a variety of pencil grades
to give at least four tones. Add
contour lines to roots to suggest
Artists & Illustrators 53
DEMO

5 6

T t
7 8
o p ip
ne lines,
To lighten fi
use a putt y
eraser with
an eraser s
hield –
b
roundness and directional
growth. Add tone and texture to
the adjacent ground with broken
Repeat again with a 6B pencil.
Darken under objects with broken
marks, not underlining. Don’t
8 Make adju s tment s
Work over the drawing by
adjusting edges and tones to
dab, don’t ru
marks to suggest embedded labour over the mark making – push and pull all elements into
roots. Pay attention to the type of develop a fast, random action. their place in the order of things.
light. Subdued light such as this Remember to use bolder
means no strong cast shadows
on the roots, so take care to
replicate that in the drawing.
7 D evelop tone s
Using a slightly blunt HB
pencil and light pressure, add
contrasts and sharper edges in
the nearest planes, reducing to
less contrast and blurred shapes
texture and low tonal contrasts to further back. Take time over this

6 Add intere s t
Suggest twig and leaf litter
by making larger and more
contrasting marks in the
immediate foreground, then
reducing them further into the
picture plane to give a sense of
recession. Start this with a 2B
pencil, then use a 4B pencil to
make smaller random marks
between and over existing ones.
the background shapes in the top
corners. The marked difference
between the two corners adds
variety. Add tone to the middle
ground trees, drawing and lifting
tones on the branches.
To suggest depth, all contrasts
here should be generally less than
they are in the nearer planes.
Avoid line work so these areas sit
back in the picture plane.
final stage – adjusting tones
against each other is paramount.
A final drawing with this much
detail would not be completed on
site due to the ever-changing light
and hours required to draw in situ.
Denis’s latest book, Drawing Trees
and Flowers, is co-written with
Margaret Eggleton and published
by Search Press. www.harrowlodge
paintings.blogspot.com

54 Artists & Illustrators

SUMMER SCHOOL
Get creative this summer with our
IRXUDQG¿YHGD\VKRUWFRXUVHV
in painting, drawing, sculpture,
printmaking, Young Artists and more.

artacademy.org.uk/summer-school
info@artacademy.org.uk
020 7407 6969
Mermaid Court
165A Borough High Street
London, SE1 1HR

Artists & Illustrators 55

 TIPS

Ways to
Wondrous
WILDLIFE
ART
Four leading wildlife artists –
Laura Hardie, Natalie Öberg,
Maria Popma and Amber
Tyldesley – share a dozen
expert tricks for improving
your work in minutes
56 Artists & Illustrators
 TIPS

USE THE FULL

PALETTE
Laura Hardie: “I use Unison
Colour soft pastels. They are a
medium, buttery-soft pastel that
doesn’t crumble when used. I love
their silky-smooth application, rich
pigments, and vibrant colours.
“Unison’s colour range is great with
more than 400 colours to choose
from – my favourites, and most used
in my work, are the earth colours
and subtle greys, but when I need
brilliance and vibrance for my
flamingos, the reds and oranges
never let me down.
“Other than my pastels the only
tools I use are the PanPastel Sofft
[sic] sponges. These are great for
blending the first layers of pastel.”

TRY A FIRMER
SUPPORT
LH: “It’s so important to have
a good support to work on and like
many fellow pastel artists I use
Clairefontaine Pastelmat Board.
I prefer using board to paper as it
offers more support and won’t
crease, tear or warp. Pastel is a
delicate medium until framed behind
glass so using sturdier supports like
these boards gives me that added
comfort of knowing it is less likely
to be damaged in transit.”

FOCUS ON SHAPES
LH: “When starting a drawing,
try to not think of it as a
specific bird or animal, and instead
focus on shape and colour. I work
primarily dark to light and always
block in first using soft pastels.
“Once I am happy with the base
layers, I work over this with lighter
shades and add details with pastel
pencils. To keep my pencils sharp,
I use a craft knife instead of a
sharpener. I found leads continually
break when sharpened with a
sharpener and the pastel also quickly
blunts the blade, so the craft knife is
a less expensive option.”
 DON’T RELY ON PHOTOS
Natalie Öberg : “Although photos are very
important for realist artists, it is also a good idea
to not rely on them 100 per cent. Sometimes an artwork
may benefit from slightly changing your subject’s pose,
redoing the lighting or adjusting some features when
compared to the reference.
“Having a basic knowledge of your subject’s anatomy
and topography can help you in making those adjustments
and, as a result, create a more compelling artwork.”
 TIPS

PICK PAPER
CAREFULLY
NÖ: “Choosing the right paper
for your artistic needs can make all
the difference in how your final
artwork looks. Ideally, you should try
to use a sturdy, archival and smooth
paper of professional quality.
“The paper should be able to take
many layers of colour and withstand
heavy erasing. If you are using water
or solvents as your blending option,
you also want your paper to be able
to handle this. I use a smooth,
heavy Bristol paper, as it allows
me to work in layers and achieve
a very even finish.”

VARY YOUR TONES

NÖ: “Think in layers and build
up your values and hues in
several stages, using different colours
to prevent a drawing from looking flat.
“My drawings usually consist of
about five layers. I start with a lighter
base colour, which can be either an
undertone of a darker colour or a
highlight tone, and I add several
layers of mid-tone, followed by
shadow tone. I then add more
mid-tone, taking out highlights and
deepening shadows as required.
“In the end, I may burnish the
drawing with a colourless blender or a
white pencil if I want a glossy finish.”

Artists & Illustrators 59

TIPS

CAPTURE LIGHT WITH TRIADS

Maria Popma: “One of my primary objectives
in any work is capturing light to evoke a mood.
Therefore, highly transparent watercolours make up my
primary colour palette – my favourite being the high-key
triad of Van Gogh’s Cobalt Blue with Winsor & Newton’s
Permanent Rose and Aureolin.
“In some of my studies, I utilise these three pigments
only, which lend a sense of cohesion throughout the
painting. Neutrals mixed from this triad are luminous
and allow the white of the paper to shine through.”

EVOKE EMOTION
WITH THE EYES
MP: “Since the eyes are such
an important part of a wildlife subject,
I like to pay special attention to them.
Many artists know that the highlight
of the eye is important, but many
miss the opportunity of what I call the
'low light'. Treat the bottom portion of
the eye like a bowl that is capturing
sunlight and refracting it. Allow this
area to be the mid-tone of the eye
and don’t shy away from vibrance –
it brings the eyes to life.”

CREATE WET-IN-WET
TEXTURES
MP: “Dropping wet paints
onto a thoroughly moistened page
and allowing them to mingle on the
page creates wonderful textures for
animal hides and hair. In order to
achieve this look without losing
control of where my colour is going,
I like to wet one area of the page
at a time – perhaps a portion of the
animal that has natural edges such
as an eye, ear or leg – to avoid
unwanted hard lines.
“The trick is to gently push the
colours around with a soft sable
round brush, sometimes tilting the
paper. The pigment floats and settles
into the valleys and hills of the page
and allows more variation in texture
than if applied wet-on-dry. This is
how I painted the stripes on the zebra
with foal: letting the granulation of
the Cobalt Blue spread within a
controlled area. I like Arches Bright
White cold-pressed paper for
this technique, especially
when used with
granulating colours.”

60 Artists & Illustrators

 TIPS

LAYER UP FURS
AT: “I find the best way to paint fur in acrylics is through multiple layers; this is
where the quick drying time of acrylics becomes a big advantage. I will start out
with thin washes to block in the basic colours of a composition, working over the top with
slightly thicker layers to gradually build the layers of the fur.
“As a general rule I will apply the darkest colours first and work my way to the lightest.
If I need to adjust the colours of a painting during the final layers, I will make thin acrylic
washes and use a soft brush to glaze over certain areas.”

With thanks to: Laura Hardie – www.laurahardie.co.uk

Natalie Öberg – www.natalieobergart.com
Maria Popma – www.instagram.com/maria.popma.art
Amber Tyldesley – www.animal-artwork.co.uk

CHOOSE THE
RIGHT BRUSH
Amber Tyldesley:
“Make sure that you have the correct
brushes for your particular subject, as
different types of fur require different
techniques. I prefer to use synthetic
brushes for my acrylic work, and find
that filbert, angle, and round brushes
are the types that I use the most.
“Filbert brushes are especially
versatile – I use them flat to paint
larger sections of fur and then turn
them on their side to paint the
finer strands.”

SOFTEN THE
EDGES
AT: “If you are aiming for
realistic work, try not to make it all
about the details. I feel that accurate
tones and colours are equally – if not
more – important when it comes to
realism. It also helps to keep some
areas of your painting soft or
seemingly out of focus, as this will
create a greater sense of depth in
your artwork.
“Paintings that have an even level
of detail from edge to edge can risk
looking a bit flat. When painting I
always have to keep in mind where
I want the focus of the artwork to
be, or what areas of the animal are
positioned the furthest forward, as
these are the areas in which I will
concentrate the most detail.”
 COMPOSITION
SYMBOLIC
Still Life
Every picture tells
a story – and every
element within that
picture adds to the
development too.
TERENCE CLARKE
explains the
thinking behind his
latest masterpiece
W
hen I make a painting,
my first thoughts are
very much about
composition, colour
and visual balance. However, every
picture has a narrative element to it
and View Through a Window [right]
is no different.
With this painting, I was trying to
construct a story around the making
of a picture, its historical context and
influences. Ostensibly it is just a still
life but it’s also full of historical
references to picture making and
the illusion of a painting. It’s curious
but anyone who has seen this picture
has never questioned the spatial
contradictions. It’s as if there is a kind
of satisfaction in understanding the
illusions and formal twists and turns
as a puzzle resolved by artistic sleight
of hand. Rather than focusing on my
paint techniques, I wanted to break
down this picture for you, explaining
my thinking and hopefully showing
you some of the ideas you can play
with in your own still life paintings.
62 Artists & Illustrators
1
MATISSE POSTCARD
Firstly, there are two references
to the influence of the French
artist Henri Matisse. I copied a
postcard of his famous 1905 Fauvist
painting, Open Window, Collioure,
and placed it at the bottom of the
composition. In a sense, my entire
picture was taken from the whole
idea of Matisse’s original painting –
namely, a view through a window into
a landscape. It’s a kind of homage.
2
TABLECLOTH
I chose a patterned tablecloth
with blue flowers. As well as
connecting this colour to the blues
elsewhere in the painting, the pattern
also in some ways resembled the
colourful fabrics that Matisse
depicted in so many of his early
paintings, adding a second layer
to the homage.
3 6
ARTISTS’ TOOLS
The two tubes of oil paint and
the paintbrush were explicit
references to the medium and
process used to make the painting.
The paint colours were chosen
to reflect the dominant hues of the
Matisse postcard, while also playfully
refuting the old saying, “red and
green should never be seen”.
4
FRUIT
The lemons added a punch
of colour while the bowl of red
fruit implied, half-jokingly, the idea
of life being “just a bowl of cherries”.
In the Matisse sense, the cherries
also suggest the idea that painting is
about pleasure, enjoyment and rest.
5
3D SPACE
All the still life elements were
painted as if in a real three-
dimensional space but then the table
was simply flattened out like it would
be in a Cubist painting. This suggests
the opposite: that the objects were
illusions, but the table and pattern
were literal. The chairs in the
background are half real and half
Cubist in terms of how they inhabit
the space. The painting is making
allusions to its essential flatness.
Finally, the windows pick up the
reflection of the exterior landscape,
thereby becoming mirrored images
or pictures in themselves.
VASE
The black vase was an
opportunity to use true black
pigment, as Matisse so often did,
and it transitions the composition
out into the landscape. The vase
makes sense of the space both
inside and outside by connecting two
contradictory kinds of picture space
and resolving the realism and the
semi-Cubist spatial structure.
Terence’s next exhibition runs
7-21 August at Thompson’s, Aldeburgh,
Suffolk. www.terenceclarke.co.uk
 6

1 2

Artists & Illustrators 63

 THIS IMAGE Henry,
charcoal on grey
Canson paper,
32x41cm

64 Artists & Illustrators

 MARK MAKING
BLENDING
charcoal
LIZET DINGEMANS discusses the best
tools and techniques for blending charcoal
and other drawing media in order to
produce a smarter finish to your artworks
T
o blend, or not to blend? That
is the question. Some artists
recommend never blending at
all, while others swear by it. If
you choose to blend, smudging your
drawings with your fingers can be a
start, but sometimes you want a little
more precision – that’s where the
different blending tools come in. In
this article, I will discuss the uses of
blending, show a selection of different
blending tools and finally, show you
some passages on my own drawing
where I have used these tools for
different effects.
I will be referring to charcoal
throughout this article, as charcoal is
very responsive to blending
techniques and allows itself to be
pushed around readily on the paper.
However, you can also use these
techniques with other drawing media,
including graphite and pastel, or even
with paint, so feel free to experiment.
WAYS TO BLEND
There are many different ways to
utilise blending tools – and not all of
these involve actual blending. Here
are some common applications:
•Blending is a well-known technique
that consists of gently intermingling
two tones to create a gradual
transition between them. Blending
can be a useful skill that can add to
the subtlety of the finished artwork,
giving it a more professional look.
•Flattening involves blending a single
tone into itself to give a more
balanced, even finish. This flat tone
then allows you to add more subtle
accents on top without worrying
about any tonal interference from
underneath. This technique is also
used to evenly fill in the grain of the
paper with a single tone, for instance
in a background.
•Building up involves alternating the
flattening technique with gentle
applications of darker tone on top.
The paper slowly becomes saturated
with the charcoal, allowing more
control over the tone and preventing
any scratchiness. This is especially
useful when working on rougher ABOVE Adjusting small shapes
paper with a more pronounced grain I used a large stump to remove a layer of charcoal in Henry’s hair
and can leave a drawing looking more and create the highlight, alternating between the point and the
polished. side to create an asymmetrical shape. I also used a small tortillon
to gently adjust the shape of the eyelid, getting rid of some
•Pushing uses a blending tool to charcoal dust that had fallen on the eye, and moving the shape
gently guide the charcoal around the very slightly downwards.
paper. The areas of tone appear to
move, without the charcoal being 1
removed from the paper like an eraser
would. This is especially useful when
working in the shadows, where you
may want to lighten a tone without
going back to the white of the paper.
BLENDING TOOLS
There are many different blending
tools available, so below I have
categorised them by type and given a
few examples for how they can best
be used.
are a smaller stick, made of tightly
1. Stumps and tortillons twisted paper, and are hollow with
Stumps are made of tightly packed one pointed end. Both can be bought
paper in a pencil-like shape. They are at any art shop, or you could even
usually pointed at both ends and make one yourself by rolling a sheet
available in various sizes. Tortillons of heavy gsm paper and sanding the
Artists & Illustrators 65
MARK MAKING

end to create a fine point. The ABOVE Building tone

difference in size affects how they are Working the background of my drawing of Henry with a piece of
used. The tortillon has a fine tip that tissue was a quick way to flatten the tones, creating a smoother,
gives you precise control to blend more uniform area that wouldn’t detract from the main drawing.
even the smallest of details, whereas
the stump can be used to smooth, 2
smudge and blend across larger
and smaller areas.
Both tools can be used to remove
charcoal without being rough on the
paper, as you can easily control the
pressure and decide how much you
want to take off. They are also easy
to clean by sanding the tip down to
expose a fresh layer of paper.

2. Tissues and rags

Tissues and rags are great for areas

66 Artists & Illustrators

 MARK MAKING

LEFT Pushing a shape

I wanted to create a harsher line for the
cast shadow on Henry’s neck. A size 8
synthetic brush was a good choice for
this, as it took quite a bit of charcoal off
the paper and I could use the flat head
to create lines. A zig-zag motion helped
gently push the charcoal towards the edge
of the shadow, causing the charcoal to pile
up and create a dark line.

of tone that need to be flattened (see

page 64) or areas of shading which
don’t require as much precision.
They really come into their own
in larger areas where working away
with a stump or other smaller tool
would take hours. For more precision,
a tissue wrapped around a finger
works great.
4
BELOW Laying down tone
I used a foundation applicator sponge here to lay down
a large area of flat tone. To do this, I gently dabbed the
sponge in charcoal powder and then used even pressure
to lay down the tone.

3. Brushes
When choosing a brush for blending,
the biggest consideration should be
the type of bristles. A good rule of
thumb is “the softer the brush, the
harsher the blend”.
While this may seem a little
counterintuitive at first, it makes
more sense when you realise harder
bristles don't touch the paper as
much as soft ones do, so therefore
they remove less charcoal.
This means a stiffer hog brush will
actually give a softer blend than a
very soft synthetic brush, though they
are not as well suited for moving
shapes around.
The shape of the brush head is
important too. A round head provides
a less distinct blend than a flat one,
so I like to use a flat if I want to
emphasise shapes and a round if
I want to do a general blend of a
large area.
before and during the drawing, as
4. Other blending tools fingers contain natural oils that can
As you become more confident, leave residue on your paper. These
you can start to experiment blending small spots will prevent pigment from
with things found around the home. laying down evenly onto the paper.
3 A make-up sponge, such as a Cleaning your hands periodically
foundation sponge, easily absorbs while drawing also eliminates any
charcoal and can be very useful for potential debris from sticking to the
slowly building up layers of tone. paper and prevents you accidentally
A cotton wool bud will function very smudging other areas of your drawing.
similarly to a stump, while finger Keeping a wet wipe or a few tissues
blending gives you a lot of control in handy is advisable.
terms of how much pressure to apply. Lizet teaches weekly online portrait and
When choosing to blend with your figure classes with Raw Umber Studios.
fingers, make sure to clean them www.lizetdingemans.com

Artists & Illustrators 67

 A N AT O M Y

Drawing
from the
inside
Understanding
anatomy can help
give confidence and
freedom to our figure
art and also suggest
effective approaches
for drawing, as
ALAN MCGOWAN’S
new three-part
series explores

68 Artists & Illustrators

 A N AT O M Y

T
he study of anatomy has perhaps come to be
associated with a particular way of making
pictures – with something rather “correct”,
restrained, quite precise. A consensus developed
throughout the 20th century that such discipline would be
stifling to individual expression and as a subject of study it
was largely abandoned in many art schools.
I believe such a view is mistaken. Anatomy gives us a
surer understanding of the figure that in turn helps us to
focus on the other things in which we might be interested,
such as line, colour and tonality. The insight that anatomy
offers can help inform and liberate our creativity; it has a
role to play in many different types of figurative art, from
refined, precise drawing to looser, more energetic works.
An understanding of anatomy adds to our experience of
the figure. The knowledge of what is going on under the
surface – not only where but why bumps and shadows
occur, and how these are interconnected – can help us
gain a deeper sympathetic understanding of the model
and the pose. We can notice rhythms and echoes as forms
repeat, oppose or balance each other. It can help us to see
the body as a dynamic subject (rather than something
static and flat as perhaps a photograph) which has
movement in it, be that actual movement through
three-dimensional space, movement of muscles wrapping
and spiraling around the body, or potential movement in its
tensions and balances.
There are many inspiring artists who have taken a more
expressive, sensual approach to anatomy. The works of
Michelangelo, Tintoretto, Auguste Rodin and Egon Schiele
evidence a deep knowledge of – even a fascination with
– anatomy but one that is allied to the physical and
emotional rather than the mathematical. As drawing and
thinking are so closely linked, these ways of considering
the figure will naturally impact on the approaches we might
choose to take in representing it.
Over these three articles I want to explore these ideas
by focusing on three specific parts of the anatomy and
relating these to possible methods of representation. Let’s
start by considering the torso as the heart of the pose, as
a place which contains movement and can help us to
imagine the form from the inside to see how parts relate to
one another and appear as they do on the surface.

Artists & Illustrators 69

A N AT O M Y

The Three-Part Torso

When we look at the torso it is useful
to try to see the simplicity that lies
beneath the apparent complexity of
the surface forms. It can be helpful
to think of the torso as a three-part
system: there is the chest (or ribs) at
the top, the pelvis at the bottom, and
between these two rigid structures is
the more flexible abdomen.
Anatomically speaking there is
much more to this, but it is useful
to initially conceive of them as three
quite simple blocks that nevertheless
allow for all sorts of bends, turns
and twists. Those movements are
organised around a main axis that
I would call the “flow”. Once you can
start thinking in terms of this quite
simplified model, we can build on
that with more refinement.

Key anatomy

Linea alba

1
Costal arch

Rectus abdominus 3

Semilunaris 2
4
External obliques

Iliac crest
5

Front Torso
Most of this figure’s weight rests on
the left leg, which is pushing the
pelvis up on the left (the right as you
look at it). There is a reciprocal drop
on the other side, causing the pelvis
to appear at an angle. The chest and
shoulders form a contrasting angle –
raised on the left, down on the right
– to create a “contrapposto” pose. Surface Landmarks indentation and shadow beneath the costal arch
This counter movement between 1 The linea alba is a good indicator of the twist which can be most noticeable at the junction with
ribs and pelvis creates a compression of the figure – it helps us establish the direction of the semilunaris.
on the right side of the figure at the the mass of the torso in space. 4 The rectus abdominus – or “six pack” – helps
waist, especially at the external 2 The external oblique bulges where it is crushed give the sense of bend and change of direction.
oblique muscle which is crushed between the iliac crest and the ribcage, creating a 5 The hip bone at the top of the femur pushes up
between the ribs and pelvis on the characteristic line of shadow underneath. here, creating an angle down to the hollow of the
right side, and a stretch in the 3 On the compressed side there is often an dropped right hip.
external oblique on the left side.

70 Artists & Illustrators

 A N AT O M Y

T t o p ip
Think of a to
rso as
: ribs,
three forms
the more
pelvis, and
omen
flexible abd

Key anatomy

Spine

1
Ribcage

Erector spinae
2
External obliques
4
Iliac crest
3
Sacral triangle

Rear Torso
Think of the flow of this figure as a
curve bending to the left with a slight
twist. The pelvis is seen quite square
on, while the ribs and shoulders are
rotated slightly towards the left.
The right shoulder is further away Surface Landmarks 3 The sacral triangle at the base of the spine is
from us, which could have an effect 1 The line of the spine and forms of the erector created by the sacrum and the back points of the
on the weight of emphasis we might spinae give us an indication of bend and twist. iliac crest. It helps give a sense of the pelvis’s tilt
put here in order to depict that turn. 2 Note the crease between the ribcage and the and direction in space.
The figure is stood with most weight external oblique muscle which is compressed 4 The forms on the right edge are stretched so
on the left leg, pushing the hip up on on the left side. The S-shaped crease is angled appear smoother and less angular than those on
that side. A contrasting bend in the downwards and round to the front, echoing the the compressed left side, where we might expect
shoulders compresses the waist on action of the ribs and external obliques. more dynamic changes of light and shade.
the left side and stretches the right.

Artists & Illustrators 71

A N AT O M Y

CASE STUDY
Drawing from the inside
A common way to start a figure
drawing is to begin with a kind of
outline, possibly beginning towards
the top of the figure and working our
way down and around, correcting that
and only moving towards filling in the
inside forms later.
This method is not without certain
pitfalls. An over-emphasis on outline
might miss the overall flow and
movement of the pose, while
individual elements might be
considered separately rather than
embedded in an overall structure and
so their placement can wander.
The alternative approach is to
consider the figure in terms of its
internal structure. This can encourage
us to put more emphasis on internal
relationships – working from the
inside towards external form.
However, a figure has both an outline
and an internal structure, so the
trick is to find a negotiation between
the two.
Take a look at the Michelangelo
study on the right, which comes from
The British Museum collection.
How does the figure first appear to
ABOVE RIGHT you? We see the muscles first, I think.
Michelangelo, The body is impressive and complex. Now look at the outline [below left]. does little to convey the essential
Study of a Crucified It has a sense of movement, of The form ripples, but on closer dynamic movement of the pose.
Man (Haman) vitality. But there is a danger that inspection there is no great movement The main movement is internal. It is
– detail, 1512, the apparent complexity could blind suggested by it. The outside edges of the twist within the figure combined
chalk on paper, us to the underlying simplicity and the torso kind of mirror one another. with the slight drop in the angle of the
40x20cm flow of the subject. Even an accurate outline drawing pelvis. To represent this movement,
the most significant lines are inside
the figure. Most importantly the path
of the linea alba (A) has an S-shaped
form, which indicates the change in
direction between the rotated chest
and straightened pelvis.
The turn from the frontal plane to
A the side plane (B) on the chest also
reinforces the sense of the upper
torso as a block turned slightly away
B
from us. The secondary movement is
the slight compression of the waist on
the left side, shown in the movement
of the costal arch and underside of
the external obliques.
If we were to focus on drawing the
outline exactly, we would get caught
up in the intricacies of each contour
bump and lose that overall sense of
movement. To better tackle these
important aspects, we should start
with them instead and build towards
that outline form.

72 Artists & Illustrators

DEMO
Building from within

1 First establish the “flow” of the

subject: the main axis. Try to draw
this freely and quite lightly. Draw
through the form rather than around
it – think of it as if you were drawing
the armature upon which a sculpture
could be built. Identifying the surface
landmarks of the spine and linea alba
can help. Don’t be too precise with this
– try instead to feel the energy, flow
and movement of the form.

2 Now think about relationships

across the form – the secondary
axes that create the rhythm. Look for
any possible asymmetry. Think in
pairs: shoulders, external obliques,
2 3
iliac crests, hips. Again, your
placement need not be precise yet as
you begin the process of building out. 4

3 Roughly add an outline. Think in

pairs again – as you place a form,
pay attention to the associated form
on the other side. Consider the
three-part nature of the torso and
look for significant forms within the
figure, such as the linea alba and the
turn from the frontal plane into the
side plane at the chest.

4 To finish, work to refine these

forms by creating more detailed
relationships, edges, contrasts,
proportions, tones and even colours.
Considering form from the inside can
help bolster our drawing, creating a
dialogue between surface and
structure, and acting as a platform
for vibrant, energised figurative art.
Next month: Alan looks at mark-making
techniques while drawing the hand.
www.alanmcgowan.com

Artists & Illustrators 73

 H O W I PA I N T

Anna Perlin
As our Artist of the Year 2017 prepares for her second major
London solo exhibition, she shares her advice on colour,
collage and making gallery-standard paintings
74 Artists & Illustrators

A
nna Perlin was born in
1982 and grew up in
a tiny Oxfordshire
hamlet. After a degree in Textile
Design and Marketing, she
explored art in her spare time,
joining a local art society and
attending evening classes.
In 2016, Anna was a
semi-finalist on Sky Arts’
Landscape Artist of the Year.
The following year, she won the
Artists & Illustrators Artists of
the Year competition. Her prize
included the chance to work
with London’s prestigious
Thackeray Gallery. Anna’s
second solo exhibition with
them, A Colourful Year, runs
until 23 July.
www.annaperlin.com
LEFT Across
Buttermere, mixed
media on canvas
76x122cm
Setting a moodboard
Winning the Artists & Illustrators
Artists of the Year competition in
2017 came at a strange time for
me because my mother-in-law was
in hospital and the awards were on
my actual birthday so that evening
was amazing. It was something I had
aspired to for my whole career and it
made it even more special that it had
happened. With an award like that,
it feels unattainable and as though
winning it is the end of the journey,
but it’s not at all.
I realised that I’d been given this
huge opportunity and I’d got a
responsibility to Thackeray Gallery –
they’d put their trust in me and now
I wanted to deliver and do well for
them. My first solo show with them
had 40 pieces, this one has more
than 60. I’d done a couple of
exhibitions with smaller galleries but
nothing on this scale – and nothing
with this level of prestige.
One of the reasons I get on with
the gallery so well is that they actually
didn’t put any pressure on me to work
in a different way at all. The only
expectation was that I enjoyed myself
while I was creating the show. I think
that was why the first show with them
was such a success.
A lot of my work is landscape based
and, because of lockdown, my garden
H O W I PA I N T
features quite heavily in my new
exhibition too. I always love the British
countryside. I like walking or going out
to National Trust places. No matter
where I am, I am always looking for
things that inspire me. I try not to
narrow myself down, it’s just whatever
subject catches my fancy.
I don’t do sketches when I’m out
and about, I take photos and just try
and soak up the atmosphere. When
I get back to the studio I will try and
marry those photos with what I was
envisaging while I was there as well.
Sometimes I find if there’s
something I really liked, say, from a
Venice scene and I’ve got the photos,
I might also see colour combinations
or something completely different in
a magazine, just like a page of colours
that go nicely together and will remind
me of Venice, and then I’ll use all
of those things together like a
moodboard to inform the paintings.
It’s not an actual moodboard, it
becomes more of a mess on the floor:
photos, bits of material, things from
magazines. I am a very mucky painter.
Every now and then, if I don’t feel like
painting but it’s still a “work day”, I will
go into my studio and do a tidy up.
Colour and collage
Even now, starting work on a white
canvas can still be a bit scary. I tend
Artists & Illustrators 75
H O W I PA I N T
ABOVE Evening to start by putting colour down first.
Glow, mixed I try not to worry or think about that
media on canvas, stage too much because I know, no
76cmx122cm matter what, I’m going to get things
wrong, so there’s no point me being
hesitant. If I don’t start, then I’ve got
nothing to work on so I just have a bit
of fun with it and know that I can work
things out later on.
I use Winsor & Newton Galeria
acrylics – very liquid, basic acrylics
just to get colours down. I don’t use
any mediums or anything like that.
RIGHT Golden I don’t tend to use paints straight
Autumn Days, from the tube at all. I will always
mixed media mix colours because it gives me an
on canvas, emotional attachment to the colour
90cmx122cm in a way – if I have mixed a colour,
76 Artists & Illustrators
it is my personal interpretation of it,
rather than something that someone
else has produced.
I’ve got probably about six core
favourites that go into a lot of my
paintings. I always have Titanium
White, then I also love Naples Yellow,
Permanent Magenta, Burnt Sienna,
Cadmium Yellow Deep Hue, Payne’s
Gray and probably a blue. I then add
some different ones to that core
palette as well and mix those in.
The autumn paintings, for example,
might have a broader range of yellows
or earth colours, whereas on other
paintings, there might be more blues,
say. I like to work seasonally. There’s
also so many nice subjects at certain

I like to work seasonally... If I have
an autumn painting that I haven’t
finished, I’ll wait until next autumn
times of year so to be painting
autumn when there are lovely
summer flowers out seems wrong.
I want to be painting what’s out there.
If I have an autumn painting that I
haven’t quite finished, I might wait
until the next autumn when I can see
all the colours again and remember
why I wanted to catch that feeling.
I start by making quite a detailed
painting, a lot of colour and form,
then I start drawing with charcoal
and pastels, just to get some contrast
of lines and a bit of mark making.
I’ll then put the collage elements onto
it and go back in with paint and other
media as well, and then finally back
in with the drawing again. I work
across the whole canvas at once,
so it all develops at the same time.
The collage elements include lots
of fabric. I go to fabric shops and
collect whatever takes my fancy.
I never buy fabric with a particular
painting in mind – it’s always just
patterns and colours that I like.
H O W I PA I N T
LEFT Waking Up to
a Snow Day, mixed
media on canvas,
51x51cm
Often what I will do is find patterns
and colours in a fabric and I will paint
them into a painting. Gardening
magazines often will have images
that I really like – sometimes they’ll
end up in my paintings or they’ll be a
certain contrast or colour that I will
maybe use when I’m painting. I stick
everything down with a normal PVA
art glue. It’s pH neutral and archival
so it doesn’t damage the colours and
it is lightfast. You can do a lot with
PVA glue.
The washes and drips are all
applied with brushes. I try sponges
and rollers, but I find I can get quite
a lot of techniques just using brushes.
A technique I really like is when you
mix the acrylics with water to drip and
dribble the paint on, leave it all to dry
for a bit and then just before it is
Artists & Illustrators 77
H O W I PA I N T
ABOVE A Moment fully dry, wipe things off. Some of the
to Pause (Derwent
Water), mixed
paint sticks and some of it doesn’t so
you get these nice happy accidents,
media on canvas, and you can start to control them a
61x122cm little bit. Certain patterns and shapes
can be created just by knowing the
drying times.
Gallery insight
When I’m having a bad day, the thing
that helps me is social media. If I’m
trying out new things and I’m not sure,
I’ll put them on Instagram and see
what response I get. People are really
lovely and if they like something they
will comment, and it just gives you a
boost to know that you are doing
something right. It gives you that
confidence to keep going.
I’m not sure if I ever think a painting
is finished, I just get to a point where
I stop and think I will come back to
it later. I’ve learned to leave it and
come back to it in a couple of weeks.
I might decide that it is done after all,
but other times I might come back
and decide I want to do more. I might
add little bits because you always see
something different when you
approach it with fresh eyes.
78 Artists & Illustrators
I’m not sure I ever think a painting
is finished, I just get to a point
where I stop and come back later
The Thackeray Gallery has been so
helpful in terms of putting together a
larger body of work. For the solo show
I did there two years ago, they asked
me to do a couple of very large
paintings that were bigger than I’d
ever done before. I’d never worked
that size before because I only had
room for a certain size of canvas in
my studio and my car, but they said
that I should do them for impact in
the gallery and also because some
people do have houses that are big
enough to fit larger work.
It was a good idea. Walking into the
gallery to see those larger canvases
was amazing and I sold them too.
Larger paintings draw people in, even
if they look at them and then buy a
smaller one. The gallery suggested
I frame all my paintings, even those
larger ones, because it will just finish
them off really nicely.
In terms of the work, they also said
to try to not have 50 different sizes
of paintings because when they are
seen all together, it works better if
there are a few consistent sizes. They
advised me to limit them in a way so
that it creates a cohesive range.
I varnish all my paintings at the
end, covering the whole canvas.
It not only pulls everything together
and puts a consistent finish over it,
but also seals the surface so nothing
comes loose. I use a Winsor &
Newton gloss varnish because I
sometimes use magazine pages as
collage and they have a shiny finish.
I find that the gloss varnish just pulls
that into the rest of the painting and
ties it all together.
THE CLASSIFIED DIRECTORY

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 I really miss drawing when
I haven’t sat down and
had a sketch for ages

My love of birds came first. I grew up in a small mining

town in the north east of England where there was a lot
of woodland and fields. From an early age birds were
pointed out to me, and I used to draw and make up
little characters for sparrows nesting near our house.

I obsessed over my auntie’s Charles Tunnicliffe book.

It had pictures of gnarly gulls, hen chicks and really cool
owls – lots of stuff to get a boy’s imagination going.

The Red List inspired my new book, Save Our Birds.

Seeing household names like the house sparrow and
skylark on the Red List [an international guide to
endangered species] was a massive shock. I wanted
to educate people on why so many birds are struggling.

Matt
MEET THE ARTIST
Google Images is the ultimate resource. At one
time you’d have to go out and spot these birds before
drawing them, but that’s a job in itself.

I don’t copy pictures, I look at lots of different

references. Once I’ve got the silhouette of the bird
right, I can make it as cute or as characterful as I want.

SEWELL
The illustrator, artist, author and avid
The birds in my books are all watercolours. I use
Winsor & Newton and the Japanese brand Holbein,
which makes really lush and vibrant colours.

Arches watercolour paper blocks are my go-to

ornithologist on drawing what he loves. art product. I did my first book on any old cheap
Interview: REBECCA BRADBURY watercolour paper, but it soon kicked in that it’s
worth spending more on better quality products.

Illustrator Eleazar Albin is like the 18th-century

version of me. I did a project with the V&A on
woodland birds and found his work while looking
through their catalogues. I love how simple his work is.

I recently painted murals for the NHS. I got to totally

transform these areas for three child development
centres with cute animals and birds. When the kids
came in, the looks on their faces were amazing.

My advice to budding illustrators is to just draw.

You should always draw what you like, rather than
what you think other people will.

I really miss drawing when I haven’t sat down and

had a sketch for ages. That’s when you develop your
own style and find out what you enjoy drawing.
Matt’s new book, Save Our Birds, is published by Ebury
Press, RRP £12. www.mattsewell.co.uk
 I am addicted to
painting portraits. I am
tremendously fascinated
by how a tweak of the
brush can translate into
a whole range of
different human emotion
- Rosso Emerald Crimson

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