The UK’s best practical art magazine for aspiring amateur and professional artists - since 1931. Well-known artists reveal their working practices and techniques, covering all subjects and media, in every issue. Learn how established and up-and-coming artists create their work and use the tips they provide to help you improve your own drawing and painting. Keep up to date with the latest art materials, tried and tested by our trusted panel of expert artists, and keep in touch with the latest art competitions to enter and must-see exhibitions. Learn how other artists make money from their work, join one of our practical workshops/holidays, and don’t miss out on the latest art news and views.
The Artist
WELCOME from the editor
YOUR VIEWS • LETTERS, EMAILS AND COMMENTS
STAR LETTER
THE ART WORLD • NEWS, INFORMATION AND ONLINE EVENTS IN THE ART WORLD
TALP OPEN TA PEOPLE’S CHOICE
ROI TOUR
ART picks
A new take on botanical painting • Caroline Saunders talks to Emma Chambers about her contemporary botanical paintings in which ordinary plants are given a fresh, bold new look
EMMA’S COLOUR CHOICES
EMMA’S BRUSHES
Emma CHAMBERS
Two-layered watercolours • Peter Cronin shows us how to pare down our subject to just two layers of watercolour washes
DEMONSTRATION House Gable End
The beauty of trees in winter • Follow Jo Quigley’s step-by-step demonstration to paint winter trees in acrylics
Visual narratives • Robert E. Wells muses on the meaning of a painting for a buyer and discovers that the viewer will always interpret the subject matter via their own experiences
Robert E WELLS
Lights, camera, ACTION! • Paul Gadenne shows how to use colour, focus and light to add drama to a painting from a photograph
MATERIALS
TIP
All about line & wash • In the first of two articles, Alan Bickley looks at the tools available to the line & wash painter and demonstrates how they can be used to best effect
MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT
ADDING A COLOUR WASH
A universal medium • Liz Seward gets to grips with ellipses as she embarks on a still-life drawing using coloured pencils
the artist OPEN Competitions, Exhibitions & Opportunities 2023 • These listings are in chronological order according to the month in which the deadline falls. Submissions and handing-in dates are highlighted in red
WHAT’S IT WORTH? • In the first of her new 12-part series on the life of a professional artist, Sarah Edmonds offers advice on how to price your artwork
ROD NELSON’S VENN DIAGRAM
Working from photographs • Get the most out of your photographs. Paul Talbot-Greaves shares tips and techniques for the oil painter to help overcome their limitations
EXERCISE TO TRY
Seeing the shapes • Practise depicting animals through simple shapes, says Marie Antoniou, as she shows how she injects personality and expression into her distinctive animal portraits in acrylics
EXERCISE
Reaching your goals • In this first of three articles Helen Tarr sets goals to help build confidence with oil paint, starting with a challenge to draw from life every day
HELEN’S TEN TOP TIPS FOR DAILY DRAWING AND PAINTING
MATERIALS USED
Taking risks • Liberate your working practices by working with paper and collage. Karen Stamper shows us how to keep our work fun and fresh
A voyage of discovery • Milly England compares the qualities of painting with gouache, acryla gouache and acrylic with advice on how to use each of them
COMPARISON EXERCISES
ACRYLICS
OPACITY
DRY BRUSHING
WASH
ACRYLA GOUACHE
GOUACHE
WINNERS of the Best of British...