artistImprove your landscapesin all mediawith our top artists

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T H E P R A C T I C A L M A G A Z I N E F O R A R T I S T S B Y A R T I S T S – S I N C E 1 9 3 1

TRY DAVID SMITH’STECHNIQUES FORADDED LUMINOSITY

HAZEL SOANWhat to leave outin watercolour

PLUS…TAKE UP OUR 60-MINUTE WOODLAND SCENE CHALLENGE l GLAZING & GILDING TECHNIQUES l EXERCISE TO DEVELOP ASEASCAPE l HOW TO LOOSEN UP l A ‘DOTTY’ APPROACH TOFLOWER PAINTING l COLOUR-MIXING IDEAS l GLORIOUSGRAPHITE DRAWING lWET-INTO-WET WATERCOLOUR METHODS

June finished cover £3.99_TA12 Front cover 05/04/2016 11:38 Page 1

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FEATURES14 Practice makes perfectMASTERCLASS Ross Paterson shares hiswet-in-wet watercolour technique for onlocation and studio work

19 Whatever the weatherIN CONVERSATION David Smith explainswhy he varies the medium he usesaccording to the weather – and what hefeels like doing

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PRACTICALS23 Light-filled landscapesAndy Lee shares his tips for light-filledatmospheric watercolours

26 60-minute paintingchallenge Glyn Macey’s series comes to a close withan invitation for you to paint a woodlandscene in acrylic

30 Glorious graphiteAdd graphite to your drawing materialsfor exciting results, urges Robert Dutton

33 What to leave outHazel Soan begins her new three-partseries on ‘less is more’ in watercolour

36 Improve your oilsMartin Kinnear concludes his series onglazing techniques with an exercise foryou to try

39 Explore acrylicsPaul Talbot-Greaves winds up his seriesby reviewing the key points covered, andsets the final exercise

42 Jackson’s Acrylic and OilbrushesMax Hale tries out Jackson’s own-brandbrushes and concludes what’s not to like?

44 How to play fast andlooseWhatever medium you use Paul Riley’stips will help you to loosen up

47 Gilding the imageMarc Alexander demonstrates histechnique for using gold leaf in an oilpainting

50 Painting on a whitegroundAdd luminosity to your oil, pastel andacrylic paintings by working on a whiteground, says Barry Freeman

54 A dotty way to paintflowersWinston Oh’s technique for quick, loosewatercolours of flowers and gardens

CONTENTS

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4 June 2016artist

Bernard Dunstan RAstudied at Byam ShawSchool of Art and theSlade School. He taught atthe Camberwell and ByamShaw Schools of Artamong others. He exhibitswidely including in theannual exhibitions of theNEAC, of which he is amember, and RA.

Jason Bowyer NEAC,RP, PSstudied at CamberwellSchool of Art and theRoyal Academy Schools.He is the founder of theNEAC Drawing Schooland exhibits his workwidely.

David Curtis ROI,RSMAhas won many awardsfor his en plein air andfigurative paintings inboth oils andwatercolours. He has hadseveral books publishedon his work as well asDVD films, and exhibitshis work extensively.

Ken Howard OBE, RAstudied at HornseySchool of Art and theRoyal College of Art. Heis a member of theNEAC, ROI, RWS, RWAand RBA. He exhibitsextensively and haswon numerous awards.

EDITORIAL CONSULTANTS

PRACTICALSFollow Lucy Willis’ example by putting away your

watercolours and changing to pastels to help stimulate a newbody of work

Hazel Soan encourages you to use a limited palette in the2nd of her 3-part series on less is more in watercolour

Experiment with new mark-making techniques with AnnBlockley

What colours do I need to paint skies? Paul Riley has someanswers

Paint street scenes en plein air in pastel with Benjamin Hope

June 2016 5artist

And much more! Don’t miss out: our Julyissue is on sale from May 20

MASTERCLASSMartin Kinnear of the NorfolkPainting School discusses hisgarden-inspired oil paintingsand techniques

IN CONVERSATIONMari French shares hervigorous oil painting methodsand describes how she createsher semi-abstract compositions

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PLUS Jean Haines suggests watercolour exercises to try to refresh

your work and create a sense of well-being How to save time and money when posting and shipping

your work by Katherine Tyrrell

Ken HowardOBE RA follows inthe footsteps ofJMW Turner andpaints Switzerland

FEATURES

PLUS

6 Your views 11 The Art World58 Opportunities 60 Exhibitions62 Art shop directory 63 Art Box

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56 The A-Z of colourJulie Collins’ series continues. This month: F is for flowers

66 Cost-effective ideas for artistsKatherine Tyrrell’s advice will help you toprotect your work from copyright infringement

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T H E P R A C T I C A L M A G A Z I N E F O R A R T I S T S B Y A R T I S T S – S I N C E 1 9 3 1

TRY DAVID SMITH’STECHNIQUES FORADDED LUMINOSITY

HAZEL SOANWhat to leave outin watercolourPLUS…TAKE UP OUR 60-MINUTE WOODLAND SCENE CHALLENGE � GLAZING & GILDING TECHNIQUES � EXERCISE TO DEVELOP ASEASCAPE � HOW TO LOOSEN UP � A ‘DOTTY’ APPROACH TOFLOWER PAINTING � COLOUR-MIXING IDEAS � GLORIOUSGRAPHITE DRAWING �WET-INTO-WET WATERCOLOUR METHODS

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14

Over the years I have tended to draw and paint in asort of pseudo-impressionistic way and admit to adegree of eclectic styles or influences, especially in

my earlier work. Because I tend to work on location, theprimary factor that influences my painting, in any medium, istiming – to express the work before the light changes. Also, Ihave intentionally avoided ‘trends’ in my painting methodfor as long as I can remember, so my signature style hasevolved through years of ‘brush mileage’ not someone else’sinfluences.

My watercolour styleI consider myself fortunate to have had to work out my ownstyle in watercolour. There were no teachers of watercolourin my hometown, and I was determined to succeed nomatter what. Trial and plenty of error was my direction! Irecall the frustration of throwing down my watercolourbrushes on a few occasions, thinking ‘that’s it – back to oils’,

only to return with renewed determination. I think this is theway with a true wet-in-wet watercolour painting, to beprepared to endure a lot of frustration and disappointments,especially during the early years.Of course, as a student of painting I had studied and

admired various masters of this medium, both Australianand European, including Hans Heysen, Harold Herbert, JJ Hilder, JMW Turner, John Singer Sargent and EdwardHopper. The wet-in-wet technique requires not only constant

practice but also meticulous preparation and planning. I always teach my students to envisage the finished painting.When I am looking for a subject, particularly on location, I look for a well-balanced set of shapes; within this pattern ofshapes there will usually be a diverse range of tonal values.Simultaneously, I endeavour to observe colour, in its warm-cool context. Simplification is most important. I ask myself: how much

M A S T E R C L A S S

www.painters-online.co.ukJune 2016artist

PRACTICE MAKESPERFECT

Leading Australian watercolourist Ross Paterson talks about how he hasrefined his wet-in-wet technique for painting on location and in the studio

TA06p14_17_Masterclass_Layout 1 07/04/2016 12:33 Page 14

can I can leave out, is there sufficient mid-tone to unify thecomposition, are there too many small shapes of equalvalue, and how many can I leave out or at least change toobtain unity? Also, where will my focal point be, how will I place emphasis on this area, are there strong contrasts,sharper edges, softer edges or lost edges, and can I uselinear perspective to advantage?

Watercolour techniqueGenerally I use a warm underpainting, which variesaccording to the area being painted; the skies would requirelittle pigment compared to the foreground areas, which needconsiderably more. After applying the warm colours, such asraw sienna and permanent rose, all wet-in-wet, I then apply

www.painters-online.co.uk June 2016 15artist

t Venetian Canal, watercolour, 251⁄2�391⁄2in (65�100cm).This was completed in the studio, following the essential gondola ridethrough the Venice waterways; with the help of photographs, memoryrecall and intuition I was able to use linear and aerial perspective forthe general construction of this work. The rhythm and flow of paintingthen took over, with a few adjustments, soft edges in the water, warmand cool transitions as needed, and I endeavoured to maintain somefresh transparency within the darks. It was essential to eventuallybring the eye through to the light area at the end of the canal

p Outdoor Café, Rome, watercolour, 131⁄2�22in (34�56cm).This painting has a reduced tonal scale and limited colour, especiallywithin the shadow areas. The logical start was to apply light washesof warm colour to cover all areas with the exception of the whiteclothing and umbrellas. The more intense warm yellows and reds ofthe underpainting were applied wet-in-wet, prior to the coolshadows, then the darkest values, doorways and windows, wereadded while the shadow wash was still a little wet, or the sheen justgone

u Toward the Gulf, Willunga, South Australia, watercolour,211⁄2�231⁄2in (55�60cm).This high-horizon watercolour was completed on location in about anhour-and-a-half using a wet-in-wet technique. The backgroundparticularly played a supportive role to the foreground area, whichneeded additional edges, contrasts and interesting shapes within asloping hillside of graded tonal value. I intentionally played on awarmer foreground to emphasise the cool gulf area in thebackground. Interestingly, this was originally a full-sheet watercolour,cut down on the right side at a later date. I thought the emphasis onthe gully on the left worked better with this format

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50 www.painters-online.co.ukJune 2016artist

It is an accepted practice amongartists that when painting in eitheroils or acrylics, the support should

first be stained with a neutral tint thatwill allow applied colour to be eitherlight or dark. What tint colour is used ispersonal and depends a lot on subjectmatter – in my last article ‘Winter’slandscapes’ (December 2015) I usedeither a sienna or umber because Iwanted to paint snow or frost and theunderlying warm tint helped when

overpainting in cool colours. Anotherway of working is to have the basecolours as complementaries, ie, bluesky on orange, green foliage on shadesof red, etc, and if allowed to showthrough in places this can give addeddepth.

LuminosityFor quite a while I have been paintingon a white surface and not only oils, butpastels as well, and will only ever stain

a support when painting certain winterlandscapes. The Impressionists, Post-Impressionists and Fauves painted on apure white canvas and the reasonbehind it is summed up in one word –luminosity. Much in the same way thatthe white of the paper in watercolourhelps to give washes a sparkle, thesame rule will apply to oil painting.Using a white ground for oils makes thecolours clear and crisp, with a brillianceand depth of colour that a tinted

If you find a bright white canvas intimidating and prefer to stain your supportbefore painting, think again, says Barry Freeman, who says a white ground

will imbue your oil, acrylic and pastel paintings with luminosity

Painting ona white ground

TA06p50_52_Barry_Layout 1 04/04/2016 16:48 Page 50

ground cannot give. I would go as far asto say that the vast majority of subjectmatter can be painted on a whiteground. There is something liberatingwhen painting on white, and it is hardto explain the euphoria of the firstbrushstrokes.The Scottish Colourists were some of

the finest exponents of painting onwhite. If you study the still lifes ofPeploe and Cadell you will be amazedat the sheer clarity and vibrancy of thecolours. Even if you are regarded as atonal painter rather than a colourist, thewhite ground could work for yourpainting rather than against it. Forinstance, if what you are planning topaint is made up from various greys, itstands to reason you would not use agrey ground or any neutral tintedground, as you would be fightingagainst this when applying paint.

ConfidenceColours on a white surface have a purityand a richness that is hard to achieve

www.painters-online.co.uk June 2016 51artist

t Garden Wall, oil on canvas, 24�30in(64�76cm).This was painted from an oil pastel sketchdone in the garden. The white of the canvascertainly helped the clarity of colours. Thewall is painted in various shades of pale ochrewhich complement the green shades of thefoliage. I decided to put in the bird feeder asit added a little extra to the composition

u Downs at Itchenor, oil on paper, 24�16in(61�40.5cm).I used Arches Huile paper, which has anexceptional surface for oils, and only flatbrushes. The Downs were rendered in slabs ofcolour using long direct strokes. The sky areatook up almost two thirds of the picture areaand as such was the most important part. Iwanted to capture clouds breaking up after adownpour of rain, which meant being verydecisive and applying the brushstrokes in theway the clouds were moving. In this type ofsituation there is always a certain amount ofintuition involved and all you can hope toachieve is an illusion

p Beyond the Trees is the Sea, oil on Arches Huile paper, 16�20in (40.5�51cm).I was interested in the relation between the tall trees and the sea behind them. The bright,almost turquoise blue of the sea contrasted well with the silhouette of the tree trunks and theorange of the rooftops. The foliage of the trees was made from cobalt blue, phthalo green,permanent rose and cadmium yellow and by using a No.1 flat brush I was able to describe themovement of the foliage. The horizon of the sea was put in with ultramarine and lemon yellow,gradually adding cerulean blue as it approached the rooftops

‘The Impressionists,Post-Impressionistsand Fauves paintedon a pure whitecanvas and thereason behind it issummed up in oneword – luminosity’

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