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ISSN NO. 1473-4729

Sometimes it is the little things that make all the difference. In this
issue, we’ve come across plenty of artists who are new to Artists &
Illustrators and have based their styles on small breakthroughs. For
Martin Greenland, the John Moores Painting Prize winner and star
of this month's “How I Paint” article, that “Eureka moment” came
COVER ARTWORK MARTIN GREENLAND
when he realised the impact that small details could have within his
vast, imagined landscapes. For Michele Poirier-Mozzone, the
STAY INSPIRED American artist who we join “In The Studio”, it was a GoPro camera that gave
BY SUBSCRIBING her access to underwater reference photos and satisfied a yearning to paint
Artists & Illustrators fractured light. And for Chris Gambrell, Bristol fashion illustrator and our “Big
Tel: +44 (0)1858 438789 Interviewee”, it was joining a local art trail that set him on course for a
commission from Vogue.
Email:
artists@subscription.co.uk For my own part, the combination of road testing Faber-Castell’s super
smooth new 14B pencil and reading Jake Spicer’s brilliant new book Figure
Online:
www.subscription.co.uk/ Drawing this month has inspired me to put down my paint brushes for a while
chelsea/solo and rediscover the joys of the sketchbook again. I hope you find something
Post: Artists & Illustrators, equally revealing in this issue that sets you on a new creative path too.
Subscriptions Department, Steve Pill, Editor
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Artists & Illustrators 3

 Contents 56
Learn to paint
positively in
acrylics

18
By engaging with principles
of depth, we learn to see
the world with fresh eyes
– JAKE S PICE R , PAGE 4 4

REGULARS
5 Letters
64 Learn th e
h ow
w
t o dra h an d
ct
p e r f e s i ve l y
Win a £50 GreatArt voucher
6 Exhibitions 26 Art Histor y 56 Project s
exp r e e 5 0
September's best art on show Why James McNeill Whistler was Learn to paint more positively with – pag
9 Sketchbook an artist ahead of his time this month's self-set challenge
Quick tips, ideas and inspiration 30 In The Studio 60 Demo
12 Fresh Paint With the underwater figurative A floral painting reveals how to use
New artworks, fresh off the easel painter Michele Poirier-Mozzone masking fluid in an expressive way
24 The Working Artist 64 How I Paint
With our columnist Laura Boswell TECHNIQUES Former John Moores Painting Prize
25 Prize Draw 38 Masterclass winner Martin Greenland shares
Win £1,000 of drawing materials A 12-step portrait guide using bold his landscape painting process
82 Meet the Artist colours and expressive marks 70 Tips
With portrait painter Lily Lewis 44 Principles of Depth From shiny objects to mirror
Jake Spicer begins a new six-part images, we reveal 13 expert tips
INSPIRATION series on adding depth to your art for painting reflections of all kinds
18 The Big Inter view 50 Anatomy 76 Composition
Fashion illustrator Chris Gambrell Directional mark making leads to Lessons in picture making learned
on working for Vogue magazine more expressive, realistic hands from Monet, Manet and Morisot

4 Artists & Illustrators

 Letters
LET TER OF THE MONTH Write to us!
Send your letter or email
SHARING THE LOVE to the addresses below:
My first copy of Artists & Illustrators was brought to me
from England several years ago by a dear childhood friend, POST:
a performance artist and photographer who has lived in Your Letters,
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magazine after reading the first few pages. The Chelsea Magazine
I am an artist, painter, graphic designer and mom to a Company Ltd.,
five-year-old boy who is a big artist himself. The first time Jubilee House,
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birthday, which is an amazing feeling. But I am not stingy with EMAIL: info@artists
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to my painting group and share the useful information.
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Elina Birzkalne, via email than 50,000 art supplies
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I do this please? I’d like to make full-face portrait of Prince Charles. www.greatart.co.uk
friends with other artists please. He has a very interesting face and
Sandra Beech, via email I thoroughly enjoyed trying to
capture his features and was
Glad to hear you’re enjoying your pleased with the result. I hope
return to painting, Sandra. Our you like these two portraits.
magazine’s Facebook page is a Stephen Evans, via email
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paintings now, which I am proud of I want to share with you two pieces our social media
as they are showing that I’m getting of artwork I have completed. channels...
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@AandImagazine
trying full scenes. this remarkable and well-respected ArtistsAndIllustrators
I purchased Artists & Illustrators’ gentleman. My challenge was to
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July issue and I get it regularly now paint a full-face portrait on A3
at shops. I noticed you can join in paper with watercolour using acrylic AandImagazine
clubs or share pictures online with to highlight his regalia and awards.
other artists – can you tell me how Just previous to this I had painted a

Artists & Illustrators 5

 Exhibitions
SEPTEMBER’S BEST ART SHOWS

SICKERT: A LIFE IN ART

18 September to 27 February 2022
They say you should never meet your heroes,
but Walter Sickert did just that in 1882
when he became the apprentice of James
Abbott McNeill Whistler. After absorbing
his methods, the German-born Sickert
went on to become one of Britain’s most
important artists.
This retrospective of some 300 works
demonstrates just how honestly he
chronicled the world over six decades,
capturing society as he saw it, which, at
the time, was considered an extremely
radical approach.
Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool.
www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk
EARTHBOUND: CONTEMPORARY of course, through art – and we can now
LANDSCAPES FROM THE ROBERTS take inspiration thanks to this curation of
INSTITUTE OF ART work, spanning from landscape paintings to
Until 31 October sculptural installations. Renowned artists with
With the climate emergency looming large, work on show include painter Cyprien Gaillard
© CYPRIEN GAILLARD

many of us have had to adjust our relationship and “land artist” Sir Richard Long RA.
with the planet. One way to explore our Millennium Gallery, Sheffield.
changing connection to the environment is, www.museums-sheffield.org.uk

MIXING IT UP: PAINTING TODAY

9 September to 12 December
What constitutes a successful work of
© KUDZANAI-VIOLET HWAMI. COURTESY THE ARTIST AND VICTORIA MIRO

art has been debated for centuries.

If you’re in agreement that a painting
© NATIONAL MUSEUMS NI. ULSTER MUSEUMS COLLECTION

should make you ponder, this collection

of work from three generations of
UK-based artists is a must see. Each has
been chosen for its ability to spark the
imagination and land at an interpretation.
Let the speculative thinking and
unexpected conversations begin.
Southbank Centre, London.
www.southbankcentre.co.uk

6 Artists & Illustrators

 Dates may
change during
the Covid-19
restrictions
Always check
gallery websites
beforehand

INCOMING: NEW
ACQUISITIONS
19 September to May 2023
Art galleries across the world
continue to add to their
collections, whether it be via
donations, purchases or bequest.
Putting their latest arrivals on
show will be the City Art Centre,
a move that helps fill in the gaps
of Scotland’s history of visual arts,
as well as introduce viewers to
contemporary talents.
Featured artists include
landscape painter Kate Downie
and minimalist Alison Watt,
alongside the Scottish all-rounder
Ian Hamilton Finlay, famed for his
art, poetry and gardening.
© KATE DOWNIE

City Art Centre, Edinburgh.

www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk

HELEN FRANKENTHALER:
RADICAL BEAUTY
15 September to 17 April 2022
Like Lee Krasner, Helen Frankenthaler
was an American abstract artist who
pioneered new ways to paint, yet
found her male contemporaries took
all the credit. Giving the New Yorker
© 2021 HELEN FRANKENTHALER FOUNDATION, INC./ARS, NY AND

the attention she deserves, albeit

10 years after her death, is this
DACS, LONDON / TYLER GRAPHIC LTD., MOUNT KISCO, NY

showcase of her painterly and

spontaneous woodcuts. The 38
prints (including Madame Butterfly
[right], made with a staggering 102
colours) all showcase the artist’s
typical “no rules” approach.
Dulwich Picture Gallery, London.
www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk

Artists & Illustrators 7

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 SKETCHBOOK

September TIPS • ADVI CE • ID E A S

Perfect Papers
Choosing the right sur f ace will improve your ar t work s in an instant

O
ne of the subjects WEIGHT able to make. HP or “hot made”. The former are more
we are asked about The weight of paper is measured pressed” is the smoothest stable, often heavier papers,
more than any other in pounds or grams per square surface, ideal for precise marks easily spotted by their deckle
is how to choose metre (lbs or gsm). The medium and a more realist finish. edges and sometimes even a
the best type of paper for the you intend to use is a good guide Rough is self-explanatory, the watermark. The latter are usually
drawing or painting you are trying to what weight to choose. most textured surface available cheaper and boast a more
to make. Here is a breakdown of Pencil drawings can be made and one designed to maximise uniform texture.
the key factors to consider… on lighter papers, while 160gsm the granulation properties of
(75lb) is a good minimum for watercolour paint as it settles FORMAT
MATERIAL more expressive pastel work. in the tooth of the paper. Good quality paper is obviously
Most papers are made from one Painting with water-based media “Cold pressed” or NOT paper available in either sketchbooks
of two substances. Cotton is the requires heavier papers – either (literally meaning “not hot or individual sheets, although
most stable and so 100% cotton 300gsm (140lb) if you intend to pressed”) is a midpoint between it is worth considering paper
papers are perfect for finished stretch them or 425gsm (200lb) the two, a good all-rounder. blocks if you intend to use
artworks of a professional and above if you don’t. water-based media.
standard. Papers made from PRODUCTION The sheets in these blocks are
wood pulp, meanwhile, are TEXTURE Top paper manufacturers will glued down on all sides, saving
a good economical choice, Surface texture has a direct often state whether a paper is the need to stretch the paper
particularly for prep work. bearing on the marks you are “mould made” or “machine before you paint.

Artists & Illustrators 9

 SKETCHBOOK

THINGS WE LOVE…
14B pencils
Faber-Castell’s new Pitt Graphite Matt range will include
the world’s first 14B pencil, allowing you to effortlessly
make the softest, blackest pencil marks imaginable.
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web site is one of the bigge st
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internet . You can f ind

“[ART] IS NOT ABOUT FACTS, IT’S ABOUT

FEELINGS… IT MAKES CONCRETE OUR
drawing challenge s ,
comp etition s , inter view s and
a huge databas e of practical
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© NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON

MASTER TIP
When Pierre-Auguste Renoir retired to Cagnes-sur-Mer, his early linear style had
shifted to something altogether softer, as seen in this small canvas, Maison de la
Poste, Cagnes. Mimic that effect by dipping your brush first into a medium made
with a mix of linseed oil and turps, before picking up your chosen colours. Use
less medium in subsequent layers to avoid the surface cracking when it dries.

10 Artists & Illustrators

 SKETCHBOOK

Bag I t Up! NEW HUES

Start the new art college term in style
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Rembrandt, who used this quick-drying colour
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ING Discerning Eye
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www.zieler.co.uk slavery via 10 large Figure Drawing by Jake Spicer
globe sculptures on Regular A&I contributor Jake
display in major UK Spicer reveals himself to be
cities next year. the natural heir to Andrew
Submit a design for the Loomis in his tenth and most
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Artists & Illustrators 11

 Fresh
Paint
Inspiring new artworks, straight off the easel

Alfie Carpenter
Finding a landscape painter who enjoys communing with
nature is not particularly rare. There is clearly something to
be said for working en plein air, with all the extra observed
details and greater sense of connection to a subject that
comes with being out in the world.
Nevertheless, it is unusual to find an artist like Alfie
Carpenter who not only packs up his paints to take out into
the field, but also brings a bag filled with papers that he will
use to add collage textures. Far from being a distraction,
he feels these extra elements simply add a greater sense
of urgency to the process, especially on windy days.
“I’ve spent many afternoons chasing bits of paper across
fields,” he says happily. “However, I believe this urgency
adds to the energy of the final piece, something which
can’t be replicated in the studio.”
If that sounds a little stressful, the reality is anything but.
Alfie is a big believer in the therapeutic benefits of being
creative and he feels fortunate to have been able to continue
his practice largely unchanged during the pandemic so far.
“There is something incredibly mindful about assembling
the pieces of collage to create a final piece, I think it taps
into the same feeling of doing a jigsaw puzzle,” he says.
“It generates a tremendous sense of purpose, a healthy
form of expression, and helps me process a lot of things.”
The Edge of Days is one of several new mixed media
works that the Suffolk-based artist has made in response
to the changing light conditions he observed in the
landscape. “Dusk and dawn are particularly special
moments during the cycle of days into night and often
seem to hold a greater weight of emotion and sentiment
– and this is what I tried to capture in these paintings.”
Away from art, Alfie is a Leeds College of Music graduate
and continues to write and play when he can. In fact, he
finds that the two disciplines often overlap and influence
each other. “For instance, during a dry spell of music
writing a few years ago, I thought about what it would be
like to collage voices, field recordings and different musical
components together, much like my painting technique.
It helped me create my album Land Song, which is a
collection of ambient ‘songscapes’ that are inspired by
our relationship to landscapes. Each musical piece has
a painting that goes with it.”
www.alfiecarpenter.com

12 Artists & Illustrators

 Fresh Paint

ALFIE’S
TOP TIP
“Play with collage –
have a go at tearing
paper in different ways,
arranging it and seeing
how it reacts to
painting over it”

LEFT Alfie
Carpenter,
The Edge of
Days, mixed
media collage
and acrylic
on board,
54x62cm

Artists & Illustrators 13

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 Fresh Paint

Ethan Murrow into the land, whether it was logging, animal husbandry ABOVE Ethan
While overseas travel is largely restricted for many of us, or growing fruits and vegetables.” Murrow, Chanter
Ethan Murrow’s artwork will be making a foray overseas It is perhaps the 40-something painter’s newfound Highflow, acrylic on
as the Boston painter’s latest collection debuts in Paris’s recognition of his early good fortune that accounts for board, 120x120cm
Galerie Les Filles du Calvaire. Pollen Song mixes large- the optimistic tone of this latest collection. His paintings’
scale, monochrome pencil drawings with acrylic paintings protagonists, with their floral heads that call to mind
such as Chanter Highflow. Giuseppe Arcimboldo’s fruit faces, can be found swinging
Strange hybrid, half-plant, half-human characters from trees, praying for rain, or climbing rope ladders to
feature throughout the new works, while the rustic settings imaginary, Eden-like landscapes.
recall the artist’s own upbringing on a farm set deep in the “The characters in these drawings are mid-struggle,
hills of rural Vermont. “I would always thirst for summer,” trying to figure out their own relationship with the earth,”
he recalls. “I loved the deep bake of the heat after a he explains. “Each of them believes so wholeheartedly in
dousing rain, when the buzz of bees and the whir and their goals that I want to believe they may actually be able
chirp of insects and birds formed a constant harmony.” to bring a soothing rain from the sky.”
Ethan’s poetic nostalgia for this simpler time has been In doing so, Pollen Song celebrates both the beauty
sharpened by his current life in one of America’s busiest, and the absurdity of life in equal measures.
most vibrant cities. “Now I see how lucky I was to grow up Ethan Murrow – Pollen Song runs 4 September to 23 October at
in a place, in a moment, in a family that invested so much Galerie Les Filles du Calvaire, Paris. www.fillesducalvaire.com

Artists & Illustrators 15

Fresh Paint

Tatiana An composition. “It’s very important not to overcrowd your ABOVE Tatiana An,
One often unsung virtue of acrylic paint is its suitability paintings. There is almost always an excess – you need Sunbeam, acrylic
for peripatetic artists, as Portfolio Plus member Tatiana to find and remove it.” on canvas,
An discovered after a string of sudden moves meant she Tatiana begins most of her paintings by laying down 25x25cm
had to abandon her oil paintings. three colours to establish where the different elements
“Acrylic is more convenient,” she explains. “It dries will go, but the chosen hues
quickly, it’s easier to take along when travelling, and a aren’t what count.
canvas painted with acrylic is more flexible than an oil “[Sunbeam] could have
one, which can crack when rolled up.” been painted with a different Every month, one of our Fresh Paint
Perhaps it’s this iterant lifestyle that makes the palette, but the effect would artists is chosen from Portfolio Plus,
Netherlands-based, Ukrainian-born artist so adept at have been about the same,” our online, art-for-sale portal. For your
transporting viewers to uncharted lands. Take her recent she says. “For me, the most chance to feature in a forthcoming
still life Sunbeam, for example. Delicate fine china and important part is to maintain issue, sign up for your own personalised
glassware glows ethereally while hazy, out-of-focus details the contrast between warm Portfolio Plus page today. You can also:
recall late summer evenings in an impossible-to-discern and cold colours.” • Showcase, share and sell unlimited
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For Tatiana, the painting was all about the ray of light each other, and the picture • Get your work seen across Artists &
shining through a gap in the curtains. “The sunbeam will become crisp and bright,” Illustrators’ social media channels
expressed very clearly and effortlessly who was the main she adds – words that are • Submit art to our online exhibitions
hero,” she recalls. “I got the impression the plates and beautifully demonstrated in her • Enjoy exclusive discounts and more
glasses stepped aside and made a curtsy.” dream-like, dinner party visions. Sign up in minutes at www.artistsand
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16 Artists & Illustrators

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Artists & Illustrators 17

 LEFT Jean Paul
Gaultier, Spring
2010, paint stick
and coloured
pencil on paper,
29x42cm

THE BIG INTERVIEW

Chris
Gambrell
The Bristol illustrator has brought a fresh perspective to fashion
illustration thanks to his sculpture-indebted techniques and
his love of wax crayons, as STEVE PILL discovers
BASED ON PHOTO: EMINA CUNMULAJ IN JEAN PAUL GAULTIER, SPRING 2010 COUTURE. PHOTO: MONICA FEUDI/GORUNWAY.COM

W
hile fashions poses, jarring colour schemes and “I tend to wear quite comfortable
change faster than roughly textured passages of pastel, clothes,” he says with a chuckle.
the seasons, our acrylic and whatever other media “Understated would be the word.
concept of fashion can be thrown into the mix. I do like to experiment and play
illustration has largely remained Yet that is precisely what Chris on paper though so I can certainly
unchanged: look at any designs from Gambrell has made his stock in trade identify with the designers – all the
the past century and you will often as he has risen to the very top of his shapes, colours and movement just
find the same full-length figures profession. The 43-year-old artist has get me really excited.”
striding forward, all rendered with caught the eye of the world’s leading It is this lack of pretension and a
elegant black ink lines and sweeping tastemakers, leading him to illustrate wealth of enthusiasm for his craft
washes of watercolour. vintage couture for Vogue, catalogues that has endeared him to clients
Even contemporary books, such for Zara, and fashion spreads for and the public alike. Chris likes the
as Holly Nichols’ Modern Fashion magazines as far afield as Brazil, fact that his framed, gallery pieces
Illustration released this spring, might Australia and the US – all while tend to not be so far removed from
swap the watercolour brush for a working from home in Bristol, raising his sketchbook work in terms of the
Copic Sketch Marker but ultimately his young family. Thankfully, his level of finish. “I don’t want to dictate
the principles remain the same. It is modest attitude to the fashion exactly what something is,” he
clear, however, that what we don’t industry remains every bit as explains. “I like people to play a part
expect to see is awkward, off-the-cuff refreshing as his colourful designs. in working out what is there or just

Artists & Illustrators 19

20 Artists & Illustrators
 THE B I G INTE RVIE W

I u se colour in
quite a simple
way… I tend
to u se colours
that jar slightly
and then soften
them out

and Constantin Brâncusi, and he

learned a lot from the way they
approached their subjects:
“If you are stone carving, you become
keenly aware of knocking something
off that can’t be put back in – it trains
the senses. The work of people like
Henry Moore is more about what is
removed than what’s actually there,
which is something that is really
interesting to me. I’d never really
thought about focusing on what’s
not there before that.”
Through sculpture, Chris learned
to think about negative space and to
treat drawing as “a reductive process,
taking things away to reveal forms”;
all skills that have helped him to avoid
overworking drawings and maintain
an economical approach to mark
making. Of course, what sculpture so
often lacks is colour – or at least any
chromatic variety – and it is a surprise
to hear that it was only more recently
that Chris stopped working in
monochrome after encouragement
from an artist friend.
ABOVE Sketchbook assuming shapes and other Even nowadays, as he admits that “I use colour in quite a simple way,”
Work, pastel on elements. If I read books, I tend to family commitments mean less time he admits. “I tend to use colours that
paper, 29x42cm read short reads, short fiction, for getting out, he still makes regular jar slightly and then soften them out.
something where you bring a bit of reference to his daily “warm up” These days, my usual starting point
yourself to whatever is on offer and sketches – a few quick initial is to start [a drawing] with two
you make your own references or sketchbook entries made before the complementary, quite high contrast
draw your own conclusions.” heavy lifting of his commissioned colours that naturally reverberate
Sketching has been particularly work commences. against each other and then work out
important to Chris throughout his Chris emerged from the University from there. I might use maybe a red
career. When starting out and still of West England in 2001 with a and a green, but then move to the
finding his feet with his own style, he degree in illustration, yet a more side of that green to a blue just to
would regularly put in the hours going formative experience occurred during soften things slightly. That’s the
out and drawing people in the streets. his foundation year when he was extent of my colour theory and
He has referred to his sketchbook as exploring sculpture in a big way. application.”
LEFT Sketchbook his “playground” and that openness Many of his influences are not fashion Chris likens the process of painting
Work, pastel on and willingness to experiment helped illustrators but rather 20th-century to “one-pot cooking” – rather than
paper, 21x29cm him try out new ideas regularly. sculptors such as Alberto Giacometti starting in one corner and working

Artists & Illustrators 21

THE B I G INTE RVIE W

across the page, he prefers to

BELOW Sketchbook develop everything simultaneously,
Work, pastel on keeping things moving until he is
paper, 29x42cm happy with the overall combination.
“That’s why I use soft pastel or
acrylic, just because you can get back
in there and change the colours, so
I don’t have to commit to anything.
I find that liberating and exciting –
and that’s what I want from my work.”
Prior to settling again in Bristol,
Chris hadn’t always been so sure
about his practice. A large
commission for Bristol’s Tobacco
Factory came just as he was
graduating, which helped set him on
the path of commercial illustration.
A move to Barcelona in 2004
coincided with a commission to
illustrate a men’s catalogue for the
Spanish fashion brand Zara, yet Chris
soon suffered something of a crisis of
confidence in the vibrant city. “There
was art on every corner and so many
artists around,” he recalls. “I was
probably a bit overwhelmed really.”
He became invested instead in
teaching English as a foreign
language, moving with his partner
to Japan for a couple of years before
a stint in Madrid where his first child
was born.
Once back in Bristol with his young
family, the urge to create returned.
“I realised how much I was missing
producing things, just the routine of
drawing and observing things around
me,” he recalls.
Taking part in a local art trail gave
Chris the confidence to begin
producing and selling personal work,
yet it was Instagram, the image-
sharing social media network, that
really helped him find his feet as an
illustrator again in 2016. “Instagram
is quite empowering for artists and
people working commercially,”
he says. “I’d be interested to have
a bit of a discussion with other people
working in the industry as to what
the [illustration] agencies offer
that people can’t get directly now.
It’s possible to brand yourself and
really put yourself out there now, so I
think more people are working directly
Instagram is empowering for artists… with clients – and that’s certainly

It’s possible to brand yourself and really what I’ve done.”

One person who connected with his
put yourself out there now work at that time was Laird Borrelli-
Persson, the archive editor at Vogue
magazine. She reached out to Chris to

22 Artists & Illustrators

share her enthusiasm for his work
and pledged to work with him when
the opportunity arose. That finally
came together last year as he
became one of seven illustrators
tasked with delving into the Vogue
Runway archives and choosing a
favourite piece of couture to draw.
It was a “bucket list” commission
and, after obsessing over the
decision, Chris eventually picked
out a selection from Jean Paul
Gaultier’s Spring 2010 collection.
The accompanying article praised
the Bristol illustrator’s ability to
“convey character through the
smallest gestures”, while he also
lifted the lid on his processes in
trademark fashion, revealing that he
had used something as mundane as
a wax crayon for this most prestigious
of publications.
Chris has also used his Instagram
as a means to promote his side
career as a portrait artist for hire,
currently charging £260 for a
bespoke A3 drawing. His atmospheric
approach can be seen in the likeness
of Artemisia Gentileschi adorning the
cover of a recent biography of the
overlooked Baroque artist.

ABOVE Sketchbook Next year Chris is making a return

Work, pastel on to teaching abroad, though this time
mid-tone paper, the subject will be art rather than
29x42cm language. He is set to return to
Madrid in February to host a three-
day pastel and acrylic drawing
workshop with Talleres Piolas. His
philosophy when it comes to teaching
is to not be too prescriptive.
“I just want to give some guiding
principles and some practical advice,”
he says. “It’s important for people to
know how to make marks and how to
get shapes to the place they want
them to be. I hate the word ‘correct’,
but things like scaling, proportions…
It’s important to introduce methods
for that.”
“I don’t like the idea that people
could just step into exactly what you
do and produce what you do,” he
adds. “I think everybody has got their
own individual voice and it’s about
celebrating that. If you can give them
the principles to convey that voice,
LEFT Based on a then that’s a pretty good place to be.”
Roland Mouret To commission a portrait from Chris,
Look, pastel on please contact him via www.instagram.
paper, 29x42cm com/gambrell_

Artists & Illustrators 23

 composition and focus, photos for ABOVE Laura
fact checking. My Yorkshire sinkhole Boswell,
is a good example: it obeys the laws Ribblehead,
of geology and physics so helpfully linocut, 55x30cm
recorded in my photos, but it is no
direct representation of reality. I am
entirely focused on the drop into
the depths and, as with my initial
Accustomed to altering reality in her sketches, sketches, I’ve virtually eliminated the
could our columnist LAURA BOSWELL still make surrounding landscape, isolating the
a satisfying print with only a photo for reference? sinkhole in white space, adapting its
shape to suit the composition.

I
’ve been working on two prints very careful not to work directly from My print of Ribblehead Viaduct
recently. They’re both Yorkshire a specific picture, unless you took it shows the structure through the mist
landscapes; one of the famous or have permission to reference it. and true to life. With a landmark so
Ribblehead Viaduct, the other of On location I always take photos iconic and the weather closing in fast,
a limestone sinkhole at Buttertubs as well as making sketches and use I took the time to compose a photo
Pass. Both involved using photos both in developing my work. I use rather than sketching. I then worked
for reference and both triggered photography as a form of note taking directly from this to make an accurate
an unexpected creative challenge. and as an adjunct to the sketching. drawing of the viaduct’s structure
A quick word about copyright when My sketches reveal the parts of the and to compose the print. This single
working from photographic landscape that catch my imagination, photo gave me the accuracy I needed,
references: the copyright of a photo while my photography serves to but this direct referencing was a novel
rests with the photographer, just as record the general view. Back in my approach for me, and it was a
the copyright of your artwork rests studio I cook up the final image from surprisingly tricky challenge to make
with you. It’s fine to look at photos these ingredients; a large dose of the landscape my own without my
for inspiration and ideas but be imagination alongside sketches for usual freedom to alter reality.
Changing the way that I worked
from my photos shook me up and
pushed me into a new creative place.
Changing the way that I worked I am used to setting myself ever more
inventive ways of working with my
from my photos pushed me into inks and presses, but this simple
challenge was very effective. Try
a new creative place changing your information gathering
process, I guarantee it’ll be interesting.
www.lauraboswell.co.uk

24 Artists & Illustrators

 P R I Z E D R AW

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Artists & Illustrators 25

 James
ART HIS TO RY

McNeill
Whistler
By treating his portraits as “arrangements” and his landscapes as fields of
colour, the American artist was ahead of his time, as STEVE PILL explains

J
OPPOSITE PAGE ames McNeill Whistler was his lineage for exotic effect after heavy shadows, while also bonding
Sketch for 'The an American artist, trained becoming an expatriate,” wrote his over a love of Courbet and Corot with
Balcony', 1867- in Paris and famed for his biographer, Lisa N Peters. the fellow artists Henri Fantin-Latour
70, oil on panel, London nocturnes, yet his That maternal portrait was painted and Alphonse Legros in what they
61x48cm connections to Scotland ran while Whistler was living with his called the “Society of Three”.
surprisingly deep. He only visited the mother in London’s Chelsea. Although After settling in London, the painter
country once as a teenager, yet he it is now celebrated as a “Victorian Dante Gabriel Rossetti was among
was embraced as one of their own. Mona Lisa”, it came narrowly close to the regular guests to the Whistler
The Glasgow Boys called him “The being refused by the Royal Academy house and the influence of that artist
Master” and petitioned for the of Art’s annual exhibition in 1872, and his fellow Pre-Raphaelites had
Corporation of Glasgow to buy his apparently on the grounds of it being already been evident in the American
Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 2: presented as an “arrangement” not painter’s breakthrough work,
Portrait of Thomas Carlyle, becoming a portrait. Nevertheless, it was a sign Symphony in White, No. 1: The White
the first public collection to own that the artist’s focus was shifting. Girl. It was famously rejected by both
Whistler's work. The University of Born on 11 July 1834, James London’s Royal Academy and the
Glasgow, meanwhile, gave him an Abbott McNeill Whistler approached Paris Salon, yet it emerged alongside
honorary doctorate and is now home his early work with the precision of a another enduring masterpiece, © THE HUNTERIAN, UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW

to the world’s largest public display railroad engineer’s son. His Parisian Manet’s Déjeuner sur l'herbe, at the
of the artist’s work, comprising 80 oil studies officially took place at the Salon des Refusés, a Napoleon III-
paintings and more than 1,700 works atelier of Marc Gleyre and the Ecole sponsored exhibition of rejects.
on paper, as well as almost 300 Impériale, though in truth he learnt as In calling his works “harmonies”,
artworks made by his late wife much making copies of Old Masters “arrangements”, “variations” and
Beatrix, all thanks to a bequest from paintings in the Louvre that he sold to “symphonies”, Whistler was adopting
his sister-in-law Rosalind. pay his way. He picked up Rembrandt’s the language of music to describe his
The origin of these Celtic fondness for impasto marks and art. These experiments clearly
connections is the subject of one of
Whistler’s most famous paintings,
Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1:
Portrait of the Artist’s Mother. Anna Like the ver y best of artists, James
Matilda McNeill Whistler was born in
North Carolina, yet also had Scottish
Mc Neill Whistler had no time to
ancestry, being descended from the wait for the world to catch up
Highland McNeills of Barra. “[James]
would accentuate these aspects of

26 Artists & Illustrators

LEFT Sea and Sand:
Domburg, 1900,
watercolour on
paper, 21x13cm

excited the American artist, even if

his contemporaries struggled to share
his vision. Speaking of his Nocturne:
Grey and Gold, Westminster Bridge,
now part of Glasgow’s Burrell
Collection, Whistler asserted that
this muted piece of abstract painting
was less about the realities of the
scene and more the sensation of
colour itself. “All I know is that my
combination of grey and gold is the
basis of the picture,” he said, noting
sadly that this was also “precisely
what my friends cannot grasp”.
One contemporary who was
attuned to his exploratory works was
composer Claude Debussy, who took
inspiration for his three-movement
Nocturnes from Whistler’s paintings
of the same name. The Frenchman
said his piece was “an experiment in
the different combinations that can
be obtained from one colour – what
a study in grey would be in painting,”
yet the American artist remained
more alive to the subtle repetitions
of hues in his own Nocturnes.
“The same colour ought to appear
in the picture continually here and
there, in the same way that a thread
appears in an embroidery,” he wrote
in a letter to Fantin-Latour.
As part of Rosalind’s bequest, the
university received a vast collection
of correspondence and art materials,
including brushes, paintboxes and
even paints, from ornately-topped
pots of Newman’s “Luminous Body
Colour” to tubes of oil pigment from
Düsseldorf’s Dr Franz Schoenfeld
– the founder of Lukas. A selection of
these will be on display as part of the
Hunterian Art Gallery’s new exhibition,
Whistler: Art and Legacy. Although
dried up, these artefacts provide a
tangible connection to an artist who
made his best paintings some 150
years ago, while also offering insight
into his methods. We can discern, for
example, that Whistler’s watercolour
palette included Lemon Yellow,
Yellow Ochre, Vermilion, Cobalt Blue,
Antwerp Blue and Chinese White –
the latter an opaque colour often
used for highlights. (He often bought
 exhortations to his students to
In calling works “arrangements”
ABOVE Battersea
embrace simple designs, tonal Reach from

and “symphonies” , Whistler was harmony and economy of marks.

The beach is a wider continuous
Lindsey Houses,
1864, oil on
adopting the language of mu sic application, while the North Sea is canvas, 51x76cm
conjured from an accumulation of
to describe his art washes, like the waves themselves.
In fact, if you omit those figures, you
are left with three distinct bands of
colour, like a vast Rothko colour field
materials from L Cornelissen & Son, – each was framed and presented painting some 50 years ahead of its
a historic London art shop seemingly like an oil painting. Critics at the time time. Whistler had been toying with
unchanged today.) were unmoved, with one noting that similar, simplified portrait-format
His oil palette closely followed while these works were “eminently landscapes for at least 35 years,
those of the Old Masters, including clever and effective jottings”, they though Sea and Sand: Domburg is
Venetian Red, Cobalt Blue and the were also “the kind of things which more pared back even than his early
earth colours, while eschewing artists do not usually exhibit”. oil studies from the beach at Trouville.
modern pigments made fashionable Whistler persevered and one of the Like the very best of artists,
by the Impressionists as he claimed last works in the new Glasgow show Whistler had no time to wait for
that they would “spoil” his pictures. reveals just how far he was willing to the world to catch up. As the new
Perhaps more so than any other push things in that respect. Sea and exhibition at the Hunterian will no
aspect of his practice, Whistler’s Sand: Domburg was painted in the doubt underline, his greatest legacy
© THE HUNTERIAN, UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW

watercolours speak of the direction in summer of 1900, during a stay with is having opened the door to a world
which his work might have taken had an artist friend in the Dutch resort. of ideas to which almost every artist,
he not succumbed, at the age of 69, It could be crudely dismissed as working in the 20th century and
to the ill-health that had plagued his another “jotting” yet to do so would beyond, owes a debt.
life. During the 1880s, he presented ignore the sheer economy of marks Whistler: Art and Legacy runs until
three solo exhibitions devoted to his with which it was rendered. There is 31 October at the Hunterian Art Gallery,
watercolours, and he was proud of his almost no detail here, as Whistler Glasgow. www.gla.ac.uk/
increasingly expressive technique makes good on his regular whistlerartandlegacy

Artists & Illustrators 29

1 Tangled Up
In Blue II’s title
references a
Bob Dylan song

2 Michele
relaxes in her
home studio in
Rehoboth, MA 1
 IN THE STUDIO
2

Michele
Poirier-Mozzone
The American artist behind a series of mesmerising underwater
paintings talks to REBECCA BRADBURY about the joy of finding
the perfect subject and the perils of pool photography

H
ave you ever stopped to depicting the element in pastel and wonderfully between abstraction and
wonder what water means oil for her in-demand Fractured Light realism. With vivacious, joyful hues
to you? Maybe it evokes series, the Massachusetts-based (including a seemingly never-ending
memories of summers artist can be considered an authority spectrum of blues), iridescent
spent by the sea. Perhaps its on the element. clusters of bubbles, and ripples of
unpredictable ebbs and flows induces “Water means so many different water so magical they move, not to
a fearsome awe. Or an immense things to different people,” she mention the hypnotic distortion of the
gratitude for its restorative powers explains, putting the success of her human form, the resulting artworks
could come to mind. underwater paintings down to the are impossible to take your eyes off.
According to Michele Poirier- subject’s ubiquitous appeal. The idea for the series came about
Mozzone – for whom water represents Yet this modest reasoning gives one summer afternoon, back in 2012,
life and the passing of time – the little credit to her keen eye for colour, while Michele watched her youngest
interest is universal, but the reasons compositional finesse and expressive daughter play in the pool in their
are unique. And after nine years of mark making, which balances backyard. “It was late in the day

Artists & Illustrators 31

IN THE STUDIO

It’s worth taking the time to

determine what I want to say...
I can be freer to paint if I’ve
done my homework f irst

and the sun was casting these

ribbons of light down through the
water onto her and she was all
distorted,” recalls the artist. “It was
one of those moments of realisation
that she was growing and changing
more quickly than I often notice.”
This would be a turning point for the
artist. After graduating with a fine art
degree from Boston’s Emmanuel
College in 1986, Michele continued
to paint as a hobby while raising her
young family. Around 12 years ago,
with more spare time on her hands,
she began to take art more seriously
again. The only problem was finding
a subject matter that she could
transform into a series – until that
fateful afternoon in her garden.
Now Michele is a full-time artist,
continuing to work on the Fractured
Light series from her home studio in
Rehoboth, a town located 50 miles
south of Boston. The pool remains in 3
place and her (now grown-up) children
continue as her models, yet her
method of acquiring the reference After this, she tends to use the digital the cake as I get to play with colour
material has adapted over the years. illustration app Procreate on her iPad and shapes and manipulate the
“I started off using a regular to experiment with the layout and composition to move the eye around
camera from above the water,” colour palette. [the painting].”
she explains. “Then I put my cell This is a key part of the process for The chance to experiment with
phone in a waterproof case and tried Michele: “I feel it’s worth taking the colour is another major draw. No two
to take photos, but that was very time to determine what exactly I want paintings in the series contain the
disappointing. The results were not to say and how I want to say it. I can same combinations or mixes, as
good at all. Then I got a GoPro be freer as I start to paint if I’ve done Michele strives to switch it up each
[waterproof action camera], and I can my homework first.” time. And despite the multitude of
actually put the camera underwater This inclination for a looser blues in her final works, the artist
at all different angles.” approach is, in fact, one of the main achieves this with just three go-to
“I don’t know what I’m taking reasons the subject initially stood out. pigments – Phthalo, Ultramarine and
until I upload it onto my computer,” As light is refracted through the water, Prussian Blues – as well as a
she adds. “It takes a lot of footage warping the way objects and their much-loved Cobalt Turquoise. 3 The colours
to get that one particular shot that reflections appear, there is a lot of There is, of course, the vibrant are planned on
can make a good composition and scope for abandoning the rules of swimwear too – a colour choice an iPad first for
a powerful painting, but the GoPro realism. “It’s part of that abstraction the artist often delays: “I tend to work like Stretch
has really opened up the world to process I really enjoy,” she says of hold off a little while before I decide
me underwater.” depicting these bodily distortions. what colour I pop into the swimsuit, 4 Cobalt
Once uploaded, Michele will sift “I like the figure, but I don’t like as it’s whatever I need in that Turquoise was
through the footage frame by frame getting too tight, so the distorted part composition. Sometimes I’ll try three a favourite
on the hunt for the perfect shot. of the piece is the really fun, icing on or four different colours for a swimsuit for Purify

32 Artists & Illustrators

 IN THE STUDIO

and then come upon something that

really works.”
A similar trial-and-error approach
is involved when depicting the play
of light, whether it’s reflecting off the
water’s mutating surface, illuminating
the pool’s hidden depths, or casting
otherworldly blue patterns. The
ephemeral effect that ensues makes
this probably the hardest element to
replicate. Michele recommends laying
down the darks first, the mid-tones
second and leaving the lightest lights
until the very end, although she
admits that this process can’t always
be relied upon.
“I don’t have a formula,” she says.
“Sometimes I really struggle achieving
that look of glow and light, and other
times it just seems to evolve as the
painting evolves and I don’t have to
do much apart from lighten it up
and then it’s done.”
The theme of transformation is
always near, not least in how the
series has developed since its
inception. In line with Michele’s own
goals, she’s now at ease with the
looseness she once coveted, adding
in lost edges and leaving parts of
the underpainting showing through.
The motivation – originally the

Artists & Illustrators 33

5 Michele
takes reference
photos on her
GoPro camera

6 Sunflower
is part of the
Fractured Light
series of works
 IN THE STUDIO

5 6

depiction of her three girls – has

also shifted. It’s now less about the
I don’t see myself getting more
personal, as she seeks to confront a representational… If anything,
more universal human experience.
But the biggest change has to be I would go a bit more abstract
swapping pastels for oil paints.
Working in a new medium for the
past four years has added a whole
other dimension – literally – as the effect in oil paint proved harder than Fractured Light go next? “I certainly
artist can now work on a much larger anticipated. The best method was don’t see myself getting more
scale. “If you’re holding a small eventually discovered as simply representational,” she replies.
pastel, you can’t get a big, wide copying her previous steps. So just “If anything, I think I would go a little
swathe of colour as easily as you as Michele begins a pastel artwork by bit looser, a little bit more abstract.”
can with a big palette knife or brush,” laying down a red underpainting, she But the most pressing concern is
she says. “I’ve been loving going opts for the same hue when working that now her daughters have grown
bigger and just having fun with in oil paint. The next step is to then up and aren’t around so much, the
layering on the paint, like icing a cake. put her chosen blue mix into action artist is running extremely low on
It’s just added a different element and so on, ensuring there is a reference material. Let’s hope they
to the series for me.” harmony to the series and, at times, return home soon for a photoshoot
It wasn’t a totally smooth making it difficult to detect what so we can enjoy more of Michele’s
substitution, however. The aim was medium has been used. uplifting, optimistic and ever-engaging
to achieve an element of continuity Having made these transitions, underwater artworks.
in the series but replicating the same the burning question is where will www.poirier-mozzone.com

Artists & Illustrators 35

 A DV E R T O R I A L

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All three mediums therefore broaden the possibilities for the artist using Cold Wax Paint.
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Director of Zest-it

36 Artists & Illustrators

PRODUCT INFORMATION: www.zest-it.com
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Artists & Illustrators 37

38 Artists & Illustrators
 MASTERCL ASS

Bold
PORTRAITS
Inspired by “reckless” Expressionist painters,
TERENCE CLARKE shows how working quickly and
pushing false colours can add impact to a portrait

Terence's
G
erman Expressionism was an way. After all, it was the painting quality
early 20th-century art movement rather than an absolute likeness I was after.
materials characterised by bold colours In a way, I made a picture, rather than a
and marks. Taking inspiration portrait in the usual sense. It’s important
from Henri Matisse and Vincent van Gogh, that you work at a ferocious pace with this
•Brushes
Expressionist artists such as Erich Heckel, kind of painting, in order to get the
Rosemary & Co. Ivory
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Alexej von spontaneity of mark and instinctive
filberts, sizes 2, 3 and 4;
Jawlensky are good examples of portrait approach to colour and tone.
Rosemary & Co. Ivory round,
painters working in Germany at that time. Nevertheless, I hope this masterclass
size 1
Often much cruder in style and bolder in serves as an example of just how far you
•Paints
application, these painters developed an can take colour, even in portraiture. It really
Medium Magenta, Cadmium-
almost reckless attitude toward portraiture is an adventure.
Free Yellow Light and Hansa
where colour was used for emotional impact, www.terenceclarke.co.uk
Yellow Light, both Liquitex
using vivid notation.
Soft Body Acrylics;
For this masterclass, I wanted to try and
Quinacridone Magenta,
emulate some of the portrait techniques of
Phthalo Green (Blue Shade),
these artists. I wanted to use colour with a
Ultramarine Blue, Manganese
very non-realist emphasis as they did to see
Blue Hue and Yellow Ochre,
just how far it could be pushed in that
all Golden Open Acrylics;
respect. I worked from life and then
Vermilion Hue, Titanium
developed the image as I went, using colour
White and Process Black,
as a substitute for the actual tones observed
all Daler-Rowney System3
in front of me. It was a risky business and
Acrylics
had to be done with a confident, no-turning
•Canvas
back attitude. The whole session took about
Honsell stretched cotton
three hours.
canvas, 100x100cm
A good bold structured drawing gave me
•Brush Pens
some security but then it was a question of
Sennelier Ink Brush pen,
just jumping in. Working from life helped as
Intense Green
I needed to look at the subject more than
•Water mister
the painting. I simply had to trust that the
ORIGINAL PHOTO
actual image was developing in an intelligible

Artists & Illustrators 39

MASTERCLASS

1 S et t h in g s up
I sat the model in a corner of the studio so I could control a simple
light effect on her face. I’m left-handed so I positioned the model on
my right. This meant that I had an “open” body position whenever I
turned to address the subject, fully facing her. When working from life
2 D raw o ut in p en
I used an Intense Green ink brush pen to start drawing out the
composition. Using a brush pen rather than a traditional brush meant
you should try to avoid looking over your arm as this will tend to make that I didn’t have to keep loading up with paint every few strokes.
you turn away from the subject and make you look less at it. This enabled me to draw fast and continuously on the canvas, which
I added a first dilute wash across the entire canvas, a mix of again helped to keep my focus and attention on the model, rather
Vermilion and Yellow Ochre, which I then left to dry. than the surface of the painting.

3 Int r o du ce s t r u c t ur e
Here you can see how the explosive vermilion-and-ochre
underpainting really set the scene and allowed me to attack
the painting fearlessly. A strong base colour encourages
bolder decisions later on.
You can see too how my drawing is structured around areas
of tone on the nose and around the eyes. It helps to keep the
4 B e gin with colo ur
The first colours I applied were Medium Magenta and Hansa Yellow Light.
Right from the start I was using bright, bold colours to define tones and
drawing bold and heavy at this point, rather than going into structure. The marks can also be quite bold and the carefully-drawn shapes of
too much detail – a strong, defined line allows the structural the tonal areas help to describe the form. The correct tone in any colour would
drawing to hold up as the looser paint is applied. work but these warm red-yellow colours suggest flesh tones to some extent.

40 Artists & Illustrators

 MASTERCLASS

5 Wo rk over th e draw in g
As I worked into the face the initial drawing started to
disappear, which is why it had to be so bold and accurate.
6 Blo ck in colo ur s
As I blocked in the main tones and colours, I was not blending
them so much as juxtaposing them with one another. This approach
Brushstrokes and colour contrasts will inevitably loosen the allowed the paint marks the freedom to be expressive and also helped
structure, but this can be reaffirmed with subsequent passages me to describe the forms. I also started to block in the background
of drawing later in the painting. It’s very important you don’t try to which added space and volume to the head. Defining the space behind
protect the drawing too much and inhibit your application of colour. the model implied space too.

Top tip
If you want to use
“false” colours, the
trick is to ensure
they have a similar
tonal value to the
observed colours

7 Wo rk ab s t rac tly
This close-up shows how essentially
abstract the painting is. The background and
the head should work together in a painting
such as this, giving equal prominence to one
8 Ke ep it f luid
Whenever I use acrylics, I always keep a water mister
spray bottle to hand and use it to keep the paint wet in areas
another. The colour harmonies caused by while I’m manipulating it. You can use it on the paints on your
integrating the purples and yellows into the palette too if you need to take a break.
form are beginning to develop here too. In hot or dry atmospheres it’s very useful for keeping things
Harmonising the colours of the background fluid and workable. If you need to articulate a complex area
with the colours of the face is key to unifying of detail, just spritz the canvas with water to keep the paint
the whole image. damp and workable.

Artists & Illustrators 41

MASTERCLASS

9 Revise th e draw in g
As a painting develops, it’s always necessary to redraw
some of the structure. The eyes, for example, will almost
always need to be painted several times because they are
such a complex area. I used a very fine, size one synthetic
brush here to give me fine control.
Every painting needs at least one revision of the
10 D evelop s ubtle colo ur s
Here you can see how all the elements of the painting began to come
together: the colour harmonies, the redrawing and the small adjustment to
drawing. Any mistakes or inaccuracies can be ironed out the eyes. Note that the “whites” of the eyes were in fact a shade of turquoise
at this point to stop you incorporating them into the more and there is an accumulation of small touches of colour around the nose and
fully-finished painting. You can also refine the forms with cheek which push the colour harmonies further. These complexities develop
some thinner line drawing. subtlety in the colour.

11 L o o s e n up
The hair could be left as very loose painting, even
though the overall shape of it needed to be accurate. I was 12 Finish up
Here you can see again how unblended and unnatural colour works to
partially inventing the background to create space and unite suggest something realistic. It is left to the viewer to construct the information
the face with the rest of the painting. in their heads, which in turn helps people engage with your work.
You can also see clearly defined marks of colour on the The extremes of colour and contrast can be said to represent what I was
cheek that I left unblended and allowed to work as a tone looking for in terms of an expressive encounter. Remember, there are no rules
that described the form. The broader application gives a with this way of working, only an intuitive freedom and intent to use extreme
more Expressionist feel. colour to give an emotional impact to the image.

42 Artists & Illustrators

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Artists & Illustrators 43

 PRINCIPLES OF DEPTH

1. The
Basics
JAKE SPICER’S new
six-part series will show
you how to represent a
sense of space in your
work. He begins with
an exercise to help you
identify when to use
the five basic principles

M
ention perspective in a
drawing class and the
attention of students
vanishes faster than two
straight lines converging on a horizon
line, but the principles of depth are
about much more than the strictures
of technical drawing. To paraphrase
the Royal Academy’s former Professor
of Perspective, Humphrey Ocean,
perspective describes how we look at
the world around us. We exist in three
dimensions whereas paintings,
drawings and prints exist in two; by
engaging with the principles that
govern how we perceive space on the
surface of paper, we can learn to see
the world around us with fresh eyes.
In this new six-part series examining
the principles of depth, I’ll be looking
at how we can better perceive and
represent space in the world around
us, touching upon – but not limited to
– the viewpoint of linear perspective.
I’ll also be exploring how you can use
an understanding of depth to inform
the choices you make in your images,
deciding when to use visual cues to
suggest depth and when to make
choices that serve the composition
and narrative of your pictures.
In this article I’ll be taking a broader
look at the three major principles
of depth – diminution, atmospheric
perspective, detail – and the two
sub-categories of foreshortening and
linear perspective, before tackling
each one of the five in more depth
in the subsequent issues.

44 Artists & Illustrators

 PRINCIPLES OF DEPTH

1a 1b

1a. Diminution same height, you must also trust your observation of how it actually appears
The principle of diminution is simple: observation that from this perspective from a specific angle. The more
as an object moves further away from the nearest tree appears more than extreme the angle, the more extreme
the viewer, it appears smaller. We use twice the height of the distant one. the foreshortening – and the more
our innate understanding of this every that knowledge fights expectations.
day: we know a person walking along 1b. Foreshortening
the street is coming towards us if they Foreshortening is simply diminution 1c. Linear perspective
seem to be getting bigger or walking applied to a single subject. This means Linear perspective is also a form
away if they’re becoming smaller. that an object seen along your line of diminution and provides us with
The challenge of accurately of sight will appear more compacted an illusory framework for creating
representing diminution is the same than one seen across your line of a convincing illusion of the world,
one that effects all observational sight. If you imagine cross-sections mimicking the perceived convergence
drawing: you must put aside what cut through a log of a consistent of parallel lines over great distance.
you know in favour of what you see. thickness, each more distant section The top and bottom edges of a
Diminution helps us to tell the story will appear smaller than the last. rectangular window are separated by
of a view seen from a single vantage Whether it’s a log or a figure, we straight sides of equal height – seen
point, so although you might have look at objects through the lens of at an angle, one side of a window
walked past three palm trees earlier our subjective experience and how is further from our viewing position
and know that they are all roughly the we think it should look will fight our than the other side and so appears
smaller, making the top edges appear
1c closer together. If you extended the
top and bottom edges over a longer
distance those parallel edges would
eventually disappear at your eyeline.
You can use the rule of perceived
convergence to help you construct
convincing imaginary worlds on paper,
or to create a scaffolding on which to
hang your observations. While it can
be comforting to tame the bottomless
white of a blank page with the guard
rails of linear perspective, it is a tool
best suited to the depiction of the
designed world, which humans have
arranged in a more geometric fashion.
By contrast, the natural world
presents us with far fewer parallel
lines, so depth in natural landscapes
should often be implied through
other means.

Artists & Illustrators 45

PRINCIPLES OF DEPTH

2. Atmospheric 3
perspective
Atmospheric perspective describes
the distortion of light by particles in
the air. It is the effect that causes the
colours of distant mountains to tend
towards blue-grey and which makes
skyscrapers appear increasingly
spectral as they recede into smog.
A lifetime of visual cues has
trained us to subconsciously
recognise a decrease in tonal
distinction, a tendency towards a
mid-tone and a shift of hue towards
blue as implying greater distance,
allowing artists to employ the same
visual devices to suggest depth in
pictorial space of any size.

3. Detail
The perception of detail is the third
distinct category of depth and one
which is often overlooked because
it seems so very obvious – the further
away something is, the less detail
we can see in it.
In a consistent, detailed plane –
for example, grass, pebbles, or
seaweed-covered rocks – we tend
to see the nuance and complexity
of the near ground, giving way to
repeating shapes and patterns
as it recedes.

46 Artists & Illustrators

 PRINCIPLES OF DEPTH

EXERCISE
Transcribing depth
In representational art, the principles
of depth must be balanced with
considerations of composition and
colour scheme; even abstract
paintings borrow from our ingrained
understanding of depth, with blues
and mid-tones appearing to sit
“behind” warm colours and areas of Drawing of Dame Paula Rego’s
greater tonal variety. The Cadet and his Sister
For this exercise, I want you to Dame Paula Rego often subverts
make drawings of other artists’ works. diminution in her work, re-sizing
Alongside these studies, make notes characters in a scene in relation
in your sketchbook about which to their importance or the order
principles of depth have been in which she wants you to look
employed to create the illusions of at them.
space and which have been reversed In The Cadet and his Sister,
or manipulated to flatten the image or she nodded to depth with a
support the composition. This will corridor of diminishing trees
help you train your eye to identify leading to a vanishing point,
which principles are required to while painting them without the
achieve various results. cues of detail or atmospheric
Next month: Jake explores distance and perspective that re-enforce their
scale. Jake’s new book, Figure Drawing, recession. This gave them the
is published by Ilex Press. To save £9 off appearance of a flat, theatrical
the cover price, see our reader offer on backdrop rather than a depiction
page 10. www.jakespicerart.co.uk of illusory depth.

Drawing of Gustav Klimt’s Orchard with Roses Drawing of Vilhelm Hammershøi’s From the British Museum, Winter
While drawing from Orchard with Roses, I noticed that while Klimt implied Vilhelm Hammershøi’s painting provided me with a textbook example of
depth through the diminishing size and detail of flowers, he also subverted all of the principles of depth acting together to imply physical distance.
our expectations of atmospheric perspective by employing the greatest tonal Atmospheric perspective placed one less tonally distinct building behind
contrasts in the distant top third of the canvas and allowing the foreground to another, re-enforced by increased detail in the windows of the nearest
tend towards a mid-tone. This push and pull keeps the image simultaneously building and in the section of railing which recedes away from us in
representational and flat. accordance with the principles of linear perspective.

Artists & Illustrators 47

 A DV E R T O R I A L

Bring the colour! DERWENT’s two new paint pan sets – Pastel Shades
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D
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These paint pans are unique The versatile Pastel Shades Paint
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contemporary shades can also vibrant on the page. Artists felt that

48 Artists & Illustrators

 A DV E R T O R I A L

pastel hues are missing from so many Derwent’s Inktense or Metallic paint
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The Line and Wash Paint Pan
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www.derwentart.com

Artists & Illustrators 49

50 Artists & Illustrators
 A N AT O M Y

Making
Marks
ALAN MCGOWAN continues his series on
expressive anatomy with a focus on the hand and
how directional marks can improve your drawings

H
ands are an important and Nevertheless, we should be careful to
expressive part of figure also incorporate other elements that
art. In portraiture they are form part of our perceptions and
often as expressive as the should inform our pictures too.
face, and are capable of many varied It is important to keep a place for
actions, configurations and poses. what we don’t know – for uncertainty,
They can also be the part of the figure ambiguity, mystery, suggestion –
we love to draw – or the one we most and for the ability of the model to
avoid. Understanding the anatomy of keep surprising us as if seen anew
the hands can influence how we use every time.
our materials, and the direction and Our knowledge of anatomy
emphasis of mark making, to help us therefore becomes one part of a
create more interesting and negotiation with the other aspects of
persuasive representations of them. the subject and of picture making
Anatomy gives us insights into how – elements such as ambiguity,
the body is structured in space and shadow, line, colour, tone, gesture
how forms meet, overlap and wrap and so on. It can also contribute as a
around one another, which can be participating partner to the other
helpful when drawing. However, it things we might consider; to the way
must be recognised that a knowledge colours subtly change and merge; to
of anatomy is not the answer to all of the way the brush goes down; to the
our challenges. way shadows might dissolve and
Life drawing is a fascinating journey destroy form; to act as a kind of
of exploration, not something to be foundation upon which to build, one
ended with an easy, one-size-fits-all that can have an effect on the way we
solution. The complex negotiation use our techniques and materials.
with subject, with our materials, and Anatomy informs the feelings we
with our own creative intentions is have as artists for the relationship of
what makes drawing the figure forms in space as they meet, turn,
constantly interesting; it is an overlap, recede or project. This in turn
exchange which is expressive partly can be helpful in influencing the kind
because of its elusive qualities. of marks that we might put down, the
Anatomy is to some extent the emphasis that we place on them, and
acquisition of – and application of – the direction of mark-making we may
knowledge, which I would argue use to help explain and represent the
expands our possibilities in drawing. movement of these forms.

Artists & Illustrators 51

A N AT O M Y

Planes of the Hand

When we come to represent the
hand, it is useful to think of it as being
structured around four main planes
bounded by three important margins
(or axes). The important planes
are the forearm (shown in yellow
on the drawing on the right); the
metacarpals, which are the five bones
we would think of as the palm or back A
of the hand (red); the fingers (blue);
and the unit of the thumb (green).
C
In placing these main planes, the B
axes to which we would want to pay
particular attention are at the wrist
(A), the knuckles (B), and the arc of
the ends of the fingers (C). simple structure, we can move on to
Note that the finger plane (in blue) more complex and detailed forms. Palm of the Hand: Surface Landmarks
can be quite complex given the 1 Flexor tendons may appear at the wrist (especially
possible range of movement of the Anatomy of the Hand if the hand is flexed or gripping)
fingers, but it is useful to conceive of Many of the muscles acting upon the 2 The concave bowl of the palm is created by the raised
the fingers as if in a mitt, working hand lie outside of it on the forearm, masses of muscle of the thenar and hypothenar groups
together as a simple unit in the first and transmit their actions via long 3 In full extension, the middle finger is the longest,
instance, before thinking about the tendons that cross the wrist to the while fingers tend to close starting from the outside in
arrangement of individual fingers. hand and fingers. On the back (dorsal) (i.e. the smallest finger first)
Having roughly established this side of the hand these are extensor

Palm of Hand (Palmar)

Radius and
1 Ulna

Carpals

Hypothenar
Thenar group group

Metacarpals

Phalange

Flexor
tendons

52 Artists & Illustrators

 A N AT O M Y

T t o p ip
It helps to
simplify
tr y to think
anatomy –
as four
of the hand
ne s
dis tinc t pla

A
B
C

tendons, and on the palm side flexors. the metacarpals (palm or back of
These tendons and the bony forms hand); and phalanges (finger bones) Back of the Hand: Surface Landmarks
they run over are visible mainly on the of which each finger has three, and 1 The ulnar styloid is an oft-visible bump at the end of
back of the hand, as they are masked the thumb has two. the forearm, near the wrist on the little finger side
on the palmar side covered by a The small muscles situated in the 2 We have a number of small muscles between the
webbing of tendon (the palmar hand are organised into three bones of the hand, but these are not visible on the
fascia), and thick skin. teardrop-shaped masses – the thenar surface apart from the first dorsal interosseous
We have two bones of the lower group (which controls the abduction, 3 The abductor of the little finger is part of the
arm – the radius and the ulna. The flexion and opposition of the thumb), hypothenar group
bones of the hand fall into three the hypothenar (which does the same 4 The MCP joint takes the form of a diamond or raised
groups – small carpal bones (which for the little finger), and the first pyramid as the extensor tendon crosses over the knuckle
we won’t see individually) at the wrist; dorsal interosseous.

Back of Hand (Dorsal)

Radius and
Ulna
1
Carpals

Extensor
First dorsal tendons
interosseous Metacarpals
3
2
Abductor
of little
finger

Phalange

Artists & Illustrators 53

A N AT O M Y

CASE STUDY we may need to leave a space for Similarly, on the lower hand, the
Mark Making what is uncertain, suggested and depiction of light on the muscles at
Usually in drawing there is an ambiguous, which is also a part of the ball of the thumb helps to give the
emphasis on accuracy of placement our perception of the world. sense of a sphere moving round in
and proportion, but often less Two simple things that we could use space and coming towards us.
consideration of how things are put to help us are varying the direction of Certain things can be clearly seen
there – namely, the way we use our our mark making and changing the – for example, the profile of the MCP
materials and the direction, weight emphasis we place on edges (more joints at the back of the hand shows a
and emphasis of the marks we make. specifically, trying to vary the clarity definite change from light to shadow,
Whilst an understanding of of these edges in order to suggest and the hypothenar at the heel of the
anatomy brings us knowledge about the forms moving through space). lower hand catches a little light,
what is going on under the surface of In the drawing above, notice how bringing it forward from the shadow
the figure, relying solely on this can the direction of the shading on the behind. It is useful to play these
lead to drawings which are dull, flat upper hand moves around the back defined edges off against others that
and mechanical. We risk seeing the of the hand, but the white chalk takes are less clear – in this instance, the
body as a kind of machine rather than a slightly different direction at the margins between the middle fingers
as a living, elusive, vital organism. forearm where light falls on the radius of the upper hand, which are softened
In order to achieve more and ulnar styloid, helping suggest the by the light, or the heel of that same
sympathetic renderings of the figure change of direction in space. hand which is lost in shadow.

54 Artists & Illustrators

 A N AT O M Y

DEMO
Developing Hands

1 Begin by roughly establishing the

four main planes and three main
axes, concentrating on their relative
proportions and placement.

2 Think about the smaller planes

– the axes of the fingers across
the knuckles and the spaces between
the fingers.

3 Move towards more detail in

the forms, taking notice of
anatomical features and any rhythm
or asymmetry. In this example,
the MCP joints are raised in bumps,
especially at the index finger, while

the plane break at the knuckles

effects the little finger slightly
differently. Think about the direction
of marks as you rough in these forms.

4 As the image becomes resolved

in more detail, concentrate on
varying the direction of mark making
to echo the changing direction of
the forms and varying the kind of
emphasis placed on edges.
Think about the immediate context
too – try to find some edges which
are less clear, destroyed either by
shadow or in light.
Next month: Alan shows how to draw
the head, using tone to describe form.
www.alanmcgowan.com

Artists & Illustrators 55

 PROJECT

How to
Paint
Positively
If you’re struggling for confidence as your painting develops,
HASHIM AKIB has some simple strategies to try – and an
exercise at the end to put it into practice

P
ositive painting requires 2. Be prepared see how my confidence blossomed in
positive thinking – and this Before you start, set out the brushes conjunction with the expression and
generally develops through and paint you need. Turn your phone qualities of paint I began to use.
confidence. If you’re a off, as unnecessary interruptions will
beginner, improvements often come disrupt your concentration. The early 4. Don’t rely on drawing
if you simply draw or paint more. stages of a painting are when I’m most An initial drawing can provide
However, as you progress, it is natural liberated with marks and colours so it confidence as it provides a guide, but
to want to tackle more challenging is important to make quick in-roads relying too heavily on it can lock you
subject matter, pursue your own style, into a painting. This provides a into a certain finish. Aim for a quick
or seek approval from others, all of greater sense of accomplishment and sketch to establish the forms and
which can test your fragile confidence drives the momentum forward. composition. Creating a mini deadline
levels. I want to begin by sharing for each stage will provide a sense of
some of the ways in which I have 3. Know your medium urgency and streamline your thinking.
developed confidence and a more I use acrylics and when it comes to The tendency is the more time you
positive attitude to painting. positive painting with them, there are have, the more you dwell and fuss.
a few things to consider beforehand.
1. Stay productive Acrylic is similar to watercolour in that 5. Make a strategy
Firstly, contrary to popular belief, you the more you work the paint, the Creating a strategy in your mind can
should feel happy about attempting to duller it becomes. The quick drying resolve issues later on. My three-step
create any type of art. The idea of the time makes fussing problematic, guide for every painting goes like this:
suffering artist is a romantic one. Try while adding too much white to the First, I start with the largest brush
to stay productive. Judgements over mix can make the colours look chalky. and create a bit of chaos. Next, I turn
whether a painting is “good” or “bad” Knowing the limitations of your to a mid-sized brush and start to
should be secondary to the habit of chosen medium is important. indicate forms with a little definition.
producing art, as you will learn far Try painting with a big brush on a Finally, I reach for the smallest
more through practical experience. slightly larger canvas or sheet of brushes and chisel out details, ending
That said, don’t shy away from paper than usual. Both factors will with the strongest lights and darks.
criticism entirely. Public opinion may instantly transform how you apply You needn’t follow my lead. You
be a driving force in your work or you paint and the scope of the marks you might give yourself some guidelines
may choose to ignore it completely, use. I use large, fresh applications of about the scale, the colours used, or
but critique is important. Ultimately, acrylic and while they lack the lustre the time taken instead, for example.
art has little to do with definitive of oils, they can still make artworks Whatever you choose, developing
answers so remember that you have look weighty and substantial. Looking your own guide can provide more
the final word on the art you produce. back on my older paintings, I like to focus for each painting thereafter.

56 Artists & Illustrators

 PROJECT

Artists & Illustrators 57

PROJECT

PROJECT
Positive impact

Aim
Paint a more complicated subject
while maintaining a positive flow of
confidence and putting some of our
pointers into practice.

Materials
•A selection of acrylic paints
•A large stretched cotton canvas
•Large flat brushes in a range of
sizes (1/2” to 2”)

Subject
Choose a complicated subject,
perhaps one with more detail than
you might usually go for. In my
example below, I made a fairly
detailed painting of the St Pancras
Renaissance Hotel, London.

What you will learn

This exercise will help develop your
confidence and improve your positive
thinking when tackling a complicated
scene, while also giving a solid
foundation for making any painting
in acrylics.

Process
Begin by making a painted sketch on
the canvas. Even though you might
rapidly paint over it, this acts as a
warm-up exercise and a way to get
to know the subject.
Start as you mean to go on by
dominating the painting, using large
expressive marks and plenty of paint.
Try to remain liberated and open-
minded about the marks you’re
making. While approximating the
overall colour of the subject, allow
small amounts of other colours to
infiltrate into the mix. Beginning with
a bolder palette can stimulate your
senses, even if these colours are
knocked back later with tints, shades
and a certain amount of detail.
Simplify what you see by using
large brushes initially. Even when
painting buildings with multiple
straight lines, your aim should be to
simply suggest basic structures and
harness the positive marks that will
provide a contrast against the refined
ones later on.
Think of details as the humps in
the road that slow you down on your
way to your final destination.

58 Artists & Illustrators

 PROJECT

Too many of them can kill any positive

momentum generated early on, so
it is important when working from a
photographic reference to get to the
point where the painting takes over.
To avoid perfection, aim to paint
details like windows and doors in
a quick, varied way – make some
slanted or elongated. Remember
that a painting should be your
interpretation of a subject and that
these quirky representations help
break the confines of a photographic
image. Large brushes work really well
for this and final adjustments can still
be made at the end.
As you begin to add more
information, maintain relatively large
quantities of paint on your brush and
simply vary the pressure you apply
from the wrist as you make your
marks. It is easy to hold a brush
like a pen or pencil and maintain a
constant pressure, whereas more
relaxed movements that are the

T to p ip
Use white s
paringly,
allow the odd fleck of a
purer colour to streak
through. It’s essential
in acryli c s not to forego the
e specially o m
ac t fr positive attitude
– it can detr e s
ix
c onfident m developed early on for a
safer, more conventional
approach as you progress.
That said, drawing drains your
concentration quicker than anything
and so remaining positive after
depicting endless windows and doors
can be taxing.
For a scene like this, reserve your
proficient drawing skills for the focal
point so that you can loosen up in
less important areas to diminish the
level of focus they attract.
Knowing when to finish a painting
and put down the brush is hard.
Rather than waiting until you feel
exhausted by the process, try to finish
hallmarks of a good painting come on a high, perhaps even with the
with experience. artwork feeling a little under done.
Acrylics can be difficult to blend It is important to recognise that
because of their quick drying time so the process was fun while it lasted
try opting for an Impressionistic way – and another experience is just
of painting and use optical colour around the corner. Even the most
mixing (a process of placing individual challenging paintings should feel
strokes of colour side by side) to limit substantial and energising, not a
the number of layers used. slog to the finish line.
Once you’ve exhausted pure colour, Positivity breeds more positivity
apply strong tints using large so aim to make each painting a joyful
quantities of white mixed with colour. experience from start to finish.
Leave things slightly under mixed to www.hashimakib.co.uk

Artists & Illustrators 59

 Painting
DEMO

with masking fluid

SIÂN DUDLEY shows why we should stop treating masking fluid as a purely protective
measure and start seeing it as a medium that offers the freedom to be more expressive
60 Artists & Illustrators
 DEMO

1 2

3 4

Mask your dr aw ing L ay down colour

Siân's materials 1 Masking fluid is often used to 2 I wanted to keep the colours
a spare piece of paper. I thinned
the masking fluid a little to ease
simply prevent the paint from fresh so I loosely applied a pink the flow. By altering pressures
•Paints reaching a section of the paper, layer first and allowed it to dry. and angles, I found I was able
Lemon Yellow, Gamboge Hue, whereas I believe it should be Then working wet-in-wet I applied to make a large range of marks,
Permanent Rose and Sap firmly seen as a medium that can the other colours, allowing them drawing expressively and
Green, all Daler-Rowney be expressive in its own right. to blend. The tones should be confidently with the masking fluid.
Artists’ Watercolours; Cobalt I began by drawing up the main a little richer than you'd like,
D r aw the ma s k
Blue and French Ultramarine,
both Daniel Smith Extra Fine
Watercolours
flowers, but only marked roughly
where the grasses would go.
I wanted to retain the white paper
as some of this colour will be
removed or covered later. Allow
uneven tones and even a few
4 I used masking fluid to draw
the rest of the design over the
•Brushes for the daisies and clover later, so cauliflowers, as the variety adds dried paint, while referring to the
Rosemary and Co. Series 33 I painted them with masking fluid. to the richness. practice marks made in the last
round, size 10; Da Vinci I placed a small drop of step. I used the colour shaper's
Pr ac ti s e mark s
Series 35 round, size 4
•Paper
300gsm watercolour paper
masking fluid on each petal with
the colour shaper and then used
the tip to pull it across the area to
3 I looked back at my
preparatory sketches and looked
side to shade in leaves and the
chisel-shaped head to print buds.
I used an old toothbrush to
•Masking fluid be preserved. I took care to for ways of making similar marks spatter masking fluid for frothy
•Ruling pen manipulate the fluid from the top with masking fluid. I experimented grass heads. When it was dry,
•Colour shaper, size 2 of the meniscus and not allow the making those marks with a ruling I rubbed off some of the excess
colour shaper to touch the paper. pen and a colour shaper on with my finger to leave an

Artists & Illustrators 61

DEMO

5 6

T t
7 8
o p ip
ne lines,
To lighten fi Pull it to gether
use a putt y
eraser with
an eraser s
hield –
b
appropriate shape. Stems were
drawn with the ruling pen, altering
the width of the nib to give
6 When everything was dry,
I carefully removed the masking
the area around each flower.
I painted the centres in a bright
clear yellow made with Gamboge
dab, don’t ru
different sizes. I let them cross to fluid by rubbing it off with my Hue. I added a few shadows to
form geometric shapes similar to finger. The first layer of paint was the grass flowers.
the ones seen in the hedge. I let revealed and the stems, leaves
Add f ine detail s
the rest of the masking fluid dry.

C ar ve out shadow s
and flowers I had drawn with
masking fluid showed light against 8 I used the size 4 round brush

5 I could now fill in these

shapes, using the masking fluid
the darker background.
Although I liked the graphic
quality of the drawing as it was,
to paint in the details on the
honeysuckle, bramble and clover
flowers. Complementing the green
as a dam between areas. Within I decided to alter the tones within background, the reds emphasised
each shape, I worked wet-in-wet, some of the stems and leaves. the sense of movement and
varying colour and tone, carefully I did this gently, rolling a damp busyness of the hedge.
painting around flowers and size 4 round brush across the Applying masking fluid in the
leaves I would define later. drawing, dragging paint from the same way as paint can open up
Dark shapes represented the surrounding areas. exciting opportunities. It becomes
shadows in the hedge, while part of the creative process –
Pick out f lowers
paler, brighter colours represented
the unexpected places where
sunlight broke through.
7 I added detail to the daisy
petals by pulling in colour from
not for what it prevents, but for
what it can do.
www.moortoseaarts.co.uk

62 Artists & Illustrators

 ARTISTS’
VALUE
BRUSHES
CREATE YOUR MASTERPIECE

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Focusing on the use
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specifically Inktense, a new
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shares how to get started
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In this work, she presents
a collection of a variety of
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to landscape, to abstracts.
Exton discuses the creation of each piece and gives tips, tricks,
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An Artist’s Tale includes more than sixty colour pictures
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This book can be purchased from Amazon for £32.11
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Artists & Illustrators 63

 H O W I PA I N T

Martin Greenland
The former John Moores Painting Prize winner tells STEVE PILL
how he creates his imagined landscapes with the help of a
limited palette and a close look at Velázquez

64 Artists & Illustrators

 H O W I PA I N T

and Witherslack isn’t a bay, but

M
artin was born in a little village, so I brought this
Marsden, Yorkshire Mediterranean sea around what is
in 1962. He studied effectively our local landscape to see
at Lancashire’s Nelson & Colne what it would look like.
College before taking a BA in
Fine Art (Painting) at Exeter You studied photography for a while
College of Art. at art school. What part does
Martin moved to Cumbria in photographic reference – and the
the Lake District in 1985 where camera in general – play in your work
he has lived and worked ever nowadays?
since. In 2006, his painting I’m very aware of the power of
Before Vermeer’s Clouds won photography. I studied it on my
the prestigious biennial John foundation course and [my degree],
Moores Painting Prize, following so I was very aware of what an impact
in the footsteps of previous it had on composition.
winners such as Euan Uglow I’ve always tried to avoid
and David Hockney. His next photography [in my work] because I
solo exhibition runs from wanted to believe that I could actually
15 September to 1 October at produce the paintings without the
Portland Gallery, London. need for it. Lately I have been
www.martingreenland.co.uk referring to photographs a little bit,
just because I need some specific
topographical details, but most of the
You live in the Lake District with time I just use drawings if there is a
great landscapes on your doorstep, part of the landscape I need to use in
yet the subjects of your paintings are the painting. Whitbarrow… was done
largely invented. Why is that? from drawings and then just using my
Largely invented, yes, and until fairly imagination to see what those places
recently almost completely invented. would look like in certain conditions.
I never set off with the intention of
doing this, but it was almost to absorb Do you need a scientific brain as well
what I’d seen and then to reinterpret as an artistic one to work like that?
it in a way that means most to me, Yes, I think so. The value of
I suppose. There’s always somewhere understanding the science is really
in the back of my mind, some place of important. Skies, for instance, can
reference that was probably a starting be painted successfully by copying
point, and then I allow the a photograph, but if you’re inventing
composition to develop. a sky, you need to know how the
atmosphere works – different clouds
Let’s take Whitbarrow from Lindale, behave in different ways, depending
across Witherslack Bay as an on what time of day or year it is.
example. What was the element that
kickstarted that painting? What part does drawing play in the
With that painting, and quite a composition of your paintings?
number of more recent paintings, Most of the time now I work straight
there was very much a real landscape on the canvas. I don’t produce
as a starting point. I was always working sketches or even studies in
ABOVE Retreat interested in what the Lake District paint or anything like that because,
(Maulds Meaburn might be like if it had clear blue seas inevitably, the composition always
as a State of and crashing waves, so this painting changes. It would only be a guide
Mind), oil on was a personal indulgence to imagine anyway. With some of my paintings,
canvas, 61x91cm what that might be like. Whitbarrow is I have a fairly strong idea of how
a real place, Lindale is a real place I want it to go. Sometimes I have

Artists & Illustrators 65

 ABOVE Whitbarrow no specific idea where the painting one leads onto another and one good I mostly use Michael Harding and
from Lindale, will go, and I just quickly whip some painting becomes the catalyst for Winsor & Newton oil paints. I was very
Across Witherslack marks down and start to see how it the next. lucky to be gifted some tubes of paint
Bay, oil on linen, goes from there. by the wives of a couple of old
61x102cm There’s no pattern to every What does a typical day in the studio painters who sadly died recently.
painting, I have a number of different look like for you? They gave me some wonderful old
ways of working. A lot of it is about I tend to work evenings and the early tubes of Cobalt Blue and Cremnitz
trying to gently coax an image out hours – I’m very much a night owl. White, which is pretty difficult to get
without being too pushy with the idea. If it’s going well, I don’t feel like hold of now. Cremnitz White is a
stopping. I don’t have a very strict superb pigment.
Do you tend to work on more than routine. Sometimes I’ll only come in I use linen canvas predominantly
one painting at the same time? for an hour or two, sometimes it’s and I always prime it with rabbit-skin
Yes, the one that develops quickest 14 hours of solid work. glue and oil-based primer, very
tends to dominate, but I’ve always traditional. I used to make my own
got several paintings on the go at Tell us about your materials. Do you stretchers but that took too much
the same time. Like all good things, have favourite brands? time, so I just buy commercially-made

66 Artists & Illustrators

 H O W I PA I N T

Understanding science is really

important… If you’re inventing
a sky, you need to know how
the atmosphere works

usually with an earth colour mixed

in to start a painting off, then I add
washes of colour in turpentine onto
the dry base. As a painting develops,
I increase the amount of medium and
then the washes become glazes.

Do you ever look at other paintings

from a technical point of view?
Oh yes. I get as close as I can to see
how the surface has been developed.
That’s where I learn a lot. I remember
I so admired Velázquez’s The
Waterseller of Seville, I had a small
illustration of it.
There is a little drop of water
running down the jug in the
foreground and, when I saw the real
painting in a show way back in the
1980s, I went up to it and I realised
this little drop of water was just a
couple of flicks of paint. I’d thought
it was this precise detail but close BELOW Western
up you see the dexterity of those Landscape, oil on
little flicks. linen, 122x152cm

ones from R Jackson & Sons in

Liverpool or I stretch my own with
Loxley stretcher bars.

Do you use mediums?

Yes. I sometimes put wax into paint,
not to thicken it up but to get a less
glossy surface as the painting
develops. Sometimes I use a white
paraffin wax with turpentine in,
sometimes I use Wallace Seymour’s
Beeswax Impasto Medium or C
Roberson & Co.’s Impasto Medium.
They give a semi-matt finish.
I use Winsor & Newton’s
Underpainting White as a base coat
H O W I PA I N T

I see that in your work too: Retreat

(Maulds Meaburn as a State of Mind)
has really abstract marks in the
foreground. With areas like that, do
you always intend to leave them
looser or were you going to finish
them but then decided against it?
It’s more like that. When I look at [the
work of John Everett] Millais and the
Pre-Raphaelites, I’m impressed by all
that fine detail, but when it comes to
[my own] painting, I’m more excited
by a loose, almost abstract way of
working. It has the freshness of the
natural world without that meticulous
precision which might kill it off.

That painting also has a lovely

low tonal range. What’s the key
to maintaining visual interest across
the whole painting?
I suppose there are a number of
focal points in the painting with the
windows in the houses and the lights.
It’s based on a real village called
Maulds Meaburn, but it’s very much
a reinvention. The goalposts on the
right-hand side aren’t there, but I
really liked putting them in. It gave
another focal point.

Your palette is very muted. Could you

say a little about how you modulate
the colours?
I like to limit my palette and I tend to
use the same ones all the time. I’m
very keen on the earth colours, plus
Cobalt Blue, Prussian Blue, Viridian
and Yellow Ochre to make greens.
I tend to keep that [limited palette]
until I can’t get any more out of it and
then, when I absolutely have to, I will
turn to more saturated, higher
chroma paints to make stronger
greens, for example.
This approach goes right back to
college days. The tutor told me to just
go out and paint so I chose a very I’d started to put darker colours and
limited palette of Prussian Blue, Burnt tones down, and there was this space
Sienna, Yellow Ochre and white to see in the middle – initially it was going to I like to limit my palette…
how far I could go with it. be a pathway, but I sort of ignored it
for a while. In the end, I said it’s going
When I absolutely have
The colour in Western Landscape to be a fire. By that time, I already had to, I will turn to more
is very striking with that fire in the painted the distant clouds and I loved
centre echoed in the rocks and the pairing of the orange sunset with saturated paints
clouds. How did that all develop? that fire. Symbolically it doesn’t mean

68 Artists & Illustrators

anything at all, it just felt like the trees at the moment and I’m putting I think of it almost like collage, ABOVE Little Alpine
right thing to do. down thousands of tiny little marks, but with mark making. (Foxfield Allotment
still with a bristle brush. to Cow How and
Does the subject dictate the marks I try to avoid using tiny sables if When does a painting finish for you? Birch Fell), oil on
you make or the brushes you use? I can, so I use very small, very clean, You just get to a point where the canvas, 76x91cm
To a certain extent, yes. I will use the well-used bristle brushes. Then if surface is developed enough and
paintbrushes and the mark making it is a broader area like the sky, it adding more would be unnecessary
to effectively describe a subject, requires a size 14 filbert to get these really. You can feel the sense of
I suppose. I’m working on these oak lovely organic, soft areas of paint. balance in the whole painting.

Artists & Illustrators 69

 13
TIPS

TOP TIPS
FOR
Painting
Reflections
Whether you’re trying to depict shiny
objects or watery mirror images, we’ve
got a host of expert tips and lessons
from the masters to help you out

70 Artists & Illustrators

 TIPS

CHOOSE
SUPPORTS
CAREFULLY
Consider your support
carefully before
beginning. If you’re
painting with oils or
acrylics and want a
smoother finish, try using
a prepared wooden
panel or a fine cotton or
even linen canvas.
With watercolour, the
texture of your paper can
have a huge bearing on
how the paint behaves
too. A rough paper can
be useful for showing the
sparkling highlights of
light on water as the
paint fails to settle in
some of the dinks in the
surface, while hot-
pressed paper is very
smooth, allowing for
wet-in-wet washes that
could suggest softer
reflections. A cold-
pressed (or NOT) paper
is a good mid-point
between the two.

STUDY THE
OPACITY
EXPERT TIP
– Kate Brinkworth:
“Whatever the subject
matter, choosing the
right paint can really
help, especially with
reflections. I try to think
quite literally with paint:
transparent paints for
transparent objects and
opaque paints for more
solid areas. (Most paints
contain information
about opacity on the
tube or packaging.)
“A transparent colour
can be thinned down
with oil to allow a white
background to show
through or to glaze over
the top. I avoid pure
white, instead using this
technique to achieve
ABOVE Kate paler tones. This can
Brinkworth, Golden really help to show the
Cherry Coke, oil on qualities that a reflection
board, 100x150cm possesses.”
 WORK DOWNWARDS
Reflections in moving water
tend to become more
abstracted the further they and the
subject gets from the surface of the
water. They also appear to come
“towards” the viewer.
A good way to depict this in a very
economical fashion is to start
painting the reflection at the top and
allow the stroke to move more
towards the bottom and become
increasingly fragmented. In Jean-
Louis Forain’s The Artist’s Wife
Fishing, notice how the fairly solid
reflection of his wife in red becomes
more fragmented towards her head
and shoulders. He suggests a quick
moving stream without painting the
water directly.

PAINT WHAT YOU

SEE
It sounds obvious, but always
paint what you see, not what you
ABOVE Jean-Louis think you can see. Surprising shapes
Forain, The Artist's or colours often appear in reflections
Wife Fishing, and capturing those is the key to
1896, oil on making a very realistic finish. If
canvas, 95x101cm you’re struggling to identify shapes in
the reflections on a complex still life
surface or a fast-moving water
source, try taking photos using a very
quick shutter speed on your camera.
Zoom in on the pictures to get a
more abstracted look at the various
colours and shapes, replicating what
is there without trying to determine
what you think they represent.

TIE UP THE
COMPOSITION
Remember that reflections
can be used to indirectly connect
different elements to add interest to
a composition. Mary Cassatt’s clever
1905 double portrait Woman with a
Sunflower used an ornate hand
mirror to link the sight lines of two
figures who were facing in the same
© NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON

direction. The American painter

angled the hand mirror so that the
RIGHT Mary child’s eyes meet the viewer’s gaze
Cassatt, Woman within its reflection, while a second
with a Sunflower, mirror on the wall further adds to the
c.1905, oil on sense of depth and three-
canvas, 92x73cm dimensional realism in the work.

72 Artists & Illustrators

 TIPS

ABOVE Claude MATCH YOUR STROKES AVOID PERFECTION

Monet, The Seine The simplest and most effective way to convey Light scatters on the surface of water, so a
at Giverny, 1897, that you are viewing a reflection in water is to vary reflection never presents a perfect mirror image.
oil on canvas, the brushmarks in the reflected image. Claude Monet was Colours are often duller and less saturated in the reflected
© NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON

81x100cm a master in this respect. image, while tonal contrasts (the range between the
In The Seine at Giverny, notice how the “real” trees lightest light and the darkest dark) are also less
are rendered using smaller strokes in varying directions, pronounced: darker colours often appear lighter in
whereas the apparent reflections in the river are reflections, whereas lighter colours appear darker too.
delineated by longer horizontal marks that often merge Try utilising complementary colours to add the required
several distinct areas of tone together. There is also no subtlety to a mix – use a touch of orange, for example, to
distinct line between the land and the water. take the edge off a bright blue.

Artists & Illustrators 73

TIPS

ANGLE YOUR BELOW Grahame

APPROACH Booth, Misty
EXPERT TIP – Grahame Reflections,
Booth: “The strongest indication of watercolour on
reflections will always be inverted paper, 36x26cm
objects. The land and water to the
front of the trees is a simple
continuous graduated wash. The only
thing that makes the water read as
water is the indication of the inverted,
reflected objects above. I always
make sure to include angled objects
such as the fence posts as these give
a much stronger, obvious reflection.
Don’t forget that if the post is leaning
to the side, the reflection also leans
to the same side.”

CONSIDER YOUR
VIEWPOINT
Whether you’re painting a
reflective object or a distant scene,
it is important to always consider the
angles from which you are viewing
both your subject and its reflection.
The temptation can be to simply
paint the reflected image as an exact,
flipped copy of the real subject, yet
actually a subtle change in angle can
help you make a far more lifelike
representation of the effect.
Close observation is key here.
Painting a dog paddling in shallow
waters, for example, might reveal
more of its belly in the reflection
because you are seeing it from a
steeper angle. Likewise, you may
see more of the hull of a boat in its
reflection, depending on the angle
from which it is viewed.

REMOVE DETAILS
When daylight streams
into a dark interior, much
of the detail in the reflected light is
lost. You can depict this using high
tonal contrasts and smoother,
simplified marks.
Take Edmund Charles Tarbell’s
Mother and Mary as an example.
There are warm yellow-greens and
lighter blues employed to suggest
trees and their shadows outside seen
© NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON

through the net curtains, which are

rendered using textured drybrush
marks. By contrast, the reflected light
on the polished floor is smoother and
almost detail free, as well as being
a stronger tonal contrast to the
areas around it.

74 Artists & Illustrators

 TIPS

ABOVE Pedro HIGHLIGHT of overlapping layers, I normally use When painting reflective objects,
Campos, Jellybeans THINGS EARLY a single, final layer only. Each day remember that the colours of
and Marbles, Highlights are very I paint a certain area and, once it’s surrounding objects and surfaces are
oil on canvas, important when painting the dry, I don’t paint over it again. always affected by them. A red shiny
114x162cm reflections on metallic objects. “I use oil colours that are as object on a white table, for example,
Establishing the whitest highlights opaque as possible. I employ will reflect a light red glow on the
and the deepest shadows early on in synthetic, medium-strength brushes table that often becomes more
the painting process can help you to for the different areas, and softer, pronounced the closer they become.
judge the in-between tones more watercolour-like brushes to merge The intensity of that colour can also
accurately as you progress. Also, the edges between those areas. be affected by other sources, so the
remember that highlights are very “Rather than relying on extreme best approach is to simply ignore the
rarely pure white – even the slightest detail, the feeling of realism is usually logic and observe things as accurately
tint of say a blue or orange can add achieved by choosing the colours as you can.
an appropriate note of cool or warmth correctly. The silky and uniform look
to the most piercing highlights. of my paintings is a consequence of WITH THANKS TO:
always employing spray varnish, Grahame Booth –
LEFT Edmund PAINT IN either matte or satin.” www.grahamebooth.com
Charles Tarbell, ONE LAYER Kate Brinkworth –
Mother and Mary, EXPERT TIP – Pedro OBSERVE www.katebrinkworth.com
oil on canvas, Campos: “Although traditional REFLECTED Pedro Campos –
112x127cm painting is done by using a series COLOUR www.pedrocampos.net

Artists & Illustrators 75

 COMPOSITION

PLACING
Figures
BRUCE YARDLEY reveals how
the French Impressionist
painters incorporated portraits
and figures into their interior
scenes and plein air landscapes

D
rawing and painting the human figure was and
is the central concern of academic art teaching,
and the academically trained Impressionists
never entirely abandoned it in their own
painting careers – or never for long. Their early figure
paintings, when their professional prospects were
governed by their performance in the annual Salon, were
understandably conventional. Claude Monet’s life-size
portrait of his companion Camille Doncieux, The Green
Dress, was greatly admired at the 1866 Salon: it had a
reassuringly high level of finish, despite having been
painted at great speed (in four days, by repute). When he
attempted the same kind of subject in an outdoor setting,
employing techniques that we would now label as
Impressionist, the Salon jury rejected the submission. He
continued to paint Camille, albeit on a smaller scale, until
her early death in 1879, at which point the human form
disappears completely from his work for several years. ABOVE Bruce Yardley, Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, Paris, oil on board, 15x30cm
Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Berthe Morisot “The smaller, lesser-known Arc de Triomphe of Paris is located next to the Louvre
were all figure painters first and foremost, and unlike and thronged not by cars but by tourists. At this small scale it is feasible to render
Monet, Renoir painted the human figure more, not less, figures with just a few dabs of the brush, which should in turn communicate a
in his later career. But these were hardly ever portraits in sense of movement. If you paint your figures with too much care and definition,
the full sense: indeed, I can’t think of any mainstream they’ll stiffen up on you. The viewer will know that those flicks of paint represent
Impressionist for whom commissioned portraiture was figures and will mentally supply the missing information in order to read them.”
important in a way it clearly was for, say, James McNeill
Whistler and John Singer Sargent. Walter Sickert, like
Degas, didn’t want his figure paintings to be “too definite” for example, Ken Howard paints the background colours
portraits; he wanted instead to capture an emotion first, before painting the model, “partly”, he says, “because
suggested by a pose. In most of these paintings the figure the subtle colours of the figure are affected by the more
itself is anonymous, representing a mood or action. This is obvious surrounding colours”.
the sphere in which an Impressionistic technique comes A portraitist or figure painter working in a stable north
into its own, as distinct from one that is intended to catch light can afford to take such a methodical approach.
a close likeness. It’s correspondingly more important, to If, like me, you work in a studio in which the sun comes
the Impressionist, that the figure looks right in its setting, in you can’t be so disciplined: you have to get things down
and that its tones and colours relate to those of its on canvas quickly. My own figure paintings take as their
surroundings. When painting from the model in his studio, inspiration the intimiste figure studies of Degas, Sickert

76 Artists & Illustrators

 COMPOSITION

and, especially, Bernard Dunstan, a 20th-century English

Impressionist much influenced by the first two names.
When figures are small,
(I should really add to this triumvirate Morisot, whose a few deft strokes of the
earliest paintings of women at their toilette actually
predated Degas’, but I confess that at the time – the mid brush ought to suffice
1990s – I was only familiar with a few of her paintings.)
Dunstan’s constant model was his wife Diana Armfield,
herself a distinguished painter [see Issue 432], and his vetoed by Madame Monet when she found he had
informal – sometimes very informal – bedroom and engaged a good-looking woman to sit for him.
bathroom portraits of her have a quiet tenderness. My Many cityscapes and interiors have figures in them
wife Caroline sat for me in much the same way for several in a subsidiary role: these sorts of scenes would in fact
years. Sickert, who worked exclusively with professional look rather unnatural without the human presence.
models (or professionals of one kind or another), would Figures provide a sense of movement and, quite often,
not have approved; he thought it “good artistic hygiene” some useful accents of colour. It’s therefore important
not to use one’s own circle for modelling duties. to develop a technique that allows you to render them
Someone else might have envied Sickert his business- convincingly but in a way that doesn’t distract.
like arrangements: it’s said that Monet was persuaded The challenge here is that the human form is so familiar to
by Renoir to take up figure painting again after the us that the slightest error in drawing and painting stands
years-long hiatus referred to earlier, but the plan was out. Problems of scale are magnified when figures are

Artists & Illustrators 77

COMPOSITION

Bruce Yardley, Sonia at Ston Easton, oil on canvas, 61x51cm

“This was commissioned by a friend as a surprise birthday
present for his wife, whose portrait it is. The surprise element
meant I couldn’t have sittings in the normal way; I adapted
photographic reference material that was sent to me.
“The unifying element is the low sun coming deep into the
room, so much so that one doesn’t immediately notice how
many different colours there are on view.”

78 Artists & Illustrators

 COMPOSITION

present; so often, it seems, one comes across painted ABOVE Bruce Yardley, Morning Sun in the Bedroom, oil on canvas, 61x122cm
scenes populated by dwarves and giants. Impressionists “The other painter from the generation above mine who has most influenced
such as Morisot, taking their lead from Édouard Manet, me (besides, of course, my father) is Ken Howard. It was after seeing some of
began placing identifiable people in their landscapes. his paintings of the model in his sun-filled Cornish studio that I attempted this
This required them to paint those figures in some detail, bedroom study. In order that the sun catches Caroline’s hair I’ve turned her
with facial features and so on. I’d caution against such head-to-foot on the bed, which I concede is a bit contrived. The main draw,
an approach, unless you are specifically painting a though, is the sun glowing through the silk curtain.”
conversation piece or multiple portrait, for as soon as
you apply features to a face the viewer’s eye will go
straight to them, creating a potential source of distraction. “licking” marks that were intended to depict people to the
When the figures are small enough, a few deft strokes of slapdash way in which granite is whitewashed to imitate
the brush ought to suffice to make them recognisable as marble. Actually, Monet’s black-dressed strollers don’t
such: the viewer should know what those flicks of paint are look to me to be at all roughly painted, but at this period
meant to represent and will be able to supply the rest of any departure from the accepted Salon practice was
the information themselves. Before the Impressionists, it bound to meet opposition.
would have been almost unthinkable to treat the human A good general rule is to paint your figures in exactly the
form in such a manner. The abbreviated way in which the same way as the rest of the painting, again to ensure that
figures were painted in Monet’s Fishing Boats Leaving they do not jump out at the viewer. If, as is usually the
Port, Le Havre, shown at the first Impressionist exhibition case, the figures are in motion, walking either towards or
of 1874, drew derision from the sketch writer for [the away from the viewer, you can suggest this movement
satirical magazine] Le Charivari, who likened the black economically by painting one leg shorter than the other,
and perhaps using dry paint to create a broken, lost-and-
found sort of line, which is less eye-catching than a solid,
carefully painted one. This is more of a watercolour
A good general rule is technique, but it works well in oil too. At all events, it helps,
to paint your figures in I think, to try to view the figure – the figure in its subsidiary,
animating role, that is – as an abstract dab or assemblage
exactly the same way as of colour; if you start to think of it as a real person, you’re
liable to become over-anxious about your depiction, and
the rest of the painting your painting might lose fluency.
This is an edited extract from Bruce’s new Crowood Press book,
Paint like the Impressionists. www.bruceyardley.co.uk

Artists & Illustrators 79

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 I like to ask questions
through my art... I’ll have
a thought and I will really
want to unpick it

When I was three, I drew my mother. She was

pregnant with my younger brother and I stuck a piece
of paper that was concave out from the page to show
the bump. All my work has stemmed from that drawing,
they all have sculptural effects.

I like to answer questions through my art. I’ll have a

thought, and I will really want to unpick it. I don’t think
I’ve actually managed to answer a single question, but
I have been led to ask more interesting questions.

Portraiture should be more accessible. I think it

should be both an actual representation of the

LilyLEWIS
MEET THE ARTIST day-to-day and available to everyone.

My recent exhibition, Safe Places, featured

actresses from the Golden Age of Hollywood. Their
lives were presented as perfect, just like they are in
today’s Instagram culture. I wanted to show the reality
is far more interesting.

The colour in the Safe Places portraits is on the

inside of the glass. It’s make-up pigment, suspended
in medium. Straight on, it looks as if the colour is on
the canvas, married to the graphite. But if you look at
The portrait artist takes on tarot cards and an angle, the colour actually throws a shadow.
Hollywood glamour in her latest projects.
Interview: REBECCA BRADBURY For me, sitters need to have a presence outside of
the physical – something that I wouldn’t be able to
capture just by painting what they look like. It would
take a nuance and a sensitivity of my skill to capture
that thing that isn’t so obvious.

My tip for portraiture is paint the background first. It

helps put the subject in context. Then start on the eyes.

The Fool’s Journey is the name of my new book,

out later this year. It will include a set of tarot cards
I designed for an exhibition and I’m halfway through
writing poems to accompany each card.

Tate Britain is my favourite art gallery. It’s quietly

magnificent. It’s got a foot in the past, but also a foot
in the future.

The most important thing is not your materials,

it’s your mindset. If you get to a point where you feel
frustrated and angry, that’s actually not a bad thing.
It’s part of the process.
www.lily-lewis.com

82 Artists & Illustrators

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