Artists Amp Illustrators - December 2019

A &
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TIPS • TECHNIQUES • IDEAS • inspir ation December 2019 £4.50
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Be more expressive without losing control
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MA S T E R
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CL ASSns so
Learn les ne,
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m C e z an
fro
& c o.
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Turne r
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W int
scenes
er How to...
•Layer your paintings
•Draw stylish portraits
•Get more from pastels
Seasonal advice from
top landscape artists
PLUS LUCIAN FREUD AND THE ART OF SELF-PORTRAITS
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CHRISTMAS
STARTS WITH COPIC
o our w s s an a ets
ave a co our u r s ma at ass rt t s
r s mas
Refi ab e tw n ipp d markers o he high st qua i

Designed to ast i e ime Made in Jap n.
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2 pp t p p t g A t b t f 2 t 24t N b d 9t D b 2 t D b
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Artists & Illustrators,
The Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd.,
Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place, London
SW3 3TQ
Tel: (020) 7349 3700
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EDITORIAL
Group Editor Steve Pill
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Art Editor Lauren Debono-Elliot
Contributors Martha Alexander, Laura
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Cembranelli, Lizet Dingemans, Tom
Dunkley, Al Gury, Roxana Halls, Martin
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WELCOME TO OUR
Bret Weekes
BACK ISSUES
OLD MASTERS SPECIAL

www.chelseamagazines.com/shop
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ISSN NO. 1473-4729
One of the wonderful things about art is that it has no age limits.
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You can make your first masterpiece, like my nephew, aged just 3,
or you can continue to learn, develop and adapt at 100 years old.
You're never too old to learn, but you can also learn plenty from
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the wisdom of elders and masters of years gone by.

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In this issue, our practical section is packed with exercises,

COVER IMAGE PETER BROWN demonstrations and techniques based on those of the Old Masters.
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You can learn how to sculpt forms like Paul Cézanne, create haunting portraits
stay inspired in the manner of John Singer Sargent and try your hand at three-colour
by subscribing drawings inspired by Renaissance techniques. We also pinpoint the successes
Artists & Illustrators of Lucian Freud's self-portraits and begin a new series of classical techniques
Tel: +44 (0)1858 438789 with the Norfolk Painting School.
Email: To bring it back up to date, we have some inspiring modern masters on
artists@subscription.co.uk display too. Andrew Gifford and Pete "The Street" Brown are both heirs to the
Online: Impressionists, two insatiable painters with an inspiring thirst for what they
chelseamags. do. The wonderful Roxana Halls also begins a new series on her specialist
subscribeonline.co.uk subject of self-portraits via workshops that she has honed at the Art Academy.
Renew: Steve Pill, Editor
www.subscription.co.uk/
chelsea/help
Post: Artists & Illustrators,
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Artists & Illustrators 3

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Contents 30
L a n d s c a p e t ip s
55
f ro m A n d re w
G if f o rd
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I could have written another

book about David Hockney's
e
thoughts on smoking
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MARTIN G AYFORD – PAGE 36

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regulars
6 Letters
Thoughts, stories and pictures
16
8 Exhibitions
Five to see this month featureS D e n is e 52 Demo
11 Sketchbook 22 Cover Feature H a rr is o n o n Learn how Paul Cézanne sculpted
Short tips, advice and products New English Art Club president h e r ta st e fo r form through directional marks
16 Fresh Paint Peter Brown paints the streets
a c ry li c s 55 In-Depth
New works, hot off the easel 30 Talking Techniques – pa ge 28
Lessons in drawing based on
27 Prize Draw Useful advice on colour, materials Renaissance-style techniques
Win a residential art course and more from Andrew Gifford 60 Project
28 In the Studio 38 Art Histor y John Singer Sargent's portrait
With acrylic artist Denise Harrison The genius behind the late, great methods are explained in detail
36 10 Minutes With... Lucian Freud's self-portraits 66 Colour Theor y
Author, critic and friend of the How to suggest different settings
artists, Martin Gayford practical by adjusting colour temperature
43 The Working Artist 44 Masterclass 70 Your Questions
Our columnist Laura Boswell on How to paint watercolours Unison Colour and the Pastel
the importance of open studios expressively without losing control Society answer your pastel queries
82 Art in Focus 48 Old Masters 74 Self-Portraits
A fiery Madrid scene from Scottish A new series from Norfolk Painting Two fun yet stimulating exercises
modern master Mary Cameron School's Martin Kinnear to try in Roxana Halls' new series

Letters
LET TER OF THE MONTH
approaches and let you cherry-pick
what works for you.
Write to us!
TREASURED MEMORIES Send your letter or email
to the addresses below:
I’m writing in response to a very moving letter in October’s issue THOSE LOVELY BIG SKIES
[Issue 409] from Bob Nicolson in Randers, Denmark, and I would like I have just returned from a fabulous POST:
to share a similar experience. After my husband died suddenly in 2015, four-day art course in Norfolk, Your Letters,
I couldn’t find the motivation to go on with my hobby of drawing and tutored by the brilliant Sarah Artists & Illustrators,
painting or do anything creative. Wimperis, that I won courtesy of The Chelsea Magazine
Then one dark, wet November afternoon while feeling sad, I sat Artists & Illustrators and Big Sky Art Company Ltd.,
down and sketched the chair where my husband used to sit: an old [Competition, Issue 405]. Jubilee House,
leather chair beside the fire, the cushions still bearing his imprint. I am very grateful for the 2 Jubilee Place,
As I drew, I became totally absorbed and many memories surfaced, opportunity to be part of this London SW3 3TQ
so evocative that I could almost see him sitting there. amazing course, and have just
It was very cathartic and after that there was no going back. This uploaded a couple of pieces that EMAIL: info@artists
hobby kept me going through those earlier times of grief and I’m so were completed there on your andillustrators.co.uk
grateful for it. Portfolio Plus site.
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Angela Chalmers, Balchraggan, Invershin Thank you so much for arranging The writer of our ‘letter
the prize. I would highly recommend of the month’ will receive
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So sorry for your loss Angela, but what a lovely way to cherish your the Big Sky Art venue, it was a a £50 gift voucher from
husband’s memory. Art can provide great comfort in times like these. beautiful place and we were very GreatArt, which offers
riw well looked after. Sarah, our tutor, the UK’s largest range of
was so helpful, patient and art materials with more
CROWNING GLORIES NOT REALLY BLACK AND WHITE enthusiastic. than 50,000 art supplies
I enclose a photograph of my recent I have read with interest and great It was a brilliant time and I have and regular discounts
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still life painting. Your article on still anticipation the article in the been inspired to try new techniques and promotions.
life painting with Todd M Casey in October issue [Issue 409] by Lisa and made some lovely friends in www.greatart.co.uk
the October edition [Issue 409] Solomon on mixing watercolours. the process.
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came at just the right time. However, I am extremely confused Alison Yarrow, via email
I had been planning a still life by her five fail-safe tips.
painting using my late mother’s As a watercolourist we are told
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coronation memorabilia. In the never to use white or black paint.

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article, Todd stressed the Lisa, however, says to use white as

importance of lighting in still life a base for tints and black to create
and also that images should come shade. Surely by adding colour to
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together to suggest a story. white, the end result will be opaque,

This was a perfect approach and the transparency of watercolour
for my project and got my creative lost? The same applies when
thoughts flowing. The end result not adding black.
only captured an age that has As an amateur watercolourist,
passed, but also I feel is symbolic I am now even more confused than
of the present state of our nation. before, having been excited that the
I have been painting since article would solve all my problems,
retirement and attending courses alas no.
in Cumbria at Higham Hall, where Karen Knight, via email
a student gave me a copy of your
magazine, which has inspired my Yes, Lisa’s tips were suggesting
artistic development. that if you were to use white, you
Marion Peasnell, via email begin with that and add colour,
whereas if you used black, it Share your thoughts and get a daily dose
should be added to the colour in of Artists & Illustrators tips, advice and
tiny increments. Ultimately, every inspiration by following us on our social
artist will advocate different ways media channels...
of working, so don’t be too
disheartened if this one doesn’t @AandImagazine ArtistsAndIllustrators
suit you – there are no hard and
fast rules in art. Our aim is always
AandImagazine AandImagazine
to present a range of inspiring
Offer valid in-store or online from 1st November 2019 until 23:59 on 24th December 2019. Offer not available in Cass Art concessions (Leeds or Edinburgh). Subject to price changes and availability.
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SAVE
£15
CASS ART PROFESSIONAL
WATERCOLOUR GIFT BUNDLE
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Includes Artists’ Watercolour Metal Tin 10ml Set of 12 worth £49.95, A4 Watercolour Gummed Pad
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Exhibitions
DECEMBER’S FIVE BEST ART SHOWS
Sargy Mann: Let It Be Felt That

the Painter Was There
9 November to 9 February 2020
Born in 1937, the late and long-neglected
British figurative painter Sargy Mann studied
under Frank Auerbach and Euan Uglow.
He developed cataracts at the age of 36 and
was declared officially blind 15 years later.
While his own teaching career subsequently
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ended, his ability to conjure vivid scenes in
undulating false colours only excelled further
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and he developed an interest in
neuroaesthetics. His best pieces collected
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his heroes, Cezanne and Bonnard.
Attenborough Arts Centre,
University of Leicester, Leicester
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www.attenborougharts.com
Bridget Riley colour was used throughout, which fuelled the
© BRIDGET RILEY 2019. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Until 26 January 2020 creation of her later, more vibrant works.

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Inspired by the curves of Umberto Boccioni’s This retrospective spans the 88-year-old
sculptures, London-born Op artist Bridget artist’s career to date and comes filled with
Riley first began experimenting with pattern in her graphic paintings that will likely play havoc
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black and white when she moved to Venice in with your eyes.
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1960. She later travelled the world taking Hayward Gallery, London
inspiration from the different ways in which www.southbankcentre.co.uk
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GAZE: portraits by
Lorna May Wadsworth
Explore the famous sitters in portrait
painter Lorna May Wadsworth’s
25-year career from Lady Margaret
Thatcher to former Archbishop of
Canterbury Rowan Williams.
In this retrospective the Sheffield-
born artist’s colourful career is
recounted via a series of paintings
which vary from large-scale canvases
featuring 24-carat gold to a portrait
of author Neil Gaiman painted on a
© LORNA MAY WADSWORTH
piece of prehistoric bog oak.

Graves Gallery, Sheffield
© SARGY MANN
www.museums-sheffield.org.uk
8 Artists & Illustrators

Paula Rego
23 November to 19 April 2020
Art is, above all, about
communicating and one of
our greatest living visual
storytellers is Dame Paula Rego.
The 84-year-old possesses
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a vivid and often macabre
imagination, turning to folk tales
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and storybooks whenever she
struggles with a painting.
Rego balances these fanciful
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fictions by immersing herself in
current affairs and contemporary
issues. This major new
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retrospective, touring from Milton

Keynes, focuses on this aspect
of her career, selecting works
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that tackle abortion, politics,

© PAULA REGO/MARLBOROUGH FINE ART
gender and more.

It is a reminder to all artists
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to be bold and speak out.

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Scottish National Gallery of

Modern Art, Edinburgh
www.nationalgalleries.org
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Melvyn Evans:
Imprinting the land
Exploring the relationships between
landscape and power of place,
Imprinting the Land brings together
a series of drawings, paintings and
linocuts capturing the landmarks,
monuments and fishing boats of
Yorkshire’s coastline. The artist and
illustrator’s works combine bold
outlines with contrasting colours to
create playful works that capture the
character of his subjects.
© MELVYN EVANS
Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield

www.ysp.org.uk

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sketchbook
Decem TIPS • ADVICE • IDEAS
SKETCH DAILY!
RUTH WALL ACE on the imp or tance of keeping a sketchb ook
A working sketchbook is the place where to developed drawings. Filled sketchbooks can
you can experiment with ideas and take risks. provide you with a wealth of material to inspire
It won’t stay in pristine condition and be full of new work and your drawings will transport you
“masterpieces”, but rather it should be back to the sights, smells, sounds and emotions
battered, messy with use, and crammed with at the time and place where you first
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diverse images from mark-making experiments experienced them.
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IT
D E V E LO P A H A B
1 Use yo ur
if only for a
sk
fi ve
etch
-min
bo
ute
ok
sk
as
et
of
ch
ten as you can – daily
–
if possib
so that the habit of dr
awing
le,
ever yday life.

becomes part of your
C A P T U R E IT A LL
3 VA RY YO U R
S U R FAC E
4 ev
Draw anything and
er ything. Don’t search
for
Don’t be confine d or
the wh ite paper. the perfect scene or a
id ated by
intim
ba ck gr ou nd be au tiful object; draw your
Paint pages with a ug of coffee, a sleeping ca
t,
in piec es m
layer of colour, stick
pa ge s fro m old the corner of a room,
of news pa pe r, es… Anything
bi ts of ou t-o f-d at e m aps, shadows, textur
books,
ar de d pa in tings that catches your eye.
scraps of di sc
ings
or prints, or make rubb eping a
su rfa ce s; an y Ruth’s next workshop, Ke
from textur ed November
nd s wi ll ad d Sketchbook, runs 9-10
different grou gland
sio n to yo ur at the Royal West of En
another dimen ol,
B E E X P E R IM E N TA
L Academy’s Drawing Scho
2 e gg es t ne w
wide ra ng e of m ater ials, make quick, loos drawing and su
Br istol. ww w.ruthwallace.co
.uk
Explore a m ways of working.
ng er, m ore co ns ider ed drawings, draw fro
sketches and lo
ion and memor y.
observation, imaginat
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sketchbook
“THE PAINTER MUST LEAVE THE

BEHOLDER SOMETHING TO GUESS”
– EH GOMBRICH, THE STORY OF ART
EXPAND YOUR PALETTE BOOK OF THE MONTH

You Will Be Able to Draw by the End
Payne’s Grey of this Book: Ink by Jake Spicer
Artists &
Discover a new colour ever y month
Illustrators
contributor
THE COLOUR far darker and less blue than Jake Spicer
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Suitably for our Old Masters the Winsor & Newton has already
special, this potent, dark alternative, for example. sold a
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blue-grey tint was created by staggering
the Georgian watercolourist THE USES quarter of a
William Payne.
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Payne created his signature million
tint by mixing Iron Blue, Yellow books about
THE PROPERTIES Ochre and Crimson Like, as he drawing, such is his easy yet
Most Payne’s Grey searched for a more complex encouraging tone and simple,
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watercolours tend to dry shadow colour. Though it developing exercises – not to

several tones lighter than they provokes a Marmite-esque, mention the masterful
appear wet. Colours vary more love-hate reaction among draughtsmanship at work.
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prominently between brands leading artists, it is useful for The book’s thick pages and
with Daler-Rowney’s version dark, wintry skies. rubber-band seal gives it the feel of
a Moleskine sketchbook, so the
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temptation is to carry it with you and

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complete the challenges on the go.

Spicer’s light delivery is underlined
by his use of everything from biros
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to bananas as mark-making tools.

Ilex Press, £14.99. www.ilexpress.com
MASTER TIP:
WILLIAM MERRITT CHASE
Painting techniques of
the world’s b est ar tist s
For his portrait of Dora Wheeler, owner
of one of the first American businesses
operated entirely by women, William
Merritt Chase needed to make an
impact. He did this in several ways.
First the deep blues of Wheeler’s dress
were set off by the bright yellow silk
tapestry behind her, both contrasting
CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART
colours brought together in the vase of

daffodils. Her pose was also arresting,
the sweep of her arms guiding the eye
up to her thoughtful expression.

sketchbook
DATES FOR THE DIARY

The Spirit of Giving on 11 December is an evening of art, carols and
festivities in aid of charity at Bath’s Holburne Museum plus a chance to
Making Waves
Pastel ar tist L ANA BALLOT
enjoy the Rembrandt and Matisse shows out of hours. www.holburne.org
shares her top tips f or seascap es
• The House of Illustration Fair in London on 14 December offers a chance
to pick up handmade cards, prints and unique arty gifts just in time for
Christmas. www.houseofillustration.org.uk • Don’t let Christmas distract 1. Start with hard pastels. Use NuPastels or Cretacolor
from entering the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours’ 208th Annual Carre hard pastels to establish the main shapes and
Exhibition. Deadline for online entries is 3 January 2020. then wash them back with water or surgical spirit.
www.royalinstituteofpaintersinwatercolours.org This underpainting shows through later layers of softer
pastels to create interesting colour and textures.
2. Follow the form. Bold, loose marks that describe a

WHY NOT TRY… wave’s shape and direction can help to express the
energy of the moving water.
ZEST-IT OIL PAINT DILUTAN
3. Foam is not really white. Sky colours reflect on its
AND BRUSH CLEANER surface, sand mixes with water – all add subtle hints
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Forget the turpentine or white spirit. This of colours to the foam, as in Ocean Diamonds below.
environmentally-friendly, biodegradable alternative Pure white should only be used for bright highlights on
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is made using the zest of citrus fruit, so it not only the foam or sparkling sunspots on clear water.
naturally cleans brushes and dilutes oil paints, but
riw Lana’s teaches a pastel painting holiday with Tuscany in the
also makes your studio smell like freshly-cut lemon
www.zest-it.com Frame from 26 May to 2 June. www.lanaballot.com
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’s
D o u g l as
to p tiP
s h a d ow s
“ U s e s trong s k ie s to
ng
when p ainti d c reate
an
ad d depth
drama in
a sense of
a p e s”
your land s c
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RIGHT Douglas
Wilson, Lilies at
Chartres, oil on
board, 73x85cm

Fresh
Paint
Inspiring new artworks, straight off the easel
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Douglas Wilson
With the exception of a brief foray into abstraction in the
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1960s, the portfolio of Douglas Wilson is comprised of
figurative and surrealist interpretations of the landscape.
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Ask when the artist first discovered the locations that
inspired his works and he claims his is “more of a visionary
process”, adding: “My compositions are inspired by the
feeling of a place rather than what’s physically there in
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front of me. We live with a lot of ugliness in England, but

among it there is still a wealth of beautiful countryside to
be explored.”
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And inspiration is certainly not in short supply for the

Shropshire-based artist, “I mostly work from sketches and
we’re blessed to have a very varied landscape,” he says.
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“The south is very hilly but, in the north, where I live, it

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flattens out towards the Cheshire plain.”

Working with what he terms the “canal-and-buttercup
countryside”, much of Douglas’s oeuvre depicts
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architectural subjects set against dramatic skies and

sweeping green landscapes. Whilst he paints almost
exclusively in his studio, he will often take quick plein air
sketches of landscapes that speak to him, occasionally
taking out his camera to snap finer details that catch his
eye, such as a Victorian chimney pot.
While his reference materials are gathered with haste,
the process of creating the paintings is a lengthy one,
sometimes taking as long as two years to craft a painting,
such as Lilies at Chartres. “They’re painted with thin glazes,
so I craft an impasto painting and then apply thin glazes
over the top,” he explains. “It’s a very slow process which
gradually develops layers of transparent colour, and so I’ll
usually have a few on the go at the same time.”
Despite such a lengthy and successful career, his
painting style has shifted of late. “I have been gradually
moving away from this [method] as I get older and my
eyesight isn’t so good,” says the 83-year-old painter. “I find
myself moving towards a freer style of painting which hails
back to my student days, being more expressive with my
strokes and being less regimented in my composition.”
Douglas’s next show runs from 7 November to 1 December at
Highgate Contemporary Art, London N6. www.highgateart.com

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Fresh Paint
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s a lly’s
sh
to p tiP
“C apture th
em
e
of c anine s ovement
ub
limiting you je c ts by
ar
rs
time and e ketc hing
mp loy ing a
lo o s er ap p ro
a c h”
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Sally Muir Freida and Biscuit was a recent painting commissioned

There are lessons in the art of perseverance to be learnt to commemorate the namesake pets by their owner, Paola,
from the career of Sally Muir, whose first step towards a a whippet enthusiast who Sally met online. “I felt an affinity
career in painting began with her acceptance into an art for the elderly whippet as my Lily is 12,” she explains.
school that previously rejected her. The preoccupation with “It was a huge painting, taller than me, so I drew it out, but
canine subjects began much earlier, however, when as a found that it was hard to keep track of it. I’d draw a head
child Sally set to work with a prized set of Derwent pencils, and the feet ended up in the wrong place.” To overcome
making illustrations of the dogs she grew up with, this challenge of proportion, the artist gridded up the
“alongside cats, gerbils, guinea pigs and chickens.” canvas to keep the figures on track.
Today, the artist remains an avid lover of animal subjects In her work, Sally captures the character of her subjects
and she is the proud parent of two whippets, Lily and Peggy. through loose and expressive brushstrokes, and she was
“Lily is a brilliant model,” says Sally. “I teach workshops and eager not to lose this quality when working on such a large
she very much enjoys receiving all the attention.” scale. “As [the canvas] was much bigger than usual, I had
In 2013, the artist challenged herself to craft A Dog A to use much bigger brushes to keep the brush marks lively
Day, posting 365 sketches, lithographs, paintings and and spontaneous,” she explains. “Generally, I would paint
potato prints onto her Facebook page that were eventually a flat background, but when I was painting the darker blue
ABOVE Sally Muir, compiled in a book. The project was picked up by the here, I liked the way it broke up the flatness and gave the
Freida and Biscuit, clothing and homeware chain Anthropologie, which painting a ‘horizon’, so I decided to embrace the accident.”
oil on canvas, commissioned the artist to collaborate on popular Sally Muir: The Dog Show runs until 9 February 2020 at the
200x150cm collection of crockery and textiles. Victoria Art Gallery, Bath. www.victoriagal.org.uk

Fresh Paint
For a chance to feature in Fresh Paint,

sign up for your own personalised
Portfolio Plus page today. You can also:
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Claire Failes would be a challenge to paint. I also thought the pink sky
As a painter who avoids painting en plein air due to having in the background would create a good contrast with the
a style which, to use the artist’s own words, is “so slow the branches of the surrounding trees.”
seasons would change”, the fast-drying time of acrylic paint After scanning her sketch onto a computer, the artist
was once a source of dismay for Claire Failes. However, enlarged the drawing to the size she wanted for her
after discovering the more forgiving nature of Golden Heavy painting and printed it out to lay over a lightbox before
Body acrylics, she discovered a different side to the placing a sheet of Arches HP watercolour paper on top and
medium. “I used to hate acrylics as they were difficult to drawing over it. She then stretched the watercolour paper
manoeuvre, but the buttery consistency is very appealing onto a board and began painting, working in layers from
and suits the way I work. By applying layers of thin paint, dark to light, waiting a day in between each one to allow
I can build up my painting into fine detail.” the paint ample time to dry.
It was a frosty morning when Claire first set to work on The key to a successful studio painting? “Loads of ABOVE Claire Failes,
Early Morning in Winter on the Ash Path, choosing a spot in brushes,” says Claire. “I don’t buy expensive ones as acrylic Early Morning in
a village that she had lived in when she first moved to can be pretty tough on them, but I do find it hard to throw Winter on the Ash
Gloucestershire. “Drawing has always been the basis of my any away, as worn brushes can be useful for painting grass Path, acrylic on
work, so I started with a sketch,” she explains. “I was and other textures.” watercolour paper,
interested in the frost still clinging to the grass and I felt it www.artistsandillustrators.co.uk/Claire-Failes 43x27cm

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oa ki
Sin the ng
Bath
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New English Art Club president
PETER BROWN is back on home turf
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for his latest exhibition of paintings
of Bath, but he still has lots to learn
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he tells MARTHA ALEXANDER
P
eter Brown has gone back to school. The award-
sh
winning painter and father of five is currently

ensconced at a public school in Lancashire with
little in the way of telephone reception and plenty in the
e
way of fresh inspiration.

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But Peter isn’t at Stonyhurst College to learn in a

traditional sense. He’s on an artist’s residency here,
following school life within the imposing gothic building
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and the rugged landscape that surrounds it.

It’s a long way from Bath, Peter’s adopted hometown,
where he lives with his wife Lisa and children Ollie, Toby,
Hattie, Ella and Ned (asked if any of the kids might follow
in their father’s footsteps and he suggests they might get
“proper jobs” instead). Bath is also the city Peter has
immortalised hundreds of times in his paintings, but
the residency is further evidence that he is also an artist
who thrives on change and challenge.
Originally from Newbury, Berkshire, Peter moved to
Bath in 1986 for his art foundation course, before leaving
to pursue his studies elsewhere. He wasn’t away for long
as the Regency glamour of the Somerset city pulled him
towards his past – and his paints.
Brown is affectionately known as “Pete The Street”,
a name which is assumed by many to refer to his
predilection for painting urban scenes, though this isn’t
strictly true – it actually came about because he sold his Morning Light
works on the streets of Bath at the start of his career. on Snow,
When his pal Charlie dropped off some of his paintings Marlborough Lane,
for an open call at Bath Society of Artists, the lady at the oil on canvas,
desk asked if he was “Pete The Street”. “How she came 50.8x63.5cm
about it I don’t know, but that’s the first I heard of it.”

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Brown admits that his nickname is slightly cheesy and

Bath is not an edgy city in
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accepts that it’s part of who he is professionally, though

some people aren’t so keen. “David Messum never liked it,
any way but it’s very beautiful but this is because he felt it was reductive,” he explains of
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and I’m happy painting that his long-standing gallerist. “He hated the labelling.”
Indeed, Peter’s career has rocketed since his street
selling days with collectors regularly paying five-figure
sums to own one of his larger pieces which are always
thoughtful, painterly and cut through with a sense of
urgency somehow. He is also a member of several major
art societies, including being halfway through his second
year as the president of the New English Art Club (NEAC).
“For me it’s a massive honour,” he says, recalling how
simply joining the NEAC in 1998 was the fulfilment of a
huge personal ambition. “The history of the NEAC – the
painters we’ve had through the years – it’s amazing.
There are people in the NEAC who have been taught by
heroes of mine; you feel you are in touching distance.”
Past members of the 134-year-old society include such
legends as John Singer Sargent, Walter Sickert and Gwen
John. Peter praises his fellow current members too, citing
them as “phenomenally knowledgeable about paintings”
while insisting he is “thick as two short planks” himself.
This seems unlikely, although his humbleness is
characteristic. “When I was a student I struggled with
drawing and the truth is, I still do,” he says. “In my A-Level
class I was far and away the worst: my proportions were all

P E T E R B R OW N
OPPOSITE PAGE, wrong and I struggled with line which is why I used where I get all my paintings together and make sure all the
FROM TOP Snowfall, charcoal so much. It’s a constant battle to try to nail it, figures have two legs and the buildings weren’t too wobbly,
St James’s Street, but the battle is what it’s all about.” stuff like that.”
oil on canvas, But his perceived difficulties don’t end with drawing, Peter has painted far-flung places like India and the USA
40.6x50.8cm; admitting that he finds interiors hard to paint for a number but always returns to Bath as a subject. Does he ever get
Winter Evening, of reasons. “I guess it’s because with a landscape it’s a bored of painting the city? “I do talk about getting Bath-ed
Monmouth Street, moment in time and with an interior you can fiddle and out,” he admits. “In the past couple of years, I’ve really
oil on board, fiddle and I end up killing them off quite a bit,” he chuckles. fallen in love with the place again though. I have had a bit
30.5x40.6cm “I work best when I work subconsciously, quickly. But with of an awakening about what a lovely place it is. Bath’s not
interiors I end up thinking too much and paint myself out.” an edgy city in any way but it’s very beautiful and I’m
However, the artist wants to get better at this subject happy painting that. I find it very appealing still.”
matter and so his next show – Bath It Is at Victoria Art It helps, I suggest, that there’s a ‘local boy’ affection
Gallery – features a selection of paintings of his studio. for him there. “Also, you wear people down,” he laughs.
“In which not much happens, really,” he says drily. Aside Peter’s own artistic affections include the usual
from much of his career being spent painting out of doors, suspects like Walter Sickert and John Constable, as well
Peter dislikes the light in his studio. Or did until recently. as his contemporaries at the NEAC such as Arthur Neal:
“It’s east-facing and I get really grumpy about how the light “He’s such a thoughtful painter.” In fact, his main
BELOW Early comes in,” he says. “I want a north-facing one and I looked inspiration comes from those who see things beautifully.
Afternoon, the into building one but it’s just too expensive. And it’s a good “I never ceased to be amazed by a good eye,” he says.
Widcombe Deli job too, as I was in there recently and the light was “Just someone who sees things really well.”
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and The Ram, streaming in and I thought that would be good to paint.” Peter’s next challenge is to tackle a subject matter that
oil on board, And so, he endeavoured to capture his indoor working is simply unavailable in Bath. “I would like to get back to
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30.5x40.6cm life. “Before shows I do what I call a ‘tickle up’ which is
riw painting the coast which I used to do a lot,” he says,
Ja
e sh
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LEFT Late Afternoon,

Pulteney Bridge,
sh
oil on canvas,
76.2x76.2cm
BELOW Ned and
e
the New Puppy on

ar
Ella’s Bed, January,

oil on canvas,
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50.8x63.5cm
referencing the alla prima paintings he does so beautifully.

“British culture is encapsulated on the coast in little
seaside towns, and I love that.”
He wants to map the coast out in his head and make
paintings that compare the coastlines of the south of
England; how Cornwall might differ from Devon, Dorset
or Kent and so on.
One thing that will never change is Peter’s attitude
towards the inclement weather. He has never been put
off by so-called bad weather and instead sees the British
climate as an opportunity for expression. “When you’re
under hammering rain, it concentrates the mind and
makes you paint in a certain way which can give you really
interesting results that you might not have if you had lots
of time,” he says. “There’s something brilliant about a rainy
day when umbrellas are blowing inside out.”
Which is why, despite the picturesque charms of
Varanasi or Havana or New York City, “Pete The Street”
is at his best back home in Blighty, where every day,
it seems, is a school day.
Peter Brown: Bath Is It runs from 30 November to 2 February
2020 at Victoria Art Gallery, Bath. www.peterbrownneac.com

P R I Z E D R AW
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TASTE FOR COLOUR
Denise has a
IN THE STUDIO condition called
Ja
synaesthesia
Denise Harrison
so certain hues
cause sensations
sh
in her mouth
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The Brighton painter reveals how a painting in my head in my dream. I love colour, I love that
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synaesthesia affects her art. texture, I love my brushes as objects as well.

Words and photos: STEVE PILL
It’s seem odd that you’ve written a book called If You’re
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How long have you been in this space? Bored with Acrylics, Read This Book when it sounds like
I moved into Phoenix Studios three years ago. I shared the last thing you’d be!
a space with Michelle [Cobbin] for three months and then The publisher was looking for someone using acrylics a bit
I moved into this one in the October. I prefer this studio differently. I teach at Cass Art in the evening and they
because I’ve got the morning sun and no traffic noise. found me through that. It is part of a series of books called
If You’re Bored With… I had to think of different idea and it
How often are you here? gave me a chance to really play. I paint every day so I’m
I come here seven days a week. I only live 10 minutes away always experimenting.
so even if I’m going to the beach, I come into the studio on
the way. I wanted to make it feel homely, and a lot of my If people struggle with acrylics, do you have any tips?
work is about conservation and the landscape, so I have a I always recommend starting with just two colours and a
lot of rescued plants and I even grow tomatoes here. white, get to know those colours first, and maybe try to do a
landscape, abstracting the shapes. Landscapes are really
Has your work changed since you moved here? good for learning because you aren’t concentrating on
Yes, I’ve been doing more bodies of work. I have three getting a likeness like you are with a portrait.
painting walls and I have wheels on the bottom of a table
that I call my “moveable palette” so I can move around. You seem to really like the substance of paint?
On the corridor, we all leave our doors open and we’ll come What I like is the level of contrast, that contradiction
in and out of each other’s studios. Michelle and I do crits between the marks. On the painting on the wall [top right],
together and give feedback on each other’s paintings. you’ve got the perfect line of the greenhouse that I painted
using tape and then the free big brush marks I used for the
You must really love it? plants. I’m trying to contrast the lushness of the foliage
I do. I wake up in the morning and sometimes I’ll have done with the coldness and straightness of the building.

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COST EFFECTIVE
For large works,
Denise likes
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to use baker’s
When making a green mark on a pink ground, for example,
brushes that start
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you need to be decisive. Do you plan your strokes first?

at just 60p.
Every large painting has a small one first, so these are my
“sketches”. I don’t tend to do drawings in pencil as I get
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stuck in detail. Instead I draw with the paint on a small

scale, either from photographs or memory, and then I make
the larger painting based on that smaller painting. It means
the final painting is one step removed from the photo.
Is colour important to you?

Yes, I have synaesthesia, so colour affects me. When I see
colour, I can feel and taste it. Some colours cause a tingling
sensation on my tongue. I did a landscape painting called
Blueberry Milkshake that is the colour of the foods the Do you use a lot of different paints then?
people were eating at Stanmer Park. People drive there, Yes, but there are certain colours I just don’t like, like
park by this little café and have a muffin or a milkshake, Lemon Yellow. I get a bad taste in the mouth with it. I don’t
so I’ve put the colours of their food into my landscape. really like the sensation I get from Ultramarine either.
My mouth’s watering looking at it. I’ll use it to mix greens, but I won’t use it as it is.
Has synaesthesia always affected how you paint? What are the “tastiest” colours for you?
I only found out I had it about four years ago when a tutor Probably Cyan Blue and Cadmium Yellow Deep.
suggested it. I used to get really excited about colour, I tend to fill my house with these colours, so I have brightly
especially Naples Yellow and they said I should have a test. coloured carpets and things like that. Some people ask
if the synaesthesia is a hindrance, but I think its great
Do you feel more in control now you know this? as an artist.
Yes, understanding it makes me feel better about my Denise’s new book, If You’re Bored with Acrylics, Read This
colour choices. Sometimes I have to reduce the vibrancy. Book, is published by Ilex Press. www.deniseharrisonart.com

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TA L K I N G T E C H N I Q U E S
Andrew
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Gifford
Famed for his vivid paintings of far-flung landscapes, the Middlesbrough artist shares
his advice on colour mixing, capturing light effects and more with STEVE PILL
T
o say that Andrew Gifford has a restless spirit may religion, they just happened to be commissioned by
be one of the world’s greatest understatements. religious people. Or how he hopes to make a life-size
Over the course of more than three hours in his painting of the huge tree opposite his studio, if only he can
Brighton studio, he doesn’t sit down once, preferring find a company willing to make a canvas large enough.
ABOVE Chapel of instead to hop around the room, pulling out paintings for However, Artists & Illustrators is here to talk about his
St Xenia, Through his gallery assistant to take away for his next exhibition painting techniques and, refreshingly for someone so
the Trees in and regaling us with endless stories, theories and successful both in commercial and artistic terms, he isn’t
Heavy Snow, unfulfilled ambitions. Like the time he caught a bat with about to hold back there either. “I don’t mind ‘fessing up
oil on canvas, his bare hands in a French chateau. Or his theory that the my processes,” he says with a mischievous grin. “Some
135x137cm great Renaissance artists weren’t really interested in people are really secretive but I don’t give a shit.”

RIGHT Andrew
Gifford at work in
his Brighton studio
BELOW RIGHT
Cathedral of the
Saviour through the
Tree, Last Sunlight,
St Petersburg,
oil on canvas,
114x110cm
This isn’t misplaced arrogance but rather an

acknowledgement that all the knowledge in the world
won’t help you if you don’t practice. Andrew – “Giff” to his
mates – is 50 next year and he has spent much of the last
three decades honing his plein air painting skills in places
as far afield as Jerusalem, Kerala and Hong Kong. At the
beginning of the year, he planned a long trip to Russia.
“I thought I’d just been painting hot places and I’d never
done a series of snow paintings,” he explains. “For me,
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Russia is snow, that’s the vibe. And I thought if I was doing
that, I should probably take more white than I normally do.”
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Giff travels with two white paints: a tube of Michael
Harding’s Titanium White and a couple of less-pigmented
white for using in mixes. His favoured palette of oil colours
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also includes Cadmium Yellow Light, Indian Yellow, Yellow
Ochre, Transparent Iron Oxide, Cadmium Red, Magenta,
Alizarin Crimson, Phthalo Green, Sap Green, Phthalo Blue,
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Ultramarine Blue, Cobalt Blue, Van Dyke Brown and Lamp

Black. Each colour has been carefully tested over time.
Some paints were introduced for specific uses, such as
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Indian Yellow, a “really translucent colour” he uses for

warm glazes to capture “that time of day when everything
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You don’t want to

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overcomplicate things
goes that golden colour”, or Lamp Black, which he saves
for painting figures in a landscape as it “sets them aside
from everything else and gives them a presence.”
Phthalo Blue is another he “can’t live without” when
painting transitional skies. Pointing out of the window, Giff
notes how most blue skies actually shift from a red-biased
Ultramarine Blue at the top, down to a green-biased
Phthalo Blue that gives him the “zinging quality” he craves.
His most recent addition was Michael Harding’s Magenta.
“When you mix it with blues, you get these incredible
purples and you can create great shadows in snow.”
Giff underlines the importance of getting to know the
subtle differences between the same colours across
different brands. “For example, Michael Harding’s Sap
Green is a very translucent green that I mix with Alizarin
Crimson to make great darks, whereas Daler-Rowney’s
Sap Green is a chalkier colour which does a totally different
thing.” Familiarity is key then. “When you’re painting
quickly en plein air, you’ve got to know your way around
the palette. You don’t want to overcomplicate things.”

means that Giff can often only paint
a single layer on location. He will prep
things a little by blocking in some
colours and shadow shapes. Then,
when the sun hits the required point
in the sky, he will “just really go nuts”,
working quickly with the oils.
A video posted on his Instagram
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account (@andrew_gifford_artist)
back in September shows him making
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a frantic 10-minute oil sketch of a
Swedish sunset. “The essential thing
riw out there is to get a sense of the
actual colour and light in the sky.
A photo never quite gets it.”
He further increases colour
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vibrancy by keeping his brushes clean

at all times and using a palette that is
at least as big as his board or canvas,
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so that there is space for mixing.

To carry paintings home, Giff places
plastic tile spacers (the ones used for
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tiling bathrooms) between the wet

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boards, which he then wraps together

to hold them in place. Back in the
studio, these smaller paintings made
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on location will either be worked over

quickly, keeping a sense of the
original colour but enhancing the
brushwork and transitions, or he will
use them as the basis for larger
paintings, where he can develop or
expand the colours further. Scaling
up, however, requires far more than
simply recreating the same scene on
a larger scale. “You can’t just paint a
sketch with a small brush and then
ABOVE Silver Prior to a trip such as his recent stints in Russia and paint the big canvas with the same brush. You’ve got to
Birches near Scandinavia, Giff will prepare maybe two dozen plywood handle the marks totally differently.”
Stockholm, oil on boards, each about 40cm square and covered with a white Abstract artist Mark Rothko famously liked to paint in a
panel, 42x28cm Crete primer and then one of a range of coloured oil brightly-lit studio, but then have his works hung in dim-lit
grounds. Dark purple grounds are usually used for night conditions – an approach Giff has adopted. “It means when
paintings, orange ones for cityscapes and mauve ones for I paint darks in the studio, I can really see them properly.
snow scenes. “It kick starts you a little bit,” he explains. And then when those darks are lit normally, they’ll really
“Those colours will shine through in a little way and bind just glow.” This interest in the more technical, logical
the whole thing together immediately so you get the feel aspects of painting is something he credits to his engineer
of the painting earlier, which is useful when it is cold.” father, “a total scientist” in contrast to the artistic nature
Time is always of the essence. Even when mixed with of his mother’s side of the family. A voluntary lunchtime
his trusty Lukas Medium 5, the slow-drying nature of oils course at art college that taught how paints were made

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LEFT Kyläniemi
Saimaa Region,
Looking West, oil
on panel, 39x25cm
I paint in a
bright studio
so when
those dark
colours are lit
normally, they
really glow
also proved revelatory to a young Giff.

“It’s all just a pigment and a medium,”
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he says. “When you understand that,
and the suspension of pigment, and
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how some pigments are very fine,
which is what makes them
riw translucent… All that enables you to
make paintings full of light.”
That insight has also given him the
confidence to mix his own paint from
Ja
powdered L Cornelissen & Son

pigments, as well as making a glaze
medium he can adapt to suit each
sh
picture. “It is basically dammar

crystals and I just soak them in
turpentine and add a refined linseed
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oil and a cobalt siccative – just a tiny

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bit makes it dry a bit quicker.”

It is perhaps this very rudimentary
view of paint as a substance that
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helps Giff to be less precious when it

comes to reworking passages of paint
ABOVE Cathedral of that others might be pretty happy with. He points to one
St Peter & Paul, oil larger canvas that clearly won’t be leaving his studio today.
on panel, 36x34cm “At the moment, it looks a little too simple,” he says of the
Russian church outlined heavily against a vast, pastel
snowscape. His solution will be to soften the brushwork by
removing some of the paint with a rag and then glazing or
scumbling fresh colour on top.
Destruction is an important part of creation for Giff.
“If you smash it up with a rag, you get all these amazing
marks and the edges aren’t quite perfect,” he says. “I build
it up with a lot of this drying agent underneath, the Lukas
Medium 5, so then I can mash it up a little bit and look at
it for five minutes and by then it’s just tacky enough so I
can work over it with wet paint and it doesn’t all bleed in.”
For now though, the exhibition calls and any last changes
must stop. “I’ve put them all over there to get them out of
my head,” he says, gesturing at the corner of the room.
LEFT Green Dacha, “When you’ve got this many paintings, you have to.”
St Petersburg, Andrew’s next exhibition, Baltic Journey, runs from
February, oil on 21 November to 20 December at John Martin Gallery,
panel, 50x50cm London W1. www.jmlondon.com/andrew-gifford

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10 MINUTES WITH...
Martin Gayford
The Spectator art critic and author opens up about his new books,
having his portrait painted by Lucian Freud, and what David
Hockney really likes to talk about. Interview: STEVE PILL
You must have met countless artists. How did you settle years, which British artists would dominate the story?
upon the 19 featured in your new book, The Pursuit of Art? Interesting question. Peter Doig is certainly someone I
Part of the idea was that the encounter with the artists would write about, Gary Hume is another. I’m not quite sure
involved an interesting journey. In most cases, I’m travelling it would work so well because I’m not sure whether there
to see them. In the case of Gilbert & George, I actually met was such a social network, but maybe there’s scope for it.
them in Beijing, so I was encountering China and them at
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the same time. If you go and visit an artist in their own You also wrote A Bigger Message: Conversations with
landscape, then you find out more about their work. David Hockney. What’s the most enjoyable part of a chat
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with someone like Hockney?
Are there certain qualities all great artists possess? Well, apart from the pleasure of their company, I like
There probably is an “artist type”, but defining it is difficult. I
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learning and I think you can learn a lot from listening to
think it’s a recognisable mixture of being absolutely artists, especially people such as Hockney and Freud.
unbendingly fanatical about certain aspects of life, for
example, what something looks like, but also a sort of What are your chats with Hockney like away from art?
Ja
willingness to go to extreme lengths. Apart from smoking – I could have written another book
about his thoughts on that – the conversations are pretty
In The Pursuit of Art you write about the idea of “slow wide ranging actually. He’s moved to Normandy and he’s
sh
looking”. Is that something that has been forgotten about very in love with the French countryside so there are lots of
in the digital age? observations about that. And he’s met a huge number of
Actually, it’s possibly something that is coming back. people and not necessarily in the art world. In Hollywood,
e
Obviously, there is a tendency for us to spend all day long Billy Wilder and Cary Grant were great pals of his.
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looking at screens and go through to the other side of them

like Alice with the looking glass, but there seems to be a Freud painted your portrait, which you recounted in your
movement in the opposite direction, perhaps as a reaction book Man With a Blue Scarf. Were there aspects of the
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to seeing art entirely in a virtual form. final painting you were surprised he picked up on?
Yes, I was surprised by how forceful and confident looking
You seem fascinated by artistic process in many of your he’d made me. I didn’t always feel terribly confident or
books. Do you see your role as lifting the curtain in a way? forceful – I often felt quite tired out when I was sitting there
I sometimes think what I do is listening to artists and then at the end of a day – but that’s what he picked up on. Freud
transmitting their thoughts in a way that is more easily did that. He wasn’t necessarily giving a complete analysis
digestible to a wider audience. I like finding out how it of a sitter in a certain work, he was making what he
happens. I felt that’s a bit of a weakness of conventional thought would make the strongest possible painting.
art history, that it grew up really as a genre written by
literary people and historians who looked at art in What was the last exhibition that really moved you?
museums, so there’s less about what goes on in the studio. I loved the Olafur Eliasson show [In Real Life] at Tate
Modern. There’s a parallel to the things that Friedrich or
For your last book, Modernists & Mavericks: Bacon, Freud, Van Eyck were doing with light, but he doesn’t make a
Hockney and the London Painters, were there any less picture, he puts you in the middle of it. There’s a passage
famous artists you thought deserve wider recognition? full of yellow fog and it’s like walking through a Turner.
Well, certainly Gillian Ayres, who was one of my great
helpers and sources for that book. I feel she is someone And finally, do you have another book in the pipeline?
who hasn’t quite been given her due. British abstraction Yes, I’m just finishing off the first draft actually. It’s a sequel
vanished into a black hole in the 1970s, whereas hundreds to the one I did with David Hockney called A History of
of thousands go along to see Rothko or Pollock exhibitions. Pictures. This one is about three-dimensional art with
© TOM DUNKLEY
Antony Gormley as my co-author. It’s out next autumn.

Modernists & Mavericks covers the period 1945 to 1970. Martin’s latest book, The Pursuit of Art, is published by Thames
If you were going to attempt a similar survey of the last 25 & Hudson (RRP £16.95). www.thameshudson.com

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I was surprised by
how Lucian Freud
painted me… I didn’t
always feel terribly
confident or forceful
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The Painter
A R T H I S T O RY
Within
LUCIAN FREUD’S self portraits are
a celebration of paint, and a chance
to get close to the late, great artist,
says author ROSALIND ORMISTON
LUCIAN FREUD
FROM FAR LEFT

Lucian Freud,
Reflection with Two
Children (Self-
portrait), 1965,
oil on canvas,
91x91cm; Lucian
Freud, Hotel
Bedroom, 1954,
oil on canvas,
91.5x61cm
The Self-portraits is the first exhibition

to study the gradual change in the
late artist’s self-portraiture, from his
flat, linear and meticulously painted
early works to the unflinching,
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confrontational fleshy masterpieces
he produced in later years.
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Painted at the age of 21, 1943’s
Man with a Feather is Freud’s first
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The white feather refers to a love
affair. The painting has a smooth,
glossy surface. It was created with
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Ripolin enamel paint, applied with fine

sable brushes, to show every small
detail, yet hide the brush marks.
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Freud admired Picasso, who may

have been the first to experiment with
this commercial brand of house paint.
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The three-quarter length linear

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composition is of Freud, clean-

shaven, looking intensely at the
viewer. Background events only
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momentarily distract from the figure

of Freud. The dark jacket, the knotted
© THE LUCIAN FREUD ARCHIVE/BRIDGEMAN IMAGES
tie, the neat shirt; each is carefully

observed and draws the viewer in.
His long, pale hands are exquisitely
executed. Hands and eyes are always
noticeable in Freud’s art. He would
start from a small part of the work,
perhaps the eye, and work outwards
from it. A working method can be
seen in the unfinished Self-portrait,
c. 1956, with its light underdrawing,
L
ooking at Lucian Freud’s “I want paint to work as flesh,” usually a charcoal sketch, also visible.
self-portraits, one observes the he once said, according to artist In the 1940s, the artist Graham
development and maturation Lawrence Gowing’s 1982 monograph. Sutherland introduced Freud to
of his craft. Open to experimentation “As far as I am concerned, the paint Francis Bacon, both men figurative
with new techniques, pushing is the person.” artists in an art world more focused
boundaries of composition, and paint Near 70 years of self-portraiture by on abstraction. The meeting produced
application, he stated that he asked the Berlin-born, British artist Lucian a long friendship between Bacon and
of his paintings, and his paint, to Freud is explored at London’s Royal Freud, and they regularly painted
“astonish, disturb, seduce, convince.” Academy of Arts this winter in a series portraits of each other. A small,
And, for Freud, it was always of more than 50 paintings and meticulous portrait of Bacon (now
about the paint. It directed his work. works on paper. Lucian Freud: lost), painted on copper by Freud,

LUCIAN FREUD
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ABOVE Lucian was described by art critic Robert

Freud, Man with Hughes in 1987, as a “visual truth”.
a Feather, 1943, Freud, he said, had given Bacon’s
oil on canvas, “pear-shaped face the silent intensity
76.2x50.8cm of a grenade in the millisecond before
it goes off”. Those words express
what Freud achieved in portraiture, He would mix the paint for one tonal colouration and texture he
and self-portraiture in particular: brush stroke then wipe the brush wanted, before pushing the next
an intense visual truth. clean with a clean rag. In some heavily-loaded paintbrush across
The younger Freud was influenced artworks the discarded rags, often the canvas.
by some of Bacon’s working methods. former hotel linen, can be seen in It is in this respect that his working
From the 1950s, there were piles on the studio floor. Paint on the method differed from Bacon. Freud
noticeable changes in his painting palette would be removed with a had to have the sitter in the studio,
and paint application, like standing palette knife and scraped on to the even when painting in the background
© THE LUCIAN FREUD ARCHIVE/BRIDGEMAN IMAGES
up to paint, as Bacon did, and using studio wall to keep it off the floor. detail, while his friend and peer
hog’s hair brushes for thicker paint Paint wall spatters are visible preferred to work from photographs
textures. (1954’s Hotel Bedroom was behind Freud in the 2002 of a sitter. For Freud, a sitting was a
apparently the last work Freud masterpiece, Self-portrait, Reflection. face-to-face private experience. How
painted sitting down.) With the colour mixed as he wanted, sitters wanted to see themselves was
Freud never applied paint straight with each brushstroke he would look not necessarily what he saw. What he
from the tube. He used natural, again at his subject – in the case of wanted to achieve was his objective,
earthy colours and always mixed his self-portraits, his own reflection in even if it meant days of discomfort for
them on a hand-held palette. the mirror. This helped him to get the the sitter. He stated that, in this

LUCIAN FREUD
facial features, the impasto strokes

By the 1950s, Freud stood up applied like a Cubist refraction of light
and shade. In addition, there is a
to paint and used hog’s hair brooding atmosphere, as though one
brushes for thicker textures is present in front of him, caught

witnessing this exploration of his
being. In Reflection with Two Children
aspect, he was immensely selfish. between the couple is palpable with (Self-portrait), painted two years later,
In Freud’s self-portraits, as in the the addition of a voyeur – the viewer Freud experimented with two mirrors,
portraits of the people in his life, – present. The result is reminiscent of peering down at himself, his head and
there is a psychological element to the isolation felt in an Edward Hopper body twisted around from a sidewards
each work, a confrontational realism painting; Freud cropped the position, to study and paint his
to which the viewer responds. He said composition tightly, which added features. The lamp light source
he wished his portraits “to be of a claustrophobic element. is revealed behind him.
people, not like them”. In self-portraits Freud said he found The placement of two of his
One senses it in Hotel Bedroom, it difficult to infuse the psychological children, Rose and Ali, at the bottom
set in a Paris hotel. There is a sense element that he could attain in his of the picture frame, is said to be
of anxiety and tension in this double portraits of other people. The copied from the tomb of the Eygptian
portrait of Freud and his second wife, features he saw looking back at him dwarf Seneb, a high-ranking court
the novelist Lady Caroline Blackwood. in the mirror were not all that he official, and his family, reproduced
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The composition focuses primarily on wanted to paint. He needed to exact in a history book owned by Freud.
Blackwood, then leads the eye an intense scrutiny of who he was, to The nude portrait was a tool in
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directly through to the figure of Freud reveal more than physical features. Freud’s remarkable oeuvre, exploring
backlit, standing by a window, staring In Man’s Head (Self-portrait III) the physical body of his subject so
back the viewer, as if looking at
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from 1963, Freud used thick oil paint, intimately, in stark portrayals of
himself in a mirror. The emptiness to define and highlight his angular realism. His sitters never appeared
to flinch from his infinitesimal
exploration of their skin and their
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psyche. In his own self-portraits,

particularly nude portraits, one can
sense the atmosphere of unequivocal
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self-examination, as in 1985’s
Reflection (Self-portrait).
Freud captures not just his likeness
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but his inner determination and

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humanity. Remarkable portrayals

such as this explain why he was
honoured as the greatest living
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figurative artist prior to his death in

2011. His motivation through decades
of self-examination was an attempt to
manipulate the paint to produce a
realism that, as he said, would
astonish and convince the viewer.
ABOVE Lucian Given many of the artworks in Royal
Freud, Reflection Academy’s show are loaned from
(Self-portrait), private collections, Lucian Freud:
1985, oil The Self-portraits is a rare opportunity
on canvas, for artists to study Freud’s working
55.9x55.3cm methods up close; to examine his
self-portraits, from youth to older age.
The intensely personal observations
of himself may never reveal exactly
how he achieved the psychological
representations of his physical
appearance, but the self-portraits will
RIGHT Lucian Freud, reveal the painter within the man.
Self-portrait, Lucian Freud: The Self-portraits
Reflection, 2002, runs until 26 January 2020 at the
oil on canvas, Royal Academy of Arts, London W1.
66x50.8cm www.royalacademy.org.uk

CALL FOR
ARTISTS
AUTUMN ART FAIR
16 -18 OCTOBER 2020
DEADLINE TO APPLY:
SUN 29TH MARCH 2020
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www.landmarkartscentre.org
Peter Brown
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Image: Anna Clarke Registered Charity No: 1047080
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30 November – 2 February 2020
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COLUMNIST
At my first open studios,

I had a dozen visitors – and
nine of those were family
the opportunity to engage directly

with you, giving them a direct insight
into your methods, along with the
chance to buy work, book classes or
discuss commissions. There is often
plenty of support for newcomers and
excellent opportunities to network
with fellow artists. While a few events
have a selection process, most are
open to any eligible local artist.
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It does take time to build your
audience. In my first year, I had a
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dozen visitors – and nine of those
were family. Start small and grow your
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There is no pressure, other than to
provide an honest, friendly and
enjoyable event, so some may see it
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more as a social and networking

event, while others may be intent on
sales or winning commissions.
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Whatever you want from your show,

remember to enjoy it and see it as a
step towards a long-term goal, not an
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immediate reward.
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Open studios involve relatively little

financial outlay or risk for the artist,
while bringing the benefit of strength
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in numbers. This makes it an

excellent opportunity for
experimenting and taking risks, both
in your work and the way you exhibit
and demonstrate. I use my open
studios as an annual testing ground
to trial new ideas and different ways
of engaging with my visitors, keeping
it fresh for the returning audience
while improving the overall experience
for newcomers.
It is the unique combination of
presenting your work on your terms,
Our columnist LAURA BOSWELL on why open while benefiting from being part of a
studios events are a must for beginners larger umbrella event, that makes
open studios something to grow into
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t is that time of year when I am experiments that I still embrace with – rather than grow out of – as you
starting to think about my open the same enthusiasm today. develop. Give it a go and I hope you
ABOVE Laura studios event for next year. I’ve All open studio events have a will find it the same enjoyable learning
Boswell, Vale taken part in my local Bucks Art broadly similar aim of encouraging curve as I still do. Just remember to
Teasles, Japanese Weeks since 2006. Taking part artists to either open their workspace invite the family.
woodblock/linocut, helped launch my career and it is the to the public or exhibit artworks in a Bucks Art Weeks runs 6-21 June 2020.
29.4x44.5cm only one of my early exhibition shared local venue. Visitors then have www.lauraboswell.co.uk

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MASTERCL ASS
wet
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International watercolour master FABIO CEMBRANELLI
shows how controlling water will enable you to take a
loose and intuitive approach to a watercolour still life
Fabio’s materials
•Paper
Arches Grain Fin 300 gsm
watercolour paper
•Brushes
I
love painting watercolours using the wet-on-wet hard and soft edges is important to create a sense Synthetic round brushes,
technique because each new painting is a of depth and, if this is well developed, we can build sizes 8, 10; synthetic flat
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challenge for me: the wet paint is laid on the wet a sense of three-dimensionality in our artwork. brushes, size 6, 1/2”, 3/4”;
or damp paper, the colours flow, they blend into one The trick is to place most of the harder edges around a small synthetic rigger
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another and create unexpected and diffused effects. or closer to the focal point (in the following). •Paints
This method is all about taking risks, daring, working If you want to paint loosely, work fast but don’t New Gamboge, Indian Yellow,
fast and intuitively, while understanding the wetness
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forget to also be mindful of where your focal point Transparent Orange,
of the paper: that’s the way I feel more comfortable. is placed. Don’t spell everything out to the viewer. Permanent Alizarin Crimson,
If the paper is wet, there will be many soft edges at You don’t need to draw each petal, leave something Rose Madder, Quinacridone
the beginning. As I add more layers, some shapes will for the imagination. Similarly, don’t outline every Magenta, Sap Green, Olive
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become more defined, as those initial soft edges shape, leave some soft edges. And the most Green, Cobalt Blue, French
disappear and the edges become harder. Others will important advice: finish your artwork with the paper Ultramarine, Ultramarine
remain soft – or “lost” – throughout. still humid – allow colours to blend into one another Violet and Shadow Violet, all
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The more drybrush strokes you make, the more before they have dried. Daniel Smith watercolour
harder edges will be created too. The play between www.fabiocembranelli.com
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1. Check your kit 2. Add water 1. Break the composition
I use a portable folding palette with After sketching the main shapes in pencil Using a 1/2” flat brush, I started adding more
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transparent watercolour paints in tubes (I don’t like to draw all the flowers and leaves, shapes, including a red flower in the top left
as I need a creamy consistency to paint as some of them will come out during the to provide some diagonal balance to the
wet-on-wet. I never use opaque colours. painting process), I wet the paper randomly composition.
In my opinion, watercolour is about saving using a large synthetic brush. My arrangement in the vase provided
or restoring the white of the paper so once Using a 3/4” flat brush, I started painting a vertical composition, but the dominant
it’s lost, it’s better to start again – there’s no the central flowers – the focal point of my vertical (the flowers) can be interrupted by
gouache in my palette. The brand of brushes composition. The white flower was a tricky an imaginary diagonal line to prevent the
isn’t important, so long as they are synthetic subject: every time there’s a white subject, viewer’s eyes from leaving the composition.
hairs, and a rigger brush is necessary to add I try to paint the background around it rather It can be important to play with diagonal
final touches. than the subject itself, letting the white of the touches such as this to break the grid-like
paper show through. Sometimes we add so effect that can occur in the play between
many colours, shadows and layers to a horizontal and vertical lines.
“white” shape that it won’t be white anymore.
4. Mix your greens
The structure of my composition was starting

to come together: we can see all the flowers,
a few suggestions of green leaves, and some
background around the flowers. The greens
were a mix of Sap Green with a little Burnt
Sienna or New Gamboge (for warm greens)
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or Sap Green plus Olive Green and a little
French Ultramarine (for cool greens). 5. Pick out details
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Note there’s just one white flower –
I wanted to draw attention to it, it’s part of my I wanted to add a few details to the flowers, so I needed to change my flat brush for a pointed,
focal point. There are many soft edges at this
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size 8 round brush. I added rose sepals using a mixing of Olive Green and Gamboge Yellow.
moment and some of them won’t become Sometimes we can start adding too many details too soon, so they become stronger than the
hard edges, we need to have a balance to main subject itself (in this case the central flowers). These were not the final details or final
create a sense of depth. touches. They will be added later with a rigger brush.
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7. Suggest the vase
The glass vase was transparent so I painted

it with a very dilute mix of Cobalt Blue, Sap
Green and Ultramarine Violet, and a round
size 10 brush. After adding this layer, I added
6. Paint leaves subtly the stems using a size 6 flat brush with a mix
of Sap Green plus Cobalt Blue and Indian
Using the same round brush, I kept adding details. The leaves were made from a dilute mix Yellow. I also suggested a water line inside
of Sap Green plus Burnt Sienna and New Gamboge, applied as a transparent layer. the vase, using the larger size 10 brush.
More shadows can be added to these transparent leaf layers later – remember, a leaf is not As it was an ordinary glass vase, I didn’t
a flat object, so we need to add light and shadow to it too. The leaves and stems are part of my want to show all stems and draw too much
composition too. They will add a sense of structure to the painting, but they are not the stars attention to them. Suggesting it was the
here so be careful: your greens shouldn’t attract more attention than your flowers. Flowers are important bit; if I added too many colours,
the main subject here, so everything else should purely be added to enhance them. it would not appear transparent anymore.

MASTERCL ASS
8. Dampen the paper 9. Add more contrast
It’s important to understand if your paper is Using a larger round brush, I added darker
still wet or not at this stage. If you want to values to the background just to enhance the 10. Lift out unwanted colour
work in a wet-on-wet technique, you need to main flowers (the focal point) with a few hard
re-wet your paper sometimes. edges. I used a size 4 round brush loaded I wanted to restore the lighter areas now
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I had been painting for nearly 30 minutes, with a thick mix of Burnt Sienna plus Shadow so I started lifting out some pigment from
so my paper was starting to dry a little. I like Violet and French Ultramarine. I want the the paper. It’s important to lift out with a
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to work with my paper quite wet so I added a foreground of my painting to be more synthetic brush (here I use two flat brushes:
little bit of water on to it, so that I could keep detailed – it means adding darker marks the 1/2” and 3/4”) because they are stiffer,
on working wet-on-wet. You can add water to
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close to the flowers that are part of the so the pigment will be lifted more easily. Note
the paper with a plant spray bottle or you can foreground. Think of it this way: if you want that that the brush shouldn’t be loaded with
load a brush with some water and re-wet the something to appear more distant, use less too much water – it needs to be a bit thirsty
area you are working on. contrast, less detail and more soft edges. to absorb the pigment.
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11. Cast some shadows
Avoid black or flat greys for shadows: instead,

try to mix mid-to-dark blues with earth 12. Finishing touches
colours (such as siennas or umbers) to
create a colourful grey that will add interest. I used a rigger brush to add all the lines and dots to my composition. These are the
Here I used a mix of Burnt Sienna and calligraphic elements that will define some shapes, directions and attract the viewer’s eyes.
Ultramarine Violet with a size 8 round brush They will also define a few hard edges, making a few shapes appear closer. At this point, some
to paint the shadowy edge of the vase, areas are still a little bit humid – it’s a wet-on-wet work, after all. Keep in mind that plenty of
spreading so that it was darker close to the the calligraphic work should be on your focal point or used to enhance something, don’t just
vase and softer as it stretched away. add things for the sake of it. Too many lines and marks will result in an overworked painting.

MASTER TECHNIQUES
1. Indirect
Painting
In his new series on Old Master techniques, Norfolk Painting School’s MARTIN
KINNEAR begins with a look at the effects create via indirect painting methods
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E
ver been stopped in your
tracks by a painting and
wondered: how was that done?
If you intend to work in layers,
Over the next four issues I’ll be it’s important that they are
letting you in on a few of the amazing
things that only paintings and paint orchestrated together
ABOVE Martin can do in the hands of the old (and
Kinnear, not so old) masters. If you think that the art of it, so while the means are With that caveat, I’d like to invite
Regeneration, learning technique is old-fashioned, not the end, you really ought to have you to think about your painting and
oil on canvas, then think again. them to hand if you want to succeed. reflect on whether or not you’re
91x91cm The entry requirements for the As were talking about ideas, it’s missing out on some powerful ideas
John Moores Painting Prize, perhaps important to decide where to begin. and techniques that could help you
OPPOSITE PAGE the most prestigious contemporary Picasso understood that there is no better realise your creative vision.
El Greco, Saint award for painters, emphasises that progression in art as did Grayson Let’s start at the very beginning:
Jerome as Scholar, artists’ entries should, above all, Perry when he noted that “everything how you apply paint. One habit of
c.1610, oil on demonstrate what paint and painting was contemporary once”. Ideas are successful creative people is to
canvas, 108x89cm alone can do. A stroll around the Tate timeless, but to explore some of the question assumptions, so why do
“Indirect brushwork Modern will also show you that the best ideas in visual art, you’ll need a most artists apply pre-prepared tube
adds depth and best ideas are the ones that are bit of craft to articulate them. This paints onto white canvases and
texture to Saint powerfully presented and forcefully series on the craft of painting is spread them with brushes or knives?
Jerome’s beard brought to life by strong visual art. designed to help you become a If that sounds the obvious route
and cape” The craft of painting is necessary to better, more creative artist. to you, then just think of all the

MASTER TECHNIQUES
decisions you’ve opted out of. Could Indirect painting simply means 1. Prepare an imprimatura – an initial
you make the paint yourself? Could creating a work in stages or layers, colour stain on the ground
you modify how it looks, spreads or one after – and over – the other. This 2. Block in an underpainting to place
dries? Why are you only choosing to in turn means that each layer has to the key elements
paint on a white surface? Is a brush be made in reference to both what it 3. Refine the underpainting by
or knife the best tool for the way you is painted over, and what will modelling the lines and forms
want to paint? subsequently be painted over it. 4. Add nuance to that modelling with
If the great virtue of study is to see This sounds straightforward – and layers of glazing or scumbling
a familiar process through new eyes, can be – however indirect working 5. Give the whole painting a final
the greater virtue of practical study is requires you to consider in advance unifying layer of varnish
to both see and experience it. So, for the sequence you work in, exploit the
this series of four articles, I’d like to possibilities you create, and stay Within these five basic steps, the
get you familiar with a different way of focused on creating a punchy image. emphasis one puts on each stage
seeing painting: through indirect eyes. If you intend to work in several may vary enormously, and stages
BELOW Martin layers, it’s important to ensure that might be swapped around, duplicated,
Kinnear, Council WHAT IS “INDIRECT” they are orchestrated and work redone or omitted as appropriate to
House Days PAINTING? together, rather than negating each each new painting. The only constants
(detail), oil on Most contemporary and almost all other. The aim here is to make each here are that the work is thought of
board, 244x122cm untrained painters work directly. stage necessary for, and useful to, as being a piece to be developed, and
“These indirect Most trained painters, and almost the next one. Every artist develops to be done so optically.
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textures make for all old masters work indirectly, so their own way of working but here’s Most contemporary painters who
fantastic interest it seems sensible to start this series a a typical indirect working sequence are very happy to work intuitively,
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up close” by questioning that. for you to use as a basis: spontaneously and from the gut – just
don’t imagine the Old Masters doing it
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spontaneity just weren’t applicable
before pre-prepared tube paints were
available, a quick glance at a Turner,
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late Titian, Rembrandt or El Greco will

convince any practicing artist that
spontaneity was part and parcel of
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indirect technique, but here’s the

thing – it was planned spontaneity.
Many of the Old Masters
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serendipitous and spontaneous, but

also had the skills to harness that
element of chance – not merely
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become a recipient of it.
CONSIDERING OPTICS
As I mentioned earlier, because
indirect painting involves layers, it’s
vital to ensure that each subsequent
layer works with the previous one
rather than just obliterating it. This
means that to successfully work in an
indirect way you have to ensure your
paint runs the gamut of opacity from
fully opaque, through milky turbidity,
to glass-like translucency.
This sounds complex, but it really
isn’t. If you squeeze out a bit of
Titanium White – an opaque pigment
– and spread it out it with your finger
it will appear thinner and less
opaque; dilute it with a dash of
solvent and it will become translucent.
Paint mediums make all of this more
nuanced, but they are simply different
means to the same end.

MASTER TECHNIQUES
CHECKLIST
TOP TIPS FROM
TODAY’S SESSION
Reinvent old methods
Question your assumptions
Try working indirectly
Work in a sequence
Make each layer count
Use plenty of contrast on
the initial layers
Experiment by painting over
old, dry works
artists must work to add that nuance

to a direct painting, one must take
trouble to keep indirect work punchy.
Visual strength starts by obeying
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the same principles that have always
informed good painting – specifically
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strong visual design, supported by
structural value, and good colour.
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quality to this, a benefit much harder
to exploit in direct oils.
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INDIRECT CHALLENGE
The easiest way to experiment with
indirect painting is to work over any
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old, thoroughly dry paintings you have

in your studio and perhaps aren’t
completely happy with. Simply mix up
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some paint so that it’s not absolutely

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opaque and work over your old work.

It’s really important to start with a
strong underpainting, as layering will
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generally reduce contrast, so try

working over old pieces which are
a little overstated and avoid more
muted pieces.
You will find the original work will
contribute to any new painting you
do over it, creating an effect which
couldn’t have been achieved in a
single layer. You’ll also see that the
colours you choose for the new layer
TOP Martin Kinnear, The Old Masters – and some good layers of colour with more translucent are modified by those below them,
Regeneration, contemporarily artists – routinely paint ones of a different colour to creating nuanced optical mixes, which
oil on canvas, exploited the optical potential of create interesting, contrasting again couldn’t be made from a simple
153x153cm paints to make better pictures. It’s effects. Yes, it can become complex wet-into-wet mix.
ABOVE Martin something that a reproduction of an than that, if one uses lots of different It’s OK to do this crudely by mixing
Kinnear, Floral, image just can’t do, and the reason mediums, but at its heart opacity is a your oils with solvents, but to get
oil on canvas, that most paintings are far better on simple principle. some of the more nuanced effects
101x91cm the wall than in reproduction. If your If direct painting has a virtue, it is you’ll need to use a bit more craft –
“Another old oil subject is a photograph and your that it is hard for it not to look punchy something we will cover later
painting was aspiration is to reproduce how it and simple. Conversely, by its layered, in this series.
reworked, adding looks, then you’re really missing out. optical nature, indirect painting will Martin is course director of
interest to the A typical optical sequence simply naturally lend itself to something more the Norfolk Painting School.
surface” involves alternating more opaque complex and nuanced. So, just as www.norfolkpaintingschool.com

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Paul Cézanne,
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The Avenue at the Jas de

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Bouffan, c.1874-’75, oil

on canvas, 38.1x46cm
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DEMO
Cézanne’s
Trees
SELWYN LEAMY shows you how to
emulate the French master’s techniques
and describe forms with your
brushwork in this simple demonstration
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his painting of a tree-lined avenue dimensional form. The bright foliage subtly blend and disappear into the
at Paul Cézanne’s family estate shimmers against the black silhouette of the background beyond.
perfectly captures the feeling of a trees, as the sun-baked path disappears Cézanne used heavy, diagonal strokes to
hot, sunny afternoon. He slightly compresses under the shady canopy. create the clumps of the leaves. The trunk
© TATE, LONDON 2019/SELWYN LEAMY
the space in The Avenue at the Jas de A large swathe of shadow dominates the was described with a more vertical stroke,
Bouffan, particularly the grasses and the image, and from this Cézanne builds the the lighter red-brown paint working in
shadows in the foreground, which seem structure of the foliage and trunks with thick, contrast to the blue shadow. In this painting,
quite flat. Concentrating on the tree at the slab-like blocks of colour. These Cézanne used a palette knife as well as a
left of the canvas, we can see his skill at brushstrokes stand out against the dark brush to apply paint thickly, adding to the
creating a tangible sense of three- paint, but moving across the image, they overall form and texture of the piece.

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DEMO
1 To p t i p
U s e t he
direc t io
t h e b ru n of
sh s t rok
d e s c rib e s to
e t he sh
t he foli a pe of
a ge j u s
C éz ann t l i ke
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2 3
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2
Selwyn’s materials On your palette, mix French
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Ultramarine with a small amount
•Paint of Burnt Umber to make a dark, bluish
Titanium White, French
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black. Paint the tree in silhouette,
Ultramarine, Lemon Yellow, Burnt using your outline as a guide.
Umber and Burnt Sienna Apply the paint thickly, using large
•Primed canvas brushstrokes to add texture. Most of
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•HB pencil this will be painted over, but vary the

•Flat brushes direction of your brushstrokes to help
•A solvent create a sense of texture and form
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•Rags or paper towels from the outset.
3 While the dark paint is still wet,

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DEMO load your brush with a good

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Paul Cézanne’s painting is seductively amount of lemon yellow. Apply the

rich in tone and texture, with its thick, paint to the foliage area with short
visible brushstrokes and powerful vertical and diagonal brushstrokes
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lights and darks. To explore these without reloading your brush, starting
techniques, make a tree (a classic in the places that light strikes the
Cézanne motif) your subject. Working foliage: this way you get the rawer,
over a dark underpainting, use the lighter colour where you want it.
direction of your brushstrokes to As you work, the paint will start
describe the form of the tree. to blend into a dark green. Keep
building up the clumps of foliage,
1 Start with a canvas board and

paint a simple landscape as a
backdrop. Mix French Ultramarine with
adding more yellow paint as needed,
while leaving the shadow areas dark.
Clean your brush.
Ultramarine and Burnt Umber from
before; it will blend and merge slightly
Titanium White for the sky. Apply the Mix a small amount of Titanium with the grass colour underneath,
paint from the top of the canvas to the White with Burnt Sienna to make a giving it a more convincing shadow.
bottom with horizontal brushstrokes, soft pink, then paint this onto the light In the final stage, keep developing
gradually adding more white and side of the trunk. The dark, blue-black the lights and darks. Rather than
blending the paint as you go. For the base colour will mix with it slightly, painting individual leaves, use the
grass, mix French Ultramarine with adding subtle variations in colour, shapes and blocks of different tones
Lemon Yellow and apply it with large, which will create the look of bark. to create the form of the foliage.
horizontal strokes. Work upwards, Cézanne’s great skill was to find the
adding more lemon yellow as you go.
You don’t have to leave this to dry, but
it is easier if you do so before drawing
4 Now develop the texture of the
grass. Use short, choppy, vertical
brushstrokes without thinning your
underlying shapes of his subject.
This is an extract from Selwyn Leamy’s
new book, TATE: Master Oils, published
on it. Draw the outline of your tree in paint. Paint the shadow underneath by Ilex in partnership with TATE
pencil without putting in any detail. the tree, using the dark mix of French (RRP £14.99). www.ilex.press

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A unique offer visit Barbaras website, ignore the listed prices and make an offer
Barbara Newcombe is one of the leading illustrators/print makers in the country. Her work can be seen in permanent collections
prestigious galleries and museums around the world, such as the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, the Bibliotheque National, Paris,
the Arnolfini Museum, Vienna, and the Library of Congress, Washington. American by birth, English by adoption, Barbara established
herself in the elite echelons of the artworld after first studying at the Central St Martins and completing an apprenticeship with the
renowned printmaker, Bill Hayter, at his Atelier 17 studio in Paris. Now in her eighties, Barbara is bringing her professional life to a close
and has decided to release the remainder of her limited edition etchings from her private archives. If you love her work why not take
advantage of this opportunity to own a beautiful Barbara Newcomb etching.
Visit: www.barbaranewcomb.co.uk

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IN DEPTH
R nce
Classically-trained portrait artist SVETLANA CAMERON shows you how to put a
modern twist on the three-colour drawing technique used by Italian masters
R E N A I S S A N C E D R AW I N G
T
he main principle that to the transitions between them, you contrasts, harder edges, and often
distinguishes Old Master will be able to capture a likeness and alters the colour temperature. Always
works from contemporary draw anything realistically. Since its work with one light source and make
realism is the use of value and introduction in the 15th century, this sure you have clearly defined light and
shadow to create an illusion of a approach has been successfully dark masses. (Two or more light
three-dimensional form on a two- practised by many artists that we sources will not only dilute the
dimensional surface. The principle, admire today. shadows, but also weaken the
which became known as chiaroscuro, structure of your drawing). Position
an Italian term meaning “light-dark”, HOW DO I LIGHT MY your model near a large window or
is actually surprisingly simple. When SUBJECT? skylight. North light is best as it hardly
PREVIOUS PAGE illuminated properly, form divides into To achieve the beautiful soft changes throughout the day, but other
Natalia Osipova, two major masses of value: light and transitions characteristic of the Old windows will do as well as long as
conte crayon and shadow. If you learn to replicate the Masters’ works, illuminate your there is no direct sunlight.
pastel on paper, exact shapes of both light and subject with natural light. Artificial
70x50cm shadow, and pay particular attention lighting creates much stronger WHAT IS THE ‘TROIS
CRAYONS’ TECHNIQUE?
I was already working as a portrait
painter when I first came across some
Italian Renaissance drawings done
in the so-called trois crayons (or
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“three-colour”) technique. These
preparatory studies for a multi-figure
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oil painting were carefully rendered
in black, red and white chalk on a
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by the lifelike effect that could be
produced with such a limited palette.
Intrigued and keen to try it myself,
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I began to experiment with charcoal,

sanguine, and white Conte crayons
on pastel paper of different colours
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and textures. When used in different

ways – hatched, mixed, blended,
spread in varying degrees of opacity
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– the three colours could produce a

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wide range of textures and very

believable skin tones.
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HOW DOES IT WORK?

The three-colour Renaissance
technique is logical and simple: black
chalk was used for the dark and cool
tones, red sanguine for warm
mid-tones, and white for highlights.
For studies and sketches, this was
sufficient.
However, for more refined, finished
portraits, warm sanguine alone was
not enough to give the full range of
skin tones. Some features, like lips or
corners of the eye, often require a
cool, pinky red, especially in the
shadows. I added a dark sanguine
Derwent pencil for this which I use
alongside warm Conte sanguine.
LEFT Katya,
charcoal and
pastel on paper,
45x35cm

WHY DRAW ON
COLOURED GROUND?
Although it is technically possible to
work on white ground, drawing on
coloured papers in blue, grey, pale
green and yellow shades produced
various beautiful effects. I particularly
like the mid-value Canson Mi-Teintes
paper in a warm grey called
‘Moonstone’.
When used as a base for portraits,
Moonstone serves a number of
purposes. Firstly, it effectively
becomes an additional colour in my
limited palette: showing through
translucent veils of pigment or
peeking through particles of broken
colour deposited in the tooth of the
paper, it creates various optical
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mixing effects and significantly
broadens the range of skin tones.
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Being a muted grey, Moonstone has a
cooling effect on all the warm colours,
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become too hot and overpowering.
Left exposed in many parts of the
drawing and in the background, it
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adds unity and harmony to the

finished artwork.
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STAY SHARP!
Start by sharpening all of the
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pencils you plan to use. First,

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carefully expose the pencil’s core

with a very sharp knife, then
sharpen it to a long fine point on
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a sheet of sandpaper, being

careful not to apply too much
pressure. Consider preparing
several pencils of each type at
once, so you can grab a new one
without losing the momentum.
Once all the pencils become
blunt, take a break and sharpen
ABOVE Emily, WHICH COLOUR GOES warmth and makes models look alive. them all again, using the
charcoal, sanguine DOWN FIRST? Black features in all of the shadows, opportunity to step back and
and white conte on With a three-colour drawing, there is but sometimes the light areas too. review your progress.
paper, 45x35cm no fixed order in which to apply the I add it very sparingly and mix it with
colours. Whichever you choose first, white to create cool bluish shades in
the results will be more or less the the eye sockets or around the mouth
same. Generally, if a drawing requires and chin.
darker values and deeper shadows, White should only be reserved for
I start in black and then add red. the light areas. Never ever add white
However, if the subject is to the shadows as it will muddy dark,
predominantly warm and light, I tend warm colours. If you need to lighten a
to start in sanguine and then deepen shadow area – to add reflected light,
the shadows with black. for example – lift the pigment with a
Red pigment is present in all parts paper stump or putty rubber to
of my portraits – it is what adds expose some of the paper instead.

Svetlana materials
•Paper
Canson Mi-Teintes 160gsm
‘Moonstone’ paper, 41x32cm
•Colour
Conté à Paris charcoal pencils in H,
HB, 2B; Derwent dark charcoal and
sanguine pencils; Conté à Paris
sanguine and white pencils
•Kneaded eraser
•Paper blending stumps
DEMO To p t i p f a n b ru s
h
1
b ri s t l e
Draw the midline of the face Use a nd
b l e n ding a
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with a sanguine pencil. Find the for fin n g exc e
ss
i
3
rem o v
perpendicular line running through the So far, sanguine has been n t fr o m
pigme
corners of the eyes. These two lines used for the middle values per
t he pa
help establish the tilt and angle of the only so it is time to push the
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head. With those in place, lay in more value scale in both directions by
general proportional guidelines, such adding black to the darker areas and
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as the height and width of the head white to the highlights. I find it helpful
and the placement of the features. to establish the extreme ends of my
Confirm the placing of those against
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value scale fairly early, because it
the model using the sight-size method. makes it much easier to orchestrate
It is important to establish all the the middle values in between.
proportions accurately, as this stage Everything is relative, and everything
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lays the foundation for the rest of the you add to your drawing alters the
portrait. Use light pressure on the perception of the other elements.
pencil at the beginning to make If mid-tones seem dull, one can spend
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corrections possible. If you drive hours trying to correct them, while all
pigment deep into the tooth of the you may need to do is deepen the
paper too soon, it will be not possible cast shadows or lighten the highlights.
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to erase it completely.
4
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Continue to refine the drawing,

gradually adding more details and
paying particular attention to the
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colour temperature. While it is the

light-shadow balance that makes a
drawing look three-dimensional, it is
the warm-cool temperature shifts that
make the skin tones appear lifelike.
Add more sanguine where it is
needed, such as the corners of the
eyes, the nostrils, the line separating
the lips, the cheeks, the shadows
cast by the hair onto the skin. These
small warm accents will immediately
make the portrait come alive.
5 To finish the drawing, carefully
review the likeness and tweak the
expression, taking as much time as
ABOVE Liza,
charcoal, sanguine
and conte crayon
2 Continue building upon the

construction lines, adding some
indication of plane changes and
needed until it looks right. Add more
volume and texture to the hair and
clothes. Check that the “catch” lights
on paper, 42x32cm
mapping out the shadow areas, such in the eyes are balanced and add the
as eye sockets, the dark side of the reflected light elsewhere where it is
face, the hair, and the shadows cast needed. Finish by softening or
by the nose and chin. sharpening some edges to add more
Unify and connect all the shadow variety and visual interest.
shapes by blending them with a paper Svetlana’s next exhibition runs from
stump, leaving no gaps between 5-16 May 2020 at D Contemporary Gallery,
pencil marks. London W1. www.svetlanacameron.com

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Paintlike
PROJECT
Sargent
London Atelier of Representational Art tutor LIZET DINGEMANS uses traditional
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materials and historical research to replicate the 19th-century painter’s techniques
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ohn Singer Sargent is
considered one of the most
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influential portrait painters of
the 19th century. A prolific artist, he
produced around 900 oil paintings
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and many more drawings. In this

article I will be painting a copy of
Sargent’s portrait of General Sir Ian
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Standish Monteith Hamilton from the

National Galleries of Scotland’s
collection.
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Sargent was a teacher of art as

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well, but many were confused by

his teaching methods, often finding
his lessons cryptic and confusing.
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He urged the necessity of self-

discipline, of never being satisfied
with easy conclusions, and of always
trying to do the thing just beyond
one’s capacity. Making every stroke
have significance was key, and quarter-inch and half-inch brushes, using them. Sargent’s paint medium
Sargent emphasised training the eye, with the biggest, boldest strokes consisted of turpentine at the start,
hand and mind to work swiftly and saved for finishing touches. I used as well as linseed oil. Turpentine can
in unison. filbert hog bristle brushes, sizes be dangerous to your health, so I have
Sargent never wrote a memoir 2 to 10, as well as a size 2 Georgian opted for Sansodor.
or a book dedicated to his oil painting sable rigger. Sargent preferred either a canvas
techniques, but luckily some Sargent experimented a lot with his primed with a white or cool grey
accounts of his methods made by his colours, so his palette may not have ground. All his grey canvases have a
students survive, which I have relied been the same for every painting. cool tone made by mixing Ivory Black
upon for this project. For this tutorial, I used Titanium and Lead White in linseed oil. I have
White, Raw Sienna, Vermillion Red, chosen to go for a white canvas with
LEFT John Singer SARGENT’S MATERIALS Rose Madder, Raw Umber, Ivory a medium-to-fine weave, and to use a
© NATIONAL GALLERIES SCOTLAND
Sargent, General Where possible, I have attempted to (Bone) Black, Ultramarine Blue and willow charcoal drawing underneath
Sir Ian Standish use the materials that Sargent used in Chromium Green, all Winsor & to make the canvas slightly greyer.
Monteith Hamilton, his portrait paintings in oil. The width Newton or Michael Harding artists’ oil
c. 1897-’98, of his brushes varied considerably. colours. He favoured Lead or Flake SETTING UP
oil on canvas, Unfinished portraits show that initial White, which are now considered Sargent’s easel was upright, next to
71.8x54cm paint layers have brushstrokes from highly toxic, so I do not recommend the sitter, so he could see the sitter

PROJECT
USING A PLUMB LINE and the painting next to each other

when stepping back, something
Sargent did so often that a line
was worn in his carpet.
Most 19th-century artists arranged
the colour on their palettes in the
same way. You can see this portrayed
in some self-portraits, particularly
Sargent’s An Artist in His Studio.
The paint is arranged on the far end
of the palette, away from the body.
The colours form a sort of rainbow,
with the white near the thumb and
the darker colours away from it so
they don’t mix easily.
This orderly arrangement means
that you can get into a habit of mixing
things quickly and easily instead of
having to search for your colours.
Avoid starving your palette too: you
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want enough colour to make big
mixes confidently and easily. Squeeze
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out black and white paint the size of a
50p coin, and slightly smaller blobs
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for the stronger colours. “You do not
want dabs of colour,” said Sargent,
“you want plenty of paint to paint with.”
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DRAWING AND
BLOCKING IN
To begin the drawing, work directly
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onto your canvas with willow charcoal,

using a rag to wipe out any mistakes.
Sargent advised to hold the charcoal
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at arm’s length, and to map only the

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A plumb line is a very useful tool proportions of the head and

– they can be bought cheaply shoulders. You can also indicate the
online or fashioned from a lump mass of the hair. “Draw the things
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of Blu-Tack and a piece of string. seen with the keenest point and let
To quote Sargent: “When drawing the thing unseen fuse into the
from the model never be without adjoining tones,” he said.
the plumb line in the left hand. Make sure to take frequent breaks.
Everyone has a bias, either the It is possible to “lose your eye” and
right or left from the vertical. The find that you cannot distinguish
use of the plumb line rectifies between a good or a bad idea.
this and develops a keen If you take a little break and look at
appreciation for the vertical.” something else, you might find that
Use the plumb line to see how you come back and immediately see
various vertical points in the the solution to a problem that you
drawing line up. The weight at were struggling with before. Try using a hairspray or fixative to fix the
the end of the line pulls it a mirror to either look at the work drawing to the canvas.
straight vertical, so you can hold upside down or flip the image and Next, start blocking in the tones
it up against your subject and try to regain your fresh eye. with Raw Umber mixed with a
then against your painting in After indicating the main masses generous amount of Sansodor.
progress. For example, in this of the head in charcoal, Sargent Sargent’s unfinished portraits show
painting, the parting of the hair preferred to wipe the whole canvas that initial paint layers have
lines up with the side of his nose. slightly with a rag, as it gave the brushstrokes from quarter-inch and
Can you find more places that canvas a slightly greyish tone, faintly half-inch brushes: the boldest,
line up? showing the lines of his drawing. If broadest strokes were used for
you are uncomfortable with losing the finishing. I used a half-inch hog
drawing completely at this point, use bristle filbert.

PROJECT
STARTING TO PAINT overlapping it into the background,

Sargent always tried to paint in one trying to sometimes let it blend in and
sitting if he could. If he was not happy disappear, and at other times have a
with his brushwork, he would smudge harder and more resolved edge.
the part he wished to reconstruct, and The drawing will get pretty lost at
begin again from a shapeless mass, this point but don’t despair – we will
looking for the big form underneath. recover it continuously as we go, so
“Don’t concentrate so much on the have fun with it. Scumble in the main
features,” he advised at the early of colours of the shirt, head and
stages of a painting. “They are only background, letting them merge into
like spots on an apple. Paint the head, each other. Add in the halftones
not the mouth and eyes and nose.” thickly with no medium added to a
Begin by painting in the background mix of mainly Yellow Ochre and
thinly with a mix of Rose Madder, Raw Ultramarine Blue with a bit of the
Umber and a bit of Ultramarine to Vermillion Red and Titanium White.
cool it down. Let the background The brushes will pick up the paint
colour overlap with the area marked readily so make sure to clean them
out for the hair. Then block in the hair, after every stroke.
IDENTIFYING TONES
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Sargent was taught by Carolus- In order to better see and identify
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Duran, who focused on tonal values. the subtle value transitions in your
“Here lies the secret of painting,” subject, try squinting or looking
he said, “in the half-tones of each
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at it via a dark reflective surface,
plane, in economising each accent such as a tablet computer or
and in the handling of the lights so smartphone when the screen is off.
that they should play their part in Doing this will compress the
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the picture only with a palpable and values, making them easier to
necessary significance.” distinguish.
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Soften any edges with a hog filbert.

I try to think of an apple and paint
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round the head, working on the edges

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into the shadows and background,

losing edges where they were lost and
then softly finding them again.
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Work the planes of the forehead for

a good while, using a separate brush
for your lights, your halftones and
your darks. The halftone is where
most of the turning happens so pay
extra attention there. Don’t be afraid
to take the halftones into the
shadows and the other way around.
COVERING THE CANVAS

Lay in the other colours and passages,
starting to work out a bit of the eye
sockets, slowly sculpting the head out
of the background, instead of just
laying down the features straight away.
Sargent recommends laying in the
mass of hair, recovering the drawing
and overlapping the flesh of the
forehead. Fuse the flesh into the
background, painting flesh into
background and background into
flesh. Repeatedly take a step back
to see your work as a whole.

PROJECT
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Go for the big mixes first, like the it back with his palette knife to tackle
shirt and shadow. For the shirt, a mix the problem afresh. On the subject of
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of Raw Sienna, Ultramarine Blue, accents, he said: “You must classify

Titanium White and a little Vermillion the values. If you begin with the
Red will help to offset the strong middle tone and work up from it
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green. Lay down the highlight areas towards the darks – so that you deal
using Titanium White with a bit of with your highest lights and darkest
Vermillion Red and Raw Sienna. darks last – you avoid false accents.”
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Sargent worked his marks into and To apply that logic to your painting,
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onto adjacent brushstrokes already draw in the eye socket first and then
on the canvas to give more subtle place the bigger shapes. If the drawing
variations in colour and tone. doesn’t sit right, smudge and start
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again. When you’re happy the drawing

RESOLVING THE PAINTING works, paint the highlights and
With bigger areas of tone placed, you accents, putting them in wet into wet.
are ready to resolve the picture. Hold www.lizetdingemans.com
off the urge to paint the facial features
just yet and instead lay in the accents.
Sargent believed in “economy of
effort in every way, the sharpest
self-control, the fewest strokes
possible to express a fact, the least
slapping about of purposeless paint.”
Use big brushes and try to lay down
the accents only once. If it isn’t in the
right spot, scrape it off and try again.
He once described the process of
painting an eye like “dropping a
poached egg on a plate”. The socket
should be prepared for the details; if
you have painted an eye in the wrong
place, it means that the structure
underneath was off. He never
repainted or lowered or raised it.
He would ruthlessly smudge or scrape

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C O L O U R T H E O RY
3. Lighting
Learn how to accurately understand and recreate the colour and direction of your
light source with the help of Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts tutor AL GURY
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C
ABOVE Seymour hoosing light sources and painter. The history of lighting effects not only the contrasts of light and
Remenick, Artist’s creating lighting effects in a in western painting starts with the shade in a painting, but also the
Studio with Still Life painting is one of the central ancient Greeks and Romans and chromatic intensity of the colours of
and Easel, 1957, formal tasks of creating an image. continues today in many forms of objects lit by the warm light source.
oil on canvas, Whether a painting is highly realistic realistic and observational painting. The surfaces lit by this strong yellow
71.2x91.4cm or only loosely recognisable in its If we agree that light creates both or pinkish yellow light causes their
“Warm, three- content and subject, the direction, form and colour in a painting such as colours to be intensified and warmed
quarter lighting colour and intensity of light chosen a still life, portrait or landscape, then dramatically. The colour of this light
suggests depth.” for the work can strengthen or there are two key issues, among source causes all the reds, yellows,
weaken the artist’s intent. For, others, for the artist to consider oranges, browns, greens and even
LEFT Robert example, what would a Rembrandt before starting a new work that we blues to take on a warmer and
W Vonnoh, portrait be without the rich light and will look at today. brighter quality in the areas hit directly
Nude, c.1896, shade effects that reveal the form by the light source. Frequently, to
oil on canvas, and character of its subject? THE COLOUR OF LIGHT match these colours with one’s
40.6x32.9cm Impressionism is beloved by many The first thing to establish is what palette, the more highly chromatic
“Multiple light for its shimmering colour effects colour is the light source? Sources colours need to be used. The
sources and created solely by ambient light. Taking such as very strong sunlight, candle cadmiums and other high-key warm
reflected light time to look at lighting types and light, incandescent bulbs and colours need to be used to match the
create a balance directions and translating them into spotlights create warmer colour intensities created by the light source.
between warm and both practical and poetic studio options for the painter. Such warm Just adding white only weakens the
cool colours here.” decisions is essential for the aspiring light literally lights up and intensifies chromatic intensity of these colours.

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ABOVE Reza Earth colours can be used,

Ghanad, especially in the shadows, but The earth palette can be very
helpful in matching colours to
Landscape, oil on they often do not have the chromatic
panel, 20x25cm strength to match the colours hit
“Completely
ambient,
by a strong, warm, light source. For
example, a red carnation may need
an ambient or daylight scene
cool daylight pure Cadmium Red to match the
characterises the purity of the flowers colour under an Baroque painting. Figurative artists as well as intense, highly chromatic
lightly overcast day intense and warm light source. Adding like Georges de la Tour and Diego colours where this type of lighting
in this scene.” white to lighten it merely makes it pink. Velázquez created dramatic lighting is focused.
Because of the sheer power of such effects, usually from a warm light Another common, and very
warm light sources, intense tonal source. French landscape painters of beautiful, lighting source is natural,
ranges from light to dark can be the same period, such as Claude cool daylight. Ambient natural daylight
created in the subject. This requires a Lorrain, used strong, warm light to often has a grey-to-bluish quality.
lot more of the darker palette colours create depth and a sense of drama in While it can create strong light and
to be added to achieve this dramatic his landscapes. In summary then, shade contrasts, this type of lighting
effect. Good examples of this type of warm, intense lighting can create is often softer and cooler. It’s the
lighting can be seen in 17th-century dramatic light and shade in a subject equivalent of adding grey or blue to all

the colours in the areas of the subject LEFT Al Gury,

hit by the daylight. Traditionally, Portrait of a Young
artists have often desired a north- Man, oil on panel,
facing skylight in order to achieve a 35.5x28cm
cool, directional natural daylight “Highly chromatic
source. Daylight, whether directed by prismatic colours
a window or viewed in a broad open were needed
space, cools or neutralises colours. to achieve the
Unlike the intense, prismatic palette intensity of the
colours that need to be used in a warm spotlight on
painting with a warm light source, in the sitter’s already
an ambient light or daylit painting the warm complexion.”
earth palette can be very helpful in
matching colours revealed by this
type of lighting. Also, because white
paint weakens the chromatic intensity
of colours if not used carefully, white
works well in creating softer, less
chromatic colours for daylit painting
subjects. The 19th-century
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Impressionist painters like Pierre-
Auguste Renoir and Alfred Sisley
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painted subjects using natural
daylight. Camille Corot also featured
daylight effects in his highly poetic
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studio landscape paintings.
The colours these painters used
were often a little softened and
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cooled or greyed by the daylight and

the use of white in the light areas. In
summary, natural daylight, whether
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directed by a window, or viewed

generally in an open space, creates
softer, cooler colours, and may affect
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value contrasts and depth. Variations in the angles of the depending on their goals in their
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three-quarter direction of the lighting work. French Impressionist and

THE DIRECTION OF LIGHT creates interesting nuances and Fauvist painters used this lack of light
The second consideration is the visual effects of depth, form and direction to help emphasise colours,
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direction of the light source relative to psychology. A weak light direction, or paint strokes and lighting effects.
the subject colour, shapes and paint the complete lack of it, as sometimes Being aware of your options and
strokes. Renaissance painters like seen in medieval and very early chosing the right lighting direction,
Leonardo da Vinci determined that a Renaissance paintings often created then, is extremely important to
portrait lit by a strong light from a a flattening effect. Broad ambient meeting one’s goals in a painting.
three-quarter angle, rather that front daylight with no specific direction can Next month: learn how to be expressive
on, creates a greater sense of also minimise depth and contrast in with colour. Al’s book, Color for Painters,
three-dimensional form. He also used any subject. Even so, this strategy is published by Watson-Guptill.
this visual idea to create a stronger may be very useful to many painters www.algury.com
psychological presence of the sitter in
the painting. Three-quarter directional
lighting is one of the strongest ways to
create a visual sense of solid form and
depth in any painting subject. Whether
using a warm or cool light source, this
directional lighting has been one of
the major tools of naturalistic painters
since the ancient Romans. Later
painters, such as the 17th-century
Dutchman Rembrandt van Rijn and
the 19th-century artists Eugene
Delacroix and Thomas Eakins, used 1. Strong, warm light 2. Cool, directional light 3. No light direction
this strategy to great effect.

YO U R Q U E S T I O N S
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Pastel Society president JEANNETTE HAYES
and Unison Colour’s LIZ REEKIE share expert
ng
advice for getting the most from your materials
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YO U R Q U E S T I O N S
What are the advantages of working paper. There are ready-made primers wear protective latex or vinyl gloves
with pastel over other drawing media? also available and application with a and we would also recommend artists
Jeannette Hayes: My immediate brush can give an interesting texture. wear a dust mask during heavy usage.
answer is the immediacy. They are so Canson Mi-Teintes is a very good
BELOW Jeannette direct, vibrant and capable of so many 160gsm paper for introducing When it comes to layering and mixing
Hayes, Pink Beech, exciting effects. I am very much a students to pastels. It is acid-free with colours, do you have any advice on
pastel on paper, mood painter and it does suit my way a high rag content, a good surface best practice?
size tbc of working. The personal impressions tooth to hold the pastel, and a range LR: Try using layers of harmonious
I create require quick application and of 50 colours. A midtone and neutral colours as they will interact with each
BELOW RIGHT Unison it is great medium for explorations. colour such as Moonstone or gris clair other – they need to be colours that
Colour’s associate is a really good choice as it will not will work well together. Then adding
artist Fiona Carvell Are there certain surfaces that you interfere with tonal values and colours. complementary colours over this adds
would recommend for getting the UART Premium Sanded Paper is depth and vibrancy. If you feel you
best out of your pastels? also recommended, it can hold many have too much pastel on the surface
Liz Reekie: There are many types layers of pastel. It comes in a range of this can be resolved by using a stiff
of paper suitable for pastel use, grades, from 800, the finest, to 240, brush to gently dust away the excess
however, it is necessary to have paper which is very rough and not suitable pastel, then applying the correct
of a reasonable weight – say 140gsm for blending. colour on top.
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and upwards – with a good tooth to The maximum number of layers
hold the pastel. There are sanded If an artist is worried about inhaling depends on the paper you are using
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papers of different grits, some artists pastel dust, what precautions would and whether you are blending
prefer a fine and even grit as they you recommend? between layers or not. On average,
glaze with the side of the pastel. The
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LR: It is important that pastels are our Associate Artists can use around
velour or flock papers are more suited handled and used correctly. We 10 layers on Pastel Mat (blending
to artists who don’t blend pastels. recommend you keep the formation each layer) but only around five on a
You can prime your own surface by of airborne dust to a minimum. Wash textured pastel card (not blending at
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adding marble or pumice dust to your hands thoroughly after handling all) using colour shaper tools (a
gesso and applying it to a board or the pastels. Some people choose to Torchon) to assist with blending.
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RIGHT Unison
Colour’s late
founder, John
Hersey
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How do vary the marks you make? How do you “erase” unwanted How would you recommend
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JH: I use watercolour paper to allow elements in a pastel work? transporting pastel artworks?
for almost sculpting a painting. JH: I do move the pastel furiously at LR: Cover the finished painting in
I generally start with a soft pastel, times and therefore erase quite a bit. glassine paper until it’s ready for
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blocking out shapes, and then the I use chunky pastels pastel to sweep framing and store it flat. It is also
marks are created with either pastel and smudge on layers of colour and recommended to tape the painting
or sharpened pastel pencils. then I either use a tissue to soften down to a sturdy piece of cardboard,
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those colours or various putty or then cover in glassine paper when

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Is sunlight an issue, either in storing plastic rubbers to remove it. Cutting transporting.
pastels or affecting finished works? the plastic rubbers up helps creating When pastel artwork requires
LR: Taking a sensible approach to the a sharp clean line. Using good quality transporting, try framing the work first
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storage of your pastels by not pastels is also key. or at least mounting it with either
exposing them to direct sunlight or glassine paper or tracing paper placed
damp conditions will ensure both their Pastel works are notoriously fugitive, on top to protect it. Frame with a
BELOW A selection integrity and longevity. However, we particularly when transporting them. spacer behind the mount so that the
of Unison Colour’s have never found sunlight to be an Do you recommend using a fixative? work doesn’t touch either the mount
handmade pastels issue with finished artwork. LR: A difficult question to answer. or glass.
The recommendation of fixatives
can be a rather contentious issue for Degas is an obvious example to
pastel artists, as well as a personal pastel artists. Are there other artists
choice. The response of our associate whose work you would recommend?
artists varied between using cheap JH: I’d recommend Pablo Picasso’s
hairspray and quality fixatives, such as spirited use of pastel, Odilon Redon
Sennelier’s Fixative or Daler-Rowney’s for his breadth of colour, and Édouard
Perfix, through to others preferring to Vuillard’s atmospheric paintings to
avoid them completely. name but a few.
One of our associate artists, Sandra With thanks to Unison Colour’s Associate
Orme, adds a note of caution: “I never Artists Sandra Orme, Denise Findlay,
use fixative when I’m working on my Fiona Carvell and Cath Inglis.
usual paper, either Pastel Mat, Fisher www.unisoncolour.com
400 or Sennelier Pastel card. I find The Pastel Society’s Annual Exhibition
that using a fixative on these papers runs from 5-16 February 2020 at
can affect the colour or leave a Mall Galleries, London SW1.
distinct spray mark on the surface.” www.thepastelsociety.org.uk

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SELF PORTRAITS
1. Beyond the
Se lf ie Art Academy’s ROXANA HALLS
introduces a new three-part series on
self-portraiture, beginning with two
exercises designed to lose inhibitions
and discover a new side of yourself
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hile reflecting on his extensive voyages in
self-portraiture, the great British painter
Stanley Spencer once wrote, “I have always
looked forward to seeing what I could fish out of myself,
I am a treasure island seeker and the island is myself.”
I first read these words in his journal many years ago.
I took them in my hands as if being given an invisible map,
one that I knew would reveal hidden realms but of which
only I could be the cartographer. Since then I’ve explored
the genre many times and have painted such an array of
self-portraits over three decades that you might suppose
that my map is complete. Not so: much as Spencer might
have been intimating, the more I have searched, the more
I have traversed uncharted territory.
In this visually saturated age, most of us are more than
accustomed to readying our faces for the camera, often in
a split second with a well-rehearsed pose. Similarly, when
we take pause to look in a mirror, we snap into a familiar
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demeanour. In this Instagram age, our selfies are easily
replicated and disposable, merely alluding to the potential
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we all have to get under our own skin and look more
closely, with compassionate honesty and imagination.
How then can we set sail and circumnavigate beyond the
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coastline to uncover our buried treasure?
As pathway leader for the Contemporary Portraiture FD
at London’s Art Academy, I teach a dedicated self-portrait
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course that is designed to enable our students to explore

their own potential through a series of exercises designed religious or history paintings. The 18th-century German ABOVE Roxana
to help them to look beyond the selfie. Over the next three sculptor Franz Xaver Messerschmidt, meanwhile, is best Halls, Laughing
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issues, I’ll be discussing some of my key strategies and known for his extraordinary series of 60 or so sculpted With My Mouth
guiding readers through a class exercise they can kopfstücke – or “head pieces”. While these self-portraits Full, oil on linen,
undertake on their own. are observational works, each depicts an inner emotion or 70x60cm
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Artists have always been eager to experiment with and psychological state, forever frozen into an often profoundly OPPOSITE PAGE
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incorporate new technologies into their work; as long as disquieting grimace. Roxana Halls,
mirrors have existed, artists have gazed into them and And it’s not only visual artists who have made use BACK, oil on
made use of their reflected personages. To see ourselves of their own reflections. In her diary, Charles Dickens’
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canvas, 20x20cm
as a useful creative tool and utilise our raw corporeal daughter recalls seeing her father pull strange faces in the
material can be not only functional but thrilling. mirror, conjuring up characters and performing the scenes
In many of his etchings, Rembrandt depicted himself in his books even before he wrote them down.
frowning, exclaiming or laughing, using his own features
to mimic a wide array of human emotional states. These TECHNIQUES
works not only demonstrate his artistic virtuosity, but it’s When we practise self-portraiture, we gift ourselves
thought that they also became character studies for his one of the most exciting creative opportunities. We are
FROM FAR LEFT

Self-Portrait,
NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON
Frowning; Self-
Portrait in a Cap,
Laughing; Self-
Portrait in a Cap,
Open-Mouthed. All
1630 etchings by
Rembrandt van Rijn

SELF-PORTR AITS
permanently available to ourselves, we expect no modelling

fee, and we have the freedom to paint any image we please
without fear of offence. But such freedom can seem
daunting rather than liberating at first. Often the most
constraining impediment to self-discovery is sheer
embarrassment: to really scrutinise oneself without an
ameliorating filter or pose can be excruciating, but to do
so is the first step on our travels.
When introducing students to the possibilities they may
find in the mirror, I begin with a two-part exercise that I will
share with you. It is designed to guide students, initially
seeing themselves as new and unfamiliar territory, and
then breaking their inhibitions as they depict themselves
in undesirable, even absurd poses.
I’ve considered these two approaches critical to my
practice and both have led to my creating extended bodies
of work. When I first painted the back of my own head 20
years ago in the 1999 self-portrait, BACK, it felt revelatory;
how could it be that there was a part of me as yet so
unknown? The “Unknown Woman” became an enduring
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subject for me and images of unidentified figures
perpetually refusing our gaze have recurred since that
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modest early experiment.
This is a technique I also employ with my students and
it can prove very disorienting to recognise that such an
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intrinsic part of your body is so unfamiliar. This sense of
unknowing could be described as “uncanny”, a term
defined by the neurologist Sigmund Freud as an instance paints you are using. Opt for a canvas or board
Ja
when something can be familiar and yet alien at the same approximately the size of your head – say around 20 to
time. While this sensation can be strange and unexpected, 30cm. You will also need two mirrors – one can be wall
the recognition that through a simple visual sleight of hand mounted, the other will need to be propped onto a chair
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one can become a whole new realm waiting to be or, preferably, on an easel. You will also need an oil
discovered can also be inspiring. paint medium, one medium brush (approximately size
My entire Laughing While… series stemmed from my 8) and one smaller brush for more detailed work. ABOVE How you
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2012 self-portrait Laughing With My Mouth Full, most might set up your
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recently exhibited in the Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize WHAT YOU WILL LEARN easel and mirrors
exhibition. In contrast to the implied constraint of my You’ll be taking a whole new view of your own for exercise one
palette and clothing, I regard the viewer with my mouth physiognomy and considering how we can see ourselves
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ABOVE RIGHT
agape, exposing its livid contents. I painted this picture afresh as exciting new subject matter. The effect of Paintings from
entirely from life, painting for several hours a day for a trying to move your eye from this unfamiliar reflection new angles by Art
total of around 10 days, staring in the mirror at my over to the painting can be peculiar and you may take a Academy students
exaggerated features. To spare my aching facial muscles while to get accustomed to looking at yourself this way.
while working on the peripheral elements of the picture
(such as clothing or hair), I would lapse in and out of this PROCESS
expression, but all the time keep my head in position. My Set up a very basic “hall of mirrors” by positioning one
mouth is actually filled with raspberries, which I only added mirror facing another. Make sure that both mirrors are at
to my painting – and indeed my pose – on the last day. head height and vertically parallel to one another, with
enough space to stand or sit between them.
Change the position of the moveable mirror until you
EXERCISE 1 find an unexpected view that interests you: maybe a
AIM three-quarter angle, a profile, or as if staring at the back
Kick start your self-discovery with the first of two paintings. of your own head. With a wealth of options, you may
The challenge here is to see yourself from a new angle. prefer to make some simple sketches first before
deciding which to paint.
DURATION Set up an easel with your prepared painting surface
2-3 hours at a comfortable distance and spend around 2-3 hours
on a simple oil study of your head. By the time you are
MATERIALS ready to put down your brush, you’ll already have an
Choose a limited palette of oil colours that are familiar to enhanced understanding of yourself. You may even find
you. You’ll find that these exercises give you a lot to think as you walk down the road that you can picture walking
about and so you will want to feel comfortable with the behind yourself as though you were strangers.

SELF-PORTR AITS
BELOW Face-pulling much time on this painting as you feel physically able to.
inspiration for This can seem like a fairly simple task to undertake and
exercise two it’s certainly fun but it is far from frivolous. We spend our
BOTTOM Self- lives trying to present our “best face” to the world, so to
portraits pulling instead depict our worst and overcome self-consciousness
faces by Roxana’s can prove immensely liberating. The word “embarrass”
students derives from the French verb embarrasser: to block,
hamper or impede – precisely what we must abandon at
the dock as we embark on this voyage of self-discovery.
Next month: learn how to develop a new identity in your
self-portraits. www.roxanahalls.com
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EXERCISE 2
AIM
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The challenge with the second painting is to see
yourself in an entirely new light – and to have fun with
a serious purpose.
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DURATION
2-3 hours
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MATERIALS
Similar to previous exercise, though only one mirror
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is required this time.

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WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

In this exercise, you will be deliberately altering your own
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features. This will help you break through the inhibiting

barrier of embarrassment and, in doing so, glimpse through
a door into a realm of new possibilities.
PROCESS
For your second painting, you will only need to be facing
one mirror. Begin by pulling multiple exaggerated, ugly,
disturbing faces: open your mouth in a maniacal laugh as
wide as it can go, stick out your tongue, frown as hard as
you can, press your cheek with your hand and squash it up
to your nose... Anything goes. Although this can be very
hilarious it can also be embarrassing, so if you’re feeling
uncomfortable I’d like you to imagine a room full of my
students all doing this in view of each other! But once we
all get past the initial laughter and the awkwardness, this
exercise becomes a very valuable one.
Once you’ve found a particularly entertaining or extreme
contortion, paint a small study of it from life, while
continuing to make your chosen face in the mirror.
You’re going to find that your facial muscles start to ache,
so you’ll need to rest occasionally but it’s so curious how
even the most peculiar expression starts to become, while
hardly mundane, almost natural after a while. Take as
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A R T I N FO C U S
MARY CAMERON Plaza

de Toros, Madrid, 1908
RACHAEL FUNNELL shares the story behind this dramatic Spanish painting
created by one of Scotland’s forgotten 20th-century masters
WHO WAS MARY CAMERON? Cameron spoke fluent Spanish which in Britain. Attending the bullfights
For a woman born in 1865, the life of enabled her to gain access to areas of shocked the artist, as she was horrified
Mary Cameron was a progressive one. the bullring which would usually be out of by treatment of the animals, and yet still
She first broke the mould forging a bounds to visitors. She sketched from fascinated by the tradition and
career for herself as a portraitist and life, heading into the ring with her easel spectacle.
genre painter in her native Edinburgh, to draw between fights. She would also
a*
before travelling to Paris to study. take reference photos from which she WHY IS IT SIGNIFICANT?
In 1900, Cameron headed to Madrid would incorporate particular figures or Cameron’s experiences prompted a
al
to copy Velázquez paintings in the Prado, take entire compositional arrangements major series of paintings of which Plaza
and became captivated by the Spanish for her paintings to bring a sense of de Toros, Madrid is the most striking.
culture, landscape and people – not to immediacy to her works.
riw Her painting’s express a great deal of
mention the dramatic bullfights. sympathy for the animals involved and
WHY DID SHE PAINT IT? she was unflinching in her portrayal of
WHAT IS THE PAINTING ABOUT? Cameron was a passionate animal bullfighting’s brutality. When the
Ja
Plaza de Toros, Madrid was painted lover and had a particular fondness paintings were displayed in Britain, they
sometime between 1900 and 1908 and for horses, having made a name for provoked mixed reactions in the press.
focuses on the first act of a bullfight. herself as equestrian painter while still Some applauded her frankness while
sh
others were horrified by the violent

nature of the works, particularly because
they were painted by a woman.
e
ar
WHAT DO THE EXPERTS SAY?

Edinburgh’s City Art Centre curator
Dr Helen E Scott: “Mary Cameron moved
N
around a lot in terms of subject matter,

going through phases of painting from
historical battlefield scenes to portraits,
through to horse-racing scenes, all
before she went to Spain.
“Here she started with painting the
bull ring and later moved on to painting
traditional peasant life. She wanted to
interrogate each subject and she spent
much time returning to familiarise
herself with her subject.”
Mary Cameron: Life in Paint runs from
2 November to 15 March 2020 at City Art
Centre, Edinburgh. Helen E Scott’s book
SALLY CAMERON COLLECTION. PHOTO: EION JOHNSTON
to accompany the exhibition will be

published by Sansom & Co.
www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk,
www.sansomandcompany.co.uk
LEFT Mary Cameron, Plaza de

Toros, Madrid, before 1908,
oil on canvas, 75x63cm
N
ar
esh
Ja
riw
al
a*

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OLD MASTERS SPECIAL

ISSN NO. 1473-4729

the wisdom of elders and masters of years gone by.

In this issue, our practical section is packed with exercises,

Artists & Illustrators 3

I could have written another

MARTIN G AYFORD – PAGE 36

Artists & Illustrators 5

coronation memorabilia. In the never to use white or black paint.

article, Todd stressed the Lisa, however, says to use white as

together to suggest a story. white, the end result will be opaque,

Sargy Mann: Let It Be Felt That

Until 26 January 2020 creation of her later, more vibrant works.

piece of prehistoric bog oak.

8 Artists & Illustrators

retrospective, touring from Milton

that tackle abortion, politics,

gender and more.

to be bold and speak out.

Scottish National Gallery of

Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield

Artists & Illustrators 9

Decem TIPS • ADVICE • IDEAS

ever yday life.

“THE PAINTER MUST LEAVE THE

EXPAND YOUR PALETTE BOOK OF THE MONTH

watercolours tend to dry shadow colour. Though it developing exercises – not to

temptation is to carry it with you and

complete the challenges on the go.

to bananas as mark-making tools.

colours brought together in the vase of

Artists & Illustrators 13

DATES FOR THE DIARY

2. Follow the form. Bold, loose marks that describe a

14 Artists & Illustrators

16 Artists & Illustrators

front of me. We live with a lot of ugliness in England, but

And inspiration is certainly not in short supply for the

“The south is very hilly but, in the north, where I live, it

flattens out towards the Cheshire plain.”

architectural subjects set against dramatic skies and

Artists & Illustrators 17

Sally Muir Freida and Biscuit was a recent painting commissioned

Artists & Illustrators 19

For a chance to feature in Fresh Paint,

20 Artists & Illustrators

he tells MARTHA ALEXANDER

winning painter and father of five is currently

way of fresh inspiration.

But Peter isn’t at Stonyhurst College to learn in a

and the rugged landscape that surrounds it.

22 Artists & Illustrators

Artists & Illustrators 23

Brown admits that his nickname is slightly cheesy and

accepts that it’s part of who he is professionally, though

24 Artists & Illustrators

Artists & Illustrators 25

LEFT Late Afternoon,

the New Puppy on

Ella’s Bed, January,