Artists & Illustrators,

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EDITORIAL
Group Editor Steve Pill
Deputy Editor Rachael Funnell
Art Editor Lauren Debono-EIIiot
Contributors Martha Alexander, Laura
Boswell, Svetlana Cameron, Fabio
Cembranelli, Lizet Dingemans, Tom
Dunkley, AI Gury, Roxana Halls, Martin
Kinnear and Rosalind Ormiston

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WELCOME TO OUR
ISSN NO. 14 73-4 729 OLD MASTERS SPECIAL
One of the wonderful things about art is that it has no age limits.
You can make your first masterpiece, like my nephew, aged just 3,
or you can continue to learn, develop and adapt at lOO years old.
You're never too old to learn, but you can also learn plenty from
the wisdom of elders and masters of years gone by.
In this issue, our practical section is packed with exercises,
COVER IMAG E PETER BROWN demonstrations and techniques based on those of the Old Masters.
You can learn how to sculpt forms like Paul Cezanne, create haunting portraits
STAY INSPIRED in the manner ofjohn Singer Sargent and try your hand at three-colour
BY SUBSCRIBING drawings inspired by Renaissance techniques. We also pinpoin t 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.eo.uk/
chelseaj help

Post: Artists & Illustrators,

Subscriptions Department,
Chelsea Magazines, Tower
House, Sovereign Park, Who is your favourite old or modern master? Which of their works would you like to emulate?
Lathkill Street, Market Share your thoughts with us for a chance to win a £50 GreatArt voucher (see page 6) ...
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Artists & Illustrators 3

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Exhibition Organised by
4 OCTOBER 2019 TO the Ashmolean Museum,
5 JANUARY 2020 University of Oxford

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6 Letters
Thoughts, stories and pictures
8 Exhibitions
Five to see this month
11 Sketchbook
Short tips, advice and products
16 Fresh Paint
New works, hot off the easel
27 Prize Draw
Win a residential art course
28 In the Studio
With acrylic artist Oenise Harrison
36 10 Minutes With ...
Author, critic and friend of t he
artists, Martin Gayford
43 The Working Artist
Our columnist Laura Boswell on
the importance of open studios
82 Art in Focus
A fiery Madrid scene from Scottish
modern master Mary Cameron
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I c uld have written another
ook about David Hockney•s
thoughts on smoking
MARTIN GAYFORD - PAGE 36
FEATURES 52 Demo
22 Cover Feature Learn how Paul Cezanne sculpted
New English Art Club president form through directional marks
Peter Brown paints the streets 55 In-Depth
30 Talking Techniques Lessons in drawing based on
Useful advice on colour, materials Renaissance-style techniques
and more from Andrew Gifford 60 Project
38 Art History John Singer Sargent's portrait
The genius behind the late, great methods are explained in detail
Lucian Freud's self-portraits 66 Colour Theory
How to suggest different settings
PRACTICAL by adjusting colour temperature
44 Masterclass 70 Your Questions
How to paint watercolours Unison Colour and the Pastel
expressively without losing control Society answer your pastel queries
48 Old Masters 74 Self-Portraits
A new series from Norfolk Painting Two fun yet stimu lating exercises
School's Martin Kinnear to try in Roxana Halls' new series
Artists & Illustrators s
 LETTER OF THE MONTH
approaches and let you cherry-pick
what works for you. Send your letter or email
TREASURED MEMORIES 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 fabu lous 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
lt 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.
Angela Chalmers, Balchraggan, lnvershin Thank you so much for arranging The writer of our 'letter
the prize. I would highly recommend of the month' will receive
So sorry for your loss Angel a, 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
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 lt was a brilliant time and I have and regular discounts
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.
came at just the right time. However, I am extremely confused Alison Yarrow, via email GreatArt
I had been plann ing a still life by her five fail-safe tips.
pa inting using my late mother's As a watercolourist we are told
coronation memorabilia. In the never to use white or black paint.
article, Todd stressed the Lisa, however, says to use white as
importance of lighting in still life a base for t ints and black to create
and also that images shou ld come shade. Surely by adding colour to
together to suggest a story. white, the end result wi ll 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 resu lt 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 w ith that an d ad d colou r,
w hereas if you used black, it Share your thoughts and get a daily dose
should be added to t he colour in of Artists & Illustrators tips, advice and
t iny incre me nts. Ultim at ely, every inspiration by following us on our social
arti st will advocat e different ways media channels...
of working, so don't be too
dishea rtened if t his one doesn't @Aand Imagazine I; ArtistsAnd Illustrators
suit you - t here are no hard a nd
f ast rules in art. Ou r ai m is always
r1j) Aandlmagazine ~ Aandlmagazine
to present a range of inspiring
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DECEMBER'S FIVE BEST ART SHOWS
BRIDGET RILEY
Until 26 January 2020
Inspired by the curves of Umberto Boccioni's
sculptures, London-born Op artist Bridget
Riley first began experimenting with pattern in
black and white when she moved to Ven ice in
1960. She later travelled the world taking
inspiration from the different ways in which
s '\rtists & Illustrators
•
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
ended, his ability to conjure vivid scenes in
undulating false colours only excelled further
and he developed an interest in
neuroaesthetics. His best pieces collected
here rival the most transformative works of
his heroes, Cezanne and Bonnard.
Attenborough Arts Centre,
University of Leicester, Leicester
www.attenborougharts.com
co lour was used throughout, which fuelled the
creation of her later, more vibrant works.
This retrospective spans the 88-year-old
artist's career to date and comes filled with
her graphic paintings that will likely play havoc
with your eyes.
Hayward Gallery, London
www.southbankcentre.co.uk
GAZE: PORTRAITS BY
LORNA MAY WADSWORTH
9 November to 15 February 2020
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 th is retrospective the Sheffield-
born artist's colourful career is
recounted via a series of paintings
wh ich vary from large-scale canvases
featuring 24-carat gold to a portrait
of author Neil Gaiman painted on a
piece of prehistoric bog oak.
Graves Gallery, Sheffield
www.museums-sheffield.org.uk
PAULAREGO
23 November to 19 April 2020
Art is, above all, about
commun icating and one of
our greatest living visual
storytellers is Dame Paula Rego.
The 84-year-old possesses
a vivid and often macabre
imagination, turn ing to folk tales
and storybooks whenever she
struggles with a painting.
Rego balances these fancifu l
fictions by immersing herself in
current affairs and contemporary
issues. This major new
retrospective, touring from Milton
Keynes, focuses on this aspect
of her career, selecting works
that tackle abortion, politics,
gender and more.
lt is a reminder to all artists
to be bold and speak out.
Scottish National Gallery of
Modern Art, Edinburgh
www.nationalgalleries.org

MELVYN EVANS:
IMPRINTING THE LAND
16 November to 23 February 2020
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.
Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield
www.ysp.org.uk

Artists & Illustrators 9

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layer o f c o lo u r, s
th e c o rn e r o f a room,
p a p e r, p a g e s fr o m o ld
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 "THE PAINTER MUST LEAVE THE
BEHOLDER SOMETHING TO GUESS''
- EH GOMBRICH, THE STORY OF ART

BOOK OF THE MONTH

You Will Be Able to Draw by the End
of this Book : Ink by Jak e Spicer
Artists &
Illustrators
contributor
Jake Spicer
has already
sold a
staggering
quarter of a
million
books about
drawing, such is his easy yet
encouraging tone and simple,
developing exercises - not to
mention the masterful
draughtsmanship at work.
The book's thick pages and
rubber-band seal gives it the feel of
a Moleskine sketchbook, so the
temptation is to carry it with you and
complete the challenges on the go.
Spicer's light delivery is underlined
•
by his use of everything from biros
i •
'\
.. to bananas as mark-making tools.
llex Press, £14.99. www.ilexpress.com
.
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WILLIAM MERRITT CHASE

..... Painting techniques of
• • '
the world 's best artists
' ..
•
. 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
....
Cl:
colours brought together in the vase of <
....
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daffodils. Her pose was also arresting, :::>
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the sweep of her arms guiding the eye ::;
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up to her thoughtful expression. :5
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Artists & illustrators 13

 Pastel artist LANA ALLOT
shares her top tips for seascapes

1. Start with hard pastels. Use NuPastels or Cretacolor

Carre hard pastels to establish the main shapes and
then wash them back with water or surgical spirit.
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...
ZEST-IT OIL PAINT DILUTANT
AND BRUSH CLEANER
Forget the turpentine or white spirit. This
environmentally-friendly, biodegradable alternative
is made using the zest of citrus fruit, so it not only
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also makes your studio smell like freshly-cut lemons.
www.zest-it.com
wave's shape and direction can help to express the
energy of the moving water.
3. Foam is not really white. Sky colours reflect on its
surface, sand mixes with water- all add subtle hints
of colours to the foam, as in Ocean Diamonds below.
-...
h
Pure white should only be used for bright highlights on
the foam or sparkling sunspots on clear water.
Lana's teaches a pastel painting holiday with Tuscany in the
Frame from 26 May to 2 June. www.lanaballot.com

14 Artists & mustrators

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 TOP TIP
"Use strong shadows
when painting skies to
add depth and create
a sense of drama in
your \andscapes"

RIGHT Douglas
Wilson, Lilies at
Chartres, oil on
board, 73x85cm

16 Artists & Illustrators

Inspiring new artworks, straight off the easel

Douglas Wilson
With the exception of a brief foray into abstraction in the
1960s, the portfolio of Douglas Wilson is comprised of
figurative and surrealist interpretations of the landscape.
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
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."
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.
"The south is very hilly but, in the north, where I live, it
flattens out towards the Cheshire plain."
Working with what he terms the "canal-and-buttercup
countryside", much of Douglas's oeuvre depicts
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. "lt'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

Artists & Illustrators 17


Sally Muir
There are lessons in the art of perseverance to be learnt
from the career of Sally Muir, whose first step towards a
career in painting began with her acceptance into an art
school that previously rejected her. The preoccupation with
canine subjects began much earlier, however, when as a
child Sally set to work with a prized set of Derwent pencils,
making illustrations of the dogs she grew up with,
"alongside cats, gerbils, guinea pigs and chickens."
Today, the artist remains an avid lover of animal subjects
and she is the proud parent of two whippets, Lily and Peggy.
"Lily is a brilliant model," says Sally. "I teach workshops and
she very much enjoys receiving all the attention."
In 2013, the artist challenged herself to craft A Dog A
Day, posting 365 sketches, lithographs, paintings and
potato prints onto her Facebook page that were eventually
ABOVE Sally Muir, compiled in a book. The project was picked up by the
Freida and Biscuit, clothing and homeware chain Anthropologie, which
oil on canvas, commissioned the artist to collaborate on popular
200x150cm collection of crockery and textiles.
Fresh Paint
SALLY'S
TOP TIP
"~~~tur.e the movement
. anme subject b
limiting Your sk t s . Y
time a e chmg
I nd employing a
ooser approach"
Freida and Biscuit was a recent painting commissioned
to commemorate the namesake pets by their owner, Paola,
a whippet enthusiast who Sally met on line. "I felt an affinity
for the elderly whippet as my Lily is 12," she explains.
"lt was a huge painting, taller than me, so I drew it out, but
found that it was hard to keep track of it. I'd draw a head
and the feet ended up in the wrong place." To overcome
this challenge of proportion, the artist gridded up the
canvas to keep the figures on track.
In her work, Sally captures the character of her subjects
through loose and expressive brushstrokes, and she was
eager not to lose this quality when working on such a large
scale. "As [the canvas] was much bigger than usual, I had
to use much bigger brushes to keep the brush marks lively
and spontaneous," she explains. "Generally, I would paint
a flat background, but when I was painting the darker blue
here, I liked the way it broke up the flatness and gave the
painting a 'horizon', so I decided to embrace the accident."
Sally Muir: The Dog Show runs until 9 February 2020 at the
Victoria Art Gallery, Bath. www.victoriagal.org.uk
Artists & illustrators 19
Fresh Paint
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Claire Failes
As a painter who avoids painting en pie in air due to having
a style which, to use the artist's own words, is "so slow the
seasons would change", the fast-drying time of acrylic paint
was once a source of dismay for Cl a ire Failes. However,
after discovering the more forgiving nature of Golden Heavy
Body acrylics, she discovered a different side to the
medium. "I used to hate acrylics as they were difficult to
manoeuvre, but the buttery consistency is very appealing
and suits the way I work. By applying layers of thin paint,
I can build up my painting into fine detail."
lt was a frosty morning when Cl a ire first set to work on
Early Morning in Winter on the Ash Path, choosing a spot in
a village that she had lived in when she first moved to
Gloucestershire. "Drawing has always been the basis of my
work, so I started with a sketch," she explains. "I was
interested in the frost still clinging to the grass and I felt it
would be a challenge to paint. I also thought the pink sky
in the background would create a good contrast with the
branches of the surrounding trees."
After scanning her sketch onto a computer, the artist
enlarged the drawing to the size she wanted for her
painting and printed it out to lay over a lightbox before
placing a sheet of Arches HP watercolour paper on top and
drawing over it. She then stretched the watercolour paper
onto a board and began painting, working in layers from
dark to light, waiting a day in between each one to allow
the paint ample time to dry.
The key to a successful studio painting? "Loads of ABOVE Claire Failes,
brushes," says Claire. "I don't buy expensive ones as acrylic Early Morning in
can be pretty tough on them, but I do find it hard to throw Winter on the Ash
any away, as worn brushes can be useful for painting grass Path, acrylic on
and other textures." watercolour paper,
www.artistsandillustrators.eo.uk/Ciaire-Failes 43x27cm

20 Artists & Illustrators

~1 re
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New English Art Club president
PETER BROWN is back on home turf
for his latest exhibition of paintings
of Bath , but he still has lots to learn
he tells MARTHA ALEXANDER

eter Brown has gone back to school. The award-

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
way of fresh inspiration.
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
and the rugged landscape that surrounds it.
lt's a long way from Bath, Peter's adopted hometown,
where he lives with his wife Lisa and children Ollie, Toby,
Hattie, Ell a 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
works on the streets of Bath at the start of his career.
When his pal Charlie dropped off some of his paintings
for an open call at Bath Society of Artists, the lady at the
desk asked if he was "Pete The Street". "How she came
about it I don't know, but that's the first I heard of it." >

22 Artists & Illustrators

Artists & Illustrators 23

Bath is not an edgy city in
any -way but it's very beautiful
and I'm happy painting that . . . . .
24 Artists & Illustrators
Brown admits that his nickname is slightly cheesy and
accepts that it's part of who he is professionally, though
some people aren't so keen. "David Messum never liked it,
but this is because he felt it was reductive," he explains of
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, Waiter 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

OPPOSITE PAGE, wrong and I struggled with line which is why I used
FROM TOP Snowfall, charcoal so much. lt's a constant battle to try to nail it,
St James's Street, but the battle is what it's all about."
oil on canvas, But his perceived difficulties don't end with drawing,
40.6x50.8cm; admitting that he finds interiors hard to paint for a number
Winter Evening, of reasons. "I guess it's because with a landscape it's a
Monmouth Street, moment in time and with an interior you can fiddle and
oil on board, fiddle and I end up killing them off quite a bit," he chuckles.
30.5x40.6cm "I work best when I work subconsciously, quickly. But with
interiors I end up thinking too much and paint myself out."
However, the artist wants to get better at this subject
matter and so his next show - Bath lt Is at Victoria Art
Gallery- features a selection of paintings of his studio.
"In which not much happens, really," he says drily. Aside
from much of his career being spent painting out of doors,
Peter dislikes the light in his studio. Or did until recently.
"lt's east-facing and I get really grumpy about how the light
BELOW Early comes in," he says. "I want a north-facing one and I looked
Afternoon, the into building one but it's just too expensive. And it's a good
Widcombe Deli job too, as I was in there recently and the light was
and The Ram, streaming in and I thought that would be good to paint."
oil on board, And so, he endeavoured to capture his indoor working
30.5x40.6cm life. "Before shows I do what I call a 'tickle up' which is
PETER BROWN
where I get all my paintings together and make sure all the
figures have two legs and the buildings weren't too wobbly,
stuff like that."
Peter has painted far-flung places like India and the USA
but always returns to Bath as a subject. Does he ever get
bored of painting the city? "I do talk about getting Bath-ed
out," he admits. "In the past couple of years, I've really
fallen in love with the place again though. I have had a bit
of an awakening about what a lovely place it is. Bath's not
an edgy city in any way but it's very beautiful and I'm
happy painting that. I find it very appealing still."
lt helps, I suggest, that there's a 'local boy' affection
for him there. "Also, you wear people down," he laughs.
Peter's own artistic affections include the usual
suspects like Waiter Sickert and John Constable, as well
as his contemporaries at the NEAC such as Arthur Neal:
"He's such a thoughtful painter." In fact, his main
inspiration comes from those who see things beautifully.
"I never ceased to be amazed by a good eye," he says.
"Just someone who sees things really well."
Peter's next challenge is to tackle a subject matter that
is simply unavailable in Bath. "I would like to get back to
painting the coast which I used to do a lot," he says, >
Artists & illustrators 25
 I

\
I ~

... ~

t !1
I
-- ~ Jt:

'
·l ~~
I

LEFT Late Afternoon,

Pulteney Bridge,
oil on canvas,
76.2x76.2cm
BELOW Ned and
the New Puppy on
E//a's Bed, January,
oil on canvas,
50.8x63.5cm

referencing the alia 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 lt runs from 30 November to 2 February
2020 at Victoria Art Gallery, Bath. www.peterbrownneac.com

26 Artists & Illustrators


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Whether you are inspired to try something
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This winter Artists & Illustrators has
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Artists & illustrators 27

• •
• in her mouth
The Brighton painter reveals how
synaesthesia affects her art.
Words and photos: STEVE PILL
How long have you been in this space?
I moved into Phoenix Studios three years ago. I shared
a space with Michelle [Cobbin] for three months and then
I moved into this one in the October. I prefer this studio
because I've got the morning sun and no traffic noise.
How often are you here?
I come here seven days a week. I only live 10 minutes away
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
work is about conservation and the landscape, so I have a
lot of rescued plants and I even grow tomatoes here.
Has your work changed since you moved here?
Yes, I've been doing more bodies of work. I have three
painting walls and I have wheels on the bottom of a table
that I call my "moveable palette" so I can move around.
On the corridor, we all leave our doors open and we'll come
in and out of each other's studios. Michelle and I do crits
together and give feedback on each other's paintings.
You must really love it?
I do. I wake up in the morning and sometimes I'll have done
28 Artists & lllustrators
TASTE FOR COLOUR
Denise has a
condition called
synaesthesia
so certain hues
cause sensations
a painting in my head in my dream. I love colour, I love that
texture, I love my brushes as objects as well.
lt's seem odd that you've written a book called If You're
Bored with Acrylics, Read This Book when it sounds like
the last thing you'd be!
The publisher was looking for someone using acrylics a bit
differently. I teach at Cass Art in the evening and they
found me through that. lt is part of a series of books called
If You're Bored With ... I had to think of different idea and it
gave me a chance to really play. I paint every day so I'm
always experimenting.
If people struggle with acrylics, do you have any tips?
I always recommend starting with just two colours and a
white, get to know those colours first, and maybe try to do a
landscape, abstracting the shapes. Landscapes are really
good for learning because you aren't concentrating on
getting a likeness like you are with a portrait.
You seem to really like the substance of paint?
What I like is the level of contrast, that contradiction
between the marks. On the painting on the wall [top right],
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
plants. I'm trying to contrast the lushness of the foliage
with the coldness and straightness of the building.
 ..
..
..

When making a green mark on a pink ground, for example,

you need to be decisive. Do you plan your strokes first?
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
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. lt 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
people were eating at Stanmer Park. People drive there,
park by this little cafe and have a muffin or a milkshake,
so I've put the colours of their food into my landscape.
My mouth's watering looking at it.
Do you use a lot of different paints then?
Yes, but there are certain colours I just don't like, like
Lemon Yellow. I get a bad taste in the mouth with it. I don't
really like the sensation I get from Ultramarine either.
I'll use it to mix greens, but I won't use it as it is.

Has synaesthesia always affected how you paint?
I only found out I had it about four years ago when a tutor
suggested it. I used to get really excited about colour,
especially Naples Yellow and they said I should have a test.
Do you feel more in control now you know this?
Yes, understanding it makes me feel better about my
colour choices. Sometimes I have to reduce the vibrancy.
What are the "tastiest" colours for you?
Probably Cyan Blue and Cadmium Yellow Deep.
I tend to fill my house with these colours, so I have brightly
coloured carpets and things like that. Some people ask
if the synaesthesia is a hindrance, but I think its great
as an artist.
Denise's new book, If You're Bored with Acrylics, Read This
Book, is published by llex Press. www.deniseharrisonart.com

Artists & lllustrators 29

 ..
. ....
-~
•

I"
• -
• •

TALKING TECHNIQUES
• ....
-- •
...
-
•
••

"' .
-
•

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

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

30 Artists & Illustrators

 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,
Russia is snow, that's the vi be. And I thought if I was doing
that, I should probably take more white than I normally do."
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
also includes Cadmium Yellow Light, Indian Yellow, Yellow
Ochre, Transparent Iron Oxide, Cadmium Red, Magenta,
Alizarin Crimson, Phthalo Green, Sap Green, Phthalo Blue,
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
Indian Yellow, a "really translucent colour" he uses for
warm glazes to capture "that time of day when everything

now your palette ...

You don't want to
overcomplicate thin
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." >

Artists & Illustrators 31


ABOVE Silver Prior to a trip such as his recent stints in Russia and
Birches near Scandinavia, Giff will prepare maybe two dozen plywood
Stockholm, oil on boards, each about 40cm square and covered with a white
panel, 42x28cm Crete primer and then one of a range of coloured oil
grounds. Dark purple grounds are usually used for night
paintings, orange ones for cityscapes and mauve ones for
snow scenes. "lt kick starts you a little bit," he explains.
"Those colours will shine through in a little way and bind
the whole thing together immediately so you get the feel
of the painting earlier, which is useful when it is cold."
Time is always of the essence. Even when mixed with
his trusty Lukas Medium 5, the slow-drying nature of oils
32 Artists & Illustrators
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 lnstagram
account (@andrew_gifford_artist)
back in September shows him making
a frantic 10-minute oil sketch of a
Swedish sunset. "The essential thing
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
vibrancy by keeping his brushes clean
at all times and using a palette that is
at least as big as his board or canvas,
so that there is space for mixing.
To carry paintings home, Giff places
plastic tile spacers (the ones used for
tiling bathrooms) between the wet
boards, which he then wraps together
to hold them in place. Back in the
studio, these smaller paintings made
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
paint the big canvas with the same brush. You've got to
handle the marks totally differently."
Abstract artist Mark Rothko famously liked to paint in a
brightly-lit studio, but then have his works hung in dim-lit
conditions- an approach Giff has adopted. "lt means when
I paint darks in the studio, I can really see them properly.
And then when those darks are lit normally, they'll really
just glow." This interest in the more technical, logical
aspects of painting is something he credits to his engineer
father, "a total scientist" in contrast to the artistic nature
of his mother's side of the family. A voluntary lunchtime
course at art college that taught how paints were made >
LEFT Kytaniemi
Saimaa Region,
Looking West, oil
on panel, 39x25cm
 I paint in a
bright studio
so \Nhen
those dark
colours are lit
normally, they
really glo

also proved revelatory to a young Gift.

"it's all just a pigment and a medium,"
he says. "When you understand that,
and the suspension of pigment, and
how some pigments are very fine,
which is what makes them
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
powdered L Cornelissen & Son
pigments, as well as making a glaze
medium he can adapt to suit each
picture. "lt is basically dammar
crystals and I just soak them in
turpentine and add a refined linseed
oil and a cobalt siccative- just a tiny
bit makes it dry a bit quicker."
lt is perhaps this very rudimentary
view of paint as a substance that
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 Gift.
"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 Wl. www.jmlondon.comjandrew-gifford

34 Artists & Illustrators

 .. - - .. - ..
•

- •

• • •
Vt ert IJ •

•
• ••
~
....
•
-
•

ILLUSTRATORS
TIPS • TECHNIQUES • IDEAS • INSPIRATION

Why more artists are

embiaclog simple media
0 •1 ~ .

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...,
\.\1\1 K l .\'-I i l l
Improve your art,
one sketch at a time
'
•
•

Dramatic
PAINTING
Simple tricks to help
transform your portrait

HOW TO . . RECREATE A FAMILY PHOTO IN OILS

WORK WITH COLLAGE • PAINT FROM IMAGINATIO
 10 MINUTES WITH ...
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
upon the 19 featured in your new book, The Pursuit of Art?
Part of the idea was that the encounter with the artists
involved an interesting journey. In most cases, I'm travelling
to see them. In the case of Gilbert & George, I actually met
them in Beijing, so I was encountering China and them at
the same time. If you go and visit an artist in their own
landscape, then you find out more about their work.
Are there certain qualities all great artists possess?
There probably is an "artist type", but defining it is difficult. I
think it's a recognisable mixture of being absolutely
unbendingly fanatical about certain aspects of life, for
example, what something looks like, but also a sort of
willingness to go to extreme lengths.
In The Pursuit of Art you write about the idea of "slow
looking". Is that something that has been forgotten about
in the digital age?
Actually, it's possibly something that is coming back.
Obviously, there is a tendency for us to spend all day long
looking at screens and go through to the other side of them
like AI ice with the looking glass, but there seems to be a
movement in the opposite direction, perhaps as a reaction
to seeing art entirely in a virtual form.
You seem fascinated by artistic process in many of your
books. Do you see your role as lifting the curtain in a way?
I sometimes think what I do is listening to artists and then
transmitting their thoughts in a way that is more easily
digestible to a wider audience. I like finding out how it
happens. I felt that's a bit of a weakness of conventional
art history, that it grew up really as a genre written by
literary people and historians who looked at art in
museums, so there's less about what goes on in the studio.
For your last book, Modernists & Mavericks: Bacon, Freud,
Hockney and the London Painters, were there any less
famous artists you thought deserve wider recognition?
Well, certainly Gillian Ayres, who was one of my great
helpers and sources for that book. I feel she is someone
who hasn't quite been given her due. British abstraction
vanished into a black hole in the 1970s, whereas hundreds
of thousands go along to see Rothko or Pollock exhibitions.
Modernists & Mavericks covers the period 1945 to 1970.
If you were going to attempt a similar survey of the last 25
36 Artists & Illustrators
years, which British artists would dominate the story?
Interesting question. Peter Doig is certainly someone I
would write about, Gary Hume is another. I'm not quite sure
it would work so well because I'm not sure whether there
was such a social network, but maybe there's scope for it.
You also wrote A Bigger Message: Conversations with
David Hockney. What's the most enjoyable part of a chat
with someone like Hockney?
Well, apart from the pleasure of their company, I like
learning and I think you can learn a lot from listening to
artists, especially people such as Hockney and Freud.
What are your chats with Hockney like away from art?
Apart from smoking- I could have written another book
about his thoughts on that- the conversations are pretty
wide ranging actually. He's moved to Normandy and he's
very in love with the French countryside so there are lots of
observations about that. And he's met a huge number of
people and not necessarily in the art world. In Hollywood,
Billy Wilder and Cary Grant were great pals of his.
Freud painted your portrait, which you recounted in your
book Man With a Blue Scarf. Were there aspects of the
final painting you were surprised he picked up on?
Yes, I was surprised by how forceful and confident looking
he'd made me. I didn't always feel terribly confident or
forceful - I often felt quite tired out when I was sitting there
at the end of a day- but that's what he picked up on. Freud
did that. He wasn't necessarily giving a complete analysis
of a sitter in a certain work, he was making what he
thought would make the strongest possible painting.
What was the last exhibition that really moved you?
I loved the Olafur Eliasson show [In Real Life] at Tate
Modern. There's a parallel to the things that Fried rich or
Van Eyck were doing with light, but he doesn't make a
picture, he puts you in the middle of it. There's a passage
full of yellow fog and it's like walking through a Turner.
And finally, do you have another book in the pipeline?
Yes, I'm just finishing off the first draft actually. lt's a sequel
to the one I did with David Hockney called A History of
Pictures. This one is about three-dimensional art with
>
~
Antony Gormley as my co-author. lt's out next autumn. :.:
z
:::>
Martin's latest book, The Pursuit of Art, is published by Thames ~
g
& Hudson (RRP £16.95). www.thameshudson.com @
 ART HISTORY

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
38 Artists & Illustrators
 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,
confrontational fleshy masterpieces
he produced in later years.
Painted at the age of 21, 1943's
Man with a Feather is Freud's first
self-portrait on record to be exhibited.
The white feather refers to a love
affair. The painting has a smooth,
glossy surface. lt was created with
Ripolin enamel paint, applied with fine
sable brushes, to show every small
detail, yet hide the brush marks.
Freud admired Picasso, who may
have been the first to experiment with
this commercial brand of house paint.
The three-quarter length linear
composition is of Freud, clean-
shaven, looking intensely at the
viewer. Background events only
momentarily distract from the figure
of Freud. The dark jacket, the knotted
(/)

~ tie, the neat shirt; each is carefully

::;
~ observed and draws the viewer in.
::;
g His long, pale hands are exquisitely
er
3> executed. Hands and eyes are always
~ noticeable in Freud's art. He would
<(

~ start from a small part of the work,

e:
~ perhaps the eye, and work outwards
(3

~ from it. A working method can be

coking at Lucian Freud's
self-portraits, one observes the
development and maturation
of his craft. Open to experimentation
with new techniques, pushing
boundaries of composition, and paint
application, he stated that he asked
of his paintings, and his paint, to
"astonish, disturb, seduce, convince."
And, for Freud, it was always
about the paint. lt directed his work.
i!'
@ seen in the unfinished Self-portrait,
"I want paint to work as flesh,"
he once said, according to artist
Lawrence Gowing's 1982 monograph.
"As far as I am concerned, the paint
is the person."
Near 70 years of self-portraiture by
the Berlin-bern, British artist Lucian
Freud is explored at London's Royal
Academy of Arts this winter in a series
of more than 50 paintings and
works on paper. Lucian Freud:
c. 1956, with its light underdrawing,
usually a charcoal sketch, also visible.
In the 1940s, the artist Graham
Sutherland introduced Freud to
Francis Bacon, both men figurative
artists in an art world more focused
on abstraction. The meeting produced
a long friendship between Bacon and
Freud, and they regularly painted
portraits of each other. A small,
meticulous portrait of Bacon (now
lost), painted on copper by Freud, >

Artists & Illustrators 39

LUCIAN FREUD
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,
and self-portraiture in particular:
an intense visual truth.
The younger Freud was influenced
by some of Bacon's working methods.
From the 1950s, there were
noticeable changes in his painting
and paint application, like standing
up to paint, as Bacon did, and using
hog's hair brushes for thicker paint
textures. (1954's Hotel Bedroom was
apparently the last work Freud
painted sitting down.)
Freud never applied paint straight
from the tube. He used natural,
earthy colours and always mixed
them on a hand-held palette.
40 Artists & Illustrators
He would mix the paint for one
brush stroke then wipe the brush
clean with a clean rag. In some
artworks the discarded rags, often
former hotel linen, can be seen in
piles on the studio floor. Paint on the
palette would be removed with a
palette knife and scraped on to the
studio wall to keep it off the floor.
Paint wall spatters are visible
behind Freud in the 2002
masterpiece, Self-portrait, Reflection.
With the colour mixed as he wanted,
with each brushstroke he would look
again at his subject- in the case of
his self-portraits, his own reflection in
the mirror. This helped him to get the
tonal colouration and texture he
wanted, before pushing the next
heavily-loaded paintbrush across
the canvas.
lt is in this respect that his working
method differed from Bacon. Freud
had to have the sitter in the studio,
even when painting in the background
(/)
detail, while his friend and peer ~
::;
preferred to work from photographs ~
::;
of a sitter. For Freud, a sitting was a 8a:
face-to-face private experience. How ~
>
sitters wanted to see themselves was 13
~
not necessarily what he saw. What he a:~
wanted to achieve was his objective, ~
u
even if it meant days of discomfort for ~
J:
the sitter. He stated that, in this 9

_ y the 1950s, Freud stood up
to paint and used hog's hair
brushes for thicker textur s
aspect, he was immensely selfish.
In Freud's self-portraits, as in the
portraits of the people in his life,
there is a psychological element to
each work, a confrontational realism
to which the viewer responds. He said
he wished his portraits "to be of
people, not like them".
One senses it in Hotel Bedroom,
set in a Paris hotel. There is a sense
of anxiety and tension in this double
portrait of Freud and his second wife,
the novelist Lady Caroline Blackwood.
The composition focuses primarily on
Blackwood, then leads the eye
directly through to the figure of Freud
backlit, standing by a window, staring
back the viewer, as if looking at
himself in a mirror. The emptiness
ABOVE Lucian
Freud, Reflection
(Self-portrait),
1985, oil
on canvas,
55.9x55.3cm
RIGHT Lucian Freud,
Self-portrait,
Reflection, 2002,
oil on canvas,
66x50.8cm
between the couple is palpable with
the addition of a voyeur- the viewer
- present. The result is reminiscent of
the isolation felt in an Edward Hopper
painting; Freud cropped the
composition tightly, which added
a claustrophobic element.
In self-portraits Freud said he found
it difficult to infuse the psychological
element that he could attain in his
portraits of other people. The
features he saw looking back at him
in the mirror were not all that he
wanted to paint. He needed to exact
an intense scrutiny of who he was, to
reveal more than physical features.
In Man's Head (Self-portrait Ill)
from 1963, Freud used thick oil paint,
to define and highlight his angular
LUCIAN FREUD
facial features, the impasto strokes
applied like a Cubist refraction of light
and shade. In addition, there is a
brooding atmosphere, as though one
is present in front of him, caught
witnessing this exploration of his
being. In Reflection with Two Children
(Self-portrait), painted two years later,
Freud experimented with two mirrors,
peering down at himself, his head and
body twisted around from a sidewards
position, to study and paint his
features. The lamp light source
is revealed behind him.
The placement of two of his
children, Rose and Ali, at the bottom
of the picture frame, is said to be
copied from the tomb of the Eygptian
dwarf Seneb, a high-ranking court
official, and his family, reproduced
in a history book owned by Freud.
The nude portrait was a tool in
Freud's remarkable oeuvre, exploring
the physical body of his subject so
intimately, in stark portrayals of
realism. His sitters never appeared
to flinch from his infinitesimal
exploration of their skin and their
psyche. In his own self-portraits,
particularly nude portraits, one can
sense the atmosphere of unequivocal
self-examination, as in 1985's
Reflection (Self-portrait).
Freud captures not just his likeness
but his inner determination and
humanity. Remarkable portrayals
such as this explain why he was
honoured as the greatest living
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.
Given many of the artworks in Royal
Academy's show are loaned from
private collections, Lucian Freud:
The Self-portraits is a rare opportunity
for artists to study Freud's working
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
reveal the painter within the man.
Lucian Freud: The Self-portraits
runs until 26 January 2020 at the
Royal Academy of Arts, London W1.
www.royalacademy.org.uk
Artists & illustrators 41
 lmage:Anna Clarke

42 Artists & illustrators


Our columnist LAURA BOSWELL on why open
studios events are a must for beginners
t is that time of year when I am
starting to think about my open
ABOVE Laura studios event for next year. I've
Boswell, Vale taken part in my local Bucks Art
Teasles, Japanese Weeks since 2006. Taking part
woodblock/linocut, helped launch my career and it is the
29.4x44.5cm only one of my early exhibition
' '
At my first open studios,
I had a dozen visitors- and
nine of those were family
0 studios as an annual testing ground
experiments that I still embrace with
the same enthusiasm today.
All open studio events have a
broadly similar aim of encouraging
artists to either open their workspace
to the public or exhibit artworks in a
shared local venue. Visitors then have
COLUMNIST
''
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.
lt does take time to build your
audience. In my first year, I had a
dozen visitors- and nine of those
were family. Start small and grow your
event as you grow your audience.
There is no pressure, other than to
provide an honest, friendly and
enjoyable event, so some may see it
more as a social and networking
event, while others may be intent on
sales or winning commissions.
Whatever you want from your show,
remember to enjoy it and see it as a
step towards a long-term goal, not an
immediate reward.
Open studios involve relatively little
financial outlay or risk for the artist,
while bringing the benefit of strength
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
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.
lt is the unique combination of
presenting your work on your terms,
while benefiting from being part of a
larger umbrella event, that makes
open studios something to grow into
- rather than grow out of- as you
develop. Give it a go and I hope you
will find it the same enjoyable learning
curve as I still do. Just remember to
invite the family.
Bucks Art Weeks runs 6-21 June 2020.
www.lauraboswell.co.uk
Artists & illustrators 43
 •

• •
 MASTERCLASS

International watercolour master FABIO CEMBRA

shows how control I i ng water wi 11 enable you to t~"''""'
loose and intuitive approach to a watercolour still

love painting watercolours using the wet-on-wet
technique because each new painting is a
challenge for me: the wet paint is laid on the wet
or damp paper, the colours flow, they blend into one
another and create unexpected and diffused effects.
This method is all about taking risks, daring, working
fast and intuitively, while understanding the wetness
of the paper: that's the way I feel more comfortable.
If the paper is wet, there will be many soft edges at
the beginning. As I add more layers, some shapes will
become more defined, as those initial soft edges
disappear and the edges become harder. Others will
remain soft- or "lost" -throughout.
The more drybrush strokes you make, the more
harder edges will be created too. The play between
hard and soft edges is important to create a sense
of depth and, if this is well developed, we can build
a sense of three-dimensionality in our artwork.
The trick is to place most of the harder edges around
or closer to the focal point (in the following).
If you want to paint loosely, work fast but don't
forget to also be mindful of where your focal point
is placed. Don't spell everything out to the viewer.
You don't need to draw each petal, leave something
for the imagination. Similarly, don't outline every
shape, leave some soft edges. And the most
important advice: finish your artwork with the paper
still humid -allow colours to blend into one another
before they have dried.
www.fabiocembranelli.com

I use a portable folding palette with
transparent watercolour paints in tubes
as I need a creamy consistency to paint
wet-on-wet. I never use opaque colours.
In my opinion, watercolour is about saving
or restoring the white of the paper so once
it's lost, it's better to start again -there's no
gouache in my palette. The brand of brushes
isn't important, so long as they are synthetic
hairs, and a rigger brush is necessary to add
final touches.
After sketching the main shapes in pencil
(I don't like to draw all the flowers and leaves,
as some of them will come out during the
painting process), I wet the paper randomly
using a large synthetic brush.
Using a 3/4" flat brush, I started painting
the central flowers- the focal point of my
composition. The white flower was a tricky
subject: every time there's a white subject,
I try to paint the background around it rather
than the subject itself, letting the white of the
paper show through. Sometimes we add so
many colours, shadows and layers to a
"white" shape that it won't be white anymore.
Using a 1/2" flat brush, I started adding more
shapes, including a red flower in the top left
to provide some diagonal balance to the
composition.
My arrangement in the vase provided
a vertical composition, but the dominant
vertical (the flowers) can be interrupted by
an imaginary diagonal line to prevent the
viewer's eyes from leaving the composition.
lt can be important to play with diagonal
touches such as this to break the grid-like
effect that can occur in the play between
horizontal and vertical lines. >
 •

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)
or Sap Green plus Olive Green and a little
French Ultramarine (for cool greens).
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 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.

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
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.

46 Artists & Illustrators

 MASTERCLASS

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

Avoid black or flat greys for shadows: instead,

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

Artists & illustrators 47

 MASTER TECHNIQUES
'

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

ver been stopped in your
tracks by a painting and
wondered: how was that done?
Over the next four issues I'll be
letting you in on a few of the amazing
things that only paintings and paint
ABOVE Martin can do in the hands of the old (and
Kin near, not so old) masters. If you think that
Regeneration, learning technique is old-fashioned,
oil on canvas, then think again.
91x91cm The entry requirements for the
John Moores Painting Prize, perhaps
OPPOSITE PAGE the most prestigious contemporary
El Greco, Saint award for painters, emphasises that
Jerome as Scholar, artists' entries should, above all,
c.1610, oil on demonstrate what paint and painting
canvas, 108x89cm alone can do. A stroll around the Tate
"Indirect brushwork Modern will also show you that the
adds depth and best ideas are the ones that are
texture to Saint powerfully presented and forcefully
Jerome's beard brought to life by strong visual art.
and cape" The craft of painting is necessary to
fyou intend to ~ork in layers,
it's important that they are
orchestrated together
the art of it, so while the means are
not the end, you really ought to have
them to hand if you want to succeed.
As were talking about ideas, it's
important to decide where to begin.
Picasso understood that there is no
progression in art as did Grayson
Perry when he noted that "everything
was contemporary once". Ideas are
timeless, but to explore some of the
best ideas in visual art, you'll need a
bit of craft to articulate them. This
series on the craft of painting is
designed to help you become a
better, more creative artist.
I~ ' ~
With that caveat, I'd like to invite
you to think about your painting and
reflect on whether or not you're
missing out on some powerful ideas
and techniques that could help you
better realise your creative vision.
Let's start at the very beginning:
how you apply paint. One habit of
successful creative people is to
question assumptions, so why do
most artists apply pre-prepared tube
paints onto white canvases and
spread them with brushes or knives?
If that sounds the obvious route
to you, then just think of all the >
Artists & illustrators 49
MASTER TECHNIQUES
decisions you've opted out of. Could
you make the paint yourself? Could
you modify how it looks, spreads or
dries? Why are you only choosing to
paint on a white surface? Is a brush
or knife the best tool for the way you
want to paint?
If the great virtue of study is to see
a familiar process through new eyes,
the greater virtue of practical study is
to both see and experience it. So, for
this series of four articles, I'd like to
get you familiar with a different way of
seeing painting: through indirect eyes.
BELOW Martin
Kinnear, Council WHAT IS " INDIRECT "
House Days PAl NTI NG?
(detail), oil on Most contemporary and almost all
board, 244x122cm untrained painters work directly.
"These indirect Most trained painters, and almost
textures make for all old masters work indirectly, so
fantastic interest it seems sensible to start this series
up close" by questioning that.
50 Artists & Illustrators
Indirect painting simply means
creating a work in stages or layers,
one after - and over -the other. This
in turn means that each layer has to
be made in reference to both what it
is painted over, and what will
subsequently be painted over it.
This sounds straightforward - and
can be- however indirect working
requires you to consider in advance
the sequence you work in, exploit the
possibilities you create, and stay
focused on creating a punchy image.
If you intend to work in several
layers, it's important to ensure that
they are orchestrated and work
together, rather than negating each
other. The aim here is to make each
stage necessary for, and useful to,
the next one. Every artist develops
their own way of working but here's
a a typical indirect working sequence
for you to use as a basis:
1. Prepare an imprimatura - an initial
colour stain on the ground
2. Block in an underpainting to place
the key elements
3. Refine the underpainting by
modelling the lines and forms
4. Add nuance to that modelling with
layers of glazing or scumbling
5. Give the whole painting a final
unifying layer of varnish
Within these five basic steps, the
emphasis one puts on each stage
may vary enormously, and stages
might be swapped around, duplicated,
redone or omitted as appropriate to
each new painting. The only constants
here are that the work is thought of
as being a piece to be developed, and
to be done so optically.
Most contemporary painters who
are very happy to work intuitively,
spontaneously and from the gut- just
don't imagine the Old Masters doing it
that way. While modern levels of
spontaneity just weren't applicable
before pre-prepared tube paints were
available, a quick glance at a Turner,
late Titian, Rembrandt or El Greco will
convince any practicing artist that
spontaneity was part and parcel of
indirect technique, but here's the
thing- it was planned spontaneity.
Many of the Old Masters
understood the value of the
serendipitous and spontaneous, but
also had the skills to harness that
element of chance - not merely
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
0 Reinvent old methods
0 Question your assumptions
0 Try working indirectly
0 Work in a sequence
0 Make each layer count
0 Use plenty of contrast on
the initial layers
0 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
the same principles that have always
informed good painting- specifically
strong visual design, supported by
structural value, and good colour.
Indirect painting adds greater optical
quality to this, a benefit much harder
to exploit in direct oils.

INDIRECT CHALLENGE
The easiest way to experiment with
indirect painting is to work over any
old, thoroughly dry paintings you have
in your studio and perhaps aren't
completely happy with. Simply mix up
some paint so that it's not absolutely
opaque and work over your old work.
lt's really important to start with a
strong underpainting, as layering will
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. lt'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 lt'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

Artists & lllustrators 51

 SELWYN LEAMY shows you how to
emulate the French master's techniques
and describe forms with your
brushwork in this simple demonstration

his painting of a tree-lined avenue dimensional form. The bright foliage subtly blend and disappear into the
at Paul Cezanne'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 Cezanne used heavy, diagonal strokes to
,_
hot, sunny afternoon. He slightly compresses under the shady canopy. create the clumps of the leaves. The trunk ::;
~
--'
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 Cezanne builds the the lighter red-brown paint working in ~
0>
shadows in the foreground, which seem structure of the foliage and trunks with thick, contrast to the blue shadow. In this painting, ~
z
0
quite flat. Concentrating on the tree at the slab-like blocks of colour. These Cezanne used a palette knife as well as a 0
z
g
left of the canvas, we can see his skill at brush strokes stand out against the dark brush to apply paint thickly, adding to the w
!;;:
creating a tangible sense of three- paint, but moving across the image, they overall form and texture of the piece. '""'
@

52 Artists & Illustrators

 - DEMO
\
••
•
-'
• •
•
.• •
DEMO
Paul Cezanne's painting is seductively
rich in tone and texture, with its thick,
visible brushstrokes and powerful
lights and darks. To explore these
techniques, make a tree (a classic
Cezanne motif) your subject. Working
over a dark underpainting, use the
direction of your brushstrokes to
describe the form of the tree.
1 Start with a canvas board and
paint a simple landscape as a
backdrop. Mix French Ultramarine with
Titanium White for the sky. Apply the
paint from the top of the canvas to the
bottom with horizontal brushstrokes,
gradually adding more white and
blending the paint as you go. For the
grass, mix French Ultramarine with
Lemon Yellow and apply it with large,
horizontal strokes. Work upwards,
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
on it. Draw the outline of your tree in
pencil without putting in any detail.
0
e~
2 On your palette, mix French
Ultramarine with a small amount
of Burnt Umber to make a dark, bluish
black. Paint the tree in silhouette,
using your outline as a guide.
Apply the paint thickly, using large
brushstrokes to add texture. Most of
this will be painted over, but vary the
direction of your brushstrokes to help
create a sense of texture and form
from the outset.
3 While the dark paint is still wet,
load your brush with a good
amount of lemon yellow. Apply the
paint to the foliage area with short
vertical and diagonal brushstrokes
without reloading your brush, starting
in the places that light strikes the
foliage: this way you get the rawer,
lighter colour where you want it.
As you work, the paint will start
to blend into a dark green. Keep
building up the clumps of foliage,
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
Mix a small amount of Titanium with the grass colour underneath,
White with Burnt Sienna to make a giving it a more convincing shadow.
soft pink, then paint this onto the light In the final stage, keep developing
side of the trunk. The dark, blue-black the lights and darks. Rather than
base colour will mix with it slightly, painting individual leaves, use the
adding subtle variations in colour, shapes and blocks of different tones
which will create the look of bark. to create the form of the foliage.
Cezanne's great skill was to find the
Now develop the texture of the underlying shapes of his subject.
4 grass. Use short, choppy, vertical
brushstrokes without thinning your
This is an extract from Selwyn Lea my's
new book, TATE: Master Oils, published
paint. Paint the shadow underneath by llex in partnership with TATE
the tree, using the dark mix of French (RRP £14.99). www.ilex.press
Artists & illustrators 53
 Camden Image Gallery en Bromle
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54 Artists & illustrators

 IN DEPTH

Classically-trained portrait artist SVETLANA CAMERON shows v ,..~u how to put a

1
modern twist on the three-colour drawing technique used b~ talian masters
Artists & illustrators 55
RENAISSANCE DRAWING
he main principle that
distinguishes Old Master
works from contemporary
realism is the use of value and
shadow to create an illusion of a
three-dimensional form on a two-
dimensional surface. The principle,
which became known as chiaroscuro,
an Italian term meaning "light-dark",
is actually surprisingly simple. When
PREVIOUS PAGE illuminated properly, form divides into
Natalia Osipova, two major masses of value: light and
conte crayon and shadow. If you learn to replicate the
pastel on paper, exact shapes of both light and
70x50cm shadow, and pay particular attention
56 Artists & Illustrators
to the transitions between them, you
will be able to capture a likeness and
draw anything realistically. Since its
introduction in the 15th century, this
approach has been successfully
practised by many artists that we
admire today.
HOW DO I LIGHT MY
SUBJECT?
To achieve the beautiful soft
transitions characteristic of the Old
Masters' works, illuminate your
subject with natural light. Artificial
lighting creates much stronger
contrasts, harder edges, and often
alters the colour temperature. Always
work with one light source and make
sure you have clearly defined light and
dark masses. (Two or more light
sources will not only dilute the
shadows, but also weaken the
structure of your drawing). Position
your model near a large window or
skylight. North light is best as it hardly
changes throughout the day, but other
windows will do as well as long as
there is no direct sunlight.
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
"three-colour") technique. These
preparatory studies for a multi-figure
oil painting were carefully rendered
in black, red and white chalk on a
beige-coloured paper. I was struck
by the lifelike effect that could be
produced with such a limited palette.
Intrigued and keen to try it myself,
I began to experiment with charcoal,
sanguine, and white Conte crayons
on pastel paper of different colours
and textures. When used in different
ways- hatched, mixed, blended,
spread in varying degrees of opacity
-the three colours could produce a
wide range of textures and very
believable skin tones.
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

ABOVE Emily, WHICH COLOUR GOES
charcoal, sanguine DOWN FIRST?
and white conte on With a three-colour drawing, there is
paper, 45x35cm no fixed order in which to apply the
colours. Whichever you choose first,
the results will be more or less the
same. Generally, if a drawing requires
darker values and deeper shadows,
I start in black and then add red.
However, if the subject is
predominantly warm and light, I tend
to start in sanguine and then deepen
the shadows with black.
Red pigment is present in all parts
of my portraits- it is what adds
RENAISSANCE DRAWING
•
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
mixing effects and significantly
broadens the range of skin tones.
Being a muted grey, Moonstone has a
cooling effect on all the warm colours,
especially sanguine, which can easily
become too hot and overpowering.
Left exposed in many parts of the
drawing and in the background, it
adds unity and harmony to the
finished artwork. >
warmth and makes models look alive.
Black features in all of the shadows,
but sometimes the light areas too.
I add it very sparingly and mix it with
white to create cool bluish shades in
the eye sockets or around the mouth
and chin.
White should only be reserved for
the light areas. Never ever add white
to the shadows as it will muddy dark,
warm colours. If you need to lighten a
shadow area -to add reflected light,
for example- lift the pigment with a
paper stump or putty rubber to
expose some of the paper instead.
Artists & illustrators 57
RENAISSANCE DRAWING
DEMO
1 Draw the midline of the face
with a sanguine pencil. Find the
perpendicular line running through the
corners of the eyes. These two lines
help establish the tilt and angle of the
head. With those in place, lay in more
general proportional guidelines, such
as the height and width of the head
and the placement of the features.
Confirm the placing of those against
the model using the sight-size method.
lt is important to establish all the
proportions accurately, as this stage
lays the foundation for the rest of the
portrait. Use light pressure on the
pencil at the beginning to make
corrections possible. If you drive
pigment deep into the tooth of the
paper too soon, it will be not possible
to erase it completely.
• • •
- the warm-cool temperature shifts that
\ --
- -
- cast by the hair onto the skin. These
Continue building upon the
2 construction lines, adding some
indication of plane changes and
mapping out the shadow areas, such
as eye sockets, the dark side of the
face, the hair, and the shadows cast
by the nose and chin.
Unify and connect all the shadow
shapes by blending them with a paper
stump, leaving no gaps between
pencil marks.
58 Artists & Illustrators
3 So far, sanguine has been
used for the middle values
only so it is time to push the
value scale in both directions by
adding black to the darker areas and
white to the highlights. I find it helpful
to establish the extreme ends of my
value scale fairly early, because it
makes it much easier to orchestrate
the middle values in between.
Everything is relative, and everything
you add to your drawing alters the
perception of the other elements.
If mid-tones seem dull, one can spend
hours trying to correct them, while all
you may need to do is deepen the
cast shadows or lighten the highlights.
Continue to refine the drawing,
4 gradually adding more details and
paying particular attention to the
colour temperature. While it is the
light-shadow balance that makes a
drawing look three-dimensional, it is
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
To finish the drawing, carefully
small warm accents will immediately
make the portrait come alive.
5 review the likeness and tweak the
expression, taking as much time as
ABOVE Liza,
charcoal, sanguine
and conte crayon
needed until it looks right. Add more
volume and texture to the hair and
clothes. Check that the "catch" lights
on paper, 42x32cm
in the eyes are balanced and add the
reflected light elsewhere where it is
needed. Finish by softening or
sharpening some edges to add more
variety and visual interest.
Svetlana's next exhibition runs from
5-16 May 2020 at D Contemporary Gallery,
London W1. www.svetlanacameron.com
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Artists & Illustrators 59

 PROJECT

London Atelier of Representational Art tutor LIZET DINGEMANS uses traditional

materials and historical research to replicate the 19th-century painter's techniques

ohn Singer Sargent is

considered one of the most
influential portrait painters of
the 19th century. A prolific artist, he
produced around 900 oil paintings
and many more drawings. In this
article I will be painting a copy of
Sargent's portrait of General Sir /an
Standish Monteith Hamilton from the
National Galleries of Scotland's
collection.
Sargent was a teacher of art as
well, but many were confused by
his teaching methods, often finding
his lessons cryptic and confusing.
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
. .
m unrson. 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
0
LEFT John Singer SARGENT' S MATERIALS Rose Madder, Raw Umber, Ivory a medium-to-fine weave, and to use a
z
~ Sargent, General Where possible, I have attempted to (Bone) Black, Ultramarine Blue and willow charcoal drawing underneath
0

~ Sir /an Standish use the materials that Sargent used in Chromium Green, all Winsor & to make the canvas slightly greyer.
UJ

~ 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
z
~ 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 >

Artists & lllustrators 61

PROJECT

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
want enough colour to make big
mixes confidently and easily. Squeeze
out black and white paint the size of a
50p coin, and slightly smaller blobs
for the stronger colours. "You do not
want dabs of colour," said Sargent,
"you want plenty of paint to paint with."

DRAWING AND
BLOCKING IN
To begin the drawing, work directly
onto your canvas with willow charcoal,
using a rag to wipe out any mistakes.
Sargent advised to hold the charcoal
at arm's length, and to map only the
proportions of the head and
shoulders. You can also indicate the
mass of the hair. "Draw the things
seen with the keenest point and let
the thing unseen fuse into the
adjoining tones," he said.
Make sure to take frequent breaks.
lt is possible to "lose your eye" and
find that you cannot distinguish
between a good or a bad idea.
If you take a little break and look at
something else, you might find that
you come back and immediately see
the solution to a problem that you
were struggling with before. Try using a hairspray or fixative to fix the
a mirror to either look at the work drawing to the canvas.
upside down or flip the image and Next, start blocking in the tones
try to regain your fresh eye. with Raw Umber mixed with a
After indicating the main masses generous amount of Sansodor.
of the head in charcoal, Sargent Sargent's unfinished portraits show
preferred to wipe the whole canvas that initial paint layers have
slightly with a rag, as it gave the brushstrokes from quarter-inch and
canvas a slightly greyish tone, faintly half-inch brushes: the boldest,
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.

62 Artists & Illustrators


STARTING TO PAINT
Sargent always tried to paint in one
sitting if he could . If he was not happy
with his brushwork, he would smudge
the part he wished to reconstruct, and
begin again from a shapeless mass,
looking for the big form underneath.
"Don't concentrate so much on the
features," he advised at the early of
stages of a painting. "They are only
like spots on an apple. Paint the head,
not the mouth and eyes and nose."
Begin by painting in the background
thinly with a mix of Rose Madder, Raw
Umber and a bit of Ultramarine to
cool it down. Let the background
colour overlap with the area marked
out for the hair. Then block in the hair,
PROJECT
overlapping it into the background,
trying to sometimes let it blend in and
disappear, and at other times have a
harder and more resolved edge.
The drawing will get pretty lost at
this point but don't despair - we will
recover it continuously as we go, so
have fun with it. Scumble in the main
colours of the shirt, head and
background, letting them merge into
each other. Add in the halftones
thickly with no medium added to a
mix of mainly Yellow Ochre and
Ultramarine Blue with a bit of the
Vermillion Red and Titanium White.
The brushes will pick up the paint
readily so make sure to clean them
after every stroke.
Soften any edges with a hog filbert.
I try to think of an apple and paint
round the head, working on the edges
into the shadows and background,
losing edges where they were lost and
then softly finding them again.
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. >
Artists & lllustrators 63
PROJECT

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
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
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."
Sargent worked his marks into and To apply that logic to your painting,
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
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

64 Artists & Illustrators

 • Trave l, sketch and paint around the world with artist tutors
Mary-Anne Bartlett, John Thre lfall, Kare n Pe arson, James
Willis, Julia Casse ls, Mark Boyd, Sian Dudley, Roger Oe llar,
Maxi ne Re lton, Jackie Garne r, Claudia Myatt, Shelly Pe rkins,
Darren Rees, Vicki Norman and Alison Street

Island-hopping with a paintbrush Art Safari tours 2020

India Silver Ring of South India 9 - 23 Feb 2020
South Africa Drawing the Elephant/s Child 15-25 Feb
Bring out the cobalt
New Zealand Land of the Long White Cloud 25 Feb- 11 Mar
turquoise light, Zambia Blazing a Colourful Trail 24Apr-1 May
manganese blue hue, Galapagos Darwin/s Islands 13-25 May
ultramarine violet and Wales Pembrokeshire Paintbox 16-22 May
Winsor blue... Spain Wild Rosemary & Oranges 31 May- 6 June
Dive into azure waters Crete Canvas of Gold 10-17 June
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with Art Safari's
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forthcoming trips which
Scotland Wild & Untamed - Trossachs 22-29 August
are perfect for Canada Wild Pacific Trail 5Sept
island-hopping artists. Namibia A Dazzle of Zebras 11-26 Sept
Join Karen Pearson in February 2020 to hop between amazing landscapes, Zambia Lazy Big Cats (luxury safari) 16-22 Sept
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Afloat in the Galapagos in May we paint the islands and wildlife of this awe-
India Desert Romance early Nov tbc
some archipelago- we have chartered the whole boat so there's spaces and
Cambodia Temples/ Rivers & Dance 26 Nov- 13 Dec
guides for non-painters too! Adventure, balmy temperatures, sailing, swim-
Costa Rica Pura Vida 21 Nov-5 Dec
ming, painting and intriguing islands. Perfect. Prices from £6880.
Holy Island in Northumberland is the starting point for a beautiful 5 day UK workshops & courses 2020
break next summer, taking in the views, coastal castles and the Farne Islands Drawing for the Terrified Woodbridge 7 Feb 2020
with Karen Pearson. Prices from £865. Keeping a Sketchbook Diary Woodbridge 8 Feb
James Willis' love of Italy takes us to Amalft & Sicily in 2020, and for those Sketching birds from Life Slimbridge, Glos 16- 17 Feb
who want to link both of these beautiful Mediterranean trips, you can take Watercolour Basics Woodbridge 6 March
the ferry in between. Prices from £2457. Line & Wash Woodbridge 7 March
Bears and amazing wildlife inhabit Vancouver Island/ come and paint with Drawing for the Terrified Woodbridge 3 April
John Threlfall next Sept and be inspired by indigenous and contermporary Keeping a Sketchbook Diary Woodbridge 4 April
wildlife art too. Prices from £6042. Views of Greenwich London 21 April tbc
Oil Painting Woodbridge 30 Apr- 1 May
Book your workshop places for 2020! Glorious Gardens Woodbridge 8 - 12 June
Learn from Art Safari tutors in teh UK with a selection of workshops designed to help Suffolk Churches Woodbridge 30 July- 1 Aug
you paint and sketch outdoors- from nature, architecture and wildlife. Some of our Sketching birds from life Pensthorpe, Norfolk 13- 14 Sep
indoor classes over the winter also give confidence in sketching and watercolour skills. Colour Mixing Woodbridge 16 - 17 Oct
Ideal for all standards of adventurous artist. Lettering in painting Woodbridge 23 - 24 Oct
• Sketching birds from life Welney, Norfolk 1 - 2 Nov

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~ I in paint, pastel & oil:
01394 382235
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 COLOUR THEORY

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

ABOVE Seymour hoosing light sources and
Remenick, Artist's creating lighting effects in a
Studio with Still Life painting is one of the central
and Easel, 1957, formal tasks of creating an image.
oil on canvas, Whether a painting is highly realistic
71.2x91.4cm or only loosely recognisable in its
"Warm, three- content and subject, the direction,
quarter lighting colour and intensity of light chosen
suggests depth." for the work can strengthen or
weaken the artist's intent. For,
LEFT Robert example, what would a Rembrandt
W Vonnoh, portrait be without the rich light and
Nude, c.1896, shade effects that reveal the form
oil on canvas, and character of its subject?
40.6x32.9cm Impressionism is beloved by many
"Multiple light for its shimmering colour effects
sources and created solely by ambient light. Taking
reflected light time to look at lighting types and
create a balance directions and translating them into
between warm and both practical and poetic studio
cool colours here." decisions is essential for the aspiring
painter. The history of lighting effects
in western painting starts with the
ancient Greeks and Romans and
continues today in many forms of
realistic and observational painting.
If we agree that light creates both
form and colour in a painting such as
a still life, portrait or landscape, then
there are two key issues, among
others, for the artist to consider
before starting a new work that we
will look at today.
THE COLOUR OF LIGHT
The first thing to establish is what
colour is the light source? Sources
such as very strong sunlight, candle
light, incandescent bulbs and
spotlights create warmer colour
options for the painter. Such warm
light literally lights up and intensifies
COLOUR THEORY
not only the contrasts of light and
shade in a painting, but also the
chromatic intensity of the colours of
objects lit by the warm light source.
The surfaces lit by this strong yellow
or pinkish yellow light causes their
colours to be intensified and warmed
dramatically. The colour of this light
source causes all the reds, yellows,
oranges, browns, greens and even
blues to take on a warmer and
brighter quality in the areas hit directly
by the light source. Frequently, to
match these colours with one's
palette, the more highly chromatic
colours need to be used. The
cadmiums and other high-key warm
colours need to be used to match the
intensities created by the light source.
Just adding white only weakens the
chromatic intensity of these colours. >
Artists & illustrators 67

ABOVE Reza Earth colours can be used,
Ghanad , especially in the shadows, but
Landscape, oil on they often do not have the chromatic
panel, 20x25cm strength to match the colours hit
ucompletely
ambient,
by a strong, warm, light source. For
example, a red carnation may need
cool daylight pure Cadmium Red to match the
characterises the purity of the flowers colour under an
lightly overcast day intense and warm light source. Adding
in this scene." white to lighten it merely makes it pink.
Because of the sheer power of such
warm light sources, intense tonal
ranges from light to dark can be
created in the subject. This requires a
lot more of the darker palette colours
to be added to achieve this dramatic
effect. Good examples of this type of
lighting can be seen in 17th-century
68 Artists & Illustrators
The earth palette can be very
helpful in matching colours to
an ambient or daylight scene
Baroque painting. Figurative artists
like Georges de la Tour and Diego
Velazquez created dramatic lighting
effects, usually from a warm light
source. French landscape painters of
the same period, such as Claude
Lorrain, used strong, warm light to
create depth and a sense of drama in
his landscapes. In summary then,
warm, intense lighting can create
dramatic light and shade in a subject
-
as well as intense, highly chromatic
colours where this type of lighting
is focused.
Another common, and very
beautiful, lighting source is natural,
cool daylight. Ambient natural daylight
often has a grey-to-bluish quality.
While it can create strong light and
shade contrasts, this type of lighting
is often softer and cooler. it's the
equivalent of adding grey or blue to all
 COLOUR THEORY

the colours in the areas of the subject LEFT AI 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. t o 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
Impressionist painters like Pierre-
Auguste Renoir and Alfred Sisley
painted subjects using natural
daylight. Camille Corot also featured
daylight effects in his highly poetic
studio landscape paintings.
The colours these painters used
were often a little softened and
cooled or greyed by the daylight and
the use of white in the light areas. In
summary, natural daylight, whether
directed by a window, or viewed
generally in an open space, creates
softer, cooler colours, and may affect
value contrasts and depth. Variations in the angles of the depending on their goals in their
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,
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 chasing 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
this strategy to great effect.

Artists & illustrators 69

 YOUR QUESTIONS

..
•
~
I

What are the advantages of working
with pastel over other drawing media?
Jeannette Hayes: My immediate
answer is the immediacy. They are so
BELOW Jeannette direct, vibrant and capable of so many
Hayes, Pink Beech, exciting effects. I am very much a
pastel on paper, mood painter and it does suit my way
size tbc of working. The personal impressions
I create require quick application and
BELOW RIGHT Unison it is great medium for explorations.
Colour's associate
artist Fiona Carvell Are there certain surfaces that you
would recommend for getting the
best out of your pastels?
Liz Reekie: There are many types
of paper suitable for pastel use,
however, it is necessary to have paper
of a reasonable weight- say 140gsm
and upwards - with a good tooth to
hold the pastel. There are sanded
papers of different grits, some artists
prefer a fine and even grit as they
glaze with the side of the pastel. The
velour or flock papers are more suited
to artists who don't blend pastels.
You can prime your own surface by
adding marble or pumice dust to
gesso and applying it to a board or
paper. There are ready-made primers
also available and application with a
brush can give an interesting texture.
Canson Mi-Teintes is a very good
160gsm paper for introducing
students to pastels. lt is acid-free with
a high rag content, a good surface
tooth to hold the pastel, and a range
of 50 colours. A midtone and neutral
colour such as Moonstone or gris clair
is a really good choice as it will not
interfere with tonal values and colours.
UART Premium Sanded Paper is
also recommended, it can hold many
layers of pastel. lt comes in a range of
grades, from 800, the finest, to 240,
which is very rough and not suitable
for blending.
If an artist is worried about inhaling
pastel dust, what precautions would
you recommend?
LR: lt is important that pastels are
handled and used correctly. We
recommend you keep the formation
of airborne dust to a minimum. Wash
your hands thoroughly after handling
the pastels. Some people choose to
YOUR QUESTIONS
wear protective latex or vinyl gloves
and we would also recommend artists
wear a dust mask during heavy usage.
When it comes to layering and mixing
colours, do you have any advice on
best practice?
LR: Try using layers of harmonious
colours as they will interact with each
other- they need to be colours that
will work well together. Then adding
complementary colours over this adds
depth and vibrancy. If you feel you
have too much pastel on the surface
this can be resolved by using a stiff
brush to gently dust away the excess
pastel, then applying the correct
colour on top.
The maximum number of layers
depends on the paper you are using
and whether you are blending
between layers or not. On average,
our Associate Artists can use around
10 layers on Pastel Mat (blending
each layer) but only around five on a
textured pastel card (not blending at
all) using colour shaper tools (a
Torchon) to assist with blending. >
Artists & lllustrators 71
RIGHT Unison
Colour's late
founder, John
Hersey
How do vary the marks you make?
JH: I use watercolour paperto allow
for almost sculpting a painting.
I generally start with a soft pastel,
blocking out shapes, and then the
marks are created with either pastel
or sharpened pastel pencils.
Is sunlight an issue, either in storing
pastels or affecting finished works?
LR: Taking a sensible approach to the
storage of your pastels by not
exposing them to direct sunlight or
damp conditions will ensure both their
BELOW A selection integrity and longevity. However, we
of Unison Colour's have never found sunlight to be an
handmade pastels issue with finished artwork.
72 Artists & Illustrators
How do you "erase" unwanted
elements in a pastel work?
JH: I do move the pastel furiously at
times and therefore erase quite a bit.
I use chunky pastels pastel to sweep
and smudge on layers of colour and
then I either use a tissue to soften
those colours or various putty or
plastic rubbers to remove it. Cutting
the plastic rubbers up helps creating
a sharp clean line. Using good quality
pastels is also key.
Pastel works are notoriously fugitive,
particularly when transporting them.
Do you recommend using a fixative?
LR: A difficult question to answer.
The recommendation of fixatives
can be a rather contentious issue for
pastel artists, as well as a personal
choice. The response of our associate
artists varied between using cheap
hairspray and quality fixatives, such as
Sennelier's Fixative or Daler-Rowney's
Perfix, through to others preferring to
avoid them completely.
One of our associate artists, Sandra
Orme, adds a note of caution: "I never
use fixative when I'm working on my
usual paper, either Pastel Mat, Fisher
400 or Sennelier Pastel card. I find
that using a fixative on these papers
can affect the colour or leave a
distinct spray mark on the surface."
How would you recommend
transporting pastel artworks?
LR: Cover the finished painting in
glassine paper until it's ready for
framing and store it flat. lt is also
recommended to tape the painting
down to a sturdy piece of cardboard,
then cover in glassine paper when
transporting.
When pastel artwork requires
transporting, try framing the work first
or at least mounting it with either
glassine paper or tracing paper placed
on top to protect it. Frame with a
spacer behind the mount so that the
work doesn't touch either the mount
or glass.
Degas is an obvious example to
pastel artists. Are there other artists
whose work you would recommend?
JH: I'd recommend Pablo Picasso's
spirited use of pastel, Odilon Redon
for his breadth of colour, and Edouard
Vuillard's atmospheric paintings to
name but a few.
With thanks to Unison Colour's Associate
Artists Sandra Orme, Denise Findlay,
Fiona Carvell and Cath lnglis.
www.unisoncolour.com
The Pastel Society's Annual Exhibition
runs from 5-16 February 2020 at
Mall Galleries, London SW1.
www. thepastelsociety.org. uk
BRAND NEW SET
 SELF PORTRAITS

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

74 Artists & Illustrators

 hi le 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
demeanour. In this lnstagram age, our selfies are easily
replicated and disposable, merely alluding to the potential
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
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
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
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 kopfsWcke -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
Artists have always been eager to experiment with and psychological state, forever frozen into an often profoundly OPPOSITE PAGE
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' 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

I
Self-Portrait,
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Portrait in a Cap,
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Laughing; Self-
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Open-Mouthed. All
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- Rembrandt van Rijn

Artists & illustrators 75

SELF-PORTRAI TS

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. lt 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
subject for me and images of unidentified figures
perpetually refusing our gaze have recurred since that
modest early experiment.
This is a technique I also employ with my students and
it can prove very disorienting to recognise that such an
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
when something can be familiar and yet alien at the same
time. While this sensation can be strange and unexpected,
the recognition that through a simple visual sleight of hand
one can become a whole new realm waiting to be
discovered can also be inspiring.
My entire Laughing While ... series stemmed from my
2012 self-portrait Laughing With My Mouth Full, most
recently exhibited in the Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize
exhibition. In contrast to the implied constraint of my
palette and clothing, I regard the viewer with my mouth
agape, exposing its livid contents. I painted this picture
entirely from life, painting for several hours a day for a
total of around 10 days, staring in the mirror at my
exaggerated features. To spare my aching facial muscles
while working on the peripheral elements of the picture
(such as clothing or hair), I would lapse in and out of this
expression, but all the time keep my head in position. My
mouth is actually filled with raspberries, which I only added
to my painting - and indeed my pose- on the last day.

EXERCISE 1

colours
 SELF- PORTRAITS

BELOW Face-pulli ng much time on this painting as you feel physically able to.
inspiration f or 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
BOTIOM 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

EXERCISE 2
AIM
The challenge with the second painting is to see
yourself in an entirely new light- and to have fun with
a senous purpose.

DURATION
2-3 hours

MATERIALS
Similar to previous exercise, though only one mirror
is required this time.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

In this exercise, you will be deliberately altering your own
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 pu lling mult iple 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 wh ile. Take as
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 THE CLASSIFIED DIRECTORY

PRINTING

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