Artists & Illustrators ( March 2014 )

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Artists & IllustratorsThe Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd.Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee PlaceLondon SW3 3TQ

Tel: (020) 7349 3700Fax: (020) 7349 3701www.artistsandillustrators.co.uk

EDITORIALEditor Steve PillSenior Art Editor Chlo CollyerAssistant Editor Terri [email protected]

With thanks to...Emily Ball, Laura Boswell, Damian Callan,Terence Clarke, Rob Dudley, Neil Hall,Matt Jeanes, Simon Martin, JuliaMcDonald, Ewan McNaughton, IanRowlands, Laurie Steen and Jenny White

ONLINEFor all website issues, please contact:[email protected]

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MANAGEMENT & PUBLISHINGManaging Director Paul DobsonDeputy Managing Director Steve RossPublisher Simon TemlettCommercial Director Vicki GavinHead of Marketing Will Delmont

SUBSCRIPTIONS AND BACK ISSUESFor all enquiries, please contact:

Artists & Illustrators,Subscriptions Department,800 Guillat Avenue, Kent Science ParkSittingbourne, Kent ME9 8GU

[email protected](01795) 419838http://artists.subscribeonline.co.uk

COVER IMAGEKeiko Tanabe, Bucharest, Romania I,watercolour on paper, 55x36cm.See more of Keikos work and discoverher techniques on page 40.

Artists & Illustrators (ISSN 0269-4697) is published everyfour weeks. We cannot accept responsibility for loss of, ordamage to, unsolicited material. We reserve the right torefuse or suspend advertisements, and regret we cannotguarantee the bona fides of advertisers. Readers shouldnote that statements by contributors are not alwaysrepresentative of the publishers or editors opinion.News Trade (UK and Rest of World):Seymour International Ltd.2 East Poultry Avenue, London, EC1A 9PTTel: (020) 7429 4000, Fax: (020) 7429 4001Email: [email protected] in the UK by Wyndeham HeronColour origination: allpointsmedia

FEATURED CONTRIBUTOR

LAURIE STEENA Canadian artist trained in interior design, Laurie has been workingprofessionally for almost two decades. She moved to the UK sixyears ago and has since exhibited her artwork at the Royal Westof England Academy, Mall Galleries and the Affordable Art Fair.On page 74, Laurie explains her approach to drawing from nature.

The article is based around ideas explored in her next five-dayresidential course, which runs from 23-27 June at Coombe FarmStudios in Devon. www.lauriesteen.com

Artists&I L L U S T R A T O R S

Whoknew that hanging an exhibitioncould be such fun? I had the pleasureof spending the first Sunday morningof 2014 at the Mall Galleries,surrounded by our readers paintings,

as I desperately tried to find a spot for all 50 of them on thewalls of the Threadneedle Space.I couldnt have done any of it without the gallerys in-house

team (not least because I dont know one end of a power tool fromanother) who were professional and patient throughout. Theyquickly showed me that hanging an exhibition is a lot like makinga painting: you need to establish where the biggest pieces go first(much like the basic shapes of a composition), then work hard tomaintain a balance as everything else slots in around them.Of course, this was all in aid of the Artists & Illustrators Artists of

the Year 2013 exhibition, which ran for a fortnight in January. Theresponse was fantastic. Shortlisted artists travelled far and wide toattend the opening, where they got a chance to meet, drink andrub shoulders with a host of leading artists and collectors.Were hoping to repeat the fun next year so make sure you enter

our 2014 competition (details in a forthcoming issue) to be in witha chance of being featured . If youre lucky, I might even hang yourpainting the right way up!

Welcome!

Steve Pill, Editor

PHOTO

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EILHALL

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HOWWAS IT FOR YOU?Did you get a chance to visit our Artists of the Year 2013 show? If so, tell us what you thought:

EMAIL [email protected] TWITTER @AandImagazine FACEBOOK ArtistsAndIllustrators

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ISSUE 336 WWW.ARTISTSANDILLUSTRATORS.CO.UK MARCH 2014

FEATURES19 PAINTING ON INSTINCTAn emotive take on art with Iryna Yermolova

24 GO WESTJames Naughton heads to America to paint

30 THINKING OUT LOUDHow famous artists use their prep drawings

34 IN THE STUDIOWith the semi-abstract painter Peter Clossick

TECHNIQUES39 TIP OF THE MONTHKicking off our 37-page practical guide

40 TALKING TECHNIQUESWith American watercolourist Keiko Tanabe

45 SUPPORTSFind the right canvas or panel for you

50 HOW TO DRAW TREES IN WINTERWhy this is the season to concentrate on form

52WATERCOLOUR PORTRAITSWork from photos for this months project

56 ALLA PRIMA Q&ADamian Callan answers your painting questions

60MASTERCLASSA Fauvist-inspired take on landscape painting

64 HOW I MADEBill Dean pieces together a figurative scene

65 LEARN SOMETHING NEWA five-minute beginners guide to silk painting

66 FIGURE IT OUT!Three great methods for better life drawings

70 COME TO YOUR SENSESHow to develop your own visual language

74 DRAWING ON NATUREA new approach to tackling the landscape

REGULARS6 YOUR LETTERS9 THE DIARYWith our Artists of the Year photo special

17 COMPETITION36 PORTFOLIO82MY LIFE IN ARTWith illustrator John Vernon Lord

CONTENTS

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painting

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6 Artists& Illustrators

GET IN TOUCH ATWWW.FACEBOOK.COM/ARTISTSANDILLUSTRATORS OR TWEET@AANDIMAGAZINE

WRITE TO USSend a letter or email to the addresses belowfor the chance to win a 50 GreatArt voucher

Your LettersArtists & IllustratorsThe Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd.Jubilee House2 Jubilee PlaceLondon SW3 3TQ

[email protected]

The writer of our letter of the month willreceive a 50 gift voucher from our partnerGreatArt, who offers the UKs largest range ofart materials with over 40,000 art suppliesand regular discountsand promotions.www.greatart.co.uk

Your LettersIread MartinKinnears articlein the Januaryissue with great

interest, particularly because it wasillustrated with work by my favouriteartists, Hammershi and Rembrandt.The article really made me think thatI should do more tonal exercises tosharpen up my observation.The recent inclement weather

presented me with an opportunity thatwas not exactly welcome, but thatneeded to be taken advantage of: myvillage suffered a power cut for 10 hours.I had planned to paint that evening

but without my daylight bulbs this wasout of the question. As I sat by theglowing fire with candles spread alongthe hearth, I started looking around theroom at the various objects scatteredabout the fireplace and mantelpiece. Myeye fell upon a small arrangement of oldceramic inkwells and a mustard pot, litfrom below by candles.I found my sketchpad and hooked a

small LED torch to my jumper to shineonto the paper and began the study.The temptation to put in lines andedges that I really could not see wasgreat but I made a concerted effort toreally look and concentrate on the tonalvalues of what I was seeing. I spent thenext hour or so blissfully engaged in avery rewarding exercise. Who would ofthought it get rid of the lights so youcan really see better!Glynne Bulman, via email

THE ROAD TO RECOVERYRE: The Healing Power of Art, Issue 334The best things I read over the Christmasholiday both came from the January issueof Artists & Illustrators. I chose to buy themagazine when looking for some inspirationto get me watercolour painting again.Six months ago I was put onto the lung

transplant list due to respiratory failurecaused by cystic fibrosis. Until recently, I wasstill able to follow my main hobby of wildlifeand landscape photography. In the last twomonths, however, I have become too unwellto continue, so I thought about returning topainting a hobby I had in my late teens.I bought three art magazines, but discovered

your article on Andrew Marrs return topainting post-stroke, along with the articleabout Barbara Prices visual diary idea thathelped her come to terms with being diagnosedwith cancer, to be hugely inspirational. Welldone on covering this vital, if perhaps slightlyunexpected, link between art and seriousillness in such a positive light. There was lotsof good material in your magazine to give mefood for thought in the coming weeks.The disappointment of having to give up

photography has already been lessened by therelaxing benefits of painting and reflecting onthe beautiful subjects I like to paint, whichalso give pleasure to my wife, family andfriends around me. Keep up the good workwith your great magazine!Dom Kavanagh, via email

BEYOND BOUNDARIESRE: New Year, New Project, Issue 334I wanted to let you know how the January2014 issue has inspired me. After reading thearticle by Frances Hatch I am using her ideasto prepare for a retreat pilgrimage toJerusalem in June. I have already begun my

blog using Wordpress as she recommendedand created sketchbook diaries on paper andmy iPad. Her approach to funding hasinformed my applications for bursaries andencouraged me to think beyond my usualboundaries as to how I will use myexperiences on this exciting journey.Julie Burnett-Kirk, www.julieburnettkirk.com

A CONFIDENT SWITCHI felt I had to write to thank you for giving methe confidence to put myself forward for acommission to be done in watercolour. Foryears I have worked quite successfully in oils,while watercolour was just for fun andoccasional sketches. Although I have beenbuying your magazine for years, it is onlyrecently that I have really concentrated onarticles related to this difficult medium. Thework, pictured, was for a Christmas cardbased on my clients building in Glasgow.Robert Young, Newmains, Lanarkshire

ART OF DARKNESSRE: Controlling Your Tones, Issue 334

LETTER OFTHE MONTH

Annual Exhibition 20145 to 15 March, 10am to 5pm (closes 1pm on final day)

The Mall, London SW1 www.mallgalleries.org.uk [email protected] Tel: 020 7930 6844Image: Arthur Turner by Rowan Crew Sen RBA

Free entrywith thisvoucher

Artist talks and demonstrationsWednesday 5 March, 12pm to 3pm

Portrait demonstration by David Miller

Thursday 6 March, 12pm to 2pmTalk on sketchbooks by Alfred Daniels and Nick Tidnam

Friday 7 March, 12pm to 3pmLandscape and architecture demo by David Sawyer

Monday 10 March, 12pm to 3pmPortrait demonstration by James Horton, President

Monday 10 March, 4pm to 5pmTour of the exhibition with James Horton, President

Tuesday 11 March, 12pm to 3pmOil painting from drawings demonstration by

Tessa Spencer Pryse

Wednesday 12 March, 12pm to 3pmPrintmaking demonstration by Mick Davies and Melvyn

Petterson

Thursday 13 March, 12pm to 3pmAcrylic painting demonstration by Alfred Daniels and

Nick Tidnam

Friday 14 March, 12pm to 3pmStill life: painting metal, demo by Jeremy Galton

All demos are free with admission to the exhibition.

8 Artists & Illustrators

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LOOK OUT FOR FABIO CEMBRANELLI PAINTING FLOWERS IN OUR NEXT ISSUE ON SALE 28 FEBRUARY

THE DIARYAn artists guide to the month ahead

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The Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize 2014exhibition opens in March and Artists &Illustrators editor Steve Pill is amongthe judges for the 25,000 competition.Steve joins a five-person judging panel that

includes Tate Britain research fellow AndrewWilton and the much-loved figurative painter

and Royal Academician, Ken Howard OBE.The standard of entries to the Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize has always been incrediblyhigh so I cant wait to see what fresh paintingsare in store for us this year, he says.The judges will convene twice in February

firstly to sort through thousands of initialdigital submissions and then again to assessup to 200 paintings called in for theshortlisting stages. Between 75 and 100works will then be selected for a Marchexhibition that aims to encourage creativerepresentational painting and reward skilfuldraughtsmanship. Last year, the first prizewas given to Ruth Stage for her egg temperalandscape, The Isabella Plantation, left.The Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize was

established in 2005 by arts charity The LynnFoundation and The Worshipful Company ofPainter-Stainers, which was in turn founded

in 1502. The 25,000 prize fund makesit one of the UKs largest awards forrepresentational painting.The Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize 2014

exhibition will run from 17-22 March atthe Mall Galleries, London SW1.www.lynnpainterstainersprize.org.uk

Our editor joins the judging panel for a prestigious 25,000 painting prize

Decision time

10Artists& Illustrators

KEEP UP TO DATE WITH THE LATEST ART NEWS AND EVENTS ATWWW.ARTISTSANDILLUSTRATORS.CO.UK

ARTAGENDA

Five things to see and do this month

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FEEL THE HEAT!Inspired by the Australian outback, Winsor & Newtonhas launched six new colours in its Professional WaterColour range. The limited-edition Desert collectionincludes Yellow Titanate, Gold Brown and Indian Red

Deep perfect for warming your winter palette.

Go abstractHead to Turner Contemporary in Margate for Kate HardysAbstract Landscapes workshop on 15 March. Participantswill create work based upon the gallerysMaking Paintingexhibition, including Helen Frankenthalers Overture, below.

Take a tourPick up the new DVD

from Herman Pekel thismonth and travel the

globe from the comfortof your armchair.

A Journey inWatercolour (APV Films,

28.55) sees thepopular Aussie artist

tackle street scenes inMelbourne and rurallandscapes in Kent.

See rare workCzanne and the Modern(13 March to 22 June) atOxfords Ashmolean includesrare watercolours by the Frenchmaster. Oil paintings by Van Gogh,Manet and Degas also feature,alongside Amedeo Modiglianisportrait of Jean Cocteau (above).

ENTER YOUR ARTCarol Wyss scooped the

inaugural John Ruskin Prizefor her epic etchings.

You can enter this yearscompetition online at

www.campaignfordrawing.orgbefore 9 April for the

chance to win 1,000 andexhibit your artwork at

Sheffields Millenium Gallery.


RIGHT Shortlisted artist

Ginny Page travelled

all the way from her

home in Denmark to

see her Still Life with

Lemons in our Mall

Galleries exhibition

ABOVE The president of

the Royal Watercolour

Society, Thomas

Plunkett (left, with

our editor Steve), was

among the high-profile

guests taking a look at

our readers artworks

WED LIKE TO THANK VIKING RIVER CRUISES, OSBORNE STUDIO GALLERY, GREATART, HARRIS MOORE...

LEFT Second prize

winner Keith Fearon

chats with our

assistant editor Terri

at the awards evening

GRANDOPENINGArtists travelled from as far afield as Denmark for theprivate view of our Artists of the Year 2013 exhibitionto celebrate the achievements of our talented readers.

Here is a selection of photos from the eventPHOTOS: NEIL HALL


the diary

YOUR VOTES COUNT!After announcing the Artists ofthe Year 2013 shortlist back inSeptember, weve been askingyou to visit www.artistsandillustrators.co.uk tovote for your favourite artworkin the top 50. We received morethan 8,000 votes prior to the 3January deadline and PeterKeegan emerged as the winnerwith 745 votes for his portrait ofthe conductor John Mann,pictured above.Peter was visibly shocked

when he heard his name readout and stepped up to collect hisReaders Choice award from oureditor Steve. I nearly couldntmake it to the event but now Imso glad that I did, said theartist, who won 200 worth ofvouchers for Chelsea College ofArts Short Courses.

ABOVE Our overall

winner Norman Long

picks up his prize from

our editor Steve

BELOW Stuart Schooley

with his partner (and

subject!) Sandy

ABOVE Rusudana Glonti

toasts her third prize

win with the other

shortlisted artists (left)

...THE CHELSEA COLLEGE OF ARTS AND ALL AT MALL GALLERIES. WE HOPE TO SEE YOU AGAIN IN 2015!

14 Artists& Illustrators

the diary

he business of art liesst in this to make

hat understood and feltwhich, in the form of anrgument, might bencomprehensible andnaccessible. Usually itseems to the recipientof a truly artisticimpression that heknew the thing before,but had been unableto express it.

Leo Tolstoy attempts to define the indefinable in 1897 essayWhat is Art?, republished this month (ROADS Publishing, 9.99)

DO YOU HAVE AN ART EVENT OR STORY TO SHARE? EMAIL US AT [email protected]

Stash in the attic

By Laura Boswell

Ihave been doing my accounts this week and,though it is the least favourite of my chores, itis essential. If you intend to make an incomeas an artist then keeping accounts is a taskthat has to be taken seriously.

The sad fact, which will probably be overlookedby some of your family and a lot of your friends, isthat being an artist is just the same as being anyother part- or full-time self-employed person andnot all of our time is spent gadding about in thestudio. If you also feel that bookkeeping and filingare not acceptable parts of an artists life, perhaps itstime to admit that art is best kept as a hobby or findsomeone else to do the books!

If you make any sort of income from your workthen I firmly suggest you alert the tax office beforethey alert you. In the early days when I was working

at other jobs and earning bits andpieces as an artist, I bothered the taxpeople a lot; they are there to helppeople like us.

I swapped a print with a localbookkeeper for an afternoon of basicbookkeeping skills and every coupleof years I buy time with a local

accountant to check that I am up to date with whatI can and cant claim against my income.

I keep quarterly accounts and am ruthless aboutrounding up and keeping every single receipt, justas I am about keeping my invoicing in order. I finddoing my tax return frightening enough withouthaving to sort my years paperwork out in one go.It may not be the most creative part of your artisticpractice (indeed I sincerely hope it isnt), butkeeping accounts is all part of the deal.www.lauraboswell.co.uk

BEING ACCOUNTABLE

An exhibition of 10 previously unseen paintings by Britishartist Ivon Hitchens, which have hung quietly in awoodcutters cottage for decades, will go on display atRutlands Goldmark Gallery this month.

The collection of works (including 1944s Home Farm,Iping, above) was originally given to Hitchens woodcutter,Ted Floate, as gifts throughout their friendship. Teddecorated his cabin with the paintings but now, at the age of85, he has decided to sell the amazing bundle of ModernBritish Romantic art, estimated to be worth 1 million.

The pair met in 1956 when Ted began to work on Hitchensestate, helping with framing and offering technical advicealong the way. They continued to be lifelong pals until theartists death in 1979. The display promises to be acelebration of the pairings camaraderie.

The exhibition runs from 15 March to 5 April at GoldmarkGallery, Uppingham, Rutland. www.goldmarkart.com

Keepingaccounts hasto be takenseriously

of an artistDiary


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AND THE WINNER ISCongratulations to Emily Lodge from Cobham, Surreywhose name was drawn in the La Finca del Nio prizedraw from our January 2014 issue. Emily wins aweek-long painting holiday in Andalucia, courtesyof La Finca del Nio. www.fincanino.com

AUTHENTIC ADVENTURES PRIZE DRAWFor your chance to win this luxury Italian paintingholiday, simply fill in this form and return it to:Authentic Adventures Prize Draw, Artists &Illustrators, The Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd.,Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place, London SW3 3TQ

Alternatively you can enter online at:www.artistsandillustrators.co.uk/competitions

Name:

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Postcode:

Email:

Telephone:Please tick here if you subscribe to Artists & IllustratorsThe closing date for all entries is 27 February 2014

The winner will be announced in the May 2014 issue of Artists & Illustrators,on sale 28 March 2014. Terms and conditions apply. For full details, go towww.chelseamagazines.com/terms-and-conditions. Please tick here if you wouldprefer not to be contacted by Artists & Illustrators , Authentic Adventures ,or carefully selected third parties .

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Painting on instinctWhen Ukrainian-born Iryna Yermolova moved to the UK in 2005, she struggled with the languagebarrier but instead learned to express herself through vivid and colourful oil paintings that have

gained her an international reputationWORDS: STEVE PILL


iryna yermolova

BELOWWatermelon Mood,

oil on canvas, 50x50cm

PAGE 19 Trying New Earrings

On, oil on canvas, 80x80cmTheformer Soviet Union was synonymouswith the colour red, from the Red Armyand Moscows Red Square, to theprocessions of the Orthodox Church andthe dramatic scarlet backdrop of the

hammer and sickle flag.However, the Russian word for red is also similar to

the word for beautiful and one artist who is helping torestate that more positive of links is Iryna Yermolova.Born in the Soviet Union in 1978, she has recentlycaught the eye of collectors and fellow artists here inBritain with a series of expressionistic canvases thatemploy bright flashes of the primary colour.Works such as Blue Cup orWatermelon Mood are

structured around carefully positioned blocks of rich

reds that emphasise and exaggerate the natural beautyof the subject. Its one of the simplest tricks in apainters repertoire but when it is used as instinctivelyas this it can be devastatingly effective.In truth, red isnt the only corner of the palette that

appeals to Iryna. I love all colour, she says.Sometimes I have to calm myself down because Ithink I am using too much. I go to Abbotsbury Studioand theres a person who runs the studio that usually

Watermelon Mood is structured aroundcarefully positioned blocks of rich reds thatemphasise the natural beauty of the subject


iryna yermolova

ABOVE Iryna paints from life

at John Meakers art studio

in Abbotsbury

gives advice to other artists and says things like, Hereyou need a little bit more pink or here its a little bitmore blue. He tried to do the same with me but then hegave up because he said, You are nutty, you completelylack common sense. Well, he was nicer, he didntactually say that but I interpreted it like that!Interpretation is the key to Irynas story. Raised in

Lugansk (or Voroshilovgrad as it was then known) inthe east of the Ukraine, almost on the Russian border,she attended the local college from the age of 16 tostudy graphic design and art.At that time, there were only three main courses

painting, sculpture and graphic design, she explains.All of our graphic design study was on paper, withmodels or maquettes made by hand. Each of thecourses included a certain number of hours of painting,graphics, composition, anatomy and sculpture. I hadthe chance to spend more than 30 hours a week onthese disciplines. However, now I wish that I had

received more fundamental knowledge about anatomy,shapes, light and composition.As Iryna explains it, academic training is an

important measure of an artist in the Ukraine andmany of her artist friends went on to university forfurther study. Meanwhile, Iryna worked as a graphicdesigner before starting up her own brand designcompany, working on logos, packaging and largecorporate projects for a string of internationalcompanies who maintained an interest in Luganskswealth of natural resources.It was here that Iryna met her British husband and,

in 2005, she relocated to her current home in Dorset.While she loved her new surroundings, she initiallystruggled to speak English. I am not talented atlanguage its very hard for me, she says. Ive got nomusical hearing and they say anyone who doesnt havethat will struggle with languages. So, at that time,because language was my main restriction, I couldnt

ARTISTS BIONameIryna YermolovaBornLugansk, Ukraine, 1978EducationLugansk Art College, UkraineNext exhibitionThe Russian Evolution, 7-16February, Paragon Gallery,CheltenhamMore infowww.irynayermolova.com

>


iryna yermolova


iryna yermolova

ABOVE Blue Cup, oil on

canvas, 30x60cm

OPPOSITE PAGE Alexandra,


do similar jobs to the one I was doing in Ukraine. I stilldid some work for my loyal clients here, but I reallyneeded to be back in Ukraine to do the job properly.Struggling to communicate verbally, Iryna began

painting again for the first time in 10 years. Art becameher way of expressing herself when words failed her.For the first time, she felt able to work on an emotionallevel, rather than a rational one.Tellingly, she refers to this time at the easel as

meditation and she continues to work on a veryinstinctive level. Painting is relaxation for me, a time tobe with myself and my thoughts. It has helped me toanalyse certain things and not react as badly as I could.Ive learned how to deal with certain negative thingsthrough the painting process.While Iryna admires the rigorous skill of

Michelangelo and Da Vinci, she feels a closer affinity tomore emotional, instinctive artists such as Egon Schiele,Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and the Ukrainian painterAlina Maksimenko. Her master though is Edgar Degas,having travelled across Europe to see exhibitions of hisartwork. Her figurative paintings bear his influence butshe brings her own style, blending areas of washed outcolour with strong impasto marks to create elegant andsuggestive forms.Keen to find an audience for her work, she signed up

for Dorset Art Weeks in 2006, the biennial, county-wide open studio event. Having seen her very typicallySlavic name in the catalogue, she was contacted byseveral Russian artists who she began to exhibittogether with locally and now counts among herbest friends.

As her own work progressed and her style developed,Iryna began to explore equestrian art, portraiture, stilllife and more. 2013 proved her best year yet, as it beganwith Cherchez la Femme, a joint exhibition at BathContemporary in the spring and ended withWatermelon Mood being accepted into the RoyalInstitute of Oil Painters exhibition in December.Nevertheless, she says her big break was not a

particular event or exhibition, but rather a generalacceptance: The feeling that people can see somethingin my paintings, and they appreciate it so much thatthey are ready to pay their money for it that is soencouraging and inspiring.While she still attends life classes and has plans to

begin a series of works inspired by 17th-century Dutchstill life, she does at least now have the confidence tostart referring to herself an artist, too.I didnt think that I was an artist for a long time.

Even when I used to sell my paintings and do myexhibitions, I was embarrassed to call myself an artistbecause most of my peers who studied art with me incollege were experienced professionals.I feel like I came into the art world via the back

door, but this gives me such freedom, she adds. I amnot afraid to make any mistakes. I love this feeling andit helps me to express myself as an artist.

Painting is relaxation for me, a time to be withmyself and my thoughts The process hashelped me deal with certain negative things

A&I


expedition in 1871 to the little-known Yellowstoneregion of Wyoming with the director of the UnitedStates Geological Survey, Dr Ferdinand Hayden. The19th-century artist presented Yellowstone so magicallythrough his paintings that it helped persuade Congressto declare the area Americas first national park in 1872.Generations later, James decided to find out more aboutMoran and was astounded to discover that hisbirthplace was also Bolton.These things shouldnt make a difference but his

connections to Bolton made it even more special,admits James. When I was at college, I admiredRembrandt, Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon, but theydidnt have a direct influence on my work whereas mymethods and aspirations felt akin to Morans.Born a twin and one of five children, James recalls

childhood memories of rambling through Boltonssurrounding countryside with his steel-worker father,and believes that it was these early experiences thatengendered his passion for vast landscapes. The tender

James Naughton was a despondent printmakinggraduate in search of something new when hedecided to visit his local art gallery in 1998. TheBolton-born artist had just completed his degreeat Leeds Metropolitan University but struggled

to keep his creative momentum without the vitalprinting facilities provided by the university.Frustrated, he turned to oils as a more accessiblechannel in which his imagination could flow.Around the same time, his regional papers were

saturated with stories about Bolton Art Gallerys newestacquisition: Thomas Morans 1882 landscape NearingCamp, Evening On The Upper Colorado River, Wyoming.Jamess curiosity led him to the gallery to see what thefuss was about. It was a masterpiece, the 42-year-oldremembers. My reaction was quite dramatic. I loved itas soon as I saw it and it made me realise the kind ofartist I wanted to be.The landscape was one of many created by Moran,

an American western frontier artist, following a 40-day

ABOVE James goes in search

of inspiration at Green River

RIGHT Teton, Evening Pool,


An obscure landscape by a 19th-century American painterhelped James Naughton to find a direction for his own

work. Fifteen years on, the Bolton artist made a grand tourof the Wild West to follow in his heros footsteps

WORDS: TERRI EATON PHOTOS: ANDREW HODGSON

GOWEST


>


james naughton

respect and spirit of adventure that Moran brought tothe Wyoming scenery appealed to the boy in James andspurred him to paint, all the while daydreaming aboutfollowing in Morans footsteps one day.The notion of retracing Morans journey came to me

soon after I saw the painting in the gallery. It fermentedin my mind for years but I knew the project would onlywork if I could produce something different to him,explains James, whose sweeping and dramaticlandscape paintings teeter on the edge of abstraction.Currently regarded as one of Britains most talented

landscape artists, James has won several awards,including the Laing Landscape Painting Competition,

and sells his work up and down the country in galleriesfrom Kent to Cumbria. Its with this confidence that hepresented his ideas to art consultant Lee Corner in 2010.Lee recognised the potential of the project but she felt

it needed the endorsement of a significant body to giveit added gravitas, so they submitted an application tothe Arts Council for funding.The application became the blueprint for the whole

scheme. It enabled me to think about it in a holisticsense right from the beginning, explains James, whowas accompanied by his good friend and photographerAndrew Hodgson on the excursion. It was to be thetrip of a lifetime, but I always dealt with it in aprofessional way because of the Arts Council backing.James was overjoyed when he received the green

light from the Arts Council at the end of 2012. BoltonMuseum fittingly agreed to host an exhibition of hiswork at the end of his adventures.With just two weeks in Wyoming at his disposal

rather than Morans 40 days, James set aboutpinpointing the closest achievable route to that of hishero. Initially, I wanted to follow the same path asMoran but it was impossible once Id factored inairports, car hire and so forth, he says. As long asI got to see Green River and the Grand Canyon of theYellowstone, I was going to be content.Armed with a sketchpad, a compact watercolour set

and a GoPro camera, James flew to Salt Lake City inWyomings neighbouring state of Utah last June. Hestayed overnight in a small hotel before picking up aclunky Winnebago the next morning his transportand home for the next two weeks. As the pair headedfor the Teton Mountain Range, James liked to envisage

ABOVE Buffalo in Mist, oil

sketch on paper, 42x29.7cm

RIGHT Old Faithful, oil on

canvas, 80x60cm

BELOW Thomas Moran,

Nearing Camp, Evening on

the Upper Colorado River,

Wyoming, 1882, oil on

canvas, 66x160cm

BOLTO

NLIB

RARY&MUSEU

MSER

VICES,B

OLTO

NCOUNCIL

The notion of retracing Morans journey came to meafter I saw his painting But I knew the project wouldonly work if I could produce something different


Moran trotting beside them on horseback as heappreciated the magnitude of the 19th-century artistundertaking such a colossal trip without moderntechnology and comforts.There are some very dangerous volcanic areas and

towering cliff tops in the Yellowstone region, saysJames. Its incredible to think of him wanderingaround here for the first time without anypreconceptions or fears.James thought the formidable Grand Teton Mountain

Range to the south was beautiful and lush, but tooEuropean-looking for his tastes. However, theYellowstone National Park was the stereotypicalWestern setting he had dreamed of. He sketchedoccasionally, but not frantically, citing that it was moreimportant for me to absorb my surroundings.As the pair moved north towards the Grand Canyon

of Yellowstone, James watched as the greenery of themountains was replaced with dusty desert plains andhis anticipation grew.Morans depiction of the canyon sealed his place in

American history and it is one of the most dramaticforces of nature I have ever seen, says James. I waslucky to see a staggering sunset at Old Faithful that hadthe same palette as Morans. I always assumed his

colours were dramatised but he was simply paintingwhat was in front of him.James was exhilarated and humbled by such

breathtaking examples of nature, which came in sharpcontrast to the familiar landscapes of Lancashire.Though half a world away, he felt at home when hefinally reached Green River. It was the last stop of histour but, in a way, it was where it all began.Green River was such a highlight. It epitomised that

sense of being in America: the romantic notions frommy childhood mixed with the amazing scale of thingsaround me made it consistently exciting, he explains.James flew back to Manchester on 15 June in a state

of euphoria with his expectations fulfilled tenfold.

TOP James sketches from

the door of the RV, his home

for the two-week trip

ABOVE LEFT Teton in Sun, oil

sketch on board, 20x15cm>


However, with the research trip complete, James wasonly half way through his artistic journey. The biggestchallenge was starting the work, he says, explainingthat he initially struggled to recreate the Wyominglandscape in his usual style.I was trying to make paintings that were

recognisable but thats not what I usually do. OnceI corrected myself, it freed me to produce somethingless literal and more reminiscent of my journey.Naughton and Moran opens at Bolton Museum this

month. It will bring together paintings, sketches andprints from Jamess trip, as well as 19th-century oils byThomas Moran from the museums collection, includingNearing Camp, Evening on the Upper Colorado River,Wyoming, the work which started the whole odyssey.James decided to paint his works in the order that he

encountered the subjects. Each one began with alacquered board, which he compares to painting onglass. He then pushed the oil paint around the surfaceuntil it resembled his subject, rarely working from asketch or photo.I dont want to set out my image in a mindful way,

he explains. My work is a subconscious recognition ofthe movement of paint, which often communicates myideas more effectively than I ever plan to.

MORANS TRAILJamess itinerary forhis two-week trip

2 June: Departs fromManchester Airport. Arrivesin Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.

3 June: Drives to TetonVillage a ski resort nearJackson, Wyoming, at thefoot of the Teton MountainRange

4 June: Hikes around thebase of the Tetons to thehidden falls around JennyLake

5 June: Visits the NationalMuseum of Wildlife Art inJackson

6 June: Heads north to visitMount Moran, a peak namedin honour of his hero

7 June: Moves further northto the south entrance ofYellowstone National Park

8 June: Explores the GrandCanyon of the Yellowstone,including Artists Point,Inspiration Point and UncleToms View spots fromwhich Moran made paintings

9 June: Visits the famousOld Faithful Geyser andexplores the surroundinggeological pools

10 June: Arrives inMammoth to see the hotsprings and mineral terraces

11 June: Heads to TowerFalls

12 June: Watches thesunrise from Artists Pointbefore leaving for GreenRiver. Visits the SweetwaterCounty Historical Museum

13 June: Spends the daysketching the Palisades andTollgate Rock, which featuresin Morans paintings

14 June: Attends a farewellreception with the locals ofGreen River, arranged by theArts Council

15 June: Flies back toManchester

TOP Lower Falls, Yellowstone

Canyon, oil on canvas,

80x120cm

ABOVE RIGHT Green River

Valley, Sunset, oil sketch on

board, 20x15cm

On returning to Bolton, James was apprehensive thathe wouldnt be as enamoured with his hometown afterleaving Wyoming, but its a delight to learn he still feelsthe same joy as when he left.Ive very quickly got back to my normal appreciation

of the English landscape. My fascination is always withthe alterations in light, wherever in the world I am.Thats not to say that I havent changed, he adds.

From now on, I want to approach every surface, nomatter how big or small, with the same audacity as myYellowstone paintings.In many ways, James has far more in common with

Moran than just their place of birth. Hes courageousand daring with his projects a hard-workingopportunist. A whirlwind tour of the Wild West maynot be everyones cup of tea but its important wecontinue to reach for our goals and aspirations. It maytake a day, a year or a decade to achieve them but, asJames and Moran would testify, itll all be worth it inthe end.Naughton and Moran runs from 1 March to 16 Novemberat Bolton Museum. www.naughtonandmoran.com

The trip changed my work Fromnow on, I want to approach everysurface with the same audacity asmy Yellowstone paintings

Artists & Illustrators 29

Graham Burge hastaught Economics at

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY,USA and UNIVERSITY OF

BRISTOL, UK.

Now aWATERCOLOURIST he is looking for amarket.Commissions welcome.

For futher information please contact:

GrahamBurge8The Verneys,Cheltenham,Glos. GL53 7DB

Tel: (01242) 524362

SWAThe Society of Women Artists

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Formany artists it can bedifficult to be certain ofexactly when a work of artis finished except, perhaps,when they achieve a sense

that there are no more problems tosolve, and that a point of clarity hasbeen reached, or even that it can go nofurther. As Lucian Freud admitted in1954, A moment of completehappiness never occurs in the creationof a work of art. The promise of it isfelt in the act of creation but disappearstowards the completion of the work.For it is then that the painter realisesthat it is only a picture he is paintingWere it not for this, the perfect paintingmight be painted, on completion ofwhich the painter could retire.Stopping work on a painting does

not mean that it is entirely resolved,but once it is hung on the walls of anart gallery its viewers invariablyconsider it to be a definite, unchangingstatement of the artists vision:something that is complete in itself.The related studies occupy an

ambiguous position with regard to thefinal work. Rarely shown andinvariably considered to be lesserworks in the hierarchy of art, artistshave often avoided exhibiting them,and yet preparatory studies canexpress far more creative freedom andimmediacy than the work to whichthey ultimately lead. Without a timemachine to travel back into the studiosof the artists of the past, thepreparatory study is often the closestwe can get to understanding the

seemingly alchemical process thatleads to the creation of a familiarpainting. As the architect and collectorProfessor Sir Colin St John Wilsononce asked, What would we not giveto peer over the shoulder of Giorgioneor Vermeer or Francis Bacon?Wilson was fascinated by the creativeact and not only wrote a book todocument his experience of sitting forportraits by Michael Andrews andWilliam Coldstream, but also, whenthey were available, collected thepreparatory studies that related to thepaintings in his collection. He oncedescribed himself as having anobsessive interest in how other artistswork not just the technicalprocedures but the whole mode ofattack in developing an initial theme.Wilson was in part fulfilling the

collectors urge to obtain everythingrelating to his artworks, but also, as anintellectual, he sought to deepen hisown understanding of the work.He wrote of admiring conceptualdiagrams where drawing serves asa shorthand in which the artist isfeeling for an idea, seeing them as aform of thinking out loud in whichthe structure of the composition andsubject undergo stages of development.Besides uncovering aspects of

technique, preparatory drawings givean insight into the artists intent. Theartists study has a history dating backto the Renaissance, but in the modernera it is closely associated with thefigurative tradition of artists andinstitutions like the Slade School ofArt. The detailed preparation ofdrawings that could be squared-up forenlargement and translated to canvaswas encouraged by Slade tutors suchas Henry Tonks, whose students DavidBomberg, Stanley Spencer andWilliamRoberts all used this technique in theirown mature work, particularly inimaginative compositions. Bombergspreliminary drawings for 1926s TheSouth East Corner, Jerusalem present aradically simplified view of the city

TOP David

Bomberg, The

South-East Corner

of Jerusalem,

1926, oil on canvas

ABOVE David

Bomberg, Study

for The South-

East Corner of

Jerusalem, 1926,

charcoal and

crayon on paper

PALLA

NTHOUSEGALLER

Y(W

ILSONGIFT

THROUGHTH

EARTFU

ND)

PROFSIR

COLIN

STJO

HNWILS

ON

Pallant House Gallery director Simon Martin explains why looking at preparatory drawingscan be the key to understanding how great artists see, think and feel

THINKING OUT LOUD


artists studies

skyline, with vigorous marksemphasising what he called thehorizontal lines accentuated by theperpendicular forms [of] the minarets.These startling charcoal studies havean affinity to his pre-war abstractCubist compositions, but on the finalcanvas the painterly strokes softenthe angularity of the architecture,indicating the artists moreexpressionist approach to finding thespirit in the mass of his later works.Some things can be lost in

translation from the drawing, or atleast much simplified, as in the case ofColdstreams 1944 painting The OperaHouse, Rimini, Interior (Bomb DamagedBuilding, Italy). Having taught at theEuston Road School of Painting andDrawing in the late 1930s, whichpromised that particular emphasis

TOP Tristram Hillier,

Ship Propulsion,

1950, oil on canvas

LEFT Tristram

Hillier, Study for

Ship Propulsion,

1950, pencil on

paper

PRIVAT

ECOLL

ECTION/TH

EBRIDGEM

ANARTLIBRARY

ONLO

ANFR

OM

APRIVAT

ECOLL

ECTION(2013)

THEESTATE

OFTR

ISTR

AM

HILLIER

>


artists studies

would be laid on training theobservation, Coldstream was employedby the Royal Engineers, beforereceiving a commission as an OfficialWar Artist in 1943, taking him to Egyptand, in 1944, to Italy where he paintedwar-ravaged buildings in Capua, Pisaand Rimini. His detailed pen andpencil study for his painting featuresarrows and written descriptions of thecolours and warmth of the tones, suchprecise detail that cannot be fullyrendered in oil, but elements of the

creative process remain: the pencilgrid used for squaring up the drawingis visible in the painting, somethingthat the artist remarked was reallylike having ones shirt hanging out.The approach of using studies might

be thought to contrast with theapparent spontaneity of much modernpainting when we consider thefreedom of Impressionist orExpressionist images painted directlybefore the motif, or the subconsciousexpressed in abstract action painting

WILS

ONGIFT

THROUGHTH

EARTFU

ND

ESTATE

OFPATR

ICKCAU

LFIELD


artists studies

and Surrealist automatic games ofchance. However, in July 1939Graham Sutherland produced a groupof preparatory drawings for the oilEntrance to a Lane, which reflect theinfluence of Surrealist artists such asAndr Masson in the abstraction ofparticular effects of afternoon lightand shade in a lane in Pembrokeshire.Sutherland was praised by hiscontemporary Michael Ayrton for thevital paraphrase of landscape forms atwhich he has arrived throughdrawings. The fifth drawing in thegroup relates to a gouache in theBishop Otter collection of theUniversity of Chichester, and waspainted in summer 1943 during aholiday with the collector PeterWatson and artist John Craxton.Apparently when Craxton askedSutherland where he got the leaves,as there werent any overhanging thelane, Sutherland responded, I broughtthem in from somewhere else.It illustrates how drawings can oftenhave more immediacy and poetic truththan the final, edited version.

For artists such as Tristram Hillier,there were clear benefits to a strictapproach to working from drawingsthat he would do on site and elaboratein his studio, as painting from the motifdid not allow for the psychologicaldistance between object and idea thatwas possible in images worked upfrom drawings. In the case of Hilliers1950 painting Ship Propulsion, thepainting is an almost exact translationof the pencil drawing. The only realdifference is the absence of two flyingseagulls in the painting, a pictorial editthat serves to make the final paintingseem timeless and still.Perhaps the most surprising studies

are those of Patrick Caulfield forpaintings such as 1999s Reserved Tablewhich begin as the simplest of jottingsand are worked up through to detailedpencil studies of the lobster thatfeatures on the platter of the emptytable awaiting the diners. It is anuanced exploration of psychologicalspace that was evidently highly-tunedthrough the use of studies that allowedfor detailed observation of particular

elements, just as nearly a centuryearlier Walter Sickert used multiplestudies to explore the interior space ofJack Ashore, which features a clothedman and a nude woman in a bedroom.Sickert believed strongly in theimportance of drawing and assertedthat any fool can paint, but drawingis the thing and drawing is the test. Ifyou are a good draughtsman you areipso facto a good painter. Thecomposition of Jack Ashore was theresult of numerous drawings, but therelated drawing in the Pallant HouseGallerys collection was actuallycreated after the painting, in order totranspose the image into the largesoft-plate etching printed in 1912-13.Just as Matisse described his own

working method in terms of a processof purifying abstraction from the earlycharcoal studies executed before themodel to a formal reprise of thesitters essential features, thejuxtaposition of the drawings andfinished paintings in the ArtistsStudies exhibition reveals a search forsomething deeper in the subjectmatter, and what Andrews describedas a kind of active thinking and themost marvellous, elaborate, completeway of making up [his] mind.Artists Studies: From Pencil to Paintruns from 15 February to 22 June atPallant House Gallery, Chichester.www.pallant.org.uk

Sickert believed in the importanceof drawing and asserted that

if you are a good draughtsman,you are ipso facto a good painter

LEFTWalter Sickert,

Jack Ashore, 1912-

13, oil on canvas

RIGHTWalter

Sickert, Study for

Jack Ashore, 1912,

pencil on paper

OPPOSITE PAGE,

FROM TOP Patrick

Caulfield, Study for

Reserved Table,

2000, pencil on

paper; Patrick

Caulfield, Reserved

Table, 2000,

acrylic on canvas

WILSONGIFTTH

ROUGHTH

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When did you move into this studio?I built the extension about 7 or 8 yearsago. It was really for economic reasons.Ive had some weird and wonderfulstudios over the years. When I leftcollege, I had a studio in ButlersWharf before it was gentrified it wasall derelict warehouses back then, veryDickensian, with hundreds of artistsworking there. I was paying about 4 a

week and I could walk out onto thebalcony and be overlooking TowerBridge. Subsequently, I worked in anold tank garage in Hammersmith for acouple of years. It was an ex-TerritorialArmy barracks with no natural light.

Did those places give you a clearidea of what you wanted here?Ideally, but the light is not ideal herebecause it is not north facing. It takes afew years to acclimatise to a studiospace anyway youre a bit like a cat,padding around, working out whereyou want to go. You can make it workfor you though because your workcomes from inside you its notsomething that is external.

Did the different spaces affect thework you produced in them?It has affected the scale. If you are in avery large space, it seems rather futileand silly to do a small work. Thisspace is much smaller and I work on asmaller scale here. The type of work orsubject matter is normally moreaffected by what is going on in my life

at that time. When my daughter wasborn, the colours [in my works] weresuddenly very intense. I normally usequite low-key colours but everythinggot quite bright. I think it was myinternal response to the event.

What are you working on now?It has more or less been a continuousstream since leaving college. What hasalways engaged me is working fromperception how I respond to theworld, what I do with it. Theres nosuch thing as a static reality.My work is a form of reduction, too.

Its like when you are reading: ifsomething has been reduced down toits essence, it is far more potent thanlots of flowery language or adjectives.

You have some large tins of paintstacked up in your studio...Yes, but I used to use 5 litre tins these are only 2.5 litres. I rememberyears ago driving over to Kent,I parked the car near the woods andI had these big tins of paint with me.By the time I got everything out of the

Born in 1948, Peter is a member of the New EnglishArt Club and past president of the London Group.A perceptive and physical oil painter, he served as ajudge for the Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize 2014. He works fromhis home studio in Blackheath, South East London.

withPETER CLOSSICKIn the studio

WORDS & PHOTOS: STEVE PILL


in the studio

car, walked into the woods andset myself up, I was just exhausted![laughs] Im much more comfortablebeing a studio painter.

Your style is very distinctive. Do youuse any additives or mediums?No, its purely that there is a hugevolume of paint on there. I use thepaint directly from the tin and I mixthe paint as much on the surface of thepainting as I do on the palette.

Do you change the way you applythe paint for your smaller studies?Yes. Ive got very few small studiesin which the paint is pushed to thatsame degree.

It looks like just primary colours laidout on your palette. Do you prefer torestrict yourself in that way?Yes, it is quite amazing what you canachieve with even an exceedinglylimited range of colours. The blue andred I use dont lend themselves to richpurples you need an Ultramarineand an Alizarin for that but in theright context, I can still make thosecolours really sing. The big thing withcolour is relationships, its not aboutthe colour itself.

Your works often show multipleangles of a subject, almost like aCubist painting. Is that deliberate?I think all of that is embedded withinyour thinking but when I work from amodel, there is a subtle differencegoing on every time I look not onlyam I moving but also the subject is

moving. Now, I can either create astructure that I hang things on, orI can try and respond to what I amexperiencing at that moment in time.Thats what I do and Ive no idea howit will end up.

Do you still get satisfaction fromcoming into the studio every day?Yes. It gives you a purpose. And itsentertaining, too. It goes back tochildhood. What did you do when youwere a child? You played and youentertained yourself. The packagingwas just as important as the toy in thebox and it would become a tank or anaeroplane or whatever. [As an artist]youre perpetuating that sort ofaliveness, trying to make your lifemore interesting than it otherwisemaybe is.

What do you do when a painting isntworking out?Suffer! [laughs] You can never tellwhat will take off and what is a deadend so you just keep putting one footin front of the other. A&I

The Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize2014 runs from17-22 March atMall Galleries,London SW1.peterclossick.com


Portfolio A selection of the most creativeartworks made by our readers onPortfolioPLUSpictureof themonth

LYNDSEY SMITHMarket Street Life, Cobblers, watercolour on paperI have loved to draw since I could hold a pencil. My paintings are regularlycommissioned for special events and include local scenes, house portraitsand fun family portraits. In this painting, it is the hour before dawn andsomething is happening in the old Cobblers shop in Lewes.www.artistsandillustrators.co.uk/lyndsey-smith


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Submit onlineRoyal Society of Portrait PaintersPastel SocietyRoyal Society of Marine Artists

until 13 Februaryuntil 20 March24 April to 24 July

Victoria Art Gallery8 February27 MarchBy Pulteney Bridge Bath BA2 4AT All works for saleView exhibition online at www.victoriagal.org.ukTuesday to Saturday 10.00-5.00Sunday 1.30-5.00

Peter BrownBATH PAINTINGS BY PETE THE STREET

Peter Brown Winter afternoon from Hedgemead Park (detail)


PRACTICALart guideYOUR37-PAGE

40 45 56 Alla prima painting66 70 74 Drawing on nature

Consider using water

colour froma

tube rather than a pa

n. It is easier to

keep colours unspoilt

when they

come froma tube and

the depth

of colour that you ca

n achieve

is also much greater

.

One of Americas most talented and in-demand watercolour tutors tellsJenny White why it is Japanese calligraphy that has given her painting the edge

KEIKOTANABETALKING TECHNIQUESWITH

In2003, Keiko Tanabe joined an artclass in San Diego that changed thecourse of her life. Up until that point,her career path had featured nothingoutwardly artistic: she had worked ininternational relations positions for agovernment trade organisation inTokyo, at a large law firm in SanFrancisco and at a private consultantsin San Diego. But she had alwaysharboured a desire to paint andsuddenly, art became her priority.She began by illustrating Through

the Azure Sea and Sky of Provence, abook written by her father, a renownedJapanese literature scholar, beforesetting about honing her watercolourskills. It was so much fun that I didnt

want to stop doing it. I became veryserious about it and consequently quitmy job to devote myself to painting in2005, she says.Since then, Keiko has developed a

very distinctive style, characterised bya deft handling of light, a strong senseof atmosphere and an ability to adddrama and focus to a scene through avariation of soft and hard edges(more on that later). Cityscapes,landscapes and waterscapes are herfavourite subjects, although she alsopaints interior scenes andoccasionally figures, too.The common thread running

through all of this is Keikos love of themedium. I chose watercolour

because it was the most difficultmedium, she says. It really beat meup and I didnt like feeling defeated. Ifound it more intriguing than othermediums; it almost seemed to have amind of its own and made me want touncover the mystery.She discovered that watercolour

painting did not feel entirely new toher. It reminded her of the calligraphyshe had practised as a child growingup in Japan. Ive found similarities,especially in the way I move my brushacross paper. In fact, I utilise some ofthe calligraphic brushstrokes familiarto me in my watercolours.An added attraction was the speed

with which watercolour paintings

BELOW Caf Leffe,

Brussels, Belgium I,

watercolour on

paper, 33x48cm

PAGE 39 Catalan

Countryside, Spain

I, watercolour on

paper, 33x48cm


talking techniques

could be completed. A keen traveller,Keiko wanted something other thanphotography to help her rememberher experiences. Watercolour isespecially useful for capturing quicklyan emotional response before theinspiration is gone, she says.A breakthrough came in 2007 when

she managed to complete a paintingof a Venice canal in one sitting. Theability to work quickly, and withminimal fuss, has since become acornerstone of her work. I believethat in order to maintain the freshnessand the luminosity of watercolour, itsimportant to complete it in a shortamount of time, she says. If it takesa long time, you keep adding layerupon layer and most of the time thepainting ends up looking muddy.After a preliminary drawing, she

usually applies her paint in just twostages. First comes a wash, whichcovers the whole paper except for theplaces she wants highlights. Shemakes this task more difficult byeschewing masking fluid, but there isa good reason for this. Masking fluidleaves very crisp marks that look tooartificial to me, she says. I had tolearn how to paint around highlights,so now Im okay most of the timewithout using it.When laying down this first layer she

will avoid painting individual objects;instead, she focuses on tonal valuesand the temperature of colours,trying to establish the overall structureand feel of the painting. By the timeshe starts on the second layer of paint,she is already set to refine the image.I want the light values to be finishedin the first stage, and then in thesecond stage I work more on darkervalues and details to finish it off.

A favourite technique throughouther work is the use of hard, soft andlost and found edges. You makehard edges by painting onto a drysurface so its very crisp and clear;soft edges have a misty feel and areusually created by working wet intowet. Lost and found is a combinationof both, which is probably the mostdifficult, she says. I like to utilise allthese different edges in my painting,depending on the kind of feel or themood I want to create.An important factor in deciding what

type of edge to use is the distancebetween the viewer and an object. InCaf Leffe, Brussels I, she used

various edges and tonal values tocreate a sense of depth andatmosphere in the scene.At the top of the building, where the

edges needed to be harder, sheworked on the dry surface. The skywas painted very quickly and thenallowed to dry before she began workon the building so the edges would beclean and crisp. Darker colours werethen added to the mid-section of thepainting while the paper was stillmoist. I needed to create a sense ofdepth and make the painting threedimensional, so to do that I had tochange the tonal values: the closestobjects have more intense, stronger

ABOVE Duomo,

Milano, Italy III,

watercolour on

paper, 74x55cm>


MATERIALSKeiko uses Winsor & Newton Artists WaterColours with a combination of squirrel-hair mopbrushes, synthetic round brushes with finepoints, rigger brushes and Japanese calligraphybrushes.cold-pre

INFLUENCESWhen living in Japan, Keiko became fond of theFrench Impressionists. Later, she became moreinterested in dedicated watercolourists. I reallylike the works of John Singer Sargent, RobertWade and Alvaro Castagnet, not only for theirstyles but also for their choice of subject matter.

TECHNIQUESKeiko utilises familiar brushstroke techniquesfrom Japanese calligraphy in her watercolourworks. She creates her paintings in two layers,establishing the lighter tonal values in the firstlayer then adding darker tones and detail inthe second.


talking techniques

values, while the buildings in the back,because they are farther away,needed to have the lighter tones.She also focused on connecting the

edges in other words, creating asense of easy progression betweenthe different types of edge within thepainting. When connecting thedifferent edges, I had to think aboutthe distance of the different objects,how far and how close they were,she says. The transitions are veryimportant and I dont always connectthe edges in the same manner; noteverything is soft sometimes I leavea space in between the edges. I try tocreate a bit of interest, somewherethe viewers eyes can stop.Over the years Keiko has learned

other lessons too, such as how tosimplify a scene to draw out its drama,as in Duomo, Milano, Italy III. She waskeen to pass on what she had learntso soon turned to teaching.It all began when a local

watercolour society invited her toteach a workshop. Since then, she hasbeen in constant demand, not only inthe US, but also in Europe, Mexico andher native Japan. Wherever she sets

with your colours and materials,perfect your drawing before movingon to painting, understand tonalvalues and know what initiallyinspired you to do this work.She says it is wise to stick to that

first impression and to look at thesubject in terms of tones rather thancolours. With this in mind, a quickvalue sketch can help enormously,as can a limited palette and anawareness of where the lightsource(s) are coming from and howthey behave. And last but not least,she adds, always practise drawingbecause a good drawing is thefoundation of a good painting.Keiko teaches many European workshops,including 27 July to 2 August with FrancePainting Holiday at Bandouille seewww.francepaintingholiday.com orwww.ktanabefineart.com

IBELIEVE THAT INORDERTOMAINTAINTHE FRESHNESSANDTHE LUMINOSITYOFWATERCOLOUR, ITS IMPORTANTTO

COMPLETE IT INASHORTAMOUNTOF TIMEup her easel, her aim is to make herworkshops both enjoyable andinformative. It is important for me tocreate a positive and cheerful learningenvironment, she says. On thetechnical side, I want to make surethat everyone, regardless of theirlevel, learns something new that theycan take home and incorporate intheir future work.In order to achieve this, Keiko tries

to quickly identify each studentsindividual problems and suggestpossible solutions.For beginners, she aims to offer

plenty of encouragement and a senseof accomplishment, while her moreadvanced students are encouraged togo beyond techniques and focus onthe emotional side of creativity.Keikos main guidelines for her

students include familiarise yourself

ABOVE Pacific

Coast Highway III,

watercolour on

paper, 36x55cm

OPPOSITE PAGE

Bucharest,

Romania I,

watercolour on

paper, 55x36cm


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ANATOMY OF A PAINTING

In the first of a new in-depth series about the basic elements for creating a painting,artist and tutor Ian Rowlands explains the various canvas and panel options available

Whether working with oil oracrylic, the support is thefoundation of any easelpainting and careful selection canbenefit your work as a whole. Themarket is full of bargains but the lowprice can result in a less pleasurablepainting experience. Better alternativeslie in the higher quality ranges andespecially home-prepared surfaces.The choice of rigid or flexible

supports is a matter of personal

preference and is largely influencedby the intended technique.

RIGID PANELSRigid panels lend themselves tomedia with less flexibility such asheavily layered oil paint, which couldcrack or even cause a canvas to sag.Mixed media and collage, includingheavy media, should really only beapplied to rigid panels. Lastly, as

modern panel materials are generallysmooth prior to preparation, they area good choice if you require a sheersurface for fine detail.Commercially produced canvas

boards and canvas-faced MDF(medium density fibreboard) offera fast and economic solution whenmaking studies, although largerpanels can be prone to warping.Gluing battens to the rear of thepanel can prevent this and make

1.SUPPORTS

>ISTOCK


anatomy of a painting

hanging an unframed work possible.Acrylic gesso panels with a morecontrolled absorbency are alsoavailable, either from stock orcreated bespoke.Aluminium is a fairly expensive but

impressive option offering one of themost stable supports. Available bothbraced and unbraced, aluminiumpanels simply need to be degreasedwith methylated spirits and preparedwith a suitable primer before working.Certain specialist fixatives willtransparently seal the surface if themetallic appearance is required.

FLEXIBLE SUPPORTSStretched canvas is the mostcommonly used easel-paintingsurface. Canvas is a generic namegiven to woven painting fabricsincluding, cotton, linen, and synthetic.Being lighter in weight than any

panel, and with roll widths up to 2.5metres fairly easy to obtain it is suited

Braced aluminum

This panel is

dimensionally

stable and the

smooth surface is

straightforward to

prime: use alkyd

primer for oils or a

specialist acrylic

primer for both

acrylics and oil.

Interior gradeplywood

RIGHT

Rigid Surfaces

Here is a selection

of options available

for comparison.

The Dalerboard

is relatively

inexpensive and

has textured,

double oil priming,

perfect for oil

paint. The Belle

Arti cotton-

faced art boards

comprise 3mm

thickness MDF

panels with acrylic

priming, while the

Belle Arti gesso

panels feature

multi-ply poplar

with a bevelled

back and smooth

absorbent ground

that is ideal for

detailed work.

MDF Dalerboard Belle Articotton art board

Belle Artigesso panels

Hardboard(smooth side)



STRETCHING A CANVASWhether you are preparing the canvas from its raw state or buyingpre-primed linen you will need stretchers, so named because the mitredmortised corners allow the assembled frame to be expanded with cornerwedges. Viewed in cross section, they have either a bevel or lip (or both)to lift the fabric away from the bars.

1. Join the frame by inserting tongues into grooves and use a mallet todrive them two together. With the reverse of the stretcher facing you,measure diagonally between the corners; the stretcher will be squarewhen both distances are the same. To ensure an even tension, tacks orstaples should be placed accurately, so divide and mark each stretcheron the halfway and quarter-way points, continuing to divide until themarks are between 8 and 12cm apart. Cut the canvas to give anadequate wrap-round allowance and line up the weave with thestretcher bars. The warp fibre (more prone to shrinkage) should travelacross the shortest distance on the stretcher.2. Pull the fabric to one of the halfway points on the stretcher andfasten with a staple or tack, pull and tack the opposite side and thenthe remaining two halfway points. Pull the fabric diagonally to one of thecorners and tack close to the edge of the stretcher as shown on bottomleft of the stretcher. Repeat with the remaining corners creating a mirrorimage of the opposing ones.3. Fix the corners by creating a 45-degree fold.4. Bring a second fold over this, pull and fix. Complete the process,fastening the remaining staples.

This method is the same for both raw and primed canvas but cotton duckshould be pulled as tightly as possible with your hands. For raw linen,some allowance should be made for shrinkage during sizing and primingby having a small amount of play in the fabric. Special wide-jawed canvaspliers are designed to achieve tension long enough to staple or tackcanvas during re-stretching, or stretching pre-primed canvas.

to larger scale works. It is, probably,the textural variations offered by themultitude of different fabrics thatexplains its popularity.

LinenLinen is made from the fibres of theflax plant that, when woven, make asurface with a natural and irregularquality combined with rigidity andstrength. It is high in cost due to itslengthy production process, wherehand pulling the plant (rather thancutting it) retains the long fibres thatimpart its strength. The flax fibres areplaced in warm-water tanks to breakdown pectins, enabling the fibres tobe separated from waste matter readyfor spinning.The best linens are wet spun to

produce a smooth fibre and wovenwith warp and weft fibres of an equalthickness. The density of linen ismeasured in threads per square inch;a higher number equals a strongerfabric (suppliers should be able toprovide you with a figure for thison request).

Cotton duckCotton duck is harvestedmechanically, making it a cheaperfabric than linen. It is not only moreuniform in texture than linen, but alsomore elastic.Cotton duck is made up of fibres

known as staples the longer thestaples, the stronger and less elasticthe fabric. Untwisting the fibres willreveal just how long the staples are.

Corner wedges can be inserted into

the corner slots and tapped home with

a hammer, forcing the bars apart to

stretch the fabric. Note the placement

with angled ends enabling the hammer

to make better contact. An equal

number of blows per wedge should

keep the canvas square.

BELOW

Warp and weft

This piece of raw

linen shows the

selvage edge on

the right. The

warp fibre (most

sensitive) travels

top to bottom.

Try to retain the

selvage on off-cuts

that you intend to

use in future or

make a mark on

the canvas to help

with orientation.

13

42

>



ABOVE

Primed linens

Three Belgian oil

primed linens,

shown front and

back. Fine portrait

speeds up the

process of canvas

building, arriving at

a high-quality end

product rigid and

receptive. Acrylic

counterparts are

also available.

COARSE MEDIUM FINE PORTRAITFront Back Front Back Front Back

RIGHT Canvas types

Six examples of

unprimed canvas

for comparison.

15oz cottonduck

11oz cottonduck

Doubleweave linen

Coarselinen

Mediumlinen

Finelinen



The density of weave and thicknessof fibre in cotton duck is expressed inounces per square yard; the higherthe number of ounces, the better thequality. Avoid weights below 11oz,which are usually too open and flimsy.A tightly woven, 15oz cotton will giveyou a very stable painting surface.Although cotton canvas dominates

the market, commercially producedlinen canvases of a higher qualityproduct can be obtained. In order toappeal to the greatest number of endusers, universally (acrylic) primedlinens are popular withmanufacturers. Oil primed linen, whichtakes oil paint beautifully is availablethrough a number of specialists

HOME PREPARATIONAlthough there are plenty of ready-made options available, preparingyour own supports at home offersmore choice with the advantage ofbeing able to choose the size, thefinish and the absorbency of theground. It is this, rather than thefinancial reasons, that is likely tosway you into giving it a try.Should you decide to make your

own panels, there are a number ofraw materials that are recommendedand readily available fromtimber merchants.Plywood is a laminate of thin layers

of hard wood that have been shavedfrom a rotating tree trunk. The thin

layer wants to hold its curve so it islaminated with the grain alternating tocounteract warping. It is available invarious thicknesses but 1/4-inch plyis suitable for small to medium-sizedpanels. Interior grade has a fine-grained surface.Skin ply is a very thin panel of two

or three laminated layers of fine grainwood and it is lightweight, making itexcellent for travelling. However, itrequires bracing for framingand presentation.Hardboard is made from steam-

exploded wood pulp, compressed andreformed into a single, layered sheetthat is held together by lignin, anatural adhesive found in wood.Smooth surfaced and light in weight,it is cheap and easy to prepare.I recommend that you paint on thesmooth side.MDF (another reconstituted wood

product, this time held together byurea-formaldehyde resin) has asmooth and tough surface, and,apart from its edges, which shouldbe primed, has excellent moistureresistance. Being a heavy material,I would not recommend its use forlarge pieces of work.Both hardboard and MDF should

first be degreased with methylatedspirits to ensure that primer fullyadheres. Priming the reverse of smallpanels and attaching timber battensat the rear of larger ones willprevent warping.

GROUNDSPainting supports should be sized andprimed in order to provide a receptivesurface and create a barrier to the oilcontained in the paint. Acrylic primerssize and prime in one process and arethe best option on panels and cotton,as they will save you time. They arealso more predictable to use.Linen can be sized with rabbit skin

glue in a dilute ratio of 1:24, glue towater, by volume. I use a sponge toleanly impregnate the canvas andavoid the future problems of moistureabsorption caused by heavy sizing.I follow this with a modern alkyd oilprimer that dries quickly, to provideflexible, semi-absorbent ground.Never apply acrylic primer over

rabbit skin glue under dampconditions the primer could peel off.Alternatively, acrylic priming will sealthe linen against moisture, andacrylic sizing will enhance theprime

Artists & Illustrators ( March 2014 )

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Transcript of Artists & Illustrators ( March 2014 )