Jane Stroud selects work from the PaintersOnline gallery to feature in every issue of Leisure Painter.

For November Jane chose two landscapes from very different areas of the world; Kent-based artist Fran Russell's Smallhythe Sky and Crisp Morning by Raja Najam Ul Hassan, a full-time professional artist living and working in Pakistan.

Self-taught artist, Fran Russell, works in oils en plein air. Although she always had an interest in art, it wasn’t until she took early retirement in 2005 that she started painting in earnest. She now runs oil painting and en plein air workshops from Weavers Studio in Sutton Valence, Kent. 'Smallhythe Sky was painted alla prima from a friend’s garden. I was there with a group of artists called Different Eyes. We meet up once a month to exchange ideas and do something creative. The big sky and cloud formations attracted me to the subject. With limited time, I decided to use a small canvas-wrapped board, which had been primed at home with a tinted acrylic gesso. This allowed me to work quickly and avoid too much fiddly detail. I sketched out the composition in my sketchpad then made my first brush marks on the board with thinned paint to ‘draw’ out the composition. I noticed the cloud shadows on the fields early on and made colour notes to include them later. I paint using the fat-over-lean method with thinned darks followed by mid-tones then lights, building up to the part I love doing most – making expressive impasto marks on the clouds with a palette knife.'
This painting and works by other local artists, including Different Eyes, will be on show in Small is Still Beautiful at Smallhythe Studio, Tenterden, Kent from 29 October to 16 December. For more details visit www.franrussellart.co.uk

See more of Fran's work in the PaintersOnline gallery by clicking here.

Raja Najam Ul Hassan is a full-time professional painter, living and working in Pakistan as a visiting lecturer in the Fine Art department of the Government College of Women in Chakwal. 'For me, painting is a passion,' he writes, 'a never-ending learning process. My landscape paintings are inspired by my profound love of nature.' The landscape in Crisp Morning is set in the suburbs of his native village. 'I have been looking at it, walking through it and feeling it over the years at different times of the day and in various seasons, so I felt compelled to paint it. I finally did it on a winter’s morning when I could feel the crisp sunshine. I went to the spot, took some reference photographs, made a drawing in my sketch pad and took notes of the atmosphere – the light, shadows, colour of the foliage and the warmth of the light. I then completed the painting back in my studio.'

See more of Raja's work in the PaintersOnline gallery by clicking here.

Back issues of Leisure Painter can be purchased here, if you would like to see previously featured works.