Features:

• Sarah Cosby, winner of The Artist Award in last year's David Shepherd Wildlife Artist of the Year competition, talks to Susie Hodge
• Sarah Edmonds explains the benefits of newsletters and building an email list

Practical painting and drawing:

• Paint a portrait in just one sitting with Rob Wareing
• Soraya French shares her tips for painting dandelions in mixed media
• Paint autumn skies with Julie Collins
• Jenny Aitken shows how to paint sailing boats on sparkling seas in oil
• Learn to capture a sense of place in your landscape paintings with Andrew Newton
• In the final part of her series, Ruth Buchanan looks at finding your own style 
• Milly England shares her thoughts on watercolour papers
• Clare Bowen puts Jackson's Black Hog bristle, Procryl and Onyx synthetic brushes to the test
• Follow Paul Talbot-Greaves to paint sweet peas in watercolour using the negative painting technique
• Robert Dutton explains why Unison Colour Soft Pastels are his first choice for both studio and outdoor drawing and painting
• Be inspired by some of the winners in this year's The Artist Open Competition

Plus:

• Four-page pullout on art courses for everyone
• The Art World
• Your views
• Exhibitions
• Opportunities
• Books and DVDs
• This month's PaintersOnline Editor's Choice Award

All this and more in the October issue of The Artist, out on September 4