Leisure Painter & The Artist May 2025

Features - Leisure Painter:

• Negative deviations: How to use negative painting to produce successful results. Quick tips from David Bellamy
• Animal explorations: Part 1 in her new short series on painting animals, Chloe Hibberd demonstrates the techniques she uses when drawing with pastel pencils on black paper
• Develop a sketchbook habit: Part 2 - Don't think you can draw? Follow Steve Strode's advice on regular practice and watch your skills and confidence grow
• Painting project: Part 2 - Follow Colin Steed step by step as he paints a winter woodland from a photo using essential watercolour techniques
• Product report: Tim Fisher puts Faber-Castell's Albrecht Dürer watercolour markers through their paces to create a range of interesting effects
• Painting project: Part 1 - Prepare to paint a still life from a photo using acrylics with Sharon Tiernan
• Take a humble pencil: Part 5 - Conor Smith answers frequently asked questions about this artwork and techniques
• Coloured-pencil clinic: This month, Helen Carter introduces you to working with drafting film
• Introducing... Soft pastels: Tim Fisher offers easy easy solutions and creative ideas for working with one of his favourite media
• 10-minute exercises: Set your timer to see if you can draw two simple subjects, each in just 10 minutes, with Emma Tidesley
• Simply drawing: Part 2 - Develop more detailed sketching techniques for capturing buildings, with Anthony Nield
• Step into acrylics: Part 3 - How to paint simple skies using three different techniques and a variety of sponges, by Alice May

Features - The Artist

• A day in the life of Jenny Aitken: Sally Bulgin talks to the artist about her life and career as a professional artist
• Less is more: Caroline Saunders talks to Nicholas Paullis about how he captures light and atmosphere in watercolour
• Learn from the masters: Sarah Edmonds shines a light on lesser-known artworks by artists we know and love
• Turning professional: In part five of his 12-part series documenting his first year as a full-time artist, Rodney Kingston reflects upon the positives and negatives of the past few months
• Ask an artist: Kimberley Keegan shares tips and advice for working artists
• The workshop trap: Mike Barr muses on the pros and cons of workshops for both students and teachers

Practicals - The Artist

• Source material: In the final article in his series on getting the best from your source material, Grahame Booth moves outdoors to gather material en plein air
• Portrait planning: Mark Draisey offers advice on how to gather, photograph and prepare material for a portrait commission 
• Linocuts: In the second of four articles on creating linocuts with impact, Keith Tunnicliffe uses the the reduction method for his linocuts of The Hepworth Wakefield
• Life drawing: Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year finalist, Sally Ward, describes why life drawing remains an essential part of her practice as a portrait artist
• London Plein Air Painters: Tushar Sabale introduces the plein-air group that he co-founded with artist, Carol Owen
• Simplify to succeed: Greta Vilidaite demonstrates how to break your subject down into manageable pieces
• Drawing for painting: In the first of three articles on gathering reference material for painting later in the studio, Paul Weaver focuses on sketching from life
• Know your paints: Hilary Page shows you how to test your own paints, to understand what they are capable of