Sketchbook

November

TIPS • ADVICE • IDEAS

FAST AND FREE

LEO CRANE introduces a quick artistic challenge to warm you up!

Short, dynamic poses are used to get the model and painter warmed up at the start of a session. It is a liberating experience: there is no time to get stuck or fiddle with detail, and you can produce so many works in a short space of time that it doesn’t matter if many of them don’t work out.

When the model and I are ready, I set the clock for two minutes. I spend the first few seconds reading the pose, then I load the brush with paint and let the feeling of the pose travel through me onto the paper. When the timer beeps, we move immediately on to the next pose, and the next. I’m aiming for at least a dozen poses so we can truly get into a rhythm.

If I’m feeling adventurous, I will work wet-on-wet, liberating the pigment and watching the painting develop even after the clock has stopped. This is a space to experiment, explore, fail and perhaps stumble upon an unexpected delight. Here are a few examples…

Emotive drips This briefly described form captured the weight of Lidia’s pose with fluid strokes loaded with dripping paint.

This is an edited extract from Contemporary Figures in Watercolour: Speed, Gesture and Story by Leo Crane with Roy Joseph Butler, published by Batsford. www.pavilionbooks.com

Figure emerging For Roy to emerge from the page, I graded the wetness of the paper, so that painted lines softened in one place and rose to a definitive solidity where it was dry. Dynamic flicks To accentuate the movement of Maya’s forward step, I tilted the paper and blew into wet paint to encourage drips. I flicked paint to add dynamism and pushed my painterly mark making in exciting, unexpected directions.

Solid silhouette With a wash of clean water, I described Roy’s silhouette as he crouched down. I dropped paint into the wet shape and watched it bleed to the edge. Vibrant, transparent colours blend and bloom; opaque colours dominate with a reassuring weight.

THINGS WE LOVE…

Matthew Burrows’ Artist Support Pledge (ASP) initiative was a bright spot in the pandemic. Artists posted work worth up to £200 on Instagram using the #artistsupportpledge hashtag – for every £1,000 of sales, they pledged to buy £200 of work from other artist(s). After an estimated £60 million worth of sales, A Generous Space will collect together ASP highlights at Hastings Contemporary from 24 November to 18 April 2022. www.hastingscontemporary.org

BOOK OF THE MONTH

Still Life by Susie Johns Best known for her popular books on knitting and sewing, Slade art graduate Susie Johns turns her hand to painting and drawing for 10 step-by-step tutorials.

The subjects and choice of media are clearly aimed at those starting out, yet there are enough fundamental techniques recounted in clear, simple language to satisfy developing artists too. GMC Publications. www.gmcbooks.com

NEW HUES FRENCH ULTRAMARINE

Discover a new colour every month

The name of this deep blue is suitably evocative – derived from the Latin ultramarinus, meaning “beyond the sea”. The original medieval pigment was made from lapis lazuli and used in the turban of Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring. Synthetic alternatives were fi rst developed in France in the 1820s and where modern brands sell two Ultramarine options, the French pigment usually has a warmer red bias.

Why not try… Da Vinci Casaneo brushes

We’ve long enjoyed painting with Da Vinci’s range of vegan-friendly watercolour brushes, thanks to super-soft synthetic bristles that mimic Kazan squirrel hair. This year’s new addition are the elegant Series 490 riggers, available in two sizes. www.davinci-defet.com

Brighten up!

Three quick tips for brilliant watercolour paintings

1Draw lightly. Keep your pencil lines soft and erase heavier lines carefully before adding paint. You don’t want any loose graphite dirtying your colour.

2Simplify your mixes. Don’t combine more than three pans or tube colours in a single mix. Extra pigments can increase the chances of colours becoming muddy.

3Let layers dry properly. You can spoil still-wet colours otherwise. If you’re too impatient, start two paintings at once and switch back and forth between them.

GUSTAVO LEIGHTON/UNSPLASH

The Diary 15 NOVEMBER The Academi Frenhinol Gymreig (or Royal Cambrian Academy) is inviting submissions for its 2022 Annual Open Exhibition before 5pm today. www.rcaconwy.org

19 NOVEMBER At 5pm, the fi nal whistle is blown on the Football Art Prize, a chance to submit for an Arts Councilsupported touring show with £10,000 of prizes. footballartprize.artopps.co.uk

24 NOVEMBER The Royal Institute of Oil Painters’ annual exhibition opens at London’s Mall Galleries (until 5 December). Look out for paintings on the mini-theme of “rebirth”. www.theroi.co.uk

EXPERT TIP

John Collier’s society portrait of Mary Ann Griffi th is a masterclass in clever tonal painting. Our eyes are naturally drawn to high contrasts, so the very dark shadows behind the sitter encourages us to focus on her head and shoulders fi rst. Meanwhile, the artist’s use of very stark highlights on her necklace and the golden edge of the chair help suggest that these are both shiny objects and should be read as different materials when compared to the subdued tonal shifts in her dress.

“THE BEST REASON TO PAINT IS THAT THERE IS NO REASON TO PAINT” — Keith Haring

BRIGHTON AND HOVE MUSEUMS AND ART GALLERIES

Join us online!

The Artists & Illustrators website is one of the biggest resources for artists on the internet. You can find tips, news, offers, art for sale, competitions, interviews and a huge database of practical painting and drawing advice. WWW.ARTISTSAND ILLUSTRATORS.CO.UK

ILLUSTRATION: BETT NORRIS