PAINTERSONLINE and Big Sky Art Courses Competition

Welcome from the editor

This is a good time of year for trying new techniques

Leisure Painter

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Open Art Competition 2018 in partnership with Patchings

Diary

THINGS TO DO THIS MONTH

Exhibitions

JANE STROUD RECOMMENDS

Letters

SHARE YOUR TIPS, SUGGESTIONS, IDEAS AND QUESTIONS WITH OTHER READERS

Books & DVDs

WHAT TO READ & VIEW THIS MONTH

Art clubs

OVER TO YOU FOR THE LATEST NEWS ON CLUB EXHIBITIONS AND ACTIVITIES

Art club gallery

If you would like to see your art group’s winning paintings

Online gallery

Jane Stroud’s selection of works from our PaintersOnline gallery

The value of art

Look closely and find your personal vision, urges Pamela Kay, as she discusses the importance of painting in a digital age

Animals in focus

Sam Dolman discusses the materials, references and techniques he uses to paint his stunningly realistic portraits of some of his favourite subjects

Watercolour basics and beyond

Part 3 Develop your watercolour skills as you practise the second painting technique of the series – a graded wash – and paint a simple landscape, with David Webb

Painting project

Part 2 Tony Hogan completes his painting of a Yorkshire sunrise using pastels

Botanical painting for beginners

Brighten up a winter’s day by painting a delicate calla lily with botanical accuracy, with Michael Lakin

Journey into abstraction

Part 3 Follow Linda Birch as she concludes her series with a look at the thought processes behind producing both abstract collages and paintings

Where to begin

Experiment with two different ways of starting an oil painting, with Noel Gregory

Evening light

Follow Gwen Scott as she paints a sunset over snow using four colours and a variety of watercolour techniques, including salt texture

Beautiful bugs

Part 1 Take your first steps in painting with line and wash, from the materials you’ll need to drawing and painting techniques to try, with Liz Chaderton

Acrylic highlights

Follow Colin Steed as he demonstrates how to smarten up old watercolour paintings

Winter in watercolour

Part 3 In the final part of his watercolour series, Colin Joyce demonstrates how to find and paint the patterns of a winter landscape

Landscape studies

Part 3 Steve Strode continues his look at painting the landscape with tips and advice on painting effective landscapes and urban scenes

Reflections

Part 1 Here we look at simple and complex reflections, and how to depict them realistically in our drawings and paintings, with Judith Heilbronn-Crown

Sketch to painting

Part 2 How to complete a studio-based painting from oil sketches made on site, with Richard Holland

Beginner’s guide to portraiture

Top tips on how to plan and paint a portrait, by Lorna Gasperi

Art Club of the Year 2017

Leisure Painter has great pleasure in publishing the winning paintings from the two runners-up of last year’s exhibition, Hornsea Art Society and Pinner Sketch Club. The clubs won art materials vouchers worth £250 each from Jackson’s Art Supplies