When it comes to painting, do we challenge ourselves enough? Do we use the same colours while painting the same subjects with the same medium, or embrace the creative people we are and make changes? This month’s issue is packed full of exercises, prompts, ideas and inspiration to take you down new avenues. I’m delighted that Tim Fisher begins his latest series for LP (pages 12 to 15), demonstrating how he uses his favourite colours. As you would expect from Tim, his chosen colour for part 1, cobalt teal, is not the usual fare, but adds a terrific punch to a painting when used on its own, and mixes to create subtle and exciting colour variations. Tim will discuss six of his favourite colours in different media over the coming months and it’s hoped that you will find them useful in your own paintings.
I regularly hear from readers who are reluctant to populate their landscapes with figures. Although the addition of figures really brings a painting to life, they are a challenge to paint properly. Stephen Coates (pages 16 to 18) begins this month’s painting project with a simple three-step exercise, demonstrating just how easy it can be to paint simple figures and incorporate them into an urban setting. He goes on to show how he simplifies a complicated Venetian scene by placing the horizon and vanishing points. This project is quite a challenge and we are all looking forward to seeing your finished paintings. Please don’t forget to email a digital image to Dawn (dawn@tapc.co.uk), who will include it on the painting project area of our online gallery at PaintersOnline.