Leisure Painter & The Artist Magazine

Welcome to the May edition, with a special focus on painting landscapes in a celebration of place, light and the many ways artists respond to the land around them. From intimate plein-air sketches to bold studio pieces, this issue explores how artists interpret weather, memory and lived experience.

Be inspired by Milly Stokes, whose work reflects farming rhythms and layered mark-making, alongside features on Hannah Benkwitz-Friar’s pursuit of shifting light, Erin Hanson’s Open Impressionism, Dominic Parczuk’s atmospheric plein-air practice and Rachel Arif’s expressive sense of place. We also spotlight Stella Downing, winner of the Painters Online Award at the Pastel Society’s Annual Exhibition.

You’ll also find practical projects to expand your skills, including Tim O’Brien’s step-by-step oil landscape, Catherine Beale’s guide to placing buildings in watercolour scenes, David Bellamy’s techniques for painting rivers and streams, and Julia Borodina’s acrylic study of delicate spring snowdrops.

Elsewhere, Liz Chaderton shares essential advice for hosting a successful open studio, and Tim O’Brien reflects on his experience as a Landscape Artist of the Year wildcard.

Whether you paint coastlines, fields or city edges, we hope this issue inspires new ways of seeing and painting the landscape.