Looking closely at your subject is the key to drawing and painting successfully. Tutors, especially of beginners, often remark on how often they have to remind their students to spend longer looking at and familiarising themselves with their subject, and less time adding marks to their paper. Steve Strode (pages 44 to 48) takes up this theme with his discussion on drawing this month, as he looks at how we can recognise and tackle edges and shapes, positive and negative space, accurate measuring methods and tone – and how familiarity with such subjects in drawing will help us develop as painters. I like Steve’s final piece of advice: don’t tick things off as ‘done’ after one attempt. As artists, we are always seeking new ways of expressing ourselves, and spending time every day in sketching, doodling and playing with our materials and the ideas behind our drawings and paintings will all help to improve our more finished paintings.
On the subject of sketching, how are you getting on with David Bellamy’s sketchbook challenges (page 14)? David’s tasks have been set thoughtfully and aimed at both encouraging you to have fun while stretching your abilities and pushing you out of your comfort zone a little. This month’s challenge is no different. We are looking forward to seeing how ingenious Leisure Painter readers can be in finding or, indeed, constructing your own rocks and crags to paint. If you are not lucky enough to live close to mountains, I hope you will take a leaf out of Gainsborough’s book and find a way of modelling your own.