6 Artists&Illustrators
THELITTLETHINGS
Lockdownhasbeena timetodelveintoareasof
artisticendeavourswhichmaynothavehappenedif
it hadnotbeenforCovid-19(notthatanyonewould
wishit tohavetakenplace).It hasgivenusa break
fromnormalday-to-daylife.
HurrayforArtists& Illustratorsandthemany
splendidarticlesit hasproduced.Duringthisperiod,
I havereturnedtominiaturepainting.Althoughthearticlesinyourmagazinehaveprovedtobe
beneficial,workinginminiaturehasitschallenges.
Changingfromworkingon20x30cmcanvasesdown
to2x3cmhasbeena differentballgameinmany
respects.Scalingdownandchoosingwhatdetailto
leaveoutwithoutspoilingtheoveralltopicrequires
a lotoftrialanderror,butI hadsomesuccess.
Wouldit bepossibleinthenotsodistantfuture
forArtists& Illustratorstorunanarticleortwoon
theartofminiaturepainting?
DavidHumphreys,viaemailLETTER OF THE MONTHTOP CLASS
I would just like to put on record how much
I enjoyed the article by Terence Clarke
[Masterclass, Issue 418].
It was a beautiful painting of a vase
of fl owers and following his instruction
I managed to replicate it really well [below]
and learnt some useful techniques. It would
be good to have further articles by him.
Dee Scott, via email
ROCK SOLID IDEA
I just read July’s letters page and thought
you might like to hear how I am fi lling my
lockdown time. I still work as a bank cashier
but with greatly reduced hours. While I was
walking in a local park with my dog in March,
I noticed painted stones had been placed
around the area and thought it was a lovely
idea. On my next walk through the fi elds near
my house I picked up some stones and tried
to think of subjects that would fi t the shapes.
Having painted several I showed them
to my family and friends who liked them
Letters
Sendyourletteroremail
totheaddressesbelow:POST:
YourLetters,
Artists& Illustrators,
TheChelseaMagazine
CompanyLtd.,
JubileeHouse,
2 JubileePlace,
LondonSW33TQEMAIL:info@artists
andillustrators.co.ukThewriterofour‘letter
ofthemonth’willreceive
a £50giftvoucherfrom
GreatArt,whichoffers
theUK’slargestrangeof
artmaterialswithmore
than50,000artsupplies
andregulardiscounts
andpromotions.
http://www.greatart.co.ukShareyourthoughtsandgeta daily
doseofArtists& Illustratorstips,
adviceandinspirationbyfollowing
usonoursocialmediachannels...@AandImagazine
ArtistsAndIllustrators
AandImagazine
AandImagazineenough to buy them.
Since then it’s become a
bit of an obsession looking
for interesting stones.
It takes roughly an hour to
paint each one and I have
displayed them outside
my house [right] on sale
at £2 each. So far, I have
collected £170 which has
been donated to local
charities.
Now that people have
started returning to work
there are less people
walking past the house
and buying the stones,
but I am enjoying the process so much
I am still painting. I love your magazine
and look forward to receiving my copy
in the post every month.
Yvonne Cooney, via emailA THOUSAND WORDS
In this time of lockdown and afterwards,
the importance of children’s love of
creativity and their sense of fun can never
be underestimated and should be treasured.
This particular Monday morning, I was
explaining to Georgie, aged 8, the set
targets for developing his imaginative
writing. After talking about the list of skills to
be studied, I asked him if there was anything
else that he would like to include in our
sessions, which might be helpful.
Without any hesitation, he looked at me
knowingly and asked, “Can’t we just paint?”
Now there’s a lesson for all of us.
Elaine Nash, via emailCHALLENGING TIMES
Hola and hello from lockdown in Mexico.
Whilst our village is a lovely place to be
cooped up, it isn’t the same as home withWrite us!
WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO EDIT LETTERS FOR PUBLICATIONall one’s comforts – artistic materials in
particular – and familiar foods. Only this
week have we been permitted offi cially to
walk outside our walls, masked like bandits,
and in public parks and boulevards.
Your weekly competition has been a
godsend tearing into the lethargy and mild
depression resulting from inactivity and
unproductivity. It is not the winning that has
been important, but the active competing
and, with this, our spirits have lifted, and
those artistic cogs are turning again.
It was a wonderful idea, thank you and
gracias. Saludos de México.
Fiona Nichols, via email