THE ART OF GIVING
Iaminremissionfrombreastcancerandtoexpresshowgrateful
IamformyrenewedgoodhealthIdecidedtodosomethingto
contributetotheresearchintothisillness,soIformedPortraits
forCharityfiveyearsago.
IworkinthewindowoftheLewesbranchoftheCancerResearchUK
shop,charging£100foraportraitandgivingalltheproceedstothe
charity.Asaresult,Ihavepaintedsomanyinterestingpeopleand
earnedmorethan£28,000forCancerResearch.Ialsopaintgreeting
cardsofthelocalareatobesoldintheshop.
ThisissuchrewardingworkandIamsureitishelpingtokeepme
wellasIlookforwardtoeverydayIspendpaintinginthewindow.
Leslie Norah Hills, via emailThisissuchawonderfulproject,Leslie.Wehopethe£50GreatArt
voucher pays for more materials to create your portraits.LETTER OF THE MONTHMONEY WELL SPENT
In last August’s issue you very
kindly awarded me “Letter of the
Month” and I duly received my
voucher from GreatArt. I treated
myself to a selection of Winsor &
Newton Professional Acrylic paints
which I used to produce Fusion
No.1 – Garden [above], a painting
which now appears on my Portfolio
Plus page. I found the creamy
consistency of the acrylics really
easy to work with, they didn’t dry
too quickly and they gave excellent
coverage in a one-coat application.
Many thanks again for the voucher.
Russell Simpkins,
http://www.artistsandillustrators.co.uk/
russell-simpkinsFEELING PAMPERED
After 30 years as a British citizen
working and living in Switzerland,
I finally landed one of the mostLetters
wonderful jobs of all – that of
becoming a mother. Two years
later and still up to my eyeballs
in Pampers, I felt it was time to
revitalise my creative side.
Having never studied any kind of
art whatsoever, I took up drawing
with the help of several short
tutorials on the internet. It took me
fi ve years using watercolour pencils,
pastel sticks and
coloured pencils
to fi nally achieve my
fi rst portrait of my
beautiful dog,
Millie [right].
Now to crown it all,
as a Christmas
present, my mother
very kindly
subscribed me to
your magazine which
I can hardly wait to receive through
my letterbox every month. Not only
has it introduced me to a whole new
world and reconnected me to the
UK, but also inspired me to try
many different things as well as
guiding me through some rather
important decisions.
Thank you with all my heart for
that and thank you to all your artists
and experts for their tips and tricks
which are absolutely invaluable to a
novice like myself.
Sarah J Schams, SwitzerlandWrite to us!
Send your letter or email
to the addresses below:POST:
Your Letters,
Artists & Illustrators,
The Chelsea Magazine
Company Ltd.,
Jubilee House,
2 Jubilee Place,
London SW3 3TQEMAIL: info@artists
andillustrators.co.ukThe writer of our ‘letter
of the month’ will receive
a £50 gift voucher from
our partner GreatArt,
who offers the UK’s
largest range of art
materials with more
than 50,000 art supplies
and regular discounts
and promotions.
http://www.greatart.co.ukSOCIAL SCENE
Thelatestchatfromour
busy social media channelsThis month:Readers share
advice for getting over the fear
of starting a new painting...Tony Hogan :Don’t set your
expectationstoohigh.Noone
started producing masterpieces
immediately. Make a few marks,
enjoy the experience.
Polly Tatterling:Are you trying
to convey beauty or evoke an
emotion? Ask yourself that.
Having an idea of the subject
matter is the biggest hurdle.
Bernard Stewart-Deane:
Decide on a topic, then outline
in it your sketchbook and mess
around with different layouts.
When you think the composition
isOK,startonthecanvas.
Adele Gregory:Istartbylightly
outliningwithdotsinpencilor
pastel. They’re easy to change
andgiveasenseofthewhole
composition.
Clare Russell:Put a rough wash
of tone down first. Scrub it on,
scumbleiton,dripiton.Ifyour
canvas is already messed up,
addingapaintingontopisn’t
goingtomakeitanyworse.
Jennifer Garbutt Winahradsky:
Thewaytogetbetterisjustto
make more art. You will fail. Just
doitandfailbetternexttime.
Addyourcommentstoournext
topic via the addresses below.Share your thoughts and get a daily
dose of Artists & Illustrators tips,
advice and inspiration by following
us on our social media channels...@AandImagazine
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AandImagazinePLEASE NOTE: WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO EDIT ALL LETTERS AND SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS FOR PUBLICATION