Artists & Illustrators - UK (2021-04)

sketchbook

THECOLOUR

Originally known as Cassel

Earth, this natural, earthy

colour was renamed in

England after one of its

key proponents, Anthony

van Dyck.

THE PROPERTIES

True Vandyke Brown was

derived from earth

compounds, while modern

hues vary from brand to

brand – some use iron

oxides with black, others

a mix of earth pigments.

THE USES

Peter Paul Rubens was

known to mix this colour

with Gold Ochre for a

warm, transparent brown.

TV legend Bob Ross also

favours Vandyke Brown for

underpaintings and trees,

in particular.

EXPAND YOUR

PALETTE

Discover a new

colour every month

Vandyke

Brown

Negative spaces are the areas

around objects. Understanding

and identifying these spaces will

get you in the habit of drawing

what you actually see, not what

you think you see. Set up a

subject with intertwining

elements – a vase of fl owers or a

pile of cutlery, perhaps. Take a

pencil or pen and try to draw the

spaces in and around them as if

they were shapes. Notice how the

random patchwork of shapes

suggest the objects themselves.

5.NEGATIVESPACE

Choosing subjects to paint can depend upon your

mood, preferences or experience. If you’re looking

for more impact, then look for scenes with strong

light and dark. Sunny scenes bounce light around;

colour sparks to life and refl ects off elements –

it also makes the viewer feel good. This painting

of the Southbank in London contains all those

elements. It’s made up of blocks of colours to

avoid muddy mixes and details are applied later to

add defi nition and sparkle. Scenes like this

particularly work well in acrylic as the edges are

crisperand you can play up the strength of colour.

HASHIMAKIBontheimportance

ofstronglightsources

TOCK

TEA-BREAK

CHALLENGE

DATES FOR THE DIARY

If you live and paint in Somerset, register for this year’s Somerset Open Studios before

31 March at http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk • Recent graduates can enter children’s

picture book ideas for The Macmillan Prize 2021 between 12-28 April.

http://www.panmacmillan.com • Postcards from The Trafalgar Way is a new competition

to promote a tourism route from Falmouth to London. Enter paintings inspired

by the historic route by 16 April for a chance to win £1,000.

http://www.thetrafalgarway.org/postcards

BOOK OF
THE MONTH
Tate: Master Watercolour
by David Chandler
After the success of Selwyn
Leamy’s Tate: Master Oils,
it was only a matter of time before the range was
expanded. The format remains the same: concise,
four-page painting projects based around Tate
masterpieces. There is a pleasing range of styles,
from Maggi Hambling’s wild wet-in-wet methods to
Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s precise designs, but it
is landscape heavy, with only a single portrait in 30
projects. Ilex Press, £14.99. http://www.ilexinstant.com

PAINTING

WITH IMPACT