Bloomin’ marvellous

In my opinion, British summers are rather fantastic, especially when spent in a garden. Even if you’re not naturally green-fingered, being a painter gives you a wonderful opportunity to enjoy and enga

SOMETIMES THE INSPIRATION FOR YOUR NEXT PAINTING can be right in front of you – literally. Trying to find the correct subject with great lighting and composition is quite an art: a lot of images won’t

Extremes in dark and light are effective tools in creating punchy focal points. I have painted lots of sunny, acrylic street scenes – mainly backlit – and really enjoyed dabbing in the sparkly highlig

‘The real subject of every painting is light.’ CLAUDE MONET WHENEVER I’M PAINTING A PIECE, I am constantly appraising each movement, blend and nuance along the way. When you break it down, the number

Step 1 See last month’s issue for a detailed look at how to draw this scene. Use either pencil first, or go straight in with a permanent ink pen. Step 2 THE BUTTERCUPS 1 Prepare pools of: • A dilute t

Awarded The Artist prize at the annual Royal Institute of Oil Painters’ (ROI) exhibition, self-taught Belgian artist, Valérie Pirlot works predominately in the great outdoors. Depicting the essence of