Season of mists and mellow artfulness

Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro spent time in London, but it took James McNeill Whistler to act as artistic bridge with Britain and the ‘sweetened’ Impressionism of Jules Bastien-Lepage to inspire most homegrown painters, says Caroline Bugler

French artists have appropriated alfresco dining ever since Édouard Manet scandalised Paris with his Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe , yet many charming scenes were painted in Britain, too, and are worth rediscovering, says Deborah Nicholls-Lee

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

Emotionally there is something calm about the colour green. Summer lawns, picnics on the grass, a walk in the park, leaves of so many shades of one colour on show in nature; it soothes the soul. Yet,

Emotionally there is something calm about the colour green. Summer lawns, picnics on the grass, a walk in the park, leaves of so many shades of one colour on show in nature; it soothes the soul. Yet,

Gouache is a versatile, opaque medium providing great covering power and the ability to correct errors very easily. The range of colours is relatively small compared to other media, but gouache colour