Oil painting for beginners

Every painting’s varying subject matter and scale offers us distinct opportunities and challenges. Before I start any project, I like to consider what I want to convey, what opportunities and challeng

From rustic barns to Riviera villas, Pablo Picasso’s studios were engines of invention. Picasso: From the Studio at the National Gallery of Ireland, in partnership with Musée national Picasso-Paris, t

SOMETIMES MAKING LIFE SIMPLER FOR YOURSELF and avoiding overthinking a process gets you further. In painting terms, using flat colours does exactly that and it may even prove to hold the key to more c

The origins of the blue vase I lived for several years in an Art Deco flat in Southwest London. I would visit local markets around the capital in search of interesting decorative pieces, and on one oc

I lived for several years in an Art Deco flat in Southwest London. I would visit local markets around the capital in search of interesting decorative pieces, and on one occasion spotted several variou

Vincent van Gogh made sunflowers his personal motifs, but, when he looked to experiment with colour, a full florist’s roster of irises, roses, poppies, poured out of his brush, as Michael Prodger discovers