The brilliance of turner

I STRUGGLED INTO MY LAYERS, picked up my light sketching kit and off I went up into the hills behind where I live. I wasn’t the first to arrive; halfway up the hill I could already hear the cries of e

Capturing the immediacy of fighting and the writhing bodies of soldiers, as well as keeping narrative clarity, proved enormously difficult for painters depicting battles before the advent of photography. Michael Hall reveals how they rose to the challenge

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

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

Works by certain artists often become symbolic of a particular era. This is an angle which has proved very popular with visitors to London’s National Gallery in recent years and, this month, welcomes

Old buildings tumbling into decay have always fascinated me as a painting subject, and adding that time-worn, tatty appearance can infuse your work with an extra dimension that will increase its appea