Artists Magazine

Readers learn painting and drawing firsthand from other artists through written instruction and reproduction, guiding them step-by-step through the creative process. The magazine shows readers a wide variety of creative options, teaching the fundamentals of art making, presenting techniques in different painting and drawing media.

From The Editor

Artists Magazine

Prime

A Wedding in Earth Tones • PIETER BRUEGEL THE ELDER, master of the Flemish Renaissance, pioneered the peasant genre.

Rural Plein Air in Northern Thailand

DRY SEASON, WET SEASON • Changing seasons often give rise to palette changes, as seen in my watercolor paintings of the rice fields.

A WARM-UP AND A KEEPER

Stephen Quiller • The Colorado artist’s vibrant landscape paintings reflect the joy, color and inspiration he finds in the mountains. Spend a day with him to experience the routine that feeds his creative soul.

SKETCHING MANIA • Products for Picture-Perfect Results!

WE ASKED... • What’s a resource you’d recommend to aspiring artists?

WE ASKED... YOU ANSWERED

Build

Kick Off a Drawing Practice • DANNY GREGORY shares his secrets on how to make the act of starting to draw a whole lot easier.

NOTE TO SELF

Step Outside • M. STEPHEN DOHERTY encourages and advises artists who are venturing into plein air painting.

PERSONAL STYLE

OILS: STARTING WITH LINES

OILS: STARTING WITH WASHES

The Importance of Surfaces • MARGARET DAVIDSON reveals how one of the biggest decisions made before starting to draw significantly impacts the outcome.

Oceans of Layers • JESSE LANE uses layering to create a photorealistic portrait in colored pencil.

Water(color) Conservation • Repurpose everyday items for your work in watercolor.

READER HACK

Compositions

A Feast for the Eyes • Take a gastronomer’s romp through art history.

Food for Thought • Lori Larusso uses acrylics to create cheerfully colored portraits of all kinds of edibles. But there’s more to the artist’s stylized confections than first meets the eye.

CUTTING EDGE • To create the sharp edges in my work, I use a masking technique.

A PAINTING’S INGREDIENTS

INSPIRATION & INFLUENCE

Sweet Spot • Confections created by Tom Hovey for The Great British Bake Off require no baking—but they’re delectably rich in illustrative vision.

Daily Diet • Carole Marine advocates an everyday painting practice as the best means of building strong painting skills that lead to marketable work.

URBAN SKETCHING AND PLEIN AIR PAINTING: Descendants of the Renaissance • These two contemporary art forms can trace a common lineage to “rebellious” ancestors of the distant past.

BOSTON STRONG

Coming up Roses • During a recent workshop at the Florence Academy of Art in Jersey City, N.J., Massachusetts painter and teacher Kathleen Speranza showed participants how to depict roses using an indirect method of painting and a specific limited palette.

QUICK TIPS

TOOL BOX

KATHLEEN SPERANZA

Outfit

Studio Squeeze • End-of-year challenges require adjustments—but you need not abandon your art.

FAIR SEASON

DO NOW

Thiebaud Beside Himself

Independent Study • Resources to inspire + build skills

Lasting impression