The Artist Magazine August 2025 Vorige editie

Packed with ideas and inspiration to get you out and about this month exploring new techniques, ideas and media.

Caroline Saunders talks to Valérie Pirlot about her spontaneous alla prima oil paintings. Valérie won The Artist award at the annual Royal Institute of Oil Painters’ exhibition. Being self-taught, she has found her own solutions to painting problems so there’s much to learn from her – and her paintings are beautiful. Martin Taylor tackles another common problem for artists trying to find the perfect green for their summer landscapes. Martin works in oil paints and shares his advice with us here – as well as his highly detailed paintings of summer landscapes.

Amber Tyldesley puts a new range of polyester canvases to the test, Catherine Beale continues her new watercolour series exploring the effects of capillary action, and Robert Brindley offers advice on how to capture light and atmosphere in gouache, with an emphasis on making the right tonal and colour choices. There are wise words from Mike Barr who encourages you to try painting in series to discover more about both your subject and yourself, and our news pages will bring you up to date with what’s going on in the art world and how you can get involved with details of open competitions around the country for you to enter.

Enjoy your painting month whatever you do!