The winner of the Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year 2018 shares her tips on composition and advice for entering competitions.
How did you come to be involved with Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year?
I was selected as a wildcard in 2015. It was the best day ever so decided that I would enter each year, just to be a wildcard, knowing I wouldn’t get an actual place… How wrong I was! When I applied in 2018, I was so shocked to be selected as I know how hard it is to get through.
What does the prize entail?
The prize was a £10,000 commission for the Imperial War Museum to create a landscape to commemorate a battle in Macedonia during the First World War. I had about three weeks to prepare, which included visiting the Imperial War Museum and the Stanley Spencer paintings at Sandham Memorial Chapel, and also the trip to Greece which was very busy and included lots of filming. I then had three weeks to complete the painting, which I had to do in a cowshed as I didn’t have enough space in my studio.
How did you first become a painter?
I was always in the art room at school and had an art teacher who believed in challenge and diversity, so I was encouraged to take on large-scale oil paintings from my early teenage years. After my A levels I decided to find a job and later trained as an occupational therapist as it seemed to combine creative arts with a tangible career.
What drew you to working in mixed media?
This story is from the March 2019 edition of Artists & Illustrators.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the March 2019 edition of Artists & Illustrators.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Still life IN 3 HOURS
Former BP Portrait Award runner-up FELICIA FORTE guides you through a simple, structured approach to painting alla prima that tackles dark, average and light colours in turn
Movement in composition
Through an analysis of three masterworks, landscape painter and noted author MITCHELL ALBALA shows how you can animate landscape composition with movement
Shane Berkery
The Irish-Japanese artist talks to REBECCA BRADBURY about the innovative concepts and original colour combinations he brings to his figurative oil paintings from his Dublin garden studio
The Working Artist
Something old, something new... Our columnist LAURA BOSWELL has expert advice for balancing fresh ideas with completing half-finished work
Washes AND GLAZES
Art Academy’s ROB PEPPER introduces an in-depth guide to incorporating various techniques into your next masterpiece. Artwork by STAN MILLER, CHRIS ROBINSON and MICHELE ILLING
Hands
LAURA SMITH continues her new four-part series, which encourages you to draw elements of old master paintings, and this month’s focus is on capturing hands
Vincent van Gogh
To celebrate The Courtauld’s forthcoming landmark display of the troubled Dutch master’s self-portraits, STEVE PILL looks at the stories behind 10 of the most dramatic works on display
BRING THE drama
Join international watercolour maestro ALVARO CASTAGNET in London’s West End to paint a dramatic street scene
Serena Rowe
The Scottish painter tells STEVE PILL why time is precious, why emotional responses to colour are useful, and how she finds focus every day with the help of her studio wall
Bill Jacklin
Chatting over Zoom as he recovers from appendicitis, the Royal Academician tells STEVE PILL about classic scrapes in New York and his recent experiments with illustration
