101 things you can do with a brush (Artists and Illustrators)

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Product:	Artists and Illustrators
Date:	03/08/01 (162 review reads)
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Advantages: good for illustrators, interesting articles

Disadvantages: not good for artists who aren't painters or illustrators

OK I’ll come clean, I’m not an illustrator and some may even say I’m not an artist but a have a yearly subscription to this magazine. (I doubt you’d call my marshmallow and felt textile pieces art). It is £2.60 and is available monthly. You can get this magazines at all good newsagents (and some bad ones too!)

If you currently subscribe by postal order, cheque or credit card you can receive a 20% discount and a pack of artist paper. If you subscribe now by direct debit you receive 13 issues for the price 12 and receive a free Cotman Watercolours Sketchers pocket box set.

They often change the free gift. When I signed up I got a free brush and a pad of paper. (Artist will know you can never have too much paper).

Artist and Illustrators magazine CONTENTS: -

REGULAR ARTICLES

Art Beat

This is a regular update on what is new in the art world, exhibitions and information on artistic opportunities. Opportunities are usually scholarships, and competitions. There isn’t many listed. If you are particularly interested in those then I suggest you get the a-n for artist’s magazine.

There is the usual Editors comments, letters page; agony column for art related queries, dealt with in a slightly humorous fashion.

Student Showcase

This is a regularly run competition for students of fine art and illustration. Each month they focus on a particular institution and their student’s ideas on a particular design brief.

Off Beat

It is Small article on an up and coming exhibition. In September’s magazine it concerns itself with George Cruikshanks exhibition, ‘The Worship of Bacchus in Focus’.

The Diary

This is all the up and coming shows and exhibitions in the country

Paints and Brushes First

A bit like the artist equivalent of desert island discs. I would probably call it ‘desert island pain
t brushes’. This is an article on what 6 art materials you would take with you on a desert island.


Members Gallery

There is a small section dedicated to the work of a subscriber of the magazine and there is an art prize for the person chosen

Privilege Club

Page of offers on art materials and give-aways for subscribers

Crossword

Tutorial

In the September issue Diana Constantine discusses how to capture movement in a life drawing

Success Story

This is a biography of a practising artist or an illustrator. The painter David Whittaker is the subject of September’s article.

IN FOCUS

The magazine is primarily concerned with those who are either working in the business of illustration or painting or have an interest in it. I’m primarily a textile artist but I still find it interesting. They have articles relating to the practising artists and illustrators. In the September issue it focuses on a group of resident Cornwall artists and they talk about their art and what inspires them.

They usually have a practical section in the magazine. In the September issue artist Martin Salisbury does a guide to painting an allotment in watercolour. It is more of a fully- illustrated demonstration of the techniques he employs in producing the work, than an actually step-by-step guide on how to reproduce the work.

Also included in the September issue is about how a group of students from the Falmouth College of Art and Design went about promoting their work with a book of illustrations based on the subject of fish.

There is a step by step demonstration by artist Michael Atwell on how to use watercolour to produce wet in wet landscapes with the aide of photographs.

Artist Brian Gorst describes how he manages to create a likeness in his portraits

Laura Gascoigne looks at how painters have dealt with figures in water.

>Richard Taylor demonstrates how pencil can be used to draw architecture


There is an interview with Sandra Blow, the abstract painter, as she prepares for an exhibition solo show at the Tate in St Ives.



Viewpoint

This is the review section of the magazine, which usually includes a section on a current exhibition and the latest art books.
In the September Viewpoint section there is an article dedicated to the artist Francis Bacon and his obsession with religious art, despite being an atheist.

There is a review section which test a range of the latest art materials and products .In the September issue glass paints and liners are tested

I don’t tend to use the tips, but I love reading articles on different artist, as it is a constant source of inspiration. I also like the sections on the testing of art products, but I reckon this magazine is the best value for money if you are an illustrator or an illustrating student, due to the business advice is mainly focused on the illustration.

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