Hot Off The Press!

Ok, so the world might have got a bit excited over the launch of the new Apple iPad last week but, in our opinion, you can't beat browsing a magazine in the traditional way - hot off the presses. Our new issue has just arrived back from the printers and it's looking great...

Getting us in the Valentine's mood, our cover star Angela Smyth will be introducing her fun, love-themed portraits, while there is also an exclusive interview with that old romantic Jack Vettriano.

On the techniques side, our new look practical section includes an introduction to inks, a look at Michelangelo's drawings and a watercolour masterclass from Search Press author Joe Dowden.

Plus, look out for the chance to win a £675 summer school place in Cornwall with our fantastic new competition... Fingers crossed!

The March issue of Artists & Illustrators should hit the shops on Friday so reserve your copy today!

Mixing Business With Pleasure

Sometimes business can be a real pleasure and that was the case today when we went to visit the Winsor & Newton offices in North London. As well as finding out all about their latest developments and a new product launch due in the next few months, we also got to have a nose around their museum to see the full history of the company.

Nowadays of course you can just wander into an art shop and pick up one of hundreds of pre-mixed tubes of paint but it was fascinating to see the various experiments undertaken by the company's founders, William Winsor and Henry Newton.

If you are keen to visit the museum or find out more about how Winsor & Newton make their paints on a much larger scale today, you can find out more about their factory tours by clicking here.

Get your Christmas cards from us!

Robert Hinton's winning design for our official Artists & Illustrators Christmas card competition is now available to buy from the The Postcard Company Ltd.

You can buy a pack of ten cards for just £4.95 with P&P directly from them. Just click this link here and you can find the details on the right hand side of their page.

And don't forget, five percent of all the Artists & Illustrators Christmas card orders will be donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation UK.

Festive fun in the new issue

The December issue of Artists and Illustrators is now on the shelves of all good bookshops, newsagents, galleries and art stores.

Naturally we are in a festive mood and from asking our favourite artists to tell us what they would like for Christmas, it seems they are too. This is issue is packed with seasonal delights; from how to create and market your own Christmas artwork to the best art books for your friends and relatives. Plus an inside look at the production prcocesses behind Roche Pastels and a helpful guide to varnishing your paintings.

Don't miss out! Pick up your copy today or head to our website by clicking here to get a money-saving subscription.

Turn a vacant space into a creative place!

We were just sent a press release which we thought would be of interest:

Art in empty spaces: turning vacant spaces into creative places

Arts Council England’s £500,000 initiative to help artists turn vacant high street shops into artistic and vibrant places is now open for applications.

From today artists are able to apply for grants to support artistic activity that will transform empty retail units into creative spaces - anything from an art gallery to recording studios or family arts workshops - which the whole community can enjoy.

The programme, Art in Empty Spaces, which was announced in April, will run in partnership with the Department for Communities and Local Government’s scheme Looking After Our Town Centres, which will invest £3 million to reinvigorate ailing town centres during the recession.

Art in Empty Spaces is funded with an additional £500,000 of National Lottery funds available through Arts Council England’s Grants for the arts programme. This extra money will be set aside from the core Grants for the arts funds and used specifically for artistic activity in vacant premises in town centres.

The money is intended to enable artists to connect their work with even more people in fresh and imaginative ways, despite the current tough economic climate. Priority will be given to projects where the activity begins within three months of a grant being awarded.

The role the arts can play in economic regeneration can already be seen across the country, where the innovative use of empty shops is already helping to prevent high street decline.

For example, in Chester, Roam the Rows uses the high street as its setting for the annual Chester Performs festival, which brings a mix of arts events and installations to the historic city centre. Artists take over both empty and occupied shops and public spaces to create new and stimulating experiences for shoppers and passers-by.

Alan Davey, Chief Executive, Arts Council England said: “The arts offer escape and comfort in tough times and they have the power to play a key role in our recovery from recession.

“Art in empty spaces is a wonderful way for artists to connect with even more people in unexpected places and to turn the depressing sight of another empty shop into an encounter with something different.”

More information about the scheme and how to apply can be found at www.artscouncil.org.uk/artinemptyspaces.

Online competition winners...

Congratulations to Pam Henk from Wolverhampton, Stephen Hills from Hither Green and Fiona Wright from Southport - all three were selected from the hundreds of you who entered our recent A&C Black competition online.

All three winners will be receiving copies of Colin Gale's Practical Printmaking and Pete Smithson's Installing Exhibitions - A Practical Guide direct from the publishers soon.

If you missed out, you can order copies of those titles - or plenty of other great art books - direct from the A&C Black website by clicking here or else try your hand at entering our latest online competition - click here to be taken to our online entry form and details.

A very satisfied art tutor...

Over the past year, we have been teaming up with the Field Studies Council and a number of high-profile art suppliers and tutors to offer a range of exclusive art workshops - and Bob Hughes certainly enjoyed hosting the Chroma-sponsored event at Preston Montford last weekend. 

"The atmosphere and camaraderie of the group was very pleasant, which also made it a pleasure for me to teach them," he said. "We spent quite a bit of time discovering how to mix colours using the Atelier Interactive acrylics... I showed the group various exercises including my usual colour swatch exercise and also watercolour exercises on wet-in-wet."

You can read Bob's full account of the weekend on his excellent art blog here. And if you missed out on the weekend, there are still a few places left on the last of this year's workshops too - click here for more information or call 0845 345 4071 to book a place.