To a clear outlook

Some clever person once said it’s good to know your limitations. I have no idea what they were getting at, but I do know that applying limitations to your art can open up new possibilities, can make you look at the blank page in a new light, can be liberating.

Following the mighty Charlie Bowater’s striking cover workshop (page 68), we see how taking out colour from the equation can make you focus on value, space and texture. By limiting your options you can create something unexpected!

Over on page 40 we feature 10 of our favourite artists who have taken similar limitations and made them their own: from Nicolas Delort’s clayboard/Photoshop noir landscapes, to Ed Binkley’s monochrome masterpieces.

It’s not all two-tone. After creating a dazzling stained glass Q& A image back in issue 112, we asked Sara Forlenza to work on a larger piece for a workshop – with added historical drama. She illuminates the cathedral setting of the murder of Thomas Becket on page 86. While in a sunrise scene Brian Matyas offers his insight into concepting efficiently for games and films, mixing 3D and 2D to produce a moody moment filled with narrative (page 80).

I love Patrick J Jones’s oil paintings, but I also love his back-tobasics workshop on working with charcoal (page 106), and it’s great that on page 56 we finally get to speak to sculptor Forest Rogers. Aaah! Out of room! [Enter clever limitations comment here].

Claire Howlett is on maternity leave. Email: Art submissions: Web:

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October 2015