There's a wide range of how-to and inspirational magazines for painters and artists available, whether you paint with acrylics, oils, watercolors, or pastels, used mixed media, draw or do collage. There are magazines for artists at all levels, from complete beginners to artists wanting to improve their skills to professionals. Here's my choice of the best artist magazines, arranged in order of personal preference.
I think every painter should subscribe to this magazine, which showcases practicing artists in different mediums, with a gallery of work and a step-by-step demo. The emphasis is on the artist describing their approach and working process, rather than how-to descriptions. There's a themed competition in each issue (which you can enter on-line), and photos of previous winners. It's a bi-monthly magazine, giving you plenty of time to read through each issue.
This British magazine is the best how-to magazine available, ideal for both beginners and artists wanting to expand their skills. Each month professional artists tackle both drawing and painting subjects, and specific techniques. There’s also a profile of an artist, a roundup of events and competitions in the UK, a look at materials, and classified adverts.
An American magazine, not to be confused with the UK’s "The Artist" (see no 2). The focus is practical and how-to; it includes all mediums, drawing, a technical Q&A, and pages of listings of workshops. One of the more useful features of the magazine is an art clinic where one painting submitted by a reader gets an in-depth analysis and suggestions for improvement. Good quality printing.
A&I is a colorful, large format magazine that labels itself as “The UK’s Best Selling Magazine for Practising Artists”. It combines how-tos, artist profiles and interviews, what’s on and competition listings, advice on being a professional artist, and product reviews. The focus is on the UK artists and events.
If you're a devoted pastel artist, this is the magazine for you. If you're only an occasional pastel users, you'll find it encouraging you to pick up your pastels. Articles include artist profiles and how-tos. The downside is that it's a relatively expensive magazine, especially for overseas subscriptions (it's published in America), and it comes out only six times a year.
Australia’s practical, how-to magazine, produced by the same publisher as "International Artist" (see no 1), but not in the same league. It’s aimed more at amateurs than semi-professionals. While the info is useful and well presented, there may not be enough to satisfy you every month: there’s a lot of white space and many pages of adverts for the publisher’s books.
UK’s magazine for the painting hobbyist, produced by the publisher of "The Artist" (see no 2). The pages are packed with how-to information aimed at developing artists. The articles are fewer but longer, but there’s not enough in one issue for either a complete beginner or an intermediate artist to feel entirely satisfied.
If you’re only interested in watercolors, this is the magazine for you. Good range of material, including how-tos, though with a USA focus. The print quality sometimes doesn't do the paintings justice, though watercolors can be hard to reproduce well.
I haven't enjoyed this magazine as much as some of the others as it has a tendency to praise rather than critique the artists profiled and its articles are a bit light-weight for me. The print quality at one stage didn't match some of the other magazines listed here, which is a pity as it means the reproductions of paintings tend to be dull, but it has improved.
From the same publisher as "American Artist". Again the print quality simply doesn't let the editorial material shine like it should, but it's got an interesting mix of articles, all obviously focused on watercolor. Published quarterly.
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