Inspirational Magazines for Artists

When American Artist first sent me a couple of review copies of 'American Artist - Drawing Highlights' I thought it was a one-off special. So I was really delighted to find that it is now a quarterly magazine in its own right. I recommend this one for artists who are really into drawing, who appreciate a range of art styles, including contemporary art and extended techniques, but who also enjoy a focus on traditional technique including sight size and figure drawing. It's full of high quality illustrations and introduces many wonderful artists you might not otherwise get to know. A really first-class publication.

The Pastel Journal is a really nice bi-monthly magazine that is tightly focused on its market of pastel painters. It includes tutorials and technical tips, including genre-specific tutorials on landscape, still life and floral subjects, portraiture and figurative art, animals and wildlife, with artist spotlights and product reviews, as well as general art topics like creativity, composition, and business and market issues. One of the nice things about such a specifically targeted magazine is that the advertising is almost like content, to the keen reader who wants to know all about the latest products!

International Artist is a beautiful magazine that would suit a range of artists, from beginners to advanced hobbyists, and professional artists with an interest in realism and more traditional genres - portraiture, figurative art, landscape, and still life. Tutorials cover fundamental techniques as well as focusing in on how to handle specific subjects, with guest artists sharing their expertise. Various painting mediums dominate the magazine, but drawing is also covered, and many of the concepts explored in tutorials easily translate to different mediums. The magazine website allows you to have a 'sneak peak' into current and back issues, so have a browse to see if their style suits your interests.

The Artist's Magazine is a nice magazine with broad appeal. Personally I prefer my mags a little glossier, though that drives the cost up.  The magazine covers the full gamut of genre painting, with tutorials on portraiture, landscape and still life in various mediums, as well as artist features, compeitition news and product reviews. 12 issues per year, F & W Publications. Each issue of The Artist's Magazine is loaded with tips and tutorials on aspects of painting and drawing. It covers a range of media, with an emphasis on realist and figurative styles.

This is a glossy UK Fine Art magazine, with articles about art styles, current artists, theory, criticism, exhibitions and so on, published quarterly by Fine Art Journals LTD. It focuses on British art but also has special issues on other art centres. Modern Painters used to be my favorite art magazine - I've got a huge stack of them from the 90's - but these days it's less about painting and more about the various current trends in installation and art theory. Artists and students with a keen interest in cutting-edge contemporary art, especially those who are keen to keep in touch with the European art scene, will enjoy this magazine. Due to the confronting nature of some contemporary art, parental guidance recommended.

I love this magazine. Imagine FX is a superb British digital art mag. With a focus on concept and game art, there's a lot of good quality content here for anyone interested in drawing fantasy, figures, environments, as well as learning to use digital art tools. Fantasy and game artists can draw - really draw - and the drawing tutorials that regularly feature in this magazine highlight this fact. Tutorials cover elements like storyboarding, creature design, perspective drawing with space vehicles and robots, Photoshop and Corel Paint techniques. It's a beautifully produced, lush, glossy magazine packed full of images, and includes a content-rich DVD with every issue. Highly recommended for anyone interested in fantasy and game art and digital art. Best of all, they have a great website with loads of free content and a forum. Check it out.

Ok, so this magazine is more about crafting, mixed medai and collage than drawing, but I do love it. I love the use of text, sheet music, vintage images and small objects. I did a lot of this type of work as an art student so the ideas in this magazine really resonate with me. This is a perfect mag for anyone who loves to do collage, assembly, stitching, gluing, miniatures, vintage things... you might also find it inspiring if you don't do these things but are looking for ways to break out of the two-dimensional page and try something different. Be warned... it's addictive!

This is another of those magazines that I have a stack of. It used to be difficult to find in Australia, but now is stocked by many newsagents, so I hope you can find it in your corner of the world too. In my opinion, it is one of the best art tutorial magazines in publication, particularly for beginners. You'll find some drawing instruction in, I think, every issue, as well a watercolor and other painting mediums. Mediums like pastel, colored pencil and ink are regularly featured. The emphasis is on basic technique and realist art, the kind of thing that most beginners are keen to tackle - landscapes, buildings in perspective, flowers and still life, portraiture and so on. Drawing and painting textures, mixing colors, working outdoors, are all covered. The shows, competitions and advertisements have a British focus, of course, but the magazine is so content-rich that I don't mind at all. Worth every penny. Check out their website for preview articles.