Gorkana meets… Paint & Draw
Beren Neale, editor of Future’s new title Paint & Draw, which is aimed at the “enthusiast artist of all abilities”, talks to Gorkana about why now is the right time to launch a new art magazine, where he draws his artistic inspiration from and what he’s looking for from PRs.
Beren Neale
In a nutshell, what is Paint & Draw and who is it aimed at?
Paint & Draw is a practical art magazine for artists of all abilities everywhere. Each issue has around five professional artist workshops – these are hands-on, step-by-step tutorials that offer unique approaches to creating art in various media. It’s also packed with inspiring news, features and interviews. All you need to create your best art every month.
What do your readers get from Paint & Draw that they can’t get elsewhere?
More pages, more inspiration, and more artist insight into having fun with your art. The professional artists we work with span the globe, and the techniques that they share with us are really varied. But most importantly, we deliver clear, easily accessible workshops and bite size tips and techniques that anyone – beginner or pro – can get the most out of.
Why launch the title now?
As long as there’s artists, there’ll be a market for quality practical art magazines. In the UK alone art classes and art studios are busier than ever. Of course there’s loads of online art courses and DVDs available too, but as with the physical nature of painting there’ll always be an appetite for a physical magazine of quality – although Paint & Draw is also available on your tablet of choice!
What would you like to get sent more of in terms of stories, ideas etc, and how do you want to be contacted by PRs?
We have ideas about extending our news section (Palette), so contacting the team at [email protected] with any art-related news would be appreciated. We’re also always on the look out for things for our reviews pages – paints, brushes, canvases, digital art apps – we review it all. In each issue we interview artists and cover exhibitions and art classes, so any information on that would be great too.
The Artist’s Studio section of the magazine looks at a professional artist’s work space. What calibre of artists will you feature?
The Artist’s Studio is a great space in the magazine where readers can enjoy another artist’s awesome set up. I don’t know about you, but I’m incredibly nosey and love having a snoop around an artist’s creative studio – seeing how they create, finding our about their habits and rituals, listening to them talk about what’s clearly so passionate to them. If you’d like your studio featured, get in touch.
How will you develop an online audience?
We definitely plan to develop our online audience, as well as build a strong digital platform for the magazine – you can currently get Paint & Draw on various tablets, so it’s easier than ever to take around with you. Through previous experience on art magazines, Facebook and Instagram are all too important for readers to get in contact quickly, but I’ve also got my fingers crossed for a few old-style letters coming my way (I do love a good letter!)
Who’s your personal artistic inspiration?
My mum is an artist who grew up in Paris, frequenting the galleries and museums there when she wasn’t sketching and painting herself. I definitely have her to thank for my broad, honest love of the arts. We were never too bothered in distinguishing ‘high’ and ‘low’ art – as long as it communicates something to you, it’s worthwhile, and that’s definitely an ethos that informs Paint & Draw.
