Painting People and Places

Introduction

Materials

Sketching with oils

My way techniques and approach: how I paint with oils

Portraits

Project 1: Homeless person portrait

Figures

Project 2: Child playing 

Crowds

Project 3: Urban scene

Landscapes

Project 4: Summer evening light

Urban landscapes

Project 5: Rain and reflections

Seascapes

Project 6: Harbour skyline

Afterword

Index

About Adebanji Alade

Adebanji Alade, otherwise known as ‘The Addictive Sketcher’, features regularly on the BBC's The One Show, and can often be found sketching travellers on the London Underground.

He trained at Yaba College of Technology in Nigeria, later obtaining a diploma in portraiture from Heatherley’s School of Fine Art in Chelsea, where he now teaches. Adebanji is the President of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters (ROI); a full member of The Guild of Fine Art in Nigeria; and in 2014 was elected to the council of the Chelsea Art Society. He also belongs to Urban Sketchers Worldwide and Plein Air Brotherhood.

His awards include Buxton Spa Sketchbook Award (2014); winner of Pinta Rapido Plein Air Event at Chelsea Town Hall in 2013; winner of Best Painting of a London Scene, Chelsea Art Society in 2010; the Alan Gourley Memorial Award at the Royal Institute of Oil Painters Exhibition 2017, and numerous others.

Adebanji has a strong following in the US as well as the UK. He writes regularly for The Artist magazine and exhibits with the ROI. He teaches at the Art Academy, London, and also runs workshops and demonstrations for schools, colleges, universities and art societies.

Issue 647

Adebanji Alade's new book, Painting People and Places, is an instruction manual for hobby artists in which he aims to make oil painting accessible to anyone. Opening with the basics, preparing and mixing oil paints and simple exercises and techniques, the book features six complete stage-by-stage projects from intimate portraits to urban landscapes and crowd scenes. Throughout, the artist offers advice and insights into all of the problems facing the oil painter. Whether it's changing light and weather, capturing scenes at speed or creating atmosphere, Adebanji is a master painter and a practiced tutor. 

The Artist, March Issue

What, you might wonder, links these two apparently different subjects? The answer is that they both have character, and capturing that is what this book is about. We've met Adebanji Alade before as an often quite fast-working sketcher. It turns out that he's an oil painter of considerable skill as well. That he can also present his work with clarity makes this an absolute delight. 

Sensibly, the book is divided into two distinct halves and there is no sleight of hand trying to connect studio portraits with outdoor work in all weathers. Both contain a wealth of practical advice about ways of working, use of colour and how to interact with people. Although there are urban landscapes here, it's the people on the streets that make the strongest connection between the two sections. 

This is an enjoyable journey with a thoroughly likeable companion, enhanced by the superb quality of production.