Welcome to our April issue, packed with inspirational how-to articles by our esteemed artist contributors and tutors. Improve your watercolour painting and colour-mixing skills with Hazel Soan, Paul Talbot-Greaves, David Howell, Judi Whitton, Julie Collins and Paul Weaver, plus learn how to make and use your own reed pen for expressive drawings with consultant editor Jason Bowyer. Enjoy Adebanji Alade's advice on how to sketch your children or grandchildren, and enter our fantastic new monthly sketching competition with great prizes every month and the chance to see your work publicised! If you haven't tried acrylics before, get started with help from Jo Quigley, and then capture the effects of sparkling light in seascapes by following Jenny Aitken's demonstration. We also include insights into how cover artist Paul Regan paints his atmospheric night scenes of urban streets, how to drive sales of your paintings in the digital domain, why you should consider using big brushes for small paintings and how drawing from the cast can be so important for your portrait painting skills. And don't forget to enter our 2018 Open Art Competition with over £17,500 worth of prizes to be won, and the chance to see your work exhibited! See pages 12-13 for full details