Click here to view Cesar’s Gallery.

I thought I’d leave last week’s pic of the week until today as I’m going to be on holiday until next Tuesday, and otherwise you’d have nothing to look at. This image by Cesar could probably reward a week of staring at it - from its dynamic cropping and perspective to its restrained yet Renaissance-rich colour harmony to its depiction of an imaginary Venice on a truly epic scale. I love concept art because of how imaginative it is - it can really push the boundaries of imagination and representation. This is a great example.

While I’m out of the office over the next week our new designer Carly will be approving your images daily. If you’ve got any letters, blog comments or tweets please be aware that I won’t be picking up my email, blog or Twitter again until next week, but I will get back to you on my return!

If you’re a subscriber then you might have got your hands on it already; if not (why not?) issue 32 of the Official Corel Painter Magazine is on sale in the UK today, and it’s winging its way across the rest of the world right now!

We’ve got another packed issue for you this month; here are some of my favourite highlights:

From pencil to Painter - professional artists  discuss how they use Painter and other media to create their artwork and explain how you can mix pencil, paint and Painter in yours.

An interview with Melanie Delon.

Cheat Guide - Airbrushing. Get the look of classic airbrushed illustration.

How to use Liquid Inks - Luis Diaz explains how to use these edgy textural brushes to create pulp poster art. Who needs ComicCon anyway?

Add graffiti to an urban scene - Seen Banksy’s latest artwork in Africa? Create your own in Painter with this fantastic tutorial and full creative pack from Jim Scullion.

Paint like Rococo - Discover the decorative style of the 18th Century and create a modern version of a classic painting.

Art Study: Caricatures - Have some fun with Angie Jordan’s guide to comedy portraiture.

Create a sci-fi character - Learn the science of sci-fi concept art and how your character’s environment, society and physiology affect every aspect of your painting.

There’s all this and much more in the latest issue of the mag. Can’t wait any longer? Click here to buy online now!

Click here to view Paul’s Gallery.

I’m sure you’ve all seen me waffle on many times before about how much I love fantasy and fairytale images and this one’s no exception, although what’s drawn me back to Paul’s painting throughout the day as I’ve been showing Painter’s new designer around the website and trying to decide on a Pic of the Week is not the subject matter but the style. The vibrancy of the texturisation in this image is really in keeping with what it’s about - it evokes the crackle of leaves and the glorious colours of autumn (Not that I’m wishing away the short British summer!). Visit Paul’s Gallery now and take a look at the large version of the image and you’ll see a wonderful assortment of splatters, crackles and tracing lines that almost make the painted butterflies in the foreground look like they’ve been shot using this extreme photography technique!

This particular painting style - vibrant, energetic, scribbly and showcasing the handpainted nature of what we do even with photo references -  is really popular in digital art at the moment, so keep an eye out for issue 33. We’ve been watching the amount of images utilising this style for a while now and thought we’d share its wonders with you later this summer!

You might have noticed over the past few days that the magazine website has been pretty quiet on the staff front. This is because we’ve had some changes here, and it’s time to introduce a new face and say goodbye to an old one! First, James Shead has moved over to our sister mag  iCreate as senior designer, where he’ll be doing clever, shiny things with clever, shiny computers. James has done some wonderful things with the design of the Official Corel Painter Magazine over the past seven months, and I’m sure you, like me, are sorry to see him go but wish him the best of luck in his new (shiny, clever) role. So it’s time to introduce a new member of the Painter team: Carly Barratt! Carly has just been promoted to designer on the Official Corel Painter Magazine after working as an assistant on one of our other sister mags, GamesTM. You’ll find her on the website as - who’d've thunk it - ‘Carly Barratt’. I’m sure you’re as excited as I am to see another new face and more new ideas in your favourite magazine, so please join me in giving her a warm website welcome!

Click here to view Dawn’s Gallery.

In contrast to last week’s slightly delayed Pic (Hey, it was deadline, okay? :D) here is something completely different. I love a bit of cyberpunk, it’s a great excuse to experiment with painting the unique properties of neon light for a start. Dawn has carried this off very well - the alleyway scene is bathed in different light colours, but she has taken advantage of the fact that different coloured lights become whiter and more pearlescent when the light sources mix. The contrast of this nimbus of light with the deliberately seedy alley scene and gritty textures is fantastic - the main subject’s leather jacket in particular is beautifully done. In her comments Dawn says that she wanted to paint something reminiscent of BladeRunner and this is definitely that - we’d love to see a bigger version!