Innholdsfortegnelse for No 171 i Artist's Palette

Beverley Doak lives and works in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, but she originally came from New Zealand. She attended art classes to learn oil painting; but admits that her skills with paperbark are self-taught. Where paperbark is concerned, she is passionate about the fact that it is a living organism. “In the pictures I create, the natural feel of the paperbark never goes away,” she says. “It never ceases to amaze me, the variety of textures and colours in the bark. The way I do the pictures, I really do not need to use very much bark. I utilise it as if I am painting, mostly applying very small pieces with tweezers. Painting the backgrounds is new for me … but when it comes to my eagle paintings,…

The small country town of Hillston on the banks of the Lachlan River in Outback New South Wales was where I grew up. My grandfather and uncle loved to draw and paint. I can still remember my grandfather showing me how draw kangaroos, rabbits and chooks. We moved to Sydney in 1960, and in 1968 I married my wife Doreen. That same year I joined the Air Force and became an electronics technician. During my time in the Air Force we travelled and lived in all States of Australia. After leaving the Air Force, I moved from Perth back to the Blue Mountains in New South Wales. That was where my art interests were rekindled as my wife and I visited the art galleries throughout the mountains. In 1981, Doreen…

Without a doubt, the foremost colour problem identified by artists (of all levels), lies in the mixing of greens. Whenever I give a demonstration I ask the audience where their colour mixing problems lie. Hands go up and I know that the answer is always going to be the same; ‘mixing greens’. If you experience this same problem, you are not alone. But why should this be? Why should we have such a problem? Our eyes are very sensitive to green and we can identify a vast range. Artists need access to this range of identifiable greens if their work is to be at all realistic. The abstract artist will also benefit from the skilful use of a basic hue which seems to carry many messages. How have we overcome…

• To me, the main rule in art is that there are no rules. Art is both subjective and objective – to record the concept in your head, you use whatever you can to achieve the goal of translating this mental concept to a form which can be recognised by others. Think, experiment and work problems out. Often a solution arrives in the middle of the night! • Use good quality materials – if you are limited in the number of pastels, use mainly secondary or tertiary reds, blues and yellows – they will, when mixed, give a wider and more aesthetic solution. • A ground with good tooth helps to hold the pastel and build layers. • Avoid the use of black alone. Use combinations of the darkest green,…

During my 38 years as a professional artist, I have become well known for painting animals – more by accident than design; in particular horses, cattle and dogs. Strangely enough, one of my best known works is the bronze sculpture of Matthew Flinders’ cat ‘Trim’, who resides on the window ledge of the New South Wales State Library in Macquarie Street, Sydney. When I was a student at the National Art School, a very enlightened teacher was sufficiently interested in my efforts to point out the similarities in the anatomy of very many animals – which all evolved from basically the same structure. Every such animal has a head, a neck, rib cage, shoulder blades, forearm, elbow, lower arm and a great variety of forms of structure representing the human…

STEP ONE I drew the bird on a grid to help with the dimensions, and then painted the background to give colour to see what I was working with. Following that, I used black (Tea Tree) bark around the outline of the bird. STEP TWO A paperbark was then used (which would work well for the tree trunk). The texture of the bark, as well as the colour, had to be considered. I chose a reddish tinge. I also started to build the tail using a more ‘papery’ bark, combined with harder pieces; keeping in mind that it had to end up looking like a tail. STEP THREE The dark bark that I used for the wings and body of the bird was from the Leptospermum, or Tea Tree, which…

Born in Melbourne in 1947, I was brought up in an average household with no real art background – although my Dad would doodle from time to time and draw ladies’ heads with big hats. I became interested in drawing too; and often doodled myself. I have an early memory of taking Christmas holidays at a Thagoona farm in New South Wales. That was when my passion for animals began. I wouldn’t miss collecting the eggs every morning on the farm. Those eggs were hard to find (they were in very well hidden places). I remember entering the Corinella Competition in the ‘Melbourne Sun’ newspaper every Saturday. I won quite a few certificates for my colouring prowess My school . days gave me happy memories of art and not much…

My childhood was interesting. I grew up in Europe – living in France, attending university in Spain, working and studying in Austria and Italy. I spent several years studying and working in Japan and Hong Kong. I travelled extensively in Europe, North Africa and Asia. I migrated to Australia with my husband in early 1979. Unable to get full-time work as an interpreter-translator, I undertook nursing training at Queen Victoria Hospital in Melbourne. Later when I divorced, I went to Asia for about a year to calm my nerves; then returned to join the RAAF as a Chinese Linguist. In the RAAF, I learned to fly gliders, ultralights and general aviation aircraft. Then I got my discharge and worked in sport aviation and as a teacher of modern languages. When…

• I use good quality pastels. I start a picture with some hard pastels to rub in the sky and background, and then use soft pastels for the drawing and highlights. • I do a lot of my paintings on hobby board prepared with two coats of pastel primer. Pastel primer comes in a variety of colours. Painting on board gives a nice firm backing and will also take a bit of wiping with a damp cloth if you need to correct an error. At present, I am also very keen on the sanded paper with a great variety of colours to choose from. • I find that breaking the pastel and using the side in a stroking motion gives a sculpting effect and an interesting texture. The pastel wears…

Courses in drawing and painting gave me the basis for sound draftsmanship and an understanding of how to make colour. I have developed my ability as a still life artist and oil pastellist through my own practice and through observing work by other artists. The recent incorporation of another brand of oil pastels into my work (Caran d’Ache) stemmed from reading about the work of American artist Susan Bennerstrom. The way I use these pastels, however, is based on the understanding developed over many years of the nature of Van Gogh oil pastels; the variations in opacity and intensity of colour. I am interested in colour, shape, light and shadow. I am also interested in texture in artwork. I like to see the building of a piece of artwork, what…

Paul Reynolds’ life began in 1951 in the United Kingdom. These days he lives in the Noosa hinterland on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast – near the town of Cooroy. During his high school years, there were only two subjects that this man excelled in: Art and History. He went on to attend art school at Canberra in the early seventies – and held a successful solo exhibition. “Then I did what many self-respecting students did in the early seventies,” he claims. “I rebelled and dropped out. I became a self-employed truck driver, a nurseryman, and finally (15 years ago) a signwriter. I held my second solo exhibition in the early eighties, and continued to paint … with a little illustration work for ‘Matilda’ magazine thrown in.” Paul’s creativity lapsed in the…

I decided to paint a pair of Gang Gang Cockatoos. Fortunately for me, five of them landed in my back yard and set about eating some seed pods. They were interested in feeding, so I clicked away and shot some photographs for the demonstration painting! The title of my painting is ‘My Resplendent Redhead’ – Gang Gang Cockatoos. If you decide to paint birds or animals, it helps to know a little about them; for instance their habitat and their eating habits. STEP ONE Music is important for me. Sometimes it’s classical or maybe old time rock and roll. I selected a half sheet of olive green Colourfix Pastel Paper and taped it to the MDF board. I enlarged some reference photographs on my printer (I like to have them…

The subject matter is my focus. It can be subtle or dramatic; subdued or vivid. I have chosen these birds, the Eclectus Parrots, because they are at once bold and vivid – but camouflaged into their natural environment in the tropical forests. They show extreme sexual dimorphism as the male is bright green, with highlights of red and blue; and the female is a combination of rich reds and blues. Feather textures are quite specific. The challenge is to create an artistic painting which is aesthetically pleasing and true to the nature and form of the subject. I work as quickly and as loosely as I can – detailing only towards the final stages of the work – and trying to restrict such detailing to the points of focus or…

STEP ONE I went on a walking tour of a few side streets to find subjects. I did very rough sketches of eight Queenslander houses. Each sketch took no more than 10 or 12 minutes. I was more concerned with information about the houses than straight lines or details. Back home on the kitchen bench, I traced along the outside edge of the board onto cartridge paper so that I could draw a full size composition and take my time rubbing out and repositioning the basic elements of the painting. I had already hiked up a hill in Cairns to sketch the hills of East Trinity into my visual diary for my painting ‘Emerald City’, so it was easy to add East Trinity to the composition. The three little marks…