Innholdsfortegnelse for No 176 i Artist's Palette

I was born at Royal North Shore Hospital at North Sydney. According to my mother, there were koalas in the gumtrees within the hospital grounds. Members of my father’s side of the family have resided in the Manly area for many decades – after one of my ancestors was originally transported from England for ‘borrowing’ a shirt to wear to work. That was young Jonathon, who was very well educated and worked as a clerk in London, doing bookkeeping and correspondence for a large company I remember . when I was only seven or eight years of age, at school, I did a Christmas painting. The teacher was so impressed that she kept the painting, and I never saw it again. Growing up in the Manly area was great. We…

• Do not use found objects that are too wide. They won’t allow the paint to flow under far enough, and they will leave unwanted white areas. • Try lace (cotton is best), beads, rice or other grains, and other types of leaves; and cut out your own profiles. • All objects for the painting must be flat – to allow the paints to flow against them and hold the outline. • If you want white spots in the painting, use Isopropynol rubbing alcohol on a cotton bud. Just touch the paints gently with this. • Dala Suncolours Fabric Paints can be obtained from Silk Wholesalers – telephone 08 9397 9218.…

THE PRELIMINARIES I first decide what it is I am attempting to achieve. I need to interview the subject and decide what characteristics of the subject I wish to express. I need to consider the attitude/disposition, facial features, clothing/uniform; and the social, professional or sporting context; and perhaps where the finished work is likely to be displayed. I next decide where the painting will be carried out. This may vary from studio to home or even an outdoor environment. Recently, I was asked to paint a portrait of a TV personality during a live national TV broadcast … something which some might find to be a rather disturbing intrusion! The selection of the medium is important. The choice of oils, acrylics, pastels or watercolours is something often predetermined – although…

• Always use the best quality materials to achieve the best colours. Observe the colours together; take your time and see what works. You can mix cool and warm colours – just make sure that they blend and complement each other. • I have no rules when painting. Just feel and release. Trust in your inner emotion. • Wait and paint. Sometimes it is good to leave work until the next morning … you may find that the painting will jump out at you, and fresh revelations will come.…

MATERIALS • Artist’s canvas.• Teaspoon and large bowl.• Clean newspaper.• Jar of water.• Bristle brushes: Quarter-inch and half-inch.• Paint rag.• Matisse Gesso.• Matisse background paint.• Matisse Structure or Flow paints.• Matisse Gel or Poly-U High Gloss Varnish.• Matisse Dry Mediums STEP ONE Always give the canvas a good coat or two of gesso – sanding in between coats and also after the second coat. STEP TWO Apply two coats of background paint, to give the ensuing paint plenty of tooth to grip. STEP THREE Using Matisse Structure or Flow paint, give the area that you wish to cover with dry medium two thick coats – allowing the paint to dry thoroughly between coats. STEP FOUR Choose the dry medium you want to use and have it on hand, together with…

Mildura in Victoria was my birthplace. I have travelled and lived in various parts of Australia. Now that I am retired, I live in Brisbane. After a long career in nursing, I took up pottery for an artistic experience. I loved it. I studied Art and Design for Ceramics at a TAFE college in Mackay (Queensland). I also taught glass engraving at TAFE for a while. Pottery, however, became my first love. I continued with pottery and relocated to Perth where I joined a gallery – the Whiteman Park Pottery. I created principally sculptural pieces there, and sold my work to tourists from all over the world for eight years. Painful hands made it necessary for me to leave pottery behind. I still wanted to nurture any remaining traces of…

My life began in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1957. I came to Australia when I was six months old. I currently live in Melbourne near the Victorian Arts Centre and the University of Art (which I attend). I am a full-time artist and I have a home studio which gives me the freedom to paint whenever I feel inspired … usually in the early hours of the morning. My painting started early in childhood as I discovered a natural gift for music, poetry and art. After many years of painting I wanted to expand my knowledge, so I am now studying my Diploma of Visual Arts. I am very passionate about abstract forms and Nature. These things reflect my strong belief in God and the higher calling of the Human Condition.…

Tucked away in the leafy mountain village of Buderim is one of the Sunshine Coast’s best-kept secrets … and also one of Queensland’s most beautiful and memorable galleries. Here is where you can see some of Australia’s finest artists in an intimate and appealing gallery space. Tiffany Jones Fine Art Gallery is located on Buderim’s main street, and displays an impressive selection of art by some of Australia’s most prestigious painters. Tiffany Jones (BA Hons), her mother Sharon, and her brothers Roderick and Stefan work together to manage the gallery. The Jones family are an experienced team of art consultants with more than 15 years involvement in the fine art sector. Their profession as art dealers grew out of a personal passion for art, with art collecting being an inherited…

• Remember it is only a canvas. Experiment. If you do not like what you have done, you can paint over your work and start again. • Experiment with alternative methods of applying paint. For example, scrunched up cling wrap can be used for a woolly coat on a dog; or I could have used string dragged through paint mixed with modelling compound to create the texture in Jo Jo’s coat. • Enjoy what you are doing. Create a relaxed atmosphere for your painting environment. Some music and perhaps a glass of wine can help. • If you get bogged down in a painting and are getting frustrated because it is not turning out how you anticipated, put the work away and start working on another piece. Bring out the…

• Always set up your paints on the left, if left-handed; and the right, if right-handed. I have seen many beginners going across their paintings to reach paints and water. • Have everything ready at hand before you begin. • Squint, squint, squint to eliminate detail and get to the basic shapes and tones. • Do simple pictures in one pigment to help with tonal values. • Go to galleries and exhibitions and look at lots of pictures. • Learn from your mistakes. Remember, it is only a piece of paper; turn it over and start again. • Do swatches of different pigments in varying densities to see what happens. A good reference for this exercise is Richard Schmids’ ‘Alla Prima’. • Always have your colours in the same position…

• Always place hanging screws and wire onto the back of your canvas before starting work. • Always use a complementary colour when using dry medium … for example Yellow Oxide or Unbleached Titanium for gravel or sand; Red Oxide or Copper for crushed garnet; Silver for mica and glass beads; Black for black hex flakes. • Always take time to properly prepare your canvas or board. Your work will last a very long time if prepared properly. • If using canvas with sides, always paint to the edges. This gives purchasers the option to choose their own frames; or alternatively to hang the pieces ‘raw’. • Put down finer mediums first: For example black hex flakes, crushed garnet, mica, sand, glass beads, and then finally gravel/bauxite. • Enhance landscapes…

MATERIALS • Gessoed canvas 91 x 61 cm.• Dala Suncolours Fabric Paints (each in its own spray bottle with 10 per cent water added): Number 1 Magenta; Number 4 Primrose; Number 5 Cyan; Number 8 Violet; Number 10 Lime.• Spray bottle with plain water.• Ferns and pine tree ‘leaves’ (all pressed flat).• Lengths of fancy knitting yarn.• Home-made stencils or profiles for the fish.• Onion rings, separated sequins, and tiny beads.• Acrylic paints for touch-ups and for painting the fish.• Foil and glue.• A few pebbles (to hold items flat, if needed).• Salt.• Acrylic Gloss Sealer. STEP ONE Lay out the found objects and the profiles on the canvas in the required composition: Onion rings for the bubbles, and the ferns and pine leaves for the coral and sea grasses.…

MATERIALS • Artist’s canvas.• Oil paints: Cadmium Red; Cadmium Orange; Australian Red Gold; Light Red; Naples Yellow; Red Black; Alizarin; Ultramarine.• Various brushes.• Palette knife. Having recently spent two months travelling through the centre of Australia, I have devoted a lot of time since then to working with Outback colours. This little painting was meant mostly to capture the brilliance of those colours. STEP ONE To commence, I simply tried to block in and experiment with reds. Because I was watching the sun setting over Uluru when I took the reference photograph, I could not resist putting the rock into the background. STEP TWO I added the dunes and the background bush and trees; and filled in the foreground shadows. STEP THREE I began working on the main tree trunk…

I was born in the city of Bradford, Yorkshire. I lived in England for 35 years. Bradford was an industrial town known for its wool. The city and environs were heavy with ‘dark satanic mills’; huge chimneys belching smoke over all. I remember vividly the greyness of it all. Despite this, and a humble working class home, my father was a clever gardener and I drew for hours as a child: Flowers, bees, butterflies; and cabbages and kings! I had to choose a trade. So it was off to commercial college and a working life as a legal secretary. No time for art while bringing up a family; then my marriage ended and it was back to work in the legal field. In between I did have the opportunity of…