Innholdsfortegnelse for No 183 i Artist's Palette

Born in England, I migrated to Australia with my family in 1972. Since coming to this country I have always lived in Melbourne. I worked as a florist, and in retail, until I got married and started a family. My husband and I have five kids and two dogs. It is a very busy life – but art is the one thing I do for myself, and I try to make time whenever possible to get paint to paper. I have a Diploma in Commercial Art and a Certificate in Small Business Management. Most of what I have learned artistically has come from a yearning to always learn more. I have always done some sort of art or craft … even at a young age. At only eight years old,…

Meningie on the Coorong in South Australia is my home. I was born in Orange in the central west of New South Wales, and as the name suggests I am of Italian descent. I have always painted under my maiden name and I saw no reason to change after getting married. In my everyday life, I go by the name of Rosa Hillam. I started painting in oils and I am mostly self taught. I have moved on to pastels and also done some work in acrylics and mixed media combined with found objects. I have recently tried my hand at watercolours and sculpture. On some of my works, I collaborate with my husband Ian Hillam. I have been painting for around 22 years, and examples of my work can…

MATERIALS • East Art stretched canvas – 30 x 40 inches.• Atelier Gesso Primer – White.• Winsor & Newton Artists’ Oil Colours.• Floor easel.• Sandpaper – P240 and P400.• Faithful gesso brush.• Vine charcoal.• Kneadable eraser.• Workable Matt Fixative.• Shaving brush.• Three long-handled bristle brushes.• Twelve short-handled brushes in a variety of sizes.• Walnut Oil and Low Odour Turps.• Winsor & Newton Artists’ Retouching Varnish.• Imagination and memories. STEP ONE I often work from plein air sketches done with oil crayons and combined with photographic references. However ‘Down the Barcoo’ arrived in my favourite way – just as an almost finished image in my mind’s eye. After preparing the canvas with two additional coats of gesso, lightly sanding at each coat, I loosely measured up the canvas into thirds vertically…

STEP ONE I draw the aircraft on paper. This allows me to change angles and views at will. Mistakes are easily erased without smudging the canvas. Some artists use a computer to print off their drawing – but I’m old school. STEP TWO I undercoat the canvas to a mid tone; in this case, an allover tone of Cobalt Blue and white. When this is dry, I start at the top; Cobalt Blue, lightening with white towards the horizon. Next, the whispy high cirrus clouds; then the white cumulous. Distant ground is indicated with a deep purple and a touch of white; then low, puffy cumulus adds a filling interest. The darker thunderstorm is painted with Paynes Grey and white plus a touch of Cobalt Blue and Prussian Blue. I…

DEMONSTRATION Graphite MATERIALS • Mellotex paper: 610 x 475 mm.• HB and 2B Staedtler clutch pencils.• 2B graphite stick.• Tuff Stuff eraser.• Paper Mate ‘E’ Racer.• Plastic eraser.• Blu-Tack.• Paper stumps.• Tissues. STEP ONE After lightly sketching the outline, I load a tissue with graphite powder and define the darker and lighter areas of the drawing. This gives me an idea of the differevnt areas and how it has to be shaded. STEP TWO Starting at the top left side, I begin to fill in detail. I would normally do the eyes first – but in this particular work, it wasn’t as important. I work my way from top to bottom, left to right, adding extra dark areas with a graphite-laden stump, filling in with thousands of pencil strokes, and…

STEP ONE I did not start out with any preconceived idea for this painting. What I always do is run around the edge of my paper with a candle … this stops my wash from running off and gives me a border to work within. You may also like to try making a few lines or patterns elsewhere on your paper with the candle if you wish, as this will leave it white. STEP TWO Next I either cut out Contact paper shapes and lay them on my substrate or (as I have done this time) I lay down the Contact paper, cut shapes out of a large piece, then lift them up and fill the spaces with modelling paste to give texture and add another dimension. I also added…

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Before I started this simple leaf study, I walked my garden and collected gum leaves of all shapes and sizes – bug-eaten, mouldy, and even almost composted. It allowed me to record all stages of the autumn-to-winter transformation. Chroma, the maker of Atelier, Absolute Matte and Jo Sonja, has captured these beautiful Australian colours in its paint range: The vivid greens, and the sunset oranges, reds and browns. I have used these colours to capture the array of natural beauty found in the common gum tree … an Australian icon. STEP ONE Firstly using my sponge brush and Clear Glaze Medium, I fused the tissue paper to the watercolour paper – giving a new and exciting background to the painting. This was done by applying a thin layer of clear…