Artists Drawing and Inspiration Issue 17

Welcome to another edition of Artist’s Drawing and Inspiration. We have all your drawing mediums covered this issue, with talented artists taking you through their demonstrations. All up, we meet seven artists and also have two amazing drawing inspirations. Our first demonstration, featured on the cover, is by Ellen Lee Osterfield, who is a regular contributor to our magazines. Using Graphite and Graphitint Pencils, she creates a whimsical piece of art for you to enjoy. We also have a drawing by Helene Wild, who steps us through her technique for drawing hydrangeas. Apart from our amazing artists, there are pastel and pencil demonstrations. We also have a Paper and Canvas product feature. Full of helpful and handy tips and hints, we help you select the best paper for the technique…

BOBBIE SCRIVNER  Roughly three years ago, this Brisbane man began to learn to use pastels. He really loves the medium … and the results of his enthusiasm are quite inspiring. In due course Bobbie would like to experiment with other forms of painting. DEBBIE BENSON  As a child, Debbie Benson loved to draw. Recently she discovered pastels and she really enjoys experimenting and exploring the medium because it is very forgiving and yields instant results. She works from photographs and paints many subjects, including animals. She aspires to become even more creative and expressive. DON RAWDING  At the age of 70 and at the end of an engineering draughting career (working with pencil and ink), this man enjoys producing detailed graphite drawings. He has also done a few works in…

Like so many, my journey as an artist started at a very young age. I can see now as my youngest child is in his second year of school just how early it must have been within me. There are so many similarities, he is always so meticulous about his work and incorporating some kind of drawing. I remember doing this as a child, spending hours on a drawing for no other reason than being immersed in the art. As a child, I remember being drawn by the smell and feel of a fresh packet of pencils and had a longing for those special “Derwent Artist” pencils that the others had in my class (many people I meet today tell me this is their experience also). My creative nature stayed…

MATERIALS • Prismacolor Col Erase Pencil• Colourfix primer• Liqutex Gesso• Pencils - Prismacolor, Faber Castell Polychromos and Derwent Coloursoft• Cheap brush with the bristles cut off for blending• Piece of felt or cotton makeup pads• Letraset aqua marker• Workable fixative• UV protective varnish• A4 sized custom made wooden frame I love experimenting with new materials and techniques and applying them just like I have done with my demo. This custom made wooden support is basically a “wooden thick edged frame”. I have seen these available from overseas suppliers and I am lucky enough to have a father who is fantastic at all things wood, so he made some up for me. WORKING WITH WOOD One of the advantages of working with these wooden frames is that you can finalise your artwork with UV and varnish to seal the artwork and…

• When starting, always chose 3 values of colour so as to not get overwhelmed with choices and too many pencils. Practice on a piece of paper if you are unsure which colours to use. • Holding your SHARP pencil in an upright position allows you to also get into the hills and valleys textures of the wood if you are looking for a rich colour saturation. • Blending on wood is difficult; a big brush is great as is pushes the pigment around. It’s a great technique for layer areas such as backgrounds not just on wood, but on all supports. • Using a circular technique with your strokes (lots and lots of little circles) goes a long way for details and lots of colour. • Pressure. Constantly check…

I always knew deep down that I wanted to be an artist. Even as a young boy growing up in Brisbane I would draw as often as I could - filling my sketch pad with depictions of family holidays, cartoon characters, people and wildlife. I remember sketching pictures for friends back in primary school and participating in several local drawing competitions, resulting in a few small prizes along the way. In secondary school, I became even more passionate about art, but the perfectionist in me also enjoyed the detail and preciseness of technical drawing. My interest in these two subjects led me to study interior design at a tertiary level. By the end of the 3-year course I had lost much of my original enthusiasm for interior design as a…