Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 31 i Artists Drawing and Inspiration

I guess not every child had the opportunity to live in three different African countries by the time they were 14 years old but I was blessed. I was born in Uganda and grew up all over East Africa. My father worked on the railways, building bridges for the push westwards and wherever a bridge needed building, we would be transferred. Consequently I lived not only in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania but I also lived in about 10 different towns or villages and attended all manner of schools. Of course, growing up over there, nature was my teacher and I’ve been passionate about wildlife ever since. I particularly relate to all things African and my life has followed a course as a result. Leaving Africa was not of my choice…

AN EXCITING RANGE OF CHOICES FOR ARTISTS Make art EASY with an EASEL! Now is the best time of year to think about buying an easel for painting or drawing – but before you do, artists should give careful consideration to what they need and what each style of easel has to offer. An easel is a stand designed to display artwork, or to hold and support an artist’s canvas during painting. It is usually made of wood or metal and ranges in size from small tabletop easels to large professional studio easels. Which easel to choose depends on your working methods. You should consider the size of the work you will be creating, and also which media you are planning to you use. There are many types of easels,…

• Paper stumps are excellent to blend the first layer of pastel. They can be used to remove excess pastel, and are useful to stabilise a drawing so that it does not smudge. • Colour shapers are very useful to blend heavier pastel if you require a smooth finish; also very good for applying highlights to eyes. • Larger colour shapers can be used to blend and smooth other areas. • To clean paper stumps, I use sandpaper (glued to a piece of craft board). • To sharpen pastel pencils I use a good quality pencil sharpener. Alternatively, a craft knife (used carefully) will produce an excellent result. • I use a plastic eraser on the pastel after first removing excess pastel with my finger or paper stump, or even…

• Always keep your colour wheel in mind, and try to keep a good balance of warm and cool tones. And, if after all your efforts you feel it’s not working, just do as I did at the beginning of this work – brush it off, slap a little water around, and start again. After all it’s only a piece of paper; and just think of all the things you’ve learnt on the journey! • An artist friend told me of this little process for making your own pastels – to make use of all your tiny pieces of pastel. Keep all your leftover pastel pieces in same-tone jars; crush them together, add enough water to bring the pastel together, roll them in foil and let them dry thoroughly. The…

• 60 x 40 cm sheet of Canson pastel board, colour 502, Havane Clair. • Can of workable fixative. • Derwent Blender (pencil). • Bantex eraser. • Ledah 333 electric pencil sharpener. • Coloured pencils: Prismacolor French Grey 10, 20, 50, 70, 90; Cool Grey 10, 20, 30, 50, 70, 90; White; Orange; Mineral Orange; Cream; Sand; Jasmine; Yellow Ochre; Goldenrod; Ginger Root; Beige; Beige Sienna; Sandbar Brown; Burnt Ochre; Celadon Green; Cloud Blue. Verithin Black. Polychromos Warm Grey 1, 2, 3; Cold Grey 5, 6; Black.…

My full-time occupation is Principal for a behaviour school in Sydney’s western suburbs. My home is at Lawson in the Blue Mountains. I completed an Art Certificate course at Meadowbank TAFE in 1987 and then went on to what was then known as City Art Institute to complete a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Fine Arts in 1989. I returned to university in 1994 to do a Diploma of Education at the University of Western Sydney. I have continued to paint and draw since leaving University; and although I never did art at high school, I had always drawn as a kid. My Year Six art teacher withdrew me from the class to talk with me because I had shown potential in rendering form – a concept that was apparently…

Helen’s love of the creative has been a driving force for most of her life. This lady was born in Melbourne, and she treasures an early recollection of her intense interest in painting (in art class at high school); although having a huge crush on her art teacher at the time may have influenced her interest. Any instruction given by that man was greeted with nods and blushes … so she doesn’t really know how much knowledge she gained from his classes! Helen’s mother died when she was 18 years old. Consequently working full-time and trying to look after her father and two younger brothers took up most of her time and energy. Hence most (but not all) of her creative interests were put on hold. After marrying and having…

• I always spray my drawings with workable fixative at the end of each day. This prevents ‘wax bloom’ occurring, where a light film can appear on the work. If this occurs, simply remove the film with a soft, clean cloth – then spray evenly with fixative. • Pastel board is much easier to work with than paper because it doesn’t tear, dent or buckle; and it can be used without a drawing board. I sit my work on a drawing table without any attachments such as tape or clips. • If you are using an eraser, use a soft one. • Electric pencil sharpeners are by far the best way to keep your pencils sharp and avoid breakages. • To avoid smudging, cover the areas of your drawing that…

My subject is a fellow called Damien. I took a few photographs of him on my mobile phone under fluorescent lights. The quality is not great, and the angle I used to shoot the photographs is kind of awkward and distorted. However the image offered a challenge . . . and Damien’s strong features created shadows and an overall dark image. In this drawing I deliberately overstated the features and pushed the darks as hard as possible. The beard and elongated shape of the face gave the image a ‘tribal mask’ type of quality, and for this reason I completely obliterated the neck and shoulders and worked the face as an independent shape. In the photographs for this demonstration drawing, the subject’s strong features created shadows and an overall dark…

STEP ONE I define a clear border to contain the end result and leave reasonable space all around to facilitate handling. This space includes an area to ‘test blend’ colours. I use charcoal pencils and a brown pastel pencil to formulate the major shapes, before adding a light pink around the ears. STEP TWO The emphasis is now on the ears and eyes. I use a light pinkish colour for the ears and blend gently with my fingers, adding a little grey violet for the shadows. The eyes begin with a basic colour (in this instance a pale yellow) which is blended with a paper stump. Other colours, shadows and lights are added, followed by the pupil. Black pastel pencil is useful for this task. A basic colour is then…