Artists Drawing and Inspiration Issue 58

As a child, handing over my drawings of dragons and surreal animals is when I first realised I was creative. I would imagine scenes that didn’t even exist, piecing together a drawing. I was interested in the Surreal and Fantasy, artists like Salvador Dali and illustrations by Marc McBride. I remember my parents buying me a step-by-step drawing book by Marc McBride, but instead of following the steps and drawing the one dragon, I would take parts of each one and create my own, placing it in a scene of castles and sky. As I reached my early teens and my sights broadened, I started to branch out into other genres and away from fantasy art. Handing my drawing to others, such as my parents, they would point out what…

MATERIALS Good quality drawing paper such as Chanson Drawing paper 220gsm “C” à grain. This paper is a fine tooth white paper for drawing in pencil, charcoal, chalk, ink wash and poster colour. For this drawing I have used an A3 sheet. Tracing paper or a light box. If you are using tracing paper instead of a light box you will also need a coloured pencil. Good quality graphite pencils that will give your drawing a smooth and finally textured finished. You will need a hard pencil, either an H or 2H, for drawing up the portraits outline and a range of softer pencils including 2B, 3B, 4B and 5B for adding tone to the portrait. . A good quality sharpener is also needed; your pencils should always be kept…

Jenny Greentree resides on an ancient red ridge overlooking Gidgee Lake – quite literally out the ‘Back of Bourke’ in western New South Wales. Her home has been a source of inspiration which has helped to unlock her exciting God-given talents. Jenny uses pastels in a style that is fresh and crisp. She manipulates pure colours, line and tone to capture the extraordinary images of the Australian Outback which she experiences on a daily basis. Waking up to a spectacular sunrise, or driving down the road and being struck by the glistening light of the sun reflecting off an approaching storm, cannot fail to spark the creativity of this talented lady. She still responds in wonder at beautiful sunsets, and is still mesmerised by the sight of the moon rising…

MATERIALS Soft Chalk Pastels (artist quality) – hand-made by Jeff Waterson, Art Spectrum and Rembrandt. Pastel Pencils – Stabilo CarbOthello – favourites include: 1400/105 Cream; 1400/760 Dark Blue Grey; 1400/635 Dark Brown; 1400/706 Grey. Spray Fixative. Kneadable Eraser. Stanley Knife and Palette Knife. Pastel Paper: Colourfix by Art Spectrum. STEP ONE I make a sketch, considering tone and compositional arrangement, remembering that sunlight will be a feature of this painting. I select most colours before I start, choosing colours with reference to photographs. I consider complementary colours and often exaggerate a little for impact. I use Colourfix pastel paper (half a sheet of Blue Haze for this picture) taped to board for stability. STEP TWO I draw in a horizon line with pastel pencil and block in cloud area colours…

I was born in Narrabri, in North-West NSW, where I now live and work as a piano teacher and artist. I combine these two aspects of my life by drawing instructive cartoons for my students! I have been drawing for as long as I can remember and have entered community exhibitions infrequently over the years, but my present career began in 2007, when a visitor to our home saw a colour pencil portrait I had made of my wife, Donna. The visitor enquired if I would do a portrait of each of her sons. That was my first commission! I have had many more since then. I am self-taught, having followed my own creative path since childhood, but I have been impressed and inspired by a great variety of artists:…

MATERIALS A2 Arches 300gsm Smooth Watercolour Paper Derwent graphite pencils – 4H, HB, 2B, 5B Progresso 8B graphite pencil Willow charcoal Old boar-bristle brush Blending stumps Tissue paper Kneadable eraser Maulstick Tracing paper Felt-tip pen Knife and garnet paper Choose your reference photo When you are beginning a drawing you need to choose a subject which excites your interest and preferably one which challenges you. I especially enjoy drawing kids in action, or totally involved in an activity, or just being still and wondering. The range of expressions offered by children at play is infinite. It’s a whole world waiting for artistic exploration! So, take plenty of photos, because kids won’t sit still for hours with exciting expressions on their faces waiting for you to puddle about with a pencil!…