Australian How To Paint magazine chooses a topic or style of art each issue and gives you a comprehensive guide for you to develop your skills. Over the series we will cover all major painting technques plus popular paint ideas.
Painting for me is probably one of the most compelling things on the planet. Itʼs one of the few things that I’ve ever done and kept doing, and never got bored of. Somehow it has fulfilled me and challenged me both at the same time, and itʼs been a way for me to justify my strange view of the world. Why is pushing coloured goo around so exciting? I don’t know if I can even answer that completely, but I think the process of actually moving paint around is meditative, but more than that it forces you to look at the world in a lot more detail and depth. It adds a whole new layer to even the most mundane things. Stuff gets exciting. Possibly I am a small child…
MATERIALS • Paints: – Atelier Interactive – Titanium White• Napthol Red Light• Pthalo Blue• French Ultramarine Blue• Cadmium Yellow Light• Cadmium Yellow Medium• Dioxazine Purple• Burnt Umber• Forest Green• Brushes: Flat/chisels sizes 2, 4, 8, 12 and a large house painting brush approximately 10 cm• Canvas: This was pre-stretched, approximately 750mm x 600mm. STEP ONE I’ve dragged out an old canvas with a couple of paintings already underneath. I like the fact that it has a little bit of build and texture in it already. I lay a nice thick coat of Napthol Red Light over the top of it, and let that dry. I then roughly chalk in the outline of the pandanus leaves. As a surfer and someone who loves water, one of the most exciting things is…
I was born in Cambridgeshire, in the United Kingdom. I met my Australian husband when he was on a working holiday in the UK, and he ‘kidnapped’ me and brought me to Australia in the mid ’70s. Seymour in Victoria is my home now. I work for Victoria Police as an Administrative Officer part-time; and the other part of my time, I paint! I have received no formal art training. I am passionate about depicting the Australian bush and the rural way of life. The light in this country is so clear, compared to the soft atmosphere of Europe; and the colours are strong. It really is the Lucky Country and I am very glad I live here. I have had a lifelong interest in art. I think the main…
For this demonstration, I chose to paint a scene of the Goulburn River, Seymour. Water is one of my favourite subjects. I obtained the reference material on a warm summer evening just as the sun was going down, and the mosquitoes were coming out! I took some reference photographs, and then sat beside the river and made a few small sketches with my pastels mainly to establish what colours I would use (working very quickly before the light disappeared). In the studio I attached a sheet of burgundy Colourfix paper (made by Art Spectrum) to my easel. I also attached a sheet of paper towel to the board beside my paper (this was helpful to give the pastels a quick swipe to clean them as I worked). I have a…
• Don’t be too ‘precious’ about your pastels. Remove the wrappers, they get in the way. Don’t be afraid to break them into smaller pieces if that makes them easier to work with. Breakages also provide some nice sharp edges useful for details. • Fresh white bread squished into a ball works really well as an eraser, and doesn’t affect the paper surface – especially good for papers such as Canson; whereas the sanded surfaces such as Colourfix can take more punishment and a putty eraser will work fine. • Make a chart when buying new pastels, by putting a sample of the colours onto a sheet of pastel paper; and write the brand, colour name and reference number beside each colour. This is invaluable when you want to obtain…
Sydney was my birthplace in 1948. I was raised in suburban Balmain. At the age of 30, I moved from the city to the country – to a beautiful little place called Callala Bay on the south coast of NSW. From there I moved to the mountain Mt Beppo in Queensland, but longed to be closer to the sea. Woolgoolga in NSW is my home now. My parents did not share my passion for art, however my paintings hung on every wall in the house so I feel that represented an acceptance. My interest in art became obvious as a child. I won many children’s art prizes in primary school. I can remember one particular painting, it is so vivid in my mind as my love for thick impasto paint…
