Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 45 i Australian How To Paint

When Ludij came to Australia with her family at the age of six, she first landed at Derby in Western Australia – a far cry from the city life of Amsterdam. Finally disembarking from the ship at Fremantle, the family flew to Cairns via Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. On the flight from Brisbane to Cairns, the plane stopped frequently at towns all the way up the coast. Ludij recalls that the further north they went, the smaller the airports became. Initially painting in oils, Ludij Peden’s subject matter evolved from the rivers, creeks, canefields, mountains and coastline of tropical North Queensland to stockmen, water buffalo and escarpments when she and her husband moved to the Northern Territory. Ludij is not really sure when her fascination with houses began, but…

Born in Southern England, my love of drawing really began in my late teens. I had left school at 15 years of age to start an apprenticeship as a carpenter and joiner, and remember while attending technical college drawing classes, which were a part of my apprenticeship, being told that I would make a better draftsman than carpenter. By my early 20s I was married and during one particular rainy holiday, my wife Dot and I took a caravan in Norfolk England, and with no television or other comforts, we would venture out between showers and during one of our trips I bought a Broadlands Sketchbook which I still treasure today. This book inspired me to go out and sketch, a passion that has only grown over the years since…

Working from three photographs, I roughly sketched the composition onto a sheet of watercolour paper – I like to see the work in colour before going to canvas. I envisaged the old shed (near my home in central Victoria) to be a haven for the swaggie and his dog – a shelter from the rain. STEP ONE Using my watercolour sketch for reference, I prepared the canvas. I used my mop brush with a tint of Azure Blue and Blue Violet in the gesso on the top half of the canvas; and Red Ochre for the bottom half of the canvas – this gave an excellent background and coverage, and filled those tiny spots that you can sometimes see in a finished work where the paint has not covered. When…

I have always been a keen observer of the natural and man-made world. I loved drawing as a child but did not start oil painting until age twenty in a night class in an art supply shop. My chosen career then was structural drafting, and painting was of course a hobby. I travelled the outback extensively in 1989 and 1991 but never painted for I was just as keen a photographer. In 1993 I then turned to a university degree in geology, for it was always a passion of mine to understand the physical processes of the Earth and how it came to be as we see it today. It was a career that got me back to the bush where I enjoyed being, and painting took a place on…

Opened in 1991, Morpeth Gallery specialises in selling only traditional Australian art – landscapes, seascapes and wildlife, by many of Australia’s most renowned artists. The artists invited to exhibit their works are all professional, dedicated artists and they must be published artists, or be an artist who has the potential to be published. Art is not a hobby for these artists; it’s a business. Visitors coming into the gallery are often awestruck by the calibre of art they see for sale on the walls. Morpeth Gallery’s print and collectables section specialises in Australian made pottery, and Morpeth Bears joined the Gallery in 2011, specialising in prime teddy bear brands such as Steiff. Morpeth Gallery 6 Green St Morpeth, NSW Ph: 02 4933 1407 www.morpethgallery.comwww.morpethteddybears.com FIRED ART GALLERY AND RETREAT “I…

STEP ONE The first thing I do when confronted with a white canvas is give it several coats of coloured gesso. In this case, because I had already determined the mood and setting, I decided to merge a black gesso at the top into a white gesso towards the bottom of the canvas. Using coloured pastel pencils, I drew in the subject and placements of the key features. STEP TWO I went over the pastel outlines with a thinned mix, using Genesis Thinning Medium and some of the Genesis colours, applied with a rigger brush – this helped to preserve the drawing to some extent. I set the outlines with the heat gun and removed the surplus pastel with a damp tissue. I worked up the sky areas – drying,…

John Shields is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of History and Arts; a Life Member and Past President of the Macquarie Towns Arts Society; an Exhibiting Member of the New South Wales Royal Art Society; and a Life Member of the Baulkham Hills Art Society. He was born at Pennant Hills in suburban Sydney. He now lives and paints at Richmond on Sydney’s northern outskirts. Aside from receiving some tuition at Wagga Wagga Teachers’ College (1953-1954), and subsequently completing an Arts Degree at the University of New England, John has been largely self-taught. Australian artists who have influenced his work include Gruner, Streeton, Heysen and Robert Johnson. The main characteristics of this artist’s work are ‘atmosphere and light’. His main interest is endeavouring to capture the varying light effects…

METHOD When I start thinking about a painting I look for the key subject and then a supporting subject. The key subject is the ‘action’ figure in the painting and the supporting object portrays the location and feel of what the key figure is doing there. In this painting my key subject was the man riding his horse through a paddock and the supporting subject was the shed in the mid-ground. The whole idea of this painting was to portray the serenity of a cattle rancher riding out early in the morning to survey his property. I tried to make a relaxed and uncluttered artwork which would allow the viewer to feel the calmness of this rider’s lifestyle set in a true Australian bush scene. STEP ONE For this painting…

There is nowhere to hide when you draw, visual accuracy especially when drawing architecture or the built environment with just a pencil and sketchbook is essential, for the most part the natural flow of building along a busy high street or an isolated farm cottage are something we take for granted, but when attempting to render the building the laws of perspective and their relationship with the immediate surroundings must be observed if you are to achieve a visually pleasing composition. I keep my drawing materials to a minimum when I’m out drawing with HB and 2B pencils, I like to draw with a very fine point and the harder the lead of an HB pencil will hold its point longer especially on smooth paper. When roughing out a sketch…

Contributed GENESIS For a number of years Genesis Heat-Set Oil Paints have been regarded by many as the world’s most versatile quality fine artist paint ever made. This is because it suits artists who are used to using oils, acrylics or watercolours. It also provides today’s artists and students with a wonderfully safe medium to work with, without enduring harmful toxins or solvents found in many artists’ mediums. Not only are they non-toxic, they are also odour-free and contain NO heavy metals. Due to their very high pigment content, colours are strong and vibrant, even after drying. Unlike acrylics there is no colour shift from wet to dry state. Genesis instantly gives your paintings depth and allows far better coverage. A tiny amount goes a long way. Of the 87…

Ellen Lee Osterfield has been painting pictures of Australia for more than 32 years … sometimes with a paintbrush, and sometimes with a guitar. Her intense love of the Australian landscape, and her affection for the country’s colourful characters and its fascinating flora and fauna, have led to her winning numerous awards for singing, song writing and painting. Ellen inherited much of her musical and artistic talent from her father, Bill. She started entertaining as a very young child – singing her own version of the classic ‘Springtime in the Rockies’ for visitors. When Ellen and her sisters were youngsters, their mother played guitar and music echoed through the household on a daily basis. On Saturday nights the family would go to the old-time dances in the hall at Marong…

The view in this painting is from the Hawkesbury region, which is known for its atmospheric and beautiful farmland. I decided to infuse the scene with more light than the photograph and to let the viewer see that you can improve a scene with your own impression. I chose to use a limited palette because this creates a harmonious painting; and I used transparent artists’ quality pigments. STEP ONE I commenced by drawing a simplified version of the scene with a 4B clutch pencil on a half sheet of Arches Torchon Rough 300gsm – because I like the rough texture of the paper surface and I feel it’s great for an impressionistic style of painting. I laid the paper down on Perspex. Starting with the back of the drawing I…

STEP ONE For a street scene such as this one, I start with a relatively simple but accurate drawing using a grid as a guide. I overlay a gridded, clear acrylic sheet onto the image on the laptop and can then draw lines along awnings or window sills on the screen etc. to find a vanishing point. I keep this point in mind through the whole painting process. Here I have made a few compositional alterations. I have dragged one car back to fill a space in the intersection and slightly overemphasised the size of the tram. STEP TWO I start to map in the darks using the #6 short flat. My dark mixes are Ultramarine with Burnt Sienna or Viridian with Crimson or Cadmium Red. I have opted for…