Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 54 i Australian How To Paint

Kelli Mac was born in country Victoria and later lived in various parts of Australia including Perth and Alice Springs before finally moving to settle in Darwin in the Northern Territory. In Darwin, this lady has found a strong and renewed passion for her painting that has led to her focusing heavily on art during the past few years. Mainly self-taught, Kelli has also built her skills through participation in regular workshops and contact with other creative people. Being raised in the Victorian diary farm belt close to the Murray River and surrounding forests, Kelli developed a long-term respect and appreciation for the natural bushland. From a young age, Kelli began drawing the forest trees and landscapes surrounding her country home. A love of horses as a young girl gave…

MATERIALS •Canson board (Canson paper mounted on acid free board)• Art Spectrum Colourfix Primer• Art Spectrum Gouache• Art Spectrum Soft Pastels (occasionally some Windsor Newton, Rembrandt)• Art Spectrum Extra Soft Pastels for highlights• Conté sticks and Faber Castell/Conté/Derwent pastel pencils for fine detail STEP ONE The first stage is to plan the format and composition of my artwork. In this case I have chosen a square format - a square is a solid shape with a natural sense of balance and it seems appropriate for this particular subject. I have placed the tree slightly higher on the page because it will be counterbalanced by the strong reflection in the water and would otherwise appear too ‘bottom-heavy’. I have also ensured that the horizon line is positioned a bit off centre…

MATERIALS • 50cm x 40cm Mont Marte canvas• Mont Marte Gesso• Mont Marte Titanium White• Mont Marte Sap Green• Mont Marte Ivory Black• Monte Marte Yellow Ochre• Monte Marte Raw Umber• Winton Alizarin Crimson• AP Cobalt Blue Hue• Mont Marte fan brush• Monte Marte fine brush• Monte Marte round brush size 12 STEP ONE Having given the canvas one coat of Gesso the day before, I painted roughly half the canvas with a light mixture of Titanium White and Cobalt Blue mix, added a little Alizaria Crimson and Titanium mix and finally added whispy white clouds with Titanium White, all painted with the one brush. Next the ground area was painted with a thin mixture of Raw Umber, Yellow Ochre and White. STEP TWO With a mixture of Sap Green…

MATERIALS • Large Watercolour Paper (rough) 37 x 55cm• Mop Brush• No. 3, 8, 10 Sable brush• Paints: Permanent Yellow, Permanent Orange, Ultramarine Blue, Cobalt Blue, Cerulean Blue, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Yellow Ochre, Light oxide red, Permanent Red Violet, Vermillion, Permanent Green, Sap Green, Viridian, Phthalo Green STEP ONE I do a thumbnail sketch of the composition I have in mind. While the thumbnail sketch shown is very loosely done, I have at the back of my mind a very detailed vision of how the finished painting will look like. This is in part because I love painting nature landscapes and am quite experienced with the subject. STEP TWO I do not tape my watercolour paper. I simply place it onto my easel at a 70 degree angle. I…

MATERIALS • Selected stretched canvas panel.• Artists’ acrylics: Phthalo Blue; Cobalt Turquoise; Brilliant Violet; Permanent Alizarin; Vermillion; Yellow Ochre; Cadmium Yellow Light; Phthalo Green; Permanent Green Light; Titanium White.• Clear painting medium.• Assorted brushes.• Palette knives.• Cardboard strips. STEP ONE Start with a strong all-over background colour of Phthalo Blue mixed with a touch of Phthalo Green to create a vibrant summer feel to the entire painting. Prepare your composition using reference photographs, taking care to ensure that the fallen tree trunk perspective takes the viewer’s eye across the water and into the far bank. Using a warm mix of Phthalo Blue and Permanent Alizarin, roughly brush in the far bank and background foliage. A small house paint brush purchased at your local hardware shop is ideal for this early…

MATERIALS • Paper.• Drawing pencil (6B, 7B, 8B or 9B) or charcoal pencil.• Kneadable eraser. Drawing is often lots of fun and a wonderful and satisfying experience for many people. However, over my years as an art teacher, I’ve encountered many who long ‘to be able to draw’ and are quite afraid to make the first marks because they are already convinced that they can’t draw, or they fear failure, or they just don’t know where to start. In this article, I want to encourage such people and give them the opportunity for enjoyment and success with drawing. The technique is not for beginners alone, as artists of different experience levels and abilities have also expressed gratitude for these ideas. As a landscape pastel artist, my ability to draw trees…

Contributed ARE YOU LOOKING FOR SOMETHING TO GIVE YOU AN EDGE? THEN TRY GENESIS HEAT SET PAINTS. With all the pressures of uni, school or TAFE, it can sometimes be very hard to meet those assignment deadlines. Genesis Heat Set Oil Paints could just be your saviour. With these paints you can choose to keep working long into the night and not have to wait hours or days for your paint to dry. Or, if you can only grab a few minutes here and there, you can just pick up your palette and brushes and get to work, then down tools and run to catch that bus. No need to mix up a fresh batch of paint every time you want to paint. Mixed up the wrong colour? No worries,…

From as far back as I can remember I could always sew and draw. Now, I can account for my sewing ability as my Mother was an excellent dressmaker as was my Grandmother, so I guess some of it had to rub off on me, but to my knowledge there has never been anyone who painted or drew, in fact they were all musically inclined. When I was at boarding school we wrote home each weekend and I found that I became very popular for a time, painting weird and wonderful things with sandshoe cleaner mixed with ink on my school mates’ letters, until I was finally reprimanded, so ending my new found fame. Each year the school would put on a performance at the local town hall and in…

As a boy, Aaron Gan dreamt of being a professional artist. While other children wanted to grow up to become doctors, lawyers, firefighters or the president, deep inside he knew that his calling was to be an artist. “Ever since I could hold a pencil, I was always drawing. My mum is still telling stories of how my kindergarten teachers always asked her if she has been doing my drawing assignments for me,” says Aaron. High school came and went. While Aaron stopped learning art as a formal subject when he reached 14, he continued to carry a sketchbook wherever he went and drew whenever he could. “Art was therapeutic for me,” he says. Aaron’s love for landscape painting, particularly nature, grew during his university days at the University of…

For as long as I can remember I have always enjoyed drawing and painting, but it is only in recent years that I have had the opportunity to concentrate on improving my art skills and extend my interest in art to working with charcoal and pastels. Coming across Artist’s Palette magazine at my local newsagent has been most beneficial in helping me and encouraging me to try new mediums. I suppose I should begin this article by writing a little about my background. I am now a retired pensioner, but because of my many interests I find I am always busy. Some people might call me a Jack of All Trades, as I have worked as an A-grade butcher, a resort maintenance person and vineyard worker, but most of my…