Innholdsfortegnelse for April - May 2017/ No.114 i International Artist

There is something to be said about the passion an artist has for each work of art they create. It all starts with the concept, an idea that comes to them in an instant or one that has percolated in their head for days, weeks, even years. Then there is the process of how to translate that idea into a complete painting, which can be both challenging and exciting. Each method an artist uses is often unique to the genre they are painting as well as to their individual techniques and style. It is a labor of love. As you read through this magazine—and all of its previous issues, for that matter—you’ll find that passion leaping off every page. It is in how the artists describe their techniques and processes,…

Georgia, USA, Good Inheritance, watercolor, 27 x 31" (69 x 79 cm) Finalist My Inspiration The inspiration for this piece came from my time in Swaziland, Africa. She was working diligently, harvesting the maize by hand. There’s a kaleidoscope of beauty in the African people, more than outward beauty but also of the soul, this is seen in ways such as...The joy they find in simplicity and their colorful humor. Their resilience among difficulties and resourceful creativity. A love and respect for community. A spirituality that transcends whatever situation they may face. As they face their journeys with these attributes, which inspires hope, I feel a sense of connection with them in my own journey. The lady in my painting is rich in a spiritual heritage and she desires to give…

Oxford, UK, Eugene at Oberon, oil, 36 x 30" (91 x 76 cm) Finalist My Inspiration Oberon: a magical king, a being so powerful he can change the weather, a legendary Shakespearian creature of the past. Eugene: a Harley rider with dreadlocks, a formidable presence, a creature of the present. Both invested with a quality of insight, of the proper exercise of power. In many ways, the world is in trouble. We need a strong figure with the mythical power of Oberon, and the contemporary strength of Eugene, appropriately directed. Or at least to believe someone like him might exist. One day. My painting is my visualization of that someone. My Design Strategy The attitude of the character is critical— leaning forward, a direct intense authoritative gaze, from a throne, a…

I’m a storyteller artist. I paint the stories of daily life in an impressionist way. Generally, my works celebrate life. By disposition, I’m the sort of artist that doesn’t believe in dancing around a story too much or too long. Rather, once it’s firmed in my head, I “take the shot!” I get on with it and get it done. That’s easier said than done—as most marksmen would agree. “Taking that shot” and hitting the bull’s-eye gets down to precise timing, a faultless technique and an execution based on intuition, instinct, patience and experience. So let’s apply this to the demonstration painting I have in mind—a simple story of girls having fun in the shallow waters of a sunny beach. There are two parts to most of my paintings—the setting…

STAGE 1 DRAWING THE COMPOSITION I am working from the field study done while out painting with friends. I place a grid over the study and on my larger panel. I then draw in the composition using diluted transparent iron oxide red. STAGE 2 THE COLOUR PALETTE I mix up most of the colours that I think I will use. These are not set in stone and will be added to, subtracted from and generally end up “smushed” together, but I find it helps with the flow of the work to have them roughly laid out. STAGE 3 FOLIAGE I scumble in, thinly, the dark areas and then block in the sky and distant hills. I then start laying in some of the lighter greens always keeping in mind where…

I believe that every painting has to tell a story. It can be a realistic, Renaissancetype painting, which gives most of the clue for the story and offers a little freedom to the viewer to interpret. It can also be an ultra-modern piece, on the other hand, giving a very small clue and asking the viewer to interpret it however he or she wants. I like it to be more balanced. I tell half of the story and leave the other half to the viewer. My portraits are visual representations of the global sociopolitical environment. I believe that art is not completely free anywhere in the world. Even in the most advanced nations, political concerns, moral issues and taboos create people who then become obstacles against the freedom of art.…

We continue a NEW series of watercolour tutorials by a master watercolourist In the last article I promised to go back to basics with some techniques for watercolour painting. Well you can’t get more basic than the outdoor dunny, so I thought I would feature it as the basis of this article. I will tackle colour in the next article. I recently hosted the Watercolour Society of Victoria (WSV), Australia, at a paint-out in Steiglitz historic park in Victoria. The town is a small collection of buildings left over from the gold rush days when Steiglitz in 1868 had 12 pubs and a population of approximately 2,000. Nowadays it has no pubs, no grid-electricity and a population of under 50, but there is still a great feeling in the place…

Easel and iPad Due to the tendency of pastel dust to fall, I tilt the top of my easel forward slightly. For reference I use my photo of a peony that can be seen on the iPad in the background positioned at eye level on top of the stand. iPad Reference Photo The iPad is an excellent tool to use for reference photographs. With a touch of the _ ngers one can quickly zoom in to see detail. The color is much more accurate than using a printed photograph. A tremendous amount of reference material can be stored conveniently in one portable location. WHAT THE ARTIST USED Seen here is the variety of pastels I used to create Painted Petals. In my studio, within easy reach of my easel, I keep hundreds…

21 x 9 cm (8 x 4") STAGE 1 Quick rough in of the main elements. STAGE 2 Add some foreground. Note that there is no detail in the grasses. They are just shapes of differing tones/values and colours. But there is enough information to finish the work indoors if you absolutely have to. STAGE 3 Add more layers and refine a little. Then add detail. This painting says summer to me. Points to remember » Work quickly » D o your sketches on quality paper so you can continue to work on it at home if you need to. Poor quality materials will always hold you back. » P aint the things that are going to change quickly first like the clouds. Leave the more static elements to the…

art challenge All the Prize Winners in our International Artist Magazine Challenge No. 98 PEOPLE & FIGURES Missouri, USA, Reverie, oil, 30 x 20" (76 x 51 cm) Making Connections While artist Tina Garrett considers her paintings to be classically representational, she strives to create works that are inventive and instinctual. Most important to her artwork, however, is providing viewers with an emotional connection. “My figurative work is a prime example of my desire to make my portraiture more inventive and universally appealing,” says Garrett. She adds, “I’m definitely not attempting to tell a narrative in terms of generating a story and telling it through a painting; rather, my travels through life introduce me to people, places and things that I just have to paint, and from those chance interactions and…

Mexico City, Mexico, Reflections and Memories of Ancestral Light III, watercolor, 28 x 21" (71 x 53 cm) FINALISTS Each receives an Award Certificate and a one-year subscription to International Artist magazine PLUS having their work seen worldwide by international galleries looking for new talent. My Inspiration With the image in my mind of a face with a lot of history to tell and trying to capture its essences most intangible and deep through his eyes, I went out into the streets. I suddenly found a good man whom I had seen days before, “the lord of the garbage,” a hard worker, with his black hat working in full sun, and his face tanned by the marks that have left him years, an expressive face, reflecting that strength who has resisted through a…

The Portrait Society of America Have you ever watched preschool children at play, acting out a rescue or fight scene of their favorite hero from a movie or cartoon? They rush in and attack the villain to save the day with such force and effort; it is an amusing piece of overacting. In their minds, they are that hero and it is an insightful display of how much emotional impact it had on their young minds. If you watch closely it is not exactly what they saw, but more a recreation of what they felt: a combination of emotions and actions that merge together as a characterization of the story. In art school, it was common practice to begin our figure drawing sessions with poses that were only held by…

WHAT THE ARTIST USED Oil Paints » Alizarin crimson » Cobalt blue » Light red » Titanium white soft » Yellow ochre Brushes » 1-inch pastry brush » 1-inch liner brush Medium » Turpentine with linseed oil Additional Aid » Magnifier Substrate » Canvas on wood stretcher, 30 x 22" STAGE 1 BUILDING THE COMPOSITION To maximize the “happiness” quotient of this “fun at the beach” storyline, I scale the actors to an imposing size and juxtapose them in splashing water. Sunny daytime water, sun and sand colors gave me my “happy” palette. STAGE 2 HARMONIZING THE STORY The setting and the story must talk to each other. Blue sky, yellow clouds, mauves and pinks at the horizon chased by the blue/green water and yellow sand are all colors echoed in…

I’m an unapologetic romantic—I thrive on beauty, love and stories of passion and sacrifice. Perhaps that’s why I gravitate to the stories of mythology—they’re overflowing with tragedy, martyrdom and forbidden love. For me, these stories are exciting to paint because I have no interest in simply painting a figure; I want to paint a moment, a human experience and an emotional dialogue that transcends culture, religion and time itself. I often spend hours pushing my models until I get the precise expression or gesture that best represents the moment I’m trying to convey. When visually telling a story, you need to be mindful of expressing the pain or ecstasy of two lovers or the madness of a villain because you don’t have the luxury of words. I feel that is…

I have been painting full time as a professional in watercolor and egg tempera for more than 40 years. I teach workshops around the world and so often my students ask me how they can achieve what I achieve in my portraits. The primary principle for becoming very good at anything in life is hard work. I have gone to life drawing classes now, nearly every week, for many, many years. Working from the live model is essential if one desires to become a good portrait painter. In the following series of stages, our model held this pose for three hours. How the model is positioned and the lighting on the model is very important. We use a primary light source and a secondary light source. Even though I am…

Vietnam would have to be one of my favorite painting destinations. The landscape is spectacular, the cities exciting and picturesque with their mixture of Chinese, Japanese and French styles. The villages are a wonderful collection of shapes, colors and textures that make you want to stop and paint at every turn. We had a fantastic workshop in Vietnam 18 months ago and are very much looking forward to going back again this October for another International Artist Painting Workshop. This year we will also be visiting the mountain town of Sa Pa where we will be guided through some of the traditional mountain villages. I have done many paintings of the traditional Vietnamese villages and have been using a technique where gouache is used as a masking _ uid for…

We continue a NEW instructional series on the use of pastel, which also has application to artists using all mediums Working outdoors or in plein air is such a beneficial exercise, yet so many artists don’t do it. Painting from photos only gives a camera’s-eye view. While this can at times be helpful, your colour perception is bound by the limitations of the printing process. Being outdoors, you will see and feel so much more. It can be intimidating to step out of your comfort zone, but try it. You will be pleasantly surprised and recharged. To get you used to working outdoors try doing small, speedy sketches. These can be added to back in the studio. The idea is to capture the essence of the scene—the big shapes and…

The print production process means oversupply is likely to be acute. » If they’re not going to earn money, then why have prints published? Selling prints is a pretty tough business. » You should seriously consider whether they are worth spending your professional time on. You need a realistic and long-term approach to print publishing. » Then they’ll make a major contribution to your professional career by helping you make money. These days there are all sorts of print processes. » Once it was just etching, then lithographs, followed by screen prints (or serigraphs). » More recently, giclée prints have become popular. » Of course, there are posters and off set printing, too. It can be confusing, so how do you sort it all out? » Let’s focus on just…

Try not to think what another artist would do while working out areas and problems in your painting. That can skew the life of your own very unique approach. In the visual arts, an accomplished, personal visual finale is the dream. Yes, there are those areas needing “corrections and improvement” but the flow must continue. When observing an exhibit of Monet’s water lily paintings, I cried seeing the deepest part of him continue uninterrupted into each inspired stroke. Remember those last six words. I do end my paintings but actually never “finish” any of them. I just stop when I run out of visual words. Nothing more to say, leaving the work speak for itself. After a period of time and revisiting your artwork, you will understand. Often when I…

Beijing, China, The Artist’s Story, oil, 170 x 140 cm (67 x 55") Finalist My Inspiration My wife and I graduated from the same school, China Academy of Fine Art. Together we spent our wonderful time earning BFA and MFA degrees in oil painting. I am still focused on traditional and figurative art. I believe that so many artists painted their wife and themselves, which are so moved by true love. As this work, The Artist’s Story, one part is presenting our art life in studio, and also as a gift for our four-year anniversary. Another key point is whatever time flies during the process of making paintings, my inner thought for figurative fine art never changes. My Design Strategy At the beginning, I did the draft of the portrait. But,…

Australian Capital Territory, Australia, Yellow Turban, watercolor, 40 x 32 cm (16 x 13") Finalist My Inspiration I love to paint people, as the face expresses a person’s personality and life experiences. The Yellow Turban is the result of my visit to the Red Fort in Agra, city of the Taj Mahal. This Rajasthani man was standing near the fort’s entrance, his yellow turban shining in the warm wintry light caught my attention; his face was dark and the bright turban enhanced his strong features while displaying youthfulness in this age. I’ve been working a series for few years and this portrait is part of Head Gears series that is currently in progress. My Design Strategy My preferred medium is oil but recently I found watercolor provides vibrant color and depth.…

FULL COLOR DIGITAL PRINT-OUTS Use the Official Entry Form over the page ONLINE Visit our website to upload digital files of the images you want to enter and pay for them using our secure server. www.internationalartist.com To upload your entries you need to prepare your image files to be at least 400 pixels at the shortest edge. Once you are in the Official Online Entry page simply select which challenge you wish to enter then follow the prompts and finally pay the entry fee via our secure server. There you can also see other entries received along with past winners of our competitions. CHALLENGE ENTRY FORM SCHEDULE AND CLOSING DATES HINTS FOR PHOTOGRAPHING YOUR ARTWORK • Set your camera to the highest quality available. • Shoot your paintings dead square on…

The Portrait Society of America will be hosting its 19th annual portrait and figurative artists’ national conference April 20 to 23, 2017, in Atlanta, Georgia. Artists from all over the world will gather together to watch a variety of demonstrations, participate in hands-on workshops and receive one-onone critiques from of our esteemed faculty artists. In this issue, we asked several of the faculty artists, Sam Adoquei, Scott Burdick, Jeffrey Hein, Michael Shane Neal, Tony Pro and Mary Whyte, to share their thoughts about artistic passion, portrait commissions and composition. This is just a snapshot of ideas and teachings that you will be privy to at the conference, and we urge you to register early as we expect another sold-out event. Over 800 artists will attend The Art of the Portrait conference. As…

I don’t think of my technique or style when I am painting, it just flows from what I am trying to create. That may be the illusion of light and shadow, the texture of a rock or the liquid nature of water. The paint is just a vehicle to experiment with to get the feel I am after. I want it to feel like sunlight, feel like a rock or feel like water. Being an commercial illustrator for 10 years, I have explored with many mediums including airbrush, pastel, watercolors, gouache, acrylic, pencil, pen and ink. In my landscape paintings, I still use thin washes and thick paint with a palette knife. I blend with my fingers and do some glazing. It does not really _ t neatly into one…

I know many painters have a very clear approach to their painting process; I’m not sure that I do. The way I put the paint on, the sort of mark making I employ, is instinctive, but how I actually work through a painting varies a lot from one to the next. Sometimes it will be quite straightforward but other times it will look like my approach is more of the “make a mess then fix it” school. I used to beat myself up over this, believing that I had to always try to get it right with the first brushstrokes, but I have discovered over the years I have been using oil that the process of putting paint on, scraping it off, restating, overstating and then cutting back is helping…

My paintings are made with an Old Master technique on linen canvas I stretch myself and fine art colors. I have learnt new techniques from paintings I have seen in the numerous exhibitions I have participated in. For example, I have learnt that you can have a very nice effect and make your subject alive with a nervous stroke, but the most important is to try by yourself on the canvas. I often start a painting with a quick sketch of my ideas on my sketchbook. Sometimes it takes some months to have a good composition from an idea to the definitive project. I may have a message to express but sometimes not at all. For example, to compose a still life I create a scene with objects in a…

As an artist I am fascinated by the wonderful orchestration found in nature. The exquisite dance between light and shadow, color and texture, and positive and negative shapes, reflects the genius and loving generosity of God as Creator. Natural beauty and order are both deeply satisfying and awe-inspiring. The expression of wonder and gratitude is what continually motivates me to return to the easel. With the inordinate pressure on our culture to become super efficient and productive, I feel my role as an artist is even more essential in offering an alternative. The seeming simplicity of a bloom is elegantly complex when studied closely. I enjoy slowing down, taking time to be aware and truly appreciate those with whom we share our lives, be they two-legged, four-legged or “stemmed.” Noticing…

24 x 10 cm (9 x 4") STAGE 1 Cloud and sky blocked in with space left for trees. STAGE 2 All the basic information is here. Shapes, colour tonal relationships roughly and quickly blocked in. STAGE 3 A few quick layers of pastel, a bit of refining and just a hint of detail. STAGE 4 Detail showing close-up of abstract cloud shapes. ABOUT THE ARTIST Amanda McLean gave up her prior career to become a full-time artist. She has been working in pastel for over 30 years. McLean has written more than 20 articles for Australian Artist in the past, and was an Editorial Consultant for a number of years. Although pastel is her passion, she works in all mediums and is an avid sketchbooker. Her skill in rendering both skies…

About Your Tutor Richard Robinson was a graphic designer until 2001 when he became a full-time artist. He’s best known for his idyllic New Zealand beach scenes. In the past few years he also has built a highly successful Internet business with his popular instructional painting videos on www.livepaintinglessons.com. Paint an environment portrait of the stunning red-crested cardinal in Kalalau Valley on the garden island of Kauai. Learn how to make a beautiful background with a large, glowing light effect, simple techniques for creating complex detail and every single step of the painting. Workshop Challenge Follow me step by step in the video on my website, or use the resource photos to paint something more your own. Enjoy! Reference photos Painting Critiques Mairo Piroue Good work Mairo. You’ve drawn the…

A: Soft edge of the hat brim moving round and back behind head. This edge also brings some of the background into subject. B: Edge of the hat slightly softened against background; light coming from our left side. C: Solid shadow of the hat against lighter background. This is in contrast to light areas of the hat against dark background. Give and take with subject and background. D: The hand and coffee cup are part of Bill’s character here. In general, a hand is a series of shapes and not something that must have five fingers. An artist needn’t make sure every finger is evident. Everything in a painting has the possibilities of “lost and found.” E: Bill’s shoulder is round as it turns to the back. I often soften…