Innholdsfortegnelse for December - January 2018/ No.118 i International Artist

Making art comes down to an intersection of two things: your own creative imagination meeting with the proper artistic materials. These materials turn the subjective to the objective, your creative thoughts into real artistic achievements. That is why we take artist materials so seriously. We think an artist deserves the best tools out there to assist along your own creative journey. In thinking of this, we have developed a new section that will focus on artist materials. We know all artists experiment with various tools, with everything from pigment, brushes, palette knives, pastels, oils and acrylics to hardware such as panels, easels, paint boxes and frames. Our new Focus on Materials section will examine all the various materials out there to give you artists an idea of which ones to…

Massachusetts, USA, A03, oil, 68 x 56" (173 x 142 cm) My Inspiration This piece is a part of a small series of four large-scale non-objective oil paintings that I worked and reworked numerous times over the course of six months. The design for the underpainting was inspired by and abstracted from a pile of orange peels! While working on the series my style has evolved dramatically, and the process has provided me with the new insight and ideas for the next series. Here I looked for a more design-based and coherent approach, trying to step away from the very aggressive style I employed in my earlier pastel and acrylic work, and breaking away from using black paint as a unifying element for the composition. My Design Strategy My design strategy was…

Selangor, Malaysia, Blue Phoenix, acrylic, 60 x 48" (152 x 122 cm) My Inspiration Growing up, creativity was Kelvin’s entertainment. His family’s farm in the Malaysian highlands had no electricity or running water, and as a young artist, Kelvin was exposed to hand-made crafts, creative experiments and artistic solutions on a daily basis. From searching for firewood, collecting drinking water from an open well and fishing at the river for food, to crafting wood, traditional kite making with newsprint, cornstarch, thread and bamboo, to melting candles together as a light source fueled his imagination. Being from the Highlands, Kelvin has always been inspired by light. Firewood, candles and fireflies at night, the morning mist and clear-blue skies during the day, and the stunning Malaysian golden hour in the evening. The beauty…

ENTER OUR NEW ART COMPETITION CHALLENGE No. 104 Favorite Subjects See your work published in International Artist magazine and also receive a 4-page Editorial Feature in American Art Collector, the prestigious magazine read by collectors and galleries looking for new art work in the world’s biggest art market. Winners and Finalists in our competitions don’t just win awards to hang on their walls. The real value of entering and being one of the winners is that your work will not only be seen by hundreds of thousands of readers worldwide but also by leading galleries and collectors in America, the biggest art market of all. Our Grand Prize Winners receive a 2-page spread in International Artist magazine and a 4-page Editorial Feature in American Art Collector. Publicity at this level…

Harvard University research has shown most salespeople give up after two sales attempts, yet most purchases are made after five (or more) non-closures. Thus, a consequence of imagined selling barriers is people give up too soon. Timing, persistence and patience are the keys to successful selling, which includes selling commissions. Most people think about buying many times before making a firm purchase decision. » So you need to plan for successful commissions or they will not happen. » That means you need to educate people to consider their next commission. This educational process is better commenced now rather than waiting. But how do you do that? » To start with, regular clients should be targeted. » That’s because they have already taken the first step. Their friends are logically next.…

In my last Chair Letter, in International Artist’s October/November issue, I wrote on the art of selling and provided a five-step road guide to selling your work as follows: 1. Define the client’s needs or wants. (These can be functional or emotional desire for a product.) 2. Feed the need with knowledge. (Offer information about you, your process and product.) 3. Provide third-party endorsements. (Sharing testimonials will build confidence and trust.) 4. Reasonably price your product. (The value of your product is built on its uniqueness.) 5. Post-purchase behavior. (Client follow-up and building a client list can contribute to future sales.) You should be comfortable following these steps as they all revolve around storytelling. In an effort to support this concept in my last article, I filled a whole page…

Janet A. Cook teaches workshops at the Art Students League, NYC, and holds a weekly class at the Pastel Society of America, NYC. Recently, she taught workshops in France and was a guest lecturer at Southern University of Utah. Cook studied at the National Academy of Art and Design and Art Students League, NYC, and has a degree in the History of Art from de Montford University, UK. She is represented by Haven Gallery in Northport, New York, and Dacia Gallery in New York City. Her awards include gold and silver medals from the Allied Artists of America, a Master Circle Medal from IAPS and Best in Show from the Catherine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club. Cook is an elected member of the Salmagundi Club. Her works are held in many…

The most important and probably most difficult task for any artist is developing a unique style. I have spent many years experimenting with different approaches but the real breakthrough came when I disregarded convention and tried something that is, I think, unique to the painting world: power tools. Through years of trial and error I arrived at a style that I can call my own. I have always liked drawing, as it is so spontaneous and gestural. One can get a lot of emotion in just the simplest line work. When I turned to oil painting, it was frustrating to lose such a key feature. I could never paint a line in oil like I could draw it with a pencil. So I began to experiment with scratching and scraping…

Russian-born artist Alexander “Sasha” Sergeeff, known for painting the lavish homes and families of aristocracy and celebrities, has been acclaimed for his use of rich colors and golden light in his artwork. Born in Moscow in 1968, Sasha exhibited artistic excellence from an early age. After winning his first art prize at the age of 9, he earned entry to both the Moscow Institute of Arts and the prestigious Academy of Painting. An invitation to exhibit in Rome in 1990 subsequently led him to exchange the cold light of Russia for the warmth of Italy. He opened a studio in Rome, the Eternal City, where he lives today. His richly detailed landscapes, portraits, interiors and still life studies have given Sasha a reputation for painting in the style of the…

I paint large-scale botanical portraits with the intention of offering the viewer a visual place to to pause—a place to find solace or to feel gratitude and joy. I often paint them in gray values for the viewer to imagine the colorful tones. I strive for the translucency and the delicacy of the petals, which are typically set up against darker passages on the background not so much to contrast in value, but to indicate a need for balance and to describe how forces opposite in nature can complement each other and give rise to harmony. Symbolism and spirituality, aside from esthetics, play a very important role in my compositions, which change often during the creation of the piece. Typically, circles and semitransparent abstract shapes on the background speak about…

STAGE 1 SKETCHING AND INITIAL BLOCK-IN I start with a black pencil outline on a white gesso background. There are many ways to transfer an image, such as grids, Artograph, tracing over prints with charcoal on the back or simply drawing freehand. Because of the large size and intricate detail, I used a slide projector for this one. The sky and background elements are usually the first colors to be applied. After that, I begin blocking in large common areas with a thin wash of the predominant color. I want to be able to see pencil lines underneath in order to add details later. STAGE 2 IDENTIFYING MAJOR ELEMENTS Using grays, I begin to delineate the major elements. It’s faster and easier to visualize complex forms using just two tones, black…

I’ve been creating art for as long as I can remember. Through years, my artistic style and technique has evolved and continues to evolve in a very organic way; with the influences of my life, practice and experimentation, and most importantly with my constant desire to challenge the work I do. I’ve always wanted to create a style that was truly reflective of me, and I feel that I’ve achieved that by creating artworks that have a healthy balance of realistic and abstract elements—a style that allows me to express my inner vision. A great amount of thought goes into my work, and everything tends to start with a vision or the desire to render the physical into something more expressive. Most of my paintings are pre-planned and usually I…

Find the right composition I try many compositions for each painting and then find the suitable one for the subject. I will draw some small sketches when I paint on site. If I paint from a photo reference, I will crop and splice the pictures with photo-editing software. Solve the anatomical problems of the figures Before creating a figurative painting, I will sort out the anatomy of the figure, including the direction of the bones and muscles. The key is to find the projective points of the bone and joint underneath the skin, which are not covered by the muscle. A small sketch is necessary since it is basic and fundamental for the realistic painting. You can create multiplie effects based off of a sketch. Therefore, even if you are…

A painting that includes figures or animals often has more interest than if they had been excluded. It gives the viewer something to focus on and an extra liveliness to the art. When painting street scenes, boat scenes or crowds/festivities (see Images 1, 2 and 3) it is often more interesting to look at the activity going on if there are people included. IMAGE 1 Couta Boat Race IMAGE 2 Varanasi IMAGE 3 Street Scene Corfu, Greece It is easy to draw people that end up looking like aliens or boxes on stilts or stick figures; so here are a few ideas that might keep your figures looking human. Firstly, the proportions. Some literature presents the fact that “eight heads make a figure.” This can actually be seven or seven…

In preparation for an upcoming exhibition, I decided to rough out some ideas on small (3-by-4-inch) sketches. Once I got started on these small paintings I couldn’t stop. They were such a lot of fun—no pressure to produce a masterpiece, just quick, exciting experiments that revealed numerous options I would have otherwise never have considered. What I Discovered Experiments with color options, texture treatments and composition arrangements could be carried out quickly and effectively. I also experimented with a number of different materials such as ochres, inks, gesso and gouache. I found the spontaneous freshness of these tiny works rarely carried over into larger paintings. The thing that surprised me the most was the impact of these tiny paintings. My initial plan was simply to use them as steppingstones to…

Grand Price Mitch Gyson New York, USA, We’ll Have ‘em Singing From the Rafters, acrylic, 15½ x 13" (39 x 33 cm) Grand Prize is a four-page editorial feature in American Art Collector magazine Innovative Improvisation When Mitch Gyson was an aspiring artist, illustrators such as Maxfield Parrish and Norman Rockwell influenced him, and he originally wanted to follow in their footsteps. However, after graduating from school and looking for work, he found, “I really didn’t have the temperament to be confined to the time limitations or stylistic preferences of an art director, so I just started creating my own universe of imagined and observed things.” In his contemporary artwork, Gyson likes to mix it up by finding new ways to innovate on his canvases. He says, “I’ll often play with…

Arkansas, USA, Floral Adventure, pastel, 26 x 16" (66 x 41 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 Much of what pays my bills as an artist is commissioned portraits. With those I am under constant pressure to do something that will please the client. In contrast, with florals I don’t have to please anyone but myself. That allows me a much-appreciated freedom. The flowers never complain that their stems are too short or their petals are the wrong color. Every spring I have a wonderful assortment of irises and lilies in my garden. Sometimes I cut a bunch and put them in a vase, sometimes I paint them just…

Florida, USA, Abstraction #5, acrylic, 4.3 x 3.36" (11 x 8½ cm) My Inspiration I am a 91-year-old Miami Beach native, who spent over 40 years as a successful commercial and fashion photographer. My work has appeared in Vogue, Bazaar and Glamour, and it was my pleasure to shoot advertising on behalf of companies such as Holiday Inn and Norwegian Caribbean Lines, in the U.S. and throughout the Caribbean. In 1984, I viewed the landmark A Day in the Country: Impressionism and the French Landscape exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago, and announced to my wife, “I can do that.” This was my unusual entry to the world of painting. Impressionism led to abstract work, utilizing my photographer’s eye to see beauty in unlikely surroundings. I have moved between photography…

Illinois, USA, Golden Angel, acrylic, 60 x 48" (152 x 122 cm) My Inspiration Life is inspiration. Curiosity about the world around us inspires me. The anticipation of what will evolve during a painting session is inspiring…especially when I start without a plan. When I see a blank white canvas, I desire to do something to it. The canvas itself inspires me. My Design Strategy Composition has always been the top priority for me. Even in abstract art, the same principle holds true as it does in realistic art as far as the placement of shapes, texture and colors are concerned. My Working Process I have painted for a living for over 45 years and continue to do so. During those years, I have enjoyed working in many mediums, subjects and…

» Choose Your Tutor » Choose Your Medium » C hoose Your Dates USA / TENNESSEE / CHARLOTTE Putnam Fine Art Studio Lori Putnam offers both studio and plein air workshops across the United States and abroad. Her workshops fill quickly, which is a testament to her approachable, giving nature, energetic demonstrations and hands-on teaching style. Putnam’s paintings are a personal and genuine response to her subject, and she encourages and teaches her students how to do the same. She believes each artist sees differently and finds his or her own distinctive mark. Yet, letting go of formulas and finding the confidence to express ourselves honestly seems dificult, sometimes even fearful. Students will leave her workshops excited; ready to experiment more on their own; and, above all, pointed toward meaningful,…

Christine Egnoski: Have you always been interested in art, and can you give us a brief description about the circumstances that led you to a career in art? Susan Wakeen: I have loved art since I was a child. I was raised by two very creative parents: my mother an interior designer, and my father an artist. Since the age of 10, we watched as my dad filled many pads of paper with life drawings and produced many more paintings. My mother loved changing the color of the walls in her home (still does) and having new draperies sewn or meeting with clients. A favorite part of my growing years was drawing, painting, and pouring through art books. At the age of 88, my dad was working on a large…

Dawning, oil on panel, 15 x 19" (38 x 48 cm) The first stage in my creative process is an introspective and exploratory time spent composing an idea into a fully realized composition. Before I begin a painting, I sketch out my idea, attain my references (models, drawings and/or photos), and create or purchase a panel in the exact size and preparation I desire. For Dawning, I chose to work on a high-quality aluminum composite panel. This stage can take anywhere from minutes to weeks depending on the piece. STAGE 1 DRAWING: I began with a line drawing in HB pencil on top of the preprimed panel. In the drawing, I focused on getting accurate size and placement for all the main features, and didn’t bother with dimensional shading or…

STAGE 1 BEGINNING This demonstration piece begins with a blank, 16-by-12-inch panel. STAGE 2 TONING I toned the panel with a mixture of ultramarine blue, burnt sienna, white and some turpenoid. STAGE 3 FINDING THE COMPOSITION I decided on the composition, and I roughed in the big lights and darks with the same mixture of ultramarine and burnt sienna. At this point, it’s just about deciding how much of the model I will paint. STAGE 4 IMPORTANT SHAPES I add a bit more detail in the lights and darks, working out proportions. I use action lines to get the angles of the arm right, but there is still no detail. At this point, everything is open to being changed. The idea is to be very precise about the most important…

STAGE 1 THE SKETCH The sketch is an important part of working out the composition, and I try to keep the drawing free and as spontaneous as possible. The drawings are usually made from memory as I don’t want them being too realistic. I try carrying the “looseness” of the sketch over to the etching line of the painting. STAGE 2 ETCHING After I paint the entire canvas with gesso and black acrylic house paint, I use a Dremel tool to etch the drawing into the gesso. The more “sketchy” and the more lines describing a form the better, as all these lines will show through the oil paint and be part of the final result. STAGE 3 BLACK UNDERPAINTING After etching in the line work, I paint the canvas…

Constantin Brancusi, the renowned Romanian sculptor and pioneer of modernism, once said, “Architecture is inhabited sculpture.” I devote much of my artistic work to portraying interiors as the spaces for great accomplishments. Often, I don’t include people in my work, but rather look to the character and personality of those who use the interiors for inspiration. For me, there is both beauty and intrinsic power in the design and appointments of rooms. For this project, I chose the Oval Office of The White House in Washington, D.C. Built as a symbol of grandeur and power for a nascent democracy, the White House has been the home and office to 45 United States presidents over 241 years. The Oval Office was designed by Nathan C. Wyeth and completed in 1909 during…

I was born in Panama City, Panama, and have had a passion for art from a very early age. I entered my first group show at age 15 and I took private art classes while in high school. With the recent revival of classical art instruction and a renewed appreciation for drawing skills and techniques used by the Old Masters, I moved to the New York area in 2006 to learn alongside important contemporary realist artists and completed an intensive four-year core program at the Water Street Atelier. Although most of my work is botanical in nature, I have been commissioned to do several portrait paintings, and I often paint from the live model in my studio with other artists. I am currently represented by Bonner David Galleries in Scottsdale,…

David Holmes grew up in the small town of Salem, New Hampshire, and attended the Rhode Island School of Design. After graduating with a graphic design BFA in 1984 he worked at design firms in Tampa, Florida. In 1987 he moved to Chicago and became an advertising art director. He later relocated to San Francisco and continued his ad career, ultimately rising to the level of creative director. After 18 years he made the bold decision to leave advertising and devote himself to painting as a full-time occupation. He realized this would have a large impact on his life and family. Fortunately, his wife, Katia, was enthusiastic and able to provide support during the transition. With her help he was able to gain a toehold in the new, unfamiliar world…

Josef Kote is a New York-based visual artist best known for his distinctive style and technique. His paintings are touted as symphonies of light and color that are lyrically stunning and romantic, edgy and current. His success has been anchored by a style combining colorful representational art with elements of abstraction and his signature “dripping effect.” While the eye at first seems to veer toward his bold use of color placed by either brush or pallet knife, it’s difficult for one to avoid his creative use of negative space, crafted by utilizing monochromatic tones with little-to-no detail. Influenced by many places where he’s lived, the Albanian-born artist began his journey towards artistic self-discovery in his youth and never looked back. At the age of 14, Kote began his formal art training…

For this painting, I used a triangle composition, which is the most classic and common composition method. I think two keys of this painting are: first, the depiction of the facial expressions, and second, the embodiment of the light and the shadows. There is a challenge here: the three figures’ faces are in the shadows. If you painted from the reality, their expressions would be neglected because they were too dark. It would also cause the problem that the main subject might not stand out. I tried to draw the viewers’ attention to the subjects’ expressions in the dark by properly raising the brightness of their faces and decreasing the details of the bright parts. I let all three of them concentrate on the poker cards in their hands on…

1 Don’t fuss about details on faces or bother about hands. For example, you can paint people carrying bags and/or wearing sun glasses. Please note this article is not about portraiture, it is about painting figures in your art. 2 When painting around people, never leave a white ghostly outline. Always take the paint up to the outline of the person or even go over the figure and then re-tone it. 3 Paint the clothing by running it all together (see Image 1). 4 Paint skin tones in basic burnt sienna darkening with reds or browns (see By The Fire). 5 If you must put a hat on your figure, just make it a cap (see Image 1). 6 Paint a ‘V’ at the neck line, I am indebted to John…

Seascapes are a favourite subject of mine. Painting seascapes allows me to use some of those turquoise blues and phthalo greens that don’t often get to see the light of day. I love that there is so much subject matter to choose from at the seaside; a different vantage point, the view from the top of a headland, at water level and high or low tides, rock pools, beach reflections, people, wild waves or a close-up of rocks and surf. Seascapes invite endless subject matter. Many of the paintings in this article are from the same beach—Malua Bay—just south of Batemans Bay on the New South Wales south coast. It’s a place I love, and I have spent a lot of time there. It has so much subject matter, I…

Visit www.internationalartist.com and click on the Virtual Art Academy® button to access instant downloads needed to master the art of painting. There are around 700 key discoveries in the complete Virtual Art Academy program organized into nine Building Blocks. The program is written for all levels of painters, from beginners to intermediates and expert painters, and who work in any media, whether your interest lies in oils, acrylics, watercolors, or pastels. Building Blocks There are nine key Building Blocks in the Virtual Art Academy program each containing around six individual Course Units. Each Course Unit explores an important area of key discoveries to a level of detail that you would normally only get in a master class with an experienced artist or at an art academy. Get individual Building Blocks…

British Columbia, Canada, TC10K, acrylic, 36 x 24" (91 x 61 cm) Second Price My Inspiration This painting was inspired by my first running race of the season: Times Columnist 10K in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. I was overwhelmed by the number of participants and the support of the community as they cheered and held up their homemade signs as I ran by. I am interested in the relationship between physical and mental health. Stress and anxiety are reduced by physical activity. How do you describe phases of physical exertion over a period? Heart rates and muscle strength can be quantified, but how do you describe your experience as you perform? I felt sheer strength, butterflies, an endorphin rush, competitive desire, metabolic burn and accomplishment. I hope my visual expressions of this…

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. HINTS FOR PHOTOGRAPHING YOUR ARTWORK • Set your camera to the highest quality available. • Shoot your paintings dead square on and fill the frame as much as…

If you want to create a realistic painting of a nonexistent city or building, it helps to build a physical reference maquette first. A maquette or miniature helps you decide on the best viewpoint and lighting. The resulting painting will carry much more conviction than a piece done without maquettes. I’ll share examples that range from detailed to rough and show you how best to light them. MAKE A DETAILED MAQUETTE The city of Chandara was the destination of my most recent Dinotopia sequel, so I knew I’d need a big panoramic painting to be a major establishing shot. I built the reference maquette from chunks of packing foam glued together. You can also use insulation foam or high-density foam that’s intended for model making. The domes are surfaced with…

Susan Wakeen lives in Litchfield, Connecticut, with her husband, Bill, and son, Kenny. Her work is in homes throughout the United States, Canada and Australia. She sculpts almost daily and teaches workshops and classes in her studio. She says, “My husband and son know when I say, ‘I am just finishing up a thought, I will be home soon,’ that could mean 10 minutes or two hours.” Wakeen considers herself a student and has continued her studies at the Art Students League in New York with artists Max Ginsburg and Anthony Antonios and she attends workshops at the annual Portrait Society Conference.…

As a professional artist for many years, I have found a way to market myself successfully to galleries. I not only seek out galleries that fit within my personal aesthetic, but also look for galleries where my artwork will be propelled to get next level. In the final installment, I share with you some of the tips I’ve learned along the way. Finding a gallery can be exhausting, so here are some pointers to finding and keeping one. 1. Look for a gallery that is new and looking for new talent; that way, you can grow together. 2. Search for a galleries in which your work would be a good fit. 3. Don’t drag your artwork with you to the gallery, but do bring an iPad or portfolio on your…

Born and bred in Monterey, California, USA, Warren Chang is an acclaimed realist artist who is recognized for his realist paintings of biographical interiors and fieldworkers of the Monterey, California, area. Inspired by the Old Masters such as 17th-century artist Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675), and 19th-century artists Jean Francois Millet (1814-1875) and Winslow Homer (1836- 1910), among others, Chang creates subtle narratives that celebrate the human spirit. His work has won many awards and has been profiled in many national publications, and was the subject of a monograph book on his paintings published by Flesk Publications in 2013. More recently Chang was honored with solo exhibitions at the Monterey Museum of Art and the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio, both in 2015. Contact at www.warrenchang.com Represented by »…

Hollis Dunlap was born in 1977 in Northern Vermont, USA, and has been painting since the age of 14. After beginning his study of realist painting in high school, he went on to study at the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts, graduating in 1999 after painting and drawing the figure extensively for four years. While at the Academy, he was the first painter to be awarded First Prize at New York’s National Arts Club student exhibition for two consecutive years. Hollis was the recipient of the John Stobart Fellowship, awarded each year to a graduating student in recognition of outstanding work, and he is also a two-time grantee of the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation. He has had numerous solo shows in New York, Boston, San Francisco and Miami, and currently…

I was born in South Africa, and then at age 17 I left to attend art school in Sydney, Australia. After graduating I decided to go on a painting/backpack trip around Europe starting in Paris. I painted mostly landscapes “plein air” then while in Switzerland I took a job at Art Centre Europe teaching figure drawing for a year. Between teaching, I took weekend trips to different cities painting their architecture. I moved to New York City with many paintings and started a painting career. I have three primary galleries: Boston’s Arden Gallery, Campton Gallery in New York City and Caldwell Snyder Gallery in San Francisco and Napa Valley; then later, I became represented by Etienne Gallery in Holland. Through my galleries, I am also exhibited at the art fairs…

Born in Moscow in 1968, Alexander “Sasha” Sergeeff exhibited early artistic excellence. Sasha developed a visual sense, or a visual memory of beauty, he believes, just as a music composer does with his auditory sense, from his visits to many museums throughout his childhood. After winning his first art prize at the age of 9, he was soon enrolled in the Middle School of Art. He earned entry to both the prestigious Academy of Painting and the Moscow Institute of Arts. Having studied for 20 years, an invitation to exhibit in Rome in 1990 subsequently led him to exchange the cold light of Russia for the warm light of Italy and establish a studio in the Eternal City, where he lives today. “My inspiring masters have been Velasquez and John…

When I was young I drew constantly. Even while playing baseball I’d be standing in the outfield drawing pictures in the air with my finger. Unfortunately, the small New Hampshire town where I grew up provided few opportunities to learn. Luckily, we had Bill Swank, a terrific local artist who taught kid’s art classes. I began taking lessons at age 10 and continued up to my enrollment at the Rhode Island School of Design. Although I’d always loved to paint, my career path led me to graphic design. I spent almost 20 years as an art/creative director at marketing agencies, a job I enjoyed but which left little time to pursue personal artistic interests. I finally reached the point where I needed a change and decided to revisit my original…

Painting material: I used hollow-core lauan, 80 inches wide by 32 inches high. I have found that wooden interior door panels make an excellent work surface. They are strong, inexpensive and lightweight. They come in a range of sizes and are very stable. I apply several coats of gesso, sanded between, with the final layer buffed to a paperlike smoothness. Paints: I usually work with heavy-body acrylics. My color palette depends on the subject, but I’ve found most urban scenes can be created almost entirely just by using black, white and burnt umber. Eighty percent of my time is spent applying these colors in various combinations to build base tones and to block in large structures. Since I often paint sunny daylight images, there tends to be many extreme contrasts.…

In 1997, I was still an art instructor who taught art at the Jingchu Academy of Technology. I organized my students to visit the Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture for the first time. The trip made a huge impact on me and it has been influencing me even today. I found my painting subject in that moment. To be one of over 10 million people who live in Shenzhen, the modern city, same as many other Chinese, I am trapped by the tide of the booming economy. The materialistic demand, the debauchery, the high pressure and the fast pace of city life make everyone exhausted. If you are seeking a place where there is no hustle and bustle, or luxury and dissipation, then here it is, Tibet. Being the last piece…

Zhou Tianya is an internationally known watercolor artist. Currently he lives and paints in Shenzhen, China, and works as curator and professional artist of Public Luohu Cultural Center. Tianya is a signature member of many watercolor and art societies, including China Artists Association, American Watercolor Society, National Watercolor Society of USA, Honorary Member of Australian Watercolour Institute, and Canadian Society of Painter in Water Colour. He has won many major awards in national and international exhibitions, and his works are in numerous public and private collections in China and abroad, including the National Art Museum of China. Tianya is also a wellknown curator and author, who has successfully organized many international events in China, including the Shenzhen International Watercolor Biennial. He edited several books that have become among China’s best-selling watercolor books.…

Amanda Hyatt is well known both nationally and internationally in the watercolour art world for her dynamic alla prima (spontaneous, single execution) paintings pushing the boundaries of modern watercolour. She has had 33 solo exhibitions and has been a member of both the Twenty Melbourne Painters Society and the Australian Watercolour Institute for 23 years. Amanda has won major Australian watercolour prizes including The Camberwell, Kenneth Jack, The Bale, and Victorian Artists Society Artist of the Year. She has been teaching continuously since 1987 and leads national and international workshops. As well as being regarded as one of the world’s top watercolour artists, she is regarded as one of the world’s best teachers of this medium. Contact at www.amandahyatt.com.au…

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. It may look like this project is about a beautiful flowering balcony in Spain, and that doesn’t hurt, but it’s more about raising the vibrancy of the colours in a scene that could do with a little more OOMPH. It’s not as tricky as you might think (and we might even cheat a little). Follow me step by step as I show you the techniques I use to paint this classic scene. Drawing techniques, creating interesting textures and boosting your colours…