Artists Back to Basics Issue 9 Volume 4

Donna has been involved in the arts most of her life; coming from an artistic family she flourished in the performing arts throughout her youth, taking ballet lessons at one of Sydney’s most prestigious academies, the Scully Borovansky. Singing lessons and piano tuition also filled her week, leaving little time for youthful socialisation (parties). On leaving school Donna tried full-time study in classical ballet but yearned for the stage. It wasn’t long before she was auditioning for any shows that she would be performing before an audience. This included the club circuit in Sydney and Burlesque…ooh la la! Then Donna scored a part as a cast member of the original Australian cast of Jesus Christ Superstar in the ‘70s, and during this time she painted many pieces for friends including…

SETTING UP STEP ONE Using saral paper and the line drawing transferred onto tracing paper apply the design to the canvas. STEP TWO Squeeze generous quantities of paint onto your palette, as this style of painting requires plenty of paint. STEP THREE Line up Cadmium Yellow Medium, Pthalo Green, Paynes Grey. BLOCKING IN LARGE AREAS Cadmium Yellow Medium, Pthalo Green, Paynes Grey, Napthol Scarlet STEP ONE Load the #12 brush with both Cadmium Yellow Medium and Pthalo Green. STEP TWO Begin anywhere in the background area dragging generous broad strokes up toward the edge of the canvas. STEP THREE Work in a fan shape adding more paint as needed. STEP FOUR Here and there corner kiss the brush with Paynes Grey and add this to the streaky finish you are…

• 20” X 16” (50.8 X 40.6cm) board, Matisse Structure Paints as listed below, MM27 Low Viscosity Gesso• Mediums: MM31 Open Medium, MM4 Gel Medium, 3D Kindyglitz dimensional paint in Slick Black, Slick White• Matisse Structure Paints: Cadmium Orange Deep, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Cobalt Turquoise, Mars Grey, Napthol Scarlet, Paynes Grey, Prussian Blue, Pthalo Green, Titanium White• Matisse Flow Paint : Titanium White, Paynes Grey• Bristle brushes - (I use and recommend Neef 95 series)- #12 flat, #6 flat, #2 flat, #2 round, #12 filbert• Taklon Brushes - ¼” flat, 3 round, 0 short liner• Painting knife- trowel shape is preferable.• Table easel• Lint free cloth• Large palette• Old toothbrush• Old stipple brush• 2 empty film containers or similar…

When talking about the nature of the actual lines that are used when drawing any freehand composition, there are to my way of thinking five clearly separate stages you go through to take your layout from a blank piece of paper to the precise and accurate linework drawing you need to achieve before any hatching (toning) is started. Rough Sketch (fig. 1) The initial marks made on the paper to decide the relative size and position of the largest identifiable shapes in any composition. Sketching (off the shoulder) with a blunt pencil is the only technique to use at this early stage. All lines are soft and speculative and quite often two or three (or more) can be laid down side by side to visually “home in” on the rough…

Before painting the waterdrop, observe the reaction of water on the plant surface. Different surfaces hold different shaped drops and some surfaces repel water so no drops form. Take some water and drop it on to the leaf surface and observe the shape and size of the drop the water forms. Think about suitability. Some flowers and leaves are not associated with waterdrops, while others such as camellias or roses are often represented with drops. The drops should not be too focal. The outline should be darker than the surface colour and the initial outline should be very fine. If the colour is too dark, or the final drop is too dark, the area will become very focal and the eye will be drawn directly to the drop. Waterdrops should…

GENESIS Are you looking for a Christmas present with a difference? Genesis Artists Supplies may be able to help you. We are now stocking metal measuring spoons, ultra fine brushes and high quality colour shapers as well as our usual range of brushes and Genesis Oil Paints. A great stocking filler or secret Santa gift for those artists who love accuracy in their colour mixing, measuring spoons are a great addition to their toolkit. You can measure a drop, a smidge, a pinch, a dash and a tad. These measurements are from about 1/64th of a teaspoon. They are also great for cooking! A great stocking filler or secret Santa gift for those artists who love accuracy in their colour mixing, measuring spoons are a great addition to their toolkit.…