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Artists Back to Basics|Volume 14 Issue 3

The History of Drawing

The need to illustrate his surroundings has long been a hallmark of the human. Some claims suggest that our ancestors were drawing on the walls of their caves 35,000 years ago – embellishing the rocks with pictures of the animals that they hunted for food and clothing. Examples of such early artistry can still be found all over the world. Ancient Egyptians are believed to have dramatically advanced the art of drawing. Renowned as incredibly skilled engineers for their work in building imposing temples and the legendary pyramids, the Egyptians decorated their architectural achievements with meticulous and colourful drawings of theological figures and other icons. Their drawing work featured careful detail together with colour and balance. In the sixth century BC, the Greeks became the new representatives of balance in…

7 min

Artists Back to Basics|Volume 14 Issue 3

Artists’ Easels

THE ART STORE Telephone 02 6162 0982 M/04 WITH CRANK • Constructed of oiled, stain-resistant beech wood.• Canvas holder height is adjusted by a crank mechanism.• Adjustable working angle.• Extendable centre pole for use with canvases up to 235cm.• Pole and canvas are locked in the desired position by tightening screws at rear.• Sturdy base with four castors and leveling bolts.• Two storage trays.• Ideal for restoration work.• Available walnut lacquered on request (ref M/03). M/25 CONVERTIBLE LYRE EASEL • Constructed of oiled, stain-resistant beech wood.• Inclinable angle adjustment up to 15 degrees or in horizontal position.•Canvas holder height is adjusted by two sliding shelves.• Contemporary use of two canvases.• Ideal for oil and watercolour painting.• Simple assembly required. M/11 INCLINABLE • Constructed of oiled, stain-resistant beech wood.• Inclinable angle…

4 min

Artists Back to Basics|Volume 14 Issue 3

Cyclone the Macaw

MATERIALS • Genesis Heat Set Oil Colours: Genesis Red; Ultramarine Blue; Genesis Yellow; Sap Green; Phthalo Green; Titanium White; Burnt Umber; Red Oxide; Mars Black.• Brushes: Roymac Golden Sable sizes 000, 1, 2, 4 and 6.• Round Tip Palette Knife.• Background: Four coats of diluted Matisse Gesso, sanded between coats, on Saunders Hot Press Illustration Board.• GMC 1600 watt Heat Gun, to set the oil paint. STEP ONE After deciding on size and format, I drew the foreground objects to size with as much detail as possible before transferring them onto my prepared board. When I airbrush a background (as in this painting), I mask the bird and the branch with masking fluid. STEP TWO I checked the bckground colour against photographs taken, making sure that the foreground would stand…

3 min

Artists Back to Basics|Volume 14 Issue 3

Back of Bourke

Jenny Greentree resides on an ancient red ridge overlooking Gidgee Lake – quite literally out the ‘Back of Bourke’ in western New South Wales. Her home has been a source of inspiration which has helped to unlock her exciting God-given talents. Jenny uses pastels in a style that is fresh and crisp. She manipulates pure colours, line and tone to capture the extraordinary images of the Australian Outback which she experiences on a daily basis. Waking up to a spectacular sunrise, or driving down the road and being struck by the glistening light of the sun reflecting off an approaching storm, cannot fail to spark the creativity of this talented lady. She still responds in wonder at beautiful sunsets, and is still mesmerised by the sight of the moon rising…

3 min

Artists Back to Basics|Volume 14 Issue 3

In the Galleries

ONLINE AUCTIONS MOVE QUALITY ARTWORKS GraysOnline attracts 500,000 visitors to its retail website each month. The breadth of high quality new products on offer along with the excitement of the auction process keeps people coming back. GraysOnline is one of Australia’s top ten online retailers – offering customers everything from furniture and forklifts, to jewellery and cars. GraysOnline has developed a specialist Fine Arts department, achieving very successful corporate, private, gallery and artists’ own sales. These include the Ernst & Young, Westpac and Mirvac collections, which all exceeded owners’ expectations; Mendo Vasilevski, Kooroora, Alice Sundown and many other big name artists. Works handled recently by GraysOnline include paintings by Minnie Pwerle, Dorothy Rae Sullivan, Norman Lindsay and Jackie Abbott. Some of these pieces are shown here. The types of artworks…

2 min

Artists Back to Basics|Volume 14 Issue 3

Sun Catcher

The seaside with its vivid colours, endless movement and constant change is Scott Christensen’s muse. His work commits to canvas the beautiful crystal clear days south eastern Queensland is famous for as well as scenes of blustering seas during dramatic storms and local attractions such the distinctive Byron Bay and Coolangatta headlands. His subjects are close to his home and close to his heart and this shows in his careful rendition of colour and the attention to detail in his work. As a child, Scott remembers often drawing cartoons and even winning a stamp design competition when he was just ten. “I was always the kid that all the other ones would crowd around in the classroom to see what I was drawing,” he remembers. And even though he has…

5 min

Artists Back to Basics|Volume 14 Issue 3

Drawing: Fundamental to Good Art

Born with a fascination for anatomy, Brett Garling gained the nickname of ‘Monster’ at age five due to his early collecting of bones and animal specimens. ‘Monster’ was quickly shortened to ‘Mon’ and the name stuck. Brett is widely known as ‘Mon’ to friends and collectors alike. ‘Mon’ was born in Pambula in 1970. He spent his childhood in rural towns such as Lightning Ridge, Narrabri and Dubbo where his love of the bush and its characters was nurtured. These themes now play a dominant role in his work. Completely self-taught, he takes great pride in the fact that the influences of the modern art world have not clouded or plagued his development. He has used the greats such as Streeton, Roberts and Hoff as role models. Brett Garling’s fascination…

5 min

Artists Back to Basics|Volume 14 Issue 3

The Art of Drawing

Contributed DRAWING WITH OXLADES Drawing forms the cornerstone of every artist’s practice and is presently experiencing a resurgence in popularity as an artform in its own right. Whether your work is trendy or traditional, two-dimensional or sculptural, the humble pencil is likely to be your most important tool. Oxlades carries an extensive range of pencils plus a wide variety of drawing alternatives including pens, charcoals, mechanical pencils, graphite sticks, inks and nibs to suit any drawing project. These days, traditional graphite or ‘lead’ is available in an amazing variety of forms including sticks, powder and blocks; and (of course) the familiar wood-encased pencils. Graphite is graded in terms of softness, from 9B (the softest and therefore darkest) to 9H (the hardest, lightest and most difficult to erase). In the middle…

18 min

Artists Back to Basics|Volume 14 Issue 3

After the Storm

MATERIALS • Soft Chalk Pastels (artist quality) – hand-made by Jeff Waterson, Art Spectrum and Rembrandt.• Pastel Pencils – Stabilo CarbOthello – favourites include: 1400/105 Cream; 1400/760 Dark Blue Grey; 1400/635 Dark Brown; 1400/706 Grey.• Spray Fixative.• Kneadable Eraser.• Stanley Knife and Palette Knife.• Pastel Paper: Colourfix by Art Spectrum. STEP ONE I make a sketch, considering tone and compositional arrangement, remembering that sunlight will be a feature of this painting. I select most colours before I start, choosing colours with reference to photographs. I consider complementary colours and often exaggerate a little for impact. I use Colourfix pastel paper (half a sheet of Blue Haze for this picture) taped to board for stability. STEP TWO I draw in a horizon line with pastel pencil and block in cloud area…

4 min

Artists Back to Basics|Volume 14 Issue 3

Artistic Licence

From a very young age, I always liked to paint and draw. My first lessons were at the age of 13 years. I learned the basic principles of tone, form and perspective; beginning with charcoal before progressing to oils. I painted in oils until the mid 1980s and then moved on to watercolours. I attended a course in Bathurst which showed me a lot of different techniques in watercolours. I have used and adapted these techniques suit my own style, being predominantly self taught. Watercolours represented a real challenge. I attended some workshops, and the more I learned the more intrigued I became with the medium. Although at times I found it frustrating, I enjoyed experimenting and learning from my mistakes. I now paint mostly in watercolours; however I still…

3 min

Artists Back to Basics|Volume 14 Issue 3

Sunrise

MATERIALS • Canvas• Assorted oil paints: Pthalo Blue, Viridian Green, Indigo, Burnt Sienna, Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Orange, Forest Green, Gum Leaf Dark, Cadmium Yellow Light, Cadmium Green, Ultramarine Blue, Lemon Yellow, Titanium White,• Atelier Artist Quality Gesso• Assorted brushes: taklon flats, combs, long liners, taklon fan No 10, round, sable, large blending brush• Assorted colour pencils• Mineral turpentine• Paper towel• Masking tape• Solvent sealer I only ever use artist’s quality paint and mediums and finish with a solvent sealer. I use a variety of brushes I have collected over the years and have learnt not to throw any away as some of my most used and abused ones adapt well for various techniques. I have a large variety, but my most used brushes are taklon flats, combs and long liners…

6 min

Artists Back to Basics|Volume 14 Issue 3

Wonderful Wildlife

Brenda Holden spent her formative years in the foothills of Adelaide. Hiking around waterfalls in the area, she grew to love the abundant birdlife. While young, she spent many years in Broken Hill and outback Western Australia – all the while developing an appreciation for native wildlife. Her extensive travels in the country and the Australian Outback have lent authenticity to the wildlife habitats depicted in her paintings. Brenda worked mainly on commissions early in her career, then started to exhibit her work in the late ’90s. After joining the Wildlife Art Society of South Australia in 1996, she received the prize for ‘Best Watercolour’ at the society’s annual exhibition in 1997. She is an exhibiting member of The Wildlife Artist Society of Australasia and the Queensland Wildlife Artists Society;…

3 min

Artists Back to Basics|Volume 14 Issue 3

Hydrangea

MATERIALS • Paper: 175gsm Skytone Text Pewter (finished size 26 x 17 cm).• Propelling Pencils: Staedtler 2H and HB, 0.5 leads. The hydrangea in this demonstration drawing by Helene Wild was slowly wilting while she worked. Because she has found that flowers (in most cases) are the first parts of a plant o ‘flop’, she usually completes them before moving on to the leaves. STEP ONE Because it provides an interesting background, I selected a sheet of softly marbled pewter coloured paper for my drawing of a Mophead Hydrangea. Carefully examining the specimen from all angles, I determined its shape would best suit a landscape format. I began by very lightly marking (so lightly that the lines were hardly visible) where the main elements would be positioned – the large…

4 min

Artists Back to Basics|Volume 14 Issue 3

Art Substrates

MATISSE DERIVAN DOUBLE PRIMED ARTIST CANVAS Matisse Derivan has recently introduced an exciting addition to its stable of products – Matisse Derivan Double Primed Artist Canvas. This range includes 11 canvases, incorporating three varieties of black canvas that will provide an inspiring choice for all discerning artists. Matisse Derivan Double Primed Artist Canvas is the product of collaboration between WCT (Wax Converters Textiles), Australia’s leading canvas mill, and Matisse Derivan, Australia’s leading artist acrylic manufacturer. These two companies working together have combined the very best of their ranges to produce the ultimate painting surface. WCT’s high quality canvas fabrics are all coated with acrylic primer (gesso) from Matisse Derivan, made to exacting standards; and the canvas and coating are gently dried under tension, maintaining perfect warp and weft structure. The…

19 min

Artists Back to Basics|Volume 14 Issue 3

Morning Reflections – Echuca

MATERIALS • Arches 340gsm hot press paper.• Colour palette: Cobalt Blue; Indigo; Raw Sienna; Burnt Sienna; Black; Windsor Red.• Brushes: Number 12 Raphael mop; Number 8 mop; Number 6 mop; Number 3 and Number 5 Golden Sable synthetic. I photographed this scene on a trip to Echuca. I have always been inspired by the majestic gums on the Murray River and the historic port of Echuca. Step 1 I started with a drawing on layout paper and transferred it to Arches 340gsm hot press paper. The reason for the use of layout paper was so I would not to rub out my final art work (the surface of the paper gets damaged by erasing mistakes). Next, I marked out the highlights on the pier and gum trees with masking fluid.…

3 min