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Artists Back to Basics|Volume 15 Issue 1

A History of Pigments

Pigments are the basis of all paint, formed originally by using different colours of ground clay, earth and rocks. They were made into a paint medium by mixing with animal fat or human saliva. For such an interesting and fertile subject, there is only time in this article to discuss some of the basic pigments which would be found in an artist’s pallet. Ochre and red oxides are some of the oldest pigments used by human kind. Evidence of ochre has been found in ancient burial sites such as Lake Mungo in Australia, where bones dated to around 65,000 years ago were found to be painted in ochre earth pigments. Ochre is usually a yellow or brown colour, and pigments can extend into purple and red hues. The mineral which…

6 min

Artists Back to Basics|Volume 15 Issue 1

Nothing but the Best

I have reached the magical French milestone of being ‘a woman of a certain age’. My life began in Sydney quite a few years ago. Now I live an almost idyllic life with my husband Tom … on our hill near the Queensland town of Agnes Water 1770. Five years ago, I left my professional life as a systems engineer and project manager in computer-telephony interfacing. Tom and I retired and decided to follow a relaxed lifestyle and enjoy the warm winds in our little part of paradise. After designing our new home, I felt an irresistible urge to start painting. That occurred on 16 October 2007, to be precise. My studio looks out over green valleys to blue hills … with the only sound being the native birds as…

5 min

Artists Back to Basics|Volume 15 Issue 1

Detailed Subjects on White Background

If you are painting a botanical art or natural history subject on a white background, ensure your work is protected at all times. Oils from your hand can leave greasy marks on the watercolour paper which are impossible to remove as they are absorbed into the paper. Protection will also prevent unwanted paint spots, splatters or dropped brushes from damaging your work. Simply use clear baking paper or a larger piece of tracing paper that will fit around your work. These papers are transparent and will also allow the hand to glide across the paper and not stick. Bend the edges of the protective paper over the top and bottom of the watercolour paper and tape at the rear. Draw a line around the area of your graphite drawing which…

4 min

Artists Back to Basics|Volume 15 Issue 1

Just a Girl

MATERIALS • Pure Cotton Duck Canvas –18 x 24 inches. Triple Primed with Acrylic Gesso; acid free; staple free edge.• Artists’ Acrylic Paints: White; Yellow Ochre; Cadmium Red; Burnt Sienna; Raw Umber; Cobalt Blue.• Art Spectrum Oil Paints (Professional Quality): White; Yellow Ochre; Cadmium Red; Burnt Sienna; Raw Umber; Cobalt Blue Deep; Viridian; Phthalo Blue.• Various Artists’ Brushes; Pencil; Palette Knife; Brush Cleaner; Water; Paper Towel and Rags. STEP ONE With acrylics, I undercoat the canvas roughly with a light blue mixture of White, Cobalt Blue and a touch of Yellow Ochre. I sketch my subject with pencil on tracing paper and transfer the drawing onto the dried canvas before outlining with Burnt Sienna. STEP TWO I begin painting the background using a mixture of White, Yellow Ochre, a touch…

3 min

Artists Back to Basics|Volume 15 Issue 1

Setting up your Space

Along, long time ago in the land of brown robed Christian Brothers and black and white Nuns, I lived in a world of Times Tables, Logic, English Grammar and the monotonous repetition of historical dates and facts. In this world, Art took a back seat on a very long bus. It amazes me that Artists actually emerged from this uncultured fog and I was especially amazed that some of us could even hold a pencil after being continually ruler rapped across the knuckles or copping the strap across the hand on an unhealthy daily basis. Because of this early ‘educational’ regimen I never had the opportunity to really appreciate art, as it was never accepted as a necessary part of life. It wasn’t until 1970 when Art began to be…

4 min

Artists Back to Basics|Volume 15 Issue 1

Magic Pencil Tricks

When it comes to freehand drawing, the pencil in your hand is so much more than simply the means of making marks on the paper. It’s also an absolutely indispensible tool that allows you to make any number of proportional judgements in the course of turning your blank sheet of paper into a finished work in graphite. In fact it’s the only tool you need with the added elegant serendipity of already being in your hand every time you need it. This article will be dealing with some of the many tricks and techniques a pencil is capable of as far as making positional and proportional judgements while drawing and exactly how to utilize them to make drawing freehand accurately a reality for anyone (fig 1). Any and every subject…

10 min

Artists Back to Basics|Volume 15 Issue 1

Down the Barcoo

STEP ONE I often work from plein air sketches done with oil crayons and combined with photographic references. However ‘Down the Barcoo’ arrived in my favourite way – just as an almost finished image in my mind’s eye. After preparing the canvas with two additional coats of gesso, lightly sanding at each coat, I loosely measured up the canvas into thirds vertically and horizontally. This brought the ‘wide open space’ into manageable sections to commence the charcoal outlines. I roughed in my centre of interest (being the mounted drover), and from there laid in the masses for the lightest and darkest areas before outlining the dusty herd. I included just the suggestion of a hill and trees to develop heights. The canvas stayed on my drying wall for a day…

5 min

Artists Back to Basics|Volume 15 Issue 1

Depicting People

THE PRELIMINARIES I first decide what it is I am attempting to achieve. I need to interview the subject and decide what characteristics of the subject I wish to express. I need to consider the attitude/disposition, facial features, clothing/uniform; and the social, professional or sporting context; and perhaps where the finished work is likely to be displayed. I next decide where the painting will be carried out. This may vary from studio to home or even an outdoor environment. Recently, I was asked to paint a portrait of a TV personality during a live national TV broadcast … something which some might find to be a rather disturbing intrusion! The selection of the medium is important. The choice of oils, acrylics, pastels or watercolours is something often predetermined – although…

6 min

Artists Back to Basics|Volume 15 Issue 1

“More Magic Tricks”

In the last article we looked at what an indispensible proportional judgement tool the pencil in your hand can be in the process of creating an accurate freehand line drawing. There are other techniques in the same vein that don’t require anything but your eyes so I will endeavour in this case to lay down some more very useful information to help you with your freehand drawing journey that with a bit (or a lot) of practise should soak in deep and become second nature to be dragged out of your subconscious instinctively whenever required and used to mercilessly flog any drawing project into abject submission. The first one that comes to mind is when you are well and truly stumped and for the life of you can’t seem to…

7 min

Artists Back to Basics|Volume 15 Issue 1

Artists’ Canvas and other Substrates Contributed

ART BASICS PROMOTES DELUXE PASTEL PAPERS FROM SCHMINCKE A unique and beautiful pastel support available is the premium quality Schmincke Sansfix pastel paper. Prepared on 360gsm acid free paper, the superfine coating of grit on the surface allows layers and layers of pastel to be put down – whilst retaining the ability for fine detail from the first stroke. This surface has a very high tooth allowing excellent pigment adhesion and decreasing the need for fixative. The Sansfix colour is unaffected by fixative and is lightfast. It is available in a limited range of soft tones; and the paper size is 50 x 65 cm. It is designed specially for use with soft pastels and charcoal. It is perfect for fine detail and also broader work. It has high durability…

25 min

Artists Back to Basics|Volume 15 Issue 1

Fired Art Gallery and Retreat

I love the human body, it seems … because I return to it time after time in sculpture, painting and drawing. Maybe I got the bug from poring over ‘Gombrich’ or ‘The History of Art’ – both long time art reference books – losing myself in fascination with the past. From fleshy, sinuous Rubens paintings to ‘The Nike of Samothrace’ (a winged but headless woman, marvelously sculpted); or the colourful and pleasure-giving abstractedness of Paul Cezanne. I loved it all. I spent my childhood learning how to draw from ‘how to draw’ books. I loved horses, so I drew them over and over – using ovals and boxes in constructing form. My early efforts weren’t remarkable, but there was something there. I was an average, artistically minded kid. But when…

4 min

Artists Back to Basics|Volume 15 Issue 1

Painting Humanity

Remia Montayre Homuk is originally from the Philippines town of Sindangan, Zamboanga del Norte. After moving to Sydney in 1984, she married and continued to follow her clear artistic destiny. This lady is a natural artist. She was born with the artistic gifts that she has nurtured and developed. She began to draw human faces and forms at the age of three, and her talent grew with her through childhood. At the tender age of 15, Remia was commissioned to sculpt the Holy Family for a private collection. With an artistic family background, Remia Homuk enjoyed a fertile environment in which to grow her talents. Her father (a sculptor) encouraged her to study architecture. Her mother was a school teacher. Remia is also a guitarist – with significant skills in…

2 min

Artists Back to Basics|Volume 15 Issue 1

Brush Strokes

We can create a completely different image using the same techniques with subtle differences. Because I’m often asked how I make water look realistic, I thought we would bury the techniques in an exercise, AND at the same time get a basic understanding of the elements that make up water. I’ve taken parts of this article from our web tutorial www.explore-acrylic-painting.com/how-to-paint-water.html, and have modified it specifically to investigate some brush techniques. For those of you who really want to transform the way you think about painting water, you might want to consider my DVD “Water Fundamentals”. As a special offer, Back to Basics readers can have a discount on our DVD tutorial 3 pack. Visit www.explore-acrylic-painting.com/AP-discount.html or see our ad in this magazine. This article is primarily about brush technique,…

6 min

Artists Back to Basics|Volume 15 Issue 1

Making a Painting

Greetings fellow artists. In Issue 2-3, I posed the question “Is there a painting here?” I presented my thoughts as to why people express dissatisfaction with their end result of copying pictures; and why, no matter how good it turned out, it could never be entered in a competition, nor sold as an original artwork. As an example of issues arising, that the artist must resolve, when creating an original work, I have written a two part article in which I will take you through my research; preliminary sketches; problems faced; and influences that shaped a painting I recently completed. It brings together ideas I have been discussing since I began writing these articles. It also answers unequivocally, the question I posed some time ago, as to whether doing this…

8 min