Artist's Palette - Yearbook 2015

Meet Five AMAzing Artists

the MAgAzine For ALL Artists

eAsy to FoLLowDeMonstrAtionseAsy to FoLLow

DeMonstrAtions

sAnDgAte Art society Be InspIred By talented artIsts

hoMe is where the Art is dalerIe patterson

sAnDgAte Art society Be InspIred By talented artIsts

hoMe is where the Art is dalerIe patterson

FuLL oF tips AnD techniques

FuLL oF tips AnD techniques

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Y e a r b o o kYe a r b o o kArtistsArtists

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4 Artists Palette

Welcome to our 2015 Yearbook issue.Inside these pages are profiles and project demonstrations from five fabulous artists, and we hope that their stories and tutorials will give you a wealth of ideas and inspiration.

Theres also plenty happening in the art world, from exhibitions to competitions, and we cover a brilliant selection of these in our Art Beat and Whats On sections.

We love to showcase the artistic works of talented Australians, from

enthusiastic beginners to accomplished artists, so if youre keen to be featured in our magazine, please send in your submissions to us.

Readers letters are always welcome at Artists Palette magazine. Please email correspondence to: The Editor, [email protected], or post your contributions to Artists Palette, PO Box 8035, Glenmore Park, NSW, 2745.

Simon and team

Editors NoteEditors Note

By Geoff Gunness

1 artist

FEATURES46 Sandgate Art Society (SAS) Practise, Aspire, Inspire

72 The Studio With Dalerie Patterson

Cover image by Rhonwyn Rasmanis

ContentsContentsYearbook 2015/16 62

INSIGHTS16 Amanda Hyatt Realising there are no rules and you

are calling the shots will help you advance in art.

26 Michelle Ripari Art is an absolute obsession I

cannot imagine it to be without those pencils that are part of me

38 Rhonwyn Rasmanis This prolific artist is making the most

of her retirement, creating amazing travel diaries by drawing the birds and animals she and her husband see on their frequent holidays.

56 Corinne Columbo The encouragement from the nurses

during her childhood stint in hospital helped forge the future career of this international artist.

62 Geoff Gunness Far from a quiet retirement, this artist

is now revelling in his new career, sketching a fascinating variety of subject matter.

38

REGULARS4 Editorial8 ArtBeat14 Woodlands Gallery74 Classifieds 75 Book Reviews76 Book Store82 Next Issue

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DEMONSTRATIONS 22 Watercolours Making an Impression

with Watercolour The following demonstration is from a

photo taken fromAmanda Hyatt Travelrite International tour to New Zealand.

32 Pencils The Craggy Old Gum Tree Since attempting her first landscape last

year, Michelle Ripari has discovered a hidden appreciation and fascination for anything to do with the Australian bush.

42 Gouache Should we or Shouldnt we? Rhonwyn Rasmanis draws these superb

Blue Wrens with a Ramie Moth caterpillar

59 Acrylics Setting the Scene The deckchairs are out and the umbrellas are

up all in readiness for another day at the seaside. By Corinne Columbo.

68 Pencils The RES - Newcastles Hidden Treasure

An uncommon subject matter, the subterranean reservoir is perfectly reflected in this powerful drawing.

This months Woodlands Gallery prize.

See page 12 to see how you could win a fabulous prize

The fi rst edition of each of our colouring books Relax & Colour,

Colouring Life and Australian Colouring Therapy.

The fi rst edition of each of

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8 Artists Palette

artbeatArtist, composer and broadcaster Julian Day was awarded the 2015 Fauvette Loureiro Memorial Artists Travel Scholarship from Sydney College of the Arts, valued at $28,000.

Julian was among five artists shortlisted for one of Australias biggest contemporary art prizes of the year. A radio presenter on ABC Classic FM, Day recently completed a Master of Fine Art degree at SCA in 2013. In a short period of time, Day has gone on to participate in several solo and group exhibitions in Australia including at the Queensland Art Gallery of Modern Art, as well as projects internationally at the Prague Quadrennial, Bang On A Can Marathon in New York, and the National Portrait Gallery in London.

The judging panel included Art Gallery of NSW curator Nicholas Chambers and four SCA lecturers: Dr John Di Stefano, Dr Karin Findeis, Justin Trendall and Andrew Lavery. The panel unanimously agreed that Julian Days sound-based artwork represented a particularly compelling body of artwork.

Judge and Selection Committee Chair, Associate Professor John Di Stefano said: Julian has a unique way of making sound visible. He has successful brought together three sound works in the SCA gallery space, synthesizing them into an elegant installation that makes us

experience sound in a different way. Consequently, his work makes us also think about sound differently, as something more tangible.

Julian commented: I am absolutely thrilled. Originally my heart sank when I saw the four other artists I was up against in this exhibition as their work is incredible. Whilst I have enjoyed some success in Australia, I will seize the opportunity to use this award to spend some time in three key contemporary art cities - New York, London and Berlin - to expand my practice.

The artist cites the influence of music in his artwork, which explores how sound can reveal social, territorial and atmospheric relationships. His works typically use homogeneous sound to capture and instigate turbulence within different spaces and environments such as railway sheds, market places, laneways, parks and galleries.

In the SCA exhibition Days three works White Noise (2015), Antechamber (2015) and Studies in Unison (2014-2015) are simple yet evocative, encompassing installation, video, sound and performance.

Associate Professor John Di Stefano concluded: We felt that this is a particularly opportune moment in Julians career trajectory. In keeping with spirit of this award, we felt Julian would benefit

significantly given the opportunity to develop his work and ideas further overseas at this time.

Web: http://sydney.edu.au/sca/alumni/fauvette-loureiro.shtml

About the scholarshipSet up in 2003, the scholarship celebrates the bequest of the late Renee Erdos, a graduate of The University of Sydney, who founded the History Teachers Association of NSW. The scholarship was established in memory of her mother Fauvette Loureiro, the eldest daughter of Portuguese painter Arthur Loureiro (1853-1932) who came to Australia in 1885 and established an association with the Heidelberg School in Melbourne.

The annual award supports an SCA graduate to continue the development of their practice through international travel. Drawing from a wealth of talent from recent SCA graduates, the Fauvette Loureiro prize and exhibition has cemented a reputation for showcasing outstanding contemporary art.

Below left: Julian DayBelow right: Work by SCA alumnus Julian Day, winner of the 2015 Fauvette Loureiro Memorial Artists Travelling Scholarship. Photo: Ben Rushton

SCA AwArdS JuliAn dAy $28,000 Art prize

Artists Palette 9

Margaret Coens daughter Margaret Stewart recently donated a large collection of her mothers works to the New England Regional Ar t Museum (NERAM). Margaret Coen is best known as a water colourist and a flower painter. This exhibition includes paintings, watercolours, paintings on fabric, drawings and wonderful sketchbooks which reveal the breadth of her work and the development of her style from a traditionalist to the greater freedom in her use of colour and line.

Born in Yass in 1909, this highly regarded artist died in Sydney in 1993. Margaret studied under Dattilo Rubbo and Sydney Long at the Royal Art Society School. Norman Lindsay was also Margaret Coens mentor and teacher as well as a very close friend.

Margaret Coen has three paintings in the National Gallery of Australia. Her paintings are also represented in NSW and Queensland ar t galleries as

well as many regional galleries. She won many ar t awards including the Goulburn Ar t prize 1964, the Pring Prize 1968, and the prestigious RAS Prize for watercolour in 1972. In 1989 a book was written about her by her daughter Margaret Stewart called A Passion For Painting, which won the Australian Industry Award.

CoenS CirCle

Right: Green and Gold, Margaret Coen, watercolour, Gift of Howard Hinton 1942 Below left: September Flowers, Margaret Coen, watercolour, Gift of Howard Hinton 1939Below right: Camelias, Margaret Coen, watercolour, Gift of Howard Hinton 1944

Margaret Coen, Coens CircleNERAM, Richard Lalor Harris Gallery106-114 Kentucky StreetArmidale, NSW, 2350Works from NERAMs contemporaries by Coens friends and contemporaries are also included in the exhibition.www.neram.com.au

10 Artists Palette

artbeatPolish collective Monstfur won the 2015 Stencil Art Prize. Monstfur takes home a $3000 cash prize and a Stencil Art Prize Award Plate by Principal Partner Royal Doulton. The title also provides important international exposure and recognition for the winner.

The Stencil Ar t Prize began in 2009 as an Australian-only prize and expanded in 2013 to include international ar tists. Previous winners include Miss Link (Australia 2009), E.L.K (Australia 2010), Ralf Kempkpen (2012 and 2013, Australia), David Soukup (USA, 2013), 23rd Keys (2011 and 2014, Australia).

Monstfur was founded in 2006 by two young ar tists from Czstochowa in the southern par t of Poland. The ar tists work collaboratively together on their hand cut stencils and describe themselves as, by-products of modern life and the cultural carrion of generations past.

They draw inspiration from an absurd sense of Polish humour and frequently depict humans curious behaviours and traditions.

Monstfurs works are mostly stories of the everyday man and his world of deviations, habits, and weaknesses, and also joy and remarkable interests. The ar tworks evoke their early childhood in the 80s, as well as industrial design, urban dystopia and social infrastructure.

Monstfur stencils have been exhibited around the world in Sydney, Berlin, Paris, Stockholm and throughout Poland. Their work is held in numerous private collections and can be found on the streets in Poland. Monstfur received a Highly Commended for the 2014 Stencil Art Prize.

Countries represented in the 2015 Stencil Art Prize include Brazil, Japan, Cyprus, Turkey, Colombia, United Kingdom, Chile, Australia, Russia, U.S.A, France, Guatemala Scotland, Canada, Spain, Czech Republic, Thailand, Germany, Norway, Italy, Poland and The Netherlands.

View finalists here (http://www.stencilartprize.com/2015-finalist-gallery/).

About stencil art prizeSince its conception in 2009, the Stencil Art Prize has enabled artists to expand and explore alternative ways of approaching the boundaries of the stencil art form. The Stencil Art Prize began as an Australian only art prize with 13 finalists with a start-up grant from Marrickville Council, and grew to expand to an international art prize with 92 finalists spanning 21 countries.

Above: The winning hand cut stencil GRIME S0-019 Left: Polish collective Monstfur (shown here in anonymous masks) were announced the winner of this years Stencil Art Prize

2015 StenCil Art prize

Artists Palette 11

After two triumphant exhibitions at Prahrans Chaotic Gallery, during October and November Melbourne artist Michael Scott brought his latest collection to Sydneys eclectic Project 504 at St Leonards in Sydney.

Quirky and sometimes provocative, Michaels work is at once playful yet spiritual the expression of a life fully lived. Renowned for his large scale urban vistas of his home suburb of St Kilda, Michaels latest portfolio includes familiar Sydney landscapes, such as the Sydney Harbour, and striking figurative work, featuring oil in a large array of sizes and formats from spectacular canvasses to fully formed works barely larger than a telephone.

The collection is completed by a small selection of absurdist sculptural elements, often amusing, arguably disturbing.

Michael is a true original, whose art

takes a penetrating but entertaining look at the life we lead, said artist Wayne Tindall from Melbournes Chaotic Gallery.

Michael Scott cant remember a time when he didnt paint. School study and spor t always played second fiddle to escaping into a world of his own creation. Years spent holding down a career in corporate finance ultimately proved futile when, late last year, Michael decided to devote himself to painting and expression. A well-known face around his home suburb of St Kilda, Michael has incorporated its ideas and architecture into his work, while in return St Kilda plays host to his ar t in the form of numerous in store ar tworks and exterior wall decorations.

Project 504504 Pacific HighwaySt Leonards NSW

Top: Fish sculpture: Ontological cosmophish and Michael Scott.Above: The Astor by Michael Scott

CoeurlAnd: the heArt of MiChAel SCott

Phot

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Way

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inda

ll

Leading contemporary Australian visual artist Jacky Redgates use of mirrors is the subject of the University of Sydneys Art Gallerys recent exhibition.

Light and reflection are a common theme of Redgates oeuvre and she reinvents this in Mirrors, her latest show, which incorporates photographic abstraction and features a new project using photographs found by the artist.

Many artists prefer the futuristic bling of neon, but Redgate looks backwards when she plays with light, said curator Ann Stephen. She returns to the past in many ways, to the antique world of hand-printed analogue film, morphing early twentieth century geometric abstraction with the ancient genre of still life.

Redgate has been exhibiting for 25 years. She has been part of the Biennale of Sydney and Australian Prespecta. She has held solo shows at major museums and galleries including the Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia, the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts, Sydneys Museum of Contemporary Art and the Art Gallery of NSW.

The multi-disciplinary Redgate has reinvented her oeuvre in the last

two decades, with a series of studio experiments engaging light and reflection. This latest exhibition offers an opportunity for visitors to consider her work anew, combining photographic abstraction and an autobiographical mask of mirrors, say Stephen.

Mirrors have become an obsession of Redgates and are a common thread in her work. Introducing Pears Baby Contest photographs March 1959 into her body of work, Redgate now links her impersonal optical mirror works with her personal and early works, as art writer Robert Leonard explains: Jacky Redgate came into the (art) world as the conflicted offspring of feminism on the one hand and minimalism and conceptualism on the other. Where minimalism and conceptualism resisted expressionism and suppressed psycho-biography, the womens art movement clung to them. Which way to go? Whats a girl to do?

Jacky Redgate was born in London 1955 and emigrated to Australia in 1967. She received her Bachelor of Arts from the South Australian School of Art in 1980, a Master of Visual Art from Sydney College of the Arts in 1998 and a Doctor

of Creative Arts from the University of Wollongong in 2014.

Exhibitions aside, recent career highlights include: 1st prize Bowness Photography Prize, Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne (2011), and Curator, 1967: Selected works from the MCA Collection, Sydney (200405).

Below: Light Throw (Mirrors) Fold, 201314 chromogenic photograph face mounted on acrylic. 126 x 158cmCourtesy the artist and Arc One Gallery, Melbourne and William Wright Artists Projects, Sydney

JACky redgAte refleCtS

16 Artists Palette

ARTISTS PALETTE magazine seeks to showcase the works of talented Australians producing art at a whole range of skill levels, whether they are accomplished creative people with a long history of achievements or beginners (of all ages) striving to build their identities and reach their particular artistic goals.

This Gallery segment provides a place to display pictures by people who may not have the means or the opportunity to be extensively featured in our magazine. Submissions are sought from such people for future issues.

This month we are pleased to display the work of four enthusiastic artists.

Woodlandsgallery

Each issue we give an encouragement prize to one of our contributors in Woodlands Gallery. This issues

gallery winner will receive a copy of the first edition of each of our colouring books Relax & Colour, Colouring Life and

Australian Colouring Therapy.Go to page 25 if you would like to subscribe!

Our series of adult colouring books are a wonderful form of therapy that provide hours of relaxation. The clever and beautiful designs used in each of the books are sure to capture your attention as you

forget about the daily stresses of life and unwind with this delightful colouring experience.

THE PERFECT WAY TO UNLEASH YOUR CREATIVE SIDE!

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Artists Palette 17

These feature pages are reserved for displaying the work of emerging and

developing Australian artists; as well as other unknowns whose efforts may

provide interest for our readers.

Hi Simon,My work is varied but interesting and I teach classes at the gallery (gallery67). My passion is for watercolour but I do delve into other mediums as well and also a bit of mixed media to keep it all interesting. I have recently put my hand to figurative and faces. I am inspired by everything around me and have a pull towards painting wildlife but mainly birds. A very recent idea that has me very excited is painting on old nautical charts, a supply I obtained from my partner and other sailing friends

RegardsMarion Hughes

Marion Hughes

Marion HughesMarion Hughes

Marion Hughes

18 Artists Palette

WoodlandsgalleryPrize

Winner

Dear SimonI just looked at the Creative Artist which I always read with great interest. I nd it exiting to see the art of other people and read their stories. So I got the idea to send you some of my animal paintings.

Kind regards, Susanne Schmidlin

Susanne Schmidlin

Susanne Schmidlin Susanne Schmidlin

Susanne Schmidlin

Artists Palette 19

Mail your submission to: Woodlands Gallery, Artists Palette magazine, PO Box 8035, Glenmore Park NSW 2745 or email to [email protected].

Be sure to include a contact telephone number with your submission.

If you are a developing artist and would like to see your own work in Woodlands Gallery, please submit some good quality images (300dpi) on cd or dvd or photographs of the painting/s you want to display in the magazine. If you would like to, you may include a photograph of yourself to accompany the picture/s of your art. Please also supply a brief description of your background, your creative motivation, and your artistic aspirations.

Dear Simon,Would you do me a great favour and have a look at these drawings of mine I have shown them my family and friends and they keep asking me, why are you still a chef when you can draw like this? But nice comments from friends is one thing, having a professional look over them is another. So if you have time, please cast your eyes over them and see what you think. These are all approximately 65cmx50cm in size and are drawn on illustration board.

Richard Norris

We think your drawings are great and I encourage you to enter competitions to gain valuable feedback from the judges. We will get one of resident artists to contact you for a more detailed discussion.

Best wishesSimon

Steven Gooch This drawing had taken me around three weeks to complete. I used various techniques to create the finished drawing. My technique mainly consisted of dry brushing, and blending with a stump pencil. Creating the fabric around the face was time consuming, but it was worth the time effort. Building layers one step at a time was the secret to creating the finished drawing.My attitude towards drawings that interest me are the ones not practical and dont have an audience in mind, just the artist expression of who I am. My drawings, whether you love it or hate it, are honest, and this creates my own reality.

Best wishes Steven Gooch

Steven Gooch

Richard Norris

Richard Norris

16 Artists Palette

I N S I G H T

Amanda Hyatt

Amandas ArtRealising there are no rules and you are calling the shots

will help you advance in art.

Interior

Artists Palette 17

I N S I G H T

Amanda Hyatt has been a professional artist for 30 years and is mainly self-taught. She is a member of the Twenty Melbourne Painters Society (since 1992) and the Australian Watercolour Institute. She has won many prestigious awards including The Camberwell Gold Medal, The Kenneth Jack, The Bale and Artist of the Year at the Victorian Artists Society. Amanda has many media productions including DVDs by APV Films (UK) and two sponsored episodes with Colour in Your Life. She has recently been described in LArt de LAquarelle as one of the worlds masters of en plein air watercolour.

In addition to being recognised as one of the worlds premier watercolourists, she is also recognised as one of the worlds great teachers of the medium. Amanda teaches nationally and internationally; her workshops are very popular, usually with waiting lists. Refer to her website http://amandahyatt.com.au/ for details of upcoming painting workshop holidays for 2016 (France, Portugal and Norfolk Island).

In her own words:As an alla prima watercolour

artist (meaning painting it right the first time with sensitivity, thought and intellect), I adhere to the methods and ideas of traditional, realist, impressionist art that was undertaken by the French Impressionists. Their aim was to use minimal brush strokes for maximum effect while capturing the light, subsequently giving the painting a sense of time, light, mood and magic.

As a professional artist with 33 solo exhibitions and many major awards behind me, I aim to perpetuate the teaching of the ways of becoming an artist rather than just a painter.

Grey May Day Venice

Geelong Marina

Conargo Horses

18 Artists Palette

I N S I G H T

This is by aiming to produce a memorable piece of art using your own personality, emotion, skill, talent and the never ending search for the it factor. My passion is all about the light, the tones and the impact a piece of art can have, so I try to aim for this every time I paint, always being aware of the need for five steps to undertake to make this happen. I have a DVD called Five Steps To Watercolour produced by APV Films UK, which demonstrates this process, and I would like to explain these steps.

My method of painting is to see the big picture first, analyse it, compose, build, highlight then refine with the details last. So here are the five steps to proceeding with my method.

COMPOSITIONYou will be attracted to a subject for various reasons. Perhaps it is somewhere you have wanted to paint; something may have caught your eye; it may be a certain time of the day creating magic shadows; you may love boat scenes or street scenes or landscapes or still life; you may have seen someone elses work or a photo in a book. For whatever reason you now want to paint the image.

Often people just start copying without much thought about how they can take the image to another level, sometimes often just laboriously copying an enlarged photo. This will only produce a stagnant copy and frustration at ones inability to be perfect. Recomposing the image by omitting unnecessary detail and repositioning things is up to the artist as you are in the drivers seat, and just because the photo has an ugly large pylon in the scene, you dont have to paint it.

Realising there are no rules and you are calling the shots will help you advance in art. The image should only be used for inspiration, reference, basic composition purposes and ideas about colour, tone and light. After

The White Horse of the Buzkashi

Malaysian Market

Artists Palette 19

I N S I G H T

a while, an artist is so immersed in their creativity that they actually stop looking at the image. This is the difference between an artist and a painter. But back to the methods! The basic Golden Rule about dividing your paper into thirds helps you to position various items in your painting, giving you a starting chance for a good outcome. At the end of the painting, if the composition is wrong then it can come good with attempts at scrubbing out or adding other items. However, it is better to get the composition right first up.

COLOURIf your image is grey and colourless (viewing something at midday usually causes this) then YOU can change the various elements as you are the creative artist. The brown dam in the foreground of a landscape does not have to be brown; a blue sky need not be blue. it can be mauve, pink or yellow; use blues and browns for foliage instead of green;

Helsinki Habour

By the Fire

20 Artists Palette

I N S I G H T

if the scene has a yellow boat in the centre and you dont like yellow, then change it to something you would like; often if the sky is busy with gum trees then dont paint the sky at all, just leave it white paper;

start to think and realise that you are not an artist if you are just enlarging a photo and copying it stroke for stroke. Being an artist is more creative and it is more rewarding than being a painter.

TONESome experts say there are 11 tones, some say five, and others just dont know. I believe there are three: light, middle and dark. Many painters are fearful of darker tones, meaning strength of paint. Colour and tone are different. Layering the same colour on top of the same colour will build up tone and possibly lead to mud, but mixing the correct amount of paint with the right amount of water creates a more spontaneous tone. Light tones (not much paint and a lot of water) are necessary for early washes and areas in the light. As you proceed into the shadows, middle tones (more paint, less water) are required and finally dark tones (much more paint and much less water until you are painting wet-in-wet) give the painting a solidity from which the lighter tones can contrast.

MAGIC LIGHTCreating mood by glazing & shadows:Mood and light can be captured several ways. If the image is painted on a sunny day there will be natural shadows falling across buildings, paddocks, under trees, under people and even across a floral still life ...

A Fine Red

Chioggia Canal

Florence from the Campanile

Artists Palette 21

I N S I G H T

the petals being in front or behind each other.

Most of my students realise that creating shadows can change a painting into a piece of art and are delighted when their paintings suddenly come alive. This is because the light will suddenly become visible and the painting will be charged with energy. If the day is cloudy there are other ways to create a feeling of moody glowing light and this is by glazing foregrounds or skies or water with more graded washes. Painting rainy scenes is easy as the reflections on the ground create the light. Students often ask me what colour to do the shadows and I use several combinations: straight Ultramarine Blue or Ultramarine and Mauve or Alizarin Crimson and Black or Viridian or Burnt Sienna or Quinachridone Gold. The secret is to glaze or paint shadows with transparent colours.

PULLING THE PAINTING TOGETHER

A painting should not take you more than an hour and a half. You will only start to make a mess after this. The use of a mirror is vital throughout the painting process and I will use one at least 15 times. Viewing your painting in reverse helps you to get back on track and shows you if it is unbalanced. As you near completion, the mirror can help direct you in pulling it together. You may need another tree or you may need to scrub out the awful mess you made of the person sitting at the table. Usually, it just requires adding interest such as ropes, poles, bollards, seagulls, nets and masts in a boat scene. Or more trees, branches, fences, hills or grass in a landscape. It is just the final touches that are required to finish off your work. The main point is to remember to not overdo it. n

Dartmouth

Chioggia Lady

22 Artists Palette

D E M O N S T R A T I O N

Making an Impression with Watercolour

Watercolours

The following demonstration is from a photo taken from the artists

Travelrite International tour to New Zealand.

By Amanda Hyatt

STEP ONEThe composition is triangular with height on the left hand side. The blue boat is placed on the vertical left hand third. I reversed the blue boat

so that it faced me which solved the problem of painting an ugly stern. I did not want to paint the large red metal crane on the centre boat as it was too central and also unattractive.

STEP TWOA graded wash of Ultramarine Blue and Cerulean Blue was layered over the full sheet. The hills were painted wet-in-wet using the same

FINAL STEP

Artists Palette 23

colour combination but thickly applied as the water was already on the paper. This gives a diffused hill line rather than a hard edge.

STEP THREELooking at basic shapes, I painted them with varying sized square synthetic brushes, not concerning myself with any details at this point. I used Burnt Sienna, Cerulean Blue, Sepia and Alizarin Crimson.

STEP FOURThe hills were darkened, and dark reflections were added under the pier. Dark contrasts were placed against light areas to create a sense of something there, rather that actually painting the paraphernalia on the decks of the boats. An impression is all that is needed, as the eye will pull it together when the finished painting is viewed.

MATERIALS

Paints Ultramarine Blue Cerulean Blue Burnt Sienna Sepia Alizarin Crimson Black Prussian Blue White Gouache

Brushes Square synthetic brushes, various sizes Mops, hakes, riggers and round synthetics

STEP ONE

STEP TWO

STEP THREE

REFERENCE PHOTO

24 Artists Palette


STEP FIVEAnother glaze of Black and Prussian Blue was added to the pier area and also to the left hand side of the blue boat.

FINAL STEPThe painting was pulled together by adding the details which included rigging, masts, ropes, dots and dashes, ripples and reflections in the water.

White Gouache mixed with Burnt Sienna was used for the ropes and details on the pier. It was also mixed with Cerulean Blue for breaking up the dark areas in the water. The final painting is an interpretation and impression of the scene in the photograph, not a literal copy.

Contact details:Web: http://amandahyatt.com.au

ARTISTS HINTS AND

TIPS Make every brush stroke

count. Dont fiddle. Be swift and sure and confident.

Create negative spaces. That is leave some whites in strategic places especially to create lines. Rather than painting the line, do it with tone by leaving a gap so that the previous wash shows through and creates the line.

Soften the edges of walls, tops of trees, arms on people, and dont leave harsh lines. This applies to everything in a painting and is often explained in terms of leaving lost and found edges.

Have some quiet areas in a painting. It is not necessary to keep everything busy. The eye needs to stop and work its way around your painting. This is the difference between art and painting. When you buy a painting you want to continually be intrigued by it. You want it to keep reflecting energy in forms of busy areas and quiet areas. A stagnant copied picture will always remain so.

Do not go back and think you can make your painting better, especially at night. You will ruin it.

Use a mirror constantly to keep looking for balance. Often when you get stuck and dont know how to progress, viewing your work in reverse through a mirror will either tell you that it is ok or will direct you where to go next. Trust me this works. Give it a try if you have never done this before.

Dont be fearful of mistakes. Mistakes are important for your own progress. A small mistake in the early stages is often not even visible at the end of the painting, as you will have distracted the viewer away from this by much of the other work in the painting. Remember that from a distance small mistakes are often invisible so dont get bothered by them too early on. The eye is easily deceived.

STEP FOUR

STEP FIVE


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26 Artists Palette

I N S I G H T

Michelle Ripari

Pencils are an Extension of my Fingertips

Art is an absolute

obsession

I cannot imagine it

to be without those

pencils that are part

of me; my fingers,

my hands, my whole

being. I wont allow

them to break free.

Born and raised in Bendigo, Victoria, I couldnt really say if there was a defining moment in my childhood when I decided I wanted to be an artist. What I do remember is that I have always loved to draw. I actually aspired to be a teacher but it seemed that pencils, either colour or graphite, had become an extension of my fingertips and would not break away easily.

I often was asked if my talent ran in the family, and can easily remember my dad spending many hours sketching and colouring the props for our primary school musical productions. There may be some innate ability, yet I also think that if an individual has a passion for something, whether it be drawing, baking or

Artists Palette 27

I N S I G H T

singing, that passion fuels improvement. It may be only a slight progression or an undeniable gift.

With no formal training as an artist, not long after high school I drew a portrait in graphite that truly captured my creative soul, this portrait being none other than the icon Marilyn Monroe.

Yet completing a few portraits for friends did not pull me away hard enough from continuing the pathway to becoming a teacher. I had little time for dabbling with pencils throughout four years at university and the start of my teaching career. But my life would take an unexpected and dramatic twist when I was injured while teaching in an autistic school setting, a back injury later being diagnosed as Post Traumatic Fibromyalgia Syndrome.

Over the next few years, my love of drawing seemed all but forgotten with my attention focused completely on our young family of four children, trying to come to terms with chronic pain and being physically unable to return to teaching.

Whether one door shut and it was the right time for another to open I dont know, but I do know that the gentle persuasion I received from family members was all the encouragement I needed to pick up a pencil again. It was clearly obvious to me that those pencils had never been far out of reach because when I firmly grabbed hold of them in my fingers, only four years ago, it felt to be the beginning of a beautiful and lifelong relationship between us.

So began a handful of commissions which I wrestled between my duties of motherhood. I was incredibly honoured to be published in Ann Kullbergs Color magazine as the Spotlight Artist for September 2015, and I was quoted, I wish I could lock up the kids and draw all day! I wont deny it of course, as my drawing time is extremely limited, but I do adore my children. I admit I have a sarcastic sense of humour and I always warn people not to take me too seriously!

28 Artists Palette

I N S I G H T

Admittedly, I havent experimented too much with other mediums, but with pencils I love that they are precise. I like to saturate the whole paper, creating a painterly effect using both blenders and solvent. I believe that the best quality tools and equipment are a necessity, just as any professional would invest in. My pencils of choice are Faber-Castell Polychromos, Caran dAche Luminance and Prismacolor Premier Pencils.

As an artist, my compulsion is to capture every detail that I see. My aim is that from a distance the viewer can appreciate the overall scene or study for its value, colour and composition, but I also want the viewer to step closely and see the painting come alive in other ways with the detail of shape, colour and texture.

I have an appreciation for portraits, as a face can tell a thousand stories if given the opportunity to express it.

I was honoured to have a portrait of Julie Toner used as the front cover illustration of her book Just A Little Unwell published in 2013. Both Julies portrait and her own words within the book reflect her journey and her triumph over bowel cancer.

Working with graphite, particularly Mars Staedtler Lumographs, I came to a turning point thanks to a couple of chickens named Lulu and Delilah, whose memory deserved

Artists Palette 29

I N S I G H T

to be captured in colour. And so my absolute passion and adoration for colour pencils began. I never thought to use them beforehand and had not the opportunity, time to experiment or quality materials to use.

When I began using colour pencils just over a year ago, I painted my first landscape because I was fascinated by the subject and have always adored the bush. It would be the turning point in my confidence in one of the darkest periods in my life. I love the quote by Thomas Merton, Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time. While painting this scene, I could close myself away from the world and lose myself within my work. But yet, maybe because art

is my passion and therefore part of my being, so together with faith and family . . . I found myself again.

Many of my friends were not surprised when I seriously began to pursue art, and Ive since had an abundance of support from family, friends and artists via Facebook. Artists in this day and age should consider themselves lucky that their chosen profession is not completely isolating as it once was. We are able to share our successes and failures within an instant, and draw upon advice, encouragement and constructive criticism. When I reflect on my success in the past year, Im nothing but overwhelmed. I am continuously learning and evolving

with my skills and technique. With every painting completed, I have refined my expertise so much more. The quote, Practice is the best of all instructors, (Publilious Syrus) reflects my own thoughts perfectly.

Ive been especially blessed and humbled to have received acknowledgement from my peers for my work through online and live exhibitions and shows including: Highly Commended at the Royal

Melbourne Show 2015 Best New Artist at the Werribee

Rotary Art Show 2014 Winner Just Pencils Category in the

ACPN online exhibition 2014 2nd Prize at the Werribee Annual Art

Show 2013

30 Artists Palette

I N S I G H T

I have also been very grateful to have two of my artworks put on public display at St. John of God Hospital, Maternity Ward in Bendigo, and Bellbridge Primary School Hoppers Crossing. I am also tremendously privileged to have had my artwork published numerous times in the last 12 months including in Ann Kullbergs Hidden Treasures II and Colored Pencil Magazine.

Most recently, Im thrilled and honoured to take part alongside some of the most talented and humble colour pencil artists Australia has to offer, in founding AUSCPA Australian Society of Coloured Pencil Artists Inc., which was launched officially in early October 2015.

Art is an absolute obsession and a part of my life that I could not be without. Whatever my future will hold, I cannot imagine it to be without those pencils that are part of me; my fingers, my hands, my whole being. I wont allow them to break free.

Email: [email protected]: www.michelleripariart.comFacebook: www.facebook.com/ArtbyMichelleRipari n

1 artist

32 Artists Palette


The Craggy Old Gum TreePencils

Since attempting her first landscape last year, this artist has discovered a

hidden appreciation and fascination for anything to do with the Australian bush.

By Michelle Ripari

FINAL STEP

Every year my family spends time at Halls Gap, which is located in the magnificent Grampians National Park, Victoria, and this is where I took the reference photograph Im using for this demonstration. At the time, I was meandering alongside a massive line of trees which were the end of the grassed area and beginning of the bush. I could see civilisation behind me yet my eyes where focused on these majestic trees which towered above me. I could close my eyes, smell the eucalypt, reach out and touch the rough bark. I took many photographs but I chose this one particularly for the brilliant textures of the bark.

STEP ONEUsing a large steel ruler, draw a grid with the 2H graphite pencil on both photocopied reference and your working surface. Always number the squares so you dont lose track of your position. Very lightly sketch as many details as you want for your under drawing, although this must be very light. The graphite pencil will be erased as the colour pencil is laid down, and heavy sketching will make this difficult, leaving indentations on the paper. But at the same time, make sure your under drawing is not so light that you cannot see it!

Artists Palette 33

STEP TWOFollowing the direction of branches and with a light consistent circular motion, lay down the under colour of the bark using Polychromos Ebony and Brown Ochre. Go over the entire tree and largest branches, but

MATERIALS

Canson 220gsm white A2 paper 2H graphite pencil Eraser Indenting tools, variety of sizes Sharpener Camel hairbrush Solvent Small paintbrush Fixative Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils

(oil based) Ivory Raw Umber Brown Ochre Burnt Ochre Burnt Umber Burnt Siena Warm Grey III Warm Grey IV Bistre Olive Green Walnut Brown Dark Sepia Nought Terracotta Orange Glaze

Prismacolor Premier pencils (wax based) Light Umber Rouge Toscan French Grey Terre de Sienne Beige Warm Grey 50% Warm Grey 20% Sepia Zeste De Lime

Caran dAche Luminance pencils (wax based) Orange Brown Ochre French Grey Raw Umber Burnt Sienna Moss Green

STEP THREE

STEP TWO

34 Artists Palette


dont worry if this is not even as this will add more texture in the bark later. Now, using solvent with an almost dry brush, blend the colours. If the solvent is slightly streaky, this actually helps create a rougher bark affect. Many of the smaller branches are partly covered with leaves, so those can be left alone until after those leaves have been drawn.

STEP THREENow comes the fun part and time for personal preference with creating your ultimate craggy old gum. Personally, I use a huge range of colours and add layer after layer but you may use only a few. Gum trees have a

marvellous range of hues; from the creams and whites, greens and reds, all the way to the darkest browns. Take a closer look at some gum trees and study their colours and if you have never really done so before, you will probably be surprised!

Keep a record of which pencils you use and for what areas. I often think I will remember but fail, so making some quick notes makes your journey a little easier. Lay down your colours with the Polychromos initially and use these for applying details as they are oil based, smooth in application but a harder, more dense pencil. The Prismacolors are wax based so are harder to control with fine detail but are much more creamy, having

the wonderful ability to fill in and blend the colours. I always use the wax based Caran dAche last to add rich fabulous colour in certain areas and really bring the tree to life

STEP FOURUse the indenting tool to create small or large hollows in the paper, creating fantastic textures on the bark. These can be applied both very gently with a smaller indenting tool or with a heavy hand and larger tool. Use the black pencils combined with the browns and greens to add depth. The blacks are never truly pure black but a mix of colours. For your gum tree, this again will be a personal choice, so experimentation is the key to understanding which colours you want to combine and where.

STEP FIVEI have a heavy hand with my application of colours on the surface of the paper, but always work from light to dark. Begin with gentle strokes with

STEP FOUR

STEP FOUR DETAIL

Artists Palette 35


a light colour, and when confident, increase the pressure. As you continue, constantly check on the direction of the light source and add shadow to create depth and realism. Large paintings full of details can be overwhelming, so focus on small sections at a time. Dont think on the subject itself, but focus on individual shapes and patterns. The patterns and textures on a gum tree are random and that opens up an incredible opportunity for individual creativity!

STEP SIXRemember as you come to the finish of the main part of the tree to get up and check from a distance. Turn it upside down and view it in a mirror. When you first think

you have completed one section, there is almost always room for improvement. Again, with a landscape you have much more freedom for the colours to be more malleable. You can either keep the tones quieter and truer to the reference or liven and brighten up any dull colours. When you are content with your tree, merge the colours together even more with the use of a blender, but be aware that adding more layers after using a blender is very difficult. Solvent can also be used to mingle colours, but it can also lift a little bit of colour off your surface. Although, unlike the blender, many more layers can be added after applying solvent. You are also able to make details crisp and sharp again.

ARTISTS HINTS AND

TIPS I love subjects like landscapes

because there is much more leniency with the realism. When you draw or paint a portrait there is little room for error with the proportions and personality because that person should be recognisable to those who you create it for, whether it be yourself or others. But with a landscape there is much more flexibility with the specific subjects, composition, shape, colour and characteristics.

When choosing reference photographs, the more detail you can see the more you can draw

Be aware of copyrighted images and always ask for permission or take your own references!

A black and white photocopy of your reference photograph will help for constantly checking your values

Use a PC, iPad or tablet to zoom in on details on your reference photograph

Use a camel hairbrush to sweep away dust from your drawing. Never use your hands or fingers or blow it away as you may end up with spit on it!

Use a clean sheet of paper to rest your hand on. The oils on your fingers and hands will smudge your drawing

Keep pencils sharp While you are drawing, turn it upside

down, sideways and even look at your progress in a mirror. Force your mind to see the image. You will be surprised what difference it makes

Take breaks often and view your work from a distance. It will refresh your mind and help you to see what adjustments are needed

Remember where the source of light is and the direction it falls on your subject

No two artworks will ever be the same, even when using the same reference material, so believe in your own individuality and ability

Enjoy whatever stage you are at, because even the most gifted artists in the world were at the same place once too!

STEP FIVE DETAIL

36 Artists Palette


STEP SEVENThe foliage of a gum tree must be appreciated and studied carefully before it is tackled. It is sparse in some places and thick in others. The leaves themselves can be tiny, rounded and clumped together or long, thin and draped in weird angles. Variation is important. With the clumps of foliage, I also gently laid down greens to provide definition and then added individual leaves on top in various shades of greens, greys and browns. As with creating any new masterpiece, patience is the key.

FINAL STEPAdd smaller branches and twigs, remembering that they are different shapes, lengths and can grow in a multitude of weird and wacky looking angles. The tree itself was photographed on a clear, bright summers day and so with a white background it brings the tree forward and defines it. I want to keep the tree in the spotlight.

Check over the entire painting, make any final adjustments and spray with a fixative. It is always a relief to put down the pencils after

completing a huge piece of artwork. You can stand back from your painting and see a craggy old gum tree come to life, and also step closer and value every line and stroke of the pencil. It is time to acknowledge your accomplishment and remember the joy and beauty in the everyday.

Contact details:Email: [email protected]: www.michelleripariart.comWeb: www.facebook.com/ArtbyMichelleRipari

STEP SIX FINAL STEP DETAIL

1 artist

38 Artists Palette

I N S I G H T

Rhonwyn Rasmanis

Keeping Memories This prolific artist is making the most of her retirement,

creating amazing travel diaries by drawing the birds and animals

she and her husband see on their frequent holidays.

Like thousands of other retirees, I started this part of my life with lots of resolutions. I still dont have a new bathroom or a tidy garden, and the bush that surrounds my home is still a fire-hazard, but I have achieved one aim - to become a competent artisan, not just a dabbler in watercolours. I class myself as a weekend artist and enjoy the whole process involved in putting my observations and memories onto paper. Sometimes my travel sketches and paintings amount to a substantial trip journal, which remind me vividly of views and events. Photo albums are okay, but give me a sketch any time. I am particularly interested in the birds I encounter while travelling. Usually they are the only moving thing in the landscape besides the other cars on the road. Never mind that I can see many of them from my verandah they are still a reminder of other places and times.

People often say that retirement is a full-time job. They are right, and it was borne on me that if I was to achieve my aim I would have to structure my life more efficiently. A small bedroom was declared my studio, and my accumulated pencils, paper, paints, brushes and books were unearthed. I looked for like-minded company and joined some local Art societies, practicing watercolour desultorily. Progress was sketchy (sorry, a pun) until l I joined

Jacana

Artists Palette 39

I N S I G H T

a class conducted by John Wilson, from Katoomba, NSW.

Johns medium, oils, was not my favourite, but his abilities (besides his world-class landscapes) as a teacher were superlative. All my booked-learnt knowledge of tone, perspective, colour and composition was no longer theoretical, and I was inspired to practice systematically and develop my skills with watercolour.

I started to carry an A5 or A6 notebook with me at all times. My aim was the same fill it with sketches. That and an automatic pencil, 0.7mm diameter, 2B lead was hassle-free. My husband and I often travel, so to continue with my aim I took along my painting materials. Initially I filled a briefcase and more but soon refined my kit to a travelling palette and a water-cartridge brush. A few options like a cut-down Chinagraph pencil (an adequate resist), a roll of removable Scotch tape, and tiny spray bottle from the optometrist go into a bag made of a well-worn, white towel.

Finding notebooks with paper sympathetic to watercolour is chancy. Eventually I started to make my own from the largest sheets of paper, divided and then wire-bound at the local newsagents. My sketches and travel paintings now form the bulk of my souvenirs and travel diary - a collection of ideas and drafts for work back in the studio. I enjoy painting all subjects, but my long-term project is to document all the birds and animals I have encountered on my travels, and at home.

A teacher always teaches, so a few hints about my craft follows:

I know if a sketch or major work makes me happy, because I smile. They are the works I keep. If not, its goes in the round file.

Practice, practice, practice. I have a mentor and friend who

gives me feedback that is utterly honest. I take their criticisms seriously, no matter how disappointed I am. (It is usually disappointing, sometimes devastating.) I will discard the work, or fix the flaws. I remind

Classic Mount Cook

Getting the Reflections right

Flinders Ranges

40 Artists Palette

I N S I G H T

them frequently that their honesty is appreciated. When my mentor says, Stop! Dont touch it anymore, I listen. I have a winner! Its like the only your best friend would tell you ... situation.

A kitchen timer imposes some rigour on my habits - I limit myself to comfortable periods of work. When it rings, I leave my work area and do something different. I try for 30 minutes painting then 30 minutes on my feet.

Bad watercolours often get a second chance. I wash, dry, press and reuse the paper. Sometimes the resulting stained paper provides a great base for other work.

One strategy that worked well was a vow to fill a small notebook with watercolours. One per day. The pages were small, and sometimes a page contained little more than a graded wash, but I could see progress, and got into the habit of regular practice.

I have an organised space. It is my studio and my household respects that. I keep it tidy and try not to use it for storage.

If someone admires a work, I offer it to them, sometimes with a would-you-like-to-buy-it? or how-much-would-you-pay-for-it? Their facial expression is a useful criticism.

The best compliment is to see your work on someone elses wall. It is relatively easy to mount and frame most works. The $2 shops, garage sales and tip shops are a great source of frames with matts and glass. If your work is good, use it as a gift. Christmas presents will no longer be a problem. Dont be disappointed if it ends up in the second bedroom. One of mine graces a toilet wall where it is admired several times a day.

You cant put everything on the wall, but we all have a desire to show and share the results of our labours. Besides the occasional community exhibition, I make my work accessible in several ways.

On my coffee table, I keep a folder of my most recent works, all

Big Red

Janes Wren

Artists Palette 41

I N S I G H T

in plastic sleeves. When it fills up, I put a date on the spine, the folder on the bookshelf, and start another. Friends pick it up and browse. My husband uses it as a reminder of past excursions.

Apart from a few on my walls, my original works are stored in notebooks and folders on a shelf.

Over the years I have developed the habit of limiting my works to A4 and smaller. They fit in the above-mentioned folders, are a convenient size when travelling, and can be completed in a reasonable time frame.

Exceptional works go into a frame and onto a wall, but a limit of two keeps standards high.

When digital technology became accessible, I began to store my work on the computer. Use your art as a screen saver. With the development of the internet I flirted with storage options like Picassa and Flikr. Today I simply maintain a blog. It gives me a great deal of pleasure. Incidentally, it seems to enhance any work, just like the traditional matt and frame. With family and friends scattered interstate and overseas, this is a convenient

way of showing them what I am up to. No doubt as time passes there will be a plethora of apps and techniques available for storage and display of your work.

The old adage, a picture is worth a thousand words, is still very relevant everyone would prefer a sketch of the Kimberley escarpment to a 2,000 word travelogue about the same.

My blog can be seen at [email protected] My email is [email protected] n

Liga at Midsummer Augathella Cottage Qld

GrandadDunbogan TideFirst Snowfall, Cesis

42 Artists Palette


Should we or Shouldnt we?

Gouache

The artist draws these superb Blue Wrens with a Ramie Moth caterpillar

By Rhonwyn Rasmanis

FINAL STEP

BEFORE YOU STARTObserve, sketch, photograph, practice and plan. Blue wrens are frequent visitors to my garden, but I will never be able to capture their characteristic skips and flutters on paper. Instead,

I look for a story in my painting; an element of narrative or humour. Naming the painting also helps me to focus on composition. This pair will be sizing up a possible food source, perhaps a caterpillar to provide an

extra boost of colour. The Jenny wren will be in control, a little in front of the cock bird. Shadows and light direction go on to this plan, which will be my major reference, besides my photos of the birds.

Artists Palette 43


STEP ONEA quality cold pressed watercolour paper is prepared with four layers of transparent spray fixative. The sketch is transferred by scribbling the back of my rough sketch with a water-soluble graphite pencil, then drawing over the outline. This allows me to have a clear tracing that will blend into shadow after wetting.

STEP TWOFor the Jenny, I prepare a warm grey at least 40% darker than her final colour. Using a number 2 brush, I place this on her shadowed side and the tail. It acts like an undercoat to establish the rounded shadowed

MATERIALS

Cold pressed watercolour paper Transparent spray fixative Water-soluble graphite pencil Damp towel or sponge Gouache Paints:

Warm Grey Indian Red Light Bluey Grey Zinc White

Brushes: No. 0 brush No. 2 Brush No. 6 rough old Fitch brush Small, flat bright brush

Black felt-tipped pen Brown Artline pen

STEP ONE

STEP TWO

BEFORE YOU START


form. The same colour goes on the paler belly of the cock bird. Using a black, felt-tipped pen, I carefully define the eyes of both wrens. The blue and black areas of the cocks body are blocked in. Legs lightly indicated with the same warm grey.

STEP THREEWorking on the wren first, a touch of whitened Indian Red defines her beak, legs and eye areas. Add white to the warm grey until the wrens final, darkest shade is obtained. This is the colour of her head and wings. Cover her body with this, up to the edge of

the undercoat and just inside the outline. Leave wings and tail alone. Take the small, flat, bright brush, wet it, then blot most of the water out by touching it on a damp towel or sponge. Carefully draw this lighter grey towards and over the edge of the original warm grey in light, feathery strokes. Bits of the original warm grey should still be visible at the shadowed edge. This step is repeated until I am satisfied with the form and feathery-ness of the breast and head. Using Gouache allows you to add lighter layers and blend them gently to create a rounded form and the appearance of feathers.

STEP FOURFinally, I take the No. 6 rough old Fitch brush, pick up some Zinc White and, with three or four strokes, lightly create the final feathery down on the sunlit side of her breast and brow.The same Fitch brush, loaded with a light bluey grey, is used to create the barbs on the tail. The No. 0 brush is used sparingly with a lighter shade to indicate the spine. Similar strokes with a darker mix are used to indicate other tail feathers. The last brush stroke is a very dark purple -gray on the shadowed right edge. A few fine, dark lines are drawn back toward the spine to indicate separated

STEP THREE

STEP FIVE

STEP FOUR

STEP SIX

44 Artists Palette

Artists Palette 45


barbs. Indicate primary feathers. They are barely visible in this pose.Use a brown Artline pen to draw the legs and claws. Indicate the finer, lighter scales on the legs with touches of a lighter brown. Claws are a stroke of any grey from the palette. The beak is treated in the same way, with a pure white highlight last. Because gouache is a watercolour medium, there is a slight blending which cuts back the harsh white. The peachy eye-shadow is worked in with the No. 0 brush. The black eyeball is redefined with a

fine pen, and an orange smear added to give it a rounded appearance.

STEP FIVEUnlike the Jenny, which needed more modelling, the cock birds dramatic colouring requires only a few highlights. The purple glow that is sometimes evident on breast and tail is used on the sunlit edge of the tail feathers. A few separated barbs are indicated with a little white. Although I cant recreate the white of the paper, its white enough to indicate an untidy feather. The pale flank is next. Its the whitest part on the bird, so I keep the purply-black on the edge only. The technique is the same used for the Jennys breast with lightened layers blended and feathered over the darker edge.

STEP SIXBlack and blue areas are painted, with careful attention to the borders. Use thick paint so there is a minimum of mixing. The primary feathers and wing coverts are indicated with an undercoat/base of red-brown, then feathers developed with lighter and darker lines using the fine #0.

Blue areas are tidied up with a few lighter blue strokes on the sunlit areas. A few light strokes of white indicate some breast feathers sitting on top of the coverts.

STEP SEVENBeak and legs are drawn in with a pen, with shading in a dark grey. A tiny highlight on each eye completes each bird. At this stage, I scanned and printed a copy of the painting to practice the best placement of shadows and caterpillar. The caterpillar, a Ramie Moth, was chosen for its spectacular colouring. A very light (lots of white) purple indicates the shadow of both birds.

FINAL STEPLike it? Sign it. Put your painting in a matt. I scan my paintings and use Windows Paint to draw a matt around them that way I dont waste a board. Matts always improve a painting. Name your painting.

Contact details: The best way to contact me is via email: [email protected]

ARTISTS HINTS AND

TIPS Spray two or three coats of a

workable, waterproof matte fixative onto a good watercolour paper. It makes an ideal support for gouache. It allows me to wipe out and correct frequently. The seal keeps the pigments n top of the paper, so they can be wetted, blotted and layered.

Mix Zinc White gouache with watercolours instead of purchasing a big range of gouache colours.

Fine felt-tipped pens like W&N Water Colour Markers allow me to make fine, clean marks on eyes, beaks and claws. Being watercolours, they blend, mix and dilute.

Attend as many group classes and tutorials as you can.

Make a mark every day. Sketch before sleeping, by the phone, anywhere.

Use digital technology as an aid. iPads Pen & Ink app let you trace parts of a photo, then keep the tracing. Great for developing skills with perspective and anatomy. Use it for general sketching. Beats Solitaire.

Whoever said, Art is what you can get away with? Use your camera, tracing paper, projector whatever tool you have.

STEP SEVEN

46 Artists Palette

S p e c i a l y e a r b o o k F e a t u r e

Practice, Aspire, Inspire

Sandgate Art Society (SAS)The brainchild of Brisbane architect John Blackley, Sandgate Art Society is a place to dedicate one night to uninterrupted artistic pursuit;

which is not always easy for people who lead busy lives.

SAS welcomes novices, intermediate skilled, art teachers, and professional artists... anyone who would like to

work in a warm friendly atmosphere and share skills, inspiration and encouragement to continue art practice, on a regular basis. Here are some mini-profile on some of the artists:

Born and raised in the USA with a Masters Degree in Art, I was a Visual Art Educator for 40 years, lecturing at University and High School levels, primarily in Australia. Throughout my art career I have been asked to curate and judge numerous exhibitions in the Brisbane area as well as in the USA, exhibited in many solo, group and juried exhibitions and been awarded numerous accolades for my paintings.

Composition, and how one views a work of art was one of the guiding principles in my teaching of Visual Art. I encouraged students to be creative, and gave them a platform to express this creativity.

Retiring from teaching in 2008,

I now devote my time to my own art practice. The ongoing catalyst for my inspiration is from my local environment, but also from my many travels both in Australia and overseas.

Everything I observe has the potential to be a painting, whether from natural and organic surroundings, or the man-made environment. Colour, shape, line and texture all alter when light plays on the surface. I am fascinated by cast shadows, reflections and tonal changes on a surface as well as how the time of day and atmospheric conditions can reveal something new and exciting to the eye. My passion is to interpret what may or may not be seen at first by a casual glance.

In the last few years, I have explored various themes and subject matter that is inspired by the above observations. The Shorncliffe Pier, a favourite focus, has been painted from many different angles and times of day and dusk. Glass and how light changes as it passes through it or how it is diffused is another theme I am exploring. Close-ups of organic fruits and plants also has provided me a new study point and venue to portray light and shadow.

In my oil paintings, I enjoy working in a large format, and it encourages me to delve deeper into shadows, allowing them to have as much prominence as the object does itself.

DAVID CROSS

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I am a Dutch designer, living in Australia for almost two years now. I enjoy creating art that makes people happy, therefore I use vibrant colours, mostly nature scenes and an animation-like style. Having my roots in The Netherlands, the influence of Dutch design can certainly be found in my work. It is modern, minimalistic and simple.After a long period of inactivity I recently began drawing again. In the first instance, I had the idea to continue my cartoon series and try to make that a success. However, in January 2015 I joined the Sandgate Art Society, where an earlier design for a sculpture led me in another direction.

Five months later, I have finished around 15 new prints and I am still full of inspiration for new ones.Technique: Although my work is modern, I always start with a detailed hand drawn design. After enlargement, I ink the outlines. The coloring is done with the computer. Inspiration: My inspiration comes mainly from nature walks, cartoonists and animation studios: Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson:

I really admire Bill Wattersons ability to change point of view in a cartoon without making it look strange.

Popeye by E.C. Segar: A daily cartoon strips in the 20s and 30s, full with weird characters

like the Goon and the Jeep. Cartoons and animations of the 20s

and 30s: The somewhat rougher, woody cartoons, like the early Mickey Mouse animations and Krazy Kat by George Herriman.

Most of the Pixar animations: The animation and modelling is superb, and most of the movies, except for the sequels, have a good, catchy story.

Exhibitions: I have exhibited my works in the EKKA exhibition, Nudgee College Art Festival and Expressions in Sandgate.

Web: www.edschimmel.comWeb: www.toonstudio.nl

ED SCHIMMEL

When I was very young, someone put a pencil in my hand and I began drawing Art therefore is something that I havent thought about I simply just do!

I create because I cant NOT! - Art is my expression, my respite, my companion, and my comfort.

I studied Fine Art at school and then briefly at the University Of Natal in South Africa. Since then I have explored many mediums and styles from sketching to all paint mediums; sculpture; printmaking; fabric art and anything else that presents itself. I continue to allow myself the freedom to explore and still have not settled on any preferred medium or style.

Over the years, I have been influenced by many artists particularly the Impressionists, Post Impressionists and the wonderful design quality of Aboriginal art.

Currently I am enjoying the flexibility

of acrylic paint on canvas applying it as you would in a water colour through to the richness and texture if working with oil - and sometimes applying all techniques in a mish-mash in the same painting.

I am fascinated with the organic flow of lines and design - bringing movement and colour into play. I therefore choose subjects that naturally support this design flow.

I started exhibiting three years ago through the Sandgate Art Society, of which I have been lucky enough to become a member. I was awarded 2nd place at the 2015 Sandgate Bluewater Festival for my piece Tree of Life. Through that, I have been invited to join and exhibit with the Warrior Women group, which had an exhibition in Melbourne in September.

FIONA MEYER


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As a Textile/Mixed Media artist, I am inspired by the layers of nature that surround us. Born and raised in the USA, holding a BSc in Textile Design, I have spent the last 30 years teaching Visual Art in High Schools here in Queensland. Retiring from teaching in 2008 to run my B&B business, Naracoopa B&B, full time, I have also pursued my love of creating art through textiles.

I am captured by layers, texture and colour, which gives me the perfect avenue to build and create upon. In starting this creative textile journey intensely in the last seven years, I have been honoured with a number of awards and been accepted into many juried exhibitions. In the last year, I have won two Best of Show

2D first place awards for my mixed media works at the Expressions Art Show and the Bluewater Art Show, both in Brisbane. My work has also been accepted as finalist in the Moreton Bay Regional Art Awards, Rotary Spectacular Art Awards and Pine Rivers Regional Gallery.

Nonrepresentational in form, each of my artworks is a personal reflection creating layered mixed media/textile artworks with a fusion of fibres, fabric, paper, acrylics, stitching, beading and/or embellishments.

My catalyst is nature, inspired by the lands of Australia and beyond inspiring my mixed media/textile artworks. I am developing my own personal vocabulary of marks that journey through my artworks.

Organic in character, these marks help to compose my creative form of expression. Currently, I am enthralled with and experimenting and designing with rusting techniques on papers and fabrics to create one-of-a-kind mixed media artworks. The colour and corrosion of the rust makes for a most sumptuous textural quality. With the addition of stitch, gold leaf and other embellishments, the works produced tell an organic story of their own about the seascape and landscape nearby.

My artistic process of personal discovery is intuitive, layering colour, texture and marks on the surface, while I continuously adjust the composition to maintain a balance between harmony and disorder - culminating in what I hope is a surface rich in texture.

GRACE CROSS

I enjoyed art at high school up to Year 10, and after completing an architecture degree and raising a family, it was time to revisit my creative outlet 32 years later.

Inspired by a friend, I enrolled at the Brisbane Institute of Art in 2007 and completed four semesters. I had two great teachers and experimented with both acrylic and oil paints as well as exploring traditional and contemporary approaches.

I am based in Sandgate, a northern bayside suburb of Brisbane, which has great natural flora and fauna associated with freshwater lagoons

as well as the bay. Most of my reference material is local or familiar and includes natural and urban landscapes and sometimes influenced by my architectural background.

When using reference material, I paint straight onto the canvas using water mixable oils to achieve an impressionistic character involving a loose quality of painting. I use a number of layers and like to work the paint when still wet to achieve some soft edges in contrast with hard areas. I am also fascinated by shadows and reflections.

JOHN BLACKLEY

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Whether it is built forms, birds or poppies, I tend to do a number of paintings of each and often my best results are after several pieces but before they start losing their particular mojo.

I entered my first exhibition in

2009 at the local Bluewater Art Show and picked up a third prize for my aerial view of a local beach. I also picked up a Highly Commended at the Brookfield Show in the same year.

I still have my architectural practice

to run and am a keen cyclist and kayaker. I regard myself as a hobby artist and enter about six art shows each year. I have consistently sold a few paintings each year which helps fund more art materials.

RUBY PURPLERuby is a Brisbane-based artist focusing on painting. She is confident, consistent and a principled professional. Ruby transposes her ideas to canvas, board and paper with texture, mixed media and paint. Her paintings are bold, irregular, provocative and original.

They can be confronting as well as appealing to the senses. Ruby works to stimulate emotion and discussion in her creations, with her expressions translated into colour and movement. Her pieces are abstract interpretations of the real, in many of her works it is almost impossible to decipher the transformation.

As Ruby enjoys sharing and receiving information, she is part of art groups where technique and subject matter is very broad. She works with a group of artists from painters of so many different styles to photographers, glass artists, textile artists, potters and sculptures

and finds this such a nourishing experience as the act of creating art is so often such a solitary one.

She often works on commission. Creating works of art for special occasions and often specific places is so rewarding. I love listening to people, I love observing in order to get a feel for something the client is trying to explain and then finding the right medium to express and transform their wish into a painting is such an amazing way to work.

Her home is filled with artwork of fellow contemporary artists. I cant help it I just love pieces that radiate their inspiration, looking at them again and again feels like listening to a favourite song to me.

Rubys often dreamlike semi-abstract paintings are held in private collections across Queensland, NSW, Victoria,

New Zealand, USA and Canada. She has been creating her unique abstract works for art collectors, designers, architects and artists since 2009.

To view Rubys work visit: Web: web www.rubypurplecreations.com Facebook: RubyPurpleCreations Twitter: @rubypurple13 LinkedIn: linkedin-ruby-purple

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KIM MANCINI

RAYMOND L. OBRIENI began drawing as a child, living at Petrie Terrace, in inner Brisbane. My reference material was newspaper advertisements and Mums Womens Weekly. I had an abrupt introduction to politics, when I innocently drew the then Prime Minister Robert Menzies. Dad said tersely, what did you draw HIM for?

Undeterred, at the tender age of 14, I attended the Police Club [PCYC] art class, where two policemen taught us the basics of oil painting, you use base grey in the distance, and add more colour as you come forward. We painted on the rough side of Masonite.

Once married, my painting efforts were somewhat spasmodic until I bought a bush block at Maryvale in 1994. I began painting local landscapes and entering local competitions. I had a couple of successful one man exhibitions in The Maryvale Pub. I remember trying to coax punters from the bar into my show In the billiard room! I also exhibited at the Warwick Regional Gallery, culminating with a win in the local artist section of the Warwick Art Prize.

In 2009, I stretched my wings with a one-man exhibition at Balmoral Beach in Sydney, entitled Balmoral Conversations, featuring local beach scenes with bathers. It was successful, selling one third of the 30 works and receiving several commissions.

During the same year I won the Marine/Seascapes class at the Brisbane EKKA with a painting of the SS Dicky wreck at Caloundra. The highlight of 2015 has been a Second in the Ipswich Art Awards (from120 entries). The judge was Ben Quilty, whom I had the pleasure of meeting on opening night.

I have become known for my realistic renditions of calm water e.g. Middle Harbour Haven. More recently, I have been focusing on portrait painting, which can be challenging. I get great pleasure in representing Gods work in oils, both in nature and in human nature, especially in the good company of fellow SAS members, who are always enthusiastic and encouraging! As long as there are interesting reflections in water, and wonderfully complicated cloudy skies, Ill always have something to paint!

Born in Brisbane into a RAAF family, Kim spent her earliest years travelling, constantly on the move. This nomadic life led to many hours drawing and crafting, and here began her love affair for art and bower birding. During the holidays, Kim would return to spent many hours collecting shells with her

aunties on the Sandgate foreshore, which later became crafted jars and trinkets boxes. Many years later Kim would return to this seaside town to raise her children and ultimately open her own studio gallery.

Her passion for art can be seen in her work both as an artist and a teacher.

A client once commented that her artwork Underbrush was in so many ways a self-portrait, as this artwork, like her, has many hidden layers, and the more you look into it the more you see her spirit.

There is a great sense of spirit and passion in the strokes, chaos in the grasses, a wildness in the flowers yet

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also a gentleness in their form. There is enchantment, and once around her you want to know more, you want to be around in her presence, her love for art; like the fairy wren hidden amongst the underbrush, you dont always see her but once encountered she is hard to forget.

This statement was for Kim enlightening as she was very surprised to see someone had decoded her art in such a way, but had also exposed the truth, the essence of her very nature.

Kim has continued to seek and explore all mediums, surfaces and art forms especially in 2D form.

Kim recently returned to the bush where she rekindled her love for all things organic, particularly the weeds and dandelions that grow along the roadside. As an artist who

has grown to meet the demands of this ever-changing world especially in art, she, like the dandelion, has thrived, even in the driest conditions that life has to throws at us.

If you would like to learn more

about Kim, her love for art, teaching and her achievements please visit her website. Believe, and you will achieve!

Web: www.manciniartgallery.com.auEmail: [email protected]

I have been involved with SAS from its beginning five years ago. Before joining SAS I had just returned to my art, and was looking for a group to join.

The groups support and encouragement over the last few years has rekindled my creative fire, and inspired me to participate in many exhibitions and pop up galleries. The creative learning process is never finished, with each successive piece building on the last. I have always

enjoyed depicting the human form, particularly the capturing of faces.

I use different mediums depending on the image and what I am hoping to achieve. The image must be interesting to me before I attempt it, aiming for a faithful rendering but infused with my personal vision.

I have attended some local art courses, with most education coming from constant practice, and the interaction of fellow artists. SAS members offer a diverse range of

genres and mediums to observe and learn. I am always amazed how small tips can advance progress, and sometimes unlock a stalled project.

My creative motivation is to see my work accepted, enjoyed and taken home to become part of someone elses life.

I have had recent success, winning First Prize in the portraits section at the Somerset Art Awards, and Third prize for sculpture at the 138th Royal Queensland Show.

PAUL KATELEY

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Artist's Palette - Yearbook 2015

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