Artist 39 S Back To Basics 2016 Issue 7-1

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Deep enD of the pool teAcher's pet

Brett A Jones derek newton
AlwAys something to see perspective simplifieD

FAy McBride Leonie norton
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Editor’s Letter
Editor’s Letter
W
e have four amazing artists in this issue for all your art tools and equipment. There is so
of Artist’s Back to Basics. We hope you much in this issue of Artist’s Back to Basics and we
enjoy their demonstrations, covering hope you enjoy every page from cover to cover.
many mediums and facets of art. As well as the four We love to receive your feedback, so please
artists, Ellen Lee Osterfield does a beautiful drawing send your emails to [email protected] or send
demonstration of blue wrens in an amazing setting. a letter to Artist’s Back to Basics, PO Box 8035
Also in this issue, Brett A Jones has a two-part Glenmore Park NSW 2745. Also we have some
article on the treatment of backgrounds. Detailing great subscription offers for you so you don’t miss
the importance of background choice and how it an issue, turn to page 34 and subscribe today.
can affect your final outcome for your artwork and in We are looking forward to hearing from you!
some cases the background becoming the feature
of your work. There’s also a great buyers’ guide Simon Mullen
4 Artist’s Back to Basics

66
Contents
Issue No.7_1 2016
PENCILS DOWN WITH BRETT
74 A JONES
16 Deep end of the pool - Part1
48 Deep end of the pool - Part2
FEATURE ARTISTS
8 Alex Scott
22 Robyn Collier
38 Meaghan Roberts
54 Fay McBride
FEATURES
34 Perspective Simplified -
Leonie Norton
66 Bendigo Art Gallery
74 Teachers Pet
8
Cover image by: Robyn Collier
38
54 16
Artist’s Back to Basics 7

Profile
The Published
Painter Alex Scott
With his finger in a number of pots, this talented retiree keeps a

busy schedule, including painting, taking photographs, creating
books and publishing calendars for fundraising purposes.
I am a retired pharmacist with

interests in painting, photography,
chess, tennis, badminton, lay
preaching, music et cetera. Married
with two adult daughters and two
grandsons, I have been interested
in photography since I was given
a 127 Brownie camera by my

mother, when I was nine, and have
been photographing ever since.
As for painting, I did an hour a
week in the fifth form. At the same
time, my best friend was drawing
such magnificent horses I thought, “I
could never match that!” So I did no
more painting for several decades.
Much later I developed an interest
in filming and made animated films
(puppets) and documentaries. In
1984 one award I received was in
Australia’s “Ten Best on Eight” for a
movie: “More New Zealand Birds”.
I do some judging for the local
camera club, and give illustrated
talks on bird life to various groups.
I was around 60 years of age when I
decided to self-publish a photographic
book on New Zealand birds. To guide
the printing company I did a quick
booklet of sketches to show the layout.
I was surprised that the pictures didn’t
look too bad, so I got out my old
paint box and started painting. I was
soon “bitten by the bug” and churned
out one every other day. After doing
about 30, they were coming right, and
I decided to do some new ones for a
book. I added notes on my beginner’s
journey to encourage young people
into an awareness of the world around
them, and perhaps stimulate a few
to use their latent talents. This book I
titled “My Bird Book” and it was closely
followed by “Brushstrokes”. These and
other books were sent to schools “on
appro.” after phoning first, and they
had a good response. After covering
my costs, I would print others e.g.
“Birds Seen in the Manawatu”, “My
Spoonbill Book”, “Capture It”, “Mitch
and Monty”, and “Birds to Enjoy”.
Currently I publish calendars as a
fundraiser for Diabetes Manawatu Inc.
Some of my photos have
been printed in newspapers and
magazines, and I sent a New Zealand

Profile
Rifleman painting to an Australian

magazine, which was published.
I have not got around to exhibiting,
although friends say I should.
Finding my old paint box not quite
adequate, early on in my reignited
passion for painting I invested in tubes
of watercolour paints: Windsor &
Newton, Schmincke and A.S. One of my
daughters also gave me some gouache.
At first, I would diligently stretch
dampened cartridge paper taped
to a board. Recently I have found
that using a heavier paper bonded
at its edges will remain flat and
firm, even with “sloppy” washes.
I quite like fine grain Aquarelle
cotton paper, 300g/m2 in a 32 x
41cm size, for which I have had some
picture frames custom made.
I have not yet solved the
problem of limited wall space!
I like to buy brushes of reasonable
quality and am glad that I heard about
“rigger” brushes. They are not only
great for straight lines like stamens
on a fuchsia, or for long grasses, but
also for doing a sweeping curve.
A bottle of masking fluid can be useful
(if used with the cheapest brushes).
The latex fluid, which is later rubbed
away, can separate the edges of a
subject from a surrounding background
wash, which you want to be even.
I had not thought I would ever venture
into oils, but my wife recently bought me
a set of W & N water-miscible oil paints.

It has been enjoyable to use them on
canvas. I now brush on a new layer
of Gesso prior to painting, even when
the makers have made a prepared
surface. The extra preparation can
turn a cheaper canvas into something
acceptable. For watercolours or oils, I
sketch the image layout lightly in pencil
first, freehand. When I use photographs
as a guide I choose to use only my own.
Painting is great for its versatility.
You may add in extra figures,
take away unwanted buildings,
branches or whatever.
As painting is all about light, colour,
shapes and texture, the options
are endless. One may go for a
measure of realism or stylising but
after starting, the important thing is
not to give up too soon. Even if first
results disappoint, persevere.
Contact details:
Email: [email protected] n

Back to Basics
Tui on Kowhai
By Alex Scott
Tui are one of New Zealand's endemic species that are doing well,
and are a popular visitor to many gardens.
They have a wide variety of bird calls and mimicry.
Final

Step one
STEP ONE or white strokes on black. So I

I decided not to include as many decided to put some curled strokes
blossoms as in my photo. Instead on the paper with a latex masking
of a dark blue sky I opted for a fluid. I have found it wise not to
light tint, merging by wet wash with use your best brushes for this.
a pale green. This was done after
first drawing in the main features STEP THREE
with care. I liked the gnarled The black of the bird is painted
appearance of branches and used over the gum marks, and when
several colours to suggest this. the paint is also dry these can be
lightly erased off. It is hard to get
STEP TWO fine enough lines with the masking
The frilly “collar” of a tui can be fluid, so the white strokes showing
tricky with either negative painting on the paper can be made thinner
MATERIALS
MATERIALS
• 300g/m2 cold pressed fine
grain Aquarelle watercolour
paper 320 x 410 mm
• My photo of a tui
• Winsor & Newton, AS &
Schmincke watercolours:
• Naples Yellow
• Lemon Yellow
• Yellow Ochre
• Raw Sienna
• Magnesium Brown
• Australian Leaf Green
• Cobalt Green
• French Ultramarine
• Ivory Black
Step two • Titanium Oxide
Step two

HINTS
HINTSAND
AND TIPS
TIPS
• A paper towel is useful to
keep work clean, especially
if working flat, on a table.
Turning the painting upside
down is often worthwhile also.
• Be patient. If tired, leave it
for another day. A fresh look
may also be inspirational.
• A conditioning soap wash
for brushes before resting
them is a good idea.
• Deep colours like indigo
are often better than
using Ivory Black.
• A rigger brush should Step three
be in your armoury.
• The early drawing in pencil
should be light. Even soft
by painting in black around each area, to merge with the black.
rubbers can smudge. If in doubt
one with a fine brush. White curly
leave it, as the pencil won’t
“hairs” of the collar emerge. FINAL STEP
always show in the final result.
The green and blue feather tints on
• Do not give up too soon. In STEP FOUR the bird’s back were brushed in with
painting a Tui on Kowhai I The beak and eye of the tui require a stiff brush after first lightening the
once spilt a blob of indigo in care. The eye has some brown black (dampening and touching with
a clear area. It wouldn’t come tinge. Firstly I painted it black then a tissue). The flowers have a cap
out (watercolour) and I was when dry used a painted damp of different hue from the petals.
just about to bin it when I brush to a part of the eye, dabbed
thought, “Why not turn the spill with paper towel and touched Contact details:
into another bird?” So I did. in some brown in the lightened Email: [email protected]
• If using another’s photo
seek permission.
• To draw freehand, some use
a grid to get proportion and
shape right. Probably the most
important part in human or
animal is the right position for
the eyes (unless it’s an abstract).
• Real shadows are often not
totally black so some detail
showing may be best. The
direction of light sources
should be noted, for highlights
as well as shaded areas.
• With care good brushes can
last a long time, so do not
buy too cheaply, as they may
not really be a bargain.
Step four

artist 1
Pe n c i l s D o w n
"Deep End of the

Pool- part 1"
by Brett A. Jones
I
Figure 1 ’ve written lots of articles about
a lot of different aspects of
freehand drawing over the years,
now it’s time to delve into the most
arcane techniques and methods I
know and use every time I draw.
We’re Not in Kansas Anymore

Usually I try and do a quick catch up
for the uninitiated in articles dealing
with more advanced concepts but
these are too wide ranging and far
too far by far from the raw beginnings
of “Basic Drawing Techniques” and
“Drawing Straight Lines” to make
that possible, so I’ll have to just dive
in deep right from the start this time.
If it makes sense to you all well and
good, if not, reading previous articles
by me will give you the grounding you
need to grasp these very advanced
ideas in this four part article. They are
all concepts I have developed myself
out of necessity over the course of
my drawing life and all directly tie in
and follow on from all I’ve written from
the beginning about freehand hyper-
realistic drawing. Most of the terms
are just what I ended up calling them
over the years for want of knowing any
better, or in other words, what I am
saying to myself in my own head as
I go about the task of turning a blank
Figure 1: Sea of Pain Fine Art

Productions drawing No. 21 “Dice”.
Took 153.6 hours to draw on Canson
A3 sized ‘Drawing 220’ paper.

piece of paper into a finished freehand
work in graphite (figure 1). I wouldn’t
know what else to call them as I’ve never
seen or heard of them anywhere else
(not that I go looking) so I guess they
are what they are. I’ve tried to group
them together into some semblance of
contiguous order despite the disparate
nature of some. The common thread
throughout though is the highly
advanced and in some cases all but
mystical concepts and techniques
described. We’re really in the very
deepest part of the pool now. It may
seem murky at first but the water will
clear if you let your mind relax and
open to accepting new ideas and
remember that all these ideas are Figure 2
really quite simple once you gain an
understanding of the fundamental Figure 3
principle I am trying to get across
and a realisation of just how useful
(crucial) they are to drawing freehand
realistically. Let’s hurl ourselves
in from a great height then.....
Drawing Outside the

Light, Inside the Dark
I’ve spoken of this one before (it’s
very important) but it’s one of the
Figure 2: This is the black dice with

white spots, so I have to draw ‘outside’
the dots (also the backlit left edge) and
‘inside’ the black body of the dice. Its
close enough to have to add the first layer
of hatched tone to see the proportions
clearly enough to progress further. Figure 4
Figure 3: As more and more detail
landmarks and shapes are added it
becomes increasingly important to
draw outside the light and inside the
dark to avoid ending up in the mud.
Notice the backlit left edge becoming
narrower as the drawing progresses.
Figure 4: In its finished state you can see

how important and effective a method it
is. One of the last finishing touches on any
drawing is to go around sneaking the light
shapes down to their true final size and
shape while sneaking the dark shapes up
to theirs. This includes spinning the gimbals
too usually, on all those tiny real life anomalies
like the battered edges on the white dots.

down on. Once your drawing has

developed to the point at which
it’s in danger of becoming mud
because of scale of detail or general
complexity it’s time to start drawing
outside the light and inside the dark
to have any hope of successfully
expressing the finest levels of
proportional accuracy and realistic
representation of the subject.
There are multitudinous lighter
and darker coloured/toned shapes
always present in any reference
you are working from that can be
first expressed as a white shape with
a black outline. This applies to any
size and scale of work, right down to
the very finest and most subtle detail
Figure 5 and tonal features (figures 2, 3 & 4).
The ‘outline’ of any and every detail or
shape you try and include in a drawing
has its own dimensions (thickness) by
default no matter how sharp the pencil
or how carefully it’s applied to the
paper. So in the most finely detailed
areas there is simply just no physical
room for outlines. You still have to
use them though as the drawing is
added to and refined through its
various stages or you simply have
no visual clues allowing you to
effectively proceed and are limited
to the two much less effective
methods of random scribbling and/
or sitting and staring. By now
it should be becoming obvious
what drawing outside the light
and inside the dark means. You
have to place the border between
Figure 6
two differently toned areas ‘in’
the darker shape. If you just try
and draw outlines to represent
concepts I’ve noticed during drawing every little shape you can see you
workshops over the years that has either just produce mud, or quickly
Figure 5: The dots partly covered
shown to be difficult to fully grasp use too much of the paper area
by the top dice are foreshortened, in
and apply effectively at first, despite up producing accumulated error
shadow, and are on a slightly concave
its quite simple premise. So I’ll start (which usually then leads to the
surface. No room for error and the perfect
the ball rolling with it and explore this need of a good dose of cleaning
example of a potential mudfield failure.
crucial concept in a bit more detail. house, micro-sketching, and
Figure 6: The same bit finished. The It’s not applicable in the earliest sneaking to rectify). Using this
dots are accurately represented and sketching and drawing stages, but method has several advantages,
even reflected in the black dice. The before long as the drawing starts to you end up having to draw the
highlights on the edges of the reflected become more precise it becomes darker shape smaller to begin with
dots are 1/10th of a millimetre thick. Even necessary to take into account ‘which which leaves the lighter (or often
the slightest trace of muddiness makes side of the outline’ is the best to be white, i.e. snowy white paper)
this kind of thing impossible to include. concentrating on laying the graphite shape larger by a tiny bit and

then as the drawing progresses
sneaking the proportions closer
by drawing up to the light. It also
directly ties in with and makes
possible techniques like skirting
the trough, splitting split hairs, and
definitely minute linear tangents*.
*terms in italics are all explained
in these four “Deep End” articles.
Drawing Mud
The inevitable result from attempting
to add more and more shapes within
shapes and finer and finer individual
details without also cleaning up,
modifying, and sharpening/refining all Figure 7
your lines and marks and erasing all
superfluous graphite (cleaning house)
as you go along. If you just forge ahead trimmed eraser to re-set the clarity level
relentlessly with the pencil you get before moving on. Despite all this, on
mud, simple as that. It’s very possible some occasions you’ll find it’s possible
to effectively draw clear fine detail so to describe the exact line you are after
minute you almost can’t even see it in through lots of bits and pieces, marks,
any sort of consciously focused way sketchy lines, and associated graphite
(hyper-reality always spins on the enth debris which is always present in
degree) but it’s an extremely fine line the earlier stages of a layout, without
indeed (no pun intended) between succumbing to the ever present
what you need to do to achieve a temptation of leaning harder on the
hyper-realistic effect and just drawing pencil tip to make it ‘stand out’. The
muddy indistinctness (figures 5 & trick when drawing through the mud
6). A large percentage of realistic is to always use a needle sharp pencil,
drawings end up becoming mired in feel the way the pencil tip is interacting
a morass of rushed, compromised, with the paper fibres through your
or carelessly applied linework and fingers on the pencil and constantly
detail long, long before the optimal be turning it to a sharper bit of pencil
level of linework and tonal decisions, tip as soon as it feels smooth instead
acts, and adjustments/refinements of bumpy across the paper, and most
can be made in preparation for the importantly keep your eye on the ball
last fudging and squirling touches at all times. That is, slipping the line
that create the hard won illusion of you want down among the graphite
hyper-reality. While it’s all very well chaos of the developing lines, shapes,
to think it doesn’t matter, until you and marks and immediately cleaning
actually go there yourself you can up both sides of it with a sharp edged
have no idea of just how important eraser without looking away from the
avoiding drawing mud is to getting spot. It’s very important to develop
the proportions right, not just in the the very good habit of being able to
small part of the composition that lay your hands on either your pencil,
is the potential mud field but the eraser, and/or knives and pick them
entire composition as a whole. up without looking away from the
line you just drew through the mud Figure 7: Let your rubber strip and knives
Drawing Through the Mud even for an instant (figure 7). If you find their own favourite place. This is how
It’s almost always the best policy to do glance away, by the time you turn my “tool palette” looked during an intense
recognise mud for what it is as early back with eraser in hand it’s too late, drawing session (pencil lays on other side
as possible and drop your pencil like the incredibly subtle (all but invisible) of board). Top two are pencil sharpeners,
it’s hot in favour of some careful and tonal differences and tiny visual clues middle one for picking debris off paper,
considered application of a freshly you just laid down just won’t be able and bottom one for rubber trimming.

Figure 8 Figure 9
Figure 8: This is Canson ‘220 Drawing’

to be re-focused on and you are Drawing Gravel
paper, which is very smooth. Despite
back three steps, in which case While drawing mud means trying (no
this gravel is the plainly evident result
drawing through the mud becomes matter how carefully) to fit too much
of rushing tone onto blank paper.
just more mud. Usually you clean fine detail in far too soon and/or
Figure 9: Introducing tone with a very careful house anyway before adding new without anywhere near enough proper
application of hatching, crosshatching, fine lines but this technique can be linework preparation, drawing gravel
fudging and squirling makes a big difference a very efficient time saving measure is almost the opposite concept. That
not only as far as fine detail showing up once you get the hang of it. Just is: trying to scribble, skritch-scratch,
better but also as far as the paper surface don’t take your eye off the ball. I can’t or shade textured or tonally gradiated
being worked and reworked, as no even illustrate drawing through the areas to a finished state far too early
damage has been done scrubbing gravel mud with a picture as it is so subtle in the process, without taking the time
in with a blunt pencil in the first place. it would never show up in a photo. to lay down foundational hatching,
keep your pencil continually turned
to a fresh ‘sharp edge’, and clearly
adding all the most obvious visible
detail clues and landmarks as you
go along. Rushing this process
invariably leads to nothing more than
a furry/fuzzy effect mostly brought
about by the surface texture of the
paper surface being brought to
the fore like gravestone rubbings.
This kind of ill-advised hastiness is
generally accompanied by a less than
ideal sharpness to the pencil tip (or
to put it bluntly.........blunt) which only
ever ends in tears as far as the end
result goes if hyper-reality was the
intended goal. Giving the paper fibres
a good drubbing with a blunt pencil will
only ever produce gravel, no matter
how good your intention (figures 8,
9 & 10). While gravel is at its worst
on rough surfaced paper it happens
on all paper surfaces including the
Figure 10 smoothest. You just get finer gravel.

Figure 11 Figure 12
Drawing Through the Gravel an extremely precise way without

Unlike drawing through the mud, the risk of the paper fibres on the
which is an extremely intentional light side of the line being brushed
line drawn through and over other by the graphite immediately above
intentionally sketched and drawn the needle sharp tip (figure 11).
developmental marks and lines
(although too many in one small Drawing Across the Light
area, hence the muddiness), it’s not This is when you are doing the
possible to draw through the gravel opposite, in other words reaching Figure 10: This is figure 9 with attention
whether you sharpen your pencil or across the light side of the line with from a needle sharp pencil and fresh
not, purely because the paper loses the pencil angle to bring the line IN trimmed eraser. Fine detail like this just
its ability to accept such precisely to the light side, with the very real can’t exist with gravel as a starting point/
intentioned low impact marks by the possibility of the angle of the pencil background. Often these kind of details
very act of drawing gravel in the first brushing against some paper fibres would be added as outlines before tone
place. The only option once gravel is on the light side of the line, exactly is involved but it works either way. The
established is to down the pencil and where you DON’T usually want any numbers are 2mm high just to give you
do what you can to subtract from the graphite (figure 12). Despite this the scale of detail I am talking about
mess and reset the way forward again it’s still a valid and useful technique with terms like gravel. I can draw much
the best you can with much care and in many cases, all depending on the finer detail than this when I am really
attention from a repeatedly trimmed stage of the drawing’s development smashing it but this will give you the idea.
eraser strip. Or just call it finished you’re up to, the importance of Figure 11: For clarity I’ve drawn this
and be happy with your gravel. keeping the light side snowy white ‘edge’ as a curved line with a light and a
(not always crucial), and the overall dark side but all this applies just as much
Drawing Up to the Light result you are aiming for (there’s to every outline, landmark, and micro-
This means intentionally using the reality and then there’s hyper- sketch mark you’ll ever lay down. You’re
natural angle of the pencil (even when reality). Ideally, drawing up to the not just drawing lines but both sides of
utilising the third way of drawing i.e. light almost always means shifting, a line; some are just a lot thicker than
the pencil angle is extremely steep turning, or end-for-ending the layout others. You get to say how thick and how
but still never 90 degrees- see DWBJ- board, drawing across the light sharp right down to the enth degree.
Vol.3) by moving the layout board means almost always leaving the
and cover sheet to suit to make sure layout board exactly where it is Figure 12: Drawing across the light
the sharp tip is working from the and just getting on with it. It always can never produce as sharp an
dark side up to the light. You’re comes down to necessity and edge as the angle of the pencil tip
doing three things at once, making time as to which of these two quite picks up paper surface features and
the area on the dark side of the line distinct techniques are employed. fibres on the light side of the line and
larger, the light side of the line smaller, creates a less than sharp line than
and sharpening the line itself, all in In part 2 we go down deeper...... the ideal. It only matters if it matters

Profile
Some Form of
Addiction . . .Robyn Collier
Offering sage advice to would-be professionals, this artist believes in

believing in yourself – because ‘when you value you, the world values you’.
I first began painting in the early

1970s – a great time for emerging
artists. I had just returned to
Australia after spending 10 years of my
child, and was looking for some form
of work that could be done from home.
So when I was reunited with my natural
father after my 10 year absence it was
youth in England with my mother and fascinating to find that he had become
stepfather. I had a baby and young a professional artist and was making

a good living out of his art. He was
very well known in the ‘70s – ‘80s,
and living a rather exotic lifestyle on
his boat, moored in Sydney harbour.
Coincidentally, at around the same
time, I met a young woman who
was also painting and selling her
work and we became friends. I was
excited by the potential for earning
a bit of money and highly motivated
to give it a go – having done well in
art at school. I entered my first art
show and sold several paintings. I
was hooked. After a short amount of
time the desire for sales turned into
a desire to paint good art, and I have
hardly put a brush down since. It is
my firm belief that in order to do well
a painter has to have some element
of addiction to the craft. I know for
sure that I have. It is always about
the next painting – never the last.
It was fortunate that I made my
name and became established
as a painter in those good times.
Landscape painting was popular,
galleries were booming and there
were plenty around. Although coping
with many rejections and many failed
paintings, I was highly motivated and
determined. Eventually, I succeeded
in entering the Sydney gallery scene,
exhibiting in Geo Styles Gallery
in Sydney, Swains bookstore and
Prouds Gallery – all now long gone.

Profile
I had no formal training as an

artist but learnt through failure, hard
work and observation, grasping
opportunities as they arose. I
suppose I like to call myself an
intuitive artist. Failure has been
more common than success, but
the drive to produce better paintings
has always propelled me forward.
One of the greatest opportunities I
grasped was painting in the beautiful
Burragorang Valley–part of the
catchment area for Sydney’s water
supply. Access was very restricted
and I was fortunate enough to be
one of the few allowed in to paint
it. Through this I learned to relish
painting areas that most other
artists did not venture into. As a
natural progression, I began to
bushwalk, taking longer walks into
more remote areas such as camping
overnight on top of Mt Solitary and
in the Blue Gum Forest. I loved the
challenge of finding these areas
of great natural beauty. During
these treks my camera became my
friend, as carrying painting gear
was far too heavy and difficult for
most of the walks I was doing.
Gradually my career as a visual
artist was growing, and I was

becoming known for painting Studio work can have a dampening
Australia’s wild places. I began to effect on inspiration if time is not
travel extensively around Australia taken to recharge through the
and was drawn to the coast where natural world. My love of walking
I still create many of my paintings. takes me to some beautiful and
I never tire of the ocean or the special places and there is nothing
rolling dunes that stand guard so I enjoy more than recreating
majestically. No wave is ever the these places on canvas – making
same, each day so different. changes to improve composition

Profile
mediums in the past, I now paint

only in oils. I love the buttery texture
and the blending capacity of oil
paints, but have moved away from
turps and dangerous solvents which
are now totally unnecessary. The
luscious smell of oil is still present
in my studio but that is all. My
painting technique is called Alla
Prima – or interpreted ‘first attempt’.
It is also referred to as wet-in-
wet technique. If my board is too
large, or subject too complex to
finish in one sitting, I will work on
a section of it while still wet, then
continue to the next section when
I can resume. It is only at the very
end I will touch up a dry painting. I
find that working wet can lead to a
softer, but more professional look.
Many people ask me what it takes
to become a successful painter. It is
a hard question to answer because
it all depends on how you qualify
success. But to earn a living from
art means embracing a certain
degree of obsession, ‘brush miles’,
and mood, but always keeping the and grasping opportunities as they
essence of the place accurate. arise. It takes time to develop a
My camera is still an essential ‘style’, but with constant dedication
tool in the challenge to achieve the to your art that will come. I also
results I now desire, although there feel that these days it is important
are many pitfalls for the unwary. It to produce a different angle to
is wonderful to grasp those special your painting – something that is
fleeting moments now that only a easily recognised as yours and be
camera can capture as I become willing to move, grow and adapt
more adept at translating them on to changing circumstances.
to canvas. It is exciting to paint the It is important to get paintings out
more difficult and intimate subjects and about – the more people who
I choose – particularly within the see your name the better. But with
element of water. I am always mindful more competition there are also more
that it is a painting I am creating opportunities. Social media and the
and rarely rely on a photograph Internet offer greater opportunity
alone. A good photograph is a for sales than ever before. Learning
wonderful aid but not the end result. techniques from other artists is now
Having dabbled in various huge and beneficial – something

that was not so available when
I first started out on my painting
adventure! Above all, if you want to
earn a living from your art, hold fast
to a solid belief in yourself – letting
nothing eat away at that belief.
The outer world is a reflection of
your inner world. When you value
you - the world values you.
For the past 11 years I have
also found fulfilment in conducting
workshops around Australia – a
direction I am enjoying and finding
most uplifting. Painting for my
galleries and my own satisfaction
will always be my first love, but I
feel happy in imparting knowledge
to others who are also enjoying
the journey of art – something
that has enriched my life beyond
anything I thought possible.
I now have the privilege of having
been a professional artist for
more than 40 years and still love
every minute of my work. I have
had to embrace many changes
– technology, social media, and
smart phones, plus changing needs
and closing galleries. We all have
to move forward. But one thing I
will not do is compromise my own
beliefs. Staying true to yourself is
intrinsically a large part of success.
Galleries:
Lost Bear Gallery – Lurline
St – Katoomba, NSW
Gallery Beneath, Sirroco
Plaza – Mooloolaba, Qld
Stirling Fine Art – WA
Web: www.robyncollier.com.au
For subscription to monthly newsletter
go to home page of web site.
Workshops quoted by request. n
Back to Basics
The Kimberley
Eucalypts
By Robyn Collier
Colours strong and subtle pay homage to these

incredible northern Australian trees.
Step One
Firstly I draw in my subject with
accuracy but no detail. I use thin
willow charcoal because it is easy
to rub out. Pencil is difficult to
remove and painting directly on to
the canvas often means a messy
drawing with correction lines. The
board I chose is a 51 x 61cm,
which I felt suited the subject
matter of the Kimberley Eucalypts.
I always begin by blocking in my
darks, then mid-tones, then lastly my
lights. If I am working on a section
of the painting as I am with this one,
then the darks of that section go in
first. In this case it is the foliage and
the darks of the rocks. I have decided
to work from the background and
the top section of the painting first.
Using a mixture of Sap Green
and Burnt Sienna, I block in the
foliage, rubbing the edges with a
rag so it softens them and also
helps keep colours clean when I
paint my sky back into the foliage.
I then use my dark mix – Burnt
Sienna and Blue Black – to define
the shadows in the rocks. Using
a mix of Transparent Red Oxide
(Art Spectrum,) I then block in the
mid tones, giving a warm base.
At this stage I have used a rag
again to rub out some of the mid
Final tones, giving a natural rock-like
texture. It gives me a good base

Step one Step two
MATERIALS
MATERIALS
• 51 x 61cm good quality canvas board. • Art Spectrum Transparent Red Oxide
Quality canvas is essential. As you • Winsor & Newton Blue Black
do not want a board that is not well • Schminke Titanium White
primed and sucks the life out of the • Sap green
paint – nor one that is too slippery.
• Art Basics 101 Flat Bristle in all sizes Medium
• Eterna 579 (a cheap ‘hairy • Gamsol solvent - one of the safest
bristle but useful for some solvents to use. All the aromatic
effects and softening edges) solvents have been refined out of
• Monte Marte ‘Rake’ brush it, making it safer than any of the
- great for grass aromatic petroleum solvents. It
• Art Basics Bristle – round 1 & 2 also has a very high flash point.
• Eterna 582 Bristle round
• I also cut my own brushes with sharp Brush Clean-up
scissors using old brushes I no longer • Cheap baby oil in a container with a
use. These are great for a variety grid to allow for pressing the paint out
of uses where texture is required. of the brush. Baby oil is conditioning
• Thin willow charcoal on the brushes and with a basic clean
they will stay okay for a couple of
Colours days. About once every four days I
• Art Spectrum Australian Red Gold will give them a good clean with brush
• Art Spectrum Pilbara Red cleaner or washing up detergent. A
• Art Spectrum Cadmium Yellow word of warning – it is important to
• Art Spectrum Ultramarine Blue make sure that you wipe the oil out
• Art Spectrum Manganese Blue of the brush well before you use it.
• Art Spectrum Burnt Sienna

Back to Basics
Step three Step four
to start forming the rocks in more the other – the sky into the foliage
detail and allows some of the then the foliage back into the sky.
translucent colour to come through. Having now established where
my tonal value sits, I can begin to
Step Two paint in my tree trunks – starting
I want to work my way down with my darks. The shadows in the
the board. This way I can tree are a variety of colours, so I am
better judge the tonal value of using mixtures of Titanium White,
the shadows in the trees. Blue Black, Ultramarine Blue, Burnt
At this stage I have put in my basic Sienna, Australian Red Gold and a
sky (Titanium White, Ultramarine Blue, touch of Pilbara Red. Pilbara Red
Manganese Blue and a touch of Blue and Blue Black can make a beautiful
Black), brushing it into the softened soft mauve if mixed with care.
edges of the foliage but being careful Once my shadows on the trunks are
not to pick up any green. If you do established I then carefully brushed in
pick up green, wipe your brush or my highlights. For the trunk highlights
you will end up with a muddy sky. I have used a mixture of White,
Pay attention to keeping the lower Australian Red Gold and Pilbara Red.
sky a lighter tone than the sky at
the top of the board. I then applied Step Three
a few highlights to the foliage using Using the same technique, I can
Sap Green, Australian Red Gold and now begin on the next tree trunk.
Cadmium Yellow in various shades. There are a lot of darker patches
It is important to remember that all of bark on this trunk which I need
greens are not the same and you to pay attention to. Observation
need variety of colour in your painting. of the smaller things is critical
I am always working one edge into in producing a painting that is

HINTS
HINTSAND
AND TIPS
TIPS
1. When you mix your colours,
always mix a good amount
of paint. Remixing colours in
the middle of a critical part of
your painting is annoying and
often ends up leading to a
different colour to the original.
The other temptation is to
thin the paint with too much
medium to make it go further.
2. Be aware of repetition in
your painting and avoid it
i.e. painting a row of trees or
rocks that all look the same.
3. Use a large palette. Running
out of room when mixing colours
can lead to a muddy painting.
It can also be frustrating when
you have to clean your palette
mid-painting. It is easy and
cheap to buy a laminated board
from the hardware store and
cut it to size. You can then mix
on the white laminated side.
4. If you are mixing a dark colour,
start with the dark paint and the
light to it. When mixing a light
colour, start with the lightest colour
Step five and add the dark. This helps
avoid giant mounds of paint!
convincing. Also notice the small continued through the background - 5. Don’t focus too intently on the
blush of reflected light on the left coming forward with my light and early stages of your work. Keep
of the tree towards the top. shade. Again the colours are the in mind the big picture. It is too
same, Blue Black and Burnt easy to fiddle at this stage and
Step Four Sienna with a touch of Pilbara Red overwork your painting. The time
I have now blocked in the darker and White for the earth colour in for final touches is at the end
bark at the base of the tree – paying shadow and Australian Red Gold, when all the board is covered.
attention to where the sun is just hitting Burnt Sienna, a touch of White
it and varying the tone. My colours for the sunnier areas. I have also
are again Blue Black – Burnt Sienna added some Yellow Ochre here. I
– Australian Red Gold and a touch of have painted in a few rocks and
White. I have also added more detail sticks to add interest and added a
to the shadow area of the trunk. Then bit more detail to the dried grass
I continued on from the rocks down, at the base of the rock face. At
blocking in some dried grasses and this stage I have also gone on
beginning the darks of the red earth. to finalise the background trees,
painting in the light and shade of
Step Five the trunks (Blue Black and White
Having formed the curved root and Australian Red Gold and
at the base of the tree, I have White), reforming the foliage.

Back to Basics
Step five – closeup
Final Step with it’. It is surprising what can jump

The final touches are a lot easier to out at you over a period of time.
do when the painting has dried, and Some future changes can often be
it is only at this stage that I will do the so subtle you can barely notice them,
last of the touch-ups, making sure but can make a big difference to the
that everything looks in balance with feel and the look of the painting.
lights and shadows. At the last minute
I added a bit more shadow on to the Galleries:
twisted root, and part of the foliage. Lost Bear Gallery – Lurline
I also want to make sure that I have St – Katoomba, NSW
reflected light where I need it to be, Gallery Beneath, Sirroco
such as the branch at the top of the Plaza – Mooloolaba, Qld
painting and the underside of the left Stirling Fine Art – WA
hand tree. You may also notice that
I have painted in a few wispy clouds Web: www.robyncollier.com.au
just to break up the solid blue sky. For subscription to monthly
At this stage ideally I will leave it for newsletter go to home
a couple of weeks where I can see page of web site.
the painting – what I like to call ‘living Workshops quoted by request.

Artist’s Palette 15
Perspective
Simplified
By Leonie Norton
The closer you are ONE POINT PERSPECTIVE before beginning your sketch.
– LANDSCAPE The Vanishing Point always meets
to the subject, the Perspective creates the illusion of three the Eye Level Line, but will appear
steeper the diagonal dimensionality on a two dimensional at different points for each building,
surface. When fences, roads or depending on the distance the artist
lines will be, as the buildings appear in the landscape, is from the subject, the angle of
vanishing points are an eye level line and vanishing point the building or whether it is above
is required so the correct perspective or below the Eye Level Line.
closer together. is represented in the scene. After you determine the eye level
The Eye Level line is simply the line, hold a ruler along the roofline, the
line that is level with your eyes. line of windows, top of doorways and
The Vanishing Point is where the base of the building. Draw a line
all the angles from fences, roads from each of these points to the eye
and buildings converge. level line. Where these lines meet on
To determine the Eye Level Line, the eye level line is the Vanishing Point.
hold a pencil or ruler horizontally The closer you are to the subject,
directly in front of your eyes, at the steeper the diagonal lines will
a distance of approximately 30 be, as the vanishing points are
cms. Where the line appears closer together. The further away
on the scene is the Eye Level the subject is, the greater the
line. Lightly pencil this line in distance between vanishing points.
ONE POINT PERSPECTIVE angles, just straight lines.

– BUILDINGS From a sitting position, the eye
This us where a building is directly level line was level with the eye
front on, so there are no oblique when looking directly ahead.

OBJECTS become more muted in colour and less distinct in the distance.
They also appear smaller and closer together as they recede.
CONTRAST is stronger tonally in the foreground and reduces with distance.
COLOUR is warmer and more intense in the foreground and cooler with
soft blues and greys in the background.
TONE Colours become softer and less distinct with distance.
Use a focal point or points as it takes CAMERA DISTORTION

the eye into the sketch and makes it It can be more difficult to determine
more informative and interesting. the exact vanishing points when using Use a focal point
a photograph, as the rounded camera or points as it
TWO POINT PERSPECTIVE lens can distort the photograph,
– BUILDINGS bringing the outer edges towards the takes the eye
When drawing a building, the first line centre of the photo. You will often into the sketch
will be the eye level line, followed by the find in a photograph that the sides of
corner of the building. The base of the buildings tilt inwards. Be aware of this. and makes it
building on both the left and right sides So when a line is drawn from more informative
are drawn from the centre line to the eye the top of windows, doors, roofs
level line. This creates the vanishing point. and the base of the buildings to the and interesting.
It can be done with eye level line, they may not always so correct your drawing to allow
converge on exactly the same point. for this. It can be done with just a
just a small amount This is simply due to the distortion, small amount of manipulation.
of manipulation.
Example of camera distortion
VANISHING POINT even kilometres in the distance on

Depending how close you are to the eye level line. You will have to
a building, the vanishing point make approximate estimates of
may be hundreds of metres or where the sketch lines will be.
If you are working on location, hold a pencil to the tops of doors or

windows and the base of the building to determine the angle the
lines will be and where they would meet on the eye level line.

Artist’s Palette 15
Profile
An Admiration
for Animals Meaghan Roberts
“The beauty of nature re-forms itself in the mind, and not for barren
contemplation, but for new creation.” R.W. Emerson, Nature (1836)
B orn in 1990 and raised

predominantly on a farm
in the New South Wales
countryside, and now residing in
occasionally raised and rehabilitated
sick and injured wildlife. This inherent
relationship and connection to
animals developed a deep love and
Tasmania, Meaghan’s family raised admiration for them, inspiring Meaghan
an extensive variety of animals, and to explore many animal drawings as

a child and through to adulthood.
During Meaghan’s years on the
farm she spent many weekends
exploring the countryside by horseback
with her mother, witnessing many
aspects of nature. Memories and
experiences from this farm inspire many
of Meaghan’s animal portraits. The
Rainbow Lorikeets that would squeeze
through the chicken wire on the bird
aviary and steal the food within have
been a great influence for her, inspiring
several Rainbow Lorikeet portraits.
During College (Year 11 and 12),
Meaghan was encouraged to explore
human portraiture and to pursue a
higher education at University. Once
enrolled into a Bachelor of Fine Art
she began to veer further away from
animal portraiture. Meaghan studied and
completed a Bachelor of Fine Art and
Design at the Hobart Centre for the Arts,
where she focused on the structure,
microscopic and macroscopic, of the
environment, primarily utilising oil paints.
She then continued on to complete a
Master of Fine Art and Design in 2012,
which further more veered her away from
animals and focused on an imaginative
representation of the environment on
large scale canvas with highly saturated
colour. These paintings also began
to verge more on the abstract by
utilising a technique of pouring paint.
Meaghan couldn’t possibly get any
further away from animal portraiture.

Profile
After completing her Master’s even stronger appreciation of Australian

Degree, Meaghan pursued a break wildlife, which began a succession of
from academia and began to draw 20-40 A4 animal portraits drawn from
animals again. During University photos on her phone. This mass of
she had volunteered at local animal drawings demonstrated a yearning for
rescue shelters, which inspired her to these beautiful animals, not only in art
reignite a passion for drawing them. but as a career as well, and ignited a
Meaghan began by utilising graphite goal to explore all of Australia’s native
and ink before incorporating colour animals. This is when she began to push
with watercolour pencils. This unique her animal portraits and to continue
method enabled a greater sense of to improve her technique and quality,
form and depth whilst maintaining the opening up many possibilities such as
unique characteristics of the watercolour pet portraiture and working with animals.
wash. The final layers of ink create a Within weeks of returning home,
higher level of contrast and detail, and Meaghan began taking commissions
enable a greater degree of control. of people’s beloved fury friends and
Meaghan spent three months of 2013 installing work in local cafes and
in Europe, based in Berlin, Germany, pubs. Competitions also began to
where she quickly began to notice a stand out as a means of exploring this
difference in surrounding animals. Crow- passion. Meaghan entered a local art
like birds frequented the area, as did competition, her first since her high
the ever present sparrows. Occasionally school and college years, where she
one might see a fox, a woodpecker, a won the People’s Choice award for her
squirrel or a deer. This quickly ignited an watercolour pencil and ink representation

of the Tasmanian Devil. A local treasure
and sadly suffering from deadly facial
tumours, the Tasmanian Devil is a
Tasmanian and Australian icon that
is sadly dwindling in numbers.
Meaghan comments that there are
many animal artists across the globe
and it is important to follow artists that
intrigue or inspire you, that give you a
goal or simply motivate you to draw or
paint more. Katherine Cooper is one
such artist for Meaghan. Katherine
resides in Tasmania and specialises in
wildlife art. Her high level of detail and
realism are strong motivators and a
basis of inspiration for Meaghan. Raising
awareness of the often endangered
status of Australian wildlife are both
aims and concerns of these two artists.
“My wildlife portraits are inspired
by our beautiful native fauna and are
aimed at raising awareness of their
often fragile and threatened status.
I am often amazed and caught in

Profile
awe, staring off into the trees, seeing in watercolour pencil and ink since
things others simply do not or do reigniting her passion for drawing
not want to. It’s these moments I animals, aiming for a more rendered
attempt to translate onto paper.” technique and ways in which she can
Meaghan has predominantly worked accomplish this. This has resulted in her

experimenting with oil paint portraits in Meaghanspetandwildlifeportraits
an aim to utilise both watercolour and www.redbubble.com/people/meaghanr
oil, emphasising their unique qualities www.facebook.com/
and enabling an individual and varied meaghan.e.roberts n
method of portraying the animal.
Now participating in an internship at
Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary, Meaghan
aims to work alongside Australian
wildlife and use these experiences to
create portraits with more character and
soul. Ultimately she aims to combine
her career and her art to help raise
awareness of the fragility of our wildlife.
“Having travelled to New Zealand and
Europe I still find that nothing compares
to our Australian native animals.
Whilst I have a great admiration for
all animals, my heart is fond of our
unique and beautiful native wildlife.”
For more information on

commissions or work for sale please
contact Meaghan Roberts at:
Email: [email protected]
Or visit:
www.facebook.com/

Back to Basics
Spotted
Pardalotes on Pink
Flowering Gum
By Meaghan Roberts
A true love and

appreciation of birds
and their habitats
is evident in this
glorious illustration.
STEP ONE
Source material and initial
compositional sketch
The first step entails working out
the content of the image, materials,
composition and the source imagery
that inspires you. For example if
you intend to create a realistic
portrait of a dog you either need
a dog or a photo of a dog to build
that portrait from, unless of course
you have a photographic memory.
Source imagery can range from
magazines, books, your own photos,
the Internet and other illustrations
or artworks. This particular drawing
is influenced by Peter Trusler, who
created the illustrations for a bird
book my mum has, Birds of Australian
Gardens. It is important to have good
source imagery. I often rely on my
own photos of branches and animals
and yet at times am influenced by
other artists. It is also important to
have a few select artists that inspire
you and give you a goal to achieve. I
really admire Peter’s ability to capture
not only the birds but also the plant
Final life they are perched on. This is
why in this drawing I have included

more flora than I usually would.
First I sketched out the gum
branches in an F pencil on A3 size
MATERIALS
MATERIALS
• Eraser
• 220gsm paper or thicker
• F pencil
• Brushes – No 2 and
No. 4 Taklon brush
• Ink tips - 0.03 and a 0.1
waterproof and fade proof
• Watercolour pencils
(Derwent, Faber Castell)
Colours Step one
• Light Pthalo Green
• Mineral Green paper. I then found multiple images
• Black of Spotted Pardalotes in books and
• Deep Cadmium on the Internet and added them
• Brown Ochre into the composition. I chose not to
• Olive Green limit the birds to the branch but also
• Gunmetal Grey to have one in flight, adding more
• Terracotta interest. Originally I had drawn three
• Copper Beech birds perched but decided to change
• Chrome Oxide Green Fiery this before moving on to the next
• Grass Green step. Changes like this are a normal
• White process of building a composition.
• Cobalt Turquoise When drawing an animal, I don’t just
• Lemon Cadmium simply copy what is in the photo;
• Blue Grey instead I research the animal and find
• Pink different poses so that I can learn
• Orange Chrome about the animal. I research how the
• Red female differs from the male, where
they originate and what habitats they

Step two Step three
prefer. All this information improves the of the composition at a time.

likelihood of getting the animal right.
STEP THREE
STEP TWO Wash
Colour One branch is now completely filled
After finalising the initial composition, in with colour and ready for a water
I begin by building up the layers wash. Using a fine tip Taklon brush
of colour in watercolour pencil. I dipped in water, not too wet, and
usually start on the area that feels start washing over the coloured
right, there’s no exact process, it’s areas. Be careful not to wash
what works best for the individual. colours into each other, ultimately
This time I chose to begin with the making them muddy and dull. Clean
leaves and flowers, leaving the your brush in between colours and
birds until last. This process will rewet when dry. When complete,
happen in steps. I usually start by repeat Step Two and Three until
applying the lightest colour and all colour is filled in and washed.
applying it fairly lightly, building
it up gradually. Remember that STEP FOUR
watercolour is easier to build up Ink
than to over paint or remove. Start Once all colouring is filled in I
with the lighter colours such as determine if some areas need to be
yellow, grey, and light green, and built up and refined a little more,
build up to the darker colours such choosing to apply extra colour in
as brown and black. Keep building some areas, making the colour more
these layers until all the colour is vibrant or darker. The next step is
filled in. I usually only do one section building up detail with a fine tip

Step four Step five
black pigment ink pen. I work with For more information on

two or more different sized tips, a commissions or work for sale please
0.03 and a 0.1 waterproof and fade contact Meaghan Roberts at:
proof. Areas such as the eyes, hair, Email: [email protected]
feathers and nails are good areas Or visit:
to start on. Emphasising these www.facebook.com/
areas will bring the image together. Meaghanspetandwildlifeportraits
www.redbubble.com/people/meaghanr
FINAL STEP www.facebook.com/
In order to bring out the highlights, meaghan.e.roberts n
and areas that sometimes get
washed out from the watercolour,
I utilise a white fine tip pen or
acrylic paint diluted. Add to areas
such as the white reflections in the
eyes, on noses and hairs. When
complete, erase all pencil marks
from the original sketch. Last
but not least I use a scanner to
digitally document the original, as
opposed to a camera; I feel I get
a better result from the scanner.
This will need to be slightly edited
in Photoshop to adjust the levels
and clean up the background. Step five-– Closeup
This completes the process.

"Deep End of the

Pool- part 2"
by Brett A. Jones
T
he first few techniques the drawing you are currently working
described in part 2 cover on in preparation for the next specific
taking it to the enth degree with task you have planned with your
the eraser strip and the rest about needle sharp pencil (figure 1). It
doing the same with the pencil. applies from an area smaller than a
match head, right up to a whole part or
Cleaning House section of the drawing, usually one side
This is the term I use to describe the (always the light side) of an outline or
act of extremely carefully cleaning/ feature. The only way to move forward
clearing all extraneous graphite from productively from the initial sketching
the area all round the small area of and rough drawing stages is to use
your eraser to clean/clear the way for
much more precise marks and lines.
Figure 1
A lot of the time you are just removing
unwanted lines to help clarify what’s
there but once you are using the eraser
every bit as carefully as the pencil and
with a very specific mission in mind
you are cleaning house, using the
end surface of the eraser strip with
weight concentrated on one sharp
edge or corner. You can’t know exactly
where those areas will possibly be
Figure 1: In almost every situation in

which you want to draw extremely
finely, the freshly trimmed eraser strip is
picked up first to prepare the way.
Figure 2: Another essential tool when

housekeeping is a small very sharp blade
that you can extremely carefully poke,
lever, nudge, and scrape debris with.
A mark that won’t erase can usually be
very gently persuaded to leave with an
extremely sharp knife if all else fails.
Figure 3: Rubbing up to the dark is as

important as drawing up to the light

Figure 2 Figure 3
without first doing the freehand rough much more general term which comes when it comes to hyper-realism.
sketching, drawing and refining stages, into play when you notice the entire When you are cleaning house you are
but once the detail level gets to a certain layout is becoming indistinct through the almost always rubbing up to the dark.
point cleaning house is most definitely use of too many sketch lines or is just Figure 4: When rubbing across the dark
the essential tool to use to avoid getting plain old grubby. All too easy to you’ll always end up lightening the dark
becoming mired in the dreaded mud. achieve with graphite, especially if an (graphite) and blurring the edge to some
adherent to the very bad all-too-common extent. It only matters if it matters. You’re
Housekeeping habit of sweeping eraser debris off the the only one that can know that depending
Although quite similar in name (I didn’t drawing with your hand or a brush/ on what stage your drawing is at.
think them up, they just evolved), feather etc. At some stage or another
the meaning is quite different. While in every drawing it becomes clear that Figure 5: This is about as good as you’ll
cleaning house refers to specific before any further progress can be get it with the help of magic pencil tricks.
attention with freshly trimmed eraser made time spent on a bit of general The rest is up to honest observation,
to one specific point or shape on the housekeeping is required. You still have a steady hand, and a well established
emerging layout, housekeeping is a to trim the eraser strip as often as any ability to be sneaky with a pencil.
Figure 5
Figure 4

other task, if you don’t you’ll do more

damage than good but once you’ve
gotten into a well established habit of
trimming the end off as often as required
you’ll be amazed at how clean you can
‘keep’ the paper, even on works with
snowy white backgrounds (figure 2).
Rubbing Up to the Dark

When the highest level of erasing
precision is required then the only
choice is to rub up to the dark, in
other words going to the trouble to
manipulate the layout board and cover
sheet to ensure the best physical
position to address/approach the line
in question from the light side. This
way you can sharpen the existing line,
clean house or lighten the existing
tone in the most precise way possible
(figure 3). Making the line between
light and dark sides less precise (sharp
to fuzzy) can also be controlled best
Figure 6 rubbing up to the dark. Once you
get the hang of these concepts you
Figure 7 find you often use them in unison to
achieve more than one aim at a time.
Rubbing Across the Dark

This has a lot in common with drawing
across the light in that it doesn’t require
any moving about of the layout board
and/or cover sheet so is a much more
efficient use of time but comes with
similar drawbacks, in this case fuzzing
up the edge of the dark whether you
Figure 6: Once you get this far in you’re

really just trying to add as much as your
eyes can see without losing overall
clarity (dodging the mud). Once you’ve
gone as far as possible the final fudging
and squirling stage pretty much starts
by default. You will be sneaking lines
and tones around till the very end.
Figure 7: You can’t draw anything ‘perfectly’

but you can sneak up pretty close behind
it. On the drawing the headlight is 20mm
wide. It’s obvious how much the overall
proportions of this small part of the drawing
changed as adding more tone and detail
allowed ever finer proportional refinements
through the entire drawing process.
Figure 8
want the outline blurred at that stage

or not. Sometimes it’s fine to do it that
way and then clarify or sharpen the
dark edge back in with the pencil by
drawing up to the light. Sometimes
you are trying to lighten the dark side
AND blur the line as well so it’s actually
killing two birds with one stone. And
again, depending on the stage of the
drawing, it very well may be all that is
required to move forward as you know
that particular area is almost certainly
going to need more shifting and
shuffling around anyway so why waste
time making it any more precise than
it needs to be too early (figure 4).
Rubbing with the Other Hand

Despite its suspiciously exotic sounding
name, this one simply refers to a time
saving measure with which you enable
yourself to utilise the more precise
rubbing up to the dark method without
moving the layout board just by using
your other (non drawing) hand. I never
use my right (non natural) hand to draw
(except with pastels but they are great
blunt lumps of awkwardness anyway so
hardly count) but I quite often employ
my right hand to erase, even in the
most precise applications, as it just
seems easier to erase than to draw,
with less dire consequences if you blow
the mission. It saves you from moving
the board so is a valuable addition to
your technique toolbox, freehand hyper-
realism by its very nature is extremely
time consuming so anything you can
do to save a few seconds here and
there becomes very valuable over solid
months and all important when you add
in such elements as impatience, physical
pain, and fatigue. Over a long period
regularly saved seconds accumulate
into many hours. Just because it observations when moving your freehand
takes a long time doesn’t mean it isn’t drawing through the various stages of Fig 8: Areas like this are perfect for
a hectic process the whole time. proportional development only work up picking out three points or features,
to a certain point. When you are drawing imagine a triangle linking them up, and
Sneaking completely freehand hyper-realistically then visualise the same scale, shape,
The range of methods and techniques all aspects of the entire composition are and oriented triangle on your drawing
I have described in past articles (see being constantly shifted and shuffled and see if it touches the same three
“Magic Pencil Tricks” and “More Magic around as the drawing develops from points. If the triangle fits pick three
Tricks” in DWBJ-Vol.1) that allow the first roughly sketched shapes to new points and go again till you find a
you to make informed judgements the most infinitesimal detail touches proportional anomaly. This one never fails
and decisions based on your own (figures 5, 6 & 7) right up to the last to enlighten and show the way forward.

Figure 9
in reality go so far as useful proportional
aids. You’ll always come to the point
in every drawing at which you will have
negated any further advantage magic
pencil tricks are capable of because
of the smaller and smaller scale of the
proportional judgements required. This
is when pure dead reckoning (and the
experience from all the drawing you’ve
done before) is all you’ve got left and
you have to start sneaking lines and
details this way and that to the enth
degree to make either more or less
room as required. I call it sneaking as
you are almost surreptitiously easing
and tweaking marks and lines this way
and that as you see fit using only your
experience and instincts. The “flicking
your eyes up and back between
reference and drawing” magic trick
can still be useful at this stage, as can
landmark triangulation (figure 8). But
no matter what, all freehand hyper-
realistic works in graphite can only ever
move from “good” to “reeeally good”
through the use of sneaky adjustments
to really get all those sublime magic bits
right. To put an actual scale on it, I’m
talking here about moving things about
in the realms of a few hundredths of
a millimetre or so once you get to this
stage. You have to be the majority of
the way through a drawing project to
even be in a position to start making
the finest of sneaky adjustments. Until
the very latter stages are reached
this level of refinement is impossible
and invisible to the eye if for no other
reason than the lack of necessary visual
information to make such calls. It
might sound silly but utterly crucial is
a much more accurate description of
this technique’s value. You really have
to be in the ‘end game’ stage to be
even close to this mindset, while always
keeping in mind the unwavering fact
mark. This means that the many and that you never consciously draw each
varied magic pencil techniques like ‘final line’ or texture mark, but rather
holding your pencil in the air halfway bit by bit each part of the drawing
Fig 9: It’s only 25mm across his between your eyes and the reference is abandoned leaving the final ‘best
cheekbones so there was plenty of (whether real life or photo image) to attempt final decision’ at each line and
sneaking going on just to get this far. compare one thing against another tiny squirled and fudged feature as the
Often you’re just thinning or thickening an on the same subject etc, or creating ultimate finish point (figures 9 & 10).
existing line to ‘push’ it one way or another. manageable negative and positive
Needs first layer of hatched tone now, then shapes and spaces etc (etc etc, there’s Drawing by Touch
more refining from new perception gained. heaps of magic pencil tricks), can only When right down (splitting split hairs)

Figure 10
to the very finest of the fine touches,
marks, and squirls you will find that no
matter how (apparently) needle sharp
you’ve honed your pencil tip, it’s all but
impossible to draw and see clearly at the
same time. I myself find that once I have
closely inspected the area in question
and decided exactly what action is
needed next, the hand is gently rested
on the cover sheet, the pencil tip closes
in on the point of contact, and then the
act of savage focus and concentration
required to actually execute the all but
invisible planned refinement makes my
eyeballs seem to vibrate on a quantum
level which means I really can’t see what
I’m doing as I’m actually doing it. As
well as that the needle sharp pencil tip
(which would look like the end of a well
used tent peg through a microscope)
obscures your already overtaxed vision
with its own bulk and the shadows cast
(no matter how many light sources,
there are always shadows cast from the
pencil tip). What I’m saying is you just
can’t see and draw the finest stuff at the
same time. What you can do though is
make a plan as to exactly what you are
trying to achieve in that half a square
millimetre of paper, get close, then use
your sense of touch to ‘draw’, using the
way it feels through the pads of your
fingers on the pencil as the sharp point
interacts with the paper fibres as clues
as to what’s happening down there.
Once I’ve had a bit of a pick and a scruff
I lift the point minutely and re-autofocus
my poor old eyeballs and check the
result (figure 11). If all good move on, if
not, re-evaluate the plan and take further
action. I have often found myself actually
looking off into middle distance while
‘drawing’ like this but time and results
have proven me right (to myself anyway,
and I’m the only bozo with a pencil
and a problem at my drawing table).
that you are creating extremely shallow
Skirting the Trough but undeniable troughs, depressions, or Fig 10: In the finished version you
This one deals with finishing off dark downright embossed ruts in some cases can still see evidence of initial hatched
sides of the line, particularly the darker on the paper surface, which manifest as tone. It’s pretty obvious that the final
greys and black with very sharp outlines. palpable, feel-able, undeniable obstacles proportions are all quite different from
Skirting the trough is actually the direct to the smooth and intended exact path figure 9. You start sneaking stuff around
opposite of rubbing up to the dark. No of a sharp pencil tip. This can and does from the precise linework stages right
matter how much care is taken, once occur on any part of any drawing but is through all the tonal stages to the end.
you’re in the end zone of a drawing and most noticeable when trying to move or Nothing is nailed down if your instincts
exploring the darkest tones you will find widen a precise line and even more so if and observations tell you to move it.

Figure 11 Figure 12
you are just trying to minutely shift only as you widen the dark edge while
one end of a line and have to climb being prepared to lift off all pressure
the edge of the trough as a minute as the edge of the trough is breached
linear tangent lengthways along the JUST BEFORE you go scruffing off
edge. This is common. When you go over uncharted clean paper fibres
about the eventual business of splitting into the light, which always happens
split hairs in the end game finessing without appropriate attention (weight)
these dark troughs out to their finished on the english directed to the pencil
Figure 11: Up close like this you can thickness, sharpness and direction, tip to stop it. The actual physical
see the tonal hatching, fudging, squirling, (drawing inside the dark) you find you amount of ‘pressure’ on the tip of
shapes, details, all coming together are playing in a microscopic skateboard the pencil while doing this would be
and blending with the surface texture bowl with the pencil tip (figure 12). In all but unmeasurable, the pressure
of the paper in an area about 25 x other words you’ll either be stuck in differences as you surf the edge of
12mm. You really can’t see what you’re what’s already there over and over or the trough would be almost downright
doing at this level, you have to ‘feel it’, jump the edge of the trough and go out psychological and instinctual in
check it, adjust to suit, and repeat. into the light far too far (keep in mind actual practice. I don’t want to scare
I’m talking about trying to move the you but you had to hear it sooner or
Figure 12: This is the chrome fork legs. edge of the dark out by .01- .05mm (a later and now’s as good as never.
It’s only 11mm on the drawing but there few hundredths of a millimetre) or so. It all sounds ridiculous when I see
are 18 differently toned long narrow areas It’s an easy enough one to understand it written but this is as deep as the
from one side to the other and they are and manage, it comes down to the pool gets in my crazy world and I
never uniform along their length in either pencil english concept I’ve discussed guarantee awareness and practice
size (taper) or tone (gradiation) with in other articles, in that you have to of these seemingly nutty ideas will
direct and reflected light always pushing be aware of the fact that you are help your drawing improve quickly
reality around on the reference to start skirting the edge of a trough and be and exponentially in a very real way.
with. You’re definitely skirting the trough prepared to put ever-so-slightly more
and drawing up to the light in situations pressure on the pencil tip (drawing We go even deeper in part 3 to
like this. Chrome is always challenging from the dark side of the line, or in where the line between reality and
but looks great if you get it right. other words drawing up to the light) illusion gets downright iffy.

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Profile
Always Something
to See
Faye McBryde
As well as being a wonderful, lifetime hobby, this artist admits that

a fabulous benefit of being a painter is how much she enjoys her
travels, where everything she sees is a painting opportunity.

A rt in one form or another has
always been a part of my life.
During my school years in
Melbourne I loved doing projects
that involved a lot of drawing and
maps. I think most of my marks
came from the ability to have good
looking books and projects.
My family moved to Brisbane
when I was 16, and this is
where I worked, married and
had my two wonderful sons.
During a visit to an art exhibition
at McDonnell and East in the city,
where my mother was exhibiting
her ceramics, I met some painters
who each week got together for a
painting class at Carina. They kindly
invited me to join them. Pastel artist
Les McDonough was their tutor. I
remember being so nervous the first
day, wondering if I would be able to
cope with the class. Les asked me
to draw a child’s metal pram with
a hood. A lot of measuring was
required, but I managed it pretty well
and still have that drawing today.
After that I knew I would be okay.
It was a lovely group and Les was
a good teacher. I bought a large
box of Rembrandt pastels and that
was my introduction to pastels.
Once my boys were at school I
went back to work. It was during
these working years that I started
with an oil painting group at Carina
with Bev Camamile as the tutor.
The first art show that I exhibited
in was with this group in the foyer
of AMP House. This is where I had

Profile
my very first sale. Very exciting. of painting in one way or another.

Over the years I have been I find that even after many years
fortunate enough to have won awards of painting there is always some
at various art shows including Best of helpful information that you can
Show, People’s Choice Awards, 1sts, learn from others. Sometimes it is
2nds, 3rds and highly commendeds. one small thing that can really help
I was feature artist at Salford Waters you. Reading art books, magazines
Kingfisher Art Show in 2008. I have and the internet sites that are now
also been involved with charity available gives so much information
groups such as “Operation Smile” that sometimes it feels like I spend
and cancer fundraising events, both more time reading than painting.
exhibiting and donating paintings. The years I spent attending classes
This year I was honoured to at the Brisbane Institute of Art were
be asked to judge the Allora an interesting and challenging time. I
District Show and this was a attended the portrait and life classes.
lovely experience as well. Six of us got together and formed a
Over time I joined various social group that met at each other’s
painting groups including The homes each week with a life model
Watercolour Society of Qld, and the home person supplying
Artists Guild of Australia, Artists lunch. I have lost touch with these
Own Gallery and currently The ladies but really enjoyed these days.
Pastel Society of Queensland Another great period was when
and Clifton Hill Painting Group. I was invited to join Artists’ Own
I have also enjoyed workshops Gallery. A gallery run by artists in
with top artists, too many to mention the Wintergarden Arcade, Queen
and all have added to my enjoyment Street, in central Brisbane. I

really enjoyed being part of this our Annual Art Show, which is always
gallery; we all did a monthly roster well attended and a great success.
and our sales were pretty good. When someone buys your
Eventually redevelopment and new painting it is very rewarding, more
management ended our time there. than the monetary side, it is a pat
I have been a member of the Clifton on the back and gives an artist
Hill group for many years, a group encouragement. Often at shows it is
of 11 friends that meet each week to not only the sales that give pleasure
paint, support, and encourage each but the feedback from customers
other. Each year in October we hold who do not buy but have positive

Profile
thinking about what I want to paint,

what medium would best suit the
subject, and in nearly all cases I do
a sketch and a quick colour study
(sometimes these quick studies look
better than the finished painting.)
If I am not happy with what I am
doing and finding it frustrating,
I would rather start again than
overwork something that might still
not work. If using canvas it can be
gessoed over and pastel sheets can
be painted over with pastel primer.
Both these fixes are a really good
way to cover the areas you are not
happy with and then you can then
paint over. I used this technique
with the demonstration painting.
Watercolour paper can be cropped
or used in mixed media. I know some
artists cut up areas that have been
worked to make greeting cards.
Over the years I have tried to keep
improving my skills and moving
in new directions but I find that
comments. I never exhibit paintings most of us tend to lean towards
that I would not be happy to later a particular type of painting style,
see hanging in someone’s home. maybe realist, maybe abstract,
I work in all mediums, although maybe a bit of both. My paintings
I haven’t painted with oils for quite are realistic but I try to make them
a number of years. Watercolour painterly and interesting. I would
and pastel are the two mediums I like to move a little more towards
mainly paint with, and acrylic is now an abstracted way of painting.
challenging me as well. I also enjoy My favourite subjects are still
mixed media, combining different life and cityscapes although I also
mediums or textures. I tend to be a enjoy landscape and seascapes.
slow painter, spending a lot of time Painting for me is an enjoyable

pastime; it is not something that or children feeding pigeons. Always
I do all the time as I have other something to see with an artist’s eye.
interests as well. I would say one Thank goodness for our modern
of the most enjoyable aspects of cameras, tablets, and phones. We all
being an artist is the friends you come back with hundreds of photos
make along the way. I have made and because we are constantly looking
some very good friends through my through these for painting subjects we
painting years and continue to meet enjoy our holidays over and over again.
more lovely people along the way. I was fortunate enough just recently
The other benefit of being a painter to go on a painting tour to the Murray
is how much more we enjoy our travel; River with a painting group headed
everything is a painting opportunity. by Louise Corke as our tutor. This
We look at things like shadows falling was my first time at plein air painting
across buildings, the light hitting the and I really enjoyed it. Made me
tops of trees, people sitting in a café realise I can paint fast if I try. n

Back to Basics
Australian Outback
at its Best
By Faye McBryde
The artist created this painting using an original photograph

taken at Lamington National Park in Queensland.
STEP ONE a green and brown hard pastel.

On roughly gessoed canvas I Using the pastels allows changes
drew in the main shapes using to be made easily by wiping
Final

Step one
out with soft cloth if needed and

can easily be painted over.
STEP TWO
Modelling compound was applied with
a palette knife over the ground area to
MATERIALS
MATERIALS
• Canvas 61 x 46cm
• Hard pastels - I used blue,
brown and light green but
any colour will be ok
• Liquitex Gloss Medium
• Matisse Modelling Compound
• Palette knife
• Various sized brushes
• Acrylic Colours (Winsor &
Newton and Matisse) Step two
• Burnt Sienna
• Raw Umber
• Burnt Umber give a textured appearance. When dry,
• Magenta I dropped Burnt Sienna, Raw Umber
• Phthalo Blue (Green Shade) and Phthalo Blue (Green Shade) over
– used sparingly all areas, letting colours merge and
• Cobalt Blue mix on the board. To help this process
• Ultramarine Blue I sprayed water randomly. The textured
• Australian Blue Gum areas helped to give this effect.
• Naples Yellow Light
• Cad Lemon STEP THREE
• Azo Yellow Medium Next I painted the rocks using
• Australian Yellow Green Cobalt Blue, Phthalo Blue, Naples
• Unbleached Titanium Yellow Light, Unbleached Titanium,
• Titanium White (used slightly a touch of Cadmium Yellow and
with finishing touches) Magenta. Phthalo Blue and Burnt
Umber were used for dark areas.

HINTS
HINTSAND
AND TIPS
TIPS
• Quite often I would spray areas
to get a better effect and to
merge colours on the board.
This was especially helpful
on the large back rock.
• During the painting I took some
areas out, put some back,
sometimes it worked better,
sometimes I should have it left
alone. e.g. the twiggy trees on
the right hand side. I was trying to
keep the two edges out of focus
a little, but after looking at the
previous photo, wished I had left
the original twigs as they were.
• One problem I faced was that I
Step three
would leave the painting overnight
thinking it was okay, then the
next morning it seemed to have STEP FOUR a touch of purple (Ultramarine Blue
dulled down. I was advised to The trees trunks were painted with a and Magenta), and kept working
use gloss medium instead of mixture of muted browns and blues. on the centre rocks adding moss
satin when mixing paints. This The moss on the fallen trunk was and shadows. The fallen twiggy
did help a little. The downside painted using a mix of blues and branches were drawn in with a light
was that because of the texture, lemon yellow. This was added to later pastel first then overpainted.
especially in the bottom right to give a higher value. I also added
hand corner, photographing was colour to the large background rock STEP FIVE
difficult because of the shine. with mixtures of blues, greens and I wasn’t happy with the middle tree and
Step four

the fallen branch so made a couple
of changes there. To get the area
back I painted gesso over the areas
I didn’t want, let this dry, and then
repainted the sky and background
area with Phthalo Blue and a touch
of Cadmium Yellow Light. I sprayed
lightly with water and blotted with a
tissue to give a soft mottled look.
I kept adding to the ground area,
adding colour and shadows to
give the appearance of a rainforest
floor. Using a palette knife here
and there also helped to give
added texture and looseness.
FINAL STEP
The leaves were painted using mixes
of light blues, Australian Blue Gum
and Cobalt, yellows, including Naples Step five
Yellow Light and Lemon Yellow, and a
touch of Titanium White. A small touch knocked back by adding more purple.
of Australian Yellow Green was used I fine-tuned all areas, adding
for the moss on the fallen branch and shadows and highlights where
the mossy greens on rocks. The long needed and keeping the
twiggy branch in the front was also edge areas subdued.
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stablished in 1887, Bendigo Art Gallery has experienced monumental
Gallery is the largest regional changes in recent decades, with
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a dynamic temporary exhibition generous contemporary spaces
program alongside highlights from its for exhibitions of national and
extensive permanent collection. The international significance, and an

array of balanced and inclusive public
programs, events and educational
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The city of Bendigo is firmly City of Greater Bendigo, the Gallery
positioned within Australian history retains its independent Board
as a major area of gold mining of Management and owes the
activity during the early 1850s. It substance of its permanent collection
was due in no small part to this in no small way to the generosity of
period of wealth and prosperity numerous private benefactors. The
that the Gallery was founded, original Gallery spaces have been
encouraged by a groundswell refurbished and retained and with
of public interest and reliant on their grand European inspiration,
donations and private philanthropy. with polished kauri floors, ornate
Carl Hoff, ‘The Golden Wedding’ 1883

oil on canvas
Collection: Bendigo Art Gallery

Galleries
of Bendigo Art Gallery’s existence,

British and European academic
pictures were the mainstay of the
collection. Acquisitions from landmark
international exhibitions, together
with works presented, bequeathed
or purchased with the support
of philanthropists and business
entrepreneurs enabled the collection
to flourish into the 20th century. This
pattern of patronage has continued,
and now with its strong focus on the
plaster arches and cornices, and acquisition on contemporary Australian
diffused light admitted by ceiling art, to continue to tell the story of
skylights beautifully flows into the Australian art history as it evolves,
contemporary spaces that were the Gallery relies on the support of
added between 1998 and 2014. individuals to enable the growth of
For at least the first two decades this important public collection.

Thomas Wright (1830–1881),
‘Sandhurst in 1862’ 1862,
oil on canvas. Collection
Bendigo Art Gallery 1908.7
Collection Ron Mueck: Pregnant Woman

Collection highlights include: Bill 14 November 2015 – 21 February 2016
Henson, Patricia Piccinini, Ben This summer Bendigo Art Gallery will
Armstrong, Emily Floyd, Jan display Mueck’s ‘Pregnant Woman’,
Nelson, Michael Cook, Paddy a significant work from the collection
Bedford, Dale Frank, Del Kathryn of the National Gallery of Australia,
Barton, and Rosemary Laing. alongside the artist’s sketches and
Iconic public sculptures punctuate models for this iconic artwork.
key locations external to the Gallery Born in Melbourne in 1958, Mueck
building – highlights include works by
Sebastian di Mauro, Michael Doolan,
Janet Laurence, and Matt Calvert.
Forthcoming exhibitions:
INK REMIX: Contemporary
art from mainland China,
Taiwan and Hong Kong
31 October 2015 – 7 February 2016
Contemporary ink art has emerged
in recent years as one of the
most important artistic trends in
mainland China, Taiwan and Hong
Kong, and it is attracting significant
international attention. This is the
first exhibition presented in Australia
to focus on this theme, and it
features works in a range of media
by 14 established and emerging
artists from the region. These artists
share a common interest in the
idea of ink as a mutable and fertile
field of artistic enquiry that they
are exploring in innovative, playful
Rupert Bunny (1864–1947), ‘The Sun
and sometimes subversive ways.
Bath’ c1913, oil on canvas. Collection
Bendigo Art Gallery 1949.4

Galleries
Ben Quilty
Australia 1973,‘Kuta Rorschach No.2’ 2014
oil on canvas
RHS Abbott Bequest Fund 2014
experimented with puppetry and

model making in his early years,
influenced by his parents’ work
as toymakers. In the mid-1980s,
he travelled to America to work,
before settling in London. He
assisted with the special effects
on the film sets ‘Dreamchild’ and
‘Labyrinth’, released in 1985 and
1986 respectively. Mueck’s work
captured the attention of Charles
Saatchi, who commissioned Mueck
to create four works including ‘Dead
dad’. His work was included in
Saatchi’s controversial exhibition
‘Sensation’ at the Royal Academy,
London, in 1997 which travelled to
Berlin and Brooklyn, New York, and
marked Mueck’s debut as an artist.
Bill Henson
Melbourne 1955 Theatrical traditions: stage &
Untitled 2011/2012 screen in Bendigo
8 photographs (edition 16 October 2015 – 14 March 2016
of 5 + 2A/P) Western theatrical traditions came
archival inkjet pigment print to Bendigo with fortune seekers in
127 x 180cm each the 1850s. Since then, everything
from amateur to professional,
Shakespeare, opera, live music,
eisteddfods, vaudeville, musicals
and comedy have graced the many
stages in Bendigo. The beginning
of the 20th century heralded the
dawn of the motion picture, which
by the middle of the century was the
most popular form of entertainment.
Existing Bendigo theatres quickly
adapted and numerous purpose built
picture theatres were constructed.

‘Theatrical traditions: stage and
screen in Bendigo’ looks at key
moments, venues and people in
the evolution of such entertainment
in Bendigo. Displayed at Bendigo
Art Gallery’s satellite space, Post
Office Gallery on Pall Mall.
Out of Winter
28 November 2015 – 21
February 2016
In her solo exhibition ‘Out of
Winter’, Karen Annett-Thomas
presents a series of textural
paintings about memory and the
passage of time and her attempts to
materially fix such fleeting concepts.
Combining a variety of materials
including beeswax, oil paint
and plaster she builds up tactile
layers on her canvases creating
a dynamic sculptural surface.
Each layer of medium conceals or
reveals abstracted imagery and
text which offer starting points for
contemplation. In describing her
practice, Karen says, ‘time spent
in the studio is simultaneously
joyous and melancholic, as I
grapple with the ephemeral and
fluid nature of memory through
the tactility and viscosity of paint.
Each painting is an exploration
of the processes of memory and
our attempts to bind it to material
objects and written words’.
Toni Maticevski
13 August – 20 November 2016
Bendigo Art Gallery is currently
curating a major exhibition with
renowned Australian designer,
Toni Maticevski, to be presented
from 13 August 2016. Maticevski
has achieved international acclaim
for his masterful approach to
the manipulation of traditional
fashion silhouettes and innovative
use of materials and fabrics. His
unique skill in dressing the female
form and his collaborations with

Galleries
Petrina Hicks, ‘Emily

the Strange’ 2011
Lightjet print
Courtesy of the Artist
General
and Stills Gallery
In recent years, there has been a
substantial increase in attendances
and an expansion of the Gallery’s
membership base, which extends
throughout Australia. Exhibitions
such as ‘The Golden Age of
Couture’, ‘Grace Kelly: Style Icon’
and ‘Genius and Ambition: The
Royal Academy of Arts’ have drawn
significant attendances and allowed
the Gallery to engage with a much
broader audience. These large
scale exhibitions are balanced
with a program that continues to
develop themes relating to the
permanent collection and solo
exhibitions by Australian artists,
both established and emerging.
Bendigo Art Gallery continues to
evolve, to develop, enhance and
broaden the public understanding
of art through its ever-changing
temporary exhibition program and
extensive collection displays, in
the performing arts speak to addition to a specialised program
his dexterous ability to morph, of events and activities. To find
adapt and defy the perceived out more please got to www.
boundaries of fashion. Selected bendigoartgallery.com.au
objects will be presented to
illustrate the evolution of Toni The Gallery is open Tuesday
Maticevski’s oeuvre, exploring to Sunday 10am to 5pm.
his early influences through to Bendigo Art Gallery
his inspiration and recurrent 42 View St
themes in his current practice. Bendigo, Vic, 3550

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Te a c h e r ’ s Pe t
The Sky’s
the Limit
With Artist Derek L Newton
Y ou often need more than just a

simple graduated wash to paint
a convincing and interesting
sky, and once you start thinking
of that light ‘’the sky’’ often restless
while at other times tranquil, a never
ending kaleidoscope of loose shapes
or distant stars, that you could paint
about ‘’The heavens above’’ the from the same spot 3 or 4 times on
possibilities soon become limitless, the same day and have a completely
In my last article (don’t turn the different sky to work with, not that
lights out) we talked about how you necessarily have to paint what
the foreground shadows will move is in front of you anyway, later no
slowly as the day wears on, and how one looking at your painting can
important light and shade is when say that sky’s not right, if its right
painting a convincing landscape, for the mood your trying to suggest,
so today I’m looking at the source that’s the important thing, so it’s
up to we artists to use the sky, light
and shadows to our advantage.
The Heavens above (dominant Sky)

So in this article I’m looking at
landscape painting, and the power
of the sky to set the scene, mood,
and whole feeling of the composition.
Indeed in many paintings the sky
becomes by far the dominating
factor as with the landscape painting
above, where the foreground sets
the scene, but your eyes are soon
drawn into the distance, where
the moody somber sky takes over
and is the real focal point of the
painting, while in the painting below
old Sussex farm, the sky makes
very little direct contribution but
any critique of the work would
soon suggest its importance in
pushing the landscape forwards
as the paintings main feature.

So our two extremes, in the first
painting the sky is very dominant
while in the other very subdued, both
I suggest, as per the old adage, use
a little artistic license, and bring us
back to the title, The sky’s the limit
Sussex farm (subdued sky) critique

My Water colour painting notes,
Here I’m using a copy I made some
years ago of a old farm building in
Sussex England , the original painted
by my uncle John Clayton hung in
our house for many years. It’s a
typical English landscape scene of
the 1950’s, something uncle John
was quite famous for around that
time, but what’s interesting about
the composition is the almost
non-existent sky, the paintings
strength and emphasis lays in
the buildings and foreground with the sky and decide what part it
just a grey/ blue un-exciting sky will take in your composition. Composition tip.
more or less washed in as an after
thought, and in no way allowed to Hey-hey you-you get off- Take time before
dominate the composition. Should of my Clouds you paint to look
John have made more of the sky There are three main
much of the paintings focus could cloud formations. up at the sky and
have been lost or over powered Nimbus, often dark heavy decide what part
the foreground, and so this is an rain baring clouds often used
important question you need to to add drama to a painting it will take in your
ask yourself before any painting Cumulus, white and fluffy, with composition.
begins, will the sky or landscape multiple forms often domes or
become the dominating feature. cauliflower in shape, with watercolour
Composition tip. Take time we tend not to paint clouds but
before you paint to look up at work back into a watercolour wash

want to create before you start, just

because its overcast doesn’t mean
you can’t paint a blue sky, or add a
dramatic sky to a cloudless one.
Telling a Story
Clouds are a powerful mood
setting tool, and should not be
underestimated, if your interested
in landscape or seascape painting,
they can tell the story, set the scene,
or bring life to a composition, birds
flying into a sunset, tranquility,
threatening storm clouds Drama and
so on, time and again paintings are
ruined by a weak, unauthentic sky,
which could have been avoided with
a little forethought, so often students
don’t see the sky as anything
more than a back drop, an after
thought. My water colour landscape
here is back lit and the sky used
as an integral part of the over all
composition, with the dark blue
Nimbus clouds used to add a little
drama and increase the intensity
of lower white clouds and horizon.
Heavens above
So I hope I’ve given you a reason
to look up above, as well as at the
landscape you’re about to paint, as
the sky is such an important tool,
where ever you may in the world it
will always be there with you, and
whether your building up clouds
on a canvas with a pallet knife
or brush, dropping watercolour
paint onto wet paper and getting
a gravity to do the mixing for you,
with a damp brush or tissue, to use the sky to help tell your story.
pick them out rather than paint and
then let the wash soften the edges The sky’s the limit, part two
as its absorbed into the paper. Derek L Newton A.S.M.A
Cirrus, or Mackerel, clouds, fair Cray boat Yanchep WA 0.1
weather clouds they’re high and Micron black pen
wispy, some times forming the light Late last year I submitted 5 examples
rippled effect of a Mackerel Sky. of my work to the Australian Society
of Marine Artists, together with an
Let your sky tell your story application to upgrade my existing
You don’t have to paint what’s above membership from ordinary member
or in front of you it may not suit you to that of a full exhibition member,
purpose, ask yourself what mood you and late in February this year learnt

that my membership status had
indeed been upgraded, and I am
now able to exhibit my marine
paintings at any of the society’s
Australia wide exhibitions, along
side many of the best exponents
of marine art, the reason I mention
this now is that it works well with
today’s article on two levels, firstly
as an encouragement to all who
seek to improve their art, achieving
full membership of an organization
that boasts many of Australia’s top
marine artists on its selection panel
and encouraged to use the A.S.M.A
letters after your name is for me
like graduating from art collage.
A Reflected sky
Secondly
Sky is often featured very
prominently in marine art, and the
water can mirror the sky colour
especially if the water is fairly calm
as with my painting above, and after
going through part 1 and the many
cloud formations above I thought I’d
look at my own approach to skies.
Before working on this article I
have to admit that I too had very
little knowledge about clouds and
for good reason, I rarely try to paint
them as they are, unless it was
just a straight graduated wash,
I would never deliberately try to
paint a photographic likeness of
the sky. I’m a water colour painter
and my approach is to let the water
paint the picture for you, I just
use the actual sky as my guide.
My secret to clouds is black
board chalk, once the underlying
paint is dry I simply rub chalk over
the canvas or paper until I get a
cloud mass I like, if you don’t like
it! Change it by gently wiping it off
with a damp cloth, and start again,
easy, and when your happy use a
fixative to hold the chalk in place.
My way (Resting Thames Barges)

Set one. I stretch my water colour
paper over night, then having done

that, I wet the entire paper Top to was with ordinary black board
Bottom, then with maybe a loose chalk play around with the cloud
idea for my finished and the actual formation until I liked it, its so easy
sky before me as my guide, I with chalk as long as the papers dry
select three or four paint colours, you can move your clouds around
ultramarine blue, raw umber, light wipe them off with a damp rag and
red , and payens gray would be change the formation as often as
plenty, then with the paper still you like until your happy, then with
wet and a big brush in hand, a fixative spray over them, chalk
cover the whole paper in just a is the easiest way I know to make
few minutes using just about any clouds both hard and soft edged are
combination of colour you like, the easy, but chalk does work best with
trick here is to stop once the paper rough or medium rough papers.
is covered, don’t fiddle, let the Now I alter bits and pieces redo
paints fuse together on their own, the clouds with my chalk, and when
come back later when its dry, and I am happy with the work, simply
let your mind work over the result, draw in the distant land and boats
and see what you can visualize, it with my water colour pencils.
may be a landscape or seascape
would work well with your back Summery, Water Colour painting,
ground, now put the paints away. (Resting Thames Barges))
In this work the next thing I did Put a water colour wash from top
to bottom, using any combination
of color and allow to dry.
Using every day blackboard
chalk play around with clouds and
when your happy use a fixative to
secure the chalk to the painting.
Now use water colour pencils and
draw in your features, job done.
What ever method you use, and
there are many, the most important
thing is to bring life to your painting
by using the mood of the sky to
your advantage, so remember.
The sky’s the limit
www.marineartistsaustralia.com.au

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Artist’s

Deep enD of the pool teAcher's pet

AlwAys something to see perspective simplifieD

Full oF Tips, ideas and Techniques

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4 Artist’s Back to Basics

Artist’s Back to Basics 7

With his finger in a number of pots, this talented retiree keeps a

I am a retired pharmacist with

8 Artist’s Back to Basics

Artist’s Back to Basics 9

Rifleman painting to an Australian

10 Artist’s Back to Basics

Artist’s Back to Basics 11

12 Artist’s Back to Basics

STEP ONE or white strokes on black. So I

Artist’s Back to Basics 13

14 Artist’s Back to Basics

"Deep End of the

We’re Not in Kansas Anymore

Figure 1: Sea of Pain Fine Art

16 Artist’s Back to Basics

Drawing Outside the

Figure 2: This is the black dice with

Figure 4: In its finished state you can see

Artist’s Back to Basics 17

down on. Once your drawing has

18 Artist’s Back to Basics

Artist’s Back to Basics 19

Figure 8: This is Canson ‘220 Drawing’

20 Artist’s Back to Basics

Drawing Through the Gravel an extremely precise way without

Artist’s Back to Basics 21

Offering sage advice to would-be professionals, this artist believes in

I first began painting in the early

22 Artist’s Back to Basics

Artist’s Back to Basics 23

I had no formal training as an

24 Artist’s Back to Basics

Artist’s Back to Basics 25

mediums in the past, I now paint

26 Artist’s Back to Basics

Colours strong and subtle pay homage to these

28 Artist’s Back to Basics

Artist’s Back to Basics 29

Step three Step four

30 Artist’s Back to Basics

Artist’s Back to Basics 31

Step five – closeup

Final Step with it’. It is surprising what can jump

32 Artist’s Back to Basics

ONE POINT PERSPECTIVE angles, just straight lines.

34 Artist’s Back to Basics

Use a focal point or points as it takes CAMERA DISTORTION

Example of camera distortion

VANISHING POINT even kilometres in the distance on

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