Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 35 i Australian How To Paint

Where do I begin? Do I start at primary school where, like so many children before and after me, I drew my favourite cartoon characters? Do I start at aged 12, drawing my guinea pig (I wasn’t allowed to have a horse) who courageously sat through hours of being used as a life model? Do I start in high school where I was taught to draw with the “right side of my brain” and was really impressed when my drawings actually looked like what it was supposed to? Or do I start aged 38 when I decided to live in the moment like the animals that inspire me and become a full-time artist? Let’s start in university… After finishing the HSC doing 3-unit Art, I was “steered” by my parents…

• I like to be in a “painting mood” before I start a new work. It’s really important for me to feel that I’m enthused not only regarding the subject matter, but also that my creative juices are flowing, and I’m up for the excitement and challenge of the new work that I’ve planned. If I’m tired or my mind is focused on other aspects of life, I’m not likely to give my best, and therefore I’m unlikely to get the buzz that I truly enjoy when passion takes over. • Always use the best quality materials, canvases, paints, and brushes that you can afford. • Who knows, this very next painting just might be a regular masterpiece, so give yourself the best possible chance. • Leave your finished but…

• Experiment with your colour mixing on a separate piece of scrap paper. That way if your colour combination doesn’t work out you haven’t ruined your drawing. • Keep a sheet of tracing paper to place over the finished section of your work so you can rest your hand on that section without smudging your precious drawing. • I hope you have enjoyed re-discovering coloured pencils! I have many more subjects for you to try and next time I will be incorporating watercolours. • Happy creating!…

STEP ONE I define a clear border to contain the end result and leave reasonable space all around to facilitate handling. This space includes an area to ‘test blend’ colours. I use charcoal pencils and a brown pastel pencil to formulate the major shapes, before adding a light pink around the ears. STEP TWO  The emphasis is now on the ears and eyes. I use a light pinkish colour for the ears and blend gently with my fingers, adding a little grey violet for the shadows. The eyes begin with a basic colour (in this instance a pale yellow) which is blended with a paper stump. Other colours, shadows and lights are added, followed by the pupil. Black pastel pencil is useful for this task. A basic colour is then…

• I am sure you all have heard this before, a reminder never goes astray. It is very important to get your drawing as accurate as you can, because putting colour on an imperfect drawing will not make it better. • Practice, practice, practice and your drawing will eventually come naturally. • Try drawing upside down, this method frees you of any preconceived ideas you might have on how your subject should look. • I have used a combination of pastel types mainly because I find that the colours I like are not always available in all brands. • Use the Putty rubber for lifting off when you have too much pastel on your paper • I chose a white paper because I wanted the background sky to be very…

• Because of the fine detail, I only work on my paintings for around three to four hours a day. I often get to a stage in the middle of a piece where I don’t like it; or I get extremely bored. That’s the time to set it aside and focus on something else. Sometimes I have one or two pieces at different stages of completion. • When painting any animal, using photographic references without seeing the actual creature leads to creating a flat painting. I can usually tell when looking at a painting if the artist has an actual knowledge of (or affinity with) the animal. If you paint what you are familiar with, it will show up in your work.…

• Reference photos• Ruler (if using a grid)• Paper• Stonehenge White 245gsm• HB Pencil• Copy paper to rest your hand• Derwent eraser for use with graphic pencils• Faber Castell sharpener with large and small holes• National Art Materials Workable Fixative Polychromos pencils • 101 – White• 105 – Ivory• 130 – Dark Flesh• 132 – Light Flesh• 176 – Van Dyck Brown• 178 – Nougat• 179 – Bistre• 180 – Raw Umber• 182 – Brown Ochre• 184 – Dark Naples Ochre• 187 – Burnt Ochre• 189 – Cinnamon• 199 – Black• 233 – Cold Grey• 270– Warm Grey Acrylic Paint • Matisse Titanium White Brushes • Size 0 Taklon liner• Soft brush to remove rubber when rubbing out (cheap makeup brush)…

The Queensland Wildlife Artists Society recently presented the Faber-Castell 250th Anniversary exhibition at the Richard Randall Studio Gallery, Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens in Toowong, Brisbane. Count Andreas and Countess Virginia von Faber-Castell are patrons and major supporters and sponsors of QWASI and, certainly, 250 years operating as a family company is something to celebrate! Over fifty paintings from QWASI members and non-members were hung and subsequently judged by acclaimed artist Judy Scotchford and Faber-Castell representative Anne Wilsteed. The judges were very impressed by the standard of the work and the diversity of subject and media used. Native flora and fauna worldwide as well as wild places were the subject matter and entry was restricted to work produced using at least 80 per cent Faber-Castell product. Paintings in pastel, ink, colour…

• Paper stumps are excellent to blend the first layer of pastel. They can be used to remove excess pastel, and are useful to stabilise a drawing so that it does not smudge. • Colour shapers are very useful to blend heavier pastel if you require a smooth finish; also very good for applying highlights to eyes. • Larger colour shapers can be used to blend and smooth other areas. • To clean paper stumps, I use sandpaper (glued to a piece of craft board). • To sharpen pastel pencils I use a good quality pencil sharpener. Alternatively, a craft knife (used carefully) will produce an excellent result. • I use a plastic eraser on the pastel after first removing excess pastel with my finger or paper stump, or even…

• Canvas: 10 x 12 inches.• HB pencil.• AS No.1 Medium.• Mineral turpentine.• Background colours: Titanium White, Manganese Blue Hue.• Coat colours: Ivory Black, Payne’s Grey, Titanium White, Tasman Blue, Pilbara Red.• Eyes colours: Payne’s Grey, Vandyke Brown, Titanium White, Yellow Ochre, Venetian Red, Jaune Brilliant.• Nose colours: Ivory Black, Payne’s Grey, Titanium White, Tasman Blue.• Tongue colours: Titanium White, Pilbara Red, Payne’s Grey.• Brushes: Taklon Short Shader 5/8; Taklon Angular Shader 3/16; Mop 9mm; Taklon Angular Shader 1/8; Taklon Mini Liner 18/0.…

• Print your reference photo in black and white. • Your pencil needs to be so sharp that it can be used as a stabbing weapon. Turn your pencil after every couple of strokes to get a longer life on your sharp tip. • When starting a new area of the drawing, always start with the shade that you consider to be the “black” of your tones (the darkest). Then add your mid tones. Be careful to start light and then add more dark. It’s easier to go darker if you need to. • Pencil strokes should preferably start in dark areas and then flick to the light areas. This helps to create the illusion of hair which tapers off. • Avoid using an eraser to fix mistakes because it…

• 45cm x 45cm stretched canvas on frame• Watercolour pencils for sketching, and the following Atelier and Matisse acrylic paints: Titanium White, Prussian Blue, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Raw Umber, Cobalt Blue, Yellow Oxide, Payne’s Gray, Alizarin Crimson.• A variety of brushes are used, depending on the texture required: soft nylon, bristle, flat, round and rigger.• “El cheapo” palette• Small trigger-spray water bottle• Clear, pressure pack spray varnish to seal and protect the finished painting.…

I’m confident most of us are familiar with coloured pencils having used them at some time in our lives, either at home with “colouring in books” or at school. Some people love “sketching” with the humble HB pencil. Well I’m here to take you on a journey of discovery, to hopefully re-ignite an artistic flame within. There is no need to spend a lot of money on materials, you may already have some HB pencils and coloured pencils tucked away in a drawer somewhere! You may need to purchase a sketch- pad, and an inexpensive watercolour pad to get started, then as you advance experiment with varying grades and types of papers and illustration boards and also collate a variety of sketch or graphite pencils for shading. I’m thrilled to…

• Take your time, don’t rush it. It does not matter if you finish it today or next week – as long as you’re happy with the end result. • Don’t be afraid to try new techniques; you can always paint over your work if you don’t like it! Experiment with different brushes; blending; different colours and materials. It is the only way to learn something new, and it might surprise you! • Practise sketching. If you start out with a good sketch, it is so much easier to do the rest of the painting. • Study the works of the painters you admire. Why do you admire them? What makes you like their paintings so much? • When you’re outside, look around you. How would you paint that fence,…

• Half sheet of white Colourfix paper taped to a backing board• A workable matt spray fixative and SpectraFix spray for final fixing• Art Spectrum and Rembrandt soft pastels: Pale blue, dark brown, mid-brown, mid-pink, light yellow, light grey, orange, white, burnt sienna, reddish brown• Faber-Castell hard pastels: mid-grey, dark grey, light warm grey, lavender, mid-brown• Faber-Castell pastel pencils: Very dark blue No. 157, black, white, dark yellow, mid-green, dark brown, light grey, mid-grey• Conte pastel pencil: Pale blue No.56• Conte Pastel Pencil No.56• No 2 chisel blender• No 2 pointed blender• Putty rubber• Wet cloth or wet ones…

This painting is of my old kelpie, ‘Stalker’. He has been gone for about ten years. The pose is typical of how he used to sit all the time. The picture is a great way to remember a great dog. STEP ONE From reference photographs, I do a simple pencil sketch. I tend not to detail the sketch that I am going to transfer; instead I put my detail in the actual painting – starting with the sepia underpainting. This method does not work for everyone. Once I am happy with the sketch, I transfer it to my Arches Cold Pressed paper. For this picture, I did not transfer the background to my watercolour pad. I prefer Cold Pressed paper because the paint does not bleed as much and I…

As an avid animal lover, this artist prefers to draw animals, and is always on the lookout for unique photographs to inspire her work. This is a photo that I downloaded from Facebook. It caught my eye as I thought that the pup had a very solemn look. I chose this pup for my demonstration because it is not too complicated. I love this photo as she looks like she is waiting for a family to adopt her. STEP ONE If you are not confident drawing freehand you may wish to use a grid pencilled in on an A4 photocopy of your picture. Using a grid will not put indentations in your paper like tracing will. To make it easier you can use a grid drawing tool that can be…

• Make sure your working area is tidy and free of clutter; in my case my desk, as it can be a distraction when you are working. • Invest in a pencil extender as they are quite inexpensive and save you throwing out your pencils when they get quite short. • I use a Faber-Castell sharpener that catches the shavings as it is less messy. I use the large hole instead of the small hole as I find it sharpens the Polychromos pencils exceptionally well, and I have not had any breakages since using this sharpener. Be careful not to drop your pencils as they will break inside. • Value criticism and value others’ opinions. They will see things you may not see to improve or even change the way…