Tabla de contenidos para Issue 11 Volume 1 en Artists Back to Basics

Coming from a family of artists, as a kid I wanted to be anything but an artist. Even driving an ice cream van had its rewards, I thought, compared to slogging away at a painting. While having this pessimistic perception of painting I drew and painted almost on a daily basis, so naturally this is the direction I took as an adult. Who said we had a free will? My earliest oil painting attempts were done using my father’s house paints. I realised after a protracted struggle that these were best left for their intended purpose and managed to procure my first set of proper artists’ oils. From then on, things rolled along, and after attending art classes, winning prizes occasionally and selling quite well, I felt sufficiently rewarded to…

Observation is extremely important in botanical art. You must draw what you see, not what you think should be there. When drawing leaves you must note the type of leaf margin (edge) and whether it is entire, scalloped, toothed or wavy. Other components to observe are the apex (top of leaf), the base, structure, general shape, venation, texture and colour. There is usually a difference between the front and back of the leaf in surface contours, venation and colours. Leaf size and colour can vary from plant to plant and can be influenced by environmental factors such as temperature, climate or habit. Even on the same plant leaves can also vary, depending on whether they are mature or immature, or located at the top or bottom of a plant. It…

Rich luminous hues and gorgeously exotic and rare botanical specimens epitomise John Pastoriza-Piñol’s work, however his are much more than mere flower paintings: closer inspection reveals a certain ambiguity of form and intent directing us towards a dark and complex narrative. The familiarity and pleasure we derive from looking at a depiction of a beautiful plant or flower is somewhat challenged, and the artist suggestively urges us to look beyond the aesthetic and move into slightly more uneasy territory. There are much deeper themes being explored here, along with a tradition that spans back through centuries. The art of botanical illustration is highly specialised, where plant portraits combine finely observed detail with artistic expression. Traditionally, as a form of scientific representation fundamentally for the purpose of identifying and classifying plants,…

• Never sketch directly on your watercolour paper. Try to minimise the amount of mechanical abrasion of the paper as it can disturb the surface of the paper. Draw your subject of sketch paper first then transfer to the watercolour paper. • Properly protecting those critical edges in your drawing before laying down your watercolour washes is an invaluable process for contemporary botanical artists. Masking fluid shouldn’t be left on the paper for long periods of time. If you are unfamiliar with using masking fluid, try not to leave it on your paper any longer than a three-week period. If you have central heating in your studio, this can also have negative effects on the masking fluid so do not expose it to extreme heat. I recommend using surface sized…

Step 1 This is the hardest step; finding a subject. Once that hurdle is overcome, I complete my drawing on tracing paper as it’s much easier to rub out mistakes or even turf out the drawing and start anew. Also, it’s easier to correctly align the drawing onto the canvas. Once I’m happy with the result, I trace over the line work on the wrong side of the tracing paper using soft graphite and then transfer onto the canvas with a stylus. Step 2 Outlining the subjects helps in not losing the shapes. I use a liner and thin the paint with a little thinning medium. Then the background is painted in using mixed paint left over from previous work. At this stage getting the colours exact isn’t important. The…

• The value of anything is only measured by the effort to aquire it. • To paint it, you first have to see it correctly. • My teacher was 1,000 failures. Embrace your failures – they will show you what not to do. • Make your art unique … like you are. • There are no shortcuts. The painting you will do five years from now can only be done five years from now. • There are many steps to the top of the ladder, and to reach the top you have to climb them allmistakes and try again.…

This is a small study of the Fullmoon Maple (Acer japonicum) growing in the Geelong Botanic Gardens, Victoria. This specie of maple is native to Japan and southern Korea. It is a small deciduous tree which has an arresting autumn display, when the leaves turn bright orange to dark red. I have always planned to paint this tree, however, every year I missed the opportunity to collect the autumn leaves; nature waits for no man! Step 1 Select your specimen. Do a basic sketch to capture the shape of the leaf and the direction of the leaf veins. Transfer the sketch onto Arches 300gsm hot-press watercolour paper using a 4H pencil via light box. Step 2 Application of masking fluid. With the Hunt Globe 513H nib, apply masking fluid only…

• Arches 300gsm smooth hot-press watercolour paper • 4H graphite pencil • Windsor & Newton Masking fluid • Hunt Globe 513H calligrapher nib Watercolour Pigments • Windsor & Newton • Perylene Green • Quinacridone Red • Perylene Maroon • Perylene Violet • Ultramarine Blue (green shade) Schmike • Vanadium Yellow • Cerulean Blue Tone • May Green • Brilliant Blue Violet Daniel Smith • Quinacridone Gold Brushes • A series of good sable watercolour brushes Sizes 6, 5 and 4 • ¼ Taklon Neef comb • 4,6,8 Smooshing brush • Da Vinci Short handled Nova Synthetic Retouch Brush 5575 sizes 00, 000…