Tabla de contenidos para Issue 12 en Creative Artist

Step One I start by choosing what size image surface will best work from the photograph. In this case, I decided to go with oils, and I begin priming an 83cm x 83cm linen canvas. I give it several coats of deep ultra-pastel primer, as I want some added texture to the surface. I have chosen this background colour as it will unify the finished painting and add harmony to the overall look. I begin to sketch in the basic composition on the canvas with a light coloured pastel, looking for shapes and lines that will keep the viewer focused and areas that will lead the eye in. This is used for a guideline and will easily blend in with the oil paint. Step Two After selecting my palette, I…

Yes, you read that right. I dabbled in folk-art and painting, but while I enjoyed it, art didn’t come naturally to me. Years passed. I received a diploma in childcare, and at 21, I opened a childcare centre. One day as I was reading a story to the kids, I looked at the pictures I said to myself, ‘you should be able to do this! It is just lines!’ At the centre, it was compulsory to record images of the kids for planning and observations purposes. I wasn’t flash at it, but started to take better pictures to use as references to draw from. I became good enough at it to begin selling my pencil portraits to the mums. Fast forward some years, and at 30 I was a full…

For many years, Adriaen van de Velde (1636-1672) was considered to be one of the greatest artists of the Dutch Golden Age, yet these days his name is barely known to the public at large. The Rijksmuseum wants to change this. The Rijksmuseum and the Dulwich Picture Gallery in London will exhibit some 25 paintings and 40 drawings that show what this wizard was able to do in his short life. Exhibition dates: 24 June – 25 September 2016 Rijksmuseum Amsterdam Museumstraat 1 1071 XX Amsterdam Ph: +31 (0) 20 6747 000 Web: www.rijksmuseum.nl Image Adriaen van de Velde, ‘Portrait of a Couple with Two Children and a Nurse in a Landscape’, 1667. On loan from Amsterdam City Council (A. van der Hoop Bequest).…

Inspired by the Anzac Centenary, this artist’s ‘Spirit of Anzac’ mixed-media picture uses acrylic paint, collage (photos, sheet music and printed material), dried gum leaves (painted for colour permanence and glued in place), a fob watch, oval picture frame, paint-stained sand, Remembrance Day poppies and petals, and the photo of a distant relative – Pte John ‘Jack’ Hay Howlett—a member of the 51st Battalion, who fought on the Western Front in WW1 and survived. Step One Using acrylic paint and my 3cm flat brush, I applied a base coat of Fawn/Toning Grey Mid to the bare canvas. Before it dried, I rolled with a foam roller which has an elastic band wound a couple of times around it to add texture and interest. When dried, I dribbled the canvas with…

Kaldor Public Art Project presents Jonathan Jones For the 32nd Kaldor Public Art Project, Sydney-based Wiradjuri/Kamilaroi artist Jonathan Jones will present ‘barrangal dyara’ (skin and bones), marking the first Kaldor Public Art Project presented with an Australian Aboriginal artist and one of the largest and most significant to-date. This ambitious contemporary art project will transform Sydney’s Royal Botanic Garden from 17 September until 3 October 2016. A vast sculptural installation across 20,000 square-metres of the garden incorporating a native kangaroo grassland and thousands of ceramic shields will blanket the site, which will be activated and enlivened by presentations of Aboriginal language, performances, talks, special events and workshops each day. A major component of the Royal Botanic Garden’s Bicentenary Celebrations, ‘barrangal dyara’ (skin and bones) is presented free to the public,…

The aspect of close-up and personal can be achieved with both macro and zoom lenses, shooting an overall close-up or taking a section of a plant, animal, faces of pets and people or a pattern of movement from the natural or man-made environment, giving the viewer a different point of focus to a familiar environment and creating a greater appreciation of unfamiliar and familiar surrounds. Showing the close-up workings of hidden complicated mechanisms, especially within nature, that expresses the realisation that we are all connected to the universe and everything has a part to play for a healthy existence. It also creates intrigue and mystery to your picture, opening perplexing windows full of questions. Photographic references from this field can give your artwork detail authenticity that is scientifically correct against…

I have often wondered what it is about my art that has allowed me to win various awards in international exhibitions. In what has become quite a surprise to me, I have won numerous gold and silver medals, people’s choice awards, and been juried into prestigious exhibitions. Right now I have two pieces in the masters section in the International Society of Scratchboard Artists annual exhibition in Tucson, Arizona, and I’ve just been juried into the Wildlife Artist of the Year exhibition at the prestigious Mall Galleries in London, an exhibition run by one of my all-time heroes, David Shepherd, wildlife artist extraordinaire, leading conservationist and all round good egg! Hmmm! This sounds like I’m big-noting myself, but I have a point. Why do I do well? (Like I say,…

Where do you start when you’ve been asked to write an article in an art magazine about your passion and desire for art? Like most dedicated artists, I know it seems to start right from the beginning. At a very young age in fact! For me it was from the time I could get a grip on pencils or crayons, and I found myself forever doodling or drawing wherever my imagination could take me. And of course, art was my favourite subject throughout my school years – I was constantly present in the art room in high school – always drawn to working on whatever art project was happening at the time. I began seriously painting in watercolours at the age of 30, and was to work solely in this…

Nationally recognised for one of the finest collections in regional Australia, the Gallery holds more than 6,200 works of art, and the quality and breadth of its collection makes it a significant cultural asset for the city. The collection presents a comprehensive overview of Australian art from colonial times to the present day. In addition, the Gallery has a strong collection of Indigenous bark paintings, and one of the nation’s finest collections of 20th century Australian and Japanese ceramics. In recent years, the Gallery has also developed a bold collection of contemporary Australian art. One of the Gallery’s most loved paintings is ‘Summer at Carcoar’ by Brett Whiteley. Commissioned by Newcastle resident and collector Dr William Bowmore, this massive painting condenses all of Whiteley’s stylistic trademarks and influences. In 1978,…

“One pen creates endless possibilities bringing new life into the world of markers!” The Chameleon Pen comes in two parts. The main body is a double-ended marker pen with a Japanese bullet nib on one end and a SuperSoft Japanese brush nib on the other. The nibs are replaceable and the marker is refillable. The mixing chamber is the second, removable part of each pen. This is what makes Chameleon truly unique. It allows you to change the ink colour and get multiple colour tones, blends and gradations, all from just one pen. Even better, Chameleon Pens come in 50 brilliant colours. Here are six ways you can use this amazing colouring system: 1. Colour like a regular marker. (Fig 1) Alcohol inks are quick drying because the ink doesn’t…