Tabla de contenidos para Issue 33 en Creative Artist

Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera from the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection The Art Gallery of New South Wales is delighted to present Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera: from the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection, an exhibition exploring the lives and art of two of the most famous artists of the 20th century. More than thirty artworks from the Gelman Collection, widely regarded as the world’s most significant private holding of Mexican modern art, are exhibited along with 49 photographs that track the artists’ lives from 1911 through to the 1950s. Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera: from the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection includes some of Frida Kahlo’s most iconic works, including Diego on my mind and Self-portrait with monkeys (both 1943), as well as major examples of Diego Rivera’s…

• Work from life as much as you can. In landscape painting, this helps the artist to develop skills required to simplify the scene and focus on what is really important in the landscape. Only in life can true value and colour comparisons be made. The experience of working outdoors heightens all of the senses, and the painting experience is energised from this emotional connection. • Study the colour wheel and learn to identify colour through sight and not rely on “names” of colours. Take a workshop to learn about warm and cool and neutral variations of colour. • Words of wisdom to share - practice makes perfect. Work hard to grow. Be prepared to make mistakes and admit them. Look for the good things in each painting and correct…

• Use the best quality paint and paper. If you want to save on art materials, buy cheaper brushes. Don’t use fugitive colours, especially if you sell your artwork. When someone pays money for your art, they deserve a good quality painting that will not fade. • Always be aware of the amount of water on your paper and in your brush. The same amount of wetness in the paper and the brush will give you good control. Remember that a mop brush can hold an insane amount of water. Pick up excess water with a thirsty brush. If the paper is too wet, the pigment in the paint will travel towards the edge and dry in a very ugly, hard line. It’s not easy to get rid of that…

I’ve written a few articles in the past about creating animal portraits in scratchboard since that seems to be what I’m known for, but what about humans? Can scratchboard marks be compatible with skin? Without a shadow of doubt! There are many styles and tools you can use to mimic a person’s skin, and I’ll discuss and demonstrate a few of these here, based on the following portraits. Tattoo Needles My gorgeous nine-year-old niece is my first subject, and I’m using an unusual tool – tattoo needles. You can get tattoo needles on the internet very easily. The company I first used gave me the third degree to make certain I was bona fide (they get many dodgy customers apparently), but once I’d shown them my art, they processed the…

• Make up a sample chart of all your colours, as they look quite different to the printed chart you get with the pencils. Keep it in the tin for quick reference. • Do several 'test' pieces before you start your masterpiece to get the layering of colours correct. Keep these for reference too. • Small, even movements of the pencils will blend and smooth the colours. • 'Zest-it' is a product you can use to further blend your colours if you wish. Apply with an old brush or cotton bud. It is nice to use as it smells of oranges.…

With several exhibition spaces, workshop and artist studio spaces, Burrinja offers an ever-changing program for arts practitioners and visitors alike. A state-of-the-art 400-seat theatre and a licenced café make Burrinja a thriving hub of community and touring shows, and an ideal destination for tourists and day visitors to the hills. Supporting community projects and nurturing local arts is integral to Burrinja’s mission of ‘Building Community through Arts’, a mantra that was born out of community arts and protest in the late 1990s that led to the foundation of Burrinja as a cultural centre. Independent, yet with support of Yarra Ranges Council, the organisation draws on this tradition of community activism and supports a wide range of local community cultural events and annual festivals, including Belgrave Lantern Parade, End-of-the-Line Festival, and…

• Keep your angle brushes in shape after washing out paint by pulling them tightly through a tissue from the ferrule to the tip. This way you will always have a nice thin edge for doing fine line work. If you push the brush into your paint to pick up the colour, you have the paint on the end of the brush, so you can just touch it on your work to achieve thin lines, as a single line, or a longer line by joining up touches. Most of the trunks in this painting have been done this way. Plus you can achieve lots of different shapes when you use the tip of these brushes. • To achieve soft foliage shapes, use the round bristle brush and push into the…

From 12 August to 23 October 2016, the Kunsthaus Zürich is staging the first exhibition of the work of Zurich artist Hans Jakob Oeri (1782-1868). During his lifetime, Oeri was respected and admired throughout Europe. His works are among the finest and most innovative examples of Swiss art in the first half of the 19th century. The exhibition includes more than 60 paintings, watercolours, drawings and prints. Oeri’s testimony and reception of his work shed light on some of the Swiss art scene’s most fascinating involvements in art and cultural history as the Ancien Régime gave way to the new Federal State. The most recent research reveals Oeri to be the prototype of a Swiss artist who operated beyond genres and national boundaries. He was an early modern artist, influenced…

As with all children I loved to draw, colour in and create; this has been something which has stayed with me throughout my life. Having used many other mediums in art, namely coloured pencils, acrylics and oils, I do have a particular fondness for watercolour and graphite, both of which I use extensively for wildlife and botanical illustration. I was in the printing industry as a printer and graphic designer, and while working in London printed fabric for royalty and the ‘Chelsea designers’. I did enjoy this work because I had found a career which embodied stimulating work with design and colour. Nowadays, my main body of work revolves around wildlife and botanical illustration, which I am particularly passionate about because it affords me the scope of creativity, and encompasses…

She’s there now watching, and quietly hoping, while shyly looking out across the pickets, not wanting to be seen as brazen. “Why not come in under my veranda?’’ she calls to anyone passing by. ‘’Get out of the heat and peek your head around the door jamb, maybe come in and see some of my many treasures.” Meadow Street is part of the Guildford Historical Precinct, just east of Perth in Western Australia, and one of our earliest areas to be settled. Set in the shadows of the Darling Range, Guildford was the farthest point up the Swan River from Fremantle that barges could travel before the river became too shallow and unsafe. As part of the Historical Precinct, the old cottage has many near neighbours acting as chaperones. The…

Photographing your artwork for prints, publications and art exhibitions – the final step with your masterpiece – will require artwork to be submitted on CD, DVD or USB stick in digital format, 300 dpi high resolution images. Originally, printers and publishing houses required TIFF files, nowadays the favoured JPEG is more acceptable for quality reproductions, leaving the TIFF format for super large blow-ups. The JPEG format quality comes with all DSLR digital cameras, so we have a number of options to obtain high quality copies of your artwork, varying to the size of your work. The A4 and A3 format flatbed scanners connected to a computer can scan small artworks done on paper or ivory boards to JPEG that will fit into the above category. They can also be copied…

One of the highlights of the major Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986) retrospective opening at Tate Modern on 6 July 2016 is the celebrated flower painting, ‘Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1 1932’. This iconic painting is an important example of the artist’s investigations into still life, and particularly the flowers for which she is most famous. The painting of a humble garden weed is being loaned to Tate Modern from Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas. This is the first time the work is displayed outside the US since being acquired by the Museum in 2014. It is the most expensive painting sold at auction by a female artist. The Jimson weed bloom is native to New Mexico, and the focus O’Keeffe affords it in the painting reflects her growing…

Materials List • 300gm Stonehenge paper• Derwent Coloursoft Pencils – Lemon Yellow – Deep Cadmium – Lime Green – Pale Mint – Pea Green – Mid Green – Dark Green – Baby Blue – Pale Lavender – Loganberry – Cranberry – Indigo – White Grey – Grey Lavender – Grey Green Step One Lightly pencil in the shape of the plant, carefully noting how the petals overlap. I use the lightest coloured pencil (Pale Mint) at this stage, as you are unable to erase graphite pencil later. Step Two I do a light covering of Lemon Yellow, avoiding the highlights, and now add Lime Green in the cooler parts and Deep Cadmium on the warmer. I apply each colour with a small circular movement, as this gives an even surface.…