GALLERY VISIT BUYERS GUIDE

MANLY ART GALLERY AND MUSEUM SET UP YOUR STUDIO

PERFECT BACKGROUND PAINTING THE KIMBERLEY LIGHT

BRETT A JONES DEREK NEWTON

FULL OF TIPS, IDEAS AND TECHNIQUES

 Contents
Issue No.13-1 2023
60

Pencils Down with

10 Brett A Jones
14 Background Treatments - Part 1
46 Background Treatments - Part 2

FeAture Artists
4 Darren Meader
18 Marney Ward
34 Steve Cardno
50 Ann Mitchell

ProDuct review
28 Buyers Guide

FeAtures
42 Drawing Inspiration - Blue Wrens -
Ellen Lee Osterfield
60 Manly Art Gallery & Musuem
64 Brush Strokes with Mark Waller

18 68 Teachers Pet

Cover image by: Darren Meader

2 Artist’s Back to Basics

42
34 50

Artist’s Back to Basics 7

Artist’s Back to Basics 3
 Profile

The Keen Observer

with Darren Meader

This clever artist kindly shares his views of drawing,

composition, photographs, colour and tone.

I have always been a keen observer

of the natural and man-made world.
I loved drawing as a child but did
not start oil painting until age twenty
in a night class in an art supply shop.
My chosen career then was structural
drafting, and painting was of course a
hobby. I travelled the outback extensively
in 1989 and 1991 but never painted for
I was just as keen a photographer. In
1993 I then turned to a university degree
in geology, for it was always a passion
of mine to understand the physical
processes of the Earth and how it came
to be as we see it today. It was a career
that got me back to the bush where
I enjoyed being, and painting took a
place on the back burner for eight years.
When I returned to it I commenced
a passionate practice of watercolour

Storm

4 Artist’s Back to Basics

in the belief that it could be light and
portable. My earliest tutor - Andrew
Gemmill - promptly relieved me of my
need for preciseness and steered me
more towards a looser impressionist
style. This is something for which I am
eternally grateful, for it now underpins
all of my work in watercolour and oil.
I practiced watercolour exclusively
during my breaks from work,
participating in the workshops of several
noted Melbourne artists. In 2011 I
succumbed to a desire to turn my hand
back to oil painting, and applied a lot
of accumulated knowledge in art into
this medium. Watercolour had given
me greater skills in tonal balance,
colour mixing and applying paint with
an impressionistic flair. My work now
follows a process that starts naturally
from inspiration - what excites one’s
creative passion? In my case this is
light and atmosphere on any natural a brush. If taking a photo to paint later,
or man-made scene. Follow this with observe the tone and colour that will
careful observation and then apply inevitably be altered by the photographic
skills in drawing, composition, colour process, particularly the scenes of
and tonal relationships and technique. high shadow and light contrast.

OBSERVATION
Observation is about analysing what is
in front of you and deciding if it is worth
the time to turn it into a painting. Are you
excited by the prospect? Do you see
beauty that others cannot see and feel
a strong need to express it in paint? Do
you see potential of composition but
need stronger, more muted or even a
different angle of light? It is about looking
at the world through an artist’s eyes,
with the ability to see it in painted form
in your mind long before reaching for
DRAWING
Drawing is something that comes
naturally to me. I learnt perspective
in Year 9 Graphics and have never
forgotten it. Proportion is something I can
still get slightly wrong and notice it rather
late. Any problem in a drawing can be
attributed to errors in either proportion
or perspective. Learning to see it early is
the key, regardless of your skill level. You
can make your own rules for drawing
for the painting. For a streetscape I go
into a bit of detail so I can relate it to

Artist’s Back to Basics 5

 Profile

the reference photo during the colour

placement as the painting proceeds.
For a landscape a detailed drawing
on canvas is unnecessary. Importantly,
during painting, the drawing never
actually stops, you just do it with the
brush instead of with a pencil.

COMPOSITION
There are many rules of composition,
all of which can be gleaned from
good painting texts. I learnt from these
and through the art of landscape
photography which I take as seriously
as my painting. Whether painting en
plein air or from a photo, composition
involves placing or moving elements
within or eliminating elements from
the scene in such a way as to
form a pleasing arrangement.

COLOUR AND TONE

Some painters are tonally orientated and
don’t worry a great deal about colour,
but I find that the two go hand in hand,
especially for the strongly lit subjects
I enjoy painting. In the morning and
afternoon light, colour is accentuated
and mixing these colours correctly
becomes important. Sunlit scenes an
hour either side of noon are bled of
strong colour and often result in a more
tonal painting. When not doing colourful,
warm light scenes I do enjoy looking
directly into the light with a morning

6 Artist’s Back to Basics

mist type atmosphere. In these types of
paintings my aim is to employ a harmony
of greys mixed from complementary
colour combinations. Where greens
predominate they are grey greens mixed
from Viridian and Crimson or Turquoise
and Cadmium Red or Light Red. In
a landscape, colour should always
be tempered with its opposite on the
colour wheel. Even the brightest sunlit
greens need to contain a touch of red.

USING PHOTOGRAPHS
Coming from a strong photographic
training perspective I rely heavily
on getting the best exposure and
composition as I can in a photo. On the
computer I can stitch photos together or
crop off tops and bottoms from single
wide angle shots to create the panorama
images that I like to paint. Using photos
requires a lot of intuition to get tonal
relationships correct, especially where
strong light and shadow exist together.
Usually shadows in the photo are too
dark. If you zoom in to photograph the
shadow areas separately you need
to be wary that the camera will try to
brighten them. So while always trying
to get the best photo I can, I still rely
on artistic intuition and inventiveness
to complete a painting. Printing of
high contrast photos is a mistake,
as colours can alter significantly and
shadows become impossibly dark.
Using a laptop allows me to tilt the knife and applying it, for the result is
screen and see better tone and detail in slightly uncontrolled and often exciting
shadow areas and give truer rendition to see as it goes down. My philosophy
of colour elsewhere. Washed out skies in painting is simple: make it look real
need careful treatment or a separate but make it look like a painting. I do not
photo of the sky to work from. I have subscribe to ultra-realism where none of
found, over the years, some subjects the many thousands of brushstrokes that
do not respond well to photography. make up a painting are actually visible.
Backlit clouds or even trees against I want people to know that I have used
bright sky show a high degree of tonal brushes and palette knives to create the
incorrectness. These kinds of subjects work. I work with a strong obsession
require much plein air study work to truly with light, and I want the viewer to feel
capture both colour and tonal variation. the emotion that compelled me to
To conclude, I have to add one more paint the scene in the first place. In that
ingredient - technique. This comes down very aspect it then becomes a great
to your working materials, your tools for responsibility for me to paint it as well as
paint application and the way in which I can, not just for the viewer’s enjoyment
both are employed. It is how you apply but also for my peace of mind.
paint that defines you as an artist. My I don’t think many people see the
work is strong with brushmarks and I world as an artist does. The way
enjoy the feel of loading up a palette the light falls across a subject with

Artist’s Back to Basics 7

 Profile
shadows changing throughout the day.
The way light reflects into shadows
or haloes a backlit subject, or many
other examples of the interplay of
light on or through everyday objects
or atmosphere. But I firmly believe
they don’t mind being shown.
Contact and Galleries
Studio: Tin Shed Pottery (Artist Studios)
13 Russell Street, Invermay, Tas, 7248
Ph: 03 6334 2889
Web: www.darrenmeader.com.au
8 Artist’s Back to Basics
Email: darren@darrenmeader.com.au
Without Pier Gallery
320 Bay Road, Cheltenham, Vic, 3192
Ph: 03 9583 7577
Brialyn Boathouse Gallery
368 Nepean Hwy, Frankston, Vic, 3199
Ph: 03 9770 6119
Town and Country Gallery
111 Princes Hwy, Yarragon, Vic, 3822
Ph: 03 5634 2229 ■
Artist’s Back to Basics 9
Back to Basics
Nicholson
Street, Carlton
Darren Meader
The fabulous vivid colours bring this Melbourne city street scene alive.
STEP ONE
For a street scene such as this
one, I start with a relatively simple
but accurate drawing using a grid
as a guide. I overlay a gridded,
clear acrylic sheet onto the image
on the laptop and can then draw
lines along awnings or window
sills on the screen etc. to find a
vanishing point. I keep this point
in mind through the whole painting
process. Here I have made a few
compositional alterations. I have
dragged one car back to fill a space
in the intersection and slightly over-
emphasised the size of the tram.
Final
10 Artist’s Back to Basics
STEP TWO
I start to map in the darks using the
#6 short flat. My dark mixes are
Ultramarine with Burnt Sienna or
Viridian with Crimson or Cadmium
Red. I have opted for a bit more
autumn in the foliage than the
reference photo and lay down olive
yellows and oranges mixing in
with the darks. Using a short, flat
hoghair brush I can lay paint on
thick by laying it flatter to the board
or take paint off by tilting it up. The
transparency of thinner paint against
the white board is a gift. There is a
glow in it that cannot be replicated
 Step one

MATERIALS
MATERIALS
• My working surface is a 20
x 41cm marine ply board
sealed with acrylic primer
and prepared with two
coats of white gesso. The
brushmarks in the gesso
give the final painting
some additional interest.
• Refined Linseed Oil
• Archival Smooth Gel Medium
Step two
Brushes include:
• #4, #6 and #10 short
flat/bright hog hair
• #12 long flat hog hair
• #6 stiff synthetic round
• #8 Taklon rigger

Palette of Art Spectrum

and Windsor and Newton
Artist’s Oil Colours are:
• Colours always on the palette:
• Permanent Crimson
• Cadmium Red Step three
• Light Red
• Spectrum Yellow
• Golden Yellow
• Australian Red Gold by colour plus white paint mixes. See
• Raw Sienna it in the windows and tree foliage.
• Turquoise
• Veridian STEP THREE
• Ultramarine Blue I start to employ some white in the
• Titanium White colour mixes and start adding other
• Zinc White elements. I have put darks in the
road surface here, intending to put
Guest colours: in shadows that do not exist in the
• Permanent Magenta reference photo. To move my brain
• Permanent Rose along through the chaos I may
• Mars Violet start to finish some elements like a
• Cerulean Blue foreground car, but in this painting
• Cadmium Orange I have started detailing the dome.

Artist’s Back to Basics 11

HINTS
HINTSAND
AND TIPS
TIPS
• I encourage people to engage
in a basic understanding of
perspective for it is present
in everything we see and
not just in the obvious like
buildings. I have seen many
just throw up their hands and
refuse to believe they can
learn it, but I believe that we
must overcome our own self-
imposed mental brick walls
to learning. Give it a go.
Step four
• Painting, and trying to do
it well, is not in any way
STEP FOUR People are added. Most look a bit odd
relaxing. I face a continuous
I continue adding detail to the but I nail a good one now and then.
challenge to get things
background buildings and thickening
happening to my satisfaction.
some of the foliage (some layered STEP SIX
On larger canvases (not my
on with a chisel ended palette knife). The painting has survived long enough
board works) I do a complete
With the #6 round I use Light Red, with a white sky and as it happens it
block in of colour and in this
Crimson, and Cadmium Red with was quite pale on the day so I keep
stage I have the most fun.
minor Zinc White mixes to flesh out the it light with some colourful greys of
Only a small amount of this
main building. The light parts are Raw Crimson with Turquoise in Titanium
underpainting will remain
Sienna and/or a touch of Australian White and hint of some greyed purple
visible in the finished work.
Red Gold into Titanium White. cloud. The #12 long flat is used for
About 10% of painting time
getting some cloud forms. I employ
is taken by the block in. The
STEP FIVE a smaller flat brush for cutting around
next 80% is a long hard slog of
Time to rescue the road and I abandon some of the building details.
sheer perseverance in building
my quest for shadows. It is always a
layers of paint; some easy,
difficult prospect to invent strong light FINAL STEP
some very challenging. The
from nothing. I found the lighter road Finally the details of the Melbourne
final 10% is finishing off detail
surface on the right side sufficient to tram wires. I do them wet into
and correcting niggling errors.
express a variety of interest. I used a wet with palette knife edge and
The whole process can be
#10 short flat brush for larger strokes rigger brush, difficult as it is, but
exciting but also mentally and
than elsewhere in the painting. Details they look more immediate than
physically draining. Patience
like poles, wires and road lines are the option of waiting for the sky
and persistence are your
added using techniques such as the to dry where a very different and
best friends on this journey.
edge of the palette knife, rigger brush less appealing effect results.
• Finally, colour mixing. and scratching back to white. These In some paintings a little more work
Weakness in this aspect details start to bring the painting to life. is completed after it has dried, like
needs addressing; not all at
once but over time. Play with
colour mixing in sketchbooks,
keeping them for later
reference. Do small practice
colour sketches for intended
larger works and have fun
trying to perfect a colour
scheme. Observe colour
in nature and realise most
colour is a greyed version of
the pure colour. Grey colours
by adding a touch of their
complementary colour.
Step five

12 Artist’s Back to Basics

tidying up messy areas where foliage
has mixed a bit with sky colour, but
aside from that I am usually happy
to rest the brushes (and the brain).
It is important to remember that all
the little minor inaccuracies are there
for the viewer’s brain to get involved
with the painting. The brain knows
what the back of a car should look
like - you’ve seen tens of thousands of
them in your lifetime. Stand back from
the painting and things look perfectly
real. It is only as you come closer
that you see it is actually a painting. Step six

Contact and Galleries Ph: 03 9583 7577

Studio: Tin Shed Pottery
(Artist Studios)
13 Russell Street, Invermay, Tas, 7248
Ph: 03 6334 2889
Web: www.darrenmeader.com.au
Email: darren@darrenmeader.com.au
Without Pier Gallery
320 Bay Road, Cheltenham, Vic, 3192
Brialyn Boathouse Gallery
368 Nepean Hwy, Frankston, Vic,
3199
Ph: 03 9770 6119
Town and Country Gallery
111 Princes Hwy, Yarragon, Vic, 3822
Ph: 03 5634 2229 n

Artist’s Back to Basics 13

 Pe n c i l s D o w n
“Background
Treatments- part 1”
T
he background in any and
every drawing (or painting)
is always a very important
consideration in that it is not only a
big part of any aesthetic arrangement
overall but also part of any and
every compositional element open to
manipulation by the artist to present
the subject or main point/s of interest
to its/their best advantage. There
is a lot of artistic room to move
with background treatments from
gloriously pristine white emptiness
right up to the entire background
being as carefully considered and
executed as the actual subject you
are drawing. You can even go mad
and do the old switcheroo and make
Fig 1
14 Artist’s Back to Basics
by Brett A. Jones
the ‘background’ the main feature/s
and the actual subject itself the
supporting surroundings (figures
1, 2 & 3). You may choose to have
no ‘background’ at all (figure 4),
or have a background that actually
envelops the entire subject (figure 5).
Random Contrivance
In this two part article I am mostly
going to be exploring the kinds of
backgrounds you find in still life
arrangements (i.e. any composition
in which the subject itself is often the
main or even the only consideration),
but it’s worth mentioning in passing
that street scenes and landscapes are
no different in that the background
arrangements and treatments can
either add or detract from the artistic
merit of the overall composition
depending wholly on the decisions
made by and acted upon by the
artist. I generally (but not always)
tend to mostly concentrate on the
subject or still life arrangement I want
to draw and use the background as
a way to add to the depth, drama,
and character of the subject or
objects in the composition. There
are a lot of considerations to ponder
when deciding on the best kind of
background to use in any given
situation. When I am collecting
photographic reference material
for a drawing I am almost always
primarily concerned with the most
suitable depth of field, angle, and
lighting to capture the character and
more importantly (for me anyway)
the most pleasing and balanced
compositional aesthetic possible.
This almost invariably leads to
much experimentation with position
and arrangement of objects in the
composition. Virtually all still life
arrangements are contrived to some
extent but the best kind in my view are
the ones that look natural, like they
just happen to have randomly existed
that way. Light source/s and direction
is the other big ticket item. The sun
is my all time favourite, which usually
means several photo shoots of the
same subject/composition at various
times of the day. No matter what sort
of setting and light you use though
you always have to be very aware of
influences on the chosen subject from
outside the frame from either ambient
or reflected light. If I choose to include
a specific detailed background it also
has to be carefully considered and
included as just as meaningful a part
of the composition as the subject/s,
otherwise it just distracts/detracts/
subtracts from the work as an original
freehand artwork when complete.
Fig 2 Fig 3
Irrelevant and Annoying
As I said I am almost always primarily
interested in drawing the subject
itself so unless I’ve got a particular reflective surface like chrome either. Fig 1: In this case the subject is the
artistic reason to include what’s in Even completely non-reflective surfaces foreground, with the “background”
the background it almost always like material, flower petals, skin, hair, only seen in glimpses through a few
becomes an irrelevant and even etc is being heavily influenced in the gaps and openings. The title of this
annoying distraction during the photo way it looks by what is being reflected pastel is actually “Broken View”.
shoot and can even in some cases onto it from other sources (from the Fig 2: The little scene seen
stop you from seeing and accurately background, foreground, and either through the other side of the old
representing some (or a lot) of the side). I think it was Leonardo who long abandoned farmhouse is a
outlines and finer details in the actual said that everything is affected by composition within a composition.
object/s you are interested in including everything else as far as both reflected Fig 3: The gap in the wall has a small
in the work once you attempt the colour and light are concerned. This section of the track seen in Figure
actual execution on the drawing board means for example that if you take a 2, linking the small “windows of
(figures 6, 7, 8 & 9). You really have photo of Aunty Nora standing next to background” together in a coherent
to be aware with very shiny or light a huge green fibreglass elephant and and compositionally pleasing way.
reflective surfaces on some subjects then use that shot as a reference for Fig 4: Close crops often negate
(e.g. glass, chrome, gloss paint, a portrait (with or without the elephant the need (or room) for any
etc) of what is being reflected onto included), Aunty Nora’s skin will almost kind of background at all.
your subject from outside sources certainly have a sickly green tinge Fig 5: Sometimes the background
(figure 10). Take special note of this to it. You can try and make artistic and foreground can meld together
as you are collecting your reference license decisions with the skin colour seamlessly, embracing the
photos, you may have to change the when doing the portrait but let’s face it, subject in a very intimate grip.
location of the photo shoot, move
the subject or even move or cover
something behind the subject or
outside of the frame to get the effect
you want. This aspect is like all the
others in that it can work against you
or conversely, like every single aspect
of original compositional creation,
be taken advantage of to actually
add to the final reference image in
unendingly various artistic ways.

Green Elephants
This principle isn’t only limited to
Fig 4 Fig 5

Artist’s Back to Basics 15

 Pe n c i l s D o w n
Fig 6
Fig 6: A nice photographic study of my
faithful old Spaghetti Jet but patently
unsuitable as a reference image for a
drawing. You can never see the bottoms
of wheels and tyres on soft grass either,
in the same way cattle’s feet disappear.
Ok if part of the plan, just a pain if not.
Fig 7: Same subject, same aspect, but
perfect for drawing reference image
this time. Background is uniform which
allows clarity around outline and gaps
between spokes and other parts of the
machine you can see the background
through. There are also no shadows
cast on the bike from above and a
nice dark clearly edged shadow under
it to use as a grounding device.
Fig 8: An old postie bike from Lismore,
exactly the same problems with regard
to clarity in the reference image.
Fig 9: Once you have the sunlight falling
exactly as you want it on the subject
and seen from the ideal position of
view often the background becomes
a real problem. A great option is
to get someone to hold up a plain
Fig 8
16 Artist’s Back to Basics
Fig 7
better to use a reference photo without
any big green elephants in it to start
with. This is of course taking it to the
extreme in order to explain the point
I am trying to make. The fact of the
matter is that ALL light and colour is
reflected to some extent on ALL other
surfaces in the vicinity and vice-versa.
All Part of the Creative Process
Well worth keeping in mind when
playing with your compositional idea.
Just like the chrome and glass thing,
subtly reflected colour can either
work for or against you depending
on what your original idea was. If you
want Aunt Nora to look green by all
means buddy her up to the elephant,
if not, don’t. What I am trying to get
across is if you are not going to paint
or draw the actual background and/
or immediate surroundings in your
composition, be aware of what they
are doing to affect the subject matter
and decide for yourself whether this
makes any artistic sense or not with
Fig 9
the background omitted and choose
the various aspects of the reference
photo shoot to suit. By the same token
if you are going to include background
details they have to not only make
sense in an artistic way (it might
be Aunt Nora’s prize winning green
fibreglass elephant) but also hopefully
add to the overall composition in a
balanced, aesthetically pleasing way.
A beautiful compositional arrangement
can be thrown to the dogs by a badly
positioned background object/s and/
or areas of light and dark. Again,
another concept that can either ruin
your art or work for you and add to it
depending on the creative decisions
you as the artist make. If you are not
going to include background details
(my starting preference more often
than not, although of course that
doesn’t make it right or wrong, just my
preference) there are a lot of valuable
options to consider as far as how you
present the background in relation to
each different compositional situation.
 Fig 10
In the second part of this article we
will more closely examine some specific
background choices available to you
and how they can and do influence
and affect the entire artwork. n
For
B O TA N I C A L & W I L D L I F E
ART & PHOTOGRAHY
Contact
Margaret Hodgson OAM
Email: whatsupthescrub@gmail.com
Phone: 02 6647 3157
backdrop of some kind to supply the
necessary clarity. In this case the prop
crew are the King of Clubs from my
card designs and his daughter Tia.
Fig 10: This is the perfect example. You
really might not want to draw all the
clouds in the sky reflected in the tank
paintjob but if you edit them out you will
also have to edit them out of the back of
the mirror, handlebars, headlight shroud,
forks, tappet covers, air cleaner, and
every other shiny place on the bike the
clouds are reflected or the whole thing
will look wrongski. I always prefer doing
photo shoots under a blue and cloudless
sky but it’s all but impossible, completely
clear skies are rarer than you think
once you start hunting for them. Even a
good place for photo shoots are hard
to find. The point is: everything affects
everything else, and the more reflective
the surface the more intense the effect.
Who wants ugly and irrelevant suburbia,
billboards, and powerlines reflected all
over a car or bike (or anything shiny)
you are trying to draw. I’m so jealous of
people who live near featureless salt flats.
Even then you’d have to edit yourself
taking the picture out of the paintwork.
Artist’s Back to Basics 17
 Profile

The Tangible
Presence of Light
with Marney Ward

This gifted watercolour artist seeks to capture the inner

spiritual light of every flower that she paints.

M
y mother was a great
gardener, and flowers have
always been a source of joy
and inspiration for me. They seem
to be put on earth to lift our spirits
with their pure, clear colours, lovely
fragrances and intricate patterns. And
they have the ability to transform
light into something miraculous. I
am passionate about watercolour for
similar reasons: the colours are pure
and transparent, allowing the light to

18 Artist’s Back to Basics

shine through them from the white of consciousness through more than
paper as if lit from within. So for me forty years of meditation. It was
My mother was a
as a watercolour artist, flowers are meditation that helped me see more great gardener, and
the perfect subject, and capturing subtle nuances of light and colour, and
the inner spiritual light through ultimately gave me the confidence
flowers have always
flowers has become my passion. to pursue a career as an artist. been a source of joy
For almost all my life I have Over the years I’ve come to love
been interested in creativity and watercolour more and more. Its
and inspiration for me.
consciousness. What makes a person spontaneous, flowing qualities demand
creative, and how do creative people an intensely personal relationship with
see the world differently? I studied the elements of water, earth (pigment),
the arts at the University of British fire and air. We need to know the
Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, qualities of each pigment we use and
ultimately earning a PhD with a how it interacts with water and with
dissertation on William Blake, studying other pigments; we need to know how
both his poetry and his various visual wet or dry the paper and the brush
art forms. Blake believed that our must be when we add paint, to get just
individual level of consciousness
determines how we see the world,
and that our consciousness can change
throughout our lifetime. I was also
influenced by my home-town artist
and writer Emily Carr, who is only now
gaining the world-wide recognition she
deserves. Through both her paintings
and her writing, she taught me to seek
the spiritual essence of whatever I
was painting, the underlying universal
energy of the thing. To sit and wait
in stillness until the eye was able to
see in a deeper way. I believe artists
see the world differently because
they have refined their senses.
Whilst completing my PhD I learned
Transcendental Meditation and for
me, meditation has been the key to
refining my consciousness and the
way I see the world. My evolution as
an artist has followed my evolution

Artist’s Back to Basics 19

 Profile
Like a gardener, we the right effect. Yet like a gardener, we
must allow nature to do its thing, the
choose the colours magic happens when the elements are
and the amount understood and respected, the ground
is laid, the timing is perfect, and then
of water (which the artist watches as the paint and
determines the the water and the air and the heat
do their thing. Like a gardener, we
values), but every choose the colours and the amount
garden has a few of water (which determines the
values), but every garden has a few
surprises. We can’t surprises. We can’t control everything;
control everything; we we work with nature and delight in
what we can produce together.
work with nature and With watercolour we can achieve
delight in what we can a wide variety of special effects. We
can choose granulating pigments for
produce together. texture or staining pigments to glaze
layers on top of one another. We
can use more or less water to create
soft or hard or fuzzy edges. We can
sprinkle or splatter bits of water onto
damp pigment and we can add salt or
other additives. We can use sponges
and plastic wrap to create interesting
textures, and with every exploration
we find new possibilities. But I want
to capture the personality of every
flower, so my composition, colours,
mood, edges, values and special effects
are all determined by the feeling I
want to convey. What does this flower
mean to me, is it soft and delicate,
or is it bold and full of drama? How
20 Artist’s Back to Basics
can I best capture its essence?
Whatever the mood, it is light that
reveals the spirit of the flower. The
transparent pigments caress the light of
the white paper into form and feeling,
colouring it and giving it life the same
way the petals of the flower colour the
light of the sun. The most important
thing I seek to achieve in every painting
is the tangible presence of light.
I’ve now been painting pretty well
full-time for more than twenty years,
and teaching art for more than fifteen.
I just recently launched a new online
course, based on my “live” eight-week
courses. Teaching online means I can
reach artists all over the world without
having to leave my own home.
I’ve twice been a featured finalist in
International Artist and was recently
featured in the American magazine
Porcelain Artist and in a special
international portfolio of watercolour
artists in French magazine, Pratique
des Arts. My paintings have graced the
front cover of Art Avenue and Focus
magazines, and I have been featured
in three books: Coastal Moments,
The Island Illustrators Society and
Artists of British Columbia Volume III.
In 2011 I was granted the highest
level of signature status, SFCA, with
the Federation of Canadian Artists
(FCA). I have been in countless juried
exhibitions in Victoria, Vancouver, some paintings on display at David I’ve now been painting
Nanaimo, Sooke, Sidney and Seattle, Sumner Gallery in Adelaide soon.
and have won seventeen awards, pretty well full-time
including one in the big Annual Contact details: for more than twenty
International Representational Show Web: www.marneyward.com
(AIRS) in Vancouver in 2012. I have Email: marney@marneyward.com. years, and teaching art
also juried numerous shows for the I also have a professional Facebook for more than fifteen.
FCA in various cities. I’ve had major page, Marney Ward SFCA, where
solo exhibitions with Winchester I post my paintings. n
Galleries in its two galleries in Victoria
and at The Oak Bay Beach Hotel,
where I was Artist in Residence for
the month of September, 2013. My
most recent solo show was at The
Old School House in Qualicum Beach,
BC in July and August 2014. Last
autumn I was honoured to be part of
Winchester Galleries’ major Twentieth
Anniversary Exhibition, featuring works
by Emily Carr, A.Y. Jackson, William
Perehudoff, Claude Tousignant, Andy
Warhol and other illustrious artists.
I show through Art Rentals at The Art
Gallery of Greater Victoria, Butchart
Gardens and Winchester Galleries
in Victoria and Federation Gallery in
Vancouver, BC. I am expecting to have

Artist’s Back to Basics 21

 Back to Basics
Tenderness
By Marney Ward
Amazing attention to detail creates this stunning flower.
Step One
I grid both my reference photo and my
watercolour paper into 16 rectangles and
draw freehand with a Fine or H Staedtler
Mars 780 thick lead mechanical pencil.
The grid lines keep me from getting
too far off base, and the slightly hard
pencil won’t smudge as much as softer
pencils. Just avoid pressing too hard
or you could create depressions in the
paper that will trap the paint later.
Step Two
I want to keep this whole painting
delicate and soft, with little bits of
Final
22 Artist’s Back to Basics
light dappling throughout both the
background and foreground, so I
deliberately keep my colours fairly pale
and muted. I don’t want the yellow-
greens, in particular, to dominate
over the pale pinks in the flower. But
I still want that sense of sunshine.
So I used greyed down colours and
quite a lot of water on these first
background shapes. Aureolin Yellow,
New Gamboge Yellow, Quinacridone
Gold, Sap Green, and Burnt Sienna
are my warm colours, with a bit
of French Ultramarine Blue and
Winsor Violet added for the darks.
On the left, I kept the edges of the flower
 Step one
sharp by wetting very carefully around
them, making sure no water got onto
the petals. To get soft edges on the
leaves, I painted on quite damp paper,
with drier paper for harder edges. For
the darker foreground leaf, I wet around
the veins, then added paint in sections,
leaving the veins dry and unpainted.
When the sections were almost dry, I
added a tiny bit of water with a very fine
brush to the veins, to blur the edges.
For the right hand side, I painted the
MATERIALS
MATERIALS
Fine or H Staedtler Mars 780
thick lead mechanical pencil
Paints:
Aureolin Yellow
New Gamboge Yellow
Quinacridone Gold
Sap Green
Burnt Sienna
French Ultramarine Blue
Winsor Violet
Alizaron Crimson
Winsor Violet
Permanent Rose
Step three
Step two
large yellowish leaf first, keeping the
colours varied but soft. I added the
dark shadow of a stem when the paper
was still damp but just beginning to
lose its shine, so it would create a
soft edge but not spread too much.
I created the darker veins the same
way. I splattered a bit of plain water to
create a few soft spots. The French
Ultramarine Blue in the darker area
creates the granulating texture there.
The light part on the bottom was mainly
just water. I painted the cooler green
leaf with the red veins after the yellow
leaf had dried. The red veins will also
pick up the pink colour of the flower.
The small leaf under the big leaf was
done in class to illustrate a sharp
edge and some contrast, perhaps
it’s a bit too dark but I’ll leave it for
now. I’m looking for variety in value
and colour but still softness, a play
of light that will complement the
flower but not detract from it.
Step Three
I started on the lower part by painting
the background a pale neutral grey,
wet on wet. On the left, I wanted the
Step four
Artist’s Back to Basics 23
Back to Basics
Step five
I added some yellowish leaves to be soft edged
so I put them in while the surface
Quinacridone Gold was still quite wet, and I dropped
for the warmer area in a bit of pink at the same time.
When the background was dry I worked
and made sure to on the darker leaves, mixing French
keep the light area Ultramarine Blue, Ultra, Burnt Sienna
and Sap Green plus a bit of Winsor
just clear water, Violet to get the muted forest colour. I
with a soft edge. wet in between the veins, dropping in
green and leaving the veins dry and
unpainted until the green was almost
dry, then blending out as before. I
added a touch of Alizaron Crimson and
Winsor Violet on one side on the lower
leaves, and used those colours to do
the stem as well. With all the leaves I
paid attention to the patterns of light.
I then painted the leaves on the lower
right in a similar manner. After they
had all dried I added the red-purple
stem. I’m looking for contrast between
each leaf and also with the flower
adjacent to it. However, if there is
even contrast all around, the flower
will look pasted on. I will reassess and
darken, brighten, or mute the leaves
as needed once the flower is painted.
I always start my main flower with the
outer petals, which act as a transition
from the background to the foreground.
This first petal I paint has the darkest
petal colour, which picks up the red-
purple stems and veins in the leaves. I
wet the part behind first, nearer the top,
and used more background colours,
liking the ambiguity of where the petal
ended and the background started,
and the bit of blue-purple colour.
Working on quite wet paper assures a
smooth blending of all the colours.
24 Artist’s Back to Basics
Step six
Then I wet the front part of the petal,
mostly using Permanent Rose and
French Ultramarine Blue with a bit of
Winsor Violet for the pinks, but making
sure the petal behind was dry before
I came in with the strong mixture of
Alizarin Crimson and Winsor Violet
for the dark streak. I added some
Quinacridone Gold for the warmer
area and made sure to keep the light
area just clear water, with a soft edge.
I painted right over the shadow area,
and when it was almost completely
dry I added the shadow colour,
which was basically the underlying
petal colour toned down with a bit of
French Ultramarine Blue and a bit of
green. If you leave the shadow part
unpainted and then come in to do the
shadow separately, you tend to lose the
underlying features such as veins, colour
variations, et cetera. And you tend to
have a very hard edge for the shadow.
Step Four
Continuing around the flower, I painted
the outside petals, which are mostly
pale pink. I used Permanent Rose,
toned with French Ultramarine Blue and
Winsor Violet, and with Sap Green if I
wanted a greyer colour. I wet sections
of a large petal to keep edges soft,
breaking the sections where there is a
deeper colour or an obvious “join” so
that I don’t get hard edges where I don’t
want them. I also paint the central part
of the petal on the left pale yellow. The
warm colours are going to be mainly
on the central part of the flower.
I am paying particular attention to
values, but keeping it fairly light
at this point. I always look at the
value of the background on the
other side of the petal, and the
values of the adjacent petals. I’m
looking for a shimmering effect of
dappled light that moves around.
Step Five
I added some Sap Green to the
Permanent Rose to make the
lower petal greyer than the other
petals, and a bit darker in value.
For the large petal on the right, I used
Permanent Rose, French Ultramarine
Blue and Burnt Sienna, plus some
New Gamboge Yellow to warm up the
pinks in the middle, liking the contrast
with the cooler greys on the top and
bottom. I paid special attention to the
alternation of lights and darks in the
streaking. I came in very wet for the
warm shadow in the middle, using
Permanent Rose, Burnt Sienna and
French Ultramarine Blue with a touch
of Winsor Violet. I started by wetting a
portion at the top and gradually worked
my way down to the bottom, wetting a
section at a time to keep the edges soft.
Step Six
I painted the darker, more saturated
petal just to the left of the leaves at
the bottom right with a warmer pink
(Permanent Rose and New Gamboge
Yellow). I put in a darkish shadow
of French Ultramarine Blue, Burnt
Sienna, Permanent Rose and Winsor
Violet while it was quite wet to get the
granulation and the very soft edge.
I then painted the main part of the inner
petal in the upper right, with a mixture of
Permanent Rose, Cobalt Blue, Winsor
Violet and Burnt Sienna and near the
centre, Quinacridone Gold and New
Gamboge. Once dry, I painted the
overlap, keeping the edges just water
and using mostly Permanent Rose
toned down with Burnt Sienna and
French Ultramarine Blue, again for the
granulation. Then I painted the lower
overlap, using a slightly darker version
of the above three colours. I paid close
attention to the values, keeping more
water on the lighter bits and making
the bottom edges darker and bluer.
I also slightly darkened the lower parts
of the large left-hand petal, mainly the
bluish parts, to create more contrast
I do this balancing
with the almost white adjacent area. as I go along,
I also toned down the brightest two
green leaves, the middle one of the
trying to keep a
bottom three on the right, and the dance of light
largish one on the left, using a wash
of Winsor Violet over the darker parts
shapes flickering
and quin gold over the lighter parts. around and within
As both contain some red, the effect is
to dull down the intensity of the green.
the flower.
I do this balancing as I go along,
trying to keep a dance of light shapes
flickering around and within the flower.
Step Seven
I worked on all the petals on the upper
left and centre, one at a time, trying to
vary the colours and keep the values
correct by constantly referring to the
reference photo. I always wet the petal
first and then add colour. I used New
Gamboge Yellow to warm up the petals
near the centre, with a bit of Alizarin
Crimson for the dark reds adjacent to
the centre. Other than that, the palette
and technique were the same as before.
Once these petals were done, I
decided the underside of the petal
to the immediate right needed to be
darkened, and I did this by wetting the
whole underside with a mixture of French
Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Sienna and
Sap Green, and bringing in a mixture of
Alizarin Crimson and Winsor Violet for
the darker streaks as it started to dry. I
Step seven
Artist’s Back to Basics 25
Back to Basics
liked the deeper colour as the values
At this point I so far have mostly been quite light.
know I can come I then did the light bits on either side
of the petal below, and then the petal
in darker, it’s the to the left of that unpainted petal, as it
light parts I am was darker than the other remaining
petals. I try to leave the inner and lighter
careful not to petals until the end, because I’ve found
get too dark. it works best to save the lightest parts
“paper white” as long as possible.
With each petal I use very little pigment
on the lightest parts. I’m very aware
of whether the adjacent petals are
lighter or darker and might push the
values a little to get a more dynamic
interplay of light. At this point I know I
can come in darker, it’s the light parts
I am careful not to get too dark. I
haven’t used frisket on the centre so I
come in carefully around the stamens
if they are lighter than the petals.
Step Eight
I painted the final two petals with
the same colours I’ve been using all
along, Permanent Rose tempered with
Cobalt Blue, Sap Green, Burnt Sienna,
and New Gamboge Yellow. For the
darker bits I used French Ultramarine
Blue mixed with Burnt Sienna and
sometimes a bit of Winsor Violet. I
really tried to keep the transparency of
these petals, so kept the lightest areas
mostly just water with some veining
thrown in as they dried sufficiently.
I painted the shadow while it was
still quite wet so it would be very
Step Eight
26 Artist’s Back to Basics
soft, and kept the edges uneven.
Once all the petals were done I had
to balance everything, which meant
darkening some of the midtones. I
also toned down some of the leaves
and darkened the background behind
the leaf at 9 o’clock. I needed to
balance out the greens and not have
any of them too vibrant a colour, or
they would take away from the pinks,
but I wanted a diversity of values
to give that dappled light effect.
Final Step
To paint the centre, I first painted
the separate stamens yellow (New
Gamboge Yellow), then put the darker
brownish shadows in (Burnt Sienna plus
some blue or purple). Then I painted
the reds around them and into the
base of the petals on the left. I used
quite a bit of New Gamboge Yellow
and some Quinacridone Gold to warm
up the Permanent Rose, and some
Winsor Violet and French Ultramarine
Blue to darken it more in the middle
and right areas. These were quite wet
as I wanted a lot of soft blending and
suggested shapes, with just enough
light bits remaining to highlight the
stamens. I was aware that the light
was coming from the left and it was
the left side of each stamen and the
left side of the centre in general that
was warmer and lighter, while the
right side was mostly quite dark.
As I was painting the reds I drew
some of it out into the lower part of
each petal, but mainly the ones on the
left. I added New Gamboge Yellow
to the base of the petals to make
them more orangey and glowing.
The warmth and the darkness of the
centre really brought out the subtle
diaphanous quality of the petals.
After checking it out I added a
couple more dark stamens on the
right to make it more balanced.
Then I signed it in pale green.
Contact details:
Web: www.marneyward.com
Email: marney@marneyward.com.
I also have a professional Facebook
page, Marney Ward SFCA,
where I post my paintings. ■
 Artist’s Palette 15
Artist’s Back to Basics 27
 Buyer ’s Guide

Super Buyers Guide

Contributed

Whether you are a keen amateur or an established artist, keeping your

art supplies and learning tools up to date can make a world of difference
to the quality of your work. A selection of your favourite art material
suppliers are ready to assist you with useful products that are sure to
enhance your next project. Find out what you can achieve with the right
supplies and make this year the most creative and successful one yet!

Are you looking for something to give you an edge? Then try GENESIS HEAT SET PAINTS.

With all the pressures of busy schedules
and upcoming deadlines, it can often
be hard to achieve perfection. Genesis
Heat Set Oil Paints could just be your
saviour. With these paints you can
choose to keep working long into the
night and not have to wait hours or
days for your paint to dry. Or, if you
can only grab a few minutes here and
there, you can just pick up your palette
and brushes and get to work, then
down tools and run to catch that bus.
No need to mix up a fresh batch of
paint every time you want to paint.
Mixed up the wrong colour? No
worries, just put it in a glass jar and it
will keep indefinitely, just waiting to
be used in another painting. Scrape off
your used palette and store the paint
for another project. With these paints
you have minimal waste - an important
feature for those on a budget. With
excellent coverage capability they
are economical to use. Another
bonus is they never dry (at least until
heat is applied), so you won’t end
up with lots of dried out tubes.
Genesis Heat-Set Oil Paints are a
unique paint which offers a non toxic,
odour free and non allergenic product
as well as an unparalleled level of
control when it comes to drying time.
Genesis Heat-Set Oil Paint gives you
the two ‘bests’ in an artist’s medium,
allowing you to work the way you
choose to. With traditional oils the
length of drying time means we can
lose our momentum in getting our
ideas and thoughts onto the canvas.

32
28 Artist’s Back to Basics
Acrylics and watercolours can dry too
quickly. With Genesis, you can apply
washes like watercolour artists do or
blend to your heart’s content! You can
apply layer over layer just as you could
with other paints, but Genesis will
also allow you to blend colours easily
if you desire. You, the artist, at last
has TOTAL control with the drying
process. Simply dry the area you want
to keep working on, then apply more
paint, or a wash or glaze straight over
the top. If you make a mistake, just
wipe it off, and when you’re happy
with a layer or area; dry it straight
away – no more worrying about ruining
your masterpiece! Genesis offers
fine control in mixing, blending and
application. Genesis is no different
in appearance to conventional oils.
You can read more about the product
at Australia’s Sole Suppliers’ website
www.genesisoilpaints.com.au where
S&S 2016
S&S has a wide variety of items on
offer for artists in 2016. From colouring,
pastel, sketching and graphite pencils
to charcoal, brushes, oils, acrylics,
watercolours, gouache, paintstiks,
easels, sketchbooks and paper, you
will find everything they need to
make this year an artistic success.
A large selection of the Derwent
pencil range is on offer for this year.
S&S is offering Derwent Inktense,
Coloursoft, Drawing, Artist, Studio,
Watercolour, Pastel, Metallic, Graphitint,
Tinted Charcoal and Sketching
pencils along with some specially
selected Collection Sets for you to
begin your artistic year in style. These
selections of pencils are available in
selected wooden boxes and tins.
Derwent pencils are high quality
drawing instruments suitable for
amateur, student and professional
artists. This range of pencils provides a
wide choice of mediums for all pencil
you can shop online 24 hours a day, 7
days a week. Orders can also be made
by mail or by telephone on 1300 66
11 65 or 07 5426 4685 or 0437 183
173. Our customers normally receive
their orders via Express Post within
2-4 working days. You can ring or
email for a free information kit.
GENESIS ARTISTS SUPPLIES
Stockists of:
Genesis Heat Set Oil Paints
Coates Willow Charcoal
ARTristic Easels
ARTristic Mahl Sticks
Maxine’s Mop Brushes
A wide range of brushes
Colour wheels
Stylus and palette knives
Colour Shapers
Measuring spoons
Pattern Packs
DVDs and books
artists. The rich, luscious colour of
Coloursoft and the bold, earthy tones of
Derwent Drawing pencils are especially
good for capturing landscapes and life
drawings while the unique properties
of Graphitint and Tinted Charcoal
offer artists exciting new mediums
to create beautiful pencil drawings.
Inktense pencils are pure, vibrant
colour pencils that combine the intensity
of pen and ink with the versatility of
line and wash. Use dry to create strong,
vivid tones then apply a light wash to
achieve a translucent ink-like effect.
Once dry, the colour is permanent
and can be worked over with both
soluble and non-soluble media.
Derwent Inktense pencils are
incredibly versatile and can be used
to create a diverse range of art from
Japanese Manga and vibrant silk
painting to more traditional watercolours
and stunning botanical illustrations.
Now available to Australian artists are
33
Artist’s Back to Basics 29
 Buyer ’s Guide
the newly re-formulated Derwent pastel
pencils. These pencils have a softer
texture and improved performance than
the previous Derwent Pastel pencils.
The colours are vibrant, intense and
blend easily allowing you to create an
infinite number of hues and tints. All
Derwent pencils are now manufactured
with an environmentally friendly,
water-based, solvent free coating.
For the sketching artists, there is a
selection of graphite and sketching
pencils, mixed media sets and charcoal.
The Cretacolor Black Box and
Artino graphite sets contain a useful
selection of black drawing materials
including charcoal, graphite and Nero
drawing pencils while the Cretacolor
Artino and Primo sketching sets
provide a great selection of sepia,
sanguine, charcoal and chalk pencils
along with accessories such as paper
stumps and kneadable erasers.
The ‘Silver Box’ by Cretacolor
is the perfect complement to the
Black Box. It contains a selection of
quality graphite drawing materials
including graphite blocks, sticks,
pencils, monolith woodless graphite
pencils plus accessories presented in
a beautiful silver tin. The Cretacolor
“Artist Studio” Drawing 101 set is
ideal for all artists. This excellent
value, introductory set contains three
graphite pencils (HB, 2B, 4B), an extra
soft oil charcoal pencil, white chalk
pencil, sanguine pencil, sepia pencil,
three charcoal pencils (soft, medium,
hard) plus paper blending stump.
For something a little different try
the Cretacolor “oil pencil” sketching
set. This set contains a selection of oil
pencils that are perfect for all types of
drawing, sketching, landscapes and
portraiture. This set contains oil pencils
in white chalk, sepia (light and dark),
Nero (soft and extra soft) plus Sanguine.
If you are looking for charcoal, the soft
black willow charcoal from Coates is
particularly well suited to satisfy a whole
range of artistic needs. Coates willow
rods are clean and straight – top quality
artist pieces! S&S is also offering Daler-
Rowney’s willow charcoal for this year.
This premium quality charcoal has a
deep black hue and uniform texture and
30 Artist’s Back to Basics
is available in a range of thicknesses.
Bruynzeel Pastel pencils are available
for this year. These pastel pencils are
regarded by many as the best pastel
pencils available. Manufactured from
the highest quality pigments, they
offer a high degree of light fastness
and maximum purity. With a soft,
smooth and fine texture, they are
excellent for landscape, portrait, fine
and broad work. They are water-soluble
and the cedar barrel allows for easy
sharpening and prevents splitting.
Sakura Cray-Pas Oil Pastels are a
serious painting medium providing both
a pastel and oil colour effect. These
round oil pastels are smooth, easy to use
and the high pigment loading guarantees
extremely intense and vivid colours
with excellent lightfast properties.
Superior oils and waxes have been
blended into these pastels to produce
exceptionally smooth drawings.
For protection of your work, Nuart
workable fixative gives clear protection
to prevent smudging or dusting
of your valuable drawings. Nuart
workable fixative has been specially
formulated for charcoal, graphite,
coloured pencil and pastel drawings.
To transport your pencils around,
then look no further than the Derwent
Pencil Wrap. Made from heavy cotton
canvas they are available in pocket
size (holds 12 pencils) or standard
size (holds 30 pencils) and have a
small pouch for accessory items such
as erasers and sharpeners. They are
small enough to be carried in your
pocket, bag, portfolio or backpack.
Ideal for the Artist on the move!!
A stable support is necessary when
drawing. To help you achieve this, the
Bieffe and Richeson drawing boards
offer a firm support for working alone
or at an easel. The A3 European Bieffe
boards are probably the best value-for-
money drawing boards of their type
available. Manufactured from high-
impact plastic, the board is supplied
complete with locking straight-edge
ruler, 1800 protractor and anti-slip
feet. The Richeson lightweight metal-
edge drawing boards feature a smooth
hardwood laminate surface with core
of honeycomb matrix, providing the
user with a warp resistant surface.
S&S is also offering a selection of
fineliners and markers to artists this
year. The Cretacolor Artstik is a fine
line writing pen with a metal encased
nib containing permanent black India
ink. These pens are available in three
nib sizes (0.3, 0.5 and 0.7mm) and are
ideal for sketching, technical drawing or
fine writing. The Sakura Pigma Micron
fineliner contains the unique Pigma
ink which is permanent, water-proof,
colour and light fast. Pigma Micron
pens will write on virtually any porous
surface and will not bleed through paper.
They work very well on tracing paper.
Pigma Micron is available in black in
a variety of line widths from 0.2mm to
0.5mm for both technical and artistic
drawings. There is also a range of eight
colours which are great for cartooning,
illustration, Manga, scrapbooking
and journaling. Bruynzeel Markers
are perfect for the younger student.
This set of 50 quality felt tip markers
contain a high quality ink that will not
dry out in the barrel and will wash out
from most types of fabric. Markers
feature a safety cap with ventilation.
ShinHan “Touch” Twin Markers are
now available to Australian consumers.
Every aspect of the “Touch” Twin
marker has been designed to out-
perform every other Artist marker
available on the market today. They
are odourless, non-toxic, permanent
and contain the highest quality ink
with very few additives. The rich and
intense colours are fade-resistant and
non-streaking and will not dissolve toner
inks allowing them to be used safely
on copied drawings without the use of
smudging. ShinHan Touch Twin markers
are available in this period in sets of
12, 24, 36 and 48 assorted colours.
If painting is your forte, then check
out the offers from Daler-Rowney
and Maimeri. S&S is offering sets
of Classico oil colours, Georgian Oil
Colours and Daler-Rowney Designers
Gouache. Georgian oil colours have
been the UK’s favourite oil paint for
many years. Georgian Oil colours offer
artists high quality and performance
at an economical and uniform price
across colours in the range. They
are produced to the same exacting
standards as Daler-Rowney Artists’
Oils and are carefully blended and
tested to produce the most brilliant
colour and match the tint and texture
from batch to batch. Daler-Rowney
Designers Gouache is characterised by
its free-flowing texture, tinting strength
and excellent covering power. It is a
brilliant, opaque, artists’ quality body
colour made using only the highest
quality pigments and calcium carbonate
ensuring that it retains its pure, bright
colour across all 87 colours in the range.
Maimeri Classico oil paints are also
on offer for this year. These highly
regarded Italian oil paints contain the
highest quality and exceptionally finely
ground pigments blended with the best
quality linseed oil. Classico oil paints are
the perfect bridge between student and
professional oil paints. Due to the unique
manufacturing process of Classico oil
paints, all 74 colours are the one price,
so artists will not be paying expensive
prices for cadmium and cobalt based
paint colours. For a different take on oil
painting, try Shiva Paintstiks. These are
professional grade artists’ oil colours in
convenient stick form. Manufactured
from quality pigments blended with
refined linseed oil, they can be used in
conjunction with conventional oil paint
surfaces, mediums and varnishes, using
the same methods and techniques.
For Watercolourists, the Venezia
“Pocket pan” set contains 12 1.5ml
half-pans in a soft rubber-like case
with twin folding lids, three mixing
wells and removable plastic palette.
Alternatively, you may like to try a 12
x 8ml tube introductory set of Daler-
Rowney Aquafine watercolours.
A stable platform is essential for
painting and this year S&S has a
selection of top quality easels on offer.
For outdoor or plein air work, look no
further than the Richeson field/sketching
easel. It is lightweight, compact and
easy to transport. The Daler-Rowney
“Artsphere” is a new concept in easel
design. It has a small base and large
work surface area that can be positioned
flat or in portrait/landscape style. Ideal
Artist’s Back to Basics 31
 Buyer ’s Guide
for artists, designers, hobbyist and
crafters the Artsphere has a unique ball
and socket joint that allows the large A3
drawing board to move in any direction.
For those whose space is limited, the
“Angelina” aluminium table top easel
is the ideal solution. Manufactured
from black anodised aluminium the
Angelina features adjustable ‘wings’ to
support or display large pieces (up to 24
x 36” canvas boards) and a collapsible
back leg allowing the angle of the
easel to be easily adjusted. The entire
easel folds compactly into a small bag
(included) with shoulder strap. It is
ideal for plein air or classroom use.
To complete your painting
experience S&S is offering a set of
Daler-Rowney “Simply” Golden
Taklon or Bristle brushes. Each set
contains 10 brushes in various sizes
and all have nickel-plated brass
ferules and short timber handles.
The Golden Taklons are suitable
for oils, acrylics and watercolours
while the Bristle brushes are
best used for oils and acrylics.
To begin your masterpiece you
will need something to begin on.
S&S is offering a great selection of
sketchbooks from renowned paper
STAEDTLER creative solutions for those who love to be inspired!
As one of the world’s leading
manufacturers of writing, colouring
and drawing instruments, as well as
modelling/polymer clays, STAEDTLER
gives form to ideas and creative
inventions the world over. Quality,
innovation, design and functionality
characterise all STAEDTLER products.
STAEDTLER products that are
popular with artists (of all ages)
include:
STAEDTLER triplus®
fineliner colour range
The triplus fineliner range is now
available in 30 magnificent colours. The
recent launch of 10 brilliant colours to the
existing colour range makes the triplus
32 Artist’s Back to Basics
suppliers Fabriano and Daler-Rowney.
These sketchbooks are the ideal
platform for taking initial sketches
prior to painting or for plein air work.
The Fabriano Artists’ journals are
available in several sizes and contain
a selection of 90gsm Ingres paper in
various colours and are ideal for work
in pencil, pastel, charcoal and ink. The
Daler-Rowney “Ebony” and “Cachet
Classic” Hardback books contain
quality acid-free paper in 150gsm
and 220gsm respectively. Both are
bound with durable, rigid covers
and have a glued/sewn spine. The
“Ebony” and “Cachet Classic” books
are suitable for works in pen and ink,
pencil and all other dry techniques and
the covers can be overprinted. The
Daler-Rowney “Simply” hardback
sketchbooks are excellent value. They
contain 220 pages of 100gsm extra-
white or natural white, medium grain
paper that is ideal for any technique.
If you would like any further information
on the S&S yearly offerings please
visit www.creativityunlimited.com.au
or phone S&S Customer Service on
1300 731 529.
fineliner offering distinctly unique.
Features of the triplus fineliner include;
superfine, metal-clad tip, ergonomic
triangular barrel offering effortless
fatigue-free comfort when writing.
Attractive, metallic grey triangular barrel
with colour coding, triplus ink washes
out of most textiles (water-based).
Line width is approximately 0.3mm.
The triplus fineliner box can be
turned into a pen stand quickly and
easily – keeping all colours ready-
to-hand. Features include: dry safe;
can be left uncapped for days without
drying up. PP Barrel and cap guarantee
long service life. Aeroplane safe; an
automatic pressure equalisation prevents
pen leakage while on board aircraft.
 The full triplus colour range is
available as individual pens; wallets
of 20, 10 or four assorted colours or a
wallet of six assorted ‘pastel’ colours.
STAEDTLER Calligraph
duo Markers
NEW - These popular and easy-to-
use double-ended calligraphy marker
pens are the most economical way
to create beautiful, hand-lettered
greeting cards, letters, certificates
and more. Each marker pen is
double-ended with a fine chisel point
(2.0mm) and broad chisel point
(3.5mm) – capped at either end.
Both end tips are supplied from a
single ink reservoir for perfect colour
matching. They have a long marker
life and even ink flow. The ink is
pigmented and waterproof, lightfast
and acid-free. Available in a boxed set
of five colours (red, blue, black, green
and violet), or individual pens in black.
STAEDTLER pigment liners
This highly-versatile fineliner pen is
suitable for writing, sketching and drawing.
Popular with artists working across a
variety of mediums, the pigment liner pens
are available in nine line widths in black.
Each pen comes with a metal clip at end,
and a long metal drawing tip, (ideal for
use with rulers and templates). These pens
can be left uncapped for 18 hours without
drying up. PP barrel and aeroplane safe.
The pigment liner contains indelible
ink, properties include; lightfast,
waterproof, chemical and solvent-
resistant, smudge-proof and non-
erasable (except on drawing film),
with no bleeding when highlighted.
For convenience, the pigment liner
is also available in a STAEDTLER
stand-up box containing four line
widths (0.1, 0.3, 0.5 and 0.7).
For further product information visit:
www.staedtler.com.au
’
ISTS
’S
Artist’s Back to Basics 33
 Profile

It’s all about the Feeling

with Steve Cardno

Ocean art is not so much about its technicalities but

rather it’s all about the feeling of the sea.

S andgate is a small coastal

town on Brisbane’s northern
outskirts in Queensland. It was
here that artist Steve Cardno grew up
and developed a love for the sea – a
passion which years later manifested
itself in his beautiful seascapes and
environmental art of coastal Queensland.
Steve’s interest in art began from a
young age. ‘I remember when I was
about 10 yrs old, my parents enrolled
me in art lessons with a talented old
local artist named Harold Shute. His
home studio was stacked with half-
finished canvases, easels, and the
smell of oil paints and linseed oil.’ Steve
recalls how his early mentor Shute’s
passion for art rubbed off on him from
that early age. ‘I also remember how
my early school assignments were all
especially rich with my hand-drawn
illustrations and my teachers would
wonder what I’d come up with next!’
After school Steve attended the
Queensland College of Art from 1977-
1979 and studied under many talented
tutors in fine and graphic arts and
animation. ‘I recall how all of us as
students hated having to study various
‘academic’ subjects when what we really
wanted to learn was art.’ Together with
a few other friends during his College
years, Steve was given a part-time job
working for a small publishing company
illustrating magazines. ‘I worked also
at that time as a principal contributor
to an animated promotional film for
the Royal Flying Doctor Service which
was great fun and experience. During
this project I had the opportunity to
meet and receive advice from a highly

34 Artist’s Back to Basics

talented Brisbane-based animation Queensland Wildlife Artists’ Society and
artist named Max Bannah. In those won several awards whilst exhibiting
days before computers, all animation with other talented artists. He held his
was done by drawing and painting first solo exhibition at the Logan Art
individual transparent cells to make up Gallery and later displayed his work at
the illustrations for a film. We needed the Gallery Beneath – a beautiful and
to do around 12 separate drawings, all iconic beachside gallery at Mooloolaba
then individually inked and painted, for on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast
just one second of screen time – so directed by Claire Torrance. ‘Many art
when a short film was five minutes long lovers have benefited from Claire’s keen
that added up to a lot of drawing!’
After graduating with honours, Steve
took on various graphic art, design, and
illustrating roles in the following years,
learning a great deal about the printing
and publishing industries in the process.
‘Using computers and graphics programs
certainly has given me wonderful skills
which I can use in various ways for my
art’ says Steve, ‘but my first love has
always been painting and illustrating. I’ve
never forgotten a piece of good advice
which I was given at College when an
instructor told the class that a painting
is only as good as the drawing beneath
it.’ Although Steve trained and applied
his skills to commercial art projects he
always felt that this advice was applicable
to everyone practising art and he’s always
loved simple drawing with a pen or pencil.
‘Another valuable skill I learned at college
and continued to grow in experience
with during later years was in the use of
the airbrush. These are great tools for
certain soft effects and the temptation
can be to use them to excess, but I
believe they should be used sparingly
only to enhance a particular effect.’
Whilst privately practising his various
seascape themes, in the early 2000s
Steve became President of the

Artist’s Back to Basics 35

 Profile
eye for good art.’ Many of Steve’s iconic
Sunshine Coast-themed pieces have sold
to collectors in the region and beyond.
More recently Steve enjoyed exhibiting
and selling at the beautifully-situated
Gallery LA51 in Brisbane’s inner-city
suburb of Paddington. ‘I believe Directors
Laurence Barlow and Belinda Lownds
have done a great job of encouraging
the region’s artists and creating a highly
attractive art-space for exhibitions.’
I became inspired to paint seascapes
both from my upbringing near the sea
and later from the work of talented
modern seascape artists such as Byron
Pickering, E. John Robinson, and
36 Artist’s Back to Basics
Christian Reese Lassen. Today, Mudjimba
Island (also known as Old Woman Island)
is recognisable as a favourite element
in many of Steve’s amazingly colourful
seascapes of Queensland’s Sunshine
Coast. ‘I’ve always been fascinated by
this island,’ says Steve. ‘Since as a little
boy my dad would tell me stories about
aboriginal legends associated with the
island. I used to sit wide-eyed as he would
tell me how that long ago, an aboriginal
woman was stranded on the island and
that she would light fires to keep herself
warm during winter time. After she died,
during certain cold winter mornings, one
could apparently see a column of smoke
rising from the island’s interior where her
spirit would still be trying to keep warm by
a fire. I remember how the island always
held a kind of mystique for me after that.’
Many of Steve’s works are painted in
acrylics, although he is increasingly
also using oils for his seascapes. ‘I find
acrylics are great for their vibrant colours
and quick drying times. Also, coming from
my background of commercial illustration,
they share some similar qualities to other
water-based mediums such as gouache.
I’ve loved using gouache for my wildlife
art and fine illustration because of its
amazingly rich colour and suitability for
painting fine details.’ Gouache is a form of
watercolour paint except that it’s opaque
rather than transparent and dries with a
flat finish - which is especially suitable
for commercial or wildlife illustration.
Whilst gouache is resoluble and can be
rewetted, acrylics tend not to be and
Steve found them more suitable for his
larger-scale art. ‘Acrylics are perhaps not
the easiest medium for blending colours
or creating the translucence in ocean
waves – the blending qualities and fast
drying times of acrylics tend to permit
only a short time to achieve the desired
results. This is not a problem however if
one can master the techniques required
to render these effects very quickly. I invite
you to take a look over some of my art at
my website www.oceanscapes.com.au’
Steve’s love for the sea and coastal areas
extends to the whole ocean environment
– the blending qualities
as well. ‘I love the feeling one gets from
coastal areas and the beach – the and fast drying times
smell of salty water in the breeze, the
of acrylics tend to
ever-changing moods of the sea, and
the fresh clean air and colours of the permit only a short
water. Perhaps only those who share
time to achieve the
a love for the ocean can understand
this special sensation. This feeling is desired results
the essence of what I like to capture in
my art – and to bring that feeling into
a home or office - so that although
you may not be able to be there in
the real place at that moment you can
remember a special time or create that
emotion. Connecting with the feeling and
emotion of a scene and to appreciate its
beauty is to me much more important
than the details of its portrayal.’ n
Artist’s Back to Basics 37
Back to Basics

Painting by
Imagination
By Steve Cardno

This piece is by imagination showing the iconic Mudjimba Island off

Queensland’s Sunshine Coast by moonlight. The only reference used
was just a small photograph I’d taken of the island some years ago.

T
his piece began in my mind
– inspired by the real scene
I’ve so many times observed.
I paint many of my scenes from
imagination and in varying degrees
use my photographs as extra
reference for elements such as
this island. In my commercial
work I’ve frequently been required
to produce concept drawings or
fantasy art for various projects and
I think this gave me an interest in
developing some of my art into more
than just what is there in real life.
Whilst I also enjoy painting real-life
scenes I love creating imaginary
images which may be just an
expansion on the real-life scenery.

Final

38 Artist’s Back to Basics

 Step one Step two

STEP 1 masking tape (available from

For this art piece I began with a
drawing, refined it, and then placed
it into my Artograph projector. I then
used the projector for quickly and
easily getting my small drawing
enlarged onto my 1200 x 600 canvas.
I feel these projectors are a great way
to easily get a hand-drawn piece of
concept art enlarged onto a canvas
or larger area without the hassle of
having to trace or re-size smaller
art by more traditional methods.
STEP 2
I used a long ruler to draw my
horizon line across the canvas.
Following this I used low-tack
MATERIALS
MATERIALS
• Artograph Projector
Canvas
• Pre-stretched canvas
1200 x 600
Brushes
• Mixture of flat and
round brushes.
Paints
• Atelier, Winsor & Newton,
Schmincke, Matisse.
Colours
• Ultramarine Blue
• Cerulean Blue
• Yellow Ochre
• Burnt Sienna
• Burnt Umber
• Forest Green
• Payne’s Grey
• Mars Black
• Titanium White
Bunnings) along the horizon line to
paint the sky against, which left a
nice straight marker between sea
and sky. I then painted in the sky
using a mixture of blues with a dash
of black - in this case leaving a circle
for the moon, which was outlined
with a suitably-sized bottle cap. The
moon’s colour is just the white of the
canvas. Next I used an airbrush to
add a subtle glow around the moon.
STEP 3
Then I painted the clouds along
with some highlights to portray
the moon’s glow. For the clouds I
used a small house-painting brush
with strokes in differing directions
to create their softness and
randomness. They were created
using a mixture of Payne’s Grey
with a dash of Cerulean Blue, then
simple white on a dry brush for
the first stage of highlights. The
masking tape was then removed
leaving a perfect horizon line.
Step three

Artist’s Back to Basics 39

 Step four
HINTS
HINTSAND
AND TIPS
TIPS
• Large flat brushes I find best
for large areas of colour such
as sky or the base coats for
water. I tend to hoard old
brushes as I’ve found them
very useful sometimes for
creating various dry-brush
effects. Generally speaking I
find flat brushes of differing
sizes the best for water
effects and smaller round
ones ideal for finer effects.
For example, I use smaller
house-painting brushes for
‘feathering’ cloud effects in
the sky. When I’m painting
wildlife with gouache paint
I like to use smaller round
Taklon brushes because I
find them very flexible.
• I find an airbrush very useful
for creating small soft effects
like this when using acrylics
since their blending qualities
can be quite limited due to
how quickly the paint dries.
Airbrushes are great but are a
high-maintenance item which
need constant cleaning to
keep in good working order.
• One advantage I find with
acrylics is that you can easily
add effects or elements soon
after completion because
the paint dries so fast.
40 Artist’s Back to Basics
STEP 4
I began on the painting’s lower
half with the beach. I made the
sand two-tone using a mixture of
Yellow Ochre and Burnt Sienna
colours and blending them to
create the crossover between the
dry and wet sand. This darker wet
sand stretched underneath the
foreground sea wash. I also used
a mixture of Ultramarine Blue and
Cerulean Blue for a base coat for
the water. I often use an acrylic
retarder when doing waves and
areas where I need maximum drying
time in order to blend sea colours.
STEP 5
Then I used the same mixture of
Ultramarine and Cerulean Blue with
a tinge of black to further create
the sea and its deeper shades.
This is where I used a larger brush
to sweep across the canvas in
broader strokes. Whilst the paint was
still wet I took a smaller flat brush
turned slightly on its side to drag
through the sea colour to create
the few waves which are there.
Adding in the foam and sea wash
over the sand and water not only
represents the reality of the beach
but helps to form the connection
between shore and sea. Titanium
White was used for the wash with a
small No. 4 round brush. Painting
this type of sea wash or foam needs
for a recognition of perspective
Step five
and direction. If one’s viewpoint is
the centre then the wash needs to
appear to flow backwards from the
centre of the painting. In regard
to perspective, the zig-zags of the
wash and foam become closer
together the further away from the
foreground they get. Those at the
rear eventually blend into a white
mass where the foam and waves
meet and those in the foreground
are wider and further apart.
STEP 6
I then drew the island over the
painted background using dark
green and brown to indicate the
foliage and rocky areas. After this
was dry I added more highlights to
the clouds and dotted in the stars,
again using Titanium White and a
fine brush. I proceeded to thicken up
the white onto the foreground sea
foam and wash to accentuate the
moon’s glow where its shine comes
across the water in the foreground.
Also added in a few more stars
and highlights in the water.
FINAL STEP
Finishing step. The final step was to
add highlighted areas to the green
to suggest the moon’s glowing light
across the island. I used a fine round
brush to paint in the foliage and
also add the highlights. I decided to
add a reflection of the island in the
water to suggest a calmer and more
serene image. This was something I
had envisioned in my original rough
concept but was not sure until the
very end that I was going to add
it. I dragged my brush through the
sea over this part to indicate subtle
ripples in the water and add to the
effect of a serene calmness in the
water on this imaginary night. I put Step six
a thin line of Burnt Umber under
the sea wash in the foreground
to indicate the shadow which the
light would cast across the water’s was based on the real-life scene
opaque areas. I mixed some Payne’s but also with an added feeling of
Grey and used a smaller flat brush to mystique and quiet serenity about it.
illustrate the moon’s features and this
was my final touch on this piece. I For further info on my art please see my
wanted to create a piece of art which website www.oceanscapes.com.au n

e ❏ ❏ ❏ B _3

..........
.

.......................

ON’TT
T
_

Artist’s Back to Basics 41

 Drawing Inspiration

Blue Wrens
By Ellen Lee Osterfield

L ike most of my clients I too

love Blue Wrens, they seem
to be such delicate little birds,
always darting here and there
they appear to be the busiest little
fellows in the bird kingdom!
I Imagine the world must seem
so big to them, here I have
created a little “safe Haven” for
them, complete with waterfall!
Step 1
Having transferred my drawing onto
my 40cm x 50cm creative edged
canvas I begin blocking in. I am
keeping the background fairly dark
in tone as I want the sunlight to
really burst into the painting! Mix of
Ultramarine, Red Violet and Cobalt
achieved this, with a small patch of
sunlight creeping in from the left side

Final Step

42 Artist’s Back to Basics

 “...Once this was
completed I painted
the Clematis flowers
using Violet, I also
blocked in some
leaves using Viridian
plus Violet....”

Step one

of the painting using Warm white
plus a touch of Naples yellow.
Step 2
Having added Yellow ochre to the Red
Violet I moved down to the waterfall
underneath the birds. The grassy
bank was blocked in with Viridian,
Yellow ochre and a little Ultramarine.
Step 3
The Red Violet and Yellow ochre mix
was taken further across to the bank
on the right hand side of the waterfall,
and the grassy bank was blocked in
using Viridian, Yellow ochre and Violet.
Once all these areas were blocked
in a coat of Gel medium was painted
on and allowed to dry overnight.
first. I used varying mixes of Burnt
umber, Violet, Red Violet, Yellow ochre
and Ultramarine for the rocks while
the sandy bottom was painted with
Yellow ochre, Violet, Burnt umber and
Warm white. Once this was completed
I painted the Clematis flowers using
Violet, I also blocked in some leaves
using Viridian plus Violet. I painted a
coat of Gel medium over the water
and allowed to dry overnight.
Then came back and added some
sky colour highlights and some ripples

Step 4
A Viridian and Burnt umber mix
was painted over the waterfall and
some sky reflections using Cobalt
and Warm White were added plus
some sunlight with Naples yellow,
Yellow ochre and Warm white. The
tree branch was added using Burnt
umber and Violet, with some Naples
yellow and Yellow ochre highlights.

Step 5
Onto the water! I wanted the water to
be clear and therefore I painted in the
rocks and sandy bottom of the pond Step two

Artist’s Back to Basics 43

 Drawing Inspiration

using some Cobalt and Viridian

with a little Burnt umber added.

Step 6
Now onto the flowers! I lightened the
Step three
Violet mix with some Warm white and a
small amount Trans Magenta to warm
the colour in the sunlit area of the petals.
Rocks were added using a mix of
Burnt umber, Ultramarine, Red Violet
and a little Warm white. I added
highlights and shading as I went along
by adding more dark and light colour
for the contours. I also added foam
to the water using Titanium white.

Step 7
After yet another coat of Gel medium I
added more highlights throughout the
painting with my Naples yellow and
Turners yellow mix. I had in mind to
paint a large daisy bush directly to the
right hand side of the birds, but as I
went along I found this would make the
painting too busy and I decided not to
progress with this idea and changed
it to a much less intrusive tea tree
Step four bush. Some dry grasses were added
using Warm white, Naples yellow and
Violet and Burnt umber for shadows.

Step 8
The Blue Wrens were painted in
next (male first), using Cobalt and
Ultramarine for the head and chest,
Burnt umber and Ultramarine for the
cheeks, neck and beaks plus body
highlights. Burnt umber, Warm white
and a little Red Violet for the wing
feathers, and Titanium white with
Violet, Burnt umber and Cobalt for
the main body feathers. The legs
were a mixture of Red Violet, Warm
white and Ultramarine. (It may take
some practice to get the balance
right when mixing your colours)! For

44 Artist’s Back to Basics Step five

 Step six
the eyes I have used Burnt umber
and a little Yellow ochre with Red
Violet for the inside lower section
of the eye. The female bird was
painted using Burnt umber plus
Warm white and little Violet, her
beak and around the eyes was a
mix of Vermillion plus Yellow ochre.
Don ‘t forget the all important
white dot in the corner of the eye
that brings your bird to life!
Step 9 Final
More grasses were added to the
background and foreground, the
sunlight areas were intensified, the
shadows on the rocks and grassy
Step seven
bank were also strengthened (simply
adding a little more Burnt umber and
Ultramarine to the existing colours
with achieve this) and more highlights
on the birds. Touches of Warm
white highlighted the water and the
flowers. This is where you have to
resist the temptation to overwork your
picture and put your brush down!
It is too easy to keep on adding
things and unnecessary details and
before you know it you have made
your painting too busy! Put it aside for
a few days and if you need to touch
up make it simple! A coat of Acrylic
Matt Varnish will finish the whole
thing off nicely. Happy Painting! n
Step Eight
Artist’s Back to Basics 45
 Pe n c i l s D o w n
“Background
Treatments- part 2”
T
here are a lot of different
options when it comes to
choosing your background
treatment. Here’s some of the
most common kinds and the
pros and cons associated.
No background at all
Just having plain white paper all
around the subject is a striking
statement and for the right subject
can make for a powerful work. It really
leaves no doubt in the mind of the
viewer what the main point of interest
is but comes with a couple of points
worth considering to really achieve
Fig 1
46 Artist’s Back to Basics
by Brett A. Jones
the full effect. First of all it can be
extremely difficult for the uninitiated
to keep the paper snowy white right
to the end of a freehand drawing
project, keeping your initial sketching
and subsequent developmental
drawing lines as absolutely light and
removable as possible right from the
first pencil marks is the key here, as
well as using a cover sheet to rest
your hand on as early in the drawing
as possible. I know some freehand
artists like to start the project on one
piece of paper and then transfer it to
a fresh one once the main proportions
are established. That’s all cool but I
always prefer to start and finish a
drawing on the same piece of paper.
The stakes are always higher with
a white background as any mark
or stain unable to be removed from
anywhere outside the bounds of the
actual subject matter will stand out
like the proverbial and substantially
detract from the impact and quality
of the finished freehand drawing. The
second main consideration is the
need in most cases to “ground” the
object or compositional arrangement
with use of a shadow; otherwise it
will look like it’s floating in the middle
of a vacuum. One of the reasons
I like the sun as a light source so
much is because of the stark, deep,
clearly delineated shadows that bright
sunlight provides. This leads us to
the surface the shadow is being cast
upon and the position of the sun
in the sky. A late afternoon shot on
a surface with long grass and leaf
litter is obviously going to produce a
vastly different effect than a midday
shot on lawn or smooth concrete
(figures 1 & 2). The shape, size,
and texture of the shadow itself is
definitely an essential element of any
ground-bound object drawn on a
white background (see article “Life in
the Shadows”) and should be seen
as a very useable tool that is capable
of either adding or detracting from
the strength of your composition as
a whole depending on the choices
made during the photo shoot.
 Fig 2
Horizon Line
The back edge of a table or the
foot of a wall (or an actual horizon)
can be a great way to break the
background up into two separate
tones and/or areas, as long as it’s
not exactly halfway up the paper
that is (figure 3). This is just bad
compositional practice as it cuts the
artwork in half and will distract from
the subject in an undesirably primary
way. This doesn’t mean you can’t do
it, as long as you meant to as part
of the original artistic idea (either
horizontally or vertically). Having two
tones in the background can be a
Fig 4
useful device for several reasons.
The actual transition between tones
can be either sharp or indistinct,
giving you the chance to create the
illusion of things like depth of field
and three dimensionality and can
be used to ground light coloured
objects (with a shadow) on a light
or white surface while also letting
the lighter tones on the actual
object or composition stand out
against a darker upper background
above the horizon (or vice-versa).
Toned background
Depending on the subject matter,
sometimes just having a single
uniform tone in the background
(anywhere from just off-white to jet-
black) can be useful for letting the
lighter tones in the subject stand
out (figures 4 & 5). The best part
of setting the tonal value in the
background yourself is the fact
that you can tailor it to exactly suit
the range of tones found in the
compositional arrangement itself
as well as letting any bright white
highlights actually stand out as the
brightest things on the drawing.
Tonal Sunburst
You may elect to graduate the tonal
values in the background for various
reasons. There are several ways to do
this; the tone can be darker at the top
of the background and gradually lighten
Fig 3
Fig 1: Sometimes the shadow can
actually also be used to “illuminate”
the ground under the subject and hint
at the surrounding scenery, otherwise
invisible in the surrounding majority
of blank white background.
Fig 2: This shadow is much darker
and clearer edged but still shows the
kind of surface the subject is on while
also more importantly “grounding it” on
the blank white of the background.
Fig 3: I just love playing with horizon
lines as a compositional device. In this
case you can see the five ball against
the dark background and the glass bowl
edge against the light table, which is
also reflected in the five ball creating an
interesting interplay of shapes and tones.
Fig 4: The only effective way to draw
errant blonde hairs is against a dark
background. This principle applies to
Artist’s Back to Basics 47
 Pe n c i l s D o w n

Fig 7

Fig 6

all the way to the bottom, the other way

round, or start dark around the edges
and lighten as you approach the centre
or the opposite, light (or white) around
the edges becoming darker towards the
centre, around the subject. This method
allows the artist to create depth and
is a great tool for letting lighter tones
round the edge of the subject stand out
to their best effect without committing
to an entire darkly toned background
(figure 6). One important thing to watch
though, avoid letting a “halo” or outline
of darker background tone develop
neatly around the subject (the go-to
human instinct is to make things all “nice
and neat”- don’t go there) but rather go
out of your way to tonally separate the
subject and the background tone. If a
tonal background is done right no-one
will even notice it as it will be doing its
job of centring attention on the subject/s.

Abstract
A common background treatment
is to use various sized and shaped
patches of colour with very indistinct
transitions between colours/tones.
It can be suggesting a detailed
background that is way out of focus
(with the subject sharply focused) as
is seen in a lot of wildlife paintings,
or use of actual abstraction in
the background (with contrasting
representational subject) to fit in with
the original artistic idea (figure 7).

Fig 5

48 Artist’s Back to Basics

Textured
Depending on the actual subject
matter and the drawing style
employed, a rough or smooth
background texture can either
add or detract from the finished
work. A decision from the artist as
part of the overall plan is a good
start but keeping your mind open
to changing your original idea on
background to suit as the artwork
develops is just as crucial.
Detailed
If what is in the background directly
relates to or is part of the whole
composition then the background can
be every bit as detailed as the subject
(more likely to be regarded as the main
point of interest in this application).
You can either run the background
details right out to the edge of the
paper (figure 8) or fade them out
gradually to nothing as you approach
the edges. A good thing to remember
is that whether working in colour or
monochrome the further back into
the distance you are seeing behind
the foreground objects, the lighter the
tones used (and the cooler the colours)
(figure 9). If you are going to or think
you might be going to include all the
background details in a composition
remember that they will be an active
part of the overall artistic composition
so all elements in the background have
to be considered as either a positive
Fig 8
or a negative in that light and adjusted,
minimised or accentuated as required.
Some things that are unsuitable can
be edited out altogether by the artist in
the course of the drawing (or painting)
but only if they don’t directly impact
on the main point/s of interest or other
background elements. A great example
of this is clouds in the sky. Not the
most fun things to draw realistically in
graphite but if you decide to include
the background but negate the
clouds you will also have to edit any
hint of them reflected in the subject.
Anything with painted surfaces or
especially chrome will not only have
ALL the clouds in the sky reflected in
them but also a large amount of the
surrounding objects both in and out of
shot (referece image). Easiest way all
round is either include all reflections in
the subject (whether the background is
blank paper, plain tone, or detailed) or
do the photo shoot again under a blue
cloudless sky in empty surroundings
(a LOT harder than it sounds).
To sum up, the background
treatment in any work can be either
a carefully planned aspect of your
work right from the beginning of the
artistic idea or developed during the
course of the drawing based on the
evolving artwork but even though
it’s “in the background”, it’s every
bit as important a consideration
as every other aspect of the
drawing “in the forefront”. n
Fig 9
many things you may want to draw but
blond hair is the perfect example.
Fig 5: Clear glass is all but impossible
to draw without utilising background
tonal values in some way.
Fig 6: If this dark upper background
went to the edges of the paper it would
make the work undesirably top heavy. I
call this kind of tonal gradient a sunburst.
It’s a term used to describe guitar
finishes but is the same concept in art.
Fig 7: This piece is more expressionism
than abstract but definitely scrapes up
against abstraction. I didn’t have a clue it
was even a boat till I was all but finished
and made it so with the last few touches.
The “sky” is really just bunch of colours
pushed around and together to create an
appropriate background. It doesn’t really
look like sky at all when you look closely,
without the boat it would be pure abstract.
Fig 8: The background in the
reference image for this work really
worked well for the subject (through
sheer chance) so I happily used it
right to the edge of the paper.
Fig 9: Second line of trees look
further away because of both colour
being lighter and cooler, and softer
edges than objects further forward.
Artist’s Back to Basics 49
 Profile

A Bond with the Bush

With Ann Mitchell

Broken Hill is home to this artist who comes from a typical mining
family and speaks about her deep-seated love of all things ‘bush’.

I was born of an Australian mother

and an English father in Newcastle-
on-Tyne, England. My father was
stationed in Darwin during the latter
stages of World War Two with his
Spitfire squadron. He met my mother
and they married in Broken Hill before
returning to England at the end of the
war (as dad was still in the RAF).
We came to Australia in 1949
and settled in Broken Hill where my
father became a rigger and later a
foreman on the North Broken Hill
mine. We became a typical mining
family with my brother and sister-
in-law, and various cousins, uncles
and in-laws, all employed at the
local mines. My sister became a
nurse and also married a miner.
Without exception we were all ‘local
and Outback’ which, in a mining
environment, equated with family
closeness and a deep-seated love of
all things relevant to ‘the bush’. We
spent many happy hours over many
years ‘roughing it’ Outback – camping
in the bush; wandering dry empty
creek beds; fishing rivers, creeks and
dams for freshwater fish and yabbies;
and spending wonderful nights around
blazing campfires looking at stars
that seemed close enough to touch.
It was not an easy life, but
the benefits far outweighed the
hardships. I wouldn’t have swapped
it for anything! We still manage to
‘go bush’ but make more use of

50 Artist’s Back to Basics

modern conveniences now! It is Over the years I have tried most
undoubtedly thanks to my upbringing mediums and art styles which have
that I have such a bond with (and included watercolours, oils, acrylics,
love of) Australia’s wild country.
I went to school locally, attending
the ‘North’ public school and the
Broken Hill high school, and then
I completed my nursing training at
the Broken Hill and District Hospital.
Following that, I entered the Catholic
Carmelite Monastery in Parkes, New
South Wales. When the monastery
closed, its community merged with the
community in Dulwich Hill, Sydney. A
new monastery was eventually built
at Varroville, New South Wales.
During those formative years I was
something of a ‘jack of all trades but
master of few’ (driving tractors, raising
day-old chickens for eggs (and the
table), attending to horses, cows, and
dogs … as well as looking after the
sick and infirm, sewing, cooking, and
the usual multitude of everyday chores
that are part and parcel of country life).
I have dabbled in art for as long as I
can remember and I have always had
an interest in drawing and painting.
From the age of five or six I was
always copying pictures from comic
books and birthday cards; drawing
the resident cat, dog, bird or guinea
pig and whatever else I could find. In
those days I would even superimpose
pencil drawings over my school
work – which I’m sure must have
driven my teachers to distraction!

Artist’s Back to Basics 51

 charcoal and pencil work; painting
on materials; china painting; and
copper and leather work. But I have
always returned to the mediums
that I feel most comfortable with:
Watercolours, charcoal and pencils.
I am basically a self-taught artist
but have done some courses
including a year-long course with
George Flowerday in Melbourne
(oils), three hours per week for two
years with Garry Fleming in Sydney
(watercolours), a weekend course
at Sydney University in Life Drawing
(charcoal), and two years with
Clarke Barrett at Robinsons College,
Broken Hill. I have received a lot of
encouragement and support from
the Horizon Gallery at Silverton –
especially from well-known local
artists Bronwyn Woodroffe (who sadly
died recently), Clarke Barrett, and
some other local artists associated
with the local Willyama Art Society.
I currently have some works
on display at the Horizon
Gallery, and I have sold some
paintings and prints there.
I have a great love of the Outback
with its deep sense of silence, its
vibrant colours and endless distances,
and its uniquely fantastic flora and
fauna. Presently my main painting
interest is in the magnificent bird
life which is so prolific in these
vast Outback regions where the
mere task of surviving to adulthood
challenges the skills and strengths
of so many wonderful species. It is
a joy and a privilege to be able to
portray birds in their native habitat
… and I hope that my work can
bring to others some measure (or
sense) of the unique bounty that
makes our wonderful country and
its native wildlife so exceptional,
unrivalled and irreplaceable. n

52 Artist’s Back to Basics

20 Artist’s Palette
Artist’s Back to Basics 53
Back to Basics

Minka and Toby –

Electus Parrots
By Ann Mitchell

The artist really enjoyed painting this picture, although there were moments
of frustration when trying to do justice to the stunning beauty of the birds.

Final

54 Artist’s Back to Basics


Step one
STEP ONE
I like to get as much information on my
subject as I can before putting pencil
to paper. I have a relative who owns a
very tame pair of Electus Parrots (Minka
and Toby) and I was able to take many
photographs at close quarters. As the
MATERIALS
MATERIALS
• Crescent Watercolour Board.
• Winsor & Newton
watercolours: Cobalt
Blue; Cadmium Orange;
Sap Green; Permanent
Green Light; Hookers
Green Dark; Phthalo Blue;
Burnt Sienna; Van Dyke
Brown; Paynes Grey.
• Winsor & Newton Gouache:
Alizarin Crimson; Scarlet
Lake; Permanent Red;
Lemon Yellow; Ultramarine
Blue; Cool Grey Number 2;
Warm Grey Number 1; Ivory
Black; Permanent White.
• Brushes: Roymac Golden
Sable Numbers 1, 5 and
6; Sceptre Gold Synthetic
Sable Number 4; rigger
brushes Numbers 00 and 1.
HINTS
painting progressed, I could also call
on Minka and Toby to ensure that I
was not doing them any injustices!
I settled on an arrangement,
having spent a lot of time positioning
photographs. I did some rough
sketching before transferring
the drawing to my board. The
more accurate the sketch is,
the easier it is to end up with a
precise and true interpretation.
STEP TWO
Using a combination of Cobalt Blue
and Paynes Grey, I applied a wash over
the entire background (wet-on-wet).
The base for the background foliage
(Hookers Green and Paynes Grey)
was then applied using the Roymac
Golden Sable Number 6 brush. I
dabbed this on randomly, leaving some
of the original background showing.
STEP THREE
Another layer of Cobalt Blue was next
applied to the sky. I did this roughly
as I intended finishing the sky later. It
was then time to start on Minka and
Toby. Using Permanent Light Green
and Lemon Yellow, I put a pale wash
of colour on Toby’s head, breast and
tail (taking care to avoid the areas of
other colours, and leaving paler circles
HINTSAND
AND TIPS
TIPS
• I have become more aware
of such things as the contrast
of colour; tone; effects of light
and dark; direction of light; and
the effects of reflected light.
• I have experimented with all
types of techniques – brushes,
sponges and anything else
that took my fancy, no matter
how wacky! There is no limit to
this sort of exploration. Each
example was full of surprises,
and there were no holds barred.
• Whenever I’m having difficulty
with a subject. I paint it upside-
down. This sounds strange but
it does work! I have found that
when I do this, I begin painting
the thing that I’m looking at
rather than some image that is
in my own head. It also helps
to view a painting through
narrow eye slits, which helps
to identify the main focus and
can indicate areas of concern.
Lights and darks are easier to
see; and mistakes become more
obvious. Putting a picture away
for a time also helps. Sometimes
I stand a picture near the
television and occasionally my
eyes will wander to it from the
TV screen. It is amazing how
often a formerly unrecognised
flaw will reveal itself.
• Incorporating colours
throughout a painting helps
to tie the subject to the rest
of the picture, creating a
balance and presenting an
entirety rather than a collection
of unconnected themes.
• I realise that there are many
spoken and unspoken rules
related to painting but, as far
as I’m concerned, rules are
usually meant to be broken! The
rules need to be reinterpreted
in today’s light through the
vision, experience, ability and
courage of individual artists.
The sky is really the limit … or
perhaps there is no limit at all.
Artist’s Back to Basics 55
Back to Basics
Step three
Step two
around the eyes). The side feathers
under the wings received a pale wash
of Permanent Red and the beak was
given a wash of Cadmium Orange.
A light wash of Permanent Red was
applied to Minka’s head, upper breast,
wings and tail. The breast feathers
were a wash of Ultramarine Blue.
Minka’s upper and lower mandibles
were painted using Ivory Black.
Cool Grey Number 2 was used as
a base for the feet of both birds; the
eyes were added using Ivory Black.
Step four
60
56 Artist’s Back to Basics
I also started working on the branch,
using Burnt Sienna as a base.
STEP FOUR
I started reinforcing the depth of colour
in each of the birds, using pure colour
and taking care to preserve the details;
separating the wings, wing feathers
and tail feathers from the bodies. With
this stronger base in place I started to
add the shadows and the highlights,
beginning with Toby. Using Hookers
Green Dark, I applied pockets of
colour to the areas at the side of the
head, breast and wings. The colour
was worked until it toned in with
the other feathers. The side breast
feathers were enhanced with Scarlet
Lake, tinged with Cadmium Orange.
Minka received a layer of pure colour
also: Scarlet Lake to the head, upper
breast, shoulders, wings and upper tail.
Ultramarine Blue was applied to the
breast feathers. A further wash of Burnt
Sienna was added to the tree branch.
STEP FIVE
Further work was done on the shades
and highlights of Toby, using Hookers
Green Dark combined with Permanent
Green Light around the sides of the
head and across the breast. Lemon
Yellow highlights were added to the
breast feathers and around the neck.
The wing feathers received closer
attention at this point, using Lemon
Yellow as the highlights on the upper
feathers and Hookers Green detailing the
coverts. The tops of the shoulders were
next added using Phthalo Blue. Toby’s
eye was almost completed at this stage,
with an emphasis on paler areas at the
top and bottom and the introduction of
Burnt Sienna for the iris (and a dot of
Permanent White). The lower eyelid was
white, tinged with fine green feathers.
I remember Garry Fleming
saying once: “Let the bird talk
to you.” I find this happening
when the eyes are completed!
The lower mandible was Ivory
Black. Further highlights to the upper
mandible were added with Cadmium
Orange. The centre of the bill was also Step five
completed with Cadmium Orange
and a fine line of Permanent White.
The tail feathers were painted in
using a combination of Ultramarine
Blue and Cobalt Blue; the highlights
and shadows were emphasised
with Paynes Grey; and the shadows
on the tail beneath the branch
were added using Cadmium
Yellow and Permanent White.

STEP SIX
I turned my attention mainly to Minka.
The wing feathers were marked out
using Alizarin Crimson to deepen the
shadows and Cadmium Orange was
used to highlight the individual feathers.
A mix of Scarlet Lake and Alizarin
Crimson was used to deepen the areas
around the throat and the top of the
head, while Cadmium Orange was Step six
added to parts of the breast and back
of the neck as highlights. I also added
more feathers to the nape of the neck.
More work was done on the eye, while tree branch using Burnt Sienna as
maintaining an area of white for further a base and Van Dyke Brown for
development. A fine white line was the shadows – paying particular
added to the tip of the upper mandible. attention to the direction of light and
Further work was added to the breast the roundness of the branch itself.
feathers, firstly using Ultramarine Warm Grey Number 1 was added
Blue and then working in strokes of to create the patches of light; Van
Phthalo Blue. A mix of Ultramarine Dyke Brown and Paynes Grey were
Blue and Paynes Grey created the used to deepen the lower shadows.
shadows around the feet, especially
where they rested on the branch. STEP SEVEN
Further work was done on the Some friends tell me that I spend too

Artist’s Back to Basics 57

Back to Basics

much time on detail. Their comments

fall on deaf ears. I’m addicted to detail!
And I have discovered the wonders of
rigger brushes – a sickness for which
there is no cure. Usually, at this stage, I
Step Seven find that I refer to my models less; only
checking the photographs occasionally.
The final touches were added to
Toby’s neck and breast feathers
using Lemon Yellow while deepening
the shadow around the face with
Permanent Green Light, Sap Green
and the tiniest touches of Hookers
Green. The upper wing feathers were
further highlighted with Lemon Yellow.
I added more Scarlet Lake to the side
breast feathers, working the paint
down until only a ghost of yellow was
left surrounding the red. The upper
mandible was further highlighted
with a line of Permanent White,
working the Cadmium Orange into it
to break down the distinct edges.
There was not much more that
needed to be done to Minka. I added
Cadmium Orange highlights to the
breast feathers; around the neck and
top of the head; and to the upper
wing feathers and the tail. Scarlet
Lake was added to the lower breast
plumage to try and accentuate the
individual feathers. Finally I added
the fine pale blue strokes around the
eye (the female Electus has tiny blue
feathers surrounding the eye, while
the male has fine green feathers).
Lastly, I completed the feet,
laying on a thin wash of Cool Grey
with shading of Burnt Sienna and
Van Dyke Brown. I applied another
wash of Cobalt Blue to the sky and
Step Seven -CloseUp completed the bush background
with highlights of Lemon Yellow. ■

58 Artist’s Back to Basics

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Artist’s Back to Basics 59

 Galleries

Manly Art
Gallery & Museum
Nestled alongside the
harbour at Sydney’s
iconic beach suburb
of Manly you’ll find
this cultural hub,
which began in 1930
after Manly Council
supported the idea of
a gallery as a cultural
focus for the area.

P
assionate committed
citizens, including artists,
historians, and politicians,
were the driving force behind
the gradual development of
the collection into a gallery.
Manly Art Gallery & Museum
(MAG&M) was the first
metropolitan-based regional
gallery in NSW, and is one of 40
public galleries in the state.
Manly Council and the MAG&M
Society fund the ongoing
acquisitions and conservation
program of its significant and
valuable art, ceramics, photography
and beach objects collections.
Photo 1 Manly Council owns more than

60 Artist’s Back to Basics

 Photo 2 Photo 3

Photo 1: Lloyd Rees (1895-

1,300 paintings which depict the diverse range of cultural programs, 1988), An old barn, Parramatta,
life of Manly since the early 1800s exhibitions and festivals. Over 1924, oil on canvas mounted on
through lithographs and drawings, the past year alone MAG&M has composition board, 33 x 46cm.
right up until the 21st century through presented 13 exhibitions to the Gift of the artist, 1924 © Lloyd
significant paintings by Ethel Carrick public which has involved four major Rees/Licensed by Viscopy, 2010.
Fox, Tom Roberts and Nancy Kilgour, solo exhibitions by artists from the Courtesy MAG&M collection.
which are drawn upon for interpretive local community, the artworks of Photo 2: R H Robertson (1895-
exhibitions of iconic Manly. 45 local artists in group exhibitions 1935). West Esplanade Reserve
Contemporary photographer Anne and more than 80 participants in Bandstand (Manly Art Gallery) 1924,
Zahalka is currently working with the community-based 2014 Manly watercolour on paper, 22 x 34cm.
the 1930s Manly Beach painting Arts Festival. Collectively, these Donated by Mrs Crawley, 1987.
by Nancy Kilgour to present a events have drawn an audience Courtesy MAG&M collection.
re-creation of the scene which will of more than 120,000 people. Photo 3: Percy Spence (1868 – 1933),
be displayed at MAG&M during the The cultural program is achieved Manly Beach with lady lifesavers,
2015 Manly Arts Festival. The Gallery through its strong partnerships with 1910, watercolour on paper, 18.4
curators are also working on two other regional and Sydney-based arts x 27.2cm. Gift of the Committee,
new collection-based exhibitions for organisations, such as the Guringai 1975. Courtesy MAG&M collection.
2016, ‘Go figure’ and ‘Iconic Manly’, Festival (a celebration of Aboriginal Photo 4: Douglas Dundas
which will present audiences with Culture and Heritage through (1900 – 1981), Springtime,
collection highlights on the themes the ‘Saltwater Country’ touring Tuscany, 1928, oil on canvas, 81
of figuration and place, respectively. exhibition), the National Trust’s x 102cm. Gift of the artist, 1931.
A highlight over the past year was Courtesy MAG&M collection.
the hugely-successful ‘The Making of
Midnight Oil’ social history exhibition
which was developed by MAG&M
and supported by the Australia
Council for the Arts. It is now on
tour to seven other regional centres
including Newcastle, Wagga Wagga
and Wollongong. The band Midnight
Oil has its origins on the Northern
Beaches where some band members
still reside, so to tell this unique
Australian story with its cultural roots
in Manly was very significant and a
ground-breaking exhibition for the
region. Another key project was
the ‘Joshua Yeldham: Surrender’
exhibition. The artist’s inspiration
for his paintings and sculptures is
drawn from the Hawkesbury basin,
so is very significant regionally.
MAG&M is actively engaged
with the community through the
presentation of a dynamic and Photo 4

65
Artist’s Back to Basics 61
 Galleries
Photo 5
Photo 7: Antonio Dattilo-Rubbo
(1870 – 1955), Portrait of Norah
Simpson, 1915, charcoal on paper,
12 x 76cm. Gift of the artist, 1940.
Courtesy MAG&M collection.
Photo 8:Chris Langlois, Landscape
(Narrabeen Lake) no. 2, 2009, oil
on linen, 137 x 137cm. Purchased
through Theo Batten Bequest, 2009.
Courtesy MAG&M collection.
Photo 8
62 Artist’s Back to Basics
Photo 6
Heritage Festival (‘A Further Shore:
bombs, babes and sons of beaches’
photographic museum exhibition),
the Australian Chamber Orchestra
(‘ACO Virtual’ interactive multi-media
installation), 20 regional high schools
(‘Express Yourself’ exhibition of
selected HSC artworks), Gunnedah
Photo 7
Council as its sister city (‘Des
Mullion: Raids and Wars’ indigenous
art exhibition), Q Station (‘Out of
Quarantine’ museum exhibition
in the planning for December
2015) and ArtMonth Sydney.
The MAG&M Collection is not
on permanent display. To view a
specific work from the collection,
please email the gallery via:
artgallery@manly.nsw.gov.au
Manly Art Gallery & Museum
West Esplanade Reserve (an
easy walk from the ferry terminal)
Manly, NSW, 2095
Ph: 02 9976 1500
Web: manly.nsw.gov.au/gallery
Open: Tuesday to Sunday,
10am to 5pm. Closed Mondays
and public holidays.
Museum: free. Major
exhibitions: $5.
Photo 6: A soldier’s patchwork
with incredible border, c.1855,
made in India or England, felted
wools taken from uniforms, all hand
sewn hand applied beadwork,
textural layered appliqued
border, 208 x 216cm. Photo Tim
Connolly, Shoot Studios. From
the War-time Quilts exhibition.
War Time Quilts
To coincide with the 100th
 Photo 9
anniversary of the Gallipoli campaign,
Manly Art Gallery & Museum is
hosting WAR-TIME QUILTS: Quilts
from Military Fabrics from the Annette
Gero Collection. The quilts in the
exhibition were assembled by Dr
Gero, who has been documenting
and collecting quilts since 1982.
This very rare collection of ‘war
quilts’, made by active soldiers
and prisoners of war from pieces
of disused uniforms, army blankets
and other discard military fabrics,
includes quilts dating from the
Napoleonic Wars (1803-15),
the Crimean War (1853-56) and
World Wars One and Two.
“Ordinary soldiers on active duty
endured long stretches of boredom
coupled with intense moments of
terror overlaid with extremes of
cold and heat, seeming endless
toil and long separation from
Photo 12
Photo 10
family and loved ones,” explains
Dr Gero. “As a form of ‘Trench
Art’, these rare and surprisingly
beautiful artefacts were made by
soldiers during protracted lulls in
the fighting, while recuperating from
war wounds or else when interred
in prisoner-of-war camps. They
allowed men enduring unspeakable
circumstances some respite from
the tedium and hardship of war
and to introduce some semblance
of beauty and humanity to the
blighted world of the combat zone.”
In 1986 Dr Gero was made a
Fellow of the Royal Society for
Arts (London) in recognition of her
work on Australian quilt history,
her personal quilt collection
considered a ‘national treasure’.
Exhibition: 3 July – 22
November 2015
Entry: Free n
Photo 13
Photo 11
Photo 9: Greg Daly (1954 - ),
Vessel, 1990. Etched and lustred
with overglaze decoration, 26 x
27cm. Courtesy MAG&M collection.
Photo 10: Joshua Yeldham (1970 - )
Mangrove Country, Hawkesbury
River – Protection, 2009, hand
carved paper, shellac, pigment
print, 108 x 108cm. Purchased
through the Theo Batten Bequest,
2009. Courtesy MAG&M collection.
Photo 12: Arthur James Murch
(1902 – 1989), Portrait of G. K.
Townshend, 1951, oil on canvas, 75
x 63cm. Gift of Ria Murch, 2001 ©
Arthur Murch/Licensed by Viscopy,
2010. Courtesy MAG&M collection.
Photo 13 Paola Talbert (1968
- ), Kairos (Moment of Truth),
2000. Type C LED print, 47
x 74cm. Purchased 2004.
Courtesy MAG&M collection.
Artist’s Back to Basics 63
 Mark It With A Brush
Brush Article 18
The first thing
that we need to
look at though is
L ast article we talked about
planning our painting
before we made any
marks and trying to uncover any
problem areas prior to working on
developing our a finished piece. We discussed
perception skills that it was a great idea to practise
on a blank canvas and to mentally
go through the motions of making
the painting to try and discover
some problem areas before you
got down to the business end.
In the next couple of articles,
we will take a detailed look at
what some of these problem
areas maybe, some strategies
for discovering them and some
ideas for dealing with them.
The first thing that we need to
look at though is developing our
perception skills. By this I don’t
just mean using your eyes. I mean
developing sensitivity and “feel” for
the paint, brushes and surface.
I can’t count the number of times
Fig 1
64 Artist’s Back to Basics
I have explained in workshops “do it
like this” and the student has done
something completely different.
When we start to peel back that
process though, I discovered that a)
I’ve usually explained it badly and b)
sometimes, the student has not paid
careful enough attention. For the
purposes of my ego and practicality,
we’re going to focus on the student
not observing deeply enough.
As an artist, it is our job to notice
detail. Being an artist is all about
perception skills. We have to see
nuance and subtlety. We have to feel
our way through a painting using
all of our skills. This is often the
difficulty when teaching - knowing
exactly how much to explain and
how to put nuances into words.
So let’s take a painting
in which there is a large
amount of sky. See Fig
1. This will involve a subtle
shift in hue and tone over a large
area of the canvas. So, prior to
painting we need to discover
exactly which colours we’re
going to place where. We need
to discover where each shift in
hue or tone occurs and we need
to decide whether we are going to
represent the image realistically (in
which case you’ll use most of that
information) or in a more abstracted
way, in which case you’ll need to
choose which pieces of information
you leave out, or exaggerate. For
the purposes of developing our
brush technique though, we will
look at painting the sky realistically.
It becomes really apparent now,
just how important your perception
skills are. We start looking at clouds
for example. The clouds in the
distance - what colours are they?
 Fig 2

What shapes are they? How bright my perception skills and a few The first problem
are they? How clear are they? Are little tricks. The first trick that I use
they wispy and soft? Stop there. when doing my “real” paintings is is - how to get
I recommend right now, going to roughly paint everything in first. your paint to
back and looking at your reference Block the whole painting in in about
image again and REALLY looking. 10-15 minutes. See Figs 2 & 3. This cover well?
As a tutor, I find myself often gives me an idea of any potential
chewing the inside of my cheek problem areas in the painting and
when someone has represented importantly, it allows my second coat
beautiful soft wispy clouds using of paint to cover more effectively.
a brush LOADED with white paint, The following is dependent on the
and splodging great clumps of
white paint across the surface of the
canvas. Why? How does someone
get that from what they’re looking
at? This may sound unkind, but
the problem is that the student,
for whatever reason, has not been
able to look closely enough at the
difference between what they’re
looking at and what they’re painting.
When all this information is
gleaned, we now need to decide how
we’re going to make those marks.
Before we get to that though, we’ll
look into the first major problem.
The first problem is - how to get your
paint to cover well? It’s something
I get asked a lot. Why does my
paint cover so well? Yes, it is about
the quality of the paint - more on
that later. But it is also about using Fig 3

Artist’s Back to Basics 65

 Mark It With A Brush
Fig 4
Fig 5
quality of the paint. I’m assuming
you’re using artists quality paint.
When we do cover a large area, we
need to be really perceptive. We
need to look closely at the surface
as we’re applying the paint. Is the
paint too thin and leaving watery
streaks? Is the paint too thick, not
filling the tooth in the canvas and
covering the surface smoothly?
This will tell you two things.
1. You need to be very clear on
exactly how much water or medium
you have in your paint (a blank
66 Artist’s Back to Basics
canvas nearby is a great idea to test
this on, until you know instinctively).
Start with the tiniest amount and
add more from there if needed.
2. If the paint is not flowing
beautifully and covering properly,
you may want to consider one of two
things. You may need much more
paint, and/or you may need to be
much rougher with your application.
Really get in there - push the
paint hard into all the nooks and
crannies. See Fig 4. We are often
far too gentle with our paintings and
more often than not, use nowhere
near enough paint or pressure.
TIP: A really great idea is to dampen
the back of your canvas. Not only will
this extend the drying time, allowing
you to blend but it will also often
provide just enough moisture in your
canvas to allow your paint to be applied
much more smoothly. Sometimes the
addition of the tiniest amount of water
is necessary to give your paint “legs”
and sometimes, that tiny amount
of water bleeding through from the
back of your canvas is just enough.
The point is you need to feel what
is happening on the surface. You
need to observe closely how
the paint behaves when it hits
the surface. You need to feel the
sensation of it sliding and moving
over the surface. You really need
to be very “present” and mindful of
this process. After a while, you will
become very efficient and develop an
instinctive knowledge for how much
water or medium you need to add
to your paint, taking into account
changes in temperature and humidity.
The next step of course is to follow
the above process while doing a
wonderful and subtle gradation of
colour or tone. See Fig 5. This is
another reason why blocking in the
painting in a rudimentary way is a
great idea. The colour you have put
down is almost like a marker, and
gives you a reference point to add
your next incremental change.
I can’t say it enough; practise
gradation of colour and/or tone over
and over and over. It really does
make a painting so much easier
and gives you so much more
control. This control allows you
freedom to investigate beautiful
skies, shifts in the surface of
the ocean and light hitting the
shoulder of a figure. Beautiful!
For some great gradation exercises
and video tutorials, check out
my tutorial page at www.explore-
acrylic-painting.com/gradation.
html Gradations and coverage with
acrylics are much more difficult
than with oils. However, the overall
benefits of working with acrylics
can often completely outweigh oils
ability to blend and cover. Because
of this, it makes sense (to me
anyway) to use paints as versatile
as possible and find the best way
to make them work for me.
I know I’ve said it before, but
using Atelier Interactive really does
take a lot of pain out of the above
processes. You may want to check
out their website www.atelieracrylic. However, the
com where I explain why it’s such
great paint, and how to use it. overall benefits
Next time you do a gradation or of working with
want your acrylic paint to cover,
please go through this process acrylics can
in your mind. Really take the time often completely
to feel and see what your paint is
doing. Really dance with the paint. outweigh oils
You can feel when it starts to gum ability to blend
up and go off, you can feel if there’s
too much water in it. Don’t forget to and cover.
troubleshoot. Ask yourself, is there
too much water? Do I add more paint
or do I wait for a while to allow the
water to dry before adding more? If
the paint is too thick, can I solve that
by pushing it around with a brush
and using more force? (See Fig 6.)
or do I need to add a little medium?
Is my brush capable of moving the
paint around in the way that I want?
This leads me nicely into the next
article — but you’ll have to wait and
see what’s in store for that one! n
Fig 6
Artist’s Back to Basics 67
 Te a c h e r ’ s Pe t
Don’t Turn
The Lights Out
Painting The Kimberley Light
With Artist Derek L Newton
T oday I’m visiting the Kimberley
region of Western Australia an
area the size of many small
countries with the help of Perth artist
Beni Wright. The Kimberley and
Pilbara landscape, above all other
considerations revolves around
painting it’s ever changing light
patterns, which dependant on the
time of day and weather conditions,
either throws mysterious shadows
over the hills and high ridges or drifts
72
68 Artist’s Back to Basics
out across the dusty flats, but just a
short time later the same composition
may be blindingly bright as the suns
reflected light dispels the shadows
and reclaims the landscape.
A Pilbara Landscape
by Bernice Wright
In a recent article in Creative Artist
Magazine I featured Beni’s cosy art
studio and collection of visual diary’s
the result of her many trips traveling
around Australia and the world, and
also highlighting some of her artwork
the result of many trips out into the
Pilbara and Kimberley areas of WA’s
vast outback. Areas of often rugged
country that many West Australian
and International artists are drawn to
because of its remoteness, the ever
changing colors of the landscape, lazy
long horizons and rugged mountain
ranges offering a unique place to work
and paint that rivals other well known
Australian painting hotspots like the
scenery of the Flinders ranges in South
Australia, and blue mountains in New
South Wales, in many ways you could
spend a week painting from the same
spot out here and still never cover
all its changing moods and special
moments, distant rain clouds building
against a low horizon or spectacular
soft sunsets throwing longer and
longer shadows, and its this changing
light that such an important element
in painting especially Watercolour,
you must engage with the landscape
and the light, because its so easy to
over work and lose all the spontaneity
so ‘’Don’t turn the lights out’’

Watercolour Painting by Beni Wright

Deep Reach Millstream W.A
Note how the light from the
sky graduated light blue wash
bounces of the landscape before
being reflected in the water and
along the tops of the trees that
line this waterhole, bringing life
to this relatively simple water
colour composition, the stronger
distant blue water and tree line
reflection adds strength to the over
all composition, of a warm day in
the outback. Note Beni’s taken
this painting just far enough, any
more and it would start to be over
worked, as it is it screams of a soft
remote sundrenched landscape much detail, I like the way Beni’s
and works most importantly reflected the redness of the rocks
because ‘’she’s left the lights on. down into the watery foreground
and used the distant tree line as
Kimberley Country a back stop even though this cuts
Another lovely Kimberley water the painting in half, and in doing
colour, bought to life by the sky so breaks the old painting adage
reflected light, firstly by creating not to put your horizon in the
shadows across the distant ranges, middle, only going to show as I
the paintings simple graduated sky have mentioned in a previous article
says so much without drawing your there are no rules in art, Learning
eye out of the painting with too point, Think about the light

Artist’s Back to Basics 69

 Te a c h e r ’ s Pe t

The Boabab Family

Kimberley light
Again this painting is all about the
light, not quite as strong as the other
paintings but just as important in fact
the whole composition is about the
light reflecting off the tree trunks with
the ribbon of dark against light again
dividing the composition. So what
can be learned from Beni’s lovely
Kimberley landscape paintings, I’ve
deliberately use these four works
as they don’t have any other form
of focal point. no animals, birds or
people and rely solely on the light
working across the landscape for
their appeal, its not until you start
to break the compositions down
that you start to realize just how
important the light is, it’s the difference
between a convincing painting,
painted by an experienced talented
artist, and a not so experienced
artist trying to capture the same
scene but working in the dark, so
my learning point for this article is.

Don’t turn the lights out.

Claim the light
It’s no secret that one of my personal
favorite mediums is pen and ink
drawing and the light source is just
as important with a black and white
drawing as with any colored medium,
here I’m including another pen and
ink artists work this time English
artist Derrick Moss, I collect drawing
books when out traveling and on a
recent trip to the U.K bought Derrick’s
sketchbook of Hastings a seaside

70 Artist’s Back to Basics

town in southern England, famous for
a historic battle that took place nearby.
In Hastings the fishing boats are still
pulled up onto the beach after their
days work, and make lovely subject
matter, Derrick’s pen and ink of the
beached fishing boats illustrates my
subject very well, note how the light
hits the right hand side of the boat,
and the shafts of light that can be
seen cutting between the other boats
bringing life to the composition.
Quote from Derrick’s sketchbook,
‘’it’s a beautiful day, the sun
is shining, and the sketch
pad is glaring white, crying
out for another drawing’’.
So his first thoughts before starting
to draw were about the light source
that was helping to enhance the main
boats shape and bring life to his
drawing, also note how the drawing
is back lit by only a little shading to
the top left hand side of the sky.
Old Cottage pen and wash
Derek L Newton
Again with this old pen and wash stone
cottage see how I’ve left the lights
on, and painted it very loose with just
enough detail, much is only suggested
and leaves the eye to fill in the details,
but the sunlight reflecting of the
limestone walls emphasizes my point,
and I have included it here as it adds
strength my point, don’t turn the lights
out. But Of course there’s also another
aspect to this subject, in fact they
go hand in hand, for where there’s
light there’s shadows and shadow is
a major player in many a successful
painting, and often just as important
in giving life to a composition, as the
light source. I will have to get to that
in another article, (cast shadows)
MY TEACHERS PET ARTICLES,
ARE ALL ABOUT IMPROVING
YOUR ART but as with any how
to book, video or my magazine
Artist’s Back to Basics 71
72 Artist’s Back to Basics