Artist's Back to Basics

By John Cornwell My works start long before lifting a brush. To gain familiarity with my subjects, I have visited many properties in different parts of the country. I have attended shows and events. I have sketched and taken many photographs. To stu

Edited by Trevor Lang When Ludij came to Australia with her family at the age of six, she first landed at Derby in Western Australia – a far cry from the city life of Amsterdam. Finally disembarking from the ship at Fremantle, the family flew to Cai

By Ludij Peden • Stretched primed canvas, 600 x 900 mm. • Black and white gesso. • Flat and round soft Taklon brushes of varying sizes. • Fine rigger brush. • Palette knife. • Coloured pastel pencils. • Genesis Heat Set Oils: Cobalt Blue; Ultramarin

by Bill O’Shea The most asked question of artists by the inexperienced painters is how do you get that colour? When I had my first interest in painting I asked an artist what colours should I use. I was advised to keep my palette simple, just one bl

by M.A Hunt You want to paint, or draw, sculpt or stick stuff together and just create. You have your ideas and some materials, so whats next? This series of articles will help you to set up your studio within your means. You will also be hearing fro

“The landscape is such a dynamic and changing thing; with colour and intensity … and it is interesting to watch animal life adapting to its rhythms.” Some might say that John Murray’s current home at Lightning Ridge in New South Wales makes a dramat

By John Murray • Artists’ canvas. • Artists’ acrylic paints. • Chalk. • Selected brushes.• Turps-based varnish. “It is an interesting example of the power of Nature overtaking man’s futile attempts to conquer the land.” I have drawn in my initial l

with Leonie Norton For the purpose of this article, I am featuring shells in watercolour and taking you through the necessary steps to create a three-dimensional image on a two-dimensional surface. This information is also transferrable to other med

by Catherine Lees The history of oil painting is steeped in mystery, and while many theories exist about the origins of what is now considered to be the most traditional form of painting, there have been a number of milestones along the way. Through

By Brett A. Jones For any artist working in any visual medium the ability to sketch and draw completely freehand would have to be the most important foundational skill to have bar none. It matters not whether your work leans toward representational

By Brett A. Jones Being able to sketch a perfect circle freehand is not so much a good trick as an essential element of freehand drawing. You will rarely find a perfect circle in any representational composition you may be drawing, but you must be a

Jasart has released an exciting new range of Sketch and Write Notebooks. The series is attractively packaged and very affordable – the perfect companion for students needing convenient notebooks. They’re great for jotting down notes on the run; or fo

By Phil Frankel Greetings! In this series of articles my aim is to present a student’s perspective of learning to paint, with all the inherent distractions of “everyday life” that we each, simultaneously, have to cope with. Today’s article will deal

By John Cornwell I grew up in Sydney. After leaving school, I won a scholarship and spent three years full-time at the National Art School. Leaving there, I went out into the world to earn a living. In the early 1950s you could count the number of a

Riverlee Art Studio and Gallery is in the little Western Victorian town of Winchelsea on the Princes Highway. It is run by a group of eight dedicated artists who came together initially just to paint and learn from each other. We were initially house