Australian How To Paint

For as long as I can remember, I have drawn and painted and have always had an interest and awareness of the environment. When I was 15, my father’s job took him to Fiji so instead of pursuing a career in commercial art after I left school, I found m

Patricia Williams readily admits that she has had no formal background in art, although she loved to draw as a child many years ago. She did not study art at school – she has simply developed her creative skills by learning from books and observing t

• Art Spectrum Colourfix sanded paper – Storm Blue; finished size 40 x 50 cm.• Conte Hard Pastels (initially, for outlining and first underpainting).• Art Spectrum Pastels.• Schminke Soft Pastels (for highlights and finishing) – many colours.• Mahl s

I live on a beautiful property just outside Cowra, NSW, and I travel into town, where I have my studio, six days per week. It has been very important to me over the years to have this separation of home and painting, especially when my children (now

When I am starting a big painting I like to take a day arranging different flowers, vases, backdrops, lighting, and tables until I find a composition that excites me. I rub in a thin background, establishing a suitable under colour for the detail th

Like so many, my journey as an artist started at a very young age. I can see now as my youngest child is in his second year of school just how early it must have been within me. There are so many similarities, he is always so meticulous about his wor

Highly qualified Queensland artist Helen Lawson has a BA from Queensland University, an LTCL from Trinity College of London, and a Diploma of Education from Monash University. Her early years were spent on the Darling Downs in Queensland, where a lon

• Canvas: Primed and stretched eight ounce canvas, 70 x 90 cm.• Genesis Heat Set Oil Paints: Titanium White; Yellow White 08; Genesis Yellow; Yellow Ochre; Pyrrole Red 02; Burnt Sienna; Ultramarine Blue; Viridian Blue 01.• Brushes: One inch Synthetic

• Colours used: Cadmium Lemon; Permanent Rose; French Ultramarine; Sepia. Vanua Levu, one of the outer islands of Fiji, promises all the recognised hallmarks of an island escape … and much more. For the past three years, Leonie Norton has been takin

I have always drawn. I cannot remember a time when I wasn’t sketching something. My uncle used to holiday with us for two weeks each year and he would spend the whole time teaching me to draw. I absolutely loved our time together. My father was a des

I use 300 gsm Arches Hot Pressed watercolour paper. I stretch larger sheets using special stretching tape onto board. For smaller work, I use Arches Hot Pressed 300gsm watercolour pads which I find I don’t need to stretch. Sometimes I will also use t