Australian How To Paint

This workshop aims to give a better understanding of the process I utilise to create a good likeness in a portrait using acrylic paints and mediums. It shows how I employ techniques developed over many years and helps give a better understanding of t

Why I started painting: From the time I was very young, I felt the pull of art. My early experiences included visits to art museums with my family. Seeing Pinkie and The Blue Boy at the Huntington Art Museum was an eye-opening experience. I had begun

• Paper: Arches artist-grade cold-press paper, 140 lb (stretched on a plywood board) or 300 lb. clipped on gatorboard. • Brushes: A full range of round synthetic and sable brushes from a 00 through a #36-Goliath (Robert Simmons white sable). I like b

Here’s the set up in my studio. This is the slant I like to work with. I use a 4” x 4” block of wood to prop up my watercolour paper. I’m using a Robert E Wood palette. I set up the palette with my primary colours placed in three corners. I use two l

I have lived on the Central Coast of NSW most of my life, where we are blessed with beautiful beaches, national parks, abundant in lots of species of birds and animals. During my school years I chose art classes which I looked forward to the most of

• Bristol smooth 260gm paper• Staedtler pencils ranging from 4H to 4B• Electric eraser• Kneadable rubber• Tortillon• Ruler• Pencil sharpener• Really clear reference photo Box up your picture you are copying from into squares and do the same with your

• Charcoal• Turps• Oil• Raw Umber• Phthalo Blue• Titanium White There are no structured steps to the way I paint. There are really only three steps I follow: sketch, build from wherever the brush takes me first and continue to wherever it takes me n

Irene was born in El Salvador in Central America. Even though her family migrated to Brisbane when she was only five, her Latin origins are evident in her passion for life and people. With architects for parents, a writer for a sister and a musician

Painting, fashion and photography. These are the forces that drive my working life as an artist. Every piece of work I produce can be distilled down to this triumvirate of pursuits I’m so passionate about. In terms of fashion, I’ve always been drawn

I give my canvas a light sanding as I like it smooth. I prefer to paint on linen these days; it has a lovely texture and absorbs the paint differently to canvas. I begin by painting the canvas with acrylics a block colour, usually a mid-flat brown as

We all have fond memories of drawing on scraps of paper when we were kids. Smudging those messy oil crayons around a giant sheet of butcher’s paper drawing Mum, Dad and your brothers and sisters in front of that square house with the mandatory smoke

All artists need to be able to conceptualise their final work in their mind. To ensure your compositions are correct you need to be able to draw well enough to ensure your perspectives and tonal variations are true. I have hung up my brushes for the

Icouldn’t say why I started painting; I’m quite sure I’ve just always had a passion for art. As a kid I loved to draw, all through primary school I would draw animals and cartoons, through high school my school books were filled and covered with draw

Using Prismacolor pencils (I find they work well for me as the pencil marks seem to dissolve when painted over), sketch out the main points of the painting. I tend to use a blue or brown where the shadow or cool areas of the painting will be, and yel