Australian How To Paint

From an early age I immediately fell in love with the line, tone and the immediacy that pencil offers the artist. Although at that age I really didn’t put that into such clinical thoughts. I just knew that for me, pencil was the most fun to draw with

Before I draw I like to meet the animal, to see it move, see it interact with others, listen to it, even smell it! When you sketch from life it helps you to work out the anatomy and form of the creature. Often you will note something in the field tha

Born in 1953 in Sydney, Richard moved to Melbourne in 1956. He holds a Diploma of Art & Design, majoring in Graphics in 1974, from the Prahran College of Advanced Education, and a Diploma of Education from the Melbourne State College. He taught Art f

I usually start a new painting by looking through my stored digital photographs, on the computer, that I have taken over the years. Today I selected the kookaburra on the TV antenna photo because I like the contrast of the hard, geometric shapes of t

The natural world gives me immense pleasure. I have my mother to thank for teaching me, as a child, to appreciate nature. I have enjoyable memories of clambering over rocks with her on sunny days, catching skinks for her aquarium or playing with the

Scratchboard. What is it? Scratchboard is a board with a thin clay coating covered with black ink. A scratch tool is used to scratch through the layer of black ink revealing the white clay underneath. You can buy board that is pre-inked, called scrat

Born in 1965, Frances McMahon has been passionate about illustrating Australia’s native birds since age five. Indeed, it was at this tender age that one of her paintings was selected to be included in a children’s art exhibition that toured the world

“Heatwave” was a commission for a client in Canada who happened to see a painting on my website of two Eastern Rosellas (“The Happy Couple”) and wanted a painting just like it. I have never repeated or copied a painting, but in this case I suggested

I chose several different reference photographs of elephants from the Internet, books and newspapers, and practiced several small sketches of elephant compositions. When content, I graphed up a piece of tracing paper using 1cm squares and placed this

Even now, living in Brisbane, I am surrounded by South-East Queensland’s treasure trove of beautiful natural features such as beaches, bays, mountain ranges and World Heritage-listed rainforests. Travel has been an important part of my life and explo

This painting is quite simple in concept and composition. However, consequently there is nowhere to hide! Simplicity can often add impact. I had good reference photos of pelicans serenely floating along a river near Noosa, with lovely reflections in

Born in the cold Boston, Massachusetts area, but raised in early childhood in Kailua, Hawaii, Jen Callahan has never lost her love of the sea and it’s creatures. Each morning after her Mom completed household chores; it was off to Kailua Beach, only

Before the painting can be started I feel that you must do research on the animal and how it moves. I feel the best way to do this is to see them in the wild or in an aquarium setting where you can watch them and take your own photographs. This piece