GROUP MURAL IDEA

EACH POST IS ON A DIFFERENT TOPIC & REVIEWED REGULARLY.

Hello! Here we are again and the art stories keep on coming!  What a Pandora’s box we have opened with all these art related stories!  

I’m afraid in my enthusiasm I have jumped the gun a bit by starting off my Blog in March when the official launch of the Family Art Stories network is taking place at the Manly Art Gallery & Museum, West Esplanade, Manly on 12th April ’08 at 2 pm.  If you are interested, please contact the Gallery: 

Email artgallery@manly.nsw.gov.au or check the website at www.manly.nsw.gov.au  for more details. Here’s a pic of the Gallery, just a short walk from the ferry wharf….it is well worth a visit.

However, back to this post, which is about a fun idea for a mural or large painting a Group can create together.  It could be adapted to many groups or occasions, but the one we used it for was to celebrate the 50th birthday of one of our Choir members.

A picnic had already been arranged in the backyard of the “Birthday Girl” (Merilyn) and most of the Gosford contingent of 50 members of “SING AUSTRALIA” Choir were planning to come, armed with food, songbooks, folding chairs, hats and at Merilyn’s request, appropriate  poems and advice about dealing with “Life after Fifty!” (many of which turned out to be hilarious)

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Just to explain a little, there are now around 90 “Sing Australia” Choirs spread across Australia.  “For people who love to sing” these offer the opportunity to do just that, in a friendly relaxed atmosphere with no auditions.  In fact, I’ve heard it said that even if you sing like a bullfrog in a drainpipe you are welcome at a “Sing Australia” Choir.  It’s pure fun, therapeutic and offers a variety of  opportunities besides weekly gatherings – for example …  State and National Gatherings, local gigs (including visiting Nursing Homes etc.) workshops and tours both within Australia and abroad.  In short, it’s fun!  Songs vary from classical to pop, old and new & singing harmony is optional. For more information, visit the Sing Australia website – see the Blogroll at right. 

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Getting back to the mural, our Choir conductor, Mary, asked Tony and I (being 2 of the ‘arty’ ones in the Choir) if we could think of a fun theme for everyone to participate in creating a large painting at the picnic as our gift to Merilyn.  

Not surprisingly (Tony and I are often on the same wavelength) we both came up with almost identical ideas.  We both love the colourful uniforms worn by our Choir to gigs (some say we look like the Wiggles). Here are a few of our members in uniform to give you the idea…at a small gig….

 

& at a State gathering of ‘Sing Australia’ Choirs in Port MacQuarie….

   

So to represent the Choir, Tony and I knew the painting should include those colours.  We thought if we developed an overall design of a Choir singing, with blank faces that could be filled in by everyone at the picnic – along with colouring the shirts, it would be easy and fun for all.  Here is the layout we came up with, first as a small A4 design (which was later used as a Birthday card)….

Making sure the ‘Star’ (Merilyn) was in the centre wearing her characteristic peaked cap, we then transferred the design onto a big stretched canvas using black waterproof markers and acrylic paint.   (We used the grid method of dividing up the design into smaller squares which then made it easier to draw up on the canvas, working bigger in the same ratio.)

 

As you can see, we washed in some skin tones with acrylic paint so that any features later could be added quickly and easily by people using the waterproof markers.  The ovals for open mouths helped to create the look of us all singing in unison.   Key people needed to be included in this instance, being our wonderful accompanist, Stephen and Conductor, Mary.  

So that the picnic artists would be clear about exactly where to colour in the shirts, we blocked in the black songbooks – adding a bit of fun with one poor lost soul trying to find the right page in the wrong book (We do have a blue book as well as black ones). 

If you were to adapt something like this with whatever Group you belong to, I’m sure humorous ideas like this would pop up as you go along. For example, if you were representing a Garden Club, the people could be holding garden tools and plants & so on & the ‘joker’ in the group could be holding a big garden gnome (or just pop a gnome in amongst the faces!) 

Finally the picnic celebration day arrived.  As usual, chairs were set in a big circle with the piano in the middle…

         

         

         

You can see the painting propped against the garden shed in the background….

         

                                 and here’s our Birthday girl enjoying it all…..

                     

After alternating between feasting, singing and basking in the beautiful afternoon sunshine we got people involved in completing the painting…..

                   

We had prepared small lidded containers with the necessary pre-mixed colours in acrylics so that 2 or 3 people could work at once.  One thing we hadn’t thought of was that folks would have a go at turning the blank faces into caricatures of actual members of the Choir! At first I thought some might be offended but if they were they certainly didn’t admit it! In fact the response seemed to be just the opposite!  Everyone seemed to think it was great fun!  Whew!  Here are some areas just completed…..

         

I must admit I was responsible for a member of the Simpson family appearing in there!

         

Gradually, it all came together and generated a lot of interest and fun!

         

         

The acrylics dried very quickly in the sun, so by the time Mary had served up the Birthday cake…

it was time for a speech or two and Merilyn was presented with the finished painting…

She was delighted and luckily had a big blank wall that needed cheering up! Being a journalist, she wrote an ‘article’ on the whole event and sent us all one with profuse thanks.

 If this idea appeals to you but feels a bit overwhelming to prepare, why not consider something on a smaller scale that could be made into a giant greeting card.   Blank faces could be filled in with felt pens by those signing the card so that the final result would have input from everyone.

As a little extra insight into our friendly “Sing Australia” Choir, here are a few pics from one of our many social gatherings – this one at 2 of our members’ delightful rural property at Wyee, where we were invited to visit, sing and paint as part of the Open Garden program in April 2005…

If slideshow needs activating, click on X at top RH corner>

Thankyou to Christine and Frank for your kind hospitality and hope you are still enjoyng the painting.

So there you are: I hope you enjoyed sharing this art story with a difference!  I look forward to seeing you at the next post!

Cheers,   Julie.

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CREATIVE FUN FOR KIDS

Hot tip! Look for more kidstuff on http://spriteland.wordpress.com

  Hi! 

 This is a fun post with lots of arty ideas for kids and a peek at what other children are doing.  You will even find a link to see what elephants are painting these days! Yes! Real elephants! First of all though to get in a creative mood, how about creating your own garden here…

This is something to see. Have no idea how it works, but it’s beautiful.

http://www.procreo.jp/labo/flower_garden.swf

Click on the above link.. You will get a black page. Click your mouse anywhere on the page & see what happens! Better yet, click & drag your mouse over the black page. 

How was that? Did you make a beautiful garden on your page?

Art can be a very messy experience! Lots of kids do it outside with a bucket of water for hand washing and an old towel and its good to wear old clothes or an apron. 

IMPORTANT!  ALWAYS MAKE SURE YOU ARE USING SAFE NON-TOXIC ART MATERIALS BY CHECKING THE LABELS. 

Here are my 2 grand-daughters ready for hand printing in my Studio!!  Help!!!  They chased me around pretending to put hand prints all over me!  The didn’t do it, but they had me worried for a moment!

 

 NOW HERE ARE SOME CREATIVE GAMES & CRAFT IN THIS POST – FOR WET DAYS , HOLIDAYS, PARTIES OR ANY TIME YOU FEEL LIKE HAVING FUN.  

  

           STICKER STORIES (A NON MESSY CRAFT) 

Create a story using stickers. Keep an eye out for sets of stickers in the shops that can lend themselves to a story.  (e.g. various animals, dinosaurs, fairies, etc.)  Keep them aside for a rainy day – then bring them out with a blank pad and make up a story and illustrate it with the stickers, leaving a page free at the beginning for a story title.  You can do some drawing along with the stickers as well as story writing.  Each story will need:

A TITLE,  CHARACTERS, A BEGINNING, AN (EXCITING!!) MIDDLE AND AN END.  MOST STORIES ARE ABOUT A PROBLEM AND THE END IS FINDING A SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM.

IT’S FUN TO JUST START AND LET IT HAPPEN – YOU WILL BE AMAZED WHAT COMES UP AND OLDER CHILDREN CAN HELP YOUNGER ONES WITH IDEAS IF THEY GET STUCK.  ITS BEST TO KEEP THE STORY SHORT, SIMPLE AND CLEAR.  IF WRITING BECOMES TOO TIRING, JUST TAKE TURNS TO WRITE A LINE. IF TOO YOUNG TO WRITE YET, TELL THE STORY WITH PICTURES ONLY.

Here is a sticker story where we used a bought sheet of sticker characters (you might know who they are from the TV!) and put them into our own story with writing and extra drawing…

  

        PET ROCKS

NOW JULIA IS GOING TO SHOW YOU SOME PET ROCKS SHE MADE FOR PAPER WEIGHTS…  BY PAINTING SOME SMOOTH RIVER STONES TO LOOK LIKE INSECTS, ADDING STICK ON EYES AND PIPE CLEANER FOR LEGS.  I WONDER WHAT YOU WILL MAKE FROM YOUR STONES?

        

  

          FOOD SCULPTURE

 If you can spare a little bit of food at your house for craft, you could try making some FOOD SCULPTURES.  Wash your hands well first in case they need to be eaten later and only use a knife if you are allowed to…then be VERY careful. I made this slideshow into a kaleidescope one – see if you can guess what each picture is going to be! Be patient – there are only 6!

 

          THIS NEXT ONE IS A TALKING GAME:  

                “PROGRESSIVE STORIES”

THIS IS FUN TO PLAY IF YOU ARE STUCK SOMEWHERE WITH NOTHING TO PLAY OR DRAW WITH.  ACTUALLY THIS HAS BECOME A FAVOURITE GAME MY FAMILY LIKE TO PLAY AROUND THE TABLE AS MEALTIMES. IT GOES LIKE THIS…

ONE PERSON STARTS … “ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WAS A …………………AND”   THEN THEY WAVE THEIR HAND TO THE PERSON ON THEIR LEFT TO ADD THE NEXT BIT…AND SO ON, ALL THE WAY AROUND THE TABLE UNTIL THE STORY FINDS ITS OWN CONCLUSION.    THAT WAY, EVERYONE HAS AN INPUT INTO THE IMAGINATION  AND NOBODY KNOWS HOW IT WILL GO OR END UP.  TRY IT!  ITS FUN!!!   TO MAKE  IT EXCITING, TRY TO CREATE “CLIFF HANGERS” BY LEAVING A DIFFICULT SITUATION FOR THE NEXT PERSON TO SOLVE AS YOU GO ALONG.

 

           ”CHINESE WHISPERS”  (ANOTHER TALKING GAME)

ANOTHER FUN ONE WHERE YOU ONLY NEED YOUR VOICES, IF THERE ARE 3 OR MORE WILLING TO PLAY. SOMEONE STARTS BY WHISPERING A SHORT PHRASE TO THE PERSON NEXT TO THEM.  THIS IS THEN WHISPERED JUST ONCE TO EACH PERSON IN TURN AND THE LAST PERSON SAYS WHAT THEY HEARD OUT LOUD.  USUALLY IT IS NOTHING LIKE THE ORIGINAL THING SAID AND THIS CREATES A LOT OF LAUGHTER.

(JULIA CALLS IT “CHINESE WHISKERS” WHICH IS VERY CUTE!)

 

           

            SCRIBBLE-MANIA!

FOR THIS YOU JUST NEED A SHEET OF PLAIN DRAWING PAPER AND TEXTAS OR COLOURED PENCILS.    YOU CAN HAVE FUN DOING THIS ON YOUR OWN AND YOU DON’T NEED TO BE ABLE TO DRAW AT ALL!   JUST HOLD THE PAPER IN PLACE WITH YOUR SPARE HAND AND SCRIBBLE FREELY WITH A BLACK TEXTA WITH YOUR OTHER HAND ALL OVER THE PAGE.  EASY?  OF COURSE, BUT YOU HAVE TO DO IT WITH YOUR EYES CLOSED!   (IT’S A GOOD IDEA TO PUT A SHEET OF NEWSPAPER DOWN FIRST IN CASE YOU GO OFF THE EDGE OF THE PAGE WHILE YOUR EYES ARE CLOSED – OTHERWISE YOU MIGHT GET TEXTA ON THE TABLE.)

DONE?   NOW OPEN YOUR EYES AND LOOK CAREFULLY AT YOUR DESIGN, TURNING THE PAGE AROUND.  CAN YOU SEE ANY PART OF IT THAT LOOKS LIKE SOMETHING?  ARE THERE SOME NICE SHAPES TO COLOUR IN?   THIS IS A GREAT WAY TO CREATE DESIGNS, EITHER ABSTRACT OR NOT, IT DOESN’T MATTER.   HERE IS ONE OF JULIA’S DESIGNS DONE THAT WAY…

          

           PEG PEOPLE & PLASTICINE PETS

Here are some characters made by dressing up dolly pegs like the plain on at the left of the picture.  You can use all sorts of bits and pieces with pipe cleaners for arms.  The little folk and puppies are made with coloured plasticine and the green dog has tooth picks for legs.

 

                           BOX CRAFT

 

Our girls also like making things out of boxes…what can you think of to make from boxes? Maybe a bed for your doll or bear?

    

                              

                    HEAD, BODY AND LEGS  – A DRAWING GAME FOR MORE THAN ONE PERSON

Last year, my partner Tony and I visited Hong Kong and met up with a lovely art teacher who, with her sister, runs creative classes for children. The studio is called ARTIVE KIDS.   We really love what they are doing and especially the sign in the display window which says something like  ”There is no right way to draw, only the child’s way”.  Here are some of the children there, enjoying their creativity….

When we got back to Australia, we decided it would be nice to share creative ideas with Artive Kids in Hong Kong.  One idea was a drawing game my family calls “Head, body and legs” which is great fun and a really cool game.  Here is how to play it…

 

This is a great game to play anywhere – if you find you are somewhere like in a waiting room or on a bus or train, all you need is a pad of paper and a pencil each.  If you only have one pen or pencil, just take turns. Tony and I played it on trains in Europe with children who spoke another language.  It meant we could share a laugh without needing to communicate with words.

The children at Artive Kids, Hong Kong did BIG drawings using this game and COLOURED THEIR FINISHED DRAWINGS with paint!   Here are their results…………….

 

Are’nt they GREAT!  They are all so original!  When it was time for Chinese New Year, Artive Kids sent us a picture of their window display created by the children.   They have some terrific themes but this one is very traditionally decorative and beautiful…

Now here’s a slide show of the story book my grand-daughter Julia and I made up from the crazy drawing game “Head, body and legs”.  We called it “The Loopy Gang” and changed the images on Photoshop to make it look as though the characters were in an earthquake!  Maybe you could make a story this way too. To begin slide show, press the right hand top X.

 

                          CIRCUS CRAFT

NEXT, I WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU SOME MORE WONDERFUL ART AND CRAFT FROM ARTIVE KIDS IN HONG KONG -THE THEME THEY HAVE BEEN WORKING ON IS “CIRCUS” – FULL OF COLOUR AND FUN…ENJOY THE SLIDE SHOW!  YOU MIGHT LIKE TO DO SOME CIRCUS CRAFT TOO.  YOU WILL NEED LOTS OF COLOURFUL BITS AND PIECES – OTHERWISE, JUST DRAW A CIRCUS SCENE AND COLOUR IT IN.

Thankyou Artive Kids!  I am having fun at home with Amelia and Julia doing  CIRCUS CRAFT too…

            

                    

                   

Once again, Artive Kids in Hong Kong have shared another projec with us – painting a SUNFLOWER!  Here are some of the results of this happy subject!

Thankyou Artive Kids! They are beautiful!

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            ELEPHANTS PAINTING PICTURES

Now remember I promised you could see  ELEPHANTS PAINTING didn’t I?  YES!  REAL ELEPHANTS!  Well here they are – JUST CLICK ON THIS LINK…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He7Ge7Sogrk   

AREN’T THEY FANTASTIC!!!

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Here is another trick drawing – CAN YOU TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A FROG AND A HORSE???

 

Now it’s time to look at some other kids’ ART… 

Actually I have always loved elephants. Here is part of my story  “Jim the Elephant” when I was 9.  My mother had told me “an elephant never forgets”.  My first soft toy was a red felt elephant and I remember getting in trouble for drawing elephants like this one with great big toenails in my brother’s schoolbooks!  Sorry the paper is so brown, but like me, it is getting a little bit old.

and here’s my story and picture about being kind to butterflies…

Way back in the 1950s in Primary School, as you can see, if we made a mistake we put a bracket around it and kept writing.  Do you still do that?  We were writing with an old fashioned pen with a nib which we dipped into an inkwell to pick up enough ink to write about 3 or 4 words. Then we had to dip it in again. We had to be careful not to smudge the ink until it dried and used a sheet of blotting paper to help it dry.  When the ink was dry it could not be rubbed out with a rubber the way you can with a pencil, so we had to try to be VERY careful!  We only used a pencil until Year 3 and printed separate letters then. Using a pen and “running writing” (letters joined together) was really “grown up”! Sometimes we used a slope card under our page to help us get our writing to all slope the same way.

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Next is a portrait of me by a little friend of mine called Marijke. I think it is very good. She wrote the “J” around the wrong way but think most of us do that when we are learning don’t we?

    

When Marijke last came to see me, we did the “Maori hello” of pressing our noses together. She said “Oh Nanna you only have one eye!” (if you’ve ever done this, one eye is all you will see!). Then Marijke drew me that way!  How about you look at someone at your house with your noses together – then draw a picture of how they look? That would be so funny!

Here is a great illustration of Jack and the Beanstalk by Marijke. The giant in the sky is booming out ”Hooooo R You” and Jack, who is shown half way up the beanstalk replies “My name is Jack”.  Jack’s house and his worried mother are below. Would you like to do a drawing about your favourite story too?

 

 

Here is Amelia painting, aged 3. It’s great if you have somewhere you stand up at an easel and work BIG!

I love art and craft with children because fresh young minds and imaginations always come up with the unexpected, throwing new light on a view of the world through their eyes and fresh discoveries.

Back in the 1970s/80s I took great pleasure in formulated and teaching Childrens Art Classes for the Central Coast Art Society, Gosford.  Since my studio was situated at a beachfront, the first activity for the kids on arrival from school was to go for a run on the sand to release some of their pent up energy before settling down to more concentrated  painting and drawing!   Here’s a picture of Seagal Studio at MacMasters Beach where the classes were held and a few of the kids who attended… (click to enlarge)

           

My own fascination with fairies shows up pretty early in this little painting at age 8.  The dark blue dancing “Sprite” was copied from my Brownie badge and the “Green Grocer” was a name for a local cicada in the bush around Gymea.  I guess, like most little girls, I dreamed about a fairy queen being taken over the rainbow in her chariot and lovely things like that!  I heard a little girl say the other day “Toadstools grow where it’s wet, that’s why they’re shaped like umbrellas”.  I had never thought of that before.

Would you like to draw a picture of Fairyland too?  Perhaps you could send it to me and we could put it in this Post.  Just leave a comment in the box at the end and I will tell you how to do it.

Now I’m a grandmother and having great art and craft fun with my grand-daughters, Amelia and Julia. No doubt their new little brother Kyan will join in as well when he’s older! They’ve made all kinds of things from basic materials and learned so much about painting and craft in the process, as you can see. They were abut 5/7 yrs. old when they did these drawings and older when we made the dolls. 

If slideshow need activating, click on the X at the top RH corner.

Do you like Amelia’s little bush fairies? We call them “Sprites”.  I love her helicopter too and the action drawings with so much happening.  How about you draw an action scene too with lots of things happening!

Here is a picture Tony’s grandson, Liam, drew after we spent a day in Killarney National Park with the family.  He spotted a leprochaun more than once on our walk. We asked him to draw what he saw…

and here is a wonderful design by my step-grandson, Adon…

Next is our latest beautiful drawing from our little World Vision sponsored girl, Jenovevah, who is 9 this year.

 

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More recently, Amelia watched the film “Vincent and I” by flm-maker, Mike Rubbo at my house.   It’s a delightful story about a young girl who identifies so closely with Vincent Van Gogh that she manages to travel through time and actually paint with him.  Together they feel the juicy thick texture of the paint and explore the lines that represent the life energy in the landscape around them.  Vincent really painted ENERGY in and around everything!

The moment the film ended and the credits rolled, Amelia rushed out to the artroom and grabbed charcoal and paper, drawing furiously! Then she wanted to paint with thick oil paint to see what it felt like.  I happily encouraged her to use all she wanted and this was the result below…

  

Actually, she declared it was finished before adding the happy face on the sun and it is based on one of Vincent’s paintings in a book I have about his work.  When I said she should add something to make it hers, she added the happy face!  Have you ever tried painting with thick paint?  It takes a lot of paint so maybe you had better do a small one if you try it – then put t somewhere to dry because it might take a long time.

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So whatever you do in your art and craft, I hope you really, really have fun!  Don’t forget, if you would like your picture to be in this Post you can send me a picture by email.  Just write to in the comments box and I will tell you how to do it.

Attention teachers:   If you have screen printing equipment I have put up a post about simple printing on fabric.

Cheerio for now

Julie

Note: To view or leave comments you may have to click on “Continue reading” below.

COLOUR MIXING

 

STOP PRESS:   THE “AUSTRALIAN ARTIST” MAGAZINE   FEB.2009 EDITION   FEATURES A 6 PAGE ARTICLE BY JULIE  “FREE & EASY COLOUR”   page 22/27.

Hello everyone!

Welcome and thank you for visiting this post.  In all my years of art teaching the subject I’ve been most asked to repeat and demonstrate is colour mixing with paint pigments… acrylic, oil or goauche (poster paint). 

Before we start to mix colours, I just want to point out the importance of TONE in painting.  TONE MEANS DEGREES OF LIGHT TO DARK and is by far strongest means of creating good compositions.  We have 3 main ways of contrasting in painting:

1. TONE (LIGHT AGAINST DARK)

2. COLOUR (WARM AGAINST COOL)

3. TEXTURE (TEXTURE AGAINST SMOOTH)

THESE ARE OUR MAGIC WANDS TO USE IN CREATING ILLUSIONS ON A FLAT SURFACE.

Here is what I mean by tone below. You can see it clearly goes from light to dark when you look at the black and white range but it takes a practised eye to see degrees of tone when you look at colour…

 

Now to COLOUR MIXING….

To begin, in response to an enquiry, here is a simple fun way to lead small children in the discovery of primary and secondary colours:

 Set up outdoors a circle of 6 clear plastic containers of water and have on hand some strong non toxic dyes or inks in primary colours in small bottles with eye droppers attached + some kidsafe bubble soap and a packet of straws.

Have the children stand in a circle around the containers.  Invite 3 to come forward, giving them an eyedropper each of a primary colour which they then drop into the water of every alternate container.  If the dye is not strong enough you may need to get them to put more than one eyedropper full.   You now have a red, yellow and blue with containers of clear water between them.

Then use those wonderful words that must pop into the mind of every inventor on the planet -”Hey! What if?”  and encourage them to find out what happens when the red and the blue are dropped into the clear water between those primaries…then the blue and yellow and finally the yellow and red  – to make the secondary colours of purple, green and orange.

Just be aware that 2 or 3 times as much yellow will be needed in relation to the darker colours of red and blue to achieve good secondaries – also that the red used should be a crimson and not one that has any yellow already in it or the purple will end up brown. Be as surprised as they should be at the results – ask “What have you made?” “Wow”. Let them feel in charge of their own discovery!

To finish up, everyone is given a straw and you drop a little bubble soap into each container. They all have a turn at blowing into the water through their staws to make bubbles, which turn out pastel shades of the water hue.   Maybe you could have on hand some fruit in all of those colours,  so that they can relate the colours they have made to objects they know to further reinforce their learning. Also you could add in the written name of the colour next to the fruit so that they begin to familiarise with that too.  We saw this being carried out in a N.Z. playcentre and it was wonderful!

NEXT…

Here are some demonstration charts for you to check out… all mixed from the 3 primary colours RED, YELLOW & BLUE (+ WHITE, WHICH WE DON’T CALL A COLOUR).  These three primary colours cannot be mixed and are needed to create all the other colours.  I never cease to marvel at the magic of that!  All these colours from only three to start with and of course there are infinitely more!

I would like to begin with a very basic colour wheel mixed by my Grand-daughter, Julia for you, showing primary and secondary colours..she used a painting knife to mix, wiping it clean with a paper towel in between each colour mix. (Mixing with a brush is messier and it is harder to keep a clean mix).

Next, we made together another wheel, this time mixing some in-between TERTIARY colours… 

 

The next chart shows each of the opposite pairs on the above wheels mixed gradually one into the other, then lightened with white for lighter tints. This shows more possibilities than just the single range in the outside ring above right. Remember all these are still from just the three primaries RED, YELLOW & BLUE + white.  Isn’t it wonderful?  What a beautiful range of colours and tints they give!

Of course the end result varies depending on which red, yellow & blue you started with.

The trick to getting a good purple range is to use a red and a blue that have no yellow content within them.  If a hint of yellow is in there the result will be more browns.

If you are starting out in painting and wish to develop a feel for colour harmony, delicate mixing and tonal values (darks to lights) it is a good idea to try a few paintings using just one row from the above chart. Here are some examples…(the first, red-orange to blue-green, which is the range most used in landscapes). You will need a good sized palette and a mixing knife (the ones with the raised handles are best to keep your knuckles out of the paint!)

 

The cityscape below I based on a RED TO GREEN mix - but instead of lightening with just white, each was lightened with lemon yellow plus white for a golden look.  This is a great way to avoid “chalkiness” in a painting.  This painting is executed with a painting knife rather than a brush, for texture.  I just love the buttery texture of the paint used undiluted this way!

Now a complete change of colour scheme…beautiful and unusual for evening landscapes or seascapes…

 Last year, Tony and I were lucky enough to enjoy a trip to the UK and Europe.  We travelled most of it by train, armed with sketch books but this little painting below was of the picturesque lane in Venice where our apartment was…

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IF YOU JUST WANT TO GET SOME SUBTLE COLOURS OUT OF YOUR RED, YELLOW AND BLUE WITHOUT WORRYING ABOUT THE EXACTING MIXING PROCESSES ABOVE, THERE IS A SYSTEM CALLED USING THE “MOTHER COLOUR” (A MIXTURE OF ALL 3 PRIMARIES), THEN WARMING & COOLING IT ETC. YOU MAY NEED A TINY AMOUNT OF ADDED BLACK AS PER THE LEFT HAND COLUMN, OR TO GREY ANY COLOUR THAT IS TOO BRIGHT – BUT USE VERY LITTLE OR IT WILL DEADEN THE COLOURS. 

 

ABOUT DRYING TIME:

If you choose water-based paint such as acrylic or poster colour, you may find that your colours will begin to dry on the palette before you can use them.  To avoid this, mix in a shallow plastic lidded box (I use a file case) and spray your palette with a little water occasionally to keep the paint from drying.   Whenever you aren’t using the paint, close the lid to keep moist.   There are also commercial liquid retarders which slow the drying of acrylics. With oil paints you won’t have that problem as they are slow drying. 

Hints: Be generous with your initial amounts of the primary colours – remember they have to go a long way to create all the others - and you will need on average twice as much of the yellow as the other two.

ABOUT PAINTS:

Over the past 40 years I have fallen in love with the qualities of one colour  after another and they are like old friends - in particular the oil colours, which have special qualities like “earth colours”, “transparent colours”, “opaque colours” and rich browns, purples, crimsons and golds that are enhanced by the Linseed Oil they are mixed with in the tube.   Oil paints hardly alter their colour once they dry, whereas waterbased paints tend to dry either lighter or darker than the original mixed tint.  Still the quick drying can be a great advantage, especially if you are needing to carry work to a venue or on site to work, like the artists in this painting – working on an old property near Nundle, N.S.W…

 Artists at Nundle NSW – oil over acrylic by Julie Duell. 1980s

Tony and I often begin by establishing an “underpainting”  in acrylics and then finish in oils – giving us “the best of both mediums”.  Remember you can put oil over acrylic but not the other way around.  Most canvas boards and stretched canvases are already undercoated in acrylic, so you may be doing it anyway if you work in oils.

There is a range of paint called Alkyd, which are quick drying oils and they provide a happy medium between the traditional oil paints which can stay sticky for several days and water based paints which dry within an hour, depending on the thickness and amount of water added.   Alkyd oils contain a dryer (in the form of a resin I believe) which will assist your paintings to dry within a day (longer if the paint is applied very thickly.) 

Good luck and happy mixing!!!  I hope you have found this post helpful.

Julie

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AUSTRALIAN HERITAGE – BLACK AND WHITE

EACH POST IS ON A DIFFERENT TOPIC & REVIEWED REGULARLY.

  By now you may have picked up that I have a deep love for Australia’s unique and wonderful wildlife and have enjoyed painting many versions of it…..

     “BIG REDS”

  KOOKABURRA

BRUSH TAILED POSSUM

In this post however, I invite you to contemplate with me, the human component of this great continent.

I think you will agree that Australia has a rich heritage  of both black and white cultures as its basis.     As the population now moves more and more into  a broader multi-cultural society, I feel it is most important that we preserve and learn from this history, healing the rifts that divide us.

Over my short lifetime in the scheme of things, I’ve pondered the question of our sense of belonging – our attitude to the planet we call home – and ways different cultures perceive this. 

All too often there has been an attitude that the earth and its riches are there to plunder - unfortunately often with excessive greed and only the short term dollar in mind. Whether intended or not, this is a huge blot on the history of the world’s human  activities that we now realise must be urgently addressed. 

At last, it is clear that this short-sightedness has lacked responsibility in our role as caretakers of the planet.  As global warming affects the earth and species become extinct at an alarming rate, urgent action is needed by us all, right down to the lights we switch off or the shopping bags we use. There is a huge, growing worldwide awakening and wonderful inventors everywhere are looking to technology to solve its own problems.  After all, we reap what we sow. 

The traditional indigenous knowledge (Australian aboriginal, American Indian & others) has been that “we belong to the earth” rather than “the earth belongs to us” and that we have the great honour and responsibility of being its caretakers.  I feel we have so much to learn from these cultures as we move towards realisation of this fundamental truth.

These were my thoughts as I tried to portray these two opposing viewpoints in the painting below. I donated it by request to the Aboriginal Lands Board in Darwin.  The painting indicates the dividing of the land into allotments with each division marked with a Deposited Plan number claiming ‘ownership’, thus attaching a price to that which nature has given freely.  In the meantime, the aborigines in the painting look on to the expanse of landscape with different eyes – seeing themselves as belonging to not only the land, but the stars …the universe! 

I thought about this sense of ‘belonging to the earth’ deeply and then painted another, attempting to tune in to the deep-rooted, beautiful and simple Aboriginal approach. Maybe my drop of indigenous Shoshone American Indian blood helped me to see this way. Its just a ‘gut feeling’ painting………….

“Dreamscape I”

31/5/08 Stop press!!  RECONCILIATION WEEK: The above painting was yesterday awarded FIRST PRIZE in the 2008 Aboriginal Artists Art Exhibition & Competition, taking out the Non-indigenous Award, so I feel deeply honoured. This Exhibition is stunning and will be on display at the Gosford City Arts Centre until July 13th. 

The major Tony Donovan Reconciliation Award went to Kerri Anne Patterson for her amazing painting “It’s all our story” which can be seen presenting a wonderful right-hand backdrop for the beautiful Torres Strait Islander dancers in this photo below…

Here is a slide show of the impressive Opening Ceremony…

If slideshow needs activating, click on X at top RH corner or View all images.

It was wonderful to see so many young people supporting this Exhibition as part of RECONCILIATION WEEK 2008.  The Gallery resounded with rejoicing as the wonderful Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dancers performed to the vibrant rhythms of drums and clapping sticks.   Let us recognise this as a further step towards deep and sincere healing and reconciliation.

I, like so many others, have felt for this issue for many years.  I am a 6th generation Australian descended from a convict from one of the first “boat people” to arrive at Sydney Cove in 1788 on the First Fleet and I deeply feel for the losses suffered by the Aboriginal people as a result of the white invasion.  The painting hereunder was entitled “Lost Lessons” painted in the 1980s..

and here is “Lost Lessons II”

 

I later, by request, combined these 2 paintings into 1 – so here is “Dreamscape II” which is also on display in the RECONCILIATION WEEK 2008 ABORIGINAL ARTISTS ART EXHIBITION & COMPETITION at Gosford City Arts Centre until 13th July 2008. 

Both Tony and I attended a recent “Sorry” day gathering in Gosford along with hundreds of others.  We wept in the rain as the heavens opened up as though Nature were crying with us while Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivered his ‘Sorry’ speech.  Those attending were able to express their thoughts on pages which will be bound into a book. 

21st June 2008 update:   We attended the FIVE LANDS WALK – WINTER SOLSTICE CELEBRATION – IN HONOUR OF THE HUMPBACK WHALES MIGRATING NORTH TO BREED AND ALL ABOUT OUR CONNECTION – TO EACH OTHER, TO PLANET EARTH AND BEYOND.  

This walk was held on the Central Coast of NSW from MacMasters Beach to Terrigal, culminating in a concert at Terrigal Haven.    The slideshow gives an overview of some of the events, including excellent aerial photos of the 2007 mandala on Terrigal Skillion and glimpses of the 2008 mandala created jointly by a Chinese and an Australian Aboriginal artist.   An aerial view of the most recent landart mandala may be available to add later.   Combining symbology from both Tibetan and Australian Aboriginal cultures, this most recent mandala represents the elements of fire and water, connected by an umbilical chord.

Terrigal Skillion, above, is a natural steep rock formation at Terrigal Haven.

It was extremely moving to walk up the steep Skillion past this impressive land art to the topmost peak where humpback whales could be seen offshore…then to descend again to the Haven where an impressie concert and ceremony took place, including the children of the five lands (MacMasters Beach, Copacabana, South Avoca, North Avoca and Terrigal) singing “FROM LITTLE THINGS BIG THINGS GROW” – the song now popularised by Getup.  For Tony and I, the quote of the day was “Where there is love, there is no room for anything else”.   It would seem that there is at last an awakening to the fact that we all belong to one planet.

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What follows now in this post is along the lines of treasuring Australia’s bush/white pioneer heritage with some paintings I’ve done over the years in this genre. The images of Hill End include the childhood home of my grandmother, Charlotte Pullen, who was born in that area in 1863, daughter of William Toft and Charlotte Pullen who were very active there for some years beFore moving to the Clarence River and becoming early pioneers of Woolgoolga.   These images are based on gold mining, sheep & cattle musters, farm & country life. the era of the steam train & so on……………

If slideshow needs to be activated, click on X at the top RH corner.

Please feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of this post if you wish to share your thoughts…………..

Sincerely,  Julie        

Note:  To view or leave comments you may need to click on “Continue reading” below.

ABOUT THIS BLOG

 

First of all, “Welcome” to this friendly little blog! 

The initial idea for sharing “Art related stories” came from Mike Rubbo, who has one of his own and encouraged myself and other artists to start one.  Mike is a multi-talented film-maker, photographer & artist + now we can add “Blog Creator”.  He intigated and managed the well known site for the world’s oldest blogger, Olive Riley .

14/7/08 VALE:   It is with a great sense of loss that I pass on the news that darling Olive Riley passed away peacefully on Sat. 12th July last at the grand young age of 108. Like so many others, I felt I knew her – both through her blog and through a wonderful film about her life, called “All about Olive” made by Mike Rubbo. Olly redefined our concepts about age and aging. She would refer to her “young son” Barney, who at the time was in his eighties!  Her quick wit, humour and fast responses right up to the time of her passing indicated a sharp mind – always ready to take in new things.  She was incredulous when shown new inventions, embracing them with great humour in comparison to the days of her youth and every day sang a song to those around her, exhibiting her eternal optimism.  We can learn much from her resilience in the face of difficulties and freshness of spirit.    I for one am sure she will continue to be an inspiration in the next dimension.   Bless you Olive and “Thankyou”.

 Here’s a pic of Mike with Olive…

You can read Olive’s & Mike’s entertaining blogs at www.allaboutolive.com.au and    familyartstoriesrubbo.wordpress.com/   also accessed through Olive’s site.

I’m afraid in my enthusiasm I  jumped the gun a bit by starting off my Blog in March when the official launch of the Family Art Stories network was scheduled at the Manly Art Gallery & Museum, West Esplanade, Manly on 12th April 2008. 

There have been so many art related stories  springing to mind  in creating this site it has been like opening aTreasure Chest!  Initially I used personal resources but later began profiling other artists with their contributions.  Comments are welcome on every post.   It’s all free,  no cost to anyone.    This site is simply about sharing art related stories and for me to put free art lessons out there.

With ideas flowing thick and fast, every post is a fresh, live happening event, welcoming your comments and interaction. 

Each post covers a different topic, to be expanded and kept current – rather than the usual chronological blog newsletter. In other words, there will be no “dead archives”! 

  Since I have created numerous art teaching charts over 30 years, many Posts are devoted to free art lessons, interspersed with many and varied stories and some free E-books for children.   Whilst I certainly don’t claim to be an expert in the advice given in the ‘lessons’, I simply wish to share insights, discoveries and experiments (most born of much trial and error along my artistic journey).  

My early painting years were devoid of tuition when I most needed it, so back in the days long before this wonderful Internet, learning experiences were mainly through personal experimentation and available books.  I would love to think that something useful or inspirational from this blog might reach and help someone who for whatever reason may be unable to attend art groups or classes.  

Now I would like to introduce you to my partner, Tony La Spina. We joined forces back in 2001, having been both widowed.  Tony doesn’t look much different now but my hair is now almost white as you can see in the banner heading at the top!

We’re a great team – paint, teach art and sing together as partners in life in many respects.   You could think of us as a couple of recycled teenagers.    Tony taught art for around 30 years in the Coffs Harbour area where he and Rae raised their family of four.  You can view his profile & see his paintings on Posts 6, 7 and 16.

 HOW YOU CAN BE PART OF THIS WEBLOG:

1.  You can simply leave a comment or ask a question at the end of any post.

2.  You can record your own art story by typing it into “Comments” in Post No. 11.  Please give it a title, and if you have supportive pictures, please let me know so that I can insert them where appropriate.   Pictures need to be in JPG format and no wider than 400 pixels.

PLEASE NOTE THAT BLOG CONTENT IS FREE TO DOWNLOAD AND PRINT FOR NON-COMMERCIAL, EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY.

Thankyou for visiting.  I would be honoured to be listed under your “Favourites” to revisit often as the blog unfolds.

Cheers!    Julie Duell  

(Personal art profile in ‘About the Artist’) 

***Heading for 100,000 hits by mid 2009! That will call for a party!

Note: To view or leave comments you may have to click on “Continue reading” below.

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Comment passed on:

Hi Julie…this was the first time I have managed to have a look at your blog…its fabulous..where do you get the time to do all this!!   Charlene.

Reply:   Well, Charlene – we seniors have to do something to keep us off the streets and this is FUN!  Thanks, Julie.

BUSH POEMS ILLUSTRATED

EACH POST IS ON A DIFFERENT TOPIC & REVIEWED REGULARLY.

      

Hi again everyone! Julie here…

Autumn is a great time to visit the Australian outback – after the full heat of summer. Like many Aussies, I always get the urge to ‘go bush’ then – anyway I got to thinking about our bush heritage and comparing the days of the pioneers to now, with all our mod cons! 

On 29th March (at 8 pm for Sydney) everyone is encouraged to join “Earth Hour” and turn off electricity for one hour  in an effort to assist and draw attention to global warming problems.

For me it will be a bit like revisiting the days of my childhood, with candles or a kerosene lamp.  In the quiet, intimate atmosphere of a flickering flame, no doubt many of our bush poems and songs were born, some to stand the test of time – still with us today.

Do you have a favourite Australian poet or songwriter?  Please share via Comments.  My favourite would have to be Andrew Barton “Banjo” Paterson – and this evidenced in a few paintings he inspired me to produce over the years….

The song “Waltzing Matilda” (credited to “Banjo” Paterson)  is known all over the world as representative of Australia, even though some of the terminology is a bit strange these days.  I once gave this topic to my children’s art class, who all had a go at painting the part of the story they liked best.   Who was the little boy who was scared of painting people and just showed the Swaggie’s hat floating on the water after he had dived in and drowned??? Would you call that lazy or clever?

Anyway, before the children started painting, I had to make sure they knew what all the words meant and understood the story.  If you’re new to this or are a bit hazy, here’s a refresher:

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Waltzing = in this case, walking, tramping.

Matilda = A bushman’s bundle. A swag. ‘To matilda’ means to travel the road/carry a swag.

Billy = A can with a handle used for boiling water over an open fire, often without a lid.  A handful of tea would be thrown in when boiling, then the billy would be swung in a full straight arm circle up over the shoulders and down again 3 times to distribute the tealeaves through the water.  (A bit dangerous with boiling water in a billy with no lid! Safer to stir with a stick!)

 Swag =  A person’s worldly possessions, carried on their back – in the days   before modern ‘backpacks’ things were often rolled up in a blanket slung across the shoulders with bulky things hanging off it – such as a billy can.

Swagman (Swaggie) = a tramp who carries his swag on his back from place to place.

Billabong =  A small backwater cut off from its main water source. (We give thanks for so many wonderful Aboriginal words like this in our rich & unique Australian vocabulary. Billabong’ is first recorded as ‘Billibang’ from the Wiradjuri people of southern N.S.W. & northern Victoria.)

Coolibah tree = a type of eucalypt or gum tree that grows in seasonally flooded areas of arid Australia.

Jumbuck = A sheep.

Tuckerbag = A bag used for storing food, or “tucker”.

Stockman = One who tends stock (sheep, cattle etc.)

Troopers = Officials who uphold the law (police or soldiers).

See if you can follow the story more easily now…note: there a few versions floating around & you can find sites on the Web with music also.

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WALTZING MATILDA             (Credited to A.B. ‘Banjo’ Pateron)

verse 1. Once a jolly swagman sat beside a billabong

under the shade of a Coolibah tree

and he sang as he sat and waited ’til his billy boiled

‘You’ll come a waltzing matilda with me’

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Chorus: WALTZING MATILDA, WALTZING MATILDA

YOU’LL COME A WALTZING MATILDA WITH ME

AND HE SANG AS HE SAT AND WAITED ‘TIL HIS BILLY BOILED

“YOU’LL COME A-WALTZING MATILDA WITH ME”.

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2. Down came a jumbuck to drink at the billabong

Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee

and he sang as he stuffed that jumbuck in his tuckerbag

“You’ll come a-waltzing matilda with me”.

CHORUS REPEAT, SUBSTITUTING LAST 2 LINES OF ABOVE VERSE

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3. Down came the stockman, mounted on his thoroughbred

Up came the troopers, one – two – three

“Where’s that jolly jumbuck you’ve got in your tuckerbag?

You’ll come a-waltzing matilda with me!”

CHORUS REPEAT, SUBSTITUTING LAST 2 LINES OF VERSE ABOVE

*******************************************************

Up jumped the swagman and dived into the billabong

“You’ll never catch me alive” said he!

(softly) And his ghost may be heard as you ride past that billabong

“You’ll some a-waltzing matilda with me!”

CHORUS REPEAT, SUBSTITUTING LAST 2 LINES OF VERSE ABOVE ___________________________________________________

Here’s my oil painting illustrating ‘Waltzing Matilda’…now in my daughter Melissa’s collection:

A close-up of the action…. the swaggie reaching for his tuckerbag when he sees the jumbuck drinking at the billabong & stockman watching from behind.  Note the bedroll, billy boiling & frying pan at the ready.

It was my first painting on a stretched canvas and someone put a chairleg through it (not in a crucial place!) with careless handling at an Exhibition! (All care & no responsibility is what most artists sign on standard entry forms!)

So I had to be innovative – after patching the spot carefully on the wrong side, I added a few ‘impasto’ gumleaves over the offending tear! I think it was an improvement – added a bit more flavour to the painting! What do you think? It is now glued down firmly onto hardboard & framed! 

 

So “All’s well that ends well” my mother used to say!

The next painting inspiration along these lines came to me with the wonderful film “The Man from Snowy River” which has become an Australian classic. Once again, the storyline was drawn from A.B. ‘Banjo’ Paterson’s poem of the same name. 

The poem is a bit lengthy to print here, but most of you who know the story will recall vividly young Jim on his brave and sturdy little mountain pony chasing the brumby herd led by the black stallion (the colt from ‘Old Regret’)…daring to follow down a steep ravine where the more seasoned riders gave up.   I painted this scene as they reached the bottom of the ravine. 

I recall it took a lot of study of horse-flesh to think myself into the scene and attempt to portray it!   This painting is in my son, Scott’s collection, since he was so inspired by the film at the time…. here ’tis

and here are some details of the painting…..

 

 

I was still in Aussie outback mode, when along came a commissioned mural to use as a backdrop for a Woolshed Show Band… depicting the well known bush song”Click go the Shears” Here are the songwords:

                                      

I think it was Sydney’s Town Crier that contacted me.   The mural was to be a large as practical, on loose canvas – able to be unrolled and hung & easily transported, since the Woolshed Show Band travelled widely – although their main base at that time back in 1985 was at Old Sydney Town.

I had never attempted a mural before and was keen to confront a new challenge since I liked the subject matter.   A lot of my artwork in those days was illustrative – I guess because most of my art input as a child was through book illustrations.  Expressions and body language have always held great fascination for me.

So, with a tight deadline, the next two weeks – day and night – were spent up and down a small step-ladder, painting this 15 ft. x  7 ft. mural, which was the exact size of the biggest wall in my studio, so I could go no larger.

Of course, I planned it carefully small scale after lots of small sketches from my imagination and research, then squared it up on the canvas but it was quite demanding getting the proportions of the life sized figures right. Here’s the finished work…

Below is the main drama – “the ringer looks around and is beaten by a blow, cursing the old snagger with the bare-bellied ewe”  

To be really authentic, I included the sticky flypaper that often could be seen hanging ready to attract and trap annoying bush flies, as well as each shearer’s hessian water bottle. 

The ringer = Top shearer (best and fastest)  Shearing was fiercely competitive. I wonder if it still is with the electric shears?   My late husband John got hold of an early authentic pair of shears which he modelled for me.         

 Snagger = A fellow with two prominent front teeth with a separation between them.   The ewe with a bare belly meant that the snagger had less wool to shear and could therefore beat the ringer, if only by one ‘blow’ with his shears!

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Then there’s the verse “In the middle of the floor in his cane bottomed chair is the boss of the board, with eyes everywhere. Notes well each fleece as it comes to the screen, paying strict attention if it’s taken off clean”

This was a good spot to include the “Rousabout” with his broom (general cleaner-upperer!)    It was fun to research it all.  The watertank outside is on a tank stand for gravity feed.

The tarboy would be ready with a pot of warm tar to daub on any cuts or lacerations in the sheep. This would seal the wound and keep it from getting fly-blown while it healed.  I added the dog scratching its fleas on the tallyman’s hat for a touch of humour.

Next I needed to paint in the Tallyman, keeping score of each shearer and the number of sheep shorn, as this determines how they get paid!   He is watching intently to see if the snagger will become the next ‘Ringer”!  The sheep in the pen are Merinos, those most sought after for the soft quality wool that Australia became known for throughout the world.

In the background I needed to add the other workers – the wool classers and wool balers.  There was so much detail needed in this mural and I was running out of time!

Finally, it was finished!   I was so glad I worked in flexible quick-dry acrylics! John and I stood back together with a critical eye.   We looked at each other and both said the same thing….”it’s too neat and clean looking!”   So last thing, I quickly added lots of sheep doops and bits of wool to the floorboards!  Ha! That did it!

There was no time to spare – not even time to enjoy it on the studio wall for a short time.  Delivery was the next day!    The Woolshed Showband people were very pleased with it – I wonder where it is today?  Has anybody ever seen it?

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Another delightful poem by Andrew Barton “Banjo” Paterson was ‘A Bush Christening”.  I couldn’t resist having a go at illustrating it. Here is the poem:

      

and here is the painting…     

  

   I hope you’ve had a laugh or two by now!  

Perhaps you know of someone who has been inspired to paint or draw along a similar vein.  I would love to hear from them and if possible, include their work in this blog.  After all, it is my intention to make these posts interactive.  Starting out means I have to use what pictoral reference I have and at the moment that means mostly my own & Tony’s work…but that is just initially, so please feel welcome to ‘come on board’ and share your art stories with others. Pictures can be emailed to me for inclusion wherever suitable.

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OK one last painting before I finish for now…I don’t have the poem ‘The Ned Kelly Saga’ but my partner, Tony can recite much of it.   Ned Kelly was an infamous bushranger/bank robber in Australian history, best known for his unusual hand-forged armour and final shootout at Glen Rowan.  I put together a composite picture, put it up for sale in a BANK of all places, and it sold!

 

That’s it for now then folks…hoping to hear from you & chat!

Cheers,  Julie

PS  Lots more interesting posts lined up in coming weeks, so how about visiting regularly & popping the site on your favourites?                

 

 

  Note: To view or leave comments you may have to click on “Continue reading” below.                    

PORTRAIT PAINTING TIPS

EACH POST IS ON A DIFFERENT TOPIC & REVIEWED REGULARLY.

Hello everyone!

I hope you enjoy these demonstrations and tips if you are interested in portrait painting…

 The first is a compilation of portraits painted by myself and my partner, Tony La Spina over many years… 

If slideshow needs activating, click on X at top right hand corner of slide box or “view all images”.

The sepia photograph in the above slideshow is the only record we have of the full colour portrait of Composer, Alfred Hill painted by Tony in the 1950s, which was hung in the Australian Archibald Prize for Portraiture.  Tony has pursued his love of portraiture over most of his life intermittently, right up to the present time.

I have persuaded him to include the step by step slideshow below giving all the stages from start to finish of Tony’s portrait of me, newly completed in April 2008.  It won a Highly Commended in the Waterford Art Exhibition, Kincumber, N.S.W. and we are both very happy with the way it turned out.  Tony’s classical training shines through and we hope it might assist others attempting what we feel is the most difficult of painting subjects.

As you watch the slide show, we would like you to think about the value of portrait painting as opposed to photography.  As portrait artists, we attempt to portray far more than a photograph – to reach for the character of the sitter in a more meaningful way and include an ambience that suits their personality.  To paint photographically to us is pointless – it has to be more, otherwise we may as well take a photograph.

Painting to us is a journey into the unknown.  An adventure! Only so much can be planned and then we  becomes lost in an exploration of  worlds of colour, texture, tone, line, shape and form plus the emotional impacts of these in combination.  Preconceived ideas often go by the wayside as  paintings evolve.  Each step is analysed by our stepping well back to assess the overall work, often upside down, before carrying on.

So here are 3 step by step slideshows in portraiture by Tony La Spina.  He achieves an excellent likeness and works quickly & energetically, standing up and stepping back to view progress often.  The first is a study of myself (2008), the second a volunteer sitter at the Central Coast Festival of Arts c. 2002 and the third an hour and a half acrylic sketch of our friend, Raymond, which has yet to be completed in oils.

Once again, if slideshows needs activating, click on X at top RH corner of each slide box.

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To view a profile on Artist:  Tony La Spina – see Post 16.

 DRAWING OR PAINTING A CHILD & GETTING THE PROPORTIONS RIGHT

The following shows 3 stages of my painting of my step Grandson, Joel, then 6 years old. I started with an overall sketch in which the centre line of the face and eye line are critical to the angle of the head.  If you are sketching children’s heads, be aware that the eyeline will be much lower in the overall height than in an adult.  This is because the jaw has yet to fully develop. 

After sketching in an “egg” to establish the size and position you want the head to be on your paper or canvas, study your subject carefully to put in the centre line of the face from top to bottom.  Next, do the same with the eyeline at right-angles to that centre line.  These are the main critical guidlines to get right before you proceed any further.

To put it a little more in depth, if your model is in front of you, try holding an upright pencil in your right hand at arms length.  Line up the top of the pencil with the top of the head in your line of vision, then slide your fingers down to the eye line of your model.  Keep this measurement and lower your arm to see how close it is in equalling the height from the eyeline to the bottom of the chin.   It surprises many people that this is about equal (in other words, half way from top to bottom will be around the eyeline (or browline).  This is because we focus on the eyes and mouth when we speak to others and don’t give much importance to the forehead.  You can use the same method to assess the horizontal proportions, measuring outwards from the centre of the bridge of the nose.

If you are using a photograph to work from, then you can easily check the proportions using a ruler.

The next stage shows careful mapping of the lights and shadows to model the face.  All too often, we can ignore these in favour of the “features” which we tend to think of as somehow separate to the face (probably because it is these that we relate to e.g. the eyes and mouth) but to paint a portrait we need to be aware that those features are PART OF the face and equally important in capturing alikeness to all the muscular nuances.  Here I have mapped those shadows in thin paint as a guide, later to be covered by full bodied paint more softly.

Now the final stage of applying undiluted oil paint boldly but with softened edges for the roundness of a child. With elderly people and the more rugged male face, one can be bolder with the shadow patterns but with a young person it is all too easy to make them look older unless edges are blended and softened. The colour palette I used is the same as for that of Julia in the slideshow below.

Pease bear in mind that there is no one “right” way to paint and Tony and I here are simply sharing with you what works for us.  Art is very much a journey of self discovery, trial and error and running with what works for you from all the myriad of advice available.

In the following slide show I would like to share with you the stages in painting an oil portrait of my grand-daughter, Julia Claire, when she was 5 years old.  I began by sketching lightly with soft willow charcoal (which can be dusted off with a piece of soft rag used as an eraser) until I was happy with the size, proportions and positioning of Julia on the canvas.  Because my reference photograph was quite small, I enlarged the critical part (being the head) on the photocopier in black and white. This helped tremendously with getting the proportions right.  

I then sprayed the charcoal sketch with fixative and then proceeded to mix a colour range in oil paint. These days, we no longer need to use smelly Turpentine to wash brushes, so I use an odourless solvent instead.   If any paint needed to be slightly diluted, I added just a drop of this to the mix. Of course, the pigment in the tubes is already mixed with Linseed Oil and that is what denotes it as “oil paint”. 

If slideshow need activating click on top RH corner of slide box or “view all images”. 

 

I would just like to share with you my favourite oil Portrait colour mixing method, which seems to suit people of all skin, hair and eye colouring.  It gives some lovely harmonious choices for backgrounds and clothing also. 

HInt:  It is easier to put a wash over your entire painting surface (similar to the beige background on the palette shown above).  If you do this before you start, you won’t be comparing your colours and tones with stark white as you go along.

In mixing a colour range such as the one above, you find beautiful harmonious colours to use in your backgrounds.  Don’t forget the background doesn’t have to be one colour or tone – you may wish to contrast one side of the sitter’s face for example and play down the other – so your background can blend gently from light to dark if needed.

 

2/6/08 OK - Now in response to requests, I am adding some learning aids giving some of the many approaches to drawing and painting portraits….so here they are, starting from scratch.  These ‘average’ proportions apply to fully mature adult heads.  As shown previously, the brow or eyeline of a child will be lower, with shortened ‘brow to nose’ length and ‘nosetip to chin’ areas.

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Notice in the example below that the browline is around half way down from the top of the head to the bottom of the chin, as opposed to adult heads where this measurement if around one third.

 

In head studies you will need to study the neck a little in order not to “fudge” it by adding scarves & collars etc! Suggesting the shoulder line is important too – look carefully at your subject to see where it is in relation to the head. You might be surprised! For instance if you are looking down at your subject who is seated, the shoulder line might be at ear level!

 

  

Finally, a few observations about choosing a shape for your portrait and positioning of the subject within that shape…

It is worth spending some time before you start a portrait, deciding on your best angle.

There are many choices… front on, profile, three-quarter view, looking up at them, looking down if you are standing and they are seated, having their head at the same angle as their body or turned at a different angle etc.etc.  (Be careful withthe last option that your sitter doesn’t get a sore neck!) Some quick thumbnail sketches can help you decide or even take some digital photos from different viewpoints and study them first.

Consider using arms and hands to connect shapes and improve the composition – they are a powerful tool.  

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ARE YOU PLANNING TO PAINT A PORTRAIT FROM A PHOTOGRAPH OF SOMEONE?  HERE IS A WAY TO MAKE SURE YOU GET OFF TO A GOOD START!

This will never replace developing your own perception and ability to draw well, but it is a shortcut you can use to make sure you get the proportions right when you begin a portrait.

TAKE A PHOTOCOPY ON ORDINARY COPY PAPER OF THE PHOTOGRAPH YOU PLAN TO WORK FROM – ENLARGING IT TO THE SIZE YOU WISH TO PAINT.   YOU REALLY NEED JUST THE HEAD AND SHOULDERS FOR A HEAD STUDY, SO CROP IT IF YOU NEED TO.  THE PHOTOCOPY CAN BE IN COLOUR OR IN BLACK AND WHITE.  I HAVE USED A COLOUR PHOTOCOPY IN MY DEMONSTRATION HERE.

TIP: IT IS BEST TO CHOOSE INITIAL PHOTOGRAPHS THAT HAVE NOT BEEN TAKEN WITH A FLASH AND THAT HAVE SOME SHADOWS ON THE FACE TO INDICATE THE MODELLING OF YOUR SUBJECT.

PLACE YOUR PHOTOCOPY FACING AWAY FROM YOU AGAINST A WINDOW WITH SUNLIGHT BEHIND IT (OR USE A LIGHT TABLE IF YOU HAVE ONE).  THEN WITH WILLOW CHARCOAL, MAP ALL THE DARKER TONAL AREAS, BEING CAREFUL TO CLEARLY DEFINE KEY THINGS LIKE THE CORNERS OF THE EYES AND MOUTH, POSITIONING OF THE EAR AND THE OUTLINE OF THE OVERALL HEAD AND SHOULDER LINE. PUT PLENTY OF WILLOW CHARCOAL ON, USING IT QUITE THICKLY…SEE EXAMPLE BELOW:

HERE IS THE STRONG DARK CHARCOAL TONING I DID ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE PHOTOCOPY. YOU CAN SEE IT MORE CLEARLY HERE BECAUSE I HAVE TAKEN THE PICTURE AWAY FROM THE WINDOW AND PUT IT ON THE TABLE WITH NO LIGHT BEHIND IT.

THE NEXT STEP IS TO PLACE THE PHOTOCOPY CAREFULLY RIGHT SIDE UP ON THE SURFACE YOU PLAN TO WORK ON, MAKING SURE IT IS PPOSITIONED WHERE YOU WANT THE HEAD TO BE IN THE FINISHED WORK.  TAPE IT DOWN ALONG ONE EDGE SO THAT IT WILL NOT MOVE.  IF YOU HAVE A ROLLER, USE IT TO FIRMLY TO ROLL ALL OVER THE PHOTOCOPY, TRANSFERRING THE CHARCOAL SKETCH ONTO THE SURFACE YOU PLAN TO WORK ON.  IF YOU DON’T HAVE A ROLLER, SCRUNCH UP A RAG AND RUB FIRMLY AND SMOOTHLY ALL OVER. 

LIFT THE NON-TAPED END OF THE PHOTOCOPY TO CHECK IF YOU HAVE PRESSED FIRMLY ENOUGH BEFORE REMOVING THE TAPE AND THE PHOTOCOPY.  THE MAPPED AREAS OF TONE AND LINES IN CHARCOAL SHOULD BE ABLE TO BE SEEN CLEARLY ENOUGH TO USE AS A GUIDE.

I HAVE FOUND THIS METHOD TO WORK ON MOST SURFACES EXCEPT PERHAPS VERY COARSE CANVAS.

 CAREFULLY REMOVE THE PHOTOCOPY AND YOU SHOULD HAVE SOMETHING LIKE THE GUIDE BELOW TO WORK OVER.

 SPRAY THIS CHARCOAL UNDERSKETCH WITH FIXATIVE BEFORE YOU PAINT, TO AVOID ANY BLACK COMING UP INTO THE PAINT.

PORTRAITURE IS ONE OF THE MOST EXACTING FORMS OF ART, WHEN YOU CONSIDER HOW MANY FACES THERE ARE IN THE WORLD THAT ARE UNIQUE!  SO THIS IS A SURE-FIRE WAY TO AVOID MANY OF THE PITFALLS IN THE INITIAL DRAWING – THEN YOU CAN CONCENTRATE ON DEVELOPING ALL THE OTHER SKILLS THAT GO INTO PORTRAITURE.  IT CAN BE VERY DISAPPOINTING TO FIND THAT AFTER A LOT OF PAINSTAKING WORK, SOMETHING BASIC AND VITAL IS WRONG IN THE INITIAL SKETCH.    I WISH YOU LUCK AND HOPE YOU ENJOY THE JOURNEY OF LEARNING.

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 I hope you find these hints helpful.  I know I would have been so grateful to have this kind of guidance when I was struggling to learn portraiture at home without tuition back in the 1970s. No computers then! Isn’t the internet wonderful for information access and sharing!!

Please feel free to post a comment or ask questions.  I am not setting myself up as an expert – just sharing what works for me in the hope that it might help you  – especially since I am told that many drawing basics are not covered much these days in the courses available.

Happy painting everyone!

Cheers,  Julie

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ARCHIBALD PORTRAITS

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(NOTE: PORTRAIT TUTORIALS ARE ON POSTS 7 & 16)

Well here we are “Archibald Prize” time again – 2009!  One of the few times most Aussies pause for a moment to think about portraits in the art world.

Here is the announcement from the Art Gallery of NSW along with a photo of the very large winning portrait of Georffey Gurrumul by Artist, Guy Maestri, for the Archibald Prize 2009:

“With his extraordinary voice and hauntingly beautiful album, Gurrumul, Indigenous singer Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu has become something of a cultural phenomenon over the last year. Born blind, the gifted musician leads a traditional lifestyle on Elcho Island in Arnhem Land and sings in his native Yolngu language, but his fame is spreading the world. He recently won two coveted ARIA Awards among others and was named NT Australian of the Year for 2008.

Guy Maestri saw Gurrumul live on New Year’s Eve last year and says it was truly, an unforgettable experience. ‘Word had been going around all day and the rumours were true – people really were moved to tears.’ Believing that this ‘inspiring, amazing man’ would be an ideal subject for a portrait, Maestri managed to track Gurrumul down in Darwin with the help of a friend in the music industry only to discover that he was flying to New York the following weekend.

Offered a 40-minute window of opportunity to meet him early one Saturday morning at Sydney airport, Maestri seized it. ‘I was introduced to Gurrumul by Michael Hohnen, his bass player, record producer and close friend, who explained to him about the Archibald and why I wanted to paint him.’ Maestri did lots of sketches and studied Gurrumul’s face intently. ‘More importantly, I got a sense of his presence and this determined the nature of the portrait: quiet and strong. I usually work in a very liberal, gestural way but this time I built up the image quietly and slowly with many glazes in an attempt to capture the beautiful quality of his skin. I worked on it for over a month, mostly while listening to his music. I made sure to read the lyrics and understand the meaning of each song. The whole process became quite an emotional experience.’

Born in Mudgee, NSW in 1974, Maestri completed a Bachelor of Fine Art (Hons) in painting at the National Art School, Darlinghurst in 2003. He has had solo exhibitions at the Tim Olsen Gallery and was a finalist in the 2007 and 2008 Dobell Drawing Prize.

The Archibald, Wynne & Sulman Prizes are on exhibition from
7 March – 24 May 2009
at the Art Gallery of New South Wales

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It has become a tradition for the Packers and work men & women handling Archibald entries vote to select their favourite and here it is below, together with the announcement…

“Sydney artist Paul Jackson was awarded the Packing Room Prize in conjunction with the 2009 Archibald Prize for his portrait of Flacco, the comic creation of stage and film actor Paul Livingston.

A verbal gymnast with a wondrously absurd, sorrowful take on life, Flacco is known and loved for his appearances on television shows including Good News Week and two Flacco and the Sandman specials for the Ten Network, and The Big Gig and Daas Kapital for the ABC.

Paul Jackson first came across Flacco when he saw him performing with the Sandman at Belvoir St Theatre in the mid-1990s. Comparing Flacco to a court jester, Jackson believes that the character “walks the knife-edge of success and failure every time he steps on stage with his risqué punning and cut-and-thrust dialogue.”

Born in Auckland in 1950, Jackson now lives in Sydney and exhibits regularly in New Zealand and Australia in both solo and group exhibitions. This is his sixth time in the Archibald Prize. In 2006, he won the Archibald People’s Choice Award with a portrait of actor Garry McDonald.

The Packing Room prize gives the Gallery staff who receive the entries for Archibald the chance to vote for their favourite Archibald portrait. This is the Gallery’s head storeman, Steve Peters’ 25th Archibald Prize and his 18th Packing Room Prize.

Paul Jackson receives $500 and a $500 Myer voucher.”

This year in 2009 there were 708 Archibald entries, 712 Wynne entries and 561 Sulman entries.

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Most artists who love painting portraits have a crack at the “Archibald”  at some stage of their artistic lives.  

My partner, Tony La Spina’s oil portrait of the well known music composer, Alfred Hill, was hung in the 1956 Archibald Prize.  Unfortunately we only have a sepia print of it to show you – but look at those incredible artistic hands and the faraway gaze…

At bit about Tony La Spina…

Tony was born in Sydney in 1926 to Sicilian born parents.  He began his art training at the A. Dattilo-Rubbo Art School in Sydney and then served in the Australian Army in World War II as an Interpreter, which took him to London after war ended.  After some art study at Hetherlies Art School there, Tony returned to Australia to spend 5 years full time art study at the National Art School, Sydney from 1950-55.   He spent over 30 years teaching art & ceramics in the Coffs Harbour region,  where he and his wife Rae raised their family of four. 

 I first met Rae & Tony after they had moved to the Central Coast to be closer to their family.     We met performing with the Gosford Musical Society’s … Merry Minstrels.  After Rae’s passing in 2000, Tony and I became good friends and later, in many respects, partners in life.  Here we are early in our relationship…

 

 Here’s my portrait of Tony painted in 2001. He doesn’t really have 3 heads, its just that I couldn’t decide which angle so included all three! 

 Now to view some more of Tony’s portrait work…

            

Above: Tony’s daughter, Antonia … Helen Truscott … Tony’s wife, Rae.  

Above: Oil portrait of Hubert Bailey – c. 1980s

                

Above: A Polish model,  self portrait & Tony’s daughter, Liane.

             

Above: Margaret Herdigen, a model & a work in progress – portrait of me.

Above:  “Joy” a dear friend from Coffs Harbour.

Fantastic work! Thanks Tony for sharing these pics with us.

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I’ve sometimes been asked if I ever had a crack at the Archibald?  Well, yes – I gave it my best shot back in 1992 with two entries, which took 3 months each to paint!   I’m eternally glad I didn’t paint them solely ‘for’ the Archibald, and would have painted these portraits anyway - because at pick-up time –  there they were, in the bowels of the Art Gallery of N.S.W.  with hundreds of others, not even unwrapped! 

I sincerely hope there is a better system in place these days, because a lot of artists go to great expense and trouble to transport large works to the Art Gallery of N.S.W. to be appraised for hanging.   I believe that in fairness to them all, their paintings at least need to be viewed!  

Do you have any comments about the Archibald? Can anyone throw some light on how procedures are now or how they have operated in the past? I think it’s important for prospective entrants to know.

Now, for what it’s worth- here are my entries from back in 1992… both very large oils:

The first is of James David Hill, affectionately known to  country people as “Jimmy the Whip”. He learned the art of whipmaking from his father, (pictured at left of the portrait) and along with servicing the needs of country folk, Jim plaited the famous 12 strand whips used in the films “Indiana Jones” and  “The Man from Snowy River” (remember Jim pulling Jessica up that slippery wet cliff-face with his whip? Just as well Jimmy made a strong one!)

Jim posed by our fireplace at MacMasters Beach for his portrait,  so I included an old lamp and clock from my childhood on the mantlepiece to ehance the ‘old world’ setting. 

Using a mirror in the portrait meant I could capture 2 views of Jim’s face.  Luckily, I painted him just before he cut off all that crinkly ginger beard!

The second portrait I entered in 1992 was of Dr. John Laxton, Environmental Consultant, painted in a watery background with his occupational activities;  gathering specimens/measuring samples superimposed behind the main image:

Portraiture has always fascinated me, as it has so many artists, but it would have to be about the most demanding of subject matter.   Not only does a likeness need to be attained but hopefully something more – some rendition that reveals the personality of the sitter or an aspect of them that is conveyed to the artist.  

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I read once that Sir William Dobell had a method he employed – he would invite the sitter for a cup of tea and chat. If after they left he couldn’t picture a strong enough image of them to make a rough sketch, he would more often than not refuse the commission.

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As well as a healthy number of commissions, I’ve enjoyed painting my family over the years of course, as most artists do. Here are a few thumbnails… 

1.  my late husband, John Duell  2. my son, Scott, first as a child and then 3. as an adult with his lovely wife, Michelle 4. my daughter, Melissa Joy as a 3 year old and then 5. again at age 20.  6. A self portrait in 1977 7. another, in the 1980s over a collage of life drawings. 8. Portrait of Julia Clare and 9. Portrait of Amelia Joy.    

                                 

At first I remember being intimidated by the need to paint someone wearing reading glasses! So I practised by painting this one from a tiny B&W photo cut out of an old newspaper.  I don’t know who the gentleman was but I called him “Mr. Patience” because of his delightful expression…

I also recall one of my first commissioned portraits in 1970/1 and how difficult it was.   Dr. Allan F. Dwyer was a world renouned spinal surgeon and far too busy to sit for me, so I had to paint him from a photograph which was delivered with an actual surgical gown and mask to superimpose over the suit he was wearing in the photo!    It turned out fairly well considering, and was hung in memorium in the Mater Hospital after he died the following year. (Note: the photo is not  true to colour – the blue was far less intense)

I wasn’t aware of very much interest in Portrait painting in the Gosford area in the early years, so when Pamela Thalben-Ball gave a portraiture demonstration using a real model for the Central Coast Art Society around about 1980 it was a breath of fresh air! I for one was very grateful for some guidance to enhance my self-taught discoveries…so “Thankyou Pamela” wherever you are!

Now here is something some readers might relate to…

                         TRICKY PORTRAIT COMMISSIONS!

If I had any advice for anyone taking on their first portrait commission, it would be “Do get at least a minimum non-refundable deposit when you start to cover your materials.”  Then if the client doesn’t like the finished painting or for any reason fails to follow through, you are at least not out of pocket other than your time. 

I’ve had a good number of portrait commissions over the years and only two problems- one where the lady concerned found it insufficiently flattering and the other ordered by a bereaved family to be painted from a photograph of their loved one.  Unfortunately their grief abated before it was time to collect the work – so no collection of the work took place or payment for my time.  Such is life! 

 The fragile “ego thing” …  Artists beware that there are (often hidden) expectations that the artist should flatter the model.  Many people carry within them a self image that is much younger!

Beware those hidden extras  too that can end up doubling or tripling the time element!   I’ve had inclusions like family heirloom jewelery, Scottish tartans etc. that have taken more time to paint than the head study! A simple request to begin with can grow into a monster if one isn’t careful!   Have other artists had an experience along these lines? Do tell!     

How do we solve these problems? Any ideas?  A written agreement following a questionaire perhaps?

I feel there has to be a leap of faith by the client in the artist’s ability (based on examples of the artists work) and clearcut decisions about size, medium and presentation  in order to go ahead with a commission.  

After all, portraiture is the most demanding and time consuming of all subjects to paint and if the artist’s hands are tied by curtailing freedom of expression, their best work cannot result. 

Perhaps the main problem as one of client expectation.  Those commissioning a work will no doubt have some sort of pre-conception in their mind as to what they want (whether they think so, or not!) .  Somehow many associate art with magic and think that artists can visualise their thoughts (well, I for one certainly cannot!)  Even if this were possible, why would any artist want to paint another person’s vision instead of their own?   

There is often a kind of “ownership” or “dictatorship” that can be imposed on an artist by a client (if the artist allows it) – where money is involved within the consumer/purchaser society we live in.  How much is reasonably acceptable? What do you think?   

Personally, where portraiture is concerned from the artist’s point of view, there is nothing like total freedom to choose your subject and rendition without dancing to anyone else’s drummer.   But let’s not just hear from other artists, what experiences have you had as one who has perhaps commissioned a work?  There are 2 sides to everything!

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For a glimpse of more portraits, may I suggest that you visit Mike Rubbo’s new blog              familyartstoriesrubbo.wordpress.com. 

(Incidentally, there is an interesting link between my partner, Tony and Mike Rubbo’s grandfather, Antonio Datillo-Rubbo who ran the first Art School in Sydney that Tony attended. )  

Mike is particularly interested in hearing from anyone who has connections with that Art School so if you can help, he would be delighted if you were to  contact him. He can also be reached through “All about Olive” – a blog by Olive Riley, a 107 year old resident of the Central Coast of NSW. 

If you have any art related stories to do with Portraits, please share.   We would all love to hear them!  Also, please note there will be a post in April about portrait painting methods with step by step demonstrations…so why not pop this blog on your favourites to visit again if that interests you.

Cheers,  Julie

Thanks Tony for sharing that.  What a nasty experience!  It just goes to show how vulnerable we are when we are young, experienced and trusting.    Any comments anyone?    Julie

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“SOMETHIN’ FISHY” JOHN DUELL

John Duell life stories 1935-1996 … “Somethin’ Fishy”

In 2006 I was moved to write a collection of  short stories about my late husband John’s unusually adventurous life  on the Bouddi Peninsular of the Central Coast, N.S.W.   I wanted to give people an insight into the humour and resilience of bush pioneers in days gone by and at the same time donate all proceeds of the book sales towards saving endangered wildlife.  Here is one of my portraits of John.

An avid Naturalist, John Duell lived his whole life in and around what is now known as Bouddi National Park from the time he went to live there in 1939 at the age of 4 years.

There were so many humorous, adventurous and heart-rending yarns to choose from I had difficulty in picking out 40 – so the criteria then became choosing those that made people laugh or cry most (often at the same time) and also those I could illustrate best.   Here’s the book cover, front & back…

Note: (There are still some copies available at $12 plus postage. If you are interested please get in touch via comments below and I will direct you.)

Waterfall Springs website is    www.waterfallsprings.com.au and well worth a look to see the wonderful work being done there.

I had a lot of fun jotting down quick, spontaneous illustrations for the yarns…here’s a glimpse of just a few of them:

 Arrival at Bombi

What’s for dinner?

 

Snake on the School bus!

Wildlife connections

Oh oh! Wrong catch!

Terrifying night dive!

Close encounters of the deep!

Saltwater tea and Vampire bats!

and of course there are many, many more!

Waterfall Springs is a private wildlife sanctuary, but my partner, Tony LaSpina and I are able to visit  as volunteer helpers.  Here is the founder of the Sanctuary, Lloyd Oldfield with a beautiful little yellow footed rock wallaby…

and next is Celia Thomson, Chief Vet and animal overseer at the Sanctuary. She is holding Bob, a baby brush tailed Rock Wallaby, who needs to be hand-raised.  All my friends are madly knitting wallaby pouches to help out.  Let me know if you would like a pattern!

Here is one of the joeys in the pouch….so tiny!

 This pic shows Tony sharing secrets with some kangaroos in the ‘Hospital’ section.

  

and here’s me satisfying my nurturing urge…

       

After her feed, Lily had a lovely sunbake on her favourite log. Sadly, she died shortly after from a tick bite, but there are lots of new joeys coming on in the breeding program.  Eventually they will be released in the wild to regenerate dwindling colonies.  I like the feeling of doing just some little thing towards their preservation.

Now here are a few pics of the book launch for “Somethin’ Fishy” at MacMasters Beach in Sept. 2006 close to where most of the stories in the book took place…

   

The last pic shows a small number of the 50 strong Gosford branch of “Sing Australia” Choir  entertaining the crowd with lots of bush songs. Now 6 years old, this branch is one of over 90 throughout Australia for people who love to sing for fun!  No auditions – just therapeutic singing.  (New members welcome – Monday nights, 7.30 pm at the Anglican Church in Mann Street, Gosford).

As you can see, our uniforms make us a cross between the Wiggles and a lot of jelly beans (but we prefer ‘Smarties!). Tony and I have enjoyed being part of this Choir for some years now so they were happy to donate their energies towards the success of the book launch, as they are to many good causes. 

‘Sing Australia’ choirs cover a vast range of songs from books common to all branches so there are annual musters and many opportunities to interact, including overseas trips.

Oh yes, one more thing … I had some fun creating a ‘Wallaby Watch” cartoon and other entertainment for the Waterfall Springs website: www.waterfallsprings.com.au  - look up “For Kids” section to see all (there are some good B&W activity pages to print out)  but here’s a peek at the cartoon…

There – so you see how one thing leads to another if we follow our nose and our instinct?  All love jobs, but so satisfying!

That’s certainly enough for this post folks! If you are enjoying the blog, do let me know, as it is all about sharing and interaction. 

Cheers!  Julie

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INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

EACH POST IS ON A DIFFERENT TOPIC & REVIEWED REGULARLY.

Hello all!   With International Women’s Day celebrations each year, my mind goes back to what I think was the first, in 1975.  

At the time, I was well into painting and joined with three other prolific Central Coast women artists to hold an Exhibition of our work in honour of International Women’s Day  in 1975.    Since one of our foursome hailed from Gilgandara, we decided to hold our showing in Dubbo, hosted by the South Dubbo Rotary Club.

This held special excitement for me because it was my first Exhibition beyond whole Society showings and we each decided we could produce about 40 paintings to exhibit – a number just manageable to transport and hang.

Many of our works were quite sizeable so it was no mean feat and hats off to our gallant menfolk for their marvelous support in early heatwave conditions (it was November).   I still recall us all laying exhausted in the river, hanging on to willow branches to recover afterwards.

Here are some photos of the four of us pictured at the Exhibition with some of our works…

 1.  Belle McKechnie, originally from Gilgandara, with “Harvest Queen” & other paintings.  Sadly Isobelle passed away around 1987 after publishing a book about Australian Bush Fairies – which amazingly coincided with my first book release ‘Bush Sprites of Australia’.  Clearly we both loved the bush very much.

    

2. Marijke Duell (nee Zwan) who was well known for her sand paintings and pen & ink studies as well as oils.  Marijke was a very innovative artist and later went into many beautiful crafts as well.  Sadly, she too passed away some years ago.

3. Carole Strutt with various oils, including many figurative.  Carole was a popular art teacher in the Ettalong/Umina area for many years. I wonder where she is now? Carole, if you are out there, please get in touch!

4.  Myself, then Julie Ferguson, with large expressive semi-abstract oils mainly. Pictured with ‘The Artist’s Dilemma’ – an oil depicting an artist leaning through a frame, brush in hand,  contemplating what to paint, ideas emanating from the head…the idea being that the Artist and the Painting are one.

We can all thank the newly formed Central Coast Art Society for bringing us together by providing a platform for artists to meet in a stimulating atmosphere of exciting workshops and demonstrations as well as opportunities to exhibit. The Society is still going strong today.

So all you women out there … keep the spirit alive!  Let us make it more and more evident that there is strength and wisdom in peace and nurturing in this world instead of war and conflict.

Cheers,  Julie

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