Australian How To Paint

by M.A. Hunt Advances in painting product technology have led to some of the greatest changes in art history. For example, in 1841 oil paint became available in capped tubes, allowing artists the flexibility to paint outdoors. This in turn lead artis

Contributed by Graham W. Smith The subject is the Paddlesteamer ‘Rodney’ which rests on the bottom of the Darling River on the property of the homestead ‘Polia’, around 30 kilometres north-west of the ‘Port of Pooncaria’. In 1894, the ‘Rodney’ was br

Di Tarrant was born in Adelaide in 1938, the younger of two children. During her early working life she did some nursing, but after marrying and starting a family she undertook clerical duties in the automotive field. She has memories of one art teac

By Barry McCann A traditional way to approach a subject in most mediums is to paint the background first, then move towards the foreground. We see some oil painters put on a thin layer to start, using broad strokes and building up the background and

Ross Wymark worked as a signwriter in his twenties, but he had not put brush to board in more than 30 years when he found himself in hospital in the New South Wales town of North Richmond. Ross was referred to an Art Therapist as part of his treatmen

By Di Tarrant Prime the canvas support with vigorous strokes of gesso, leaving textural lines. Cross-hatch brush marks. Allow this to dry thoroughly. With binder medium, glue randomly-placed roughly-cut pieces of rice paper or textured paper onto th

Contributed by Kim Borschmann This painting is a collage of some of the wonders of Exmouth which is situated on the Ningaloo Reef in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. I selected some of the features I wanted to include: Cape Range; Vlaming Hea

By Trevor Lang A true Queenslander, Lee Porter was born at Townsville in the sixties. As a child she lived in a variety of interesting places including Tindal (near Katherine in the Northern Territory), Sydney and Malaysia. She completed her secondar

Glenn Barnett of Port Lincoln in South Australia is a Member of Mouth & Foot Painting Artists Pty Ltd. He delights in painting beautiful landscapes with brushes held in his mouth. Like many artists, Glenn has developed his skills over the years and e

By Lee Porter During Ashley’s short life he was keen on snow boarding, and he had incredible artistic talent. I particularly admired the Onimbo logo he created. I came up with the image I wanted to paint, and included Ashley’s Onimbo logo on the boar

By Paul Dorin An empty canvas is always challenging, but has the potential to become a significant piece of artwork. It was always explained to me that a painting is like a sunset … they’re all nice, but sometimes we’ll stand back and look at one and

By Paul Dorin What came first: The title or the painting? For me, it can be either. There is nothing worse than staring at a blank canvas. Normally I will rough out a couple of layouts (on A4 or A3 layout paper) of the subject I am going to paint. I’

Oil Primed Linen was one of the first surfaces developed for ‘modern day’ painting. For hundreds of years, oil painters have recognised that traditionally prepared oil-primed Belgian linen is the ultimate support for their artwork. With the advent of

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

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

By Janina Jackson • Fabriano paper 250gsm. • Derwent graphite pencils in soft and hard ranges (4B, 2B, HB, H, 2H). • Staedtler mechanical pencils 0.3, 0.5 and 0.9 width; with HB and 2B leads. • Tortillon stumps. • Colour blender. • Blu Tack. • Mason

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

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

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

Frances McMahon •  2000gsm Rising Museum Board • Winsor and Newton Artist’s Quality watercolours and gouache: Cobalt, Yellow Ochre, Raw Umber, Raw Sienna, Paynes Grey, Cadmium Red, Cadmium Yellow, Cobalt Blue, Ultramarine, Sap Green, Cadmium Lemon,

Michelle Caitens • Canvas 900 x 600mm • Bristle brushes flat ¾”, flat 14 • Sable brushes 5/0, 0, 1,2, 4, 6 • Taklon detailer 5/0 • Sable liners 2/0, 5/0 • Art Spectrum Odourless Solvent • Genesis Air-dried clear gloss varnish• Genesis heat-set artis

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

Jen Callahan 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 photograph