Monday 30 December 2019

Aero Naut Final

With a twist!

Here is hoping you have all had a very Merry Christmas and best wishes for the New Year!
Sometimes when working on a project, you need to reassess your original plan. In my previous post you will have seen that this drawing was planned as a verticle format image. However, while working on it and building up the main shell image I was having some trouble with the paddle wheel - it seemed to be turning in the wrong direction pushing the Nautilus backwards instead of forward through the clouds.  I had to turn the work around to avoid smudging as I drew. As I did so I began suddenly noticed that when in the horizontal position this paddle wheel was turning the correct direction - and the Nautilus was suddenly surfing down the cloud scape instead of battling through it!
So, my brain boggled a bit, but settleded down and the work flowed and became more coherent. 
Here is the final result:


Saturday 14 December 2019

Aero-Naut WIP


Steam Punk with a nautical twist

Would you like to see my latest work on the drawing board? You would? If so, read on...
This will be the third work in a series of nautical themed steam-punk influenced works for a solo in September/October. Title of the show is tentatively called '20,000 Leagues'.

All works are 38 x 33 cm either verticle or horizontal, primarily graphite, but with some twists. Planning of the drawing was some 6 or 7 hours before trasfering outline to 300gsm Fabriano Extra White Hot Press paper.This work was started using a liquid tint made from Twinings English Breakfast Tea (extra strong). A light, selective layer of water-soluble 4B graphite pencil was added and washed to create tonal tints. Finally, I am working with straight graphite pencils (Staedler Mars Clutch) 2H, F, HB, 2B, 4B. This attached shows the progress at about 6 hours of work.

Title of the work is 'Aero-Naut' - and it is based on a paper nautilius shell I found on Montague Islands decades ago and photo references from google for the appearance of the real animals tentacles before I mechanised them up. Take note, all circles and gears are drawn free hand! No templates, which is why some are a bit wonky.
Tablet shot only, so tonal values are a bit out of whack.


Thursday 28 November 2019

Biblio Art Prize

Accepted! Both!

Hi there! A few weeks ago I told you about the Biblio Art Prize to be held in Port Fairy during December and showed you one of my entries here. After showing Jo from Blarney Books both works she encouraged me to enter the two, and much to my surprize both have been accepted.
I can now show you the main entry work, 'The Battle'.
This work was created in ink on 250gsm Bristol board and exhibits the main participants in the final battle scene of the book 'The Wolf in the Whaleby Jordanna Max Brodske. Each element of the drawing flows and merges into the next forming a moving frieze of combatants facing the Viking warship as it breaks free of the pack ice. There are narwhales and inuksuk, a seal, bear, wolk, raven/odin, blue whale, sturgeon and the main character Omat - can you find them all? As well as the prow of the viking ship trapped in the pack ice.
If you are visiting the area around Port Fairy this summer drop into Blarney Books and view the exhibition - I will be there on opening night December 7.
Dates: December 7 to January 27
Blarney Books and Art
37 James St., Port Fairy, Vic 3284




Saturday 23 November 2019

Draw with Mike!

Don't miss Mike Sibley's new website and forum!

You may know of, or heard me speak in class about my friend and wonderful graphite artist, Mike Sibley. Well, Mike has just launched his new website and forum 'Draw with Mike', and I encourage you to have a look at it and seriously consider joining.

Membership gives you the opportunity to watch custom made videos of Mike at work - videos that actually TEACH you something! You can also ask Mike questions at his regular Q & A sessions - even requesting he do a video of a particular technique you want to see. There is an online drawing class/workshop you can join.

As well, the members forum gives you the chance to show your work (finished or in progress) and ask for help from Mike and the other forum members. Unlike a Pintrest or Instagram page where you will receive accolades but no helpful critique, the forum offers constructive, friendly advice and assistance from Mike and other forum members.

This is a great time to join as Mike has included a special 'Christmas' link you can send to your special other as a helpful gift hint! And this comes at a convenient time for us in Australia as we enter summer holidays - I visit the site weekly, and would be more than happy to offer you any help there on your summer artwork. You can PM me on the site to give me a heads up (as I will be travelling/workshopping* in January) although I plan to check into the forum regularly.

Interested? I hope so! Why not click on the link and join today!
see you there -

Image courtsey of Mike Sibley Fine Art

*Places still available at Bathurst Mitchell School of Art! Enrollments close Nov. 29, don't miss out!

Sunday 10 November 2019

AAEA Award

Runner up to the Australian Art Excellence Awards

I was very suprised and pleased to accept the Runner-up Terry Collins Award yesterday at AGRA's annual Australian Art Excellence Awards. It is a huge honour and a real buzz to win this award - especially as the the works I submitted were not 'tradtional' but from my mechanical pencil series; 'Rat Race', 'Lead Balloon', and 'Springtime'. Check these out on my gallery page on my website.


And the prize goodies:


A fabulous selection from Art Spectrum, thank you Anna for choosing so well. Additionally a voucher for framing from Studio Craft, and a joint exhibition at AGRA next year. Fun!
Thank you AGRA!

Friday 8 November 2019

Road Trip sketches

 Driving Hwy 101

Just back from my fantastic roadtrip along Hwy 101, San Francisco to L.A. with my sister. Did so much, visited family and friends, shopped, dined, walked, hiked, watched whales/otters/birds (condor!), saw Hearst Castle, Missions, The Getty Center, flew starships at Disneyland and drove for miles and miles and miles. Sister drove as it is on the other side there and a bit confronting for me. So not much time for drawing, but here are a few I did manage to squeeze in:

Monterey Aquarium
These are done from 'life'. I had only brought a black Adel fineliner pen, so a licked finger was needed to wash and blend the ink






Asilomar/Monterey area
Again with the Adel pen, only I had an Aquash brush handy. This tree and view from the room at Asilomar resort. A pair of Coopers Hawks came and sat in the tree for awhile, keening and whistling to each other.


 Big Sur
Hike out to Parkington Cove and back in Big Sur - about 2.5 mile round trip down, the UP a very steep zigzag track. But worth the walk. Also spotted Anna's and Rufous Hummingbirds on the way down. Plus a very bright green hummer I cannot identify. Aquash brush, Windsor Newton Watercolour travel set, Adel sepia and black pens


Mission Santa Barbara
The Queen of the Missions on 101. Adel Sepia and Black pens, Aquash brush.



A Fantastic Trip!
(by the way, have you signed up for my Bathurst workshop yet? Deadline is the end of November!)


Tuesday 22 October 2019

Teatime

Drawing and painting with teas

I recently purchased a copy of  'The Organic Painter' by Carn Griffiths. He does some fabulous works using tea, coffee or wine stains, mixing with inks, stamps and splatters. His book is quite inspiring and I and my Thursday nighters have been playing around with the techniques.
Preparing paper with tea stains, for the one on the left I used English Breakfast tea and a tea made with saffron threads. The right side is saffron tea and the cranberry rosehip tea. The photo also shows some of the stamps I have made using white PVC (eraser or block), and Sennilier inks in Turquise and Sepia.

Here are some test sheets. Click to enlarge and read the method. Note that the yellow used was a tea made from Tumeric.
Three 'finished' works. Teas, inks, spatter, stencils, stamps - lots of fun.
All paper used in these tests was 300gsm Waterford cold press.

I am travelling for the next few weeks - but hope to have some things to show you when I return. Until then, Happy Drawing and don't forget to sign on for the January workshop in Bathurst!

Monday 21 October 2019

Summer Workshop

Art Scene School of Arts (Bathurst)

19-25 January, 2020
Come join me in Bathurst for a week of drawing!
Take your drawings even further and expore the world of colour and graphite pencil! Colour pencils have often been associated with childhood, but since the early 20th century artist-quality colour pencils have been produced that turned a child’s toy into a serious medium for artists. Learn to master layering colours over and on top of one another to create colour pencil paintings of a rich and luminous depth. Texture, reflection, form and composition and all your colour pencil questions will be answered in this workshop as well as basic colour theory. Discover the difference between wax/oil pencils and watercolour pencils, how to layer, blend, create texture, wash or not, how to include graphite, which paper to use when, as well as all the basic techniques you need to get the most out of your graphite or colour pencil. You will enjoy step-by-step guidance, and the best part is that these techniques can be learned by anyone – no matter your current skill level!
Subjects this year will include: ‘Glass’ in waxed/standard colour pencil or graphite pencil, ‘Botanical’ in Aquarelle colour pencils, ‘Landscape’ in graphitint and graphite pencil, and an animal subject using colour pencils on coloured paper. All levels of experience welcome.
Sign up today at: The Artscene

'Tree'
Watersoluble Graphite and Graphite

Monday 30 September 2019

Spoon Collection - Anna's jam spoon

Anna's Spoon - German .800 silver



Anna’s Jam Spoon* – Unknown German maker, approx. 1886
 When Anna was betrothed to Max in 1887, he presented to her a 12-piece, .800 silver dinner service as betrothal/wedding gift. Max had each piece monogrammed with her new married name initials of A + L. The silver set held pride-of-place in her dining room and was lovingly polished and set out for use every holiday and special occasion. Anna was a great cook and she would spend days in the kitchen stirring jams and jellies in a big iron pot. One spoon from the set was used as her ‘special’ stirring spoon. All through the war years Anna would glean berries from the hedgerows and strawberries from her garden plot to make her jam. If she was lucky, she would have a little bit of ration sugar, if not, she would barter ‘jam on a promise’ with the Schmidt’s for some of the honey from their hives. Anna’s renown as a jam maker meant she seldom had trouble making a trade. After the war, the silver travelled with her granddaughter to the USA, and that spoon was put into many more years of jam service. One day, this spoon with five of it's siblings, left for Australia with Anna’s great-granddaughter – who doesn’t make jam but will stir the occasional custard with this special spoon. Worn down on the edge of the bowl to a point, bent and slightly battered, this treasured spoon has given the women in my family over 130 years of faithful service. And someday the spoon will be handed down to Anna’s Great, great, granddaughter.
*Note: I have drawn this spoon previously (with raspberries) but it is worth drawing again!

Wednesday 4 September 2019

Spoon Collection - Georgian

Fiddle back Georgian Spoon

Found in the op-shop cutlery box!  I looked at photos of old coins of the period and included these in the work - tuppence and sixpence.


Fiddle Back Georgian Spoon – John Blake Silversmith (1827)
Nearly 200 years ago, from the finest silver I was made and out of London I sailed. On a colony ship, in the King’s service, we came to tame this land. Round the Horn we laboured and blown by the roaring 40’s we finally landed at a dismal village by swamp named Melbourne. On the Captains table and Officer’s mess my silver had reflected in the candlelight. I came ashore and I passed into use on the sideboards of the elite of the colony. Oh! the sights I have seen and the people I met who admired my glow and used me well. But I was parted from my canteen mates, stolen and pawned, abused and neglected.  Finally, I languished, bashed, battered and dented in the reject jar at the Op Shop where you rescued me. A polish can restore my gleam, but not my youth. Would that I could speak and tell you a tale or two!


Spoon Collection - Queen Bess

More spoon drawings!

If you read my earlier posts, you know I have a collection of spoons I love to draw. I am a bit at a loss between 'big' projects, so am keeping busy by doing some little works. It would be nice to do a large collection of these of maybe 14 or 15 individual drawings.
 Each drawing is done in graphite and graphitint washes on 300 gsm Lana Bristol board, A4 size. All the spoons have a 'story' to go with them. 
Here is the first, titled 'Queen Bess'

Plan drawing with actual 'Queen Bess' teaspoon


WIP

Finished work

The Story of  the Queen Bess teaspoon:

Queen Bess EPNS teaspoon - Oneida USA 1946
At last the times were good and the New Deal had slowly turned the country around. Prosperity and growth grew out of the dark days.  Aunt had waited through all the long years of the war for her niece to return. And now Niece was soon to be married! Aunt saved every Betty Crocker coupon she could, collected together and sent them off. An offer too good to refuse, ‘Tudor’ plate silverware at a bargain price. How surprized and delighted was Niece to receive the velvet lined rosewood box filled with the 48 piece setting of ‘Queen Bess’ as a wedding gift! And the sweet little ‘Forget-me-not’ flowers would remind Niece of Aunt every time she used the silver.


Wednesday 21 August 2019

Biblio Art Prize

 Illustrating 'The Wolf in the Whale'

Port Fairy Bookseller and Art Gallery, Blarney Books run the annual Biblio Art Prize. I entered last year with a graphite pencil work and have just completed this year's entry. 
Each entrant is given a book to base an artwork on, the more literary the better (it is a bookshop after all). I am afraid I am not very 'literary' in my artwork, but I have certainly enjoyed reading 'The Wolf in the Whale' by Jordanna Max Brodske. Creating an artwork for this exciting novel has been a bit of a head scratch. 
I wanted to show the Arctic environment, the drama of conflict and the relationship between the Inuit gods and Norse invading gods. I decided to work in inks as I felt that this medium was bolder and would strongly emulate the ice fields and cold landscape. 
So I created a work using the Raven as the theme and incorporated various other elements from the book - wolf prints and blood in the snow, lunar eclipse, Inuksuk (Inuit stone statues) and elements of Norse influence - a quote from the book transcribed into long branch Younger Futhark runes. Thank you Google and 'The Viking Rune' website! 
So this is what I did:


...and its a bit 'meh'. Or rather, I don't think it is all that great. Its okay, has all the elements, but leaves me cold (pun not intended). Just a bit too fussy, too literal and didn't really make me happy. It's going into the 'Nope' folio.
So I thought on it for awhile, and then started sketching and doodling about. I love the clean, simple lines of Inuit sculpture, and began to draw shapes and forms of the Arctic animal/gods to emulate that sort of pared back minimalist form. But my drawings had to be my own as I am very aware of the dangers of cultural borrowing and appropriation.





As I worked I started to have more and more fun, eventually incorporating all the elements into a frieze effect, each figure merging into the next and forming new shapes. Lots of cutting out shapes and positioning or flipping and redrawing to come to a final composition. All the Gods are there to defeat the approaching Ragnarok! Plus the ice floes and the trapped Norse ship... even the symbol for Loki makes and appearance.
The final work has been done in Art Spectrum Black acrylic ink which has a lovely matt black finish. Drawn and painted onto Lana 250gsm Bristol Board, the sharp contrast between the black and white works well to create the feel of the frozen north I wanted. I am a lot happier with this second work than the first.
But not to give away the entire thing just yet...  I am only showing here are a couple of details from the final work - I will post the entire piece closer to the final deadline of the competition. Here is hoping it gets accepted!










Sunday 18 August 2019

'Flights of Fancy' continues'

Extended! 

I am very pleased that Tacit Galleries has extended the run of my solo exhibition 'Flights of Fancy' by a further two weeks. The show will now be available until September 1 in Gallery 7 at Tacit - so if you have not yet had the opportunity to visit now is your chance!
Perhaps you would like to come along and chat with me about my work? I will be at the opening event on Wednesday 21, 6.30 to 8 pm.  Would love to see you there!
'Eyrie' : Graphite pencil on paper from 'Flights of Fancy'

Tuesday 13 August 2019

Three views

Nest Study - Macro to Micro


My Wednesday and Friday classes have been working with graphite pencil in small format drawings that show 3 views of one subject - macro to micro. Each student selected their own subject and worked on one drawing per session (A5 size) aiming to completed it within the 2 hour session. My drawings/demos took a little longer than 2 hours, perhaps 3 hours each, zooming in on a view of an old blackbird nest in a winter street tree. The above image shows the three works mounted together. Below are the individual pieces.






Tuesday 6 August 2019

Second Opening

Tonight, Wednesday August 7 6.30 - 8pm

If you missed the opening of 'Flights of Fancy', this evening there is a second late-night opportunity to view these works. I am very pleased to have had several sales - so if there was a work you were interested don't miss out! Check out Tacit's FB page here.
Tacit will be showcasing 4 new artists while mine continues another 2 weeks. One of the artists' featured is Terry Beer - he one of my favourite contemporary graphite pencil artists. He does fabulous work with reflections, flowers and fruit - a must see.
So why not pop along tonight, have a look around and say hello?

'Bubbles' - graphite and colour pencil on rag paper
SOLD - thank you Glenda!

Wednesday 24 July 2019

Opening night

Tacit Galleries 'Flights of Fancy'

It was a great night last night at the opening - I arrived early and took a few shots of the gallery before it got too crowded to show you how the exhibition looks - fabulous! I was really pleased with how Tim and Keith hung and curated the works. The space is excellent and showcases my drawings well. And it did get crowed 10 minutes later! Thank you to all my friends and supporters who came, your being there was much appreciated.








Tuesday 23 July 2019

Tonight's the night!

'Flights of Fancy' opens tonight

Tonight's the night, the Opening of my solo exhibition 'Flights of Fancy' at Tacit Galleries, 123a Gipps Street, Collingwood. 6.30 to 8.30pm.  Come along and join me in a glass of wine and view my latest body of steam punk styled works. All welcome and would love to see you there. To whet your appetite, a sneak preview of of my favourite works in this collection 'Hive'.

Title: Hive - Medium: Graphite with selected colour on paper

Wednesday 10 July 2019

Tune in to 88.3 this Friday 12/7/19

Linda on the 'wireless'!
Set your radio dials to 88.3 Southern FM at 10 am during the Friday Magazine program and hear me chat with Graeme Johnston about my art, life and upcoming exhibition at Tacit Galleries. If you cannot tune in at 10 am, or are out of radio range, there will be a podcast version uploaded to the website  available all next week.

And a sneak peek at a work from my upcoming 'Flights of Fancy' exhibition opening on Wednesday, July 24. Come along and say hello!
'Lead Balloon' Graphite pencil drawing by Linda Weil

Saturday 22 June 2019

Art Shop Window

Shop front window display in Southland


For those of you who live in the South East Suburbs of Melbourne, you can see some of my graphite pencil work on display in the front window of Riot Art in Southland Shopping Centre

Thursday 20 June 2019

Solo Exhibition at Tacit Galleries

Opening night Wednesday July 24, 6.30 pm

Please join me on opening night - share a wine and view my latest works in 'Flights of Fancy'.
A little bit animal, very mechanical and quite fantastical!
All welcome.

Saturday 8 June 2019

Colour Pencil continued

Layering with line - fur study Lion Cub WIP


This is a work in progress that I have been developing with my Wednesday after, noon and Friday evening classes. Building on the layering theory of previous lessons, we have been using line only to express the feeling of fur in a lion cub portrait. This work uses a limited palette of colours - Staedler Mars Karat pencils #16, #49, #72, #59 (Gold Ochre, Ochre, Red Ochre, Blue Green). Detail and tone is enhanced with graphite pencils 2H, HB, F, 2B and 4B.
The work is about 70% completed - as we are moving onto an new project next week I hope to finish this in my own time once my works for my upcoming solo at Tacit  July are finished Opening night is July 24.

Saturday 18 May 2019

Layering Colour Pencil

Capsicum Still life


Previous blog post showed the first exercise I ran in Term 2 - a single vegetable in layered colour pencil on hot press paper. Our second subject was to expand on this exercise and create a pleasing composition of a variety of vegetables or fruits and render them using colour pencil techniques.
I choose to continue the capsicum theme and selected a variety of sweet and hot varieties from my local greengrocer and from my backyard garden (the little knobbly red and large red ones).
The resulting drawing is approximately A3 size on 300gsm Lana cold press paper. Pencils used were Prismacolor Premier and Prismacolor Verithin.

Saturday 27 April 2019

Term 2 has begun!

Layering in colour pencil

Have you signed up for term 2 yet? Still time! Classes are starting this week - our first exercise is exploring how to layer using colour pencils. This example of a sweet chilli  was drawn using Prismacolor Premier pencils on Fabriano bright white Artistico 300gsm.
What was the first colour laid down? Yellow! go figure... or come to class and find out how!

Wednesday 17 April 2019

Bridgewater Bay

I need to work on waves.


I was asked to exhibit some works at the Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron Art Exhibition this year. Today was  deliver day and as I was on the Peninsula I took to the opportunity to hike down to one of the back beaches - Bridgewater Bay, Ritchie Street entrance. The tide was high and the surf was rolling in - huge breakers, rough and wild. No tide-pool walking today! So I sat on a rock and did a quick 1/2 hour sketch in my 9 x 5" book with pan watercolours and Adele pens in black and sepia.
As I said, I need to do more wave work, mine are a bit sickly - I kept thinking how Hokusai spent years studying waves. This is the first ocean view I have attempted in many years and the waves were difficult to catch!
If you are out for a drive this Easter weekend on the Mornington Peninsula stop into the Blairgowrie Yacht Club and view the
  Art Show - some pretty fine works were going up when I dropped in today.

Saturday 13 April 2019

Term 2 Drawing Classes

Enrol Now!


Term two classes begin soon - if you have not already booked your place better be quick! For second term we will be concentrating on colour pencil (all types, in a variety of ways), in all classes*. Please contact the relevant art studio/society via links below for further details.

Monday Nights 4 pm to 6.30 pm:
Victorian Artists Society  

Wednesday Afternoons 1 pm to 3 pm:
  Camberwell Community Center (limited spaces) 

Thursday Nights: 7.30 pm to 9.30 pm:
Mentone Mordialloc Art Group (one spot available)

Friday Nights: 4.30 pm to 6.30 pm:
Victorian Artists Society

*Note, all classes are catered for Beginners to Advanced and basics are covered in each. Monday and Thursday nights are focused on individual projects, Wednesday and Friday nights contain similar themes and encompass more foundation work.