January Workshop

Pet Portraits Workshop

Drawing with Pastel Pencil
12 & 13 January, 2022
10:00am - 3.30 pm
Victorian Artist Society

Pastel pencils are a wonderful medium to use as a drawing tool; they seem familiar to us the moment we pick them up and start to draw. Slightly softer than a traditional ‘hard’ pastel stick, but harder than a ‘soft’ pastel, the pastel is encased in a wood pencil making it easy to handle and use. Because the pastel is in a pencil format they can be sharpened like an ordinary pencil, and you have greater control for fine detail work. If you are like me and suffer from asthma or find the dusty mess of soft pastels annoying, you will love the clean feel of these pencils. As you are not directly handling the pigments you stay much cleaner the dust factor is greatly reduced. Traditionally used for adding detail to a soft pastel work, pastel pencils achieve stunning results when used on their own. They are an easy and flexible way to draw and a joy to use.

Have you a beloved pet or a favorite animal that you would just love to draw? Here is your opportunity to create a touching memory of your cherished animal friend in pastel pencil. Over the two days we will focus on technique and composition of an animal portrait in this medium. Emphasis will be on the study of eyes, noses and features including drawing fur or feathers, culminating in a completed A3 work suitable for framing to keep or gift.

Open to all levels. Detailed demonstrations of techniques with one-on-one tuition.

Book through VAS HERE

Exhibitions are on again!

After so many months of isolation Lock Down, suddenly the exhibition Road Show is starting again! Please come visit any or all of these shows to see some of my works on display. Mark them in your diary and enjoy a summer of great art.

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Mavis Little Artist of the Year 2021

Exhibition dates: 12 - 29 November 2021
Opening Night: 16 November 2021 at 7pm

Victorian Artist Society: Frater, Hammond and McCubbin Galleries.

This impressive exhibition features artworks by select Victorian Artist Society artists, who have been invited to participate after receiving the highest number of votes from their peers. This is a prestigious and much sought after award and I am  honored to be included in this year's finalists.

Information: VAS

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TACIT ART

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 Biblio Art Prize 2021-22

Exhibition dates: 11 December 2021 to late February 2022
Blarney Books and Art, 37 James Street, Port Fairy Victoria 3284

Artists are invited to submit works, in any medium that respond to the book they have been allocated by Blarney Books and Art. Books this year have been pre-selected from Australian novels which have been published since March 2020.

This will be my fourth showing as a finalist at the Biblio Art Prize and the book I have illustrated for this year is 'Friends and Dark Shapes' by Kavita Bedford.

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 Linden Postcard Show 2021-22
31st edition

Exhibition dates: 4 December 2021 to 27 February 2022

With over 1,000 mini masterpieces to see, every work measuring exactly 8 x 10" this  exhibition includes work by artists at all stages of their career from across Australia. It is an exhibition that is a must for your Summer calendar.
Information: HERE

'Rathopter' by Linda Weil

Openings and Closings...

 The 2021 Maritime Art Prize closes this Sunday, November 14. The People's Choice award will be given on Monday evening, so voting will still be open until that morning of the presentation.

Have you had a chance to view the exhibition and vote yet? The exhibition is virtual only this year and can be viewed HERE. Please have a look - it is a great show. And don't forget to vote for your favorite work by emailing via the gallery website: VOTE 

And don't forget they have a great RAFFLE running as well with some very seaworthy prizes!

'Voyage of the Maelstrom'; Highly Commended, Maritime 2021 by Linda Weil

'Moby'; Finalist, Maritime 2021 by Linda Weil

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And Opening Night this coming Tuesday, 16 November at 7pm is the Mavis Little Artist of the Year 2021 in the VAS Frater, Hammond and McCubbin Galleries. (12-29 Nov).

This impressive exhibition features artworks by select Victorian Artist Society artists, who have been invited to participate after receiving the highest number of votes from their peers. This is a prestigious and much sought after award and I am really honored to be included in this year's finalists.

Thank you to all my supporters/peers who voted for me during the year and I hope you are able to come view the show between 12 - 29 November, 2021. Maybe I will see you on Opening Night!

VAS

'Springtime'; One of the three exhibits by Linda Weil showing at the VAS AOTY

Artist of the week: Richard Saunders

 I am looking forward to catching up with you all next week in class, at last. Those of you who I am in contact with will have received your class list - if you have not done so please use the contact button on the right and let me know and I will forward it to you.

Our theme is felines; cats of any sort, large or small, domestic or wild! And to get you in the mood, check out these cat works, a rather special concept by the UK Surrealist artist Ricard Saunders. GW put me on to his work and his topiary cats are really rather fun. Have a look at the website to see some very large green cats and watch Richard talk about his Topiary Cat concept: HERE My favorite is the cat lying on the beach. 

You can also see the official slideshow HERE

And while you are enjoying Richard's Topiary Cat, don't neglect to visit his website HERE and view some of his stunning surrealist works.

Thanks GW for introducing us all to this artist.

Class News plus FINAL INKTOBER 2021

 It is good news! Announcing that all classes will resume this November!

VAS: Monday November 8 - Monday December 13.
4-6.30pm (6 weeks)

MMAG: Thursday November 11 - December 2.
1.30 - 3.30pm, and 7.30 - 9.30pm (4 weeks)

If you need to confirm attendance, defer your attendance or wish to book a place, you must contact the Art Group via the links above.  I look forward to seeing you all again soon.

With that bit of good news to start your morning, I must also remind you that to attend any of these classes you must be fully vaccinated, have the appropriate Vaccination certificate on your phone or in hard copy available for recording, and sign in using the app or hard copy. You are also required to wear a properly fitted mask through out the class (no noses to be seen!) as well as maintain the 1.5metre distance.

These are requirements mandated by the Government and both VAS and MMAG are required to comply with the same.

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So with that in mind, my final drawing for Inktober is #31 Risk. To be precise,
Avoiding the Risk:

#31 Risk, by Linda Weil

It has been a journey this Inktober! Sometimes it was really difficult to come up with an idea for the prompt. Other days, during the height of the lock down it was hard to stay motivated enough to do a work every day and I think that shows in some of the more half-hearted of my attempts. But I did it!

And you did too! Thank you to all of you the contributed and followed along. It was great to see your works and the different ways you each interpreted the prompt.

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Although this is the final day, I hope to see some more of your Inktober works in the coming few days before class resumes. I will post them here as usual - which brings me to EM and her rather special little work for #30 Slither/#31 Risk. Breaking the fourth wall, she slithers and slides down the slope with UNIpin fineliners, some Caran d'Ache water soluble crayon in a black/purple wash for the outside of the box, red UNI Posca pen acrylic in the pants and Uniball Signo white gel ink in the pen itself.

This is a fun drawing! Well done EM.

A Risky Slither by EM

Inktober 2021: #30 Slither

 Penultimate Ink!

With all the spring rains, my garden is very damp. As a result it is party time for the the snails and slugs. So many slugs and snails this year, nothing seems to discourage them. And every morning the slugs leave silvery, glittering trails over the concrete as they slither their way home after feasting on my seedlings.

Inktense pencils, Staedtler pigment liners, Faber Castell metallic (silver) watercolor pencil.

Slither by Linda Weil

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EM has used fineliners, bronze ink gel and Inktense pencils for this Patch depicting an ice cream cone that will be sewed onto fabric to make a quilt. Very pretty - the drawing and the quilt.

Patch by EM

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And DH has drawn a spark plug for Spark! He was a little worried about the symmetry due to the angle of the subject, but I cannot see any real issue at all. Its a very good free-hand ink drawing, created using fine liner pens, with some graphite. The colored spark was added with a nib pen and liquid ink.

I think its a great drawing!

Spark by DH

Inktober 2021: #29 Patch

 As it is almost Halloween, I thought immediately of a Pumpkin Patch for this prompt. So although it is the wrong growing season here for these orange Jack O'Lantern pumpkins they were colorful and fun to draw. I used Inktense pencils washed to blend hues and tones, then the Staedtler Fineliner pens.

(Pumpkin) Patch by Linda Weil

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This work by GW I am especially pleased about. GW has had no previous experience with ink and she asked for some assistance as without in person classes she was unsure where to begin. I sent her some hints, pen recommendation (Staedtler) and some work sheets on different ways to create tone and texture with pens. She sat down and did some home work then created this patchwork quilt in a log cabin design using each of the different pen widths and types of textures. Clever, innovative and a great idea well executed!

Patch (work quilt) by GW

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OLE also has Halloween on her mind. Once again she has been exploring the ink settings in her drawing program and has created this work based on the character of Sally in Tim Burtons great animation film 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'. You are really starting to excel with this digital work OLE.

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And EM has been out and about enjoying a coffee and crispy (#28) Biscotti - open coffee shops at last! She has used Inktense pencils and black fineliner for this work.

Crispy by EM

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JM has sent in this work that she says could work for two prompts, #25 Splat and #31 Risk - because any fly that buzzes into her kitchen risks getting splatted fairly quickly! She created the work with Inktense pencils, graphite pencil and black ink fineliner. Rather good! 

Splat Risk! by JM

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Inktober 2021: #28 Crispy

 Yummmmmmm....bacon.....
Guess what I had for breakfast!

Crispy by Linda Weil

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JH is dreaming of travel again now that we are 'Open'... and was reminded of this cute sign she saw outside a hotel in Amboise, France. She did this in Inktense pencils with some Derwent watercolor pencil highlights on hot press paper.

Open by JH

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And more 'Open' news - ALL classes will return in November. If you have not yet received notification from the art group contact MMAG or VAS to confirm your spot. Please contact them directly (not me).

Inktober 2021: #27 Spark

 I'm no Michangelo, but his image of The Creation with the Spark of Life always has inspired me, so I thought I would do a study of the hands in this work. It was tricky to do in ink and the result is not quite proportionally correct, but it was an interesting study to do. To try and follow The Master's style, get the same shapes and proportions and then create the shading using cross hatching. The cracks in the plaster seemed to emulate sparks as well.

When I saw the Sistine Chapel frescos I cried, they are so beautiful. I hope to return to Rome someday to visit them again - I did throw a coin into the fountain so here is hoping!

Spark (after Michangelo) by Linda Weil

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EM has submitted this work for Spark - a very nice composition and arrangement of elements.

Spark by EM

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And remember that Strawberry Ice Cream Cone? - well it seems that Buddy may have been the one who dropped it! lol - SW tells me that Strawberry is Buddy's favorite flavor and he was most distraught.

Splat by SW

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Inktober 2021: #26 Connect

 I was in a bit of a quandary over this one, until I noticed the cord/plug thingie connecting my computer to the power that connects me to the world!

Connect by Linda Weil

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EM sent in this somewhat frightening and grim image of Extinct:

Extinct (Life Nearly Extinct) by EM

And a smaller scale tragedy for Splat:

Splat by EM

And EM shows us all the different ways we can and have connected, past and present:

Connect by EM