Substrate Opening

What a great opening last night at Tacit Gallery for Substrate22! Some fantastic works with interesting approaches to the surface. Many treated the surface like a standard canvas, but some worked it in other ways, printing/silkscreen onto the surface, building up materials into 3D forms, scratching and etching to reveal the shiny aluminum underneath and even cutting it up and creating a sculpture from the square pieces.

Gallery hang of works by Linda Weil

My works are positioned in one of the best spots in the gallery, visible just as you enter. Right next to Lana De Jager's beautiful somewhat Pre-Raphaelite work 'Study for Repose'. 

It was lovely to see a couple of you there and have a chat. Thank you for coming, it is wonderful when 'my team' come along and support me as opening nights can be a bit fraught. Your presence makes the night much more enjoyable.

And for those of you who Instagram, Asheg Brom, Australian author and blogger has posted my work on his Instagram account and you can see his review HERE.

Substrate22

 

I have just completed all three works for the Substrate 22 Group Exhibition opening next Wednesday evening. This has been and interesting, if somewhat challenging exercise. 

Each artist received 3 x A4 primed 3mm aluminum substrate panels on which to create an artwork. Each panel is primed with Golden GAC-200 Acrylic Medium. There was no theme or restriction of mediums you could use, and you could have, if you wished, draw or produce a work on paper then stick it to the panel. But that seemed a bit like cheating to me and I wanted to try out the surface and see how it handled.

The following is the work process for one of the pieces I am showing, titled 'Brass Hopper'.

Planning stages and sketches. These were done during my Covid Isolation where I only had a few materials available - an A4 visual diary, a 2B pencil, a Blackwing pencil with eraser and a couple of sheets of tracing paper.

The final planned concept. Note how I flipped the Brass Hopper direction from the original sketch. You can also see how I altered the rear front leg - cut and stuck into its new position. This is an outline work on tracing paper that was used to transfer onto the panel.

I am using Graphitint pencils (Chestnut and Dark Indigo) and Derwent 4B water soluble pencil, washed, to create a soft tonal underpainting onto the panel. The acrylic gesso takes the wash well but is a bit slippery to work with.

Progress of the addition of dry graphite pencil and dry Graphitint. This surface draws nicely, but there is little tonal variation in the pencil grades. A 6H draws quite darkly! I worked with 6H, 4H, F, HB, 2B, 4B and the Chestnut Graphitint.

Progression and build up of tones requires careful handling. A Staedtler Mars Lumochrom 240 Blue pencil is used in the belly area. The graphite smudges easily. 

Progression; I wet the brass area with clean water and moved the layer around somewhat to get a more even tone. Then a Staedtler Karat #16 Gold Ochre was added to the copper area to brighten it up a bit.

The completed work: 'Brass Hopper' by Linda Weil ©

I do hope to see some of you on opening night, Wednesday August 3 where you can see the other two works created in this series.

Out of lockdown!

 Well, I must say, there are a lot worse places to have to isolate with Covid than with good friends in their wonderful B&B apartment! Luckily I was not very sick thanks to my vaccinations, and just felt tired and a bit miserable for a few days. It became an extended 'holiday' with some 13 days in isolation waiting for the RAT to test negative - but I was looked after in style by my wonderful friends Mags and Sam - who cooked for me, looked after me and made my enforced stay a pleasure.

And if you are ever looking for a place to stay while in Tasmania, then look no further than 'Thistle Doo' in Shearwater. A comfortable two-bedroom flat with kitchenette, wonderful hosts, Hawley beach a short walk away, close to all the beautiful sights of northern Tas, and the B&B caters to the disabled as well as being dog friendly! Check it out here: THISTLE DOO

Early morning walk on Hawley Beach, Tasmania July 2022

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And to catch up on some news - just before I departed I was told I had won 'Best Drawing' in the 2022 Camberwell Art Show! I have been entering this show for many years, and although I have won the occasional commended award this is the first time I have won a major award. Very thrilled.

'Eyrie' by ©Linda Weil: Best Drawing, Camberwell 2022

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And coming up soon is the group exhibition 'Substrate' at Tacit galleries where I will be showing 3 new works (drawing like a mad thing to catch up!). Would love to see you there at the opening!

Yuck

 Damn, guess who contracted Covid in Tasmania and is currently in isolation down here. I'm down for the count and won't be seen for the next 7 days.

😰😰😰

Visiting MONA

 Greetings from Tasmania!

I have been down here on this beautiful island part of Australia since Saturday. Based in the Devonport area we travelled south to Hobart over the weekend and spent all day Monday at the MONA museum. What a fabulous art gallery this is, with some amazing art work on display. Some of the works can be confronting but never boring. If you haven't had the opportunity to visit yet I can highly recommend it, it is an extremely well curated collection of art. But for those who would like to see some of the art I have found this online to give you a bit of a taste: Tour

MONA is underground, and the sandstone walls of the dug out area are kept on display - natures art (1.20 time). The water wall is amazing (1.25) One of my favorite pieces was the Leda and the Swan sculpture (at 2.45 time). The cabinet of wonders holds rare book editions and a delightful collection of antique hand held globes (3.14). People are confronted by the vulva wall (5.42), and the bubble car is a hoot (5.46). As I said, it is a wonderfully astonishing collection of art, very well presented.

We drove the Midland Highway down to Hobart, and on the way up and back I had fun trying to spot all the silhouette sculptures of 'Shadows of the Past'. I managed to see 12 of the 16, so a pretty good score.

A fabulous weekend  - oh, if you are considering a trip to Hobart, I can highly recommend the Waterview B & B in Margate. It's a bit out of town, away from the horrible Hobart traffic. The bedroom views are stunning, the host welcoming, the breakfast substantial! A lovely place to stay.

Charcoal Studies

 Playing with charcoal is fun... messy, but fun. Here are some demonstration works from my recent Thursday morning classes:

Reductive drawing of Sunflowers by Linda Weil ©

Reductive charcoal drawing (or reverse/negative drawing) is a creative method where you first darken the entire sheet of paper with the side of a charcoal stick, then smudge back with your hand or rag to create an even grey tone. Your eraser then becomes your drawing tool and you use a white eraser to define the main forms. A kneadable eraser or blue tack or even tape can be used to further define white highlights. Darker elements are added with soft charcoal. It is a very malleable and almost sculptural way of drawing - but make sure your paper can handle the process.

Positive charcoal studies with white charcoal highlights on toned paper by Linda Weil ©

Drawing in a positive method is often more intuitively comfortable for students, and charcoal is a quick and expressive medium for fast studies. By using a toned paper and white charcoal for highlights you can get some good effects. The top page are all studies where each was done in under 3 minutes. The bottom studies took a little longer, each shell between 5 to 15 minutes. 

Inktober52 & upcoming shows

 All caught up!

#22 Mountain: by Linda Weil©

And the new prompt for this week is: 

𝄗𝄗𝄗𝄗𝄗𝄗𝄗𝄗𝄗𝄗

Two local shows coming up soon - I will have works in both. 

Camberwell Art Show 2022

25th June to 3rd July 2022
First started in 1969, the Camberwell is one of Melbourne's oldest and most respected Rotary Shows. It's a big show, with lots and lots of works on display - so plan on spending a good few hours there. Information HERE

Moonee Valley Art Show 2022

St Bernard's College, Essendon West
9 & 10 July, Gala Opening July 8 at 7pm

Since its inception 10 years ago the Moonee Valley show has grown in size and prestige. Relocating this year to a newer, larger venue this show makes the trip across town worthwhile. Information HERE

Inktober52 catch up

Whew! I have really fallen behind the eight-ball with these Inktober52 drawings. No excuses, just plain lack of motivation really. But I sat down on Thursday and started from where I left off and now I only have this weeks to do, which is:

 #23 Mountain.

But until then, here are the last four:

#18: 'World' by Linda Weil ©- the Earth map is always shown with the Northern Hemisphere prominent. Just thought I'd show it the 'right' way up as seen from space. Australia in its proper ascendance. 

#19: 'Origin' by Linda Weil © The news out of the US over the past few weeks has been very sad and disturbing - which is what influenced this take on the prompt.

#20: 'Flower' by Linda Weil © For this week's class I set a Charcoal Reductive drawing of sunflowers as the exercise. As I had a few sunflowers left from the session I thought I would try them in ink.

#21: 'Mouse' by Linda Weil © This one was easier - one of my 'Mecha-Mice' in ink.

Good news!

All three of my submissions for the Camberwell Art show were selected. So look out for them there this year at: Camberwell 2022

As well, my little echidna sculpture will be shown at the National Awards Exhibition of Miniature Art, NSW. So for all my Sydney friends, or if you Victorians are travelling north, do drop in and visit this rather wonderful exhibition

Catch ya's later!

Nature Drawing

Just last week I had the great pleasure to lead a Nature Drawing Workshop with the Cranbourne Botanical Art Group who meet and work at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Cranbourne: RBGC  It was a very enjoyable day out - the weather was mild, somewhat overcast and the gardens were, as usual, beautiful. We did a lot of specimen drawing to begin with, mainly leaves that people had collected and brought with them as subjects. 

Demonstration drawing - specimen drawing:
Liquid Amber leaf using Staedtler Mars Karat color pencils in my new Hahnemuhle 190 gsm journal.
Linda Weil ©

After specimen drawing we ventured outside to do some on site sketching - first some close observation in graphite, then after lunch some color work on site using 'zoom in- zoom out' techniques. This style of drawing concentrates on seeing the plant/tree as a whole (zoom out) and then zooming in to detail observations of parts of the plant, like a seed pod or flower. Composition across a double page spread with appropriate notes or prose can work really well.

Prostrate Candlestick Banksia - on site drawing using Windsor Newton pan watercolors and Adele black pen detail and washed in my Escoda 200gsm journal.
Linda Weil ©

And I enjoyed doing these so much I worked on a few other specimen drawings over the last week or so:

Rose Hips: Inktense pencils washed with Adele pen details in Hahnemule journal. Linda Weil ©

Unknown autumn leaf: Inktense pencils washed with Adele pen details in Hahnemule journal. 
Linda Weil ©

It's always good fun to do a bit of journaling - no pressure to create a masterpiece drawing, just enjoy nature and respond to it on the page.

Inktober52! plus a friend's Open Studio

 Doing a bit of catching up at last! First up is #16, Sci Fi. This one was rather fun once I got into it. Very much influenced by old pulp covers of Asimov and Astounding! magazines.

#16 'Sci Fi' by Linda Weil©

Has anyone been to the Melbourne Museum lately and done the Dinosaur Walk? This bad boy is based on one of the fossils and images found there. A Tarbosaurus who could give a T-Rex a run for its money.

#17 'Dino' by Linda Weil©

And prompt #18 is 'World'. Another tricky one this week!

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My good friend Lisa O'Keefe is a very fine artist - she was just awarded Best In Show at the Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron Easter Art Show! And next weekend she will be part of the Peninsula Studio Trail being held on the Mornington peninsula. A great opportunity to see a wide selection of her work, talk to her about her work practice and see her in action. HERE

72 Raphael Cres. Frankston 3199