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Acrylics Anonymous, Issue #046 -- Solving your (painting) problems since 2012. January 01, 2016 |
1st January 2016, issue 046 Passionate about painting with acrylics? Need a monthly fix chock full of inspiration? Need some help to take the pain out of your painting process? It's all here for you. Acrylics Anonymous. Zero elitism. Dive in. If you enjoy Acrylics Anonymous, and you know someone who might also enjoy it, you can share by forwarding it to your friends! If you are receiving this because a friend has forwarded this to you, and you would like to subscribe, click here! 
Every month, we will produce a Subscribers Only "sealed section". It could be a painting technique, a short video tip, or anything we can think of that we reckon you might enjoy. Please let us know what you think, we love your feedback! To leave comments, click here.
Get Some Goals! Write down a goal list for your artistic development this year (we’re all artists, of course, so you don’t have to stick to it). It could be something as fundamental as mastering a gradation, or as big as holding your first exhibition. But make some goals, write them down, stick them on the fridge - and then bury them under your kids’ artwork if you don’t fell inclined to follow through come February :) 
Information Overload! You may not realise how much information is online in our previous workshop notes. These are extensive notes from our workshops - an extremely valuable resource for your painting progression. Take some time in the holidays to peruse them at your leisure. Click here to find out more. Kagata Village News Mark has just come back from his latest jaunt to this tiny Solomon Islands village, and has a lot of wonderful progress to report on his school project, and much more. Click here to read on. 
Every month, we choose an Artist from our
forum
to showcase. You can even nominate someone if you like. (Or yourself!). To do this, check out the forum and then send us an email! It’s that easy. This month we’re focussed on Aussie artist Kurt McGregor. A fantastic use of colour and composition giving this gorgeous and striking, dynamic painting, “Chapati”. Excellent work Kurt! read more about Kurt's “Chapati”
Ruth Oosterman collaborates with her toddler to create some fabulous artworks! One way to get over painter’s block :) This one, “Mr Hare” - is amazing. Click here to see something quite different! Artspan Founder and Managing Director Eric Sparre believes that the Internet is “a great leveler of the playing field for artists”. This article is an interesting read on how to become a commercially viable artistic operation, remembering it’s just one man’s opinion of course. Click here for another opinion on how to do this art business stuff. If you have a link you like, please share it with us! You can contact us to let us know. Thank you! 
This is the section where you can "get your name in lights!" (well at least out there in the internet world!).If you have works in progress you would love to show off, or finished pieces you are particularly proud of, we would love to see them! We especially like to hear about the story behind the creation. This month’s painting comes from friend of the Lennox Arts Collective and “student” of Mark’s, Lyn Pool. From Lyn: “Hoi An Bike” The idea of this painting came following a visit to Hoi An, an enchanting, historic trading port in Vietnam. The ancient, ochre yellow buildings that line the river were water stained, cracked & scarred from the constant floods & each seemed to tell its own story. I really wanted to try & capture this. This was a very new subject for me & full of challenges but one that I really enjoyed. Hope you do too. I made a quick sketch to create some balance & perspective to my work & then mud mapped in my colours. I was unsure of how to create the mouldy, stained appearance of the building. Mark suggested that I splatter the acrylic paint on & roll it around the canvas. I initially found this to be very challenging as I’m more of a ‘neat’ painter & it felt like I had lost all control. But with his encouragement I persevered & found it to be quite fun … and messy. Note to self … next time cover floor with drop cloth. Next came my bike, and I discovered round shapes are not easy. I tried using several different bowls, plates & contemplated a wheel with a puncture. Those self doubts crept back into my mind! I needed a break from circles … onto a square shutter, much easier. Finally I added a few highlights, a few more details and (Mark’s suggestion again … I’m so lucky to be a student in his class!) I added the bike’s shadow to create a bit more depth. So here is my ‘punctureless’ Hoi An bike … I learnt so much along the way & am now onto my second Hoi An bike, more fun, more mess! Thanks for sharing your work Lyn! See, that wasn't so scary :)
Hope you enjoyed this issue of Acrylics Anonymous! If you have any suggestions, comments or feedback for the ezine or our site, please don't hesitate to contact us. Until next time, make sure you chuck some paint around! Cheers from Frankie & Mark :) |
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