My most recent painting
" Rainbow Passion"

acrylic on

 stretched canvas

24"x24"

My latest step-by-step pastel flower demonstration.  AUSTRALIAN DECORATIVE PAINTING & FINE ART magazine Published in Vol 19 No11 available in all good newsagents May/June 2012

BEACH BRUMBY

Added the final touches to the brumby on the beach oil painting today.

Painting title has now changed from
 "Beautiful Day at Inskip"
 to

"Beach Brumby"

Thought the foreground needed something added . . . . a friend suggested a brumby . . . found this photo I had taken of a brumby on the way to Rainbow Beach earlier this year . . . .

BEAUTIFUL DAY AT INSKIP STEP 6

Worked on the foreground today. More of the previous yellows for the sand and combinations of the blues from the sky and Mars Violet for the grass & it's shadows.

Added some details to the waves with more cloud mixtures & white.

BEAUIFUL DAY AT INSKIP STEP 5

Added the sea with Ultramarine, Cobalt, Ptalo Blue & Viridian plus a dash of Mars Violet along the horizon.
Waves are undercoated with previousl cloud grey mixtures then titanium white.

BEAUTIFUL DAY AT INSKIP STEP 4

Moving down to the bottom of the canvas with a combiation of Naples Yellow Raw Sienna & Yellow Ochre to fill in the sand.....

BEAUTIFUL DAY AT INSKIP STEP 3

Added touches of raw sienna into the clouds as well as touches of  straight indian red and mars violet.....very subtle though and well blended.
Then the distant shores, and the top section if finished.

BEAUTIFUL DAY AT INSKIP STEP 2

The clouds are a combination of the 2 previous blues mixed with mars violet & indian red to make the grey areas, titanium white for the lights.

BEAUTIFUL DAY AT INSKIP STEP 1

First step - mask off the horizon line. Then covered the canvas with titanium white.

Next added the blue sky with a combination of cobalt blue & ultramarine blue.

Saw an inspiring photo posted on facebook by my  friend Sharon on the weekend.

Just had to paint it!

KOOKABURRA ON CALICO BAG

Learn to Paint an Australian Icon

with my step-by-step project of 

KOOKABURRA ON CALICO

 in the latest edition of

AUSTRALIAN FINE ART & DECORATIVE PAINTING

Magazine

Vol 19 No 8

Available March 2012

in all good newsagents

BREAKING WAVES at RAINBOW BEACH

Breaking Waves at Rainbow Beach

oil 24"x48"

Getting totally hooked on seascapes now. Just finished this one last week and already itching to start on another......

SUN SEA & SKY 4 WEEK WORKSHOP

SUN SEA & SKY

(in OILS OR ACRYLIC)

4 WEEK PAINTING WORKSHOP

$150 (paid in advance) or $40 per lesson

BYO materials (available for purchase)

materials list provided at registration

bookings essential $10 deposit

10am - 12 noon

THURSDAYS

2nd 9th 16th 23rd February 2012

4 easy skill building exercises to learn the skills you need to master sky & sea scapes

Learn to mix all the colours you need from red, yellow, blue & white.

Step-by-step instruction.

Each lesson is specially created to complete your painting in 2 hours to ensure you stay enthused from beginning to end.

SPECIAL CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY ART LESSONS

SPECIAL CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY ART LESSONS

                             MONDAY         19th December
                             TUESDAY        20th December
                             WEDNESDAY  21st December
                             THURSDAY     22nd December
                              FRIDAY            23rd December

10.30 am - 11.30 am

$15 per class or

$60 for the week (paid in advance)

suit ages 8 and over

ALL MATERIALS SUPPLIED

KIM LEANNE'S ART

31 MARY ST GYMPIE

book 5483 9866

FROSTY THE SNOWMAN

LEARN TO PAINT
A SNOWMAN
MONDAY 19th December
10.30am - 11.30 am
Kim Leanne's ART
31 Mary St Gympie

CHRISTMAS TREE

LEARN TO PAINT A CHRISTMAS TREE
TUESDAY 20th December
10.30am - 1130 am
Kim Leanne's ART
31 Mary St Gympie

CHRISTMAS CANDLE

LEARN TO PAINT A CHRISTMAS CANDLE

WEDNESDAY
 21st December
1030am - 1130 am
Kim Leanne's ART
31 Mary St GYMPIE

SANTA

LEARN TO PAINT THIS PICTURE

THURSDAY 22nd December 10.30 am

Kim Leanne's ART

31 Mary St GYMPIE

CHRISTMAS TEDDY

PAINT THIS PICTURE

FRIDAY 23rd December 10.30am

Kim Leanne's ART

31 Mary St GYMPIE

1st PLACE "GOLDRUSH COLOURING COMPETITION"

AMY DAVIS won 1st PRIZE in

Kim Leanne's Goldrush Colouring Competition

8"x10" Canvas 4 Paintbrushes & 12 Set Acrylic Paint

2nd PLACE "GOLDRUSH COLOURING COMPETITION"

RUBY won 2nd PRIZE in

Kim Leanne's Goldrush Colouring Competition

A4 Visual Art Diary & 12 Set of Soft Pastels

3rd PLACE "GOLDRUSH COLOURING COMPETITION"

Phillip Kahler won 3rd PRIZE in the

Kim Leanne's Goldrush Colouring Competition

A5 Visual Art Diary & Set of 6 Soft Pastels

HELICONIA in pastel

My Pastel Heliconia is featured in this months

AUSTRALIAN FINE ART &DECORATIVE PAINTING

magazine Vol 19 No5 available in your newsagent now

as a step-by-step project.

The picture above was painted from the reference photo in the magazine.

Published alongside the project are step-by-step photos of a plein air study I painted of the same flower.

colouring competition

Here is a copy of the Goldrush Colouring Competition for you to print out if you missed out at the Goldrush Parade.

Get colouring kids ........ competition closes 30th November 2011.......cut off age is 12 years old .......there will be a surprise gift for everyone who enters.

Sunrise

Some days it really pays to take the camera with you on your early morning walk.

.....these photos will be a useful reference next time I get the urge to paint a sunrise...

PASTEL WATERLILY

    Welcome Spring with a Pastel Flower Project   

featured as a step-by-step lesson demonstration in

AUSTRALIAN DECORATIVE PAINTING & FINE ART

magazine Vol 19 No 2 available in your newsagent September 2011

PINK ROSE soft pastel

MR MAJESTIC

STEP-BY-STEP

 instructions for my darling little rooster in soft pastel.

AUSTRALIAN FINE ART & DECORATIVE PAINTING

Vol 19 No 1 available in your newsagents August 2011

LION HEAD WALL FOUNTAIN WATERCOLOUR PLEIN AIR

MARY STREET REVIVAL

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mary-St-Revival/202048073174647
Not a lot of activity on this blog lately.
 My spare energy is being directed into gathering ideas and motivated people with the focus of reviving the main street of Gympie. Check out the Mary Street Revival page and get involved.



GYMPIE HILLS

Winsor & Newton Acrylic applied in watercolour technique

BOYS AT THE CREEK

BOYS AT THE CREEK

was painted with Winsor & Newton Acrylic on a canvas board 11"x14"

The background was executed entirely with a painting knife 

 the boys were then added with a brush.

SPLASH !

SPLASH !

was executed with Winsor & Newton Acrylic using only Burnt Sienna, Pthalo Green and Titanium White. I did introduce a touch of ultramarine blue into the water about half way through the job, but that was mostly covered with more pthalo green.

IMPRESSION SUNRISE

Recently I decided to trial a new Artists' Acrylic manufactured by Winsor & Newton.

"IMPRESSION SUNRISE" is the result of my 1st dabble with these new paints.

Hailed to be the most scientifically advanced acrylic colour available offering a revolutionary and unique advancement in acrylic paint manufacture.

Features include:

• Virtually No Colour Shift from Wet to Dry
• New Transparent Binder for Exceptional Colour Brilliance
• Unparalleled percentage of Single Pigment Colours
• Outstanding Richness, Intensity & Depth of Colour

Well I can honestly say it is a pleasure to paint with. Lately I have favoured working with oils and pastels for the main reason that I have been doing work which required a lot of blending. These new acrylics have an extended open time and a lovely smooth texture making them ideal for blending.

If your would like an acrylic that feels more like an oil I would recommend you give them a try.

(By the way, I am not being paid to say all this)  ....but hey.... if anyone from Winsor & Newton happens to read this blog post  ...  let it be known ... I am available for promotions... ;o)

Black Swan

I love black paper!

This swan was painted (drawn if you prefer) from a snapshot taken at the Gympie Duck ponds. The photo was pretty ordinary, but once the background was eliminated I think it made quite a nice little portrait. All it took was a black & white pastel pencil a couple of reds for the beak, browns for the eye and an extra pale blue soft pastel for the background.

Pastel Poppett

This month  (Vol 18 No 11)

 "AUSTRALIAN FINE ART & DECORATIVE PAINTING"

magazine  features a step by step guide for this cute little puppy portrait. The entire picture was created with just a black, white & brown pastel pencil and a stick of white soft pastel.

PASTEL PALOMINO PORTRAIT FINE ART MAGAZINE FEATURE

This months issue (Vol 18 No 10) of

AUSTRALIAN FINE ART AND DECORATIVE PAINTING

 features a  comprehensive step by step project guide,

 which shows all the materials I used

and process I followed to complete this 

Pastel Palomino Portrait.

RAINBOW COMMOTION

Life has been busy lately with setting up the ART4EVA network and meeting some magazine commission deadlines.
Rainbow Commotion was recently featured in Artist's Palette magazine issue 96 as a demonstration article.
It is available in the newsagents this month. Grab a copy if you would like to see the development of, and inspirations behind this painting.
Over the coming months I should have some pastel lessons published in Fine Art and Decorative painting magazine. Next month will be a step by step Palomino Portrait.
The ART4EVA gallery now contains over 70 artworks from a variety of different artists.
To view the current artwork click here.

NEW ARTIST NETWORK ART4EVA

  *   ATTENTION ALL LOVERS OF ART    *

Do you have some artwork you would like to share on the web?

Would you like to share your art, ideas and inspirations with other likeminded people?

 Would you like to have your work critiqued or critique the work of others?

Would you like to have your very own free ART web page and blogspace?

If you answer YES to any of these questions then ART4EVA is for you!

visit ART4EVA     or           sign up now and get started

MEMBERSHIP IS FREE

ART 4 EVA New Social Site "FOR ARTISTS WHO WILL NEVER GIVE UP"

Watercolour Heliconia

This beautiful exotic flower is in a part of my garden where it is rarely seen. I just couldn't bring myself to pick it so on the weekend I took my easel down to the garden....

COUNTRY MORNING steps.wmv

COUNTRY MORNING final step - adding the tail

Finally .....  I decided that, even though it wasn't visible in my original reference photo,  the cows tail should be added to close the composition. Every other photo I had from that morning had the tail hanging straight down so it was not difficult to place it in the picture.

COUNTRY MORNING polish the bucket and add a 3rd hen

I felt the composition could fit in 1 more hen to really set the scene and convey that friendly country atmosphere. The furthermost hen from the reference photo became my foreground lead in character. There was not much detail showing in the reference photo but that was actually ideal for the part I need her to play. Although her head is clearly turned back towards the viewer, I don't feel she is calling attention to herself but almost inviting company.
The bucket also was in need of a polish if it was to appear clean enough to receive milk. A handle and reflections were added.
The shirt extension was softened with a eraser to blur it into the background.
A simple lighting and shadow effect on the ground helps to maintain the central focus.

COUNTRY MORNING hen detail

Detail was added to the hens. Much of the shadow effect on the white hen was achieved by simply rubbing the white pastel off with my finger to allow the paper colour to show through.
Although the hens are very much in the foreground, and so quite large, their details have been kept fairly vague so as to not draw undue attention. They are not main characters but simply support props to set the scene.

With the addition of the hens I decided that the shirt needed to be extended to the other side of the picture to maintain balance.

COUNTRY MORNING hen reference photo

My reference photo for the hens.

COUNTRY MORNING blocking in the hens

After reviewing the composition I decided the bottom looked empty. It needed more chooks to set the scene and give that real country atmosphere. I had to be careful though, I didn't want these additions to have too much detail or they would compete with the portrait for attention.
Back in my photo library I found a photo of 3 hens  that was just right for the job.
It took a couple of attempts to get the positioning just right. My first position I decided was too close to the rooster so I erased them and moved them back a pace. ( you will notice the patch of chest missing on the rooster )
That is the beauty of working on quality paper - if you are not happy you can erase and rework at any time.

COUNTRY MORNING refining the likness

Work continued on the rooster, gradually adding details to the feathers. Attention was also given to refining the likeness of the portrait, bit by bit, making slight adjustments to the main features: the shading on the nose ..... the teeth and corner of the mouth..... corners of the eye....contours of the ear....as well as the positioning of the strongest highlights on the cheek, nose, chin and ear.

COUNTRY MORNING blending rooster adding hair and face details

The rooster colours were finger blended into the paper. More details were gradually added and blended in turn.
Then I returned my attention to the face and hair. Skin tones were built up to form the contours of the face. Highlights were added to the hair to indicated waves and curls.
Details were added to the udder. The back section was kept fairly plain, the closer to the face, the more detail and sharpness.