An artist exploring line and colour.
Born in Australia, I have had no formal art training, however, I was fortunate to have access to a number of professional artists and mentors in artistic technique. Only later did I have time to develop my skills and spend more time trying new methods and media. Lately I have focused on Soft Pastels for their permanancy, brilliance and speed of application.
While pastels can be considered an "end media", in that there is no colour mixing as in oil or acrylic works, other than on surface when blending the pigments or layering, the resulting artworks offer vast variation in colour and depth.
The visual and optical affects that can be achieved can result in vibrant works, capturing scenes just as effectivly as in an oil painting.
While my larger works are typically worked on in the studio, I enjoy the challenge of Plein Air painting in pastel, or drawing in pen and adding watercolour or pastel highlights. The process of learning to capture colour and form in the field for me is a balance of frustration, joy and apprehension and the necessity for "speed".
Studio works are usually direct paintings, however sometimes the subject requires or "suggests" that an underpainting will add dimension and these are done using pastel and alcohol in order to render a tonal underpaintion. The main painting then follows.
Thank you for stopping by, I will attempt to respond to any queries in a timely fashion.