After my recent comments about getting out of your comfort zone I decided it was time to walk the walk. So I enrolled myself in a week long workshop in Armidale, NSW with my friend Barry McCann- an extremely talented artist and a great teacher. (check out mccannfineart.net.au). This was going to be a big personal challenge - acrylic paints which are new to me and the theme of "Animals in action"! What an amazing week it turned out to be . On the first day we tackled an Australian honey eater, a tiny wee bird with a long beak who flies like a humming bird. While we were painting from the reference photo a honey eater appeared in the bush outside the window! Next up was the thoroughbred stallion from the stud down the road, and the final subject was this lion - who had recently killed his unfortunate mate and attacked a zookeeper. I think I've managed to capture his attitude....
The aim of the workshop was to learn to portray animal movement. On the first day I thought that I'd bitten off more than I could chew. I surprised myself by being able to tackle each subject and eventually paint them the way I wanted to . The methods that Barry taught me are going to be be incredibly useful in my work in both watercolour and oil, just a whole new way of looking at the world.
So even if you are an established artist , don't be afraid to go off and find someone who can teach you new skills to help you paint the world as you see it.
The aim of the workshop was to learn to portray animal movement. On the first day I thought that I'd bitten off more than I could chew. I surprised myself by being able to tackle each subject and eventually paint them the way I wanted to . The methods that Barry taught me are going to be be incredibly useful in my work in both watercolour and oil, just a whole new way of looking at the world.
So even if you are an established artist , don't be afraid to go off and find someone who can teach you new skills to help you paint the world as you see it.
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