Artists Back to Basics

Artists Back to Basics is an entry level magazine for all artists. From setting up a studio to what easel to choose it’s a must for all artists. Featuring the latest in news, reviews and products from the art world as well as exhibition previews and reviews

A History of Pastels

Materials and Equipment – Part 2

Artists’ Brushes • The application of paint onto substrates is one of the most basic processes in making art … and there are countless ways of doing it. Take a look at what some of Australia’s most prominent art suppliers have to offer from their ranges of painting tools.

Wildlife Art • Australian native birds are a mainstay for this man who is passionate about painting wildlife. For as long as he can remember, he has always painted and drawn birds and animals.

Purple Swamp Hens • Some mischievous ‘local characters’ were selected as subjects for this watercolour work which displays the artist’s mastery of his chosen medium.

Elena Parashko Gallery • Impressive art galleries are located all over this country, hosting and promoting the works of Australia’s diverse exponents of art. Artist’s Back to Basics magazine showcases a broad selection of these venues. In this Issue, we focus on the unusual Elena Parashko Gallery in suburban Sydney.

Drawing & Painting An Abalone (Paua) Shell • Mollusk – Bivalve Gastropod

True Conservationist • Efforts to conserve and understand marine environments have led this artist to use art to promote their conservation. He also uses marine environments to develop his oil painting style.

Green Turtle on Ribbon Reef • This oil painter adopted the marine environment as a subject because of its strangeness, its atmospheric qualities, its abundance of weird and wonderful wildlife, and its need for understanding.

All in the Preparation • “You’ll never do a great or even a particularly good drawing on rubbishy paper but it’s most definitely great stuff to loosen up on…”

Beyond Paradise

Brush Strokes • Yay! This time we are going to do a little painting, and disguise our exercises in it. We are going to do a very simple landscape. For the purposes of this exercise we will break the painting down into different sections. This will show the different effects that can be created, using a paintbrush in different ways.

Essential Storage Ideas Works on Paper • It’s a fact that people who make art tend to have far more ‘stuff’ than those who don’t.

I Can’t Draw a Straight Line • “Just as a chef has to learn the technique of using a knife safely, so do we need to learn a number of techniques for each of our tools. For each technique, we have unlimited options – that’s what makes art so versatile and so much fun.”