#billy

Sep 3, 2021
4 min

Can I learn to Paint?

IT IS POSSIBLE FOR YOU TO LEARN TO PAINT. YOU HAVE THE CAPACITY TO CREATE YOUR OWN BEAUTIFUL PAINTINGS. When I started I had no knowledge of painting, nor did I consider I had any artistic ability but the passion was there. My aim is to pass-i-on, the passion of painting because I know what learning to paint has given me over a lifetime. I have been teaching oil painting alongside practicing the craft for over 40 years. Learning to paint has given me an interesting life,

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Ellen Michel

Nov 2, 2020
3 min

Creating a Studio or Artist Space

How do you creating an artists space at home? So you are thinking about creating a studio or artist space at home for the artist in you. Is a dedicated, separate studio necessary? Consider, what type of art are you creating. Oil Painting needs ventilation; Art Murals need big spaces; Craft work needs a table. A separate building or room may not be necessary or even possible. But if you are taking your art seriously you at least need and want a dedicated artist space. A person

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Ellen Michel

Oct 26, 2020
3 min

Colour

The history of colour is long and complex. All of antiquity has played a part in the multi facets of its story. Colour straddles the scope of human culture science, art, religion. The Egyptians as far back as the 8th millennium used colour for healing, the Greek, Alcmaeon of Croton as early as 5th century BC recorded in his poetry the effects of colour and Romans, architect Vitruvius, refers to the mining of earth colours and the senator Seneca used the term in the 1st centur

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Ellen Michel

Oct 19, 2020
2 min

Portraiture

The announcement of the 2013 winner of the Archibald Prize led me to ask the question – what is portraiture? The artworks making up the finalists for that year seemed to differ quite dramatically, so what defines a portrait? Taking things back to basics, portraiture is any artistic representation of a person when the predominant features are the face and its expression, displaying a likeness, mood and personality of the subject. Whether the portrait is a painting, a photograp

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Ellen Michel

Sep 21, 2020
2 min

What is Impressionism? The Basics

If like me you struggle to make sense of all the different styles of painting, let’s take things back to basics. Starting with Impressionism, what is it and what sets it apart from other styles? Impressionism, is an art movement that began with a group of Paris based artists in the mid 1800’s. Art at the time was fairly traditional. Painting was conducted inside studios, was posed and very structured. Impressionism, on the other hand was often painted outdoors and captured

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An Ongoing Commentary on the Importance of Observation of Nature to Painting

Ellen Michel

Aug 31, 2020
4 min

An Ongoing Commentary on the Importance of Observation of Nature to Painting

The world loves Monet and his peers – bringing colour and light into the world – an optic sensation. Like all great movements, the French impressionist painters of the late 1800’s did not receive overnight acclaim when they first exhibited in Paris in 1874. Today, however, 150 years later, the French Impressionists painters are well loved and enjoy a universal fascination, capturing the imagination of viewers around the world like no other painting movement in history. Their

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Observation of Nature as a Basis for a Painters Training

Ellen Michel

Aug 24, 2020
3 min

Observation of Nature as a Basis for a Painters Training

Over the coming weeks I will explore the strong case for the observation of nature as a basis for a painters training. From Giotto to Pollock we will explore the implications of the observation of nature, its rendering and distillation. As a way of defining what nature is we can divide it into two parts The tactile world of all living and physically observable things together with the elements of their construction. The intangible emotional, spiritual, intellectual forces w

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Ellen Michel

Aug 17, 2020
2 min

The Importance of Under Painting

With all my years of teaching and painting experience, there still remains a fascination for the use of under painting. By under painting I mean the initial ‘wash’ of oil paint ( paint thinned to a watery consistency with pure turpentine) over the whole surface of the canvas. Regardless of the style of painting, whether it be realism, impressionism or abstraction under painting still has an effect on the end result of the painting. Finding the under painting. To explore the u

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Tips on how to choose a subject for your artwork.

Ellen Michel

Aug 10, 2020
2 min

Tips on how to choose a subject for your artwork.

Are you having trouble deciding on the subject for your next work of art? Feeling lost and uninspired? You’re not alone, it happens to every artist (even the professional) from time to time, but we have a few tips to help you through it. “The faculty of creating is never given to us all by itself. It always goes hand in hand with the gift of observation. The true creator may be recognised by his ability to find about him in the commonest and humblest thing, items worthy of no

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Ellen Michel

Aug 3, 2020
2 min

Photorealism

A few weeks ago we discussed Realism, as a style of art and now we take a look at a sub-branch of realism; photorealism. The term photorealism applies to paintings from the US, beginning in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. Photorealism is the style of painting which is based on the usage of cameras and photographs to gather the visual information and then creating a painting from those photographs which appears to be photographic. The use of photographs in photorealism was f

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Ellen Michel

Jul 28, 2020
2 min

Nature the Foundation for Painting

Nature the Foundation for Painting Continuing our lesson from last month we explore the strong case for the observation of nature as a basis for a painters training. From Giotto to Pollock we are exploring the implications of the observation of nature, its rendering and distillation. As a way of defining what nature is, we can divide it into two parts The tactile world of all living and physically observable things together with the elements of their construction. The intangi

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Ellen Michel

Jul 20, 2020
2 min

Cubism

Cubism is the first Abstract Art style that began between 1907 and 1911 and is said to have been invented by Pablo Picasso. Cubist paintings are not meant to be realistic or life like in any way. Nude Descending a Staircase, Marcel Duchamp Far removed from traditional art styles of the time, cubists created a new way of representing subjects. People and landscapes were painted using a combination of basic geometric shapes to show numerous views of the same image. The idea beh

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Ellen Michel

Jul 14, 2020
3 min

Abstract Art

Of all the genres and styles of art, I must admit to being the most confused by abstract art. Sometimes, I really am at a loss to see the difference between abstract artwork hanging on a gallery wall and that of a scrawling created by my daughter back in her kindergarten days (and a few of those do still hang, framed upon my walls). So, is it all just in the eye of the beholder or something we can learn to understand and appreciate? Like many things in life, perhaps knowledge

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Ellen Michel

Jul 6, 2020
1 min

Realism

Continuing on our quest to unravel and demystify the different styles of art we come to Realism. Generally defined, Realism is the attempt to represent a subject truthfully and without artificiality all the while avoiding the constrictions of art convention, as well as the use of exaggerated, exotic, supernatural or unrealistic elements. In a nut shell it’s the realistic and natural representation of people, places and objects in artwork. Realism is the polar opposite of Idea

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The health benefits of getting involved in painting

Ellen Michel

Jun 29, 2020
2 min

The health benefits of getting involved in painting

Painting can have a positive effect on your mind, body and spirit. The participation and involvement increases your focus and attention, on both the work you are creating and the beauty around you and from there the benefits flow. Many painters find that painting is a type of sanctuary in our fast-paced life. Perhaps this is due to the involvement, challenge and attention to detail that it requires. Some painters even report feeling no pain while painting. And the positive

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Ellen Michel

Jun 23, 2020
4 min

Rembrandt Smoke and Mirrors

Rembrandt – the master alchemist unconsciously playing with smoke and mirrors Releasing himself to the process of the paint and its qualities Releasing himself from dualism Re-linking to the connectedness of all things Receiving in grace the ultimate reward – finding the reflection of self in the eyes of the other. Having, in my last blog explored the psychology of Henri Toulouse Lautrec, I realised I had to go back to where the study of the inner life of a painter started

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Overcoming the Hurdles to Discover the Artist Within

Ellen Michel

Jun 8, 2020
2 min

Overcoming the Hurdles to Discover the Artist Within

Getting started at anything new can be daunting and starting out as an artist is no different. If you have the passion to create you should do all you can to release the artist within. Here are the most common hurdles we hear and our tips on how to overcome them. I have no time. Make it! Sounds simple, but this is the biggest challenge and yet the easiest hurdle to overcome. Enrol in classes and stick to them. Once you are attending classes each week, art becomes part of your

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Ellen Michel

Jun 1, 2020
2 min

What Type of Art do You Like?

On her Facebook page last week Ellen posed the question ‘What type of Art do you like? That turned out to be a tricky question for me. I like what I like, but what type is that? Taking things back to basics, particularly for those beginners amongst us, art is essentially determined by medium, form, genre and style. Medium or form: The substance or materials that the art is made from and the type of artwork itself, such as painting, drawing or sculpture and the form that the a

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The Artist-Painter As Illusionist and Trickster

Ellen Michel

May 26, 2020
3 min

The Artist-Painter As Illusionist and Trickster

Artists throughout the millennium have sought to illuminate their message through illusion and trickery of the eye and mind. The artist not only describes appearances of an observed reality onto a two dimensional surface of canvas or paper, but consciously or unconsciously reveals much of their inner world. Reading a painting, can be an illuminating experience, its like unpacking a coded messages or a meditation, where the viewer discovers their own psychological visions, as

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Ellen Michel

May 12, 2020
2 min

A New Year’s Resolution Idea

Every year I make a New Year’s resolution along these lines: get fit, become more organised, clean the kitchen floor every day regardless of how a feel or what else I have to do and each time I have failed to stick with it. Last year I even tried the new trend of making a micro-resolution, the idea being that since it was smaller I could stick with it. I decided to try putting my keys in the same place every day so I could easily find them on my way out again; I failed with t

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