Marieke Dench – Free Encaustic Painting Demo May 2nd 2015

We were lucky enough to have Melbourne artist, Marieke Dench here at 420 Johnston Street, giving one of her inspiring encaustics demonstrations. Marieke’s work is ideal to show off the incredibly high pigment load in r&f paints, as she uses colour in such a beautiful way. Marieke explained the basic principles of encaustic, how to…

Mateja Simenko – Free Watercolour Demo March 12th 2015

Mateja has a comprehensive understanding of water colour, and her knowledge allows her to work with total spontaneity and lightness. Likewise this demo was filled with information, presented in the most accessible way. I had quite a few “’Äha!!’” moments as Mateja explained exactly why better materials actually do produce better results, as paints, brushes…

Watercolour Art Revolution Arrives In Brisbane!

Free Try Me! Demonstration. Come along and find out more about water colour art revolution   Where: Chapman & Bailey Brisbane, 14 Byres Street, Newstead QLD 4006 When: 11.00am – 1pm Thursday 19th February Professional Water Colour Sticks Combining colour vibrancy with versatility, Winsor & Newton new Professional Water Colour Sticks offer you the opportunity to…

So Excited About Our New Da Vinci Budget Synthetic Art Brushes!

Most of us know and love (or have coveted) Da Vinci artist brushes; there is simply no-one that makes a bigger range, of more finely crafted, specialised brushes than Da Vinci, not anywhere. Mark Chapman (our resident Chapman & Bailey art materials maestro) was a guest at the Da Vinci factory in Nuremburg, Germany, in…

Trent Walter – Great Art Tips for Screen Printing on paper with Matisse Acrylic paints

The advantage of using Matisse Acrylic paint to print with instead of commercial screen printing inks, is that it dries a lot slower, and washes out a lot more easily. Matisse paints have a high pigment load and are cost effective. Trent asked me to make a couple of stencils by sticking adhesive vinyl on…

Adam Lee – Getting The Balance In Art

I was struck by how many times during this demo Adam talked about getting different elements in balance. He talked about the process of water colour painting as being partly about trying to control the paint, and then also just letting it do what it wants to do. He said that he likes his own…

Eddy Parritt – Maritime Oil Painting Demo : I never stick to what you’re supposed to do, and I never have

Eddy always paints ships and boats. He has been painting the same thing for 30 years, every time it works out differently. This takes away the problem of choosing a subject, and frees him up to enjoy the process. Eddy uses off cuts of Huon pine as the support for his work. It’s a sustainable,…

Renee Cosgrave – Great advdice on tackling painting projects that may seem overwhelming in scale

Renee’s small oil paintings have such a spontaneous, unself-conscious freedom about them, it was very interesting to see how thorough research and organisation are essential to transferring those qualities onto a huge scale in her murals. Renee gave us a lot of practical information about how to prepare a brick wall for painting a permanent…

John Nixon masking tape demo – You need good tape to get a good line

John was extremely generous in demonstrating his own particular ‘recipe’ for making a painting. He had great advice for organising your practice. As an artist, the materials you use are those of your choice, and they should be materials that will do what you want them to do. You need good tape to get a…

Alasdair McLuckie – Bead weaving with canvas

Alasdair demonstrated glass bead weaving. The technique is complex and requires a lot of planning, attention to detail, feeling for the material, and spatial awareness.  It was lovely to hear Al talk about how he had learnt the skill from his father, in the same way that knowledge would have been passed down in the…

Pastel Portrait Demo with Gabrielle Moxey

  Gabrielle creates portraits in pastels which are completely different to what you usually see.  She uses dynamic mark making, and builds up layer upon layer of colour to create a dense yet  animated surface. Gabrielle began by talking about the supports she uses.  She uses paper primed with pastel primer.  Schmincke pastel primer comes…