Getting or finding a space is not that easy however even if it is a small corner in a room that is already a big step forward. And why is it so important to have a dedicated space to practice your painting? Yes it is important because you will need to practice your art without any distractions, and when I say distractions I am not only referring to those from other family members but also from the simple fact that when you feel like in the mood to paint you will want to find all the tools that you need ready to start painting. This is important especially knowing that time is limited and hence if you find half an hour free to paint you do not want to waste half of it setting up and then packing again when finished. This will eventually kill your mood and inspiration.

If you are very limited in space a small table in a corner of a room will be good enough to at least practice your art regularly. The most important is to have the essential needs with you and these are:

1. An vertical easel to place your painting surface on.
2. A space to hold your palette, brushes and paints
3. Sufficient light preferable similar to daylight.

It is very important to have the palette located either directly in front of you or else slightly to the side but without having to turn too much to reach. I usually use another easel to hold my palette so that it is also in a vertical position to avoid a lot of glare from the light, Recently I also installed a monitor on one side of the easel onto which I can see my reference photos, when I am using references. If working on a still life I will want my easel to sit next to the still life itself maximum distance not more than a meter and a half. On one side of the easel I have a table with all other tools I need while painting including brushes, palette knives etc. 

Lighting should be located high up almost just above (but at the front) of the canvas. Never have your light source coming from the back as this will result in glare on your painting and also you will cast a shadow on the remaining of the canvas. Ideal lighting should have a color temperature of 5000 - 5500 kelvin (k) and so be neutral in color. Working in yellowish light can seriously affect the colors that you mix for your painting.

​In other areas of the studio I have shelves with materials and media that I use for painting, framing and still life props. I have a small storage for canvases, shelves for drying canvases and a table where I do varnishing and other tasks from time to time. I also have a space where I can photograph artwork.

Artists usually look at pigments not only as a color but also for its qualities and characteristics. One of the main characteristics that distinguishes paints is transparency. There are opaque, semi-transparent and transparent paints. This information can be found on any label of artist grade paint, whether these are oils, acrylics or watercolor. 

Transparent paints are those consisting of pigments that allow light to pass through them and hence they can be used to build up layers of color using a technique known as glazing. Most of the paints old masters used to have available were transparent paints and that is why most of their paintings were done using glazing. 

Transparent paint also recedes and hence it is good to use if you want to create distance or the illusion of a glow in the sky. On the other hand opaque paints appear to be closer to you and when used together one can get a good sense of distance and perspective.

Although transparent these paints usually have a very strong staining color.

Here are some examples of transparent paints:
Yellows: Indian yellow, Australian red gold (AS)
Reds: Alizarin Crimson, Genuine Rose Madder, Permanent rose
Blue:  Pthalocyanine Blue
Green:  Pthalocyanine green, Viridian
Browns: Transparent red oxide

It seems to be logical that in order to produce a good product (in our case a painting) that not only looks good from the artistic perspective but also lasts longer, one needs to know the quality of materials being used as well as what one is able to do with them. It is the same like saying that you want to play a piano but you do not have an idea of the sounds of each note. This is very important when it comes to selling artwork and you want to build up a reputation with clients. When going to the art store you might become more confused and lost in the ever increasing amount of products for sale and if you become over excited you might end up buying and spending money on things that either you do not need or else that are not of a good quality

Personally I give importance to primarily two things, the surface on what I paint and paints. As a surface I always prefer to use either cotton canvas or linen. Both of these need to be primed with a good quality primer. Most of commercial ready made canvases found in the stores are primed with what is known as "acrylic gesso" which most people think that it is gesso, however in reality it is not. This is simply an acrylic polymer and it might work well for painting with acrylics but it is not ideal to work with oils on it.  Real gesso consists of a glue such as rabbit-skin glue, chalk and other materials. Sometimes you will encounter problems like the paint seems to dry up on a badly prepared canvas or as if the the brush doesn't want to move on it. To avoid these problems you have two options, one is to buy oil primed canvases or else to re-prime it with an oil primer. The best oil primers are those based on lead, and it is the best because lead is flexible when dry and hence does not become brittle. It is also important to know that most of the commercial canvas panels have a life-time of approximately 20 years, so these might be good if you are a student and want to practice but not as good if you want to sell your work and want it to last.

The best way I found for myself to ensure quality of my paintings while at the same time enjoying the painting process is to prepare my own surfaces. By this I mean that I stretch my own canvases and preparing my own canvas boards. Most of the time I use linen that is primed for oils, to use for my landscape paintings. The good quality of the surface is nice to work on and allows me to be more creative in my techniques. To prepare canvas boards I usually use MDF board and PVA (archival grade) to stick the material. 

Good quality paints must also be of a priority if you want your work to last and also if you want to avoid more frustration when painting. Painting is already quite a difficult process leading to a lot of frustration and obviously we do not want to continue adding more difficulties by using low quality paints and surfaces. When it comes to paints, always buy artist quality grade and avoid buying student grade. Artist quality paints have more pigment in them and hence they are more intense and in the long run more economical then buying cheaper options. Always check the label and make sure that you have a pigment code (example: PB29) and an ASTM. If these two are not there so it means that paint is not of a good quality. Look at the lightfastness and make sure that you will have ASTM 1 or maximum 2. Paints that are not lightfast will fade within couple of years sometimes even months. A pigment that fades very quickly that is commonly used and that it is very expensive is alizarin crimson. It is still sold because there is demand for it as artists usually are not aware of these characteristics and they only look at the color and not the actual quality of the pigment. Permanent crimson was a recent improvement on the original crimson and it is permanent (Lightfast ASTM 1) as its name implies. You do not need to buy the most expensive brands to start with but at least start with an artist quality paint. Also you do not need to buy a lot of colors, you can easily work using a limited palette. For example the following palette will work well for most applications: Titanium white, cadmium yellow light, permanent crimson, ultramarine blue, phthalo blue, burnt umber and cadmium scarlet. If you want to paint landscapes you can add yellow ochre, Indian yellow, burnt sienna and Naple's yellow. 

Oil paints and even more acrylic paints, tend to darken with time and this is something that no one can do anything about it. Both natural and artificial lighting affect colour and hence it is very important to advise the buyer of your work about these issues and not to hang the painting exposed to direct sunlight or in places with high humidity.

For today's short talk I chose the subject of light and color. Why are these two so important for artists and non artists alike? Color is all around us. As humans we associate different colors with moods and we also have our own favorite colors. We are also lucky that we can see a range of colors with our eyes or better to say with our brains. I am saying this because our eyes are only able to detect red, green and blue in the visible spectrum. The rest of the colors are only interpreted by our brain and hence we do not see them with our eyes.

What is color? To start with color in itself does not exist. Isaac Newton in 1700's described how white light coming from the sun contains all colors of the spectrum as seen in a rainbow. We also know that white light contains other components that our eyes are not able to detect but other animals and insects might also be able to see, such as ultraviolet (UV) or infrared. We see a colored object as red because the surface of that object is reflecting red light into our eyes after being struck by white light. That same object absorbs all the other colors. The colors that our eyes capture are red, green and blue (RGB) same as used in colored TVs and monitors. So we see yellow because our minds create yellow by combining red and green together and yellow happens to be in between these two colors even in the rainbow. The same is cyan, it is a combination of blue and green. The strangest color is actually magenta, because it does not even exist in the rainbow, but it comes out when combining blue and red light. 

We are able to see colored objects only thanks to the presence of white light from the sun or any other light source. We cannot see objects in full color if we do not have light, like at night. In this case we can only see shades of grey, unless the object is really close to you and you have some degree of light

So how does this concerns us as artists? Understanding color and light is always a challenge for artists when they come to paint an illusion of light using paints. Throughout the time artists, and now a days paint manufacturers, always struggled to discover new pigments that can be used to create various light effects in a painting. It is a challenge because we want to reproduce an illusion of light using a material (paint) that actually does not give off light in itself but on the contrary it absorbs white light and reflects only a portion of it. 
 
Here we come to the famous color theory. In the old school we were always taught that the three primary colors are yellow, red and blue. However with the advance in science and a better understanding of light, we now know that this is not completely correct. We now know that we can have different primary colors for paints and for light itself. If we had to take the three primaries of light, red green and blue and try to use them to mix up paint we will end up with different colors to those obtained when mixing light together. If we had to mix green with red paint we will end up getting something close to black instead of yellow, as we get when mixing light. So it will be wise if we take the products of mixing light i.e. yellow, cyan and magenta and use these as primaries when mixing paint. This is known as subtractive color mixing and is now used by modern computer printers to generate every possible color using a system known as CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black). Because one cannot mix magenta and cyan out of paint, these two colors are also very difficult to produce as pigments and hence not all manufacturers are able to produce them as a pure color.

In my classes I try to emphasize the importance to understand the basic concepts of color in order to be able to mix colors efficiently. My aim is always to try to teach students how to see color in everything and the only way to get your brain trained to see color is by observation from real objects. To paint realistically one needs to train him/her self to see color and not perceive it.​

White Paint
 
For artists white is one of the colors that is used all the time, since it is needed to mix the various tints in a painting and to alter the value, thus adjusting of how light and dark we want a color to be. A lot of artists use it to highlight bright areas in a painting, however sometimes obtaining very unsatisfactory results. We need to look at white paint not only as being white in color but also at its characteristics as a paint. What I mean is we need to understand the physical properties of these pigments and why when we go to the art store we find different whites on their shelves that all look white in color. 

Titanium White: This is the most commonly used whites that is relatively cheap in price. It consists of pigment white 6 (PW6) that is an inorganic synthetic opaque titanium dioxide. It is considered to be non-toxic and slow drying compatible with most vehicles including oil, acrylic, alkyde and pastel. It is the most opaque of all whites and its high tinting strength can be a disadvantage when mixing with other colors especially transparent colors.

Zinc White: Made up of PW4 or zinc oxide, that is less opaque than titanium. This kind of white has less tendency to change in color when compared to titanium however it can become very brittle and susceptible to crack. So because of this reason it is not advised to use zinc white as the primary white in your paintings. Chinese white in watercolors is actually zinc white. A number of manufacturers are now producing tubes consisting of a combination of these two kinds of white sometimes suspended in safflower oil instead of linseed that has a less tendency to yellow with time.

Flake white: Also known as lead white consists of PW1 or lead carbonate mixed with lead hydroxide. This is the most expensive kind of white, also notoriously known for its toxicity. However it is not more toxic than any cadmium paint. One needs to keep in mind that intoxication can occur when inhaling or swallowing paint and not by absorption through the skin. This is the traditional white used by the old masters and by a large number of professional artist. It is the best white because although it can alter the value of a color it does not make the color look chalky, hence it retains the color strength. It is also more flexible when it dries on the canvas and hence less prone to crack.

Currently I am using Ultramarine blue made by Landgridge, and Australian owned and made product. I am very happy with Landgridge paints and media. They are of a very high quality and the price is reasonable. The pigment used to make up Ultramarine blue is PB29, which is a synthetic and inorganic pigment (sodium sulpho-silicate). As we know, the color that our eye captures is the reflected light after all other colors found in white light are absorbed by the pigment. Ultramarine blue is semi-transparent and is compatible with linseed and safflower oils, alkyde, acrylic, watercolor, gouache, tempera, pastel and casein. It is considered as non toxic.Its spectral properties when at full strength (mass tone), it absorbs most light and reflects around 5% in the Blue violet area, while a 20% tint has 80% reflectance in the violet blue region and around 70% red. 
Ultramarine blue was considered to be a warm blue, however in modern art books it is considered to be a cooler blue when compared to other blues such as Phthalo blue, cerulean etc. It is however one of the darkest blues and hence suitable for foreground work. 

My preferred method of painting for my landscapes is the indirect method which allows me to build up the painting in a number of layers from dark to light, while developing and adding more details as I progress. With experience I modified this approach in several ways. I usually start by blocking in the main shapes in blocks of color. This is done using paints diluted slightly with odourless mineral solvents such as Gamsol. I usually keep this layer of paint thick enough to cover the canvas but not too thick. During this stage I cover the whole canvas and also try to get my tonal values as much as possible right so that later on I will only need to fine tune them. This helps me a lot to get what I want because I will be able to compare one color and tone to the one next to it on the canvas itself rather then on the palette. When I am finished from this stage I will leave the painting to dry up at least overnight. 
 
When I start working on the second layer, I will start adding more form and detail to the various elements in the painting. At the same time I will be changing and modifying color and tone. Thicker paint will also be laid down on the previous layer. At this stage I will either use the paint directly from the tubes (if this flows good enough) or else I will add 25% linseed oil in Gamsol. 

I rarely go beyond the third layer. The third layer will only be applied to selected areas where I need to have more detail or highlighting. At this stage even the size of the brushes will get smaller. The oil paints will then be diluted with 50% linseed oil in Gamsol. 
 

One of the major problems being seen today is that art students are becoming more and more relying on printed media as a reference material to draw and paint from. The misconception is that photography presents a true interpretation of reality. However it is important to know and be aware that photography does not necessary show things as they really are especially where color is involved. Two of the major known problems of photography are two dark shadows and highlights seem to be too bright or even white.

As in the classical way of tuition and learning how to see and observe objects around us, classical school of arts as from centuries ago always used real objects as their reference material. The human eye is able to see so much detail and colour that no camera can capture. With your eye you will be able to see the various subtle changes in tone and colour even within shadows that for the cameral appear to be flat and so dark. Our eye is able to see the 3 dimentional detail of an object, something that is very important if we want to learn to draw and paint in a realistic way.

Ayer’s rock, or as it is known “Uluru” is not only one of Australia’s major landmarks but also it is one of the most sacred and important aboriginal sites. I travelled to the “Red Centre” of Australia in the Northern Territory couple of years ago, and visited some of the most beautiful places I’ve been to so far.

In this painting I wanted to show the vastness of the land with this massive sandstone monolith occupying a dominant position in the painting. A big sky will complement the subject.  

Above is one of the reference photos I used for this painting. I also prepared some sketches (to scale with the canvas) and then I chose the one that I liked most. Following that on my notebook I did some planning of the colors to use and of the various color values. To do this I use a value comparator which helps me a lot to judge my values correctly. My aim is that during the first phase of the painting I get as much as possible close to the end product in what has to do with values and color. Then when the canvas is entirely covered with paint I will be able to judge by comparing one color to the other next to it and adjust accordingly.

For myself the first stage of the painting is the most important one and most labour intensive. By the end of this stage I will need to have all the canvas covered with paint and establish shapes and form of most of the elements. I also try to get as close as possible to the right tones and values. By the end of this stage I want to see most of the painting only lacking detail and minor adjustments. Since the sky plays a very important role in this painting, I decided to start from the sky by blocking in the clouds leaving empty spaces for the sky. For the sky I usually use an old big brush so that I can literally scrub the paint all over. When painting the sky I try not to paint it as a solid object always keeping in mind that I am painting air. 

The next step was to block in the foreground and the rock itself. The main rock formation was painted using a mixture of cobalt/ultramarine blue, white and Quinacridone Magenta. Using a cloth I softened edges and lifted paint of to expose the underpaint while establishing where to place the highlights in the next step. 

The next stage was to start adding the details. Using various mixtures of white with burnt sienna, cadmium scarlet, alizarin, yellow ochre and ultramarine blue, I gave more form and detail to the ground at the front and middle parts of the painting, giving the impression of cracked ground washed away by water. More form, details and highlights were added to the trees and bushes all across the painting. Using a warm and cooler version of the base mixture described above the details and highlights were added to Ayer’s Rock. Reflected light from the sky was painted using a mixture of white with ultramarine blue.  
Gradually I always do some minor adjustments and add more details during the first couple of weeks until I see that there is nothing else to add.