 So excited about travelling and teaching. I just need to share this! I have been wanting to get to Cairns, Atherton Tableland, the Daintree, Barron Falls and Mission Beach for years. Now with the opportunity to teach in the Cairns hinterland I will be able to visit these places on the way. 
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I don't know about you but I had so much fun on this day. I would like to say a big thank you to all of you joining me on this day of painting. I was sooo nervous in the morning as I thought it was going to rain, but the Gods were looking down on us favourably all day. The cloud cover was perfect and created a more constant light. Below I will post some photos to show what amazing stuff was being created. It was really interesting having to strategize and paint into the lighting conditions that you thought you would be seeing later in the day. Rebecca was an amazing model as usual and managed to sit in that position for nearly 6 hours which is extraordinary. The paintings below are by Elliot Brown, Monica Batiste, Richard Washbourn, Annelie Dahlen and myself. It was great to sit along with painting friends and some brave students and work together. It is strange that it has taken Covid and social distancing for me to finally sit down in my parents garden and paint there. I have also included some information about the next few dates for the Drawing in the Wild tutored session and the Painting in the Wild untutored session below.   A few dates and events coming up.
Content for tutored session 25th July I will be looking at a lying down pose for Sylvia under the canopy of trees. We will look at measuring half way, blocking in and enveloping again and measuring by comparing shapes and angles. There will be folds and material to work with too. Content for tutored session 8 August This depends on the model but I'm thinking of making facial features the focus of this session. I have a model in mind but I will confirm at a later date. Next untutored Painting in the Wild Sunday 23rd August. A semi-clothed model: the wonderful Kathy Toka. Sorry no newsletter at the moment but here are some events. At present I am a little under the gun with starting my classes, so the newsletter may not be sent out until next week. But if you are looking for more events that may interest you, there is The Sculpting Jam starting 19th July in a new venue in Brisbane, Dust Temple's life drawing sessions starting in August, the Dean Cogle Portrait Prize in August, Learn to Draw on Aug 9 with Artable as well as the 5 day Tyalgum Art retreat at the end of August. I really recommend Hobie Porter and Lyn Diefenbach's classes as they are amazing teachers. I will be helping Cherry Hood's watercolor session in September so I might see you there and Andrew Bonneau is doing a Plein Air workshop in Brisbane. Really looking forward to another lovely day outside with the sounds of nature. Go to the life drawing page on my website for bookings. 6/22/2020 0 Comments We can now meet and do life drawing outdoors with physical distancing!! More sessions and a new one-off untutored session for those more advanced drawers and painters. Newsletter June and July 2020 Hey life drawing friends, Well, I was so pleased with the wonderful weather we had at our last life drawing out “in the wild” and I have been overwhelmed with the amount of interest there is in continuing this outdoor event, (or at least until the weather gets too hot). So, due to there being shade in this area for the next 2 months, we are going to do ‘Drawing in the Wild Sessions’ once a fortnight. There has also been an increasing number of people who would like to draw or paint on this lovely property untutored, so I have arranged a special one-off untutored all-day session next month too. Have a look at the dates and details below. Session 1 Drawing in the Wild (Tutored) 27 June 2020 9am to 1pm. $45 (There is the possibility to stay on to 3.30 untutored $70) When booking please make clear what date you are booking and the time period) As usual we will start with instruction, demo and practice before working with the model. I will be focusing on quick easy ways to measure and get proportion and how to block in by enveloping and thinking about positive and negative space. Working outdoors will present new challenges for all of us but it will be fun. You will need to be well equipped and appropriately dressed to protect yourself from the elements. If it rains, we will just have to go back to the old classroom (depending on indoor restrictions) or I will cancel or postpone the event. It is essential that you give me your mobile contact if you choose to participate, so that I can contact you if we have rain. Each easel(6) has a huge umbrella, but it may not protect us from wild rain. There are four seated spaces and we have now found 2 large umbrellas to cover them too. First come first serve. What should you bring? For this day, bring your graphite pencils or charcoal pencils. Some of you may want to experiment with pastels as the model will be surrounded by palm leaves and flowers. What is important is that you bring clips to help you keep your paper from flying around in case of a breeze. Sadly, due to Covid 19 restrictions, I will be unable to cater for food or drinks. For this reason, I recommend packing your food and snacks, a nice big thermos of your favourite hot beveridge (hot toddy?) and a bottle of water. Put sun cream and Aeroguard on your list too. Pre-class study for tutored session. I have posted here a couple of images (above) for thinking about how to start a figure drawing with enveloping and I will attach them to the email for you to copy and work from, in your own time. I found these exercises on an interesting website called “The Drawing Source”. I have attached the link with an introductory exercise you can do.https://www.thedrawingsource.com/step-by-step-figure-drawing.html Session 2: Drawing in the Wild (Untutored) July 11, 2020 9am till 3.30pm (45 min lunch break) $55 (includes cost of 6hrs with the model, easels, umbrellas and some seated places.) I have had several emails from you enquiring to join in the session untutored. For this reason, I have arranged this one-off untutored session. This also coincides with the border opening to NSW, so some of you who couldn’t participate can now come up hooray!!! If you are wanting to paint or draw with us, please write to me or phone me and I will gladly supply you with more information regarding materials, facilities, how to get there etc. I have space in the shade for only 10 participants (taking social distancing restrictions into consideration) and I have already 3 reserved, so please let me know as soon as possible. We do have a Bed and Breakfast on the property for anyone wishing to stay on the property for the weekend for those of you travelling far. Go to http//www.garasulodge.com.au for more information or email info@garasulodge.com.au What’s On Portrait Artist of the Week: Already quite a few of you are joining us on Sunday nights on Sky TV’s Facebook page for a live streaming draw or paint along session at 7pm. Its great fun. You get to watch and/or listen to an interview that is going on between a past winner of Sky Portrait Artist of the Year and well-known British celebrity. My favourite so far was with Noel Fielding a comedian and artist and you can see my interpretation on my Instagram. https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=249803216233359&ref=watch_permalink Hope I see you there and if not ….. keep drawing 😊 Kindest Regards, Manuela  6/9/2020 0 Comments Drawing in the Wild June 13th Henri Rosseau Newsletter June 2020 Hey life drawing friends, What a year hey? Well, I think we deserve a bit of a treat, don’t you?. Now that the restrictions for events outdoors are relaxing, I think it’s time to get out and draw outside. As of 1st June, up to 20 people can gather at a public event and my parents very kindly have agreed to let us use their huge garden to have Bobby pose for us in the wild in Mudgeeraba. What’s more, for the next 2 months there is shade in this area, so it’s now or never. I can fit 10 people in easily keeping to social distancing guidelines. So lets do it!  Drawing in the Wild
13th June 2020 9am to 1pm. As usual we will start with instruction, demo and practice dealing with composition before working with the model. Working outdoors will present new challenges for all of us but it will be fun. You will need to be well equipped and appropriately dressed to protect yourself from the elements. (Refer to photo) If it rains, we will just have to go back to the old classroom (depending on indoor restrictions) or I will cancel or postpone the event. It is essential that you give me your mobile contact if you choose to participate, so that I can contact you if we have rain. Each easel has a huge Bunnings umbrella, but it may not protect us from wild rain. Materials For this day, bring your graphite pencils or charcoal pencils. Some of you may want to experiment with pastels as Bobby will be surrounded by palm leaves and flowers. What is important is that you bring clips to help you keep your paper from flying around in case of a breeze. Sadly, due to Covid 19 restrictions, I will be unable to cater for food or drinks. For this reason, I recommend packing your food and snacks, a nice big thermos of your favourite hot Beveridge(hot toddy?) and a bottle of water. Put sun cream and aeroguard on your list too. Timetable options for the Long Pose We will have: 1. $45 for the half day (tutored) starting 9am and finishing at 1pm. 2. As being outdoors for more that 4 hours may be difficult for the model (and us), we won’t be able to do the extended untutored session this time. Pre-class study As composition will be an important part of dealing with the figure and her surroundings I have found a Youtube video that will remind you of some strategies that could help you deal with this workshop. The first video is quite basic and cute and gives you a taster of some strategies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwUZ3PivD6I. If you are looking for a higher level of study of composition have a look at Andrew Tischler’s video on the Golden Mean. It’s quite technical, so it’s not for the faint of heart. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wntIMD9wbR0 What’s On As you know nearly everything has been cancelled and artists have had to resort to working online to help them get through these difficult times. Atelier Art classes Brisbane are doing online life drawing classes on Wednesday and Thursday evenings info@atelierartclasses.com. Sylvia Beck is also doing untutored life drawing sessions from her home online. sylvia.k.beck@gmail.com Podcasts: John Dalton Gently does it…. If you are doing art work at home and you like chitter chat in the background while drawing, I really recommend John Dalton’s interviews of well-known Irish, British, American and some Aussie painters. It’s always interesting hearing about the painting routines, inspiration, the hardships, their techniques that some of these full-time practising artists have. https://www.johndalton.me Savvy Painter is another artist’s podcast and for an Australian one I recommend Talking with Painters. Life Drawing Sessions Don’t forget that there will be some great quick pose life drawing opportunities on the first, second and third Thursday at Rebecca Cunningham’s Life Drawing sessions at Dust Temple and HOTA https://www.lifedrawingsessions.com.au/ . Check out her website to see when she will commence. I think she will be starting again pretty soon. I hope to be at as many of those venues as possible to keep practising. Hope I see you there and if not ….. keep drawing 😊 Kindest Regards, Manuela 10/21/2018 0 Comments Hello there Well..... here it goes. My first post in my blog. It is amazing to me that for some reason I want to start a blog. I am by nature a visual person and words are really not my strength. Nevertheless, I have this need to share information and ideas and particularly with the community around where I live on the Gold Coast. I have noticed over the last 10 years of living here, in a city famous for beautiful weather and outdoor activities, an amazing development in visual arts around the coast and it's so exciting to see a stronger community growing. In my own way, I would like to be part of this growth and help nurture the already growing community.
So, this leads me to explain how I envision this blog. There are so many interesting art events occurring such as art workshops, life drawing sessions, exhibitions, retreats and more on the Coast, in Brisbane and further afield. I have also come across loads of interesting art training videos or podcasts that can enrich our creative lives. As visual artists we can spend so much time alone, and having support, ideas and a community can make such a difference to helping us stay motivated and continue creating, I intend to post or pass on articles, videos and links to hopefully help your day in the studio or at your day job when you really wish you were at home creating. I will also post my Long Pose Life Drawing Newsletters which go out to my students. These too have information on what’s going on that might interest. I would also like to share my experiences of workshops that you might want to do in the future. Watch this space and enjoy! 1/2/2018 1 Comment WELCOME TO MY BLOGIt is with absolute delight to welcome you to my new Website and welcome comments as a lively art based discussion and communication.
Manuela |
