Janie George: Insistent Colour

Janie George won Andrew Torr’s Choice Award in Jackson’s Art Prize this year with her work Pine Cone. In this interview, she discusses her practice of writing to help realise an idea, the perfection of indecision, and turning to ceramics to slow her down. Above image: Janie in her studio     Josephine: Could you tell us about your artistic background? Janie: I owe a lot to my mother who was very good at making things and had a good sense of style. We were a large family and had little money. Everything was pretty much handmade and hand-grown. She taught me how to sew, cook, and garden. She also bought me a sketchbook to record the wild flowers that I found. That experience of drawing to identify and know things was the beginning for me. I still draw things gathered from the fields. I was lucky in my art college experience; it was a more formal time, but people were pretty nurturing and kind. Although I paint now, I studied printmaking at college and lithography in particular. It was how I learnt to be very precise about colour. After college, I had longish periods without a studio. However, when …

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Blending Techniques in Oil, Acrylic, Pencil, Pastel, Charcoal, Watercolour, and Ink

In this article I explore the technique of blending, referring to examples from Sfumato paintings in the Renaissance, through to Symbolist pastel drawings. Followed by practical demonstrations for blending in a variety of mediums – oil, acrylic, pencils, soft and oil pastel, charcoal, watercolour, and ink – and give tips for achieving a seamless finish. Articles in the Painting Techniques Series define the meaning and context of art making processes and give practical tutorials on how to work with them.     Blending Techniques in Oil, Acrylic, Pencil, Pastel, Charcoal, Watercolour, and Ink   Definition Blending refers to the mixing towards, or transition between, two or more different colours or values, to create a smooth gradient between them. A successfully blended area will have a consistent, melded-together finish, without any hard edges, lines, or random marks.   What is the Effect of Blending? The visual effect of blending may help to achieve realism, or simply add a pleasing gradient to an artwork. Whether a work is naturalistic or abstract, areas of blending often provide a sense of depth, be it blended tone across a glass on a table or blending between bright colours. It’s a technique that’s doable in all …

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