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Scraping the Iceberg, My Portrait of Erika – written by Mike Lamble

Written by Mike Lamble
In my last blog I stated ” no problems so far” but there was always the possibility of encountering something hidden I hadn’t noticed, this was the week I saw it for the first time.

I started to paint the shadow cast by the hair over the eyebrow and down the side of the face then I noticed the distance from the corner of the eye to the edge of the face was slightly too wide, it was looking at the space between the eye and the shadow it became evident there was too much space.

Probably no one would notice but I knew I had to change it which meant the whole length of the face on the right hand side as we look at it had to be narrowed then re-painted and blended into the existing paint, took a couple of hours to fix.

Not a disaster just a hassle which means I have to wait to let the paint dry for a few more weeks before I can start glazing the skin colour over the tone. Scrapping the Iceberg as it were.

Portrait Workshops
for Beginners

10am – 4pm Saturday
11th & 18th May 2013

Would you like to discover the art of portrait?

BOOK NOW! Download the flyer.

Please feel free to ask us if you have any questions about the workshops. Email: info[at]art-art.com.au

Ask Our Students – Erika Dollission (Mon 12-3pm)

“A sense of achievement, friendship, a good laugh, interesting talks, and above all a passion for art.”

Name: Erica Dollission
Occupation: Barrister and Solicitor (retired)
Joined NSA since: September 2008

NSA: What doodle / drawing / painting did you do in your early life that you were the most proud of? How old were you?

ERIKA: Never doodled.

NSA: Have you been always artistic / creative? if so, in what way?

ERIKA: Yes though I painted with words- published poet and writer.

NSA: What made you join NSA? Where did you hear/find about NSA?

ERIKA: My daughter bought me some lessons because I always noted the flower pots at spit junction and I wondered what it would be like.

NSA BUILDING FRONT

NSA: If you are allowed to have any famous painting in the world on your wall, what would it be and Why?

ERIKA: Mona Lisa I like her half smile.

NSA: What are you working on in the class right now and what would you like to achieve with your art within a year?

ERIKA: Still life I have called “Message in a Bottle” for fun. I continue to strive to be better . there are so many things that Mike shows us to make the painting that much better. It fascinates me.

“Message in a Bottle”

NSA: why do you take the class, or what do you get out of it?

ERIKA: There are a lot of things one gets out of the classes. A sense of achievement friendship, a good laugh, interesting talks, and above all a passion for art.

NSA: Finally, would you design a T-shirt for Mike to wear in the class?

mike_face
Mike said “Erika encompasses my whole reason for teaching, we all like to be proved right in her case she proves to all those who have said to me over the years they can’t draw and never will be able to, when I have said ‘ its a skill anyone can learn, its an urban myth its a talent you are born with.
Thank you Erika! she was your quintessential ‘rocket scientist’ so to speak as left brained dominant as anybody I have ever had the privilege to teach, my mantra to all my students is practice, practice what you have learned the results speak for themselves a wonderful attitude a great example to us all.”

Ako said “I admire Erika’s deligent attitudes towards her art. The other day she showed me her sketchbook(see images below) – she’s developed great habits drawing from the pictures in newspapers/magazines (you can often find the interesting shots in newspaper, can’t you?) It was well organized, she pasted the cut-out photos on one side and her drawings on the other side. Of course it always good to draw from life but she does it adding to the life drawing, oh boy, she IS a hard worker. ”

Would you like to improve your art skills hugely and set your mind focusing to achive your goal? If you are serious about your art, we highly recommend you join more than one class a week like Erika. Particularly Life Drawing (Mon 7-9pm) is almost a MUST for every artist.
For example, Erika Joins;

Draw & Paint – Monday 12-3pm
Life drawing – Monday 7-9pm
Draw & Paint – Wednesday 12-3pm
Draw & Paint – Friday 9.30am-12.30pm

As you see Erika’s improvement is not a luck, it’s a fruit of hardwork.

Please feel free to ask us if you have any questions about taking more than one class a week. Email: info[at]art-art.com.au / Phone: +61 (0)2 9968 1233 / Download Enrolment form

iPad Art “how did you do it?” (a demo video [1’34″/no-sound]) – written by Ako Lamble

Written by Ako Lamble

Hi Everyone,
Today, I’ll show you a small demo video that I quickly made this morning. I used Procreate app with my iPad which is my most favourite app at the moment.

You can see a few useful tools and functions being used in the video. I speeded up the drawing part (x8) so it might look a little busy but I thought one and half minute length was just long enough to keep your attention to see some of handy tools.

Now here is the procedure, the words in bold type are key points during the process.

choose a back ground colour (ocher)
draw on the first layer
use transform tool to change its size bigger to draw details
use smudge tool to make the busy lines smoother
use transform tool to change its size smaller and drew a frame around it
hide the layer before
drawing a book on the second layer
use air-brush tool to make a shade
show both layers
swap the first layer with the second layer before
use Transform tool to distort the shape of a drawing to fit in the book front cover

Didn’t you say Wow! when you saw in the video the picture was distorted to fit to the shape of front cover? It’s impossible to achieve this kind of trick with the traditional art materials.

I am going to mainly use Procreate app in my workshop this time because of the following fantastic tools;

Smudge tool: Much closer to the natural smudge feelings compare to other apps’
Transform tool: Change its scale and distort its shape

There are so many drawing apps out there, I’m sure you wonder which one is the best drawing app for you? You will end up with having a few selections of favourite apps and depends on its developer’s updates your most favourite will move from one to another. I was a big fan of Artrage app one stage then moved to Procreate a few months ago, but I’ve always kept my eye on Artrage and also other favourite apps I like and waiting for their significant updates that might bring me back to one of them again, that’s how it works.

ENROL NOW!

Weekly Classes for iPad Art (for All Levels)

10am – 12pm TUESDAY
1pm – 3pm TUESDAY
$330 for Term (10wks) / $35 for Casual

From Term2, we will start the weekly classes for iPad Art. Once you decided to start drawing with your iPad, we believe that you might have many questions to be answered and need instructions on a weekly bases, so come to the class with your well-charged-iPad, have fun and make your iPad a powerful art tool which you won’t want to be without!
DOWNLOAD ENROLMENT FORM

Suitable for;

Someone who knows how to draw but has never done digital art before.
Someone (may be a busy mum) who can’t be bothered to carry all those art materials back and forth to attend the art class.
Someone who has limited energy but would like to do something creative.
Someone who has ideas and wants to make their own picture book.
Someone who got an iPad but doesn’t know what to do with it other than checking emails/browsing websites.

Go to iPad Art Weekly Class Page >>

What has the Titanic got to do with Mike’s Portrait? – written by Mike Lamble

Written by Mike Lamble
In painting this portrait of Erika in the the way the Renaissance Masters would have approached it more or less so far without a hitch, this reminded me of the Titanic’s disastrous encounter with an iceberg, what I can hear you say! obscure it may be, stay with me dear readers you will get it in the end.
From the crows nest in the distance the iceberg didn’t look that big avoiding action was taken it appeared the ship had just scrapped by, Erika so far is progressing to my satisfaction, does she represent the Titanic in my little story you may ask? I hope not but the potential is certainly there, its all to do with the iceberg what’s hidden from view and time, any clearer? We often only see what’s on the surface of peoples lives the public face as humans we often do draw conclusions which are erroneous and judgemental the tip of an iceberg as it were.
What on earth has this got to do with my portrait of Erika? My students see me paint or draw from week to week often comment I make it look so easy, that’s the surface, it what’s hidden beneath that surface that counts, the years of struggle to survive in the early days as an illustrator trying to earn a living, after giving up the security and income of being studio manager at Saatchi and Saatchi in the UK, but I just had to draw and paint, the all night struggle to meet a deadline only to be told it’s not good enough we will have to find someone else who’s better and more experienced, the weekends practicing when your mates are going out having a good time, must keep studying this technique “how did he do it? now go away and practice it until you get it, that’s what the market wants.”
The times my guts were ripped out just like the (Titanic) out at the fear of having my work rejected when a kindly art director was prepared to give this new kid on the block a go “but you can’t charge us what Ken Fowler charges he’s so good”
I would take on any kind of work to keep me going as a freelance, pasting ads up with glue in any art studio that would have me because I was cheap, then go home and practice a technique the art director wanted for his latest ad campaign, Ken could do that picture in a day meet the deadline and have a life, Mike said ” I can do that” take three days and nights with hardly any sleep meet the deadline and have no life! I had to grow a hide as thick as an Elephant but had to keep going my work was my life it’s about the job I would tell myself not you, slowly at first I noticed clients would come back to me with the easy jobs, Ken got the glamorous ones with fantastic money, I didn’t care I was in, if I kept on doing the right thing I didn’t care about the money the art directors would lend me originals of Kens work I would take them home study how he did it then copy them, as I got better so the quality of work got better that’s all that mattered to me my whole motivation was to be the best, as time went on I superseded Ken and developed my own styles from what I had learned from other artists/ illustrators that many art directors admired and commissioned.

I still remember as though it was yesterday as one Titanic survivor lamented bits of ice scrapping through the open porthole window and gabbing at a few shards as it spilled onto the carpet. For me the shards of ice was the British Rail (as it was then) painting/illustration starting Friday morning delivering Saturday lunchtime to meet the deadline without a break not eating just drinking cups of tea to keep me going, I had to do if i wanted the job, they loved it many more commissions followed, was it worth it “you bet ya it was”………………. now do you get it?

Portrait Workshops

for Beginners

10am – 4pm Saturday
11th & 18th May 2013

Would you like to discover the art of portrait?

BOOK NOW! Download the flyer.

Please feel free to ask us if you have any questions about the workshops. Email: info[at]art-art.com.au

iPad Art “Where on earth Are You, Hunter?” – How did you do it? – written by Ako Lamble

Written by Ako Lamble

Hi Everyone,
Today, I’ll show and tell you how I’ve rescued and revived one of my unfinished paintings with the iPad. If you are like me, having a quite few collections of unfinished paintings in the corner of your room with dust on it. Lo and behold, finally you can save(or should I say “get rid of “) them! Here is my story.

All started from more than 10 years ago, not long after my cat, Hunter immigrated in the art school, I thought I’d lost Hunter because I couldn’t find him anywhere in the art school . Then I found him hiding in the fake fire place in the studio after long searching on that day, that experience made me draw a sketch using a biro on copy paper like this;

I’m not sure if you can see it clearly, it’s kind of a bird’s view over the art school building and I was at the front door (very centre) shouting “Hunter!” Hunter the black cat enters into the fire place (bottom right) climbs up the chimney and flys out over the roof. I put my imagination of “where Hunter might be” on the paper. I didn’t know what I would do with it, so just put it in my file and forgot about it for a next few years.

Around 2 years ago, I wanted to paint something on a big canvas then I dragged out my old sketch and painted it roughly on a very small canvas (25cm x 20cm) first.

Then worked on a big one (92cm x 92cm).

I forgot whatever the reason was, I stopped painting and left it how it was, it’s been on the art school wall for nearly 2years (abandoned and almost became a half dead painting).

The steps I took to rescue it;

Took a photo of my small rough painting with my iPad
Imported it into Procreate app.
used Smudge tool to smooth its colours and texture.
used layers, Eraser and Transform tool to Change the angle of roof (compare 1. and 2.).
used Several brush tools to change the lines, add the details (see the shape of the circle of lane 1. 2. 3.).
Imported it in Snapseed app to change the tone to darker (see 4.).

I thought it’s too dark so kept changing its tone with Snapseed app until getting the one I like (see 5.6.8.).
Sometimes it’s good to see it as a black & white so that you can clearly check its contrast and tone (see 7.).

There you are! I saved my unfinished painting and revived it. It took only a few days (a few hours for each day). I couldn’t finish it this quick if I painted on the canvas, the question is what do I do with the actual canvas with my unfinished painting on it… oh well I can still finish it by copying the one in my iPad (actually that’s a good way to use iPad to create the blue print version before working on the canvas, it’s a huge time saver!), but for me, I can’t be bothered… I prefer to get it printed on the canvas if I want it on my wall.

iPad Art Workshops for Beginners

10am – 4pm Saturday 23rd March

What you saw was just one of the examples of what you can do with your iPad. If you are interested in discovering your iPad as an art tool BOOK NOW! There are still a few spots available. Download the flyer. Please feel free to ask me if you have any questions about the workshops. Email: info[at]art-art.com.au

Ask Our Teacher – Stephen Dernocoure (Life Drawing Monday 7-9pm)

Name: Stephen Dernocoure
Teaching at NSA: Life drawing class (Monday 7-9pm)
Joined NSA since: 2008

NSA: What doodle / drawing / painting did you do in your early life that you were the most proud of? How old were you?
STEPHEN: Speaking truthfully I cannot think about art in this context. I am more desirous of reflecting on my development as moments observed, threaded upon a string of experience and no single drawing holds dominion over my desire to look, feel and wonder.

NSA: Have you been always artistic / creative? if so, in what way?
STEPHEN: Perhaps our being artistic and creative is really a way of life and I am inclined to look for these qualities in many areas. Survival as an artist in daily life is certainly a creative proposition as is our quest to distill feelings and ideas out of paint, words or film.

NSA: What made you join NSA? Where did you hear/find about NSA?
STEPHEN: I became a teacher and a learner at NSA simply because Mike offered me the delightful opportunity to be an instructor in life drawing.

NSA: If you are allowed to have any famous painting in the world on your wall, what would it be and Why?
STEPHEN: Again I am not inclined to think of art in this context. The choice would overwhelm me. I prefer to explore the world of art consign the experiences to heart and mind and then give my attention to this strange and immense world that surrounds me, minute by minute.

NSA: What are you working on your creative activities right now and what would you like to achieve with your art within a year?
STEPHEN: When I am asked about my current projects an easy answer is not available because my art is not related to a project theme. However the one single subject that continues to enthral me is our human condition and this can morph into many patterns and processes. My work as an artist in medical contexts provides me with immense fuel for heart, mind and creativity.

NSA: why do you teach art, or what do you get out of it?
STEPHEN: Teaching is always a condition of learning for me. One can reverse this statement and it remains valid. However, love doing is vital the process.

NSA: Finally, would you design a T-shirt for Mike to wear in the class?
STEPHEN: This is from my sketchings and words for Mike.

mike lamble face Mike said “Reading Stephens words was a good reminder why I asked him to join the Northshore School of Art. Many years ago I attended his life drawing class at another college and loved his way of teaching and interaction with his students, being a teacher myself for more than twenty years I was acutely aware of this, and always wanting the best for my students. decided to share my life drawing class with Stephen I knew we would complement each others way of teaching,broaden my students experience perception and appreciation of art in general Life Drawing in particular. ”

ako lamble face Ako said “I thought I should say something about Stephen. I am responsible for those 7questions to ask our students and teachers but I realised that Stephen had so many things to say which is so sophisticated and doesn’t fit in the questions I prepared. Damn! Don’t worry our dear readers, I asked Stephen to become a regular contributor to our blog, so you will see his sketches, art and words that is interesting and inspiring. I particularly adore his sketching habit. He always carries his sketch book and pen and draws people, landscapes and so forth. I believe that all of us should adapt this habit to be a better artist. Said enough, will show you the teaser sketches and words of Stephen.”

It is often asked when did you first start to draw? The answer given is so often unsatisfying.
Perhaps the question could be, when did drawing first see you?
Ah! I can answer that. It was in the luminous line drawn by a snail and in the lines on my fathers darker face drawn by the stylus of time.
We can draw when we are not drawing, that is when drawing first sees us.

– Stephen Dernocoure

Life Drawing Class for All Levels

7 – 9pm Mondays
$275 per Term (10wks)
$35 per Casual Class

Why don’t you join our Monday evening life drawing class? If you are not sure, try it out as casual first. Please feel free to ask us if you have any questions about the life drawing class. Email: info[at]art-art.com.au / Phone: +61 (0)2 9968 1233 / Download Enrolment form

Cartooning – written by Mike Lamble

FROM THE SUBLIME TO THE RIDICULOUS

mike_henry_100heights Written by Mike Lamble
I spent last Saturday working on a cartooning job as you can see the final draught before proceeding to finished drawing.

Quite a few of you have enquired about my advertised CARTOON WORKSHOPS so what I have advised is fill in the enrolment form drop it in to the appropriate holder next to the monitor on the notice board when I have enough students I will talk to you all about a date that suits. I have included a few cartoons from a book I illustrated a little while ago (below).

Sunday continued to work on Erika re-shaped the dress to create a sense of her breasts fitting underneath, or as I texted her that night “tweaked your boobs again to fit in the dress” much hilarity by return text, I do love this woman!

iPad Art “Lady with an ermine and Henry” – How did you do it? – written by Ako Lamble

Written by Ako Lamble

Hi Everyone,

Doesn’t Henry look good in her arm? Today, I’ll show and tell you how I ended up making this piece. If you are like me, often having a funny and crazy sudden idea then you want to quickly make it and show your friends to give a little bit of laugh, for that moment, your iPad serves you very well as a powerful art tool!

All started from here. Friday night last week, Henry was depressed because he ate something earlier which he shouldn’t have and became ill, also the torrential rain outside didn’t help his low mood. I called him “Henry, what are you doing?” and took a photo of his miserable look with my iPad which is this;

He often lays on the floor with awkward position, because he tried to look back towards me it created “S” shape body. I found the image quite interesting, I thought I could make this image into some painting. I imported it in Procreate app started smudging / painting over it which is this (approx 45min work);

I was not sure what kind of style of art I wanted for this, just played around. I use Snapseed app to change its tones when I need some inspirations for the piece i’m working on, these are the ones I tried ;

I liked these three variations (above).

When I looked at the picture (no. 2), something clicked in my mind.

Ah! It reminded me of the masterpiece – “Lady with an ermine” by Leonardo da Vinci”, I thought I could replace the ermine with Henry, what a good idea!

When I placed the trimmed Henry, i realised something was not right. The lighting! The masterpiece got the light from the right hand side, Henry got it from the left. So I flicked Henry over horizontally. The problem was solved.

Changing its scale, flicking over the image… This kind of tricks(functions) are so handy to create the collage. People have done it with Photoshop type of expensive software for years, but now anybody can do it easily with an app costed next to nothing.

After I flicked Henry over, I discovered that Henry and the ermine sat together very well so I decided to let them stay together instead of replacing one with another. I used the layers function to place Henry between her hand and the ermine, also used a few kinds of brushes to paint over Henry to match its colour and texture to the masterpiece.

One of the many things that I like about using iPad is you will never be stuck in the mistake mode, once you thought you made a mistake, that’s actually beginning of the new discoveries. Like I thought I made a mistake about its lighting but that had led to the nicer composition of the ermine and Henry staying together which I initially planned to replace one with another.

I bet even the genius Leonardo couldn’t have imagined that people several centuries in the future would mess about his masterpieces with the gadget so-called iPad ….. or could he?

iPad Art Workshops for Beginners

10am – 4pm Saturday 23rd March

The process of Oil painting: “Erika” #2 – written by Mike Lamble

Written by Mike Lamble
From the previous picture to this one I completed the neck, chest, and breasts, started to re-work the dress from the basic idea I put down at the start,when satisfied will move on to the hair, which will give plenty of time for the skin tones to dry before I start the long process of glazing the colour.

Ask our students – Genevieve Woodbridge (Tue 7-9pm)

“It’s almost like meditation for me.”

Name: Genevieve Woodbridge
Occupation: Physiotherapist
Joined NSA: Term 4 2011

NSA: What doodle / drawing / painting did you do in your early life that you were the most proud of? How old were you?

GENEVIEVE: Probably a drawing I did in art in year 7- it was a juxtaposition of a buddha’s head with some spoons. (a random combination I know but that is what juxtaposition is about!)

NSA: Have you been always artistic / creative? if so, in what way?

GENEVIEVE: I guess I have always been a bit creative- I loved art, crafty things and taking photos etc growing up. I did art through until year 12 in high school but did photography because I loved it and I also didn’t think I could paint very well.

NSA: What made you join NSA? Where did you hear/find about NSA?

GENEVIEVE: My Mum bought me a term of drawing classes for my birthday as I hadn’t really done anything “arty” since school. I didn’t think I would paint but I’m really enjoying it. I found NSA searching on the internet.

NSA: If you are allowed to have any famous painting in the world on your wall, what would it be and Why?

GENEVIEVE: Degas- La classe de danse (The Dancing class) c. 1873-75
I think his series of ballet dancers is so beautiful and the texture in the paint is so interesting to look at close up- it would be lovely to have hanging on your wall.

NSA: What are you working on in the class right now and what would you like to achieve with your art within a year?

GENEVIEVE: I just finished a painting of a sunset over a field. I wanted to do something where I could practice being a bit more free with the brush strokes. My painting before was of Loch Fyne in Scotland and the water took me a long time to get right so I wanted to do something that needed a bit less detail. I’m just about to start a new landscape of another bush scene at sunrise (I’m a bit obsessed with skies!). In terms of what I’d like to achieve I really just want to continue to build my skills and enjoy what I’m doing. Perhaps build up to a portrait but I think that will take a while!

NSA: why do you take the class, or what do you get out of it?

GENEVIEVE: I really enjoy coming to class- my job doesn’t have much of a creative outlet so this is great for that and I also find it really relaxing. It’s almost like meditation for me- I come home tired and realise I’ve spent the whole night not thinking about anything other than what I was doing in class.

NSA: Finally, would you design a T-shirt for Mike to wear in the class?

mike_face Mike said ” It was obvious from the first class Genevieve could draw but like so many of my students at some early stage chose a career that wasn’t conducive to being creative but was reasonably secure ( what is these days) so needed lots of drawing to blow the cobwebs off as it were,within a year she was asked to submit an oil painting in the art school exhibition at Mosman Art Gallery ”

iPad Art “Penguin” – How did you do it? – written by Ako Lamble

Written by Ako Lamble

Hi Everyone,

I would love to share another iPad Art I’ve created recently. If you think “Wow that’s an amazing painting, wish I could paint like that!”, well, believe or not, you can do it much easier than you think. I will show you how I did it … my little trick.

I love watching some good YouTube videos and the one below is one of them. Enjoy watching it first (2minutes11sec long).

then I stopped the video at the point of < 1’10” > which is this;

Now you know where the penguin came from, don’t you? Then I took a screenshot of it (if you don’t know how, watch the how to video)

I imported the penguin image into Procreate app, used the smudge tool to smudge (or you can say paint) over the photograph. As you see the original photo was the landscape shape but I made it the portrait shape by dragging the colour off the top and bottom part towards the edge of the screen.

To extend the blue sky part is easy, but you need to actually draw/paint the extra rocks on the bottom part.

I imported the image into Snapseed app and changed its tone. As you see, it created the strong contrast and bright colours. I didn’t mind that some of the rocks were darkened on the process to the point of so black because it’s a good place to sign.

I did a little touch up on the sky, then signed. There you are, it’s finished. That’s how I did it. Isn’t that incredibly easy?

This is just one of the examples of what you can do with your iPad. If you are interested in discovering the iPad as an art tool BOOK NOW! There are still a few spots available. Download the flyer. Please feel free to ask me if you have any questions about the workshops. Email: info[at]art-art.com.au

“I’m not a thief, just a smart-arse.”

The process of oil painting: “Erika” #1 – written by Mike Lamble

A wonderful weekend
‘DID THE OLD MASTERS CHEAT?’
Some of you may recall the last few years I have often mentioned from time to time my desire to do a workshop say on a Saturday morning showing how I believed the ‘Old Masters’ used optics to create their pantings and illustrated using Caravaggio as an example,which surprised many of you.
For two years on and off I have been messing about in the studio on a Saturdays with mirrors, lenses, blacking out the windows and turning the studio into a rather large Camera Obscura the later with limited success this Saturday was no exception.

but I was short of one piece of equipment until this weekend its called a ‘ Camera Lucida’ there are modern versions around I can get from overseas I wanted an old one the same design as was advertised in the 19th century, this has taken over two years to find, it will arrive by post this week, now at last after years of research I can draw all the threads together including hundreds of paintings, texts and diagrams and offer all my students a workshop which I hope will shock surprise and delight.

A few weeks ago I posted some pictures of Erika where I had started to paint her using the same process as the ‘Old Masters’ from the Renaissance I’ve had a ball painting her for the last two days What a weekend!

Looking forward to seeing you all this week
Mike.

Ask our students – Mark Braidwood (Tue 7-9pm)

Name: Mark Braidwood
Occupation: Doctor
Joined NSA: in 2004 & 2011

NSA: What doodle / drawing / painting did you do in your early life that you were the most proud of? How old were you?

MARK: a WWII aeroplane and I was about 12.

NSA: Have you been always artistic / creative? if so, in what way?

MARK: Nope. I don’t come from an artistic family and it’s been a slow awakening but a great journey.

NSA: What made you join NSA? Where did you hear/find about NSA?

MARK: I drove past it on a Bus and noticed the bright signage.

NSA: If you are allowed to have any famous painting in the world on your wall, what would it be?

MARK: Flaming June, by Frederick Lloyd Leighton.

NSA: What are you working on in the class right now and what would you like to achieve with your art within a year?

MARK: I’m painting some Magnolia’s for my Mum’s birthday. My goals are impressionist landscapes that make people feel a connection.

NSA: why do you take the class, or what do you get out of it?

MARK: I find the creative process like a form of meditation. It’s also very satisfying to have created something that you can appreciate later on.

NSA: Finally, would you design a T-shirt for Mike to wear in the class?

mike_face
Mike said ” I spotted almost from the first class Mark had great potential but was aware the demands of training to be a doctor would take him away from the art school for quite a time, having said that four years later he re-enrolled and again within two to three weeks it was like he had never been away. From my point of view I consider Mark to be a friend , we did many radio programes together he was the host me the guest once a week discussing Art particularly painting ,its place in history philosophical and religious meanings, content and style.

You can listen to one of the radio programs we did it together >> Click Here.

Mike painted for RNSH – community

To all our students

Doctor Mark Braidwood and Anne- Marie Curry representing the Royal North Shore Hospital receiving the the painting especially painted for the new multy million dollar hospital by Mike Lamble.

Oil painting: “Sunset over the Entrance”

Draw, Draw and Draw! – written by Mike Lamble

To all our students

How often have I encouraged you to draw, draw, draw, as much as you can. Ask yourself how much time do you waste sitting in front of the TV watching mindless rubbish that doesn’t feed your heart soul or creativity? then find yourself at art class feeling angry and frustrated because the task you have undertaken, I quote “isn’t working for me”.
I have lost count over the years how many times i’ve heard that one as though its something outside a students control, when in fact it is an internal process of taking responsibility to practice even if its ONLY an hour a week between classes.

In spite of the long Christmas and new years break, doing an awful lot of end of year maintenance, at the art school, attending a wedding of one of my former students in New Zealand (who I adore) I knew I was in desperate need to practice. Whatever I have achieved in the past as a professional artist and illustrator counts for nothing now or in the future, if I don’t practice , I have grown to love it for its own sake NOT A CHORE ! another thing I must do, tick the box.

So here are some examples of of what I have been working on:

A word or two about the painting of Erika , the idea came to me when she came to class with her hair down which put me in mind of Durer’s self portrait (but obviously she is better looking) I haven’t painted in the style of the ” old masters” for a few years the last time being when my agent asked me to paint the Mona Lisa by Da Vinci for an advertising agency in Sydney, this will take sometime to complete between classes, as it progresses will keep posting pictures on the website.

The soul of my art is to have as much pleasure as possible in giving pleasure, art is not just a skill, the hand, head and heart all work in concert,channeling feelings which the artist has experienced, that is why I keep being draw back to painting Lambs Valley every time I go it looks so different.

” THE TRUE ARTIST WILL LET HIS WIFE STARVE, HIS CHILDREN GO BARE FOOT, HIS MOTHER DRUDGE FOR A LIVING AT SEVENTY SOONER THAN WORK AT ANYTHING OTHER THAN HIS ART” George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Irish, Socialist, Writer, Dramatist, and Critic.

Go to the Flickr slide site of “Mike Sketching 201301”

Go to the Flickr slide site of “Mike Painting Landscape 201301”

News Letter December 2012: Our Annual Exhibition – written by Mike Lamble

mike lamble henry

To all our friends,

I’m so excited about our up and coming exhibition at the mosman art gallery ,which I hope will turn out to be an annual event.
Great location lovely people ,the art school has contributed thousands of dollars over the years in the form of sponsorship .
I have given quite a few talks and exhibited there since I founded the art school in 1999.
I chose works which I thought represented the extraordinary range of personalities and talent we have in the school, particularly from all you ex-‘rocket scientists’ who can rightfully claim you have become artists in your own right or as I promised at the time to turn you all into ‘loose women’ (that includes the men) 🙂

Mike Nov 2012

Please come to our Celebration Night!

Date: Saturday 1st December 2012
Time: 6:30pm
Venue: Mosman Art Gallery (Corner Art Gallery Way and Myahgah Road Mosman)
Simple drinks and snacks will be served.

The Exhibition Details

Date: Saturday 1st ~ Friday 7th December
Time: 10am ~ 5pm
Mosman Art Gallery Address: Corner Art Gallery Way and Myahgah Road Mosman

OUR ANNUAL EXHIBITION WILL START FROM SAT 1ST DECEMBER – announcement

Saturday 1st ~ Friday 7th December 2012

Our students’ art works will be exhibited at Mosman Art Gallery from Saturday 1st November.

Please come to our CELEBRATION NIGHT:
6.30PM SATURDAY 1 DECEMBER ( Simple Drinks and Snacks will be served )

We’ve launched our new designed website! – information

There are 4 ways that you can find an art class according to your needs.
Click the above image to see the larger one.

Our focus is for students

We’ve been planning and thinking about the new design of our website for a quite while, lots of ideas came and went in the bin. We won’t bore you by telling all the details.

However, the 3 categories of people we have thought of during this process has been;

Current students
Former students
New visitors to our website (potential new students)

:: For current students ::

Showing their artworks to the world on the net: this is something we value, because we are so proud of our students’ hard work and their achievements to show them off to the world! We are still gathering the images of their works, and will upload them soon.
Reminding our students of the date of a new term and upcoming workshops: Unfortunately some students miss the first art class or new workshop, so we will remind our students beforehand of when it starts through the newsletter, blog, Facebook or Twitter .
Tips and ideas: From many different sources including our students come great ideas we can learn from. We would love to share these with you.

:: For former students ::

The demands of life often force them to give up on their art classes. WE WANT YOU BACK! to continue growing the seeds of your creativity you planted in the past.

Keep in touch through Facebook and Twitter.
Notice of upcoming workshops: Who knows one day you might have an odd free day that allows you to join one of our workshops.
News -what’s happening in the Art school and the Art world in general: though you are not ready to commit yourself to art activities yet, it might refresh you to just think about your Art. We can help you to nourish your desire until the right time.

:: For new visitors to our website (potential new students) ::

We get enquiries from overseas as well as our local area, some would buy our art class as a gift for one of their relatives or friends in Sydney.

Thanks to the internet and social networking, the world is getting smaller than ever so we are aware of needs from arty people who live outside Sydney. We would love to hear from you wherever you are!

Of course we do appreciate all enquiries from our neighbourhood as well, we believe that our renewed website would help you to find an art class easily which suites you the best. Please feel free to talk to us over the phone [+61 (0)2 9968 1233] if you need to have a-human-to-human-conversation!

Getting to know you and keep in touch through Facebook and Twitter.
Notice of the new term and upcoming workshops: You might be one of those who, on and off, have browsed art classes on the net with the idea to brush up your skills and become motivated, good for you! Let us help you when the timing and your situation becomes right.
Gift certificate: we are working on setting it up on our website, meanwhile you can email us (info[at]art-art.com.au) to ask for a gift certificate from us or for your convenience you can purchase the selective classes through our affiliate retail Redballoon straight away ;
- Draw and Paint Class for a term: this is our main stream class.
- Life Drawing Class for a term: all artists need to keep up their drawing skills from a live model. This is a must.

Being flexible according to our students’ needs

The good thing about a website is you can change the contents easily and as often as you like which you cannot achieve with the printed media. The website as a promotional media works very well for us, because the size of our art school allows us to be flexible in helping students towards achieving their goals.

We’ve always paid attention to our students’ needs at the time and arranged extra new workshops whilst the curriculum (weekly classes) remains set as the dates posted. Let us hear what you would like to achieve in your Art that will give us a chance to create new workshops.

The bottom line is …

You will get all the information we mentioned above if you connect with us through our newsletters, blog, Facebook or Twitter. It’s so nice to create an art community and support each other. When you become one of the best artists in the world, you will still need fellow artists around you to keep you motivated. That’s what an Art community is all about.

Mike’s story is on the local newspaper(bordermail.com.au) in Wodonga. April 2012

[The following article is from the newspaper of the photo]

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Artist shows his thanks in paint

By KATE COUGHLAN

[Picture]

Helen Lindner said the painting Mike Lamble donated to the Wodonga hospital was “absolutely beautiful’ and greatly appreciated by staff.

Picture: TARA ASHWORTH

A SYDNEY artist has repaid Wodonga hospital staff for saving his life by donating an art work.

Mike Lamble, from Mosman, experienced s dull ache in his abdomen during a holiday on the Great Ocean Road and decided to return home.

But he was in such excruciating pain in Wodonga that he couldn’t get out of the car.

His wife rushed him to hospital where he had emergency surgery for severe appendicitis.

“I’m an artist and teacher and the only way I could express my appreciation was to give some thing of me to this wonderful hospital and these wonderful people,” Mr Lamble said yesterday.

“It’s for their amazing care, warmth and life saving treatment.”

“They were actually caring for me. It was amazing.”

Mr Lamble said he was seen by a doctor five minutes after he arrived at the emergency department on December 27.

“Three hours later,I was in the operating theatre. How good is that?” he said.

Mr Lamble said the seriousness of his condition had only struck him after the operation.

“The surgeon, who’ d come in off Christmas leave, came to see me a day after and he said: ‘when we opened you up you were an awful mess’,” Mr Lamble said.

“One of the nurses told me I wouldn’t have made it home to Sydney.”

Mr Lamble’s oil painting of Lambs Valley, in the Hunter Valley, will hang in either the reception area or ward where he was treated.

“I want people to know how wonderful these doctors and nurses are,” Mr Lamble said.

Associate nurse manager of the surgical unit Helen Lindner said the donation was a welcome surprise.

“The painting is absolutely beautiful,” she said.

“It’s a real surprise, and especially nice after a busy Easter period.

“It’s very special to have someone recognise our work. It doesn’t happen very often and that’ s why it’s extra special.”