Nature's Paint Box Issue 2 Sampler by Lesley Smitheringale Fine Art

Issue 2

Official eZine produced by Lesley Smitheringale Fine Art

AUS $4.00

JUNE 2009

SETTING UP A WEBSITE for newbies

SHOPPING CARTS sell your work on your website

RECOMMENDED WEBSITES, BOOKS & SOFTWARE for wildlife artists and photographers

FEATURED ARTIST Mike Moats

Photograher

AIR BRUSHING

STEP-BY-STEP Tutorial by JW Baker

Nature Journaling in Currumbin Valley, Australia

FEATURED ARTIST Ilse Kleyn’s stunning | Nature’s Paint Box eZine 2nd Issue wildlife in oils

Free Wallpapers with Calendar Dates

Interested in advertising, being a featured artist, guest writer or contributor in Nature’s Paint Box eZine? Drop me an e-mail with links to your product, site or work. lesley@lesley-smitheringale-fine-art.com

Welcome... ...to the second issue of the official Nature’s Paint Box eZine

produced and published by Lesley Smitheringale Fine Art.

Another jam packed issue to inspire and motivate you including; featured artists – Mike Moats, JW Baker and Ilse Kleyn who are experts in their chosen fields and share their outstanding artworks, my latest nature journaling bush walk in the Currumbin Valley, Queensland, Australia, how to go about setting up a website and selling your work using a shopping cart, learn the art of airbrushing and lots more... There are the regular features such as recommended books, blogs, websites and software to instuct, educate and inspire you in your artistic endeavours, Nature in the News plus a selection of International Art and Photography Exhibitions and Competitions for you to see and enter. You are always able to order back copies of earlier issues if you wish and remember that you save money by subscribing for a Year (4 eZines). At the end of the Year you will also be able to purchase all 4 eZines on a CD Rom which can be mailed out. This will be available in early December making it a perfect gift in time for Christmas. All are available at Lesley Smitheringale Fine Art Shop I hope you enjoy this Issue and I would love to hear your comments and suggestions for future issues.

Lesley Smitheringale

Lesley Smitheringale, Editor, Designer, Producer & Writer lesley@lesley-smitheringale-fine-art.com http://www.lesley-smitheringale-fine-art.com

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Cover artwork “Eshelokee” by JW Baker, “Snatch & Grab”, King Parrot by airbrushed acrylics onto hardwood panel Lesley Smitheringale

Recommended Books on page 29

Free Monthly Wallpapers on page 45

REGULARS in every issue 29 40

Blogs & Websites Recommended sites to inspire, educate and simply enjoy

Garden Guests Diary Nature journaling in Currumbin Valley by Lesley Smitheringale

Competitions Current Art, Craft and Photography Competitions

Software A review of Shopping Carts for your Website 3

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FEATURED ARTISTS

Books Recommended Books for wildlife artists, nature lovers, photographers and crafters

Exhibitions on wildlife, flora & fauna, nature & landscape Nature in the News Seen and heard in the news and blogosphere regarding art & wildlife.

Mike Moats - an American professional photographer who sees art in nature through a macro lens.

JW Baker – stunning airbrushed artworks of American indigenous wildlife onto handmade boards and denim fabric.

Ilse Kleyn – this talented South African artist’s love of horses and all God’s creatures.

FEATURED ARTISTS

Art in Nature by American photographer Mike Moats Page 11

Airbrushed Artworks by American artist JW Baker Page 20

“Greeting the First Snows of Winter” pastels by Baker © JW Eric Wilson

Oil Paintings by South African Artist Ilse Kleyn Page 36

TUTORIAL 24

The art of Airbrushing Step-by step guide

FREE DOWNLOADS 45

by JW Baker

MONTHLY WALLPAPERS with or without Calendar dates to download

ARTICLES & REVIEWS 41

HOW TO SET UP A WEBSITE for the complete newbie – a must read!

SHOPPING CARTS what is the best one for your website?SSSSSSSS

Learn about the medium, techniques and resources of this stunning art form.

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NATUREâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S PAINT BOX Official Ezine

by Lesley Smitheringale

NATURE DIARY

Such a beautiful bird and you can tell he is a youngster by the dark plumage above the eye and his head feathers were sort of fluffy. Here he is right in front of me, fanning his wings and drying them off.

He was constantly on the alert and looking around him and in the water the whole time then he seemed to be aware of my presence and looked straight at me but was not alarmed and continued to be on the lookout for food or predators by the Creek. After checking out potential predators, grooming and drying off his wings in the mid morning sun, my juvenile friend then flew down to the pond to find some tucker and he kept ducking and diving - this bird has the most peaceful, idyllic, undisturbed habitat and he is so lucky to be in this gorgeous rainforest environment with plentiful water, food and potential mates. I thoroughly enjoyed the quiet time we had together but I decided to leave him to find his food and move on in my rainforest walk. 8

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NATURE DIARY

by Lesley Smitheringale

There was a really strange insect There was appearing a really strange who kept alonginsect the who kept appearing along Creek and when I got closethe he Creek and I got close he seemed to when be “walking on water” seemed to be “walking on water” with very long legs. I have never with legs. I have seenvery this long insect before and did never seenathis insect and not have clue as tobefore what he did notbe. have clue as to what might Heacertainly he might be. certainly impressed meHe with his ability to impressed mewater with his ability to walk on the without walk on the water without disappearing below the surface disappearing below the surface so it piqued my interest and I so it piqued interest I to tried to getmy as close as Iand could tried to get as to close as I could him in order identify the to him in order to identify the critter. critter.

Nature Journal of the Water Strider After doing some research I discovered that this pond walking critter is a water strider or pond skater which is a very apt name considering what I saw him do and walk normally as if there was no water under his long legs! He seemed to float above the water and dart across it which was fascinating to witness. How lucky this fellow is to live by a Creek and to hunt insects in and near water without having to actually enter the water or view the water as an obstacle.

Nature Journal of the Common Eggfly Butterfly this female butterfly seemed intent on keeping me company for a while and posing for the odd moment or two.

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Mike Moats

Featured Artist Website www.tinylandscapes.com e-mail mgmoats@yahoo.com Job Title Professional Nature Photographer Country of Birth USA Country of Residence USA Available for commissions Yes

An interview with...

Mike Moats When did you realise that art had to be part of your life?

I started shooting in 2001 just for fun and it soon turned into an obsession. As I started to have some success with my images being published in photo magazines, I realized I had a natural ability to spot art in nature. In 2005 I began building a photography business that quickly turned full time.

What or who has inspired you throughout your artistic path?

I am completely self-taught and learned from experimenting and never really searched out other photographers for inspiration as I was getting all the inspiration from nature itself. I am very lucky to have inherited good artistic genes and naturally developed on

What is your favourite media and why have you chosen to work with these media and techniques?

My first 35mm camera and set of lenses came from eBay, but within a couple years I realized that the future of photography was digital, so made the move and bought my first digital camera and have loved it ever since. I started as a landscapes shooter but lost interest as I stood shoulder to shoulder to about forty other photographers shooting one of the icons in Yosemite. I needed images I could call my own that no one else had shot, and I found it in macro photography. All of the images I have in my portfolio only lasted for a short period of time before the environment erased them, and I was the only one to witness and photograph them, so they are my own personal images.

ÂŠ Mike Moats Wood Frog, Michigan

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NATURE’S PAINT BOX Official Ezine

Postcard Art 2009 Competition

COMPETITIONS

Previous Entries

The Curt Teich Postcard Archives at the Lake County Discovery Museum is pleased to announce a call for entries for the eighth biannual Postcard Art Competition and Exhibition (PACE). The juried competition celebrates the postcard as an art form and challenges artists, over age 18, to create original works of art in 4-by-6-inch postcard size. The deadline for submissions to the PACE competition is July 13, 2009. Art in any two-dimensional medium reproducible by photographic process is acceptable, as is three-dimensional work with a depth no greater than three-eighths of an inch. Winning artworks will be included in an exhibit that opens in October 2009 at the Lake County Discovery Museum, near Wauconda, and then travels to various local galleries and cultural institutions for approximately one year.

“Nesting Swan” by Jean Cook, 2nd Prize

Work will be judged on overall creativity, content, technical expertise and ease of reproduction within the postcard format. Cash prizes will be awarded to the top 12 entries. All entries are eligible to participate in an art sale in July 2009. The Lake County Discovery Museum’s Curt Teich Postcard Archives contains the world’s largest public collection of picture postcards and related materials, with catalogued images dating from 1893 to 1978 that relate to over 10,000 towns and cities in North America and more than 87 foreign countries. The Lake County Discovery Museum’s permanent exhibition “Bringing the World Home” showcases many of the Archives’ postcards.

“Lincoln Park” by Cindy Sartain

For more information and to download a prospectus and entry form visit www.lcfpd.org/pace.

“Blind Fawns” by Doug Travis 18

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Featured Artist Website www.wolfsongstudio.com or jwbaker.wolfsongstudio.com or www.jwbart.com e-mail jwb@jwbart.com or jwbaker@wolfsongstudio.com Job Title Artist Preferred Medium Oils Country of Birth Austria Country of Residence USA Available for Commissions Yes

An interview with...

JW Baker When did you realise that art had to be part of your life? I think to be accurate I would have to respond by saying it wasn’t until I was about 20 years old when I realised that art WAS a part of my life and had always been. I have been pushing paint around as my best way of expressing what was within that could not be expressed in words, for as long as I can remember - starting with finger-painting at age 4, and up until now with the airbrush and ‘hairy sticks’ - painting has always been my best form of communication. There has not been a time I can remember when I wasn’t painting in one medium or another...

What or who has inspired you throughout your artistic path? I was originally inspired by the comic book Artists of my childhood - Jack “The King” Kirby, Joe Kubert, Sam J Glanzman, and Barry Windsor-Smith. I taught myself to draw by emulating the artwork and styles created by these Artists. Frank Frazetta was also a major influence - his dynamic use of colour to make his statement is awe-inspiring! With regard to people I know personally, one of my inspirations (and someone I consider a mentor) is Artist Mike Segal. Another is Dee Morris (who I considered a brother) - Artist, Blacksmith, Navajo trained Silversmith, he was (is) a source of constant inspiration and very important in helping me find that connection between the art and it’s ‘spiritual’ connection to the source of pure potential of all possibility... Dee passed away in 2006 and I miss him greatly. My wife Sandi is another important inspiration on my “artistic path” in the ‘here and now’ - it is an unbelievable asset to have someone you trust that you can work along side of, to help you on your creative journey when you cannot be objective about your own work. Being that she is an extremely talented Artist in her own right, she is also a constant source of inspiration through the work she creates.

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“Mountain Lion – Guardian of the North”, water soluble oils on 12 x 16” commercial canvas ©JW Baker, Wolf Song Studio

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TUTORIAL

NATURE’S PAINT BOX Official Ezine

Airbrushing on to Denim Step-by- Step by JW Baker

13 Using a base of 10 drops Titanium White, I start with one drop of Burnt Sienna, and begin working in the area of the nose - as I continue I add a couple more drops of Red Oxide, then a couple drops Raw Umber, then one drop Dioxazine Purple and finally one drop Carbon Black until I have completely defined the nose with each successive color variation.

Having completed the ‘underpainting’ of the shadow values, I start with the overall fur color - using a mixture of 20 drops Titan Buff, 2 drops Hansa Yellow Medium, I cover all the fur areas that will end up the ‘tawny orange’ that we associate with Tigers. This mix is also used to begin to define the eyes.

To add further color intensity to the fur and begin to refine some of the fur texture, I use a mixture of 10 drops Raw Sienna, a couple drops Burnt Sienna and a drop of Raw Umber.

Using a base of 10 drops Raw Sienna, I add 2 drops Yellow Oxide and a few drops of Red Oxide, and 10 drops more of AB Medium to give a bit of transparency to the mix - with this mix I add more color intensity to certain areas of the fur, more depth to the eyes, and also a little more refinement to the nose.

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15 As I continue, I use a deeper value of the previous mixture, comprised of 20 drops Titan Buff, 2 drops Yellow Oxide and a drop Raw Umber - this is added only in the areas that are recessed; those areas which are perceptually further from the viewer, to create the illusion of depth and dimension - notice as these colors are layered over the darker under painting that the image begins to indeed look more like a Tiger. As before, this color is used to help define the depth of the eyes as well as adding a bit of highlight to the nose.

18 Using 8 drops Titanium White, and 2 drops Paynes Gray and a drop of Ultramarine Blue, I refine the white fur areas. Then I use Titan Buff and last Titanium White - with each successive layer of color, the illusion of individual stands of hair is reinforced; first with the Blue/Gray mix being that background areas, Titan Buff ‘mid-ground’ and Titanium White as the foreground and obvious single strands.

BOOKS

“Images from Birding” by Michael Warren A collection of paintings and sketches that document and describe many memorable observations, mostly form the last twenty years of birding around the British Isles and Eire. From patchworking to twitching, all these drawings and paintings illustrate a particular moment. Many of the captions are taken from Michael's field notes written at the time of the observation. The pictures reflect Michael's continuing delight and fascination with birds.

“Dance of the Brush” by Ralph Thompson Dance of the Brush spans some seven decades of the artistic life of Ralph Thompson, known for his illustrations of the Gerald Durrell books. This wonderful book chronicles Ralph’s early life through art colleges in Leeds and London and onto his artistic career after the Second World War. His text describes how he is always searching to improve his technique and the art of his painting. He recalls interesting episodes when travelling through Africa and India hunting wild animals with his sketchbook, many of whose pages are reproduced. We also see the finished studio work; some from his personal collection and others collected together, to be included in this celebration of one of the greats of wildlife art in the 20th century. His special affinity with and his ability to capture an animal’s personality gives his paintings and drawings an immediate appeal. Source: Langford Press UK

Source

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NATURE’S PAINT BOX Official Ezine

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EXHIBITIONS

Featured Artist Website http://www.artofkleyn.co.za e-mail ilse@artofkleyn.co.za Job Title Full-time Artist Preferred Medium Oils Country of Birth South Africa Country of Residence Cape Town, South Africa Available for Commissions Yes

An interview with...

Ilse Kleyn

When did you realise that art had to be part of your life? Since I can remember art was in my blood. My mother painted and I grew up with the smell of oil and turpentine in the air. My first painting was done when I was 16 years old. Must admit - I did not quite like painting. I only wanted to draw. Sketching and drawing I did my whole life. I loved doing pencil portraits. That is the reason why I joined the Police Force. I could draw while making a living. When I joined the Police 18 years ago, I worked at ID-Kitt, drawing wanted criminals, stolen goods, etc. It was only about 6 or 7 years ago that I really started to paint. I only did small painting for family and friend. Soon the paint bug bit me and I could not stop. After much prayer I decided to leave the Police after 16 years and paint full-time. August it will be 3 years now. What or who has inspired you throughout your artistic path? No - I can't say that I have someone who inspired me. I can say that I have people who believe in me and in doing so, made me realize the dream is not only a dream - with hard work it can be achieved. It was my husband who believed in me and took my work to galleries. I was too afraid to go with him. Today I get galleries phoning me asking to exhibit in their gallery. He stands out by far!!!

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Featured Artist

Ilse Kleyn

What are your goals as an artist and where would you like to see yourself in five years time? I have written a whole list of goals for myself in my diary last year. Here are some points: I want to be acknowledged as a great artist. I want to win a big art competition. I want to have a solo exhibition I want to be invited to exhibit overseas. Bottom line – successful in my career! (Difficult in a time when modern, contemporary, weird art is the “in” thing!)

Top right: ‘Zebra”, oil on canvas Below: “Zebra Eye”, oil on canvas

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NATURE’S PAINT BOX Official Ezine

ARTICLES & REVIEWS

HOW TO SET UP A WEBSITE for the complete newbie by Lesley Smitheringale Speaking personally, I found this whole website thing to be a very steep learning curve and being an artist was a curse in this instance as I was not happy just to accept the default templates. However, I managed to find an easier solution. I already had a blog using the free wordpresss.com site but it wasn’t enough and I knew that I wanted to be able to design and update my very own website without relying on a technician or anyone else when I wanted to update. I also knew that I wanted to sell work on my site and would need some kind of shopping cart. So began my endeavours of website creation with the aim of spending the least amount of money I could on the whole package. I investigated a lot of software, both free and paid and it really was through trial and lots of errors that I settled on a solution I am very happy with. This advice is for those of you who:know roughly what you want on your website, want to manage it by yourself re. uploading artworks, writing blog articles, selling items etc, have basic knowledge of word processing, FTP uploading, some photoshop knowledge, image resolution etc STEP 1. You need to purchase a domain name and a hosting provider. (These can usually be set up at the same time from the hosting provider). Your website or domain name is a bit like setting up a business and making sure that nobody else has already claimed this business name. Make sure that you are happy with your Website name as it can’t be changed once you have set it up. Go for the shortest name you can think of so that people will not have too much trouble remembering it and it’s easy to type into the web browser. You can always have another longer name on your banner. You need to consider if you want it to be .net or .com or .au etc. Hosting providers are everywhere but make sure that you shop around for the best deal depending on your requirements such as how much space you will need on your site (for images, videos etc), quality of support, the stats for the hosting provider’s down time – you don’t want your website to be “down” if you’re running a business, the set up costs and then montly/yearly costs. Make a list of what you really want out of your website, check out other websites to get a flavour of what you can do on your site then make it unique for YOU.ures

arranged on a global map, enjoy video playback, and more.

How to install/uninstall a program using Fantastico in cPanel

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Also, I wanted to be able to integrate a blog with my website and it was important to me that my hosting company could integrate Wordpress into the site. Fantastico offers a suite of software for instance that a lot of hosting providers will offer you. This is brilliant as you can then install a whole myriad of programmes on your site such as Wordpress, Shopping Carts, Joomla, etc without having to do this independently. Check that Fantastico is provided. Fantastico is a commercial script library that automates the installation of web applications to a website. Fantastico scripts are executed from the administration area of a website control panel such as cPanel. Fantastico's web site claims that they are installed on ten thousand servers, with a million users worldwide, which would make it the leading product of its type. cPanel is not difficult to use. Hosting providing is very competitive and some providers wave the set up cost or domain name cost but lock you in for 1 to 2 years. This is not a problem if you are happy with the provider and some of the cheapest deals around are about US$6.50 per month which is excellent value. You also have to renew your domain name every year for a fee. STEP 2. You’ve thought up the name of your website and you’ve picked a hosting company so you go for it and do the deal. Your hosting company has provided you with the domain name and space you need, but you are now faced with getting your website created to upload to your server for everyone to see! Scary stuff but it doesn’t have to be.

NATURE’S PAINT BOX Official Ezine

ARTICLES & REVIEWS

Here are some other good alternatives which are not all resctricted to using WordPress. The level of your HTML experience may determine which ones are best for you but some of these I found quite difficult to get my head around as my coding knowledge is very limited. I have not tried all of these but I have included them because they get good reviews. Click on the images to visit websites.

Magento

Free Open Source version and new Enterprise edition – steep learning curve for beginners

PayPal Shop Maker

Zen Cart

ViArt

Restricted to 50 products in the free version but also light, standard & enterprise versions available.

Zen Cart free e-commerce, open source shopping cart software.

yak Further Reading: Useful info on the CPANEL Website There's a lot to know about Web hosting, and this guide will help you understand it all. We've rounded up everything you need, from basic definitions to our Web Hosting How-To. You can read the guide straight through, or skip directly to the chapter you want. Chapters

From the Website: “Creating a PayPal shop to sell your products on your website was never easier. With PayPal Shop Maker you can build your online shop without the need of learning how to integrate PayPal.” Purchase Price US $99.95

Another free alternative for Wordpress

    

What is a Web site? What is Web hosting? What is the procedure for building a Web presence? What is e-commerce? Which hosting plan fits my needs?

17 New Rules for Successful E-Commerce Websites good article by randfish at SEOmoz.com about important things to consider when setting up an online shop.

| Nature’s Paint Box eZine 2nd Issue

NATURE’S PAINT BOX Official Ezine

FREE DOWNLOADS Lemon Migrant Butterfly

Free Wallpapers to download and enjoy!

MAY

JANUARY

JUNE

FEBRUARY

These free nature wallpapers are available via this eZine and at Lesley Smitheringale Fine Art Website for your desktop in three different sizes:800 x 600 for laptops 1024 x 768 for most standard monitors 1440 x 900 for widescreen monitors These are original, high resolution photographs I have taken and you have the choice of downloading them with or without calendar dates.

JULY

MARCH

AUGUST

APRIL

CLICK ON THE PICTURES TO SEE LARGER WALLPAPER IMAGES, CHOOSE YOUR RESOLUTION AND DOWNLOAD

September, October, November and December Wallpaper links will be available in the next edition of Nature’s Paint Box eZine, out in late August 2009.... All photographs are copyright of the artist Lesley Smitheringale 44

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ANIMALS IN THE NEWS Meet Antares, the newest cub, named after a star in the Milky Way, is the 171st Siberian tiger born in the East Berlin Zoo. His handlers packed him in a basket before presting him to an adoring crowd. (Pictures courtesy of Reuters)

Polar bears Bill, right, and Lara react, at their first meeting, at the Zoom Erlebniswelt zoo, in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Friday, April 17, 2009. Polar bear Bill came from the zoo in Bruenn, Czech Republic, as a new partner for female polar bear Lara. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

“Well, hello there!”

Gorilla infant Kiburi sleeps on her mother Safiri's back, during sunny weather at the zoo, in Duisburg, Germany, Wednesday, April 8, 2009. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner) Drop dead gorgeous!

SeaWorld animal trainers in Orlando have their hands full with four baby Asian small-clawed otters, seen March 30, 2009. (Photo and caption submitted by Jason Collier/SeaWorld Orlando)

This photo provided Friday, April 17, 2009 by Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo shows a Bolivian gray titi monkey carrying a baby on its back. Native to South American tropical forests, there are less than 50 individuals in accredited zoos. The newborn, which has yet to be sexed or named was born on 9 April 2009. (AP Photo/Lincoln Park Zoo,Greg Neise) b

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