Natures Paint Box Issue 5 by Lesley Smitheringale Fine Art

Issue 5

Official eZine produced by Oz Wildlife Art

AUD $5.00

MARCH 2010

nature’s paint box

Gorgeous free Vector Icons

Forest Magical Scene Step-byStep Tutorial using Photoshop by Johnson Koh

Featured Artists Chris Postle Rosl Rößner Jo-Anne Clarke

Beautiful FREE desktop wallpapers

Techniques involved in macro photography of bugs by Mark Plonsky

YEAR OF THE TIGER

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Learn how to create a vector drawing using Adobe Illustrator by Ilie Ciorba

Cover photo “Dragonfly Study” by Lesley Smitheringale

REGULARS in every issue 41

Books Recommended Books for wildlife artists & photographers.

FEATURED ARTISTS 5

Garden Guests Diary by Lesley Smitheringale

Rosl Rößner - a wildlife photographer from Germany who considers watching the birds from her hide, without disturbing them, as a great experience.

Chris Postle - an Australian artist whose wildlife art keeps him on a positive note.

Jo-Anne Clark – a wildlife artist from England whose art gave her back some control in her life.

Back Issues of Nature’s Paint Box eZines plus DVD Rom of all four 2009 Issues

Nature in the News Seen and heard in the news regarding art and wildlife.

EXHIBITIONS 44

Explore This! 2009 Online Exhibition of the Coloured Pencil Society of America

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COMPETITIONS 26

National Wildlife Photo Competition

The Artists Magazine Annual Art Competition

Coloured Pencil Society of American Art Competiton and Exhibition

FEATURED ARTISTS

NATURE’S PAINT BOX Official Ezine

“Dancing Light” by Chris Postle © Jo-Anne Clarke

“”Impala ” by Jo-Anne Clarke

TUTORIAL 13

Create a Forest Magical Scene using Photoshop by

“Green with a Splash of Red” by Rosl Rößner

FREE DOWNLOADS 8

GORGEOUS VECTOR ICONS

TIME MANAGEMENT 56

Information Overload Isn’t the Problem – Article by David Allen

Software to help you get organised – Two free programmes. You will wonder how you managed without!

Johnson Koh

BEAUTIFUL NATURE WALLPAPERS to download for free

Step-by-step tutorial using Illustrator by Ilie Ciorba

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NATURE’S PAINT BOX Official Ezine by Lesley Smitheringale

“Summer Flowers in Bloom & the new Magpie Triplets” Garden Guests Diary

Top Right: The perfumed flowers are blooming on the mock orange hedge and I liked the way the petals were curling in this one. The name Mock Orange comes from their similarity to orange blossom, and Murraya is the same family as Citrus. There is also a citrusy aroma when the leaves are crushed, and small red fruits follow the flowers.

Left: These pretty, hanging clusters of pinkish purple flowers are in bloom on a hedging plant we put in several years ago called

Duranta erecta (Sheena’s Gold). It

has lovely yellowish, green leaves and makes for the ideal hedge or screen. I often find lady beetles, flower and lynx spiders in this hedge. The orange berries which are thought to be poisonous.

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Featured Artist Website : http://www.birdpictures.de e-mail : rr@birdpictures.de Job Title : Professional Trainer of Icelandic Horses Preferred Media: Photography Country of Birth: Germany Country of Residence: Germany Available for commissions: Yes

An interview with...

Rosl Rößner What or who has inspired you throughout your artistic path?

When I started with more “serious” photography, I got a book from Arthur Morris with the perfect title “The Art of Bird Photography” and I was totally thrilled by that book. I read it again and again and I wanted to learn everything about photographing birds. In newer times I found another great book “Creative Bird Photography“ from a British photographer Bill Coster that I like very much. Of course I study the images of great wildlife photographers like Andy Rouse, Art Wolfe, Fritz Pölking or Frans Lanting. But when I am out in the field I take my own pictures and don’t try to copy someone else’s images. That would never work and is not my intention.

“Upside-down” - Pelicans [More info on these recommended books on page 40] When did you realise that art had to be part of your life? Whenever I am taking pictures it is just for fun. I love the mixture of sitting still in a hide, waiting, relaxing and joining the nature around me. But there is a plus: the thrill if something special is going to happen. To see bee-eaters mating, to watch a goshawk hunting or to be a guest at the puffin colony with all the cute birds cuddling, calling, fishing, digging holes or just preening themselves is so exciting for me and the days with the birds are such a great gratification for me. But back to the question: I don’t think, that it is really art what I am doing. It is the art of our great nature and I just try to capture some tiny little moments of the fantastic thing called life.

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TUTORIAL

NATURE’S NATURE’S PAINT PAINT BOX BOX Official Official Ezine Ezine

5 Resize the Fairy and place it on the palm of May Queen. Right-click on the Fairy layer and choose Blending Options. Activate Outer Glow, set the Blend Mode to Color Dodge, Opacity to 22%, Color to #FFFFBE, Size to 46px and leave the rest as default. Activate Color Overlay, set the Blend Mode to Color Dodge and Color to #C8FF05.

7 Duplicate May Queen layer. Select the lower May Queen layer and go to Edit > Free Transform. Scale the image downwards like the one shown in the diagram.

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Go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation. Set the Lightness to - 100. Then go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Set the radius to 5px. Erase those unwanted shadows behind the May Queen with the Eraser tool.

Featured Artist Website www.chrispostle.com e-mail info@chrispostle.com Job Title professional artist Preferred Medium acrylics and oils Country of Birth Australia Country of Residence Australia Available for Commissions Yes

An interview with...

Chris Postle

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

I started painting as a hobbyist in 1989. Two years later I started taking things a bit more seriously.

What or who has inspired you throughout your artistic path?

I was encouraged and inspired by my mother initially, also my brother Greg inspired me. Raymond Ching, famous wildlife artist, was possibly my greatest mentor.

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NATURE’S PAINT BOX Official Ezine

Visit Website for details

Deadline for Entries is 6 July 2010 26

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COMPETITIONS

TUTORIAL

NATURE’S PAINT BOX Official Ezine

Select the nostrils path, press Ctrl + C and Ctrl + B to create a copy behind it. Move the copy down a little and to right and fill it with #C86735.

Body - Create a new layer, name it “Body” and drag in under the “Head” layer. Use Pen Tool or Ellipse Tool to create an egg-like path and fill it with the same gradient that we’ve used for the head but adjust its position and angle.

46 45

Select the Rotate Tool (R), hold down the Alt key and click on the center of the body shape to bring up the options dialog box. Check preview, set 12 as Angle value and hit ok.

Belly - Our tiger has a big bright spot on his belly. Take the Pen Tool and draw it. Pay attention only to the left side of the spot because the right edge will be covered by a hand. Apply a gradient from #FCCB88 to #DBAD75 and no stroke. 37

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Place this path under the head.

Extract a small part of the top of the belly path to add some detail to it.

TUTORIAL

NATURE’S PAINT BOX Official Ezine

Background - Create a new layer under the “Tail” and name it “background”. Select the Rectangle Tool (M) and draw a rectangle with the same dimensions as your art board and fill it with a radial gradient from #99CA3C to #006838.

Lock this sublayer. Draw an ellipse under the tiger and fill it with #006838. Go to Effect > Blur > Gaussian Blur and set the Radius to 30 pixels.

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Add some text to your illustration and we’re done.

Back Issues

NATURE’S PAINT BOX Official Ezine

Premiere Issue

Issue 2

Issue 3

Back issues will always be available to purchase either singly or altogether on a DVD Rom from Oz Wildlife Art Shop

Issue 4

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All 4 Issues of 2009 on DVD Rom

NATURE’S PAINT BOX Official Ezine

EXHIBITIONS

The Chartpak Award for Excellence ($300 value)

“After the Storm” by Jenn Falcon, 24 x 19 inches, colored pencil and wax pastel on Bristol, $600. watercolor on Arches hot press w/c paper, $650.00

The Jack Richeson & Co. Award for Excellence ($300 value)

“Genealogy” by Eileen Sorg, 11 x 9 inches, colored pencil, ink, watercolor, $1000.00

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Featured Artist Website e-mail Job Title Preferred Medium

http:/www.ja-clarke.com art@ja-clarke.com Artist Oils, pastels and acrylic

Country of Birth England Country of Residence England Available for Commissions Yes

An interview with...

Jo-Anne Clarke

When did you realise that art had to be part of your life? Art has always been a part of my life, but became much more of a focus when I was badly injured after being hit by a car 18 years ago. At the time, I felt as if I had lost everything in my life that I had worked so hard for. My injuries meant that I could no longer compete or teach my sport so I made my artistic efforts into a therapy that could help me through the hard times of recovery. I really feel as if trying my best to be an artist has saved me from feeling completely destroyed. It was a revelation to discover that art could help me to escape any feelings of being broken or worthless and it gave me back some control in my life. I knew that I was able to control every aspect of my work from which materials I used right down to how I wished my brush strokes to look on the canvas, and if I messed it up, it did not matter because I was not hurting myself in any way. I had something that I could use to help me to focus on feeling a sense of achievement instead of worrying that I could not walk or run anymore. Of course I fluffed just about everything that I tried to paint at the time, but it was like having a magic bean in your pocket! I was thrilled to bits when I started to sell paintings, first at local festivals and then in a small shop that I opened with a friend of mine. The shop was closed quite some time ago, but I paint from my home ‘studio’, which is sometimes most of the space in my house! Though I feel I still have so much learning still to do, I find myself grinning from ear to ear when I get things right, and being an artist is the best thing that I can be. I feel a sense of wonder and amazement and I would be lost forever if I could not paint.

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NATUREâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S PAINT BOX Official Ezine Lighting & Flash Here are some tips: Shoot on bright days so you can get a decent shutter speed. Bright overcast days are expecially good. If you can afford an external flash, it really makes a dramatic difference. It gives a lot of flexibility and control. If you do use flash, it needs to be diffused (e.g., a tissue) or bounced (e.g., off a white card or reflector). Pointing the flash indirectly is another possibility. The 2xTC after the close-ups can help with lighting since it is easier to illuminate the subject more evenly from a distance. A butterfly bracket (and off shoe cord) for the external flash will give you even more control of lighting. Varying exposure and/or flash compensation as well as the position of the external diffused flash (bounced or straight on), gives even more flexibility still. If the bug gives you the opportunity, try various possibilities. The previous section on Camera Equipment has pointers to some of the equipment mentioned here. Tripod or Not? About 90% of my bug shots are handheld. I think this is one of the major advantages of a prosumer digital with a flip out LCD screen. When I do use a tripod, I may use a macro focusing rail (or slider) that allows you to move the camera back and forth in tiny increments without moving the tripod. Given that the DOF is so shallow in macros and that I prefer to lock the focus and move the camera back and forth, the rail is a useful tool. As I noted above, most of my shots are handheld. As such, I have become quite good at steadying the camera. I do this in a number of ways. I will often lean against a tree or fence. I keep my elbows in and often squat bracing the camera against my knee/leg. If I can, I will rest the edge of the camera on a log or other available structure. I also either put the camera cord around my neck or in my teeth and push the camera away from me when I shoot. I sometimes play with monopods.

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TUTORIAL

NATURE’S PAINT BOX Official Ezine

TIME MANAGEMENT

If you are swamped with passwords for all of your social, photo and community sites then this free programme just might be for you. The beauty of this is that it works on any computer such as your home PC or work laptop so wherever you are, you will never forget your login details again! A great time saver. Plenty of instructional videos on the site to help you set it up.

Mitto strives to be the most complete free online password manager available today. That’s why our password keeper is designed with a full range of features that make it easy to access all of your important password-protected sites while protecting your security from hackers and other dangerous online predators. Come take a tour of our site and all of the features available through Mitto, including how to sign up and add sites to our online password manager, and how you can organize your passwords with tags and share them with the friends and family you trust. Unlike the free password storage software that you frequently see available for download, Mitto works anywhere that you have Internet access. Plus, we have some of the best security protocols available, meaning that you can feel safe in the knowledge that your important online passwords are secure. We have informative videos that can guide you through the Mitto process and show you why it’s a superior solution for storing and organizing your Internet log in information. We welcome you to watch our videos and see how our users benefit from the range of features that we offer . Take our tour and see for yourself why it’s the right choice for you. http://mitto.com/ http://mitto.com/blog/ a

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NATURE IN THE NEWS 3 Serval Kittens receive their 6 week health checks

First U.S. Born Gorilla of 2010! Congrats Louisville! at Australia's Adelaide Zoo. The Kittens were vaccinated, micro-chipped and had their sex

Louisville Zoo’s 20-year-old Western Lowland Gorilla Mia Moja gave birth to second baby on Saturday, determined. Servals areher extremely intelligent, and February 6. demonstrate remarkable problem-solving ability, making them notorious for getting into mischief, as Tai Shan checks out his 4th birthday the Smithsonian's National Zoo, last well as"cake" easily at outwitting their prey, and eluding other predators. July, in Washington, DC. US-born Tai Shan will next week leave the National Zoo in Washington and head in grand style for a new life in China -- on board a Federal Express cargo plane, according to officials.

Great shot of San Diego Zoo's proud Koala Mom Orana giving a "bear" hug to joey Miah. Despite the powerful grip, Koalas are not bears. They are not placental or 'eutherian' mammals, but marsupials, which means that their young are born immature & they develop further in the safety of a pouch. Photo by ysaleth

First U.S. Born Gorilla of 2010! Louisville Zoo’s 20-year-old Western Lowland Gorilla Mia Moja gave birth to her second baby on Saturday, February 6.

The first weeks of the Melbourne Zoo's charismatic elephant calf. During her public debut, the calf faced off with media photographers. In particular, this AFP/Getty lensman brings out another facet of her quirky personality we just had to share.

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NATURE’S PAINT BOX Official Ezine

I am more than happy with the magazines I purchased. They are of the highest quality and I highly recommend to anyone interested. PETER ARNOLD

A bumper issue which I hope you enjoyed. I found David Allen’s article “Information Overload Isn’t the Problem” particularly interesting and agree with him about the difficulty of wading through our e-mails, trying to work out which ones potentially will be beneficial to us and have relevance. I trust you will be inspired to enter some of the competitions in this Issue and I feel like sharpening my colour pencils right now! I’m hoping to get a copy of Andrew Zuckerman’s book “Bird” for my 50th Birthday this year! I would love to hear from you if you try out the tutorials in this Issue or you have a response to anything you read and I would like to include a “feedback” or” letters to the editor section” in this eZine where there is some reader input. I would appreciate any of your comments enormously which can be anonymous if you prefer! Thank you again to all of the artists and contributors in this Issue and please help spread the word about this eZine. Back copies will always be available and don’t forget that all 4 eZines of 2009 are on a beautiful DVD Rom to add to your library of resources.

Lesley

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Lesley Smitheringale, Editor, Designer, Producer & Writer lesley@ozwildlifeart.com http://www.ozwildlifeart.com