Mars Mag - Issue 5

Famous South African artists Benefits of art for kids Tutorials Street Art

Featured artist: Riaan Marais

THE LOCAL IS LEKKER ISSUE Mary Sibanda Timbuktu 1

CONTENTS 06 - 13 Featured artist: Riaan Marais

How to make money on instagram as an artist

29 - 33

35 - 39

Benefits of art for kids

46 - 51

56 - 61

62 - 65

70 - 73

74 - 77

Street Art - r1

Timbuktu in the valley - learning space

20 - 28

Famous South African artists

Trend colour palettes

40 - 43 How to Draw a cat

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14 - 18

52 - 54

South african National Association of the Arts - SANAVA

A living South African icon Mary Sibanda

How to Customise your tekkies

Sifundo Fortune Vilakazi

66 - 69 Streetwires

EDITOR’S NOTE

In celebration of our fifth issue of Mars Magazine, we decided to theme this the “Local Is Lekker” edition, featuring only local artists and content. There is so much creative talent locally and we tried to make every single page a visual feast. We could not resist featuring Mary Sibanda who continues to shine on both the local and international scene. We have also featured two incredible local initiatives namely Timbuktu In The valley, a learning space for children in the area as well as the Streetwire initiative.

We hope you will enjoy this issue as much as we enjoyed doing the research and putting it together.

Editor

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STAEDTLER速 110 tradition pencil

STAEDTLER速 Acrylic paints

STAEDTLER速 Coloured pencils

STAEDTLER速 Double-ended permanent pens

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Your acts of of love andand hope point to the Yourordinary ordinary acts love hope point to extraordinary promise that every humanhuman life is of the extraordinary promise that every life inestimable value ~ Desmond is of inestimable value. ~Tutu Desmond Tutu

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FEATURED ARTIST RIAAN MARAIS

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I am an artist, I guess I am an artist right down to my bones.

What’s your background?

I realised that I wanted to be an artist when I was about 12 years old. Nothing else seemed to interest me more than drawing pictures and creating paintings. In high school, I aimed to become a graphics designer. I never went to study graphics design though. I started to paint with oil paints during my military service and once I got out I really wanted to become a professional artist. At that stage, I started to work for a leading banking group and only survived one year in the corporate world. I resigned and open a little stationery and art supplies shop around 1994. By now I was painting commissions and building a little stockpile of paintings. After 4 years of trying to keep my shop’s door open, I decided to close the shop and focus on what I am good at: creating art! Thus in 1998 I took the plunge and went fully professional and never looked back again.

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Who are your biggest influences?

There are so many and it varies from time to time. Some artist’s work stays with me and I learn from their techniques, but in the end, you have to be authentic.

Rembrandt van Rijn has always been an inspiration. He did magic with light and his economic brushwork is mesmerizing. Vermeer’s subject matter was also fascinating and I work hard at my skills to capture everyday life as he did. I love George Boonzaier’s loose brush strokes and mostly muted pallet. Salvador Dali’s technical skills and “silly” outlook on life made me realize not to take my art too seriously, you can have fun on your journey too. Michelangelo for his absolute dedication to art and mastery of his subject.

There are many more, but as an artist, you should never try to emulate someone else. Stay true to yourself. Create art that speaks your style and message.

Which element of art do enjoy working with most and why?

In the beginning, I tried all sorts of campaigns. Some of these cost me a lot of money and time. In the end, what worked the best for me was to create quality art and show it to as many people as possible.

Your own circle of friends and family are your best marketers. I also use social media to show new work and sometimes I get commissions from that source as well. I keep my social media mostly about my art and keep personal content away from my social media.

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How did you start making art?/ Why do you make art?

As a child, I would sit for hours and draw while my friends were outside playing soccer or rugby. My dad brought reams of discarded paper from work and I had the freedom to draw as much as I wanted.

Then I started to paint for a living and paints are rather expensive. So, I had to make art to buy more materials to create art and continue the cycle of creating more. As I got older I realized that chasing this cycle is tiresome.

Today I am an illustrator by day and artist in my off times. As an illustrator, I create art using my computer as my main medium and when I close the door after work I pick up a pencil or my brushes and draw/paint for leisure. I feel it is important to keep your life balanced, although I do art 100% of the day, I still do art for me and not just for my clients.

What is your most important artist tool?

Pencils!!! Without pencils, I would be lost. Pencils are like water to me. You can go without food for a few days but will die if you do not drink water. I find it very amusing when I talk to fellow artists and they confess hating the drawing part. Then I just smile to myself, because painting is just like drawing, but with colour.

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What inspires you?

Life inspires me. I draw and paint what I find interesting, beautiful or even ugly. It could be from a film or something I saw while on a walk with my family. Luckily with cell phone cameras we can capture moments of inspiration and create it in the studio later. In short inspiration for me is whatever triggers a feeling at that moment.

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E-mail: info@artbyriaan.co.za Website: www.artbyriaan.co.za Cell: 084Â 762 5340

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HOW TO MAKE MONEY AS

AN ARTIST ON INSTAGRAM 14

Instagram is Changing the Game

“I can post a painting and it will sell before the paint is dry,” explains Ashley Longshore, who sells her eccentric pop art for upwards of $30,000 straight off Instagram.

And, she’s not the only one. Artist Chris Austin enjoys “flash sales” of his latest work, getting emails from eager buyers within minutes of posting on Instagram.

So, how does an artist turn their Instagram feed into another revenue stream?

It all comes down to getting more engaged followers, because, the more popular your account is on Instagram, the more in demand your art will be. To help you get started, check out seven things you can improve on your Instagram account to attract more followers.

With these examples and more in mind, it’s safe to say Instagram has become the social media platform for artists.

It’s launching careers, eliminating the need for big-name critics to call the shots, and helping artists connect with buyers across the globe who are willing to pay for their work.

Post-High-Quality Images You wouldn’t dream of letting a piece out of your studio until you were satisfied with it, right? Well, you need that same attention to detail in your Instagram posts!

Your Instagram account is an extension of who you are both creatively and professionally. Blurry, poorly-lit images give off a bad creative vibe—pretty much saying you don’t understand design. And, who wants to buy art from an artist who doesn’t understand, or at least care about, good design?

A clean background and natural light are always a good option when it comes to capturing your artwork. Set your art up by the nearest window and remember to tap on your phone screen to focus!

Keep Branding on the Brain Branding can be an elusive concept. But it basically means posting images about different things but using the same style (both in aesthetics and in writing) for each image. Why bother? It’s really a magical thing!

In an instant, followers will understand who you are and what your art is all about, even with their short, online attention spans.

Artist Sue Rapley has a beautiful account—light, colorful, natural, inviting. Buyers can instantly get a feel for her art and decide on the spot if they are interested in buying. If they are, they can already tell she’s a credible artist from her impressive feed, giving her the edge when it comes to collecting.

As far as branding your images goes, the possibilities are endless! Whether you use a certain filter, hashtag, language, etc., find and stick to a style that represents you and your art so that your target customers are poised to buy.

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Keep the Content Creative In 2014, artist Ross Symons dedicated his entire year to origami, improving his craft and sharing it with the world on Instagram. He folded and posted a different origami figure every day, and in 18 months, he had increased his following from just 120 to over 100,000. Ross was able to quit his 9-to-5 job and use Instagram as a platform for his own business. Isn’t that amazing?

This just goes to show, you can’t underestimate the power of posting really interesting content. When people are wowed by your work on Instagram, they follow you, share it, and get others to follow you, too. The door is then opened for you to sell more art and hear about other profitable opportunities.

Create Captivating Captions Here’s a picture of my art that you know nothing about and here is the price—something seems a bit off about that sort of caption, doesn’t it?

There’s no hook. No pizzazz. No story! It may be an incredible piece at first look, but there’s always more to it than meets the eye. Letting people in on your inspirations, process, and story behind the work can be the tipping point for customers to click emotionally and pull out the cheque book.

Of course, you can acknowledge when something is still for sale, but be creative about it. Ending with, “Excited to see where this piece finds a home!” does the trick without being too boring.

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Perfect Your Hashtags Hashtags are like maps in the land of Instagram. They make your posts discoverable for the people searching for art like yours, making them one of the biggest and best ways to grow your fanbase.

Which hashtags reign supreme? Well, it takes a little digging to find the answer.

Your first plan of action should be using the search feature in the app. After typing in keywords that relate to your art, other popular hashtags related to your search will pop up. Next, find artists who boast a large following and seem to have a good handle on their hashtag game. Check out which ones they are using (and how many) and take notes.

Keep a list of the best ones you’ve found that you can pull from for different posts. Just be sure to match hashtags with what is going on in your image. “#inthestudio” won’t apply to every picture you post, and a mismatch can turn followers away.

Finally, do some testing of your own and track how many hashtags get you the most engagement. Take the time to get hashtags down and you’ll be on your way to more followers in no time.

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Complete Your Bio While small, your bio should not be underestimated in its importance. It’s the only place where followers can click on a link, and the whole point of your account is to sell your work!

You can alter the link depending on what you want to feature, but a link to your website or Artwork Archive Public Profile Page is the perfect place to send fans who want to peruse and purchase more available art.

Paired with a short and sweet description dripping with personality, your Instagram account will be ready to go.

Some other things to keep in mind...

Post Regularly Social media gurus at CoSchedule determined that posting one to two times a day on Instagram is the sweet spot. But no matter how many times you post, keep it regular! You need to stay fresh in people’s minds, not forgotten.

Connect Often It is a social networking app after all. Befriending other artists and influencers on Instagram who might someday share your work with their followers can open a lot of doors and help you gain followers of your own. Like other artists’ and galleries’ images, share helpful comments, and don’t be afraid to connect your contact list.

Consider Sponsored Posts The bigger the Instagram fan base, the more interested buyers will be fighting over your art. Following these steps for getting more art fans on Instagram will help you turn the social media app into something profitable for your art business.

Then, when you start making sales, you can keep everything organized on Artwork Archive. Mark which pieces have been sold, generate invoices to get paid, and track sales insights so your Instagram account stays profitable.

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www.artworkarchive.com/blog/how-to-make-money-as-an-artist-on-instagram

There is no passion to be found in playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living. ~ Nelson Mandela 19

Famous South African Artists

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Marlene Dumas Marlene Dumas was born in Cape Town, South Africa. From 1972 to 1975 she attended Cape Town University, where she studied for a BA in Visual Arts. She then completed her studies in Haarlem, in the Netherlands.

She has lived and worked in Amsterdam since 1976. From 1978 she has exhibited internationally, and is one of Holland’s most widely admired artists. In 1995 she represented Holland in the Venice Biennale, and in 1996 the Tate Gallery exhibited a selection of her works on paper.

In the past Dumas produced paintings, collages, drawings, prints and installations. She now works mainly with oil on canvas and ink on paper. The sources she uses for her imagery are diverse and include newspaper and magazine cuttings, personal memorabilia, Flemish paintings, and Polaroid photographs. The majority of her works may be categorised as ‘portraits’, but they are not portraits in the traditional sense. Rather than representing an actual person, they represent an emotion or a state of mind. Themes central to Dumas’ work include race and sexuality, guilt and innocence, violence and tenderness.

Jane Alexander

Born in 1959 in Johannesburg, Alexander claimed the limelight, whilst still a student, for her piece The Butcher Boys – three life-size sculptures of strangely deformed men with animal horns, sitting on a bench.

Since then the highly regarded artist has produced Bom boys and Lucky Girls – her interpretations of street children from Long Street, Cape Town where she lectures at Michaelis School of Fine Art. 21

Walter Batiss

Walter Battiss was born in Somerset East to an English Methodist family in 1906, and became one of South Africa’s first and most important abstract painters. He first became interested in archaeology and primitive art as a young boy after moving to Koffiefontein in 1917, and drew and painted since childhood. In 1919 the Battiss family settled in Fauresmith where he completed his education, matriculating in 1923. In 1924 he became a clerk in the Magistrates Court in Rustenburg.

His formal art studies started in 1929 at the Wits Tech Art School (drawing and painting), followed by the Johannesburg Training College (a Teacher’s Diploma) and etching lessons. Battiss continued his studies while working as a magistrate’s clerk, and finally obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts at UNISA at the age of 35.

Battiss was a founding member of the New Group and was unique in that he had not studied overseas. In 1938 he visited Europe for the first time, and in 1939 he published his first book, ‘The Amazing Bushman’. His interest in primitive rock art had a very profound impact on his ideas and he regarded San painting as an important art form. He was also influenced by Ndebele beadwork, pre-Islamic cultures and calligraphy.

In 1949 Walter Batiss befriended Picasso who would have an influence on his already quirky style.

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blog.sa-venues.com/activities/famous-visual-artists

William Kentridge

William Kentridge is a South African draftsman, performer, and filmmaker. Best known for his animated drawings, the central focus of Kentridge’s oeuvre has been to examine the years before and after apartheid. The artist conflates his autobiography with that of fictionalized characters to relate his narratives, rendering his signature expressive, gestural drawings in black charcoal and ink. In his animations, a single drawing is retouched again and again to create the film stills, with each new image a palimpsest bearing signs of the previous drawing’s erasure. “My work is about the provisionality of the moment,” the artist has said of his practice.

Born on April 28, 1955 in Johannesburg, South Africa, Kentridge gained international acclaim for his short film series 9 Drawings for Projection (1989–2003). In 2016, his solo exhibition “Thick Time” opened at White Chapel Gallery in London to critical acclaim, evoking 1920s-era technology and Dadaist collage. The artist continues to live and work in Johannesburg, South Africa. Kentridge’s works are held in the collections The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Tate Gallery in London, and the Goetz Collection in Munich, among others.

Kentridge is ranked as the ninth most significant modern contemporary artist in the world for his prints, drawings and stop motion animated films, shadow plays, mechanical puppets, sculptures, and live performance pieces. He is most famous for using only charcoal, with a touch of red or blue pastel, to create near-expressionist works that commented on apartheid.

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Durant Sihlali Durant Sihlali (1935 – 2004) worked across many media – painting, sculpture, printmaking and pulp paintings. Branded during the 1970s as a ‘township artist’ his work documented historical realities.

He went abroad during the 1980s where he produced a huge body of work. He is one of few visual artists whose career happened at the same time as the entrenchment of apartheid and endured beyond it.

Sihlali later turned to sculpture using metal from car wrecks and has exhibited in Trees Collection Gallery in Beverly Hills. He died in Johannesburg, 2004.

Noria Mabasa Born in 1938, Mabasa is a Venda artist best known for her ceramic and wood works. She is completely selftaught and a full-time artist since 1976. Much of her work is dream-inspired. Her ceramic figures painted with enamel won her both national and international acclaim during the 1980s.

Completely self-taught, Mabasa currently resides at the Tshino village in the Vuwani area of Venda, where she runs an art school in which she instructs her students in the art of clay-pot and sculpture making. She began working with clay in 1974 and two years later, in 1976, she became the first Tsonga woman to work in wood. She received local training Mabasa has been working as an artist since 1976, and was encouraged to begin woodcarving after the suggestion of Venda sculptor Nelson Mukhuba in 1983. Her earliest figures were modeled after clay and wood matano figures used in domba initiation ceremonies. Mabasa initially found recognition on both the national and international art scenes in the 1980s with her ceramic figures painted with enamel paint.

Her naturalistic figures are coil-built and fired in an open straw fire. Her current work combines the figurative and the functional; pots often take the shape of the female figure or feature faces

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Gerard Sekoto

Gerard Sekoto (1913 – 1993), was both an artist and a musician, a pioneer of urban black art and social realism. His exhibitions were not only local, but took him to Paris, Stockholm, Venice, Washington and Senegal. He left South Africa to live in Paris in 1947 where he was employed as a pianist, which paid for his art school expenses. He finally received the recognition he deserved in his home country in 1989, when he was given a retrospective exhibition in Johannesburg, and an honorary doctorate.

Bonnie Ntshalintshali Bonnie Ntshalintshali was born on Ardmore Farm in the Winterton district of KwaZulu-Natal in 1967.

She suffered from polio as a girl and because she was not strong enough for farm labouring, her mother asked Fée Halsted if she would teach her ceramics.

In 1985, she was apprenticed to Fée as a studio assistant. While learning basic ceramic techniques, Bonnie’s natural ability in both sculpture and painting was quickly recognised, and she was encouraged by Fée to pursue her own work.

In 1988 Bonnie received the Corobrik National Ceramic Award; and in 1990 she won the Standard Bank Young Artist Award jointly with Fée. blog.sa-venues.com/activities/famous-visual-artists 25

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“I can now marry the two worlds, fashion and fine art aren’t far off from each other.” - Mary Sibanda

Tretchikoff Vladmir Tretchikoff (1913 – 2006) was one of the most commercially successful artists of his time and became popular not only in South Africa but internationally as well. He was to live in South Africa from 1946, and his famous Chinese Girl is one of the best selling prints of the twentieth century.

While his work was immensely popular with the general public, it is often seen by art critics as the epitome of kitsch (indeed, he was nicknamed the “King of Kitsch”). He worked in oil, watercolour, ink, charcoal and pencil but is best known for those works turned into reproduction prints. According to his biographer Boris Gorelik, writing in Incredible Tretchikoff, the reproductions were so popular that it was rumoured that Tretchikoff was the world’s richest artist after Picasso.

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Cecil Skotnes

Cecil Skotnes (1 June 1926 – 4 April 2009) was a South African artist known especially for his painted and incised wooden panels, striking woodblock prints, public murals, tapestries and sculpture, and who pioneered a way of producing art that used earth pigments and indigenous wood to construct visual stories about the African past. He was the cultural officer at the influential Polly Street Art Centre and a founding member of the Amadlozi Group. Among his best known works are The assassination of Shaka (1973) print portfolio and his twenty-four large incised panels installed at the 1820 Settlers monument in Grahamstown.

He was born in East London, the son of missionaries.

His early use of the medium of woodcutting soon translated into a focus on the block itself. Instead of cutting the block and then using it as a means to an end – the print – he began to colour and shape the blocks, using them as a surface for paint and dry pigment.

Sue Williamson is a Cape Town based artist who is internationally recognized for her work. She is represented in many public collections including the Tate Modern and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Trained as a printmaker, Williamson also works in installation, photography and video.

She is part of the pioneering generation of South African artists who started to make work in the 1970s which addressed social change in what was then apartheid South Africa.

Williamson is also known as a writer on contemporary art, and has authored such books as Resistance Art in South Africa (1989), St Martins Press, and South African Art Now (2009) HarperCollins. In 1987 she founded www.artthrob.co.za, an online journal on South African contemporary art .

Her awards include a Visual Art Research fellowship from the Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C. in 2007 and a Creative Arts Fellowship from the Rockefeller Foundation of New York in 2011.

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Sue Williamson

BENEFITS OF

ART

FOR KIDS

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Art is food for the soul, but did you know that there are many theories about the benefits which children gain through learning artistic skills?

Art helps with their mental, emotional, and psychological development. It enhances the sense of creativity and independence in children and helps them to reach their potential. In addition to improving their neurological and motor skills, art has a lot of positive effects on children’s character and personality. In this article, we will highlight the main benefits of introducing art to children and young people.

1. Art

promotes creativity

Art allows children to process the world around them and express their interpretations in a creative way.

Given the same topic, no two children will come up with the same painting or art piece. In art, there is no right or wrong. Your child’s opinion and feelings will be unique and highly appreciated in an art class.

Your child may be asked to act out a situation in a drama class and again he will have to choose the words and facial expressions in order to act. When your child is encouraged to think and act out of the box, this skill will come naturally to him in other situations and will help him in the future.

2. Art

promotes confidence

Children who participate in drama classes get the chance to stand in front of an audience to deliver a message. It allows them to overcome their fear of facing strangers and to gain confidence. Rehearsals are also great in training children to overcome their fears and learn from their mistakes through guidance and observation of others. Other forms of art such as music and painting also give children a chance to take pride in their work by showing off their talent and talking about it with others.

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https://sg.theasianparent.com/benefits-of-learning-art-for-children

3. Art

promotes problem solving skills

Art is about creating something out of nothing. A child will ask himself how to express a certain feeling through a dance or a facial expression; how to bring a lifeless piece of clay into life by creating a sculpture and how to use his feelings to create a piece of music that can tell a story. All these problem solving skills will benefit the child in his future career and life.

4. Art

promotes patience and determination

Children who practice ballet or learn a new musical instrument learn how difficult and time consuming it can be to achieve a slight progress. The only way to master the dance or the instrument is through continuous practice. This is a skill which children learn as they study art. It is very important in a competitive world where you are required to stay patient and to never give up in order to master new skills.

5. Art

promotes accountability

Through art, children realise that what they do affects others and they become accountable for their actions and mistakes. Through dance recitals or drama rehearsals, children can see how the overall performance is affected when they are not prepared or doing their best. This is very important in developing an adult who is responsible for his actions and possible mistakes and learning from them and moving on.

6. Art

promotes focus on team work

Through art, children realise the importance of teamwork which involves a lot of focus and concentration. Art teaches children not just to focus on themselves but also on others so that the entire performance can be successful. Even in individual work, art helps children to pay attention to different details. Children who learn art can usually pay attention to more details which can also be of benefit in their lives as they grow up.

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7.

Art promotes the ability to give and receive positive feedback.

Art helps children learn that receiving and giving positive feedback is an essential and normal part of the learning process. It is not something to be upset about. They also learn that there is no such thing as perfection, but one can only do one’s best.

Children will understand that receiving constructive and positive feedback is a chance for them to learn. The goal is to help the child improve his skills and work on them in order to succeed. Different types of feedback are given at different stages of art creation and children grow up appreciating its importance and significance.

8. Art promotes dedication Children who practice art understand that practice and effort makes perfect and the result is an accomplished piece of art. They learn to appreciate dedication and discipline. They develop habits such as looking after their tools and cleaning them, arriving at rehearsals prepared and on time and also appreciating the efforts of others. They grow up to become adults who don’t take things lightly.

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https://sg.theasianparent.com/benefits-of-learning-art-for-children

Choosing the right art centre.

It is important to select an art centre which does not limit the creative potential of students in order to reap the above mentioned benefits.

Children learn more from problem solving than from instruction. It is crucial that an art centre provides a platform where children can engage in experimental art learning. There should also be a proper curriculum in place to ensure that they receive consistent and quality art education whilst enjoying the entire process.

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Take over the world with STAEDTLER.

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TREND

Seasonal Colour Palettes

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Pantone 19-3642 TPX

Royal (Tyrian) Purple

Pantone 16-1532 TPX

Crabapple

Pantone 19-1650 TPX

Biking Red

Biking Red

Pantone 19-1650 TPX

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Crabapple

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Pantone 16-1532 TPX

Royal (Tyrian) Purple

Pantone 19-3642 TPX

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HOW TO with Riaan Marais

Materials

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STAEDTLER Acrylic paints

STAEDTLER Coloured pencils, 24

tradition pencil HB

DRAW A CAT 01 In this tutorial, we will learn how to draw a kitten. The photo which I will be using was of a kitten my mother had and which sadly passed away before it reached adulthood. So, I am drawing it as a gift to my mum whilst showing you how I usually approach a drawing such as this. I adjusted the photo’s colours and contrast a bit to suit my needs on my computer. You get fantastic photo editing apps for phones that will do a great job of adjusting your photos.

02 I never sketch directly onto my drawing paper, because my initial drawings are rather messy and rough. For the first drawing, I use ordinary printing paper. It’s cheap and thin enough to store in my stack of other roughs.

Using basic shapes, I draw the most obvious landmarks of my cat. I try to keep it loose and free.

03 Now it is time to tighten the drawing and add more detail where necessary. This stage is where you add and remove to get the drawing as perfect as possible. Look at symmetry and make sure the proportions of every body part is not out of place. I also add a bit of shading as a reminder and practice run for my colour drawing.

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DRAW A CAT 04 Once I am happy with my rough drawing, I scratch the back of my drawing with a graphite stick. A graphite stick or pencil is a thick and solid version of a graphite pencil, but without the wood outside. In essence, I am creating “carbon” on the backside of my rough to trace it onto my drawing paper. After I have traced the cat on 200grm drawing paper I soften it with a putty eraser. Putty erasers are less prone to smearing and are excellent at lifting graphite. I erase my drawing until it is nearly invisible because I do not want to see graphite pencil when I am finished with my colour pencils.

05 The first pass is with a yellow ochre (mustard yellow) colour. I start my drawing using the lightest colour first and building up the drawing with darker colours as I proceed. Using short strokes, I follow the direction of the cat’s hair to simulate it. Look closely at the hair length and let your strokes show the appropriate length.

06 You will have to overlap the colours where it will transition from one to the next colour. Don’t draw too heavily in the transition areas, because colour pencils tend to burnish if you load an area with too much pencil work. Burnishing makes it harder to get the right colour that you intended to use. I leave plenty of open gaps in the areas where I need to add other colours later on.

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For my second pass, I choose a burnt sienna (brown) colour pencil and draw the next shade of my cat’s hair. I still try to keep it spaced enough where I plan to add the next colour. Most of the time I try to keep as close as possible to my photo reference colours, but I also give myself the freedom to alter the colours. This is where the human factor plays an important role. Don’t hesitate to make creative choices as you proceed.

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I use a burnt umber (dark brown) pencil and add the next step in my layered approach. Again, I leave enough open gaps for the next colour.

I add more of my darker lines in the shaded area, but I also add a few dark strokes in the highlight areas. This helps to create those deeper shadows where the hair parts.

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I grab my black pencil and start to do the darkest shades. The pupils and eyelids need some solid shading; thus, I do these with a blunter pencil to avoid the scratchy look of a sharp pencil. Once this is done, I sharpen my pencil so that I can draw all that fine hairs. At this stage, we might be tempted to fill in the darkest area with random strokes, but we still need to follow the fur’s direction and length.

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Now it is time to set the scene for the cat to live in. You could add as much detail to the background as you want. I tend to downplay the background so that the focus is entirely on my subject. I render the background with just enough detail to explain where the cat is. I also add a layer of blue on my cat’s shaded areas to balance the warm highlights with the cooler shade areas.

FINALLY

I leave the whiskers for the absolute last because instead of drawing them in I paint them in with white acrylic paint. I find this much easier to do than to try and leave open spaces where the whiskers need to go. Leaving open spaces for whiskers tends to “break” continuity when you draw the hair behind them. Once all of this is finished add your name proudly to your drawing and call it done.

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A Living South African Icon - Mary Sibanda

Paying tribute to a living legend 46

“I can now marry the two worlds, fashion and fine art aren’t far off from each other.”

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Mary Sibande - a sculptor, photographer, and visual artist based in Johannesburg - is interested primarily in questions of the body and how to reclaim the black female body in post-colonial and post-apartheid South Africa.

She often works through an alter-ego, Sophie, a sculptural figure who traverses the uncanny valleys of liminal space. Sophie is personal. Her visage is modeled largely after the artist herself, and she draws on the history of the women in Sibande’s family who worked as maids throughout the apartheid and post-apartheid eras.

But Sophie is also symbolic, a figure that stands in to speak for femininity, blackness, labour, post-coloniality, and communities on the margin as a whole. She moves in between history and contemporary life. Sophie bears the weight of centuries-old colonial narratives attempting to Other the African woman. At the same time, Sophie’s dress, the familiar bright blue of contemporary domestic uniforms, reminds us of the kinds of subjugation that lingers in our society.

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Sophie is both real and surreal: her calm disposition is juxtaposed with overflowing, colorful Victorian garb (I’m a Lady, 2010), or she is dressed in traditional maid attire, restitching the hem of a Superman cape (They Don’t Make Them Like They Used To, 2008). Sophie is both active and passive: the static sculpture, eyes closed, is but a still in a moment of glory, wielding a larger-than-life calvary mare (The Reign, 2010) or singing to a great, anonymous orchestra (Silent Symphony, 2010).

For all of the histories of oppression Sibande’s alter ego seeks to critique, she transcends above them, reclaiming her space as a subject in both historical and contemporary narratives. Ultimately, Sophie is a celebration.

Sibande says, “My work is not about complaining about Apartheid, or an invitation to feel sorry for me because I am black and my mothers were maids. It is about celebrating what we are as women in South Africa today and for us to celebrate, we need to go back, to see what we are celebrating. To celebrate, I needed to bring this maid.”

This biography was written by Artthrob in collaboration with SAHO 49

In 2013, as a part of a new body of work entitled, Purple Must Govern, Sibande introduced the colour purple as well as wild, organic, fluid movement to her signature black fiberglass sculptures. Though still political in nature (the colour purple is a reference to a march that took place in Cape Town in 1989, where the police sprayed protesters with purple dye to mark them for arrest after the march), this new work was a departure (or expansion) from Sophie, asking broader questions about the dynamism of identity and performance. Sibande says, “The creatures are Sophie turned inside out. They are a look at intestines, an inspection of the mess within.This work is about deconstructing the familiar ideas built into my work. In other words, questioning what Sophie, the character, had dreamt of…In the process of letting go of older ideas of my work, I am opening doors for new challenges.”

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Mary Sibande is represented by Gallery MOMO in Johannesburg, where photographs expanding on The Purple Shall Govern are on view. She has recently teamed up with Action Aid South African and the Young Urban Women Programme to raise funds and introduce art to young girls in low-income communities.

Sibande recently unveiled a new sculpture entitled The Mechanism (an enormous study of the sewing needle) for the group exhibition “A Place in Time� at Nirox Foundation Sculpture Park in Johannesburg. Her work will appear in the group show Re[as]sisting Narratives at Framer Framded in Amsterdam, opening August 28th, 2016.

Sibande has said that she wishes to expand the reach of her installations to include video work and theatre, as well as continuing in the tradition of fashion and garment-making.

Paying tribute to a living legend 51

South African National Association for the Visual Arts (SANAVA)

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Stemming from the Cape Fine Arts Society way back in 1851, they are the oldest, most representative, national non-governmental association that promotes the visual arts in South Africa.

Over the years they became a national body of artists and lovers of the visual arts, proving their resilience despite several war-time situations and challenges of an economic, financial, social and political nature.

Different times also brought different names – in 1871 they were the South African Fine Arts Association, in 1945 the South African Association of Arts and in 1998 they became the South African National Association for the Visual Arts – their name today.

Their quest to promote the visual arts manifests in the administration of three fully equipped artists’ studios in the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, France. These were acquired in the early 1990s in terms of an occupational rights agreement, valid till 2060.

Who are their members?

Those people who share their passion – the promotion of the visual arts.

These include autonomous branches and affiliated organisations like art galleries, museums, educational institutions and corporate bodies.

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They have about 25 autonomous branches and 27 affiliated members. Individual artists are members of a SANAVA branch.

They are registered as a non-governmental organisation with the Department of Social Development and as a public benefit organisation with the South African Revenue Service.

They are also a member of the International Association of Art – a non-governmental organisation of UNESCO – with its head office in Paris, France.

What’s in SANAVA membership for you?

Various advantages – probably the most exciting benefit is the use of the SANAVA residence facility in the studio apartments in Paris – find out more about Cité Internationale des Arts.

Other advantages include: •A member branch may use SANAVA as a parent body when applying for corporate or government funds for art projects. SANAVA is a registered public benefit organisation and a registered non-profit organisation which means that donors receive tax benefits for their funding projects. Keep in mind that funding applications to the National Arts Council and the National Lottery Board are coordinated by SANAVA’s secretariat.

•All SANAVA members are invited to national and international exhibitions and competitions, including the annual Barclays L’Atelier and the Sasol New Signatures. A great benefit to members is that the free run-up Barclays L’Atelier workshops are offered in all the provinces.

More good news is that transport to Pretoria is sponsored for artworks selected for the Sasol New Signatures exhibition and Absa sponsors the transport of works for the L’Atelier exhibition, which takes place in Johannesburg.

•SANAVA members (artists who are members of an arts association which is a SANAVA member) may apply annually for an International Association of Arts membership card offering professional South African artists and art curators free or discounted access to international galleries and museums.

Find out how to become a member: http://sanava.co.za 54

There are these painterly things that happen while I’m working Marlene Dumas 55

Street Art

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1. WHO ARE YOU? I am a street artist that goes by the name r1. I am an installation artist. My work is concerned with how city objects and spaces can be transformed to create new forms of narrative. I have explored many different approaches over the years but am recognized for my signature style working with street signs. There is also a strong design element in my work.

2. WHATS YOUR BACKGROUND? I come from a fine art background with a strong focus on public art. As a student I was always uncomfortable with the idea that art can only be viewed or presented in a gallery space. What I like about art in the street is the freedom of expression. ‘The nature of the street is never to retract; the streets only expands.

3. WHO ARE INFLUENCES?

YOUR

BIGGEST

I was always fascinated with the graffiti and street art scene. But I am also inspired by large scale contemporary installations. I guess my work is influenced by numerous art movements.

But the most important aspect of this creative journey was always to keep to originality. My influences changes and adapts over the years but some key players have been Brad Downey, SpY, Anish Kapoor and Olafur Eliasson.

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4. HOW DO YOU SEEK OUT OPPORTUNITIES? I’m a strong believer that if you push out good original quality work, be consistent and strategic, opportunities that will lead to new projects.

5. IS THERE AN ELEMENT OF ART YOU ENJOY WORKING WITH MOST AND WHY? I’m currently working on new designs that are directly inspired by barrier tape. I’ve been familiarizing myself with its creative possibilities over the last couple of years and also have been closely working with tape manufacturing companies to print customized tape. I’m using specific adhesive tape and resin casting for exhibiting works. There are limitations with the material but what I love about barrier tape is that as I play with it, the designs of the tapeworks are revealed to me.

6. IS THERE SOMETHING YOU CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT IN YOUR STUDIO? One important tool that I use in my work is Photoshop & Illustrator. These programs not only help me with my geometric planning of designs but I also use it specifically for my public art projects. There are always external factors and costs that need to be taken in consideration when doing public art. I like to pre-plan projects to maximize productivity of execution.

7. WHAT INSPIRES YOU? Making art in the street comes with a sense of ‘ownership’ of public spaces and a search for engagement. What inspires me is my environment.

Inspiration finds me when Im active, moving and working. I explore the city and try to revive places and objects we take for granted, so much that we don’t see them anymore.

Website: r1r1r1.net Instagram: r1art Facebook: https://www.facebook.com /R1-532318476827672/?ref=bookmarks 58

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Customise your TEKKIES

what You will need

1 Pair of white Tekkies (Trainers) STAEDTLER Double-ended permanent pens Lots of imagination 62

STEP 1 Gather your inspiration. look at sites like instagram or pinterest.

Wipe down the shoes with a damp cloth and air dry

l a in

Be

UN

IQU

E

g i r o

2

Use the STAEDTLER Double-ended permanent pens and start doing the outlines.

Outline along the details of the shoe so that you get straight, neat edges.

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STEP

3

4 Continue filling out the colour blocks on both shoes, the ink will dry very quickly.

Add adtitional colours or slogans onto your finished shoes. You can update them whenever you want.

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Customise your TEKKIES INSPIRATION

VIDEO

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STREETWIRES Streetwires, situated in the ever-buzzing Cape Town suburb of Woodstock, has their focus on people, passion and pride. This is a growing business that allows local artists and crafters to combine their creative journey with business ventures and the prospect of selling their goods to an international market.

This project was launched in 2000 with the aim of training and supporting those that may otherwise be unemployed, giving them a platform on which to create beautiful things and make them available to the world. Today, Streetwires exports these stunning handmade crafts to more than 15 countries around the world.

These artists create incredible wire pieces that are as unique as they are intricate. But, this is not the traditional wire-and-bead work that has characterised South African arts and crafts for years. Rather, it is modern, aesthetically impressive, and incredible in scale and detail.

In addition to gorgeous pieces for the home, Streetwires also produces jewellery, accessories, ornaments, animal trophy heads (all bead and wire), corporate gifts and custom pieces.

The Streetwires shop and the studio are perched alongside one another, just across the road from the Old Biscuit Mill. This gives visitors the opportunity to watch the creatives as they form gorgeous pieces from little more than inspiration and hard work.

Team building and other events have never been more fun than at Streetwires, where workshops are on offer for groups that want to learn how to create beautiful pieces. This is also a fantastic option for tourists, as you get to take a little piece of Africa home with you after spending time with local artists and learning more about this craft.

Woodstock is a hive of activity, known for its quirky coffee cafĂŠs and one-of-a-kind shops.

Exploring its streets and buildings is always an adventure. It is only 10 minutes’ drive from the CBD of Cape Town and many of its most popular attractions (including Table Mountain and the V & A Waterfront), and is less than 20 minutes from the Cape Town International Airport.

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NEED TO KNOW WHERE: 1st Floor, Maxton Centre, 354 Albert Road, Woodstock, Cape Town WHEN: Monday to Friday from 09h00 to 17h00.

Saturday from 09h00 to 13h00.

HOW MUCH: Free to browse. Wireart workshops start from R275.00 pp ex-VAT TELEPHONE: +27 (0)21 426-2475

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TIMBUKTU IN THE VALLEY LEARNING SPACE No one could have expected how impactful this encounter of two boys, an artist, a journalist and a photographer/social worker on a sunny Saturday morning in October 2018 would be. Two boys found their way into Victoria Yards, Johannesburg’s new hub for creatives, artists and craftsmen of all sorts. The urban development had attracted the attention of the kids, who belong to the lowincome community immediately surrounding it.

Everyone at the co-working space VY Commons was following their own line of work. Sifundo Vilakazi, the fine artist, was refining his latest drawings, Lungile Hlatshwayo, the photographer and social worker, was editing photos, and Victoria Schneider, the writer, was fixing a bicycle.

Joakim and Andy-Brian, 9 and 13 years old, wanted to check out this new, somehow alien place in the hood and it happened that Joakim’s bike had a flat tyre too. When they found Lungile and Victoria Schneider outside, they asked for it to be fixed. Instead of doing it for Joakim, Victoria demonstrated how to take out the tyre and tube, spot the hole, patch it and reassemble it, so next time he would be able to fix his bicycle himself. We Do-It-Together in the valley.

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Afterwards, the boys entered the Co-Working space. The walls were decorated with Sifundo Vilakazi’s drawings, - land and cityscapes and portraits drawn with pencil. Then Joakim asked: “Can you please teach us how to draw?”

It was a coincidence that Sifundo Vilakazi was there. So, he sat down with the two boys to draw.

It was the beginning of something big, and something the now-directors of the Non-Profit Organisation Timbuktu in the Valley Learning Space, Lungile Hlatshwayo and Victoria Schneider, would not have imagined.

Three months after Vilakazi had sat down and drawn with the two boys, the two women decided to found an organisation which now hosts more than 25 children on an everyday basis.

The day after their visit to VY Commons, Joakim and Andy-Brian had come back with their friends. Soon, more children came to draw on a daily basis, using the few pens and papers and one water colour collected by other tenants such as the bookbinders Young Bucks or the manager and founder of the space, Simon Mayson.

For Christmas, a trial week was organised by VY Commons members, using the skills readily available - there was an artist, a storyteller, a photographer, two bookbinders, an academic with focus on reading and writing skills and two guys doing spoken word. - the week ran under the motto: Create your own graphic novel.

The first partner came on board: STAEDTLER, whose headquarters are in Victoria’s hometown in Germany, supported the “VY Holiday Academy” with boxes of beautiful colours, stationery items, pens, pencils, glue sticks, scissors and everything a young artist’s heart desires.

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Skills Knowledge Awarenes

The week was a success. 12 children between the ages of 8 and 15 came - plus one 3 year old baby sister - and enjoyed the process of making.

But, more importantly, it had become evident that there was a need to do something for the young members of a community situated right next to Victoria Yards. Other than locationwise, this community was very detached from the reality of the development that is said to be hub as well as from its tenants.

Situated in Lorentzville, between Bertrams and Bezuidenhout Valley, on the outskirts of Joburg’s infamous inner city, the area is home to many migrant communities from all over Africa. It is a melting pot of people from countries like Congo, Senegal, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe, as well as a community of poor and lower-middle class South Africans of all colours.

Victoria Yards, a gated and guarded community within a community, is mostly frequented by people from the northern suburbs or beyond.

“How to bridge this gap?”, was one of the big questions leading to the formation of Timbuktu in the Valley, which was named after the first university in Africa, in ancient Mali, to remind the children of their African heritage and to shape a mindset of self-confidence and skills-oriented learning.

The idea of the new place was not to be the usual aftercare centre, where children come to spend their afternoons and do their homework. It was more than that.

The concept Lungile Hlatshwayo and Victoria Schneider developed is based on the wide range of artistic and creative skills immediately available inside Victoria Yards and through its networks. The aim is to enable children and to present different options to them as possible career paths - options they would otherwise not have.

The three pillars of the organisation’s slogan, “skills, knowledge and awareness” are intertwined.

The vision is to introduce children to the magic of creation and of being creative in various fields.

Workshops hosted at Timbuktu in the Valley range from bicycle fixing to up-cycling plastic waste, fine arts, drama, heritage, gardening, food and nutrition, Tech Savvy Kids and computer skills.

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How to protect and preserve nature and the environment is connected with the arts through upcycling plastic waste and turning it into something new and beautiful. Old bicycle parts are used to make furniture and jewellery. Collages are made out of newspapers and magazines. But there is also an emphasis on being free, safe and having fun. Some afternoons are spent playing with puzzles or using the beautiful STAEDTLER colours to draw, paint and tell stories, reading and writing, as well as looking after the community garden.

Exposing the children to different skills and subjects allows them to explore what they like and are good at and to maybe find something they would like to pursue. It is a safe space in which to spend time and engage in play-based learning activities.

Now, Timbuktu in the Valley has its own 100m2 studio inside Victoria Yards, where, every day after school, children come to learn and play. While there are 30 registered children, there is also a bicycle crew of about 15 children which meets every weekend for bicycle clinics and a tour of the valley afterwards.

But the vision doesn’t end here.

In order to create an ecosystem of opportunities and to bridge the gap between different socioeconomic communities sharing one space, children are only one piece of a bigger puzzle. Realising that this movement for change can only succeed if all stakeholders are included, Timbuktu in the Valley, in collaboration with other organisations, has started to implement skills development initiatives for the children’s parents and older siblings. This ensures that the intervention is holistic and honest.

Timbuktu in the Valley tries to respond to the prevailing exclusivity of opportunity in South Africa. A reality in which most of the children and youth coming to the space are trapped. This may come with paralysing consequences such as the widespread dependency syndrome among the country’s poor.

Skills sharing and passing on knowledge to the children will naturally uplift the community as the young people will begin to know their value and have the necessary tools, soft and hard skills, to lead a self-determined and independent life.

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Sifundo Fortune Vilakazi

I grew up in Ladysmith, Kwazulu Natal, in a place called Msinga in Mhlangana .

My background is all about arts. I started drawing when i was a little boy. At the age of 4 I was drawing cars and buildings. In 1996, my mom took me to Johannesburg.

I didn’t know anything about illustrations, graffiti or graphic design and got inspired by the big city.

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Who are your biggest influences?

There are several legends I am inspired by, international artists like Banksy, but also South African artists like Roa Ayanda Mabulu, Rasty Knayels and Dumile Fen. I am currently working with the latter and it is a great opportunity to enhance my skills.

How do you seek out opportunities?

I try to learn about and understand my weaknesses and work on them. At the same I like to place myself in a good environment where I can find inspiration and have access to media, social media or the internet.

Is there an element of art you enjoy working with most? Why? There is nothing I enjoy more than working with the spray can, it is so amazing and I feel at ease. It allows me to create any form of art, especially stencils, graffiti art, graphic design, illustrations and prints.

How did you start making art?/Why do you make art?

I remember I once made a really nice looking bull when I was in grade one. I made it out of clay from the river Mhlangana in my hometown and it was displayed at the office. I think art came to me, or maybe it’s something like a calling because somewhere somehow it is a tool to heal other people and helps them, like the kids I teach every day.

What is your most important artist tool? Is there something you can’t live without in your studio?

Personally I need canvas spray paint and paints, those are the most important things for me. But in general, in art and design they say you cannot be a designer without an Apple iMac, because of the quality needed for illustrations and designs. You need a projector for bigger art works, need brushes, markers, paint markers, fabric paint markers, access to wi-fi, enough pens and pencils, charcoal pencils, an easel for drawing, and a camera for pictures. There is a lot an artist today needs.

Sifundo Fortune Vilakazi

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LUNCHBOX IDEAS UNITE TO END BULLYING WHERE TO STUDY FASHION DESIGN AMBASSADOR SHOWCASE STAEDTLER TUTORIALS

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