
Hibiscus at the Beach Shack

I came across a series of works I did ages ago. They are so quirky. This week it’s all about monotone.
(with audio)
The idea
The thumbnail was created in 2001. The painting in 2002. I used acrylic paint to get lovely bold colours. These are the 4 colours;
For this work it would be Matisse brand cause they have background paint colours I like.
Continue readingI came across a series of works I did ages ago. They are so quirky. This week it’s all about monotone.
Let your doodles be your inspiration.
When I was a kid in primary school you would get the ruler over your knuckles for being left handed. I was left handed. I was constantly drawing in the margin of my school books so lots of rapped knuckles! School wasn’t my finest hour but it didn’t stop my doodling. If anything I found solace there.
Don’t let your creations go to waste. Take your first step in turning doodles into artworks that you can proudly sell and display.
It was the 60’s when my mum, an artist and graphic designer, introduced me to butterfly symmetry paintings. I was just a ‘little tacker’. You put a couple of blobs of coloured paint on one side of a piece of paper, fold the paper in half and press down. You open it up and wallah! Out pops this totally colourist creation that you stuck on the window and watched dry.
I loved those butterfly paintings. I loved exploring the way colours combined and blended. No skill required, just a love of colour and enjoying the experience. That’s when my journey began with colour.
Now these many years later I find that using colour is just a natural part of my artistic journey. I love colour.
Dee Grant all rights reserved
This is an attempt at putting photo’s of my art in the one place. I went old school. You will laugh when you see the disorganised mess I made of things. But I got there in the end.
The amount of art work is significant and spans some 30 years.
I started at the back putting in works from my art college days
Choosing the portfolio type
I imported a portfolio from the U.K for this. The ones available in Australia just weren’t what I wanted. They were set up for scrapbooking. Instead, the one I chose was black and square. It had a ribbon so that I could tie it all together. Once all the photo’s were in it got rather bulky.
Continue readingThis is how I went about getting published on a charity Christmas Card.
Sketching strategy
I love how kids play dress ups. We used to have stage shows on the back patio when I was a kid. That was the impetus. With dad being a classical pianist I thought a Christmas Conductor was a nice touch.
Christmas in Australia is just a little different from the northern hemisphere. It’s hot! I wanted something that had an Australian feel. Thats why my Christmas Conductor in the final illustration is wearing shorts.
Continue readingI have always been a person that has painted larger artwork. What I found was that large art looks great at an exhibition but the practicalities of storage can sometimes be a nightmare. That is unless you have a studio. Large artworks become damaged, and if not hung, can begin to warp.
In 2017 I decided to try out miniatures on our summer holiday up the coast. Thus began a collection called Little Treasures.
I used small canvas on board that I imported from the U.S.A. They are small at 4″ x 4″.
Continue readingAnother artefact from the beach shack up the coast.
I like to sketch big most of the time. You can come undone if you don’t plan your space properly. This is one area that you can see with this sketch on the top left. Plan before you produce. Leave 2-3 cm around the edge so if you do decide to frame it there is some breathing space for your eye.
Another bit of nostalgia from the beach shack.
Back in the day tea was more popular than coffee in Australia. I remember these teapots. They used to have a tea cosy on them so that the tea stayed hot. A tea cosy is like a beanie that you put on your head. A beanie for your teapot.