pastel « Bringing the wild to life

August 6, 2010

Finally an update!

Filed under: 9 x 5's, Demos, In the studio, classes, wildlife — Tags: australia, Birds, classes, cockatoo, facebook, koala, Leigh Rust Art Studio, parrots, pastel, students, teaching, Wendy Olsen — admin @ 6:49 am

Hey everyone, my sincere apologies for the lack of updates here over the past couple of months. Life has been hectic. Life has been good. Classes are booming and my students are doing brilliantly every session these days. As they are improving it is also forcing me to improve which can only be a good thing.

Social media has finally got me going with my Facebook page getting updates after every class. If you’re interested in joining the fun make sure you have a look at the amazing work the current crew are doing. I’m also in the process of organizing an art sale near the end of the year featuring the artists from my studio. If you’re looking for a special Christmas present then I think you’ll have a good chance of finding it there! More info on that shortly.

Now onto what has been happening at my easel. After a very long time doing big game and coastal scenes I’ve shifted gears and moved onto our feathered friends. It’s funny what teaching Wendy Olsen can do to a person. For those who don’t know Wendy’s work I promise it’s worth having a look at. In my opinion she is possibly the best up and coming bird artist in Victoria. Watching her rise through the ranks prompted me to have a good think and dive into new territory as I start to tackle Australian birds in pastel. I’m still just getting started but I’m thoroughly enjoying myself with them. Here are some of the recent works….

A quiet life - pastel on Rustygrit by Leigh Rust

A quiet life - pastel on Rustygrit $649.00 AUD plus shipping

This piece really started things going in the current direction. It had been ages since I’d done an Australian animals and one of my students asked me to demonstrate my technique for creating a glowing background. I had an old reference photo nearby and just got started. Before we all knew it this work was born. I had so much fun with the textures in the fur, especially working with my handmade colours.

Kookaburra in the bush - pastel on Rustygrit by Leigh Rust

Kookaburra in the bush - Pastel on Rustygrit $599.00 AUD plus shipping

Shortly after in another class I began working on this. We only had a small group that night and everyone was sorted so I thought I’d have a play as well. By the end of the session things were shaping up and in the following class I put in the finishing touches including that amazing branch! I’m so pleased with how well the textures read on it. From here it has just been a natural progression through.

Corella study - pastel on Rustygrit by Leigh Rust

Corella - pastel on Rustygrit - SOLD

This was a small study on one of my plein air boards. Within 24 hours of completing it I had sold it!

Cockatoo in a walnut tree - pastel on Rustygrit by Leigh Rust

Cockatoo in a chestnut tree - pastel on Rustygrit $649.00 AUD plus shipping

Flight - Black cockatoo in flight- pastel on Colourfix by Leigh Rust

Flight - pastel on Colourfix $899.00 AUD plus shipping

This was a fun piece to do! The original reference came from the Bird show at Australia’s Zoo and I just knew I had to do it. I chose to put the cocky into a dusk sky and accentuate the movement which made it a great challenge and heaps of fun to work on.

Rosella sunrise - pastel on Colourfix by Leigh Rust

Rosella sunrise - pastel on Colourfix $160.00 AUD plus shipping

This little one was another small study

Ark! - pastel on Rustygrit by Leigh Rust

Ark! - Pastel on Rustygrit $320 AUD plus shipping

I had one of these as a pet when I was a kid and I miss him dearly. I’ve called it Ark! because he always made that sound so we named him Noah. I thought it was time for him to return to the trees.

Rainbow lorikeet - pastel on Colourfix by Leigh Rust

Rainbow lorikeet - pastel on Colourfix $479.00 AUD plus shipping

I’d love to hear what people think of these new works, especially those who have been following my art for a while. Let me know your thoughts.

Before I go just a quick note to budding artists in the Warragul area. I’ll soon be teaching open class and pastel masterclass that way on Wednesdays. If you’re interested send me a message and I’ll let you know when we are ready to kick things off.

New updates soon (I hope!)

Comments (0)

March 14, 2010

Galahs over the gorge – new major work completed

Filed under: 9 x 5's, In the studio, art promotions, classes, outdoor studies, over land and sea, wildlife — Tags: art class, art show, australia, bird, bush, galah, gorge, landscapes, pastel, plein air, rock, students — admin @ 5:26 pm

Hi everyone, this piece has been n the easel for about a month now and I’m very happy to say that it’s now completed. This is a local scene in Pakenham but I’m pretty sure none of the locals will recognise it. With the diagonals of the rocks I decided I needed something to counterbalance them and felt that a pair of galahs darting through the background would finish this off.

Galahs over the gorge

$1299.00 AUD (plus shipping)

This is a full sheet of Colourfix using rustytones and art spectrum pastels.
I’d love to hear what people think of it.

In other news my students have done exceptionally well at this year’s Bayside En Plein Air competition, with 4 students entering and 4 students walking away with awards! Very well done!

Here are some samples of their recent works… (not including the entries for the show)

Comments (0)

January 25, 2010

Mornington to Mount Martha workshop

Filed under: 9 x 5's, Demos, classes, outdoor studies, over land and sea — Tags: beach, mornington peninsula, mount martha, outdoor pastel workshop, outdoor study, pastel, plein air, rustygrit, summer, workshop — admin @ 5:18 am

Hi everyone, I thought I’d share some of the works I created on the weekend during a workshop that I was running. The group was a small one (2 adults and 2 juniors) which meant I could guide them while comfortably getting my own works done at the same time. The thing I tried to push home with them was to simplify the scene into the most basic forms and study the tones. While I didn’t want them rushing I did limit the time at each location to 1 hour so that they were more aware of the changes in light as they worked. Each of my scenes was done in roughly 10 minutes, allowing me to concentrate on helping the participants along the way.

All pieces were done on 9″ x 5″ Rustygrit plein air boards. Here are the ones I did for the day.

The first location was the Mornington foreshore, one of my favourite painting spots over the years. Setting up just before 8am everything looked great until dark foreboding clouds came in and sapped the light. My piece still retains some of the light while hinting at the leaden sky in the background.

After wrapping up the first scene we packed all the gear in our cars and made the 10 minute drive to Mount Martha. As we crested the hill and started toward the town I got really excited. The sun had bathed the beach in fantastic summer light and there were crowds of people preparing to sail out on the bay. The bright coloured sails gave me plenty to work with and the scene below is what resulted.

Following on we moved to the south beach where the crowds were building and split up. One of the juniors chose to paint the brightly coloured bathing boxes, another looked at the view of the headland with the crowded beach in the foreground. I chose to look out to the bay and really simplify. I wantes to capture the shifting colours in the water and the people talking on the beach. While I was working on the scene a boat sailed straight past so I decided to use it to give the water some interest.

With the first three locations done myself and one of the students took the trek to the distant headland and set up at the rockpools. I feel it was worth the trip.

Upon reviewing all the works we could all see marked improvements as the day’s scenes developed. I was very pleased – I had converted another group to the thrill of working en plein air!

Comments (0)

January 21, 2010

Cascading falls, St Columba

Filed under: Gallery news, In the studio, Tasmania, over land and sea — Tags: glover prize, new work, pastel, rainforest, rocks, Tasmania, waterfall, website updates — admin @ 5:27 am

Hi folks, here is my entry for the Glover Prize, Australia’s richest landscape prize. The scene at the foot of St Columba Falls in the north east of Tasmania. Making the cut for the Glover is a bit of a longshot with only 40 works selected for the show but hey, you have to give it a go.

Cascading falls, St Columba

$1499.00 AUD (plus shipping)

Have you checked out my site lately?

Over the past few days there have been some developments at leighrust.com with new artwork updates and new sections added. Finally my raw impressions have a new home and I’ve started a page for my Tasmanian works. Please have a look around and let me know what you think.

There have also been updates in the Port Phillip bay and Bass Coast collections for those of you who are interested.

Comments (0)

Inverloch workshop wrap up

Filed under: 9 x 5's, Demos, classes, outdoor studies — Tags: art workshop, bass coast, beach, demonstration, inverloch, outdoor study, pastel, plein air, pochade, raw impression, study, summer — admin @ 5:13 am

This Sunday January 10th was the first of my Outdoor Pastel Workshops. We started at Cape Paterson just before 8, setting up easels at a lookout that looked east to the busy beach filled with early morning swimmers preparing for the hot day ahead. As expected all participants were out of their comfort zone but all did very well to craft scenes which captured the view in front of us. The strong lighting really pushed their colour reliant attitudes as they were forced to simplify and look at the tones instead.

When we arrived at the second location we had 2 views to choose and the girls chose the one with the sun behind the them, a nice little procession of headlands and open ocean with swell of in the distance. This was an interesting choice for them as they all created completely different scenes, each with it’s own merit. These studies were deemed the strongest of the group when we moved to the studio session.

While we were at this location I did 2 studies, shown below.

The final outdoor scene was the beautiful rockpools at Flat rocks. The location offered a multitude of views, the most appealing being the view straight out to the surf, the rocks acting as a path to the glorious jade water. In the hot summer light the girls again wrestled with the issue of colour versus tone.

This was the scene I did on location.

After a brief stop for lunch at Inverloch we set up outside the Art Gallery of Inverloch and I got stuck into showing them how to take the magic of the outdoor study and create a studio work that accentuates those characteristics. Using the study for atmosphere and light along with a photo for details I set about on creating as faithful rendering of the Cape Paterson scene.

cape-paterson-atmosphere-studio

With the demo complete it was time for the girls to get stuck into their studio versions of the second scene, this time with less focus on detail and colour but more on light, tone and form. While working we spoke at length about colour theory as it relates to water, atmospheric perspective, the intensity of colour and it’s impact in your work.

Here is shot of the girls hard at work

inverloch-studio-session

Thanks to the ladies who came along and also the Art Gallery of Inverloch for their support in getting this event set up.

Next up is my mount martha workshop on Sunday the 24th of January. If you think you’d like to have a go let me know. It promises to be a lot of fun and you’ll walk away with some new ideas on how to work in pastel.

Comments (0)

January 20, 2010

Chasing the golden summer

Filed under: 9 x 5's, Demos, Uncategorized, art promotions, outdoor studies, over land and sea — Tags: beach, beaumaris, demo, heidelberg school, outdoor pastel workshop, pastel — admin @ 6:56 pm

Please enjoy this short clip for my upcoming Outdoor Pastel Workshop on the Mentone to Sandringham coastal trail. If you’d like to join me for this workshop please send me an email.

Comments (0)

January 5, 2010

Some raw impressions – new studies from Beaumaris and Mount Martha

Filed under: 9 x 5's, Demos, Uncategorized, outdoor studies, over land and sea — Tags: beach, beaumaris, headland, mornington classes, mount martha, mount martha artist, outdoor study, pastel, plein air, point — admin @ 8:09 pm

beaumaris-raw-impression

As 2009 came to an end I went out on site to the Beaumaris cliffs, one of my favourite locales, to do a study in preparation for my outdoor pastel workshops. I was working on a 9″ x 5″ Rustygrit plein air board (Red black) in the warm afternoon light. My focus was one increasing the contrast and losing all rendering – only the information to tell the story.

raw-beaumaris-cliffs

BEAUMARIS CLIFFS

Mount-martha-raw-impression

Yesterday Iwent to Mount Martha where I’ll be running my workshop on January 24th and set up at this spot to create a study. The focus for this study was to capture the textures of the rocky surface and the beautiful glow in the water. I was working on a Rustygrit studio board in raspberry, approximately 7″ x 10″.

the-point-raw-impression

THE POINT, MOUNT MARTHA

This piece of the point will be used as a basis for a major piece in the next couple of weeks. I’ve got a few works on the go at the moment and hope to have some new ones to show you shortly!

Comments (0)

December 22, 2009

Playing in the sun – New major pastel completed!

Filed under: Gallery news, In the studio, classes, over land and sea — Tags: art gallery of inverloch, beach, boy, child, coast, inverloch, pastel, playing, sand, summer, water — admin @ 2:16 pm

Hi everyone, in between a very productive end to the year with my pastel classes (Anyone who is interested in joining should check out the current samples on my website ) I managed to return to this major pastel and bring it to completion last night. The sand was a lot of fun to do and I feel like I captured the hot summer sun pretty well in this one. The little boy gave me some trouble but in the end I think it was worth it.

This piece will be available through the Gallery of Inverloch in the new year.

I’ve still got some things on the easel and I’m hoping I’ll get to share them with you very soon. As always thanks for looking!

Comments (0)

December 16, 2009

Golden light Toomuc Creek

Filed under: In the studio, Uncategorized, over land and sea — Tags: commissions, landscape, light, outdoo, pakenham, pastel, reflections, rock surfaces, toomuc reek, water, workshops — admin @ 6:53 pm

Hi everyone, here is the final commission for the year. This scene is Toomuc Creek, a local spot that I find inspirational but many overlook because it’s not pretty in the traditional sense. When I was living at our last place I passed this view every day and found the play of light captivated me.

This is the second time I’ve worked on this locale for a major piece and both of them have sold so I figure I’m not the only one who sees the natural beauty here.

This time around the focus was on the subtleties in the scene and the late afternoon sun’s impact on the shadowed areas. This created a a soft glow in those areas due to the reflected light.

I may have another major piece to share with you here before new year but it will depend on my workload and if I get enough time to make some real progress.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Just a reminder to anyone looking at classes or my January workshops to get your registration forms in as soon as possible. The registrations for the Inverloch workshop will close on December 24. Cheers!

Comments (0)

December 8, 2009

New workshops announced for February 2010 plus heaps of works to share

Filed under: 9 x 5's, Demos, In the studio, outdoor studies, over land and sea, wildlife — Tags: animals, beach, children, commissions, elephant, kilcunda, outdoor, pastel, portrait, workshops — admin @ 8:21 pm

This is just a quick note letting you all know about the upcoming Outdoor Pastel workshops that are running at the start of next year.

This past weekend we ran the Outdoor workshop in Pakenham which was a resounding success. The participants were taken aback by the challenges faced in the elements and learned to let go of the rigid working methods used in the studio. The looser more intuitive response to the scene gave everyone a chance to see with fresh eyes and learn the importance of observing what is around them.

Here is what one of the participants had to say: “I would like to thank you for the workshop on the 6th of December, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of working out in the open and you enabled me to look at what I am seeing in a totally different light. I feel that I have gained so much more understanding of how shadows and light play so much more to a picture than I realized before. Your patience and explanation were thorough, and easily understood, and the class members who participated on the day were also very encouraging and a great bunch of people.” Kim from Bittern

The piece below was done as a mini demo to conclude the day.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

In January I will be running 2 major workshops. The first is at Inverloch on the 10th of January and the second is at Mount Martha on the 24th of January. Spaces for both are filling quickly so if you are interested in either event please let me know soon.

Just announced are the first events for February. On the 21st of February I’ll be running an all day workshop along the famed coastal trail from Beaumaris to Sandringham, stopping at 4 of my favourite paint out locations. There are 10 places available for this one and those who are interested will be able to develop works ready to enter the Bayside En Plein Air competition in March.

The second workshop will run on the 28th of February from 3pm in the Toomuc Valley, north west of Pakenham. We’ll be working at 2 locations for this one, taking in a sweeping landscape and a bush creek scene.

Pricing for the Inverloch, Mount Martha and Coastal Trail workshops is $95 per person, which includes four Rustygrit 9 x 5 pastel boards.
The Toomuc Valley workshop is $60 per person and includes 2 Rustygrit 9 x 5 pastel boards.

If you’d like a registration form for any of these events please let me know.

I look forward to getting out in the elements with you!

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

This month has been crazy with commissions in preparation for Christmas. With all the talk of doom and gloom at the start of the year when it came to the financial crisis I’ll be remembering 2009 as my best year yet sales wise. I’d like to thank everyone who has taken an interest in my work for your support. I promise the best is yet to come!

Please enjoy some of the recent commissions….

I’ve just got one more major piece to go and all commitments for this year are completed!

Comments (0)

Older Posts »