Three printing colours

Ross Psakis.

Recently, for the fifth time, this artist became Overall Winner at the Art of Sydney Awards; and she has won numerous other awards. Using a very basic palette of colours, she paints almost every day.

It seems I have been painting for a very long time. But for a major part of that time, it was a love/hate relationship. To say the least! My early art training was with Gloria Ransom and Allan Fizzell. Both were generous with their knowledge and their encouragement.

I knew I couldn’t give it up … that wasn’t an option. I was hooked. But I just wasn’t getting anywhere; not making any progress. I was making the same mistakes over and over again. And wasting an embarrassing amount of paint and canvas.

The wasted energy was even worse.

I remember looking at other people’s paintings and thinking, “Now, that’s the way to do it. I’ll try that!”

But, of course, copying an idea – without knowing why that idea works – just plain doesn’t work!

Trying out various (and copious) colours because I had seen them mentioned somewhere didn’t help me either, because I hadn’t taken the time to study what the three primary

colours would do. And without that knowledge, all those extra tubes of fancy colours were only getting me into more trouble.

And tone? Well, that one was even more of a mystery. My paintings were chalky. Far too much white. White is a killer, but I used to think that to get light into a painting, surely a lot of light colours were needed? Surely, that makes sense? What I didn’t know was that without the darks and medium tones taken care of early in the painting, there is nothing for the lighter tones to sit against.

And lighting? All over the place. Not only did I mix it all up on the painting, I didn’t even notice which way it was coming from. Now, of course, that is the first thing I notice. Side lighting, top lighting, front lighting, or gorgeous back lighting.

And it makes all the difference between an ordinary subject and an extraordinary subject.

I laugh at those years … but think of them fondly. The struggle and frustration was worth it. I learned lessons the hard way and certainly I should have ‘caught on’ a lot quicker; but I loved the journey.

Now, even though I still have a lot more learning and progress to experience, I have a method of working that I can rely on. It works for any subject, every time.

When students despair and seem to be on the verge of giving up, I don’t question their knowledge but I ask them, “How much do you love it? How badly do you want to paint?”

If they answer ‘very much’, then I know they will succeed because passion for our craft is the one thing that will ensure our success.

So, I press on. Painting nearly every day. Not because I feel I should; but because, without a bit of painting in there, a day is missing something.

My goal is to paint a picture that I will feel excited about. One that I will see across the room and think,

“Gee, that’s fantastic. If I hadn’t painted it myself, I would be really jealous of that painter …”

I have been Overall Winner at the Art of Sydney Awards five times now; and I have won numerous other awards. I have tutored for the past decade at Kurrajong’s ‘Art in Action’ – a popular art convention that brings tutors and students from all over Australia. I also conduct workshops and demonstrations, and hold a weekly class at Sydney’s Kogarah Bay. Held on the first Wednesday of the month, this is a workshop day where the class works through a painting together (subject supplied, and everyone welcome).

Feel free to email me for more information: rospsakis@optusnet.com.au