Path through the Bouddi. Swipe for initial drawing, one of six with varying degrees of line and composition before I felt like starting the painting. Spending half my life on the Killcare coastline, 95kms north of Sydney, I get to spend a lot of time in the Bouddi National Park with its dramatic headland boardwalk. The painting is acrylic on board. 82 x 96cms and the drawing is A2, 30 x 42cms in soft willow charcoal. #landscape #landscapepainting #australianpainter #austalianartist #contemporarylandscape #abstraction #abstractpainting #coastline #bouddinationalpark #bouddicoastalwalk #draw #drawing #charcoaldrawing #studydrawings #mikestaniford
Been thinking about the UK and the coast of Devon in particular. And remembering being there last year painting the River Yealm estuary and the South Hams countryside. Sending my best to all my friends and family who this year I will be prevented from seeing. I know you’re doing it tough. #coastline #coast #southdevon #southhams #abstractpainting #abstraction #acryliconpaper #landscape #landscapepainting #devonboy #mikestaniford
The mindfulness of drawing. #birdsong #mountains #light #nature #mindfulness #beingthere #inature #draw #charcoaldrawing #bluemountains #mikestaniford
Unless I’ve drawn the place I don’t feel I’ve really been there. A few examples in different weights of pencil, graphite and charcoal. Lake Tekapo, Killcare NSW, Isle of Jura Scotland, Kefalonia Greece and lastly North Sydney. As soon as the charcoal hits the paper and the act of really looking kicks in, a mindfulness takes over and I know I’m truly there. What’s the act of drawing all about for you? #draw #drawing #beingthere #mindfulness #inthemoment #places #charcoaldrawing #8bpencil #worksonpaper #travellingartist #mixedmedia #mikestaniford
A quiet Sunday mark making in the studio. An incredibly personal process with no such thing as right or wrong. You need to lock away the inner critic and forget about the finished product. This was a series of drawings where I’m trying to resolve a composition, sometimes wiping out the charcoal, painting over two thirds of it and going again with the remnants of the earlier sketch showing through. I try to simply enjoy the physical process of making the charcoal flow across the surface. I didn’t want to bore the pants off you so here’s just three of the nine versions completed. #draw #drawing #meditative #physicalactivity #innercritic #innercriticbegone #judgemental #process #markmaking #composition #charcoal #charcoaldrawing #mikestaniford
Rocks and ponds at the Blue Mountains Botanical Gardens. #botanicalgardens #mountwilsonnsw #rockgardens #plantvarieties #acrylicpens #poscas #abstractart #shapes #journeyhome #mikestaniford
Four works from the Watchtower Lookout. Great distance, strong shadows and amazing birdsong. All made with Poscas acrylic paint markers. They can get messy but that’s the fun of it. #bluemountains #cliffwalk #lookouts #mountsolitary #katoomba #landscape #landscapepainting #abstractshapes #landscapegeometry #fieldstudies #pleinair #mikestaniford
The incredible rock faces seen through the curtain of trees. Stopped in the Grand Canyon walk, 450 steps and tracks down...and then back up. Good to have the watercolours with me. #bluemountains #rockface #grandcanyonwalk #watercolours #watercolourpainting #landscape #landscapepainting #artistsoninstagram #pleinair #mikestaniford
The drama of the Blue Mountains. It’s all about fading light, sharply illuminated rock faces and deep, inky shadows. Australia’s Grand Canyon. Acrylic on 300gsm hand made Meirat, a wonderful paper made in Spain for centuries.
#bluemountains #katoomba #acrylicpainting #meirat #handmadepaper #shadows #lighting #lateafternoon #landscapepainting #landscape #australianpainter #mikestaniford
Shadows in the paddock. #bluemountains #katoomba #lastlight #longshadows #paddocks #abstraction #mikestaniford
A few days up in the Blue Mountains and some field studies from the lookout at Gordon Falls. Hard to capture the dramatic light in watercolours which I haven’t used for some time. Swipe to see the original line drawing. #bluemountains #katoomba #fadinglight #shadows #watercolour #watercolourpainting #rockface #landscape #landscapeartists #mikestaniford
All part of the same family and painting but each with its own personality and action.
#context #method #looseness #method #process #intuitive #spontaneous #free #colourpalette #abstraction #abstractpainting #trees #mikestaniford
Never be afraid to play. Try things that might seem random, they usually lead somewhere. I’ve done a lot of thinking this year about how to apply myself to the practice of art and painting and how to heighten the tension in my composition and mark making. Inevitably, I’ve taken some wrong turns and often found myself questioning what I’m doing. Which is all pretty normal really. As an artist you just have to turn up and put in the hours and expect that some days things may not work out as you expected. I Always remember the following key factors:
-Keep experimenting
-Everything takes time
-Grow and never stop working on yourself
-Your mistakes don’t define you
-Change is inevitable
-Other people are not the answer to your happiness.
And most importantly Success isn’t final and Failure isn’t fatal.
#staystrong #keepexperimenting #collage #acrylic #staycurious #takeyourtime #changeisgood #mikestaniford
To my earlier ‘Keep it Simple’ post, here’s the sketch done immediately before. Compare the two, I’d be keen to hear your response. 🙏🙏
#feedback #shareyourthoughts #comparison #preference #tellmewhy #mikestaniford
I loved the way this avenue of deciduous trees challenged the line up palms in Clarke Park, North Sydney, one performing the perfect backdrop for the other. Light versus dark and composition really matter in this simple drawing made with two Posca pens (swipe). And importantly, the editing process. I’ve left out the buildings behind, clouds, shadows and people and I think the final work benefits from the simplicity. Moral of the story? Keep it simple. #trees #keepitsimple #blackandwhite #inkpens #inkpendrawing #editing #reductive #treesandtrunks #simplicity #northsydney #artnorthsydney #northsydneyartists #landscapelovers #draw #drawing #drawingsketch #drawingoftheday #mikestaniford
Through the trees to the Harbour and Lavender Bay. After 26 years it’s what still makes Sydney special for me. #Sydney #harbourcity #mycity #lavenderbay #waterfront #acryliconboard #lightonwater #reflections #mikestaniford
More time with trees on the edge of Sydney Harbour. Looking for ways to edit the subject and reality of buildings and the built environment into place with palm trees. And couldn’t help include the lonely figure. #solitude #contemplating #scale #dwarfed #northsydney #human #outsketching #sketchbook #treesandbuildings #builtenvironment #cities #cityscape #draw #drawing #drawdrawdraw #draweachday #drawwithdebbie #exploredrawing #mikestaniford
In a forest of a thousand trees, no two are alike. Watch them closely and treat them like friends. I like to employ the saturation of colour and colour values combined with expressive scribbles and brush marks to bring out their individual personality. #trees #nature #expressive #landscape #individual #characters #likepeople #colours #saturation #colourvalues #scribbles #brushmarks #mikestaniford
Trees in the Bouddi. The last two details really work for me. Somehow you still know they are trees. #nationalpark #bouddinationalpark #bouddicoastalwalk #trees #personalities #workonpaper #acrylicpainting #mikestaniford
Thrilled that SHADOW PLAY is a finalist in this year’s Gosford Art Prize. @gosfordregionalgallery Many thanks to the selection committee and good luck to all the other finalists. #gosfordregionalgallery #gosfordartprize #artprizes #finalist #gratitude #lightandshadow #landscapeart #landscapepainting #headland #mikestaniford
Thank you for the Stars. #starrynight #nightsky #stars #tropics #illumination #landscape #sundown #endofday #landscapepainter #contemporarylandscape #lagoon #distantheadland #northstar #mikestaniford
Clear night time sky. Bushland leading to the water’s edge. Charcoal, pastel, graphite, brush pen and acrylic on A2 Canson 220gsm. A good working drawing. To see the painting, click on to my story and see the basic underpainting going down and the start of the colour palette. Could be challenging this one. Watch this space. 🙏 #landscape #coastline #stars #lagoon #nighttimeadventures #landscapeartist #figuration #landscapepainter #milkyway #artist #artistsoninstagram #eucalypts #contemporarylandscapepainting #draw #drawing #drawingoftheday #A2 #mikestaniford
New formats pose interesting challenges. From working drawings (swipe) to the final painting. I call it ‘Drawing into the landscape.’ The process of refiguring, what’s in front of you and making a setting become a picture of how you see the world. And of course memory plays a large part in it. #contemporaryart #contemporarypainting #contemporarylandscape #workingdrawings #fieldstudies #drawing #startbydrawing #memory #differentformat #landscape #landscapepainter #landscapeartist #mikestaniford
Drawing into the landscape. For me it carries an important double meaning. Firstly it’s about me being drawn into the verisimilitude of the setting, the factual reality that sits in front of me and secondly, it refers to the act of drawing, exploring the components of the setting and seeing landscape as a subject, to interpret through the physical act of mark making. #draw #drawing #landscape #whatyousee #lookclosely #landscapeartist #mikestaniford
From the sketch attached and working from earlier drawings of the Upper Hunter Valley. Simplified shapes and geometry help to remove the idea of a figurative setting and place it more in the idea of abstract subject. The work is 40 x 40cms acrylic on board. abstraction #abstractart #abstractpainting #landscape #workingsketch #charcoalsketch #fieldstudy #reductive #geometryart #artform #artistsoninstagram #headland #contemporaryart #contemporarypainting #mikestaniford
The extra work was worth it. Capturing the essence and spirit of the bush by working fast and intuitively. #hillside #headland #bushwalking #landscape #landscapepainter #contemporarypainting #contemporaryartist #australianpainter #artgalleries #mikestaniford
At the edge of Killcare Beach. Windswept trees and pathways to the beach, footprints in the sand. All on A3 with various weights of charcoal, pastel and brush pen. And lastly a simple beach drawing. I like the way the dunes, headland and waves create a dramatic perspective. #beach #edgeoftheocean #ocean #perspective #bushland #footprints #mixedmedia #fieldstudies #mikestaniford
Quick peek inside the studio. Yes I know it’s messy but it’s my mess. #studiolife #artstudio #artistspace #workinprogress #busytime #lifeandtimes #artworks #mikestaniford
Great to have my new website up and running including all my new work. Please feel free to complete the Art Enquiry Form if there’s a drawing or painting that catches your eye. I can arrange shipping/transport to any worldwide location. Swipe for just a few of the works. #newwebsite #checkitout #landscapeartist #australianartist #newwork #contemporaryart #boldcolours #intuitive #gestural #mikestaniford
Finished the day with a minimal sketch of Mount Gower and Mount Lidgebird on Lord Howe Island. I’m using newly purchased ‘chunky’ charcoal and it’s fabulous, flows effortlessly across the A2 Canson 220gsm cartridge stock. My real point here is about the reductive nature of drawing, as in “What happened to the foreground?” I felt it wasn’t necessary, that the drawing stands or falls on the mountains and trees. That it leaves something for the viewer to wonder and imagine. And it celebrates white space! And it’s clearly Lord Howe. There’s always a tendency to include everything but economical mark making, restraint, in my opinion pays dividends. And by the way, I also left out the lagoon. Why not try the idea of ‘simplest visual properties?’ #lordhoweisland #lordhoweislandtourism #tropicalisland #charcoaldrawing #reductive #minimal #trees #simplestvisualproperties #landscapes #draw #drawing #drawingoftheday #mikestaniford
