g'day viewers! my name’s graeme stevenson andi'd like to invite you to come on a journey of creativity and learning and adventurethrough the series colour in your life. there's an artist in every familythroughout â the world. lots of times there's an artistdeep down in side all of us as well. so grab your kids,your brothers, your sisters, your aunties, uncles, and mums and dads and come and see how some of thebest artists in australia do what they do. (music plays)
(graeme) well g'day viewers andwelcome back to color in your life. we're down in werribee todaynear melbourne - a little chilly - wintertime exploration.- (janet) yes. (graeme) and i'm with a delightfullady called janet knight. - welcome to the show janet.- (janet) thank you very much. (graeme) wonderful to be here.janet has an amazing set up. she's also a professional art teacher, apartfrom being a professional artist. and she has the most magnificent studiodown here attached to her home, where she actually does workshops withobviously a lot of the artists in the area.
- (janet) yes.- (graeme) but janet also paints some really beautifulnatural scenes i mean i love landscapes, she has waterfalls, the way she puts them together. she uses a number of differenttypes of techniques to do that. but you've got a backgroundyou've did a diploma - in fine arts from ballarat university- (janet) that's right. - (graeme) in 1984.- (janet) that's right. (graeme) and from there you'vereally had an extensive experience
as far as a teacher and an artist. can you tell me a littleabout that at all? (janet) well before unii worked in advertising, that was for a few years. and thenafter that children came along and... - as they do.- (graeme) as they do. (janet) and you have to sortof squeeze things in. but teaching just sortof followed from that. and then i enjoyed it so muchthat i kept going and kept learning, and...
my studio sort of expanded, andclasses expanded and it's all just flowed on from there. so it'sbeen very, very incredible so. (graeme) yeah you've, she's really madea great success out of what you've done. it's very hard to sort of balance that andjuxtapose the whole thing with artists being right brained and then beingleft brained, but it sounds like you're - right in the middle of that.- (janet) i just try to be organised that's all. i wouldn't say i was very mathematical, but i'm a very organised person so yeah i just try to keep the ballrolling, keep everything
running smoothly. and it works andeveryone has a great time here and you know, i love to paint.yeah so i've got a good life. (graeme) yeah and she's won numerousawards as well. i mean there are a number if you look around the studio, and there's even a little shop in there whereshe sells stuff as well which is just great. but you can see all the awards janet has actuallywon over the years which is pretty amazing. but we're going to do twolandscape pieces today. and then show you guys the techniques, and she does i mean wonderful reflection,tremendous atmosphere
in these pieces. it's sort of like that naturethat you put into it. you make these up as well. they'resort of like a montage of ideas, but the fact is they're just so pure inthe sense of what natures all about, and i think you're going to help us - see into that today.- (janet) i hope so, graeme. (graeme) that would be great.okay let's go and have a look then... (graeme) okay well i can see you've gotsome glad wrap over your palette there, and you've actually had these in the freezer.
- (janet) i have.- (graeme) and the reason the glad wrap is there? (janet) well it depends on how long you'reworking on the painting for graeme. because working on this style of painting,i generally 2 or 3 weeks maybe on theone particular painting on and off. - (graeme) sure.- (janet) so what i would do is i would wrap it in cling wrap,keeps all the oxygen out away from the paint. and then iwould pop it in the freezer, and the freezer just keeps it in abit off a suspended animation. - it doesn’t actually freeze- (graeme) sure.
(janet) the pigment;it keeps it quite loose. and i can take it straight fromthe freezer, take my cling wrap off, - and away i go.- (graeme) ready to go. another great tip froma brilliant artist. - alright we'll whip that one off then.- (janet) yes. (graeme) and you're goingto start to put some colors down. (janet) i do put a lot of though intothe painting before i actually start. - sometimes it drives me crazy- (graeme) yes. (janet) because i'll sithere for an hour,
just studying my photo, and i won'thave actually have started yet. - (graeme) which is a point but it really is.- (janet) yeah, - but it's all worth it in the end.- (graeme) sure. (janet) it's worth it in the end. if you’ve had a very stressful day sometimesi can't even start a painting, because i need that time,i need that time to study my photograph before i actually leap into it. because there'sno use in rushing it because you want the results at the end.
and if you do rush into a painting you'renot going to get those exquisite, beautiful little colors coming through,a beautiful result at the end. so it's very important to take your time and thinkabout it a lot before you start. (graeme) okay you've got a mixturethere, your medium which is? (janet) yes it's just a lot of turpentineand a little bit linseed. yes. i like to keep the medium nice and fluid;i don't like the thicker mediums. can you see that i'm picking upboth colors at once. - (graeme) and then sort if just letting it- (janet) and putting them on,
- and putting them on,- (graeme) yeah, (janet) i can throw in a bitmore of our red gold. this is australian red goldby the way everybody. (graeme) so one thing i've noticing whenyou're actually doing this – is you're doing this. (janet) it's almost likea cross hatching. (graeme) yeah with your wrist. we're asmost people would be going like that. - (janet) no, no.- (graeme) so what you're doing is creating the atmosphere just simplyby cross hatching as well.
(janet) that's right, that's right, you're creating a little bitof blending in the painting, yeah. (graeme) there's a beautifulpiece of the bridge in giverny. (janet) - oh yes. yes.(graeme) - so you actually went to (graeme) - monet's place?(janet) - yes, i did. (graeme) it's a bit of apilgrimage to that one isn't it? (janet) oh it was just an amazing,it was an amazing day for me. to be standing in monet's gardenwas just amazing. my daughter was commenting thati was getting a little bit too excited
because it was just a garden to her, and it wasn't just a gardento me cause you know: - it's monet. it's monet.(graeme) - it's so iconic. (janet) - just amazing.(graeme) - even monet said his best achievement was actually not his art but his garden. (janet) - well there you go.(graeme) - he always made that statement (graeme) - he said no my best work is my garden.(janet) - and i can relate because i'm a gardner as well so yeah, i love my garden.
(graeme) we just saw yourbeautiful garden out the back; - a glorious home as well.(janet) - thank you. (graeme) you've obviously spenta lot of time and you're - an avid gardner.(janet) - yes, yes i really enjoy my garden. yeah. (graeme) you sort of seethe juxtapose between monet and night. it's just fabulous. (graeme) - works well.(janet) - well i'm trying.
(graeme) all great pieces of workare going to have a source of light. (graeme) - where is your source of light?(janet) - light's very important in this style of painting. the painting the light especiallyin a photograph like this, where we've got a little trackcoming through the bush here. there's a lot of light comingdown because there's - probably a few cleared trees here.(graeme) - sure. (janet) a little bit more lightcoming down in this area. but what i do for the painting isi exaggerate the light. it needs to be
interesting for the viewer,interesting for the buyer. especially them – i want them to lookat my paintings and go: wow. look at that; look at that.look at the depth in there. and this is what i'm trying to achieveevery time i pick up a brush. and i've had dozens of comments frompeople saying just how relaxing they look. (graeme) - sure.(janet) - yeah. (graeme) - that's the idea of it, hanging paintings.(janet) - well it is. it is you know, and that comes backto me, and just what i was feeling at the time when i'm painting it yeah.
(graeme) and i was alsonoticing that you use the lucas quick drying oils as well. but you've gota combination you've got art spectrum and lucas combined. i mean lucasdoesn’t make this australian... - red gold do they?(janet) - no, no there's a lot of overseas companies that don't make the aussie colorsand sometimes you really need to look at purchasing colors that you know,suit you're surroundings you know. so i basically i don'tstick to one brand. i like to try different brands outjust to get the results that i want. so as i'm heading towardsthe side of my painting
you can see that i'm usinga little bit more white. so as i slowly moreover to this.(graeme) - source of light. (janet) that's right, so our source oflight is going to be a little bit whiter than our naples which is the yellow one. (graeme) this pattern that you'recreating just by small strokes, is this wonderful ambiance inthe background starting to build. we're as if you're a beginner andyou just start to slap it down, it's not going to work for you.you just have to take your time doing it. (janet) and when i'm finished thisas well, when i get to the other side,
i actually come back with a softer brushthan this one, and i will actually brush the lightest, lightest stroke over the top of this and that isto soften all those strokes. we don't want it to be too apparent, but i will just soften them alloff so that we get that beautiful out of focus effect.and that's what we want. (graeme) in creating this typeof atmosphere in the back you're really trying to bringthe viewer into the picture. (janet) that's right. i'm not forcingthe viewer to sort of look into the centre.
but usually when you keep the darkercolors on the exterior of your painting, it draws your eye into the centreso there's a real focal point into the centre of the painting. i get some great remarksfrom people just saying oh what have you done with that photo?like you've just made it so special. (graeme) and it's really justfor a guide for you, isn't it? (janet) it's a guide. it's justa little bit of reference that i can turn intosomething special yeah. people just love it, so i'll takesomething that's dull and boring
- and make it exciting(graeme) - spruce it up. (janet) to look at you know. sometimesi don't even like to bring out the original photo because it looks nothinglike the painting. (graeme) and if you look at monet's work i think he's probably oneof the better examples is that there's no great lightand no great dark, these pictures sort of just hoverin the middle of the spectrum. (graeme) - nothing goes the other way.(janet) - and i think monet did suggest too that his paintings areall made up of light;
that was the main thing in his paintings. it was the light andthis is why he painted with early morning light,and then he painted with afternoon light, or whenthe sun was just toppling down. and a best friend of mineshe'll get up at 3 in the morning and go to these exotic places - just to getthe sunrise, because the colors are different at sunrise. the colors aredifferent through the bush. and she just picks up all thesebeautiful colors in her photographs, and then she comes home and paints them.
(graeme) yeah it's really the sense asthe sun comes through the atmosphere, if it's directly aboveit doesn’t have as far to go. obviously in the australian bushyou have eucalyptus oil and dust and everything that's there.hence the mountains are blue. (janet) - that's right.(graeme) - because of the eucalyptus oil in the air. (janet) we've got some amazing colors in our landscape, justsome amazing colors. it's just exciting and we just needto nurture that, and paint that, and show the world howbeautiful our country is.
(graeme) okay, so for the next sessionhere, we've got all the colors down, we really need to soften if off more. andyou're going to use another brush to do that. (janet) that's right. what we're tryingto do is create an out of focus look, just very soft bush look. a little bit like your out of focusphotography – that sort of thing, is kinda what i'm trying to get at. alright so what i'll do is, i'll put thatlittle brush down that i was just using, and i'll pick up this one.i'll also pick up my nice little -(graeme to keep it clean.(janet) - keep it clean cloth.
and all i do is i drag my brush nice and feather like over the top. it takes a little bit, it takesa little while to do. you've got to be careful that youdon't loose a few of your highlights just. (graeme) - so it's really light(janet) - very, very light. (graeme) you're still really using thatcross hatch method but just so slightly. (janet) very, very soft. very, very soft. (graeme) alright well asyou can see janet's just
using that really fine brush, very drytool, it's a dry brush technique, just to finish this off. but you cansee the wonderful atmosphere that's being created inthe background there. so obviously one of the techniqueswe are doing today - but that looks sensational my dear.(janet) - thank you very much graeme. you can see that i'veleft this area open because we do have a little trackthat runs through the bush here. so i've left this area open so we can play with it later on.we can put trees over the top,
we can just create our wonderful little painting just how we want it too be. (graeme) great atmosphere. alrightwe're going to do some reflections now, so let's move onto the next one... (graeme) okay well as you cansee we've put the next piece up: a lovely long painting. and you're going to be teaching us howto do reflections on the water this time. (janet) - that's right.(graeme) - alright lets make a start on that. (janet) okay well before i start i actuallylook at what's going on in the painting.
i have some light penetrating down here,this is actually almost like a bit of a wall going on here, because we dohave a waterfall to put in. when i think of a reflection in wateri'm thinking of a mirror. i always think of a mirror first,because what does a mirror do? it reflects all those other colors thatare around and that's what we see. so i think i look at reflections as a mirror of all thoseother colors that are happening. okay i'll just start by picking upa few of the colors, and we're coming up toa few little rocks here.
but we won't necessarilypaint them in yet. i leave those for after; i try to create little areasof color in the water. so when i do blend them together at the end, they workreally nicely together. (graeme) i suppose as you weresaying before, is that sometimes you've just go to sit and study your subjectmatter before you even make a move sometimes. (janet) - that's right.that's right.(graeme) - just watch the water. (janet) and i'm still usingmy two favourite colors:
my ultramarine andmy australian red gold. (graeme) it's amazing the varietythat you actually get with those, - just two colors.(janet) - yeah. it's a bit hard to see what'sgoing on at the moment because all we haveis light areas of color. (graeme) you're not referencing the photosat the moment, so this is all coming from - the imagination area.(janet) - that's right. (graeme) - yeah.(janet) - definitely. that's why a lot of thought process has toreally go in to it before you actually start.
because in your head you knowhow you want it to finish up. you know how you want itto look when it's finished. it's just getting that on the canvas. (graeme) watching janet workthere's a sense of patience that's involved in doing this;there's a deliberate stroke. okay well we've finished thereflection, or that particular area. and you're going to put someof the logs and rocks in for us. (janet) - that's right. that's right yep.(graeme) - okay. excellent. (janet) let's go. i've made a colorhere; it's a bit of a mix
between browns and greensand those type of colors to represent that piece of timber here. so what i'm going to to do is justtry and replicate that again in the water. so once i've finished puttingin a few little marks, i don't have to put everything in,just a few little marks in here. once i've finished doing that, then wedo drag it with the brush again. so we soften the wholething at the end anyway. so it's not a really strong image,it's just a very, very soft one.
sometimes i need to enhancethe moss a little bit in the water, just so it stands out against the dark. some of the grasses are also inthe water, as we play around with little things touching the water. well that's probably going to explainhow our reflection are done so. (graeme) excellent. alright sowe've got another piece that's almost finished, and this onesreally going to be about putting the final touches in to really snap the painting. so we'll take thisone away and get on to the next one.
(janet) wonderful. (graeme) okay well as you can seewe've got our third piece up and janet is going to take us through thefiner details of finishing off one of her pieces. so where do we go from here? (janet) okay well this one isalmost finished. it's just got a few little tickles to do. so what i'll do now is i'm workingwith a little rigger brush here. (graeme) you've still really got the samepalette there haven't you? (janet) same palette, same colors,on all 3 paintings today.
(graeme) so you're just puttingin the backbone of the planet? (janet) just putting inthe backbone, just the shape. (graeme) and the thing about them, evengoing through with what janet's doing today, is that she is a really proficientteacher in all of the mediums. it's not just a matterof oils, she teaches watercolors, pastels, acrylics. you actually work with nursinghomes as well don't you? (janet) i do. yes i do art therapy.yeah art therapy. (graeme) just teaching art therapywhich i think is just wonderful.
it's such a great way to bringthe better part of people out. (janet) oh absolutely. we just have a ball together. talking about art therapy, i actually sawone of your programs graeme where, i think the lady's name was tracy. and i was a little bit inspired bywhat she had done on her paintings, like her preliminary, her preliminary. setting up the canvas, throwingon a whole lot of colors, working with cling wrap,or glad wrap and then
producing these amazing little - color masterpieces.(graeme) - yeah. (janet) and so i took that idea to the nursing home, and we didthat the following week and the residence were just in aware about what we were going to do,and how we were going to do it. and as soon as they were ready, it was all hands on deck. and they played with the canvas and justhad the most amazing time.
and i got my camera outand took lots of photos and yeah, they were all, so many smiles and it was just a fantastic afternoon. so i want to thank you for you know, havingthat on your program because it was, we just had a wonderful day together. (graeme) it's funny you say that,but janet's doing exactly the same and that's inspiring people to get the best out of themselves. andthen to explore themselves, that's what right brained creativitycan do. if you're
in a bit of a slump and you're not sure how the world'sworking for you, this is a great way to (janet) - absolutely.(graeme) - reach, - to reach inside and found out who you are.(janet) - absolutely, and you know, the same with music as well.music and art - and art therapy, they all go together.(graeme) - yeah, yeah. (janet) be careful not to create too manysoldiers standing in a row with these bubbles, it all has to look very natural. and once the painting is finished,or you think it's almost finished,
i generally will let it sit for a coupleof days. and then i will study it, even before i sign it. so i will just keeplooking at the painting, can i improve it? what elsecan i add to it to create interest? (graeme) it talks to you in theend anyway doesn’t it? (janet) it does. it does, and i thinkthat it's just that little bit of time and patience and energythat you put into the last minute details is very important. (graeme) alright, well anotherfascinating day; thank you so much
- for having us in your studio.(janet) - you're very welcome. (graeme) one wonderful,wonderful day and the australian bush and australian natureis amazing and you portray it so well. and some of these scenes just literallyyou can see yourself melting into nature. that's a very special quality that you haveto be able to create things like that. so thank you so much for being onthe show and obviously showing all the people out there what you do.now remember, as i said before, is that janet is a highlyskilled teacher. she's been doing this for a long time.
has a lot of really successful students,successful workshops, works with a whole bunchof different groups as well, which changes other people'slives which is just wonderful. so if you would like to talkto janet about her originals, which i think are just fantasticby under any circumstances, or her workshops, you can go to... (janet) www.janetknight.com.au (graeme) and obviouslythat's a - k n i g h t, on the bottom of the screenright now as you can see.
but we're going to head north again, it's beengreat been great being down in melbourne. as i said, any of thepeople down in melbourne, come and see this lady. you'll havean unbelievably great time with her. we have great people comingon board these days, lots of amazing artists, i mean the talentis just incredible. and as you said, there's so many things you've beenable to take out of this to pass on - as a legacy.(janet) - yeah, absolutely. (graeme) - to other people.(janet) - absolutely, yeah. it's been really fun. (graeme) yeah and we justlove doing it we really do.
but yeah, facebook page – go in and sign up on facebook with us. we've got 1000's of peoplein there these days. and also our website, you can seejanet's work in there as well at colourinyourlife.com.au to all our sponsors always,thank you so much. but as always, until we meet again: make sure youput some color in your life. i'll see you next time guys. bye now.