It's September on ARTastic ...

Welcome to a new month - let's say Hello to Spring - guess we are officially on the downhill run to Christmas - now there's a cheery thought for us all :)  

This month we hope to inspire you with this delightful painting by William Knox called Arabian Scene.

CRITERIA is a free scrap (anything goes) but we need to know what inspired you (sails, sand, buildings, colours, shapes, location etc).

A little about William Knox

William Dunn Knox was born in Adelaide in 1880.

He studied at the National Gallery of Victoria where he won a coveted prize for drawing. In 1918 he became a member of the Victorian Artists Society and later a member of the society’s council. In 1919 he became a member of the Australian Artists’ Association with whom he held his first solo exhibition.and as a businessman became the. manager of the Eagle and Globe Steel Co.  Knox Plein Aire painting followed the tradition of the Heidelberg painters. Most of his paintings started as sketches or colour notes done on location and were later finished in his Heidelberg studio. In the 1929 catalogue forward to his exhibition Streeton wrote ‘there is something alluring and almost lyrical about many of Mr Knox’s small paintings'.  

Knox became a founding member of the Australian Academy of Art, formed in 1937, an anti-modernist group chaired by the then attorney general, Robert Menzies.  His works are represented in the National Art Gallery, Canberra, the Art Gallery of South Australia, the Art Gallery of Western Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria, museums and art galleries of the Northern Territory, Art Museum Armidale, Bendigo Art Gallery, Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, Castlemaine Art Gallery

William Knox died in Melbourne in 1945.

And now some inspiration from the first of our team ...

JO

 I was inspired by the ocean, boats and colours.


LIZZY

I was totally inspired by the DESIGN used by William Knox, and used this to create a sketch for my page.

I've included my 'sketch' as well, just so you can all see how I've used the art piece:)

DEB

My inspiration firstly came from the colours and the sky, sea and sand which determined my background.  I also took inspiration from the boat and the shape of the sails.

ELAINE

The thing that struck me first when I saw this painting was the colours. They weren’t bright but rather

olden looking and I loved the feel it gave, a peaceful, loving feeling. So I picked up those colours

for my inspiration and came up with this page of my husband with our youngest. The love and peace

between these two is beautiful. I’ve used the quote to double up as my title.

HELENE

I was inspired by the colors, the sand and the sea.

WENDY

I was inspired by the exotic location of the artwork. The Arabian theme of William Knox’s piece made me think of a visit to Morocco many years ago. It was such an interesting, unusual holiday and, every time I look at my photos, I can almost smell the spices at the souks (open air markets). The colours in the inspirational artwork are beautiful – the browns, beige and vivid blues. I used this as a guide for the colour palette of my layout.  

And now it is your turn ......

Please upload the DIRECT link to your actual entry with the link tool on the LEFT by 11.55pm on September 30th, 2015.  We'd love to see your new paper, digital, mixed media or off the page entries. Why not try doing a pocket page spread?  Please no back-dated submissions.  

 You may combine our challenge with a sketch and a product/technique challenge (so two additional challenges).  Please include our inspirational picture and challenge details on your blog post as well as provide a link back to us at ARTastic  ... and don't forget to tell us how you were inspired by our challenge.  

You may enter more than once in any month as long as each submission is with a different creation.  International entries are very welcome. 

Please pop back on the 8th for The ARTastic 3T's - Tips, Tricks and Techniques brought to you this month by myself. 

Our August winners will also be announced at this time so please make sure you call past.