"I've been drawing for over 60 years but I learnt more about freehand drawing in your first three hour class than I did in the rest of my life put together",
Bill Byrne (workshop student- 2 workshops)
"Many thanks for your inspiration",
Donna Window (workshop student- 3 workshops)
"Thanks Brett, you opened a new world for me",
Johanna Arnold-Stevens (workshop student- 2 workshops)
"What a wonderful experience to learn from someone who thinks outside the square",
Robyn Edwards (workshop student- 2 workshops)
"Always a pleasure to come along, learn, and draw. You brighten up my Saturdays",
Kelli Williams (workshop student- 4 workshops)
"Thanks Brett! You've helped me improve my art and opened my eyes to all the little things I never saw as relevant. Thank you!",
Kira Breischke (workshop student- 2 workshops)
"Thanks Brett. you're a breath of fresg air- you've given me confidence to express myself my way",
Sue Walsh (workshop student)
"Thanks heaps Brett, good to learn from someone who thinks the same way I do. Makes learning so much easier",
Catherine Lavender (workshop student)
"In over thirty years of teaching art and judging competitive art exhibitions I have never seen drawing as good as this or known of anyone that could do what you can. It's a good thing you didn't go to university, they would have wrecked your chance of teaching yourself to do it."
Keith Norris (Master Artist)
"Breathtaking technical skills are combined with the most alluring, subtle, and confident rendering of the chosen medium. Deserves multiple close revisits to fully appreciate the riches within."
Duncan Ezzy (judging comments)
"If I've read your drawing articles once I've read them a dozen times. You have inspired me to take up freehand drawing in a serious way",
Terry Douglas.
"Bretts drawings depict the careful and painstaking representation of his subject to the point of absolute precision. Art viewers realize only when they closely examine his pictures that they are not photos, but unique drawings in pencil by this extremely talented artist",
Robin R. Hansen (art show convenor)
"Bretts artistry is exemplified by his attention to detail. All art lovers, but especially bike afficionados will embrace and appreciate the accuracy and effort put into the works presented."
Birgit Kehr (Art Photographer)
"The skills of the illustration (draftsmanship), are frequently dismissed in contemporary art, yet still praised in the works from earlier periods. I can think of Ingres, David, Durer, Whistler, Wyeth…..to name a few. We felt this work displayed all the attributes of the skilful draftsman; Accuracy, tone, texture, and a high level of virtuosity. (Judges comments from art show)
"Brett A. Jones appears to have two great passions in life. His first, sophisticated motorcycles, the second, his love of depicting them in graphite pencil. In the first, he is an expert, in the second a perfectionist.
Brett has mastered his subject and chosen medium, which is clearly evident in the finished result. His completed works could be described as portraits of beautiful, finely tuned machines dramatically posed to show their form and promise of power to all who understand. But Bretts work goes well beyond an accurate portrayal of his subject; these are genuine works of art in their own right. Like a good portrait, each subject has been given a unique personality making the series a perfect collection.
His technique is painstaking. Brett endeavours to push the monochromatic medium of graphite to its limit, generally working with a single grade of pencil (2B) on an ultra smooth, hot pressed paper. Brett employs many of the classic principals known as 'Chiaroscuro Modelling', a technique developed during the Italian renaissance in which the artist gives a subject more realistic form and substance by the controlled use of light and shade rather than line. The original illustrations are created on hand made watercolour paper credited with the highest archival rating available; this new series of prints will no doubt reflect his commitment to reproduction quality and standards of permanence.
Phillip Taylor (professional pencil artist, trained at the Slade School)
"Skilled, sensitive drawing technique- connects with viewer- room to imagine",
Joy Cooksey (art show judge)
Fine draughtmanship and carefully considered compositional arrangement of shapes, values, volumes and positive and negative counter ryhthms make this drawing the stand out work of the show.
Dr. Christine Kirkegard (art show judge)
I've received my beautiful print. It's even more impressive then I thought. It's set to be framed and soon will be proudly hanging on my studio. I'm not only a drawing lover but also a bike enthusiast. I've owned a lot of bikes and I'll try to draw some of them following your techniques and advices,
Jose Nandin,
Spain
