Rodney Swansborough wins art prize using sgraffito technique

Rodney Swansborough has won the Ken Nelson Memorial Champion Painting for his painting "Outback Worker". The award was announced by the adjudicator, Jo Cartwright who said he could not fault the work at any level. There were over 120 entries in the Wallabadah 'Art & All That Jazz' art competition. The champion prize was worth A$1,000.
In his response to the award, Rodney told the audience how he almost gave up several times on the experimental approach he took in creating the portrait. "It was sheer persistence in the end",Rodney said. "It was also a feeling that it would all come together if I hung in there long enough"
The portrait is done on untreated three-ply veneer, with a water-based background using charcoal and coloured cement oxides. The face is done in oil pastels and the surface scratched back to the timber using the sgraffito technique ( a painting technique where the artist scratches into the top layer of the paint to reveal areas of the surface underneath.). Sgraffito was used to emphasise the highlights in the face and to add interesting texture to the artwork)

The winning artist Rodney Swansborough stands near his
champion portrait "Outback Worker"

Below are close-ups of the artwork which demonstrate the sgraffito technique:
(Click on each image to see full effect of the sgraffito technique)

Outback Worker by Rodney Swansborough
illustrating the sgraffito technique
CLICK ON IMAGE FOR FULL SIZE

Outback Worker by Rodney Swansborough
illustrating the sgraffito technique
CLICK ON IMAGE FOR FULL SIZE