Danielle Robertson is a professional realist artist working from her private art studio in Melbourne. Her diverse art practice spans over three decades. She has been the recipient of numerous art awards, commendations and art commissions which reflect and celebrate her meticulous style and visually compelling work.
She has an Associate Diploma in Finished Art, working initially in the Graphic Design industry she made a mid-career transition to become a professional fine artist.
She is currently working as an art educator, teaching adult students at art associations and groups throughout Melbourne. During her career she has also presented numerous art workshops, focused on her chosen specialist fields, being Wildlife art, Portraiture and Life drawing.
Her wildlife art received recent international attention for its technical virtuosity. The “International Artist” Magazine featured Danielle’s article entitled “Sharp Eyes” (Dec/Jan 2024-Edition 154) which explored her unique approach to pastel in relation to the illustration of a Snow Leopard work on paper. The refined composition reflected her keen observation, research and reverence for animals. The pastel of the Snow Leopard vividly captured the details of the endangered animal’s distinctive fur markings and translucent eyes, with their piercing gaze, effectively demonstrating her mastery of the medium.
She was also honoured to be selected as the feature artist in the high-profile USA magazine “Colored Pencil” (Sept 2023 edition) which published her endearing and naturalistic pencil drawing of a sleeping koala on the magazine cover, with an associated feature article published about her Australian art practice.
In recent years Danielle has successfully specialised in Wildlife art. She considers her chosen wildlife subjects to be a celebration of the true wonder and beauty of the natural world. She also hopes her art will have an emotional resonance with her viewers, and ultimately inspire their own curiosity and relationship with nature. Danielle would also like to be remembered as an artist whose artwork brought awareness to conservation efforts, and attention to the urgent need to protect our endangered wildlife and natural environments.
She has dedicated her teaching career to community arts organisations such as Glen Eira Cheltenham Art Group (GECG) and Brighton Arts Society (BAS). Since 2009 a major focus in her art classes has been on teaching the fundamental skills of drawing, which she believes are essential to building a strong foundation for any aspiring artist. She has also taught numerous Life Drawing classes, where she guides her students to refine their observational skills and encourages them to build confidence in their creative potential.
As a fine artist, Danielle is passionate about sharing her expertise in her favoured pastel medium. She says she often selects this medium, as it facilitates her ability to create textures with precision and to achieve a wonderful luminosity in her images. Since 2013 she has taught pastel to enthusiastic art students at GECG. She plans to expand her teaching role to offer art tuition to private students at her art studio in 2025.
Danielle has been dedicated to refining her art practice and development throughout her career, seeking art tuition with professional Australian artists, including the highly respected artist Michelle Zuccolo and the late pastel artist Agata Lelek. She values these generous mentors for their encouragement and positive impact upon her own creative expression and artistic knowledge. She also acknowledges the vital importance in seeking out different art influences to inform and enhance one’s own art practice.
She commenced her fascination with portraiture, working with life models using the mediums of pastel, graphite and charcoal. Early in her career, the expert tuition of artist Agata Lelek ignited her passion for creating portraiture with soft pastels. Danielle has since developed a prodigious talent for applying the versatility of pastel, to capture the poignant facial expressions of her models. She portrays an extraordinary intimacy, intensity and tenderness in her chosen subjects. Her aesthetically alluring portraits have graced the cover of the “Australian Artist” magazine over successive years, celebrating her power to convey the psychological character and emotional resonance of her subjects.
She has received numerous art awards for her wildlife and portrait subjects, strengthening her reputation as an artist with a unique visual language. Recent award highlights include Best Animal/Wildlife work at the Pastel Society of Victoria (2023), Best Wildlife work at Camberwell Art Show (2023) and the Best Wildlife work - 2nd Prize – Camberwell Art Show (2024). Winning the Australian Guild of Realist Artists - Art Excellence Award was a significant achievement leading to her opportunity to have a focused exhibition at AGRA in 2019. Her work is represented in private art collections in Australia. Art curators from the Miami Art Week and the New York Art Expo recently extended an invitation to Danielle, to exhibit her work Internationally at these high profile art expo events.
Danielle Robertson is a member of the Pastel Society of Australia (PSA), Australian Guild of Realist Artists (AGRA), Pastel Society of Victoria (PSV) and the Pastel Artists of New Zealand (PANZ). She was the President of the Glen Eira Cheltenham Art Group (GECG-2016-2018) and a previous committee member at the Brighton Art
Society (BAS).
