Artists Down Under – September 2026
Summary
Spring has finally arrived in Australia and New Zealand, and the September 2026 Issue 114 of Artists Down Under leads with Rosa Perry's cover artwork Territorial, a photo-art piece that sets the seasonal tone for a 114-page digital-artistry showcase. Editor Pam Henderson's report celebrates the burst of wattle blossoms and the month's narrative-rich submissions, with Andrew Haysom's Invert Hue Range Markers tutorial, the Coffee and Pixels "Don't Look Back" challenge, and the Redlands Digital Group's Chinese Whispers Series.
The artist profiles span 30 pages of full-colour portfolios: Trish Hoskin (pages 6-7) presents AUTURN GALS and PRIMA DONNAS; George Koncz (pages 8-9) contributes FRAME THE ARTIST; Denise Hunter Logan (page 10) shows THE GRECIAN PRINCESS FRAMED and THE KEEPER; Penny de Jong (pages 18-19) unveils DISCUSSING SECRETS WITHIN THE CASTLE WALLS and ICE CAVE SPIRIT; Christina Brunton (pages 20-21) offers ABORIGINAL LASS and BOOMERANG. Ilona Abou-Zolof's eight-page WILD LIGHT spread (pages 23-31) is the issue's largest single feature, with works including BLOOMING SHORE, CLIFF SIDE FLOWERS and DISTANT PEAKS. Rosa Perry herself contributes BARCELONA CATHEDRAL alongside the cover piece. The Unintentional Still Life series by Marina Hobbs and Robyn McLauchlan (pages 81-85) is singled out by the editor as a highlight.
Regular features include the Monthly Artistic Photoshop Challenge pages 98-108 themed around "Windy," the Artists Business Advertisements directory (pages 109-113), and the ongoing Facebook community engagement with monthly giveaways from WhiteLaneStudio's Diane Stafford. The September kit winners were Prue Wright and Robyn McLauchlan. Eight Artists Down Under members had work selected for the international Living The Photo Artistic Life magazine, including Penny de Jong's Whispers Beneath A Blood Moon and Sandra Dann's Time Is Ticking. Andrew Haysom's technical tutorial on page 16 covers the new Invert Hue Range Markers feature added in Photoshop version 26.6.0 beta (March 2025), a small icon that lets users invert HSL adjustment layer hue ranges — practical for colour masking and creative grading.
Editor's Take
The September issue delivers exactly what its readership expects: a community-driven portfolio showcase with one genuinely useful Photoshop tutorial. The strongest feature is Ilona Abou-Zolof's WILD LIGHT series, which benefits from eight full pages and real visual variety. Andrew Haysom's Invert Hue Range Markers tutorial is the issue's only technical teaching piece, and it is genuinely useful — but at just two pages it feels thin compared to the portfolio volume. The weakest section is the Monthly Artistic Photoshop Challenge spread, where 11 pages of themed entries blur into visual noise without editorial curation. Pages 36-76 are missing from the directory, which suggests either a pagination error or a significant gap in the print run. This issue is for active community members who want to see their peers' work and grab one new technique, not for beginners seeking structured tuition.
Strengths
• Ilona Abou-Zolof's 8-page WILD LIGHT series is the standout portfolio
• Andrew Haysom's Invert Hue Range Markers tutorial covers a genuinely new PS feature
• Strong community recognition with Living The Photo Artistic Life inclusions
Weaknesses
• 11-page challenge spread lacks editorial curation — feels like a gallery dump
• Pages 36-76 absent from the issue directory; likely a structural gap
Verdict: Selective read — Community members will enjoy the peer showcase, but standalone readers will find the tutorial-to-portfolio ratio unbalanced.
