art available on line!

Fluidity

 Here is a painting in acrylic that I finished today. Apart from face-painting, I rarely get the paintbrush out, but since doing Painting and Drawing at the Faith and the Arts summer school in Poatina, Tasmania, I've really started to get back in to it! And I'm loving it, you can get so engrossed in painting in all the little details. But also I'd like to get a bit looser, paint with a bit more fluidity. I have ideas for other paintings, but I don't think I'm technically good enough yet to do the ideas justice. Well, that will come with practice, I'm sure...

Fluid

 I wish I was a Crocodile,
Wearing green and a Winsome smile,




Not a half, or even quarter,
I'd get to spend ALL day in water!


Last year my local library ran a competition to write a book for 'Children's Book Week' and I thought I'd be up for the challenge and put together a whole book in less than two weeks. The illustrations were pen, pencil and marker cut and pasted (not using crtl C and V but actual scissors and glue! Just like the olden days!) on to coloured card pages. Even the text (which all rhymed) was printed out, cut into strips and pasted onto the pages.
The book was called 'I Wish I was...' and in it various kids discuss what creature they would like to be (butterflies, Orang-utans, Mountain Goats) and what was so appealing to them about that creature. Then in answer a more adult voice (who, for some reason did not have the same extensive vocabulary that the children seemed to display) gave more realistic options that took into account the young persons' passions, ie, helicopter pilot (to fly like a butterfly), eat vegies and exercise (to grow up big and strong like an orang-utan) or mountain climbing.
The future is fluid, no telling what a child can become. But they tell me what you admire in others is inherent in you. Think about the people who are your heroes. What do you admire about them? The qualities that you admire in them is in you too, although maybe not in such a developed way. The children in my story admired certain characteristics in different animals, and this can easily become part of their own character in some way.
Do you remember what you wanted to be when you were five? As I say life is fluid, it ebbs and flows, and does not always run a straight course. But it finds a way...
I wanted to be a Toymaker when I was 5. I still think that would be a very cool thing to do!
 

A Crocodile's a fine ambition,

but there's better ways to be,

If swimming is to be your mission,

Try Marine Biology!

PS. I won! And that has encouraged me to take my illustration and story telling more seriously, and my other ambition at the age of five - to write a book - is a lot closer to reality now!

Forwards!

High above the Chengdu streets, The Sichuan Neighbourhood Patrol is keeping an eye out for any misbehaviour or misdemeanor from the people below. They don't want a return of the days of the Boxer Rebellion, but are ready should that event arise. The Patrol ensure that people will sleep safely in their beds tonight, and look forwards to a good night sleep themselves, secure in the knowledge that peace will reign in the land...

I did a tiny sketch of a fighting vehicle which turned out so well that I scanned it and gave it a complete photoshopping, before placing it (and a companion) in the skies above Chengdu. This was the view from my hotel window when I visited the town in 2008. I look forward to returning some day. It was a very interesting city, the landscape in the rural areas was beautiful and the people were so friendly! Now, if only they could do something about the smog and pollution.

Prepare

  During the Saturday morning session of 'Faith and the Arts', Josie got up on stage and started painting an amazing portrait of Eric Ajaye, our bass man for the week. As she prepared to paint, she popped on an old shirt, and I was struck by the image of her 'putting on the mantle of an artist'. She had been inspiring me all week with her skills and her being challenged to paint in a much looser style. And as she painted, I did this sketch, also in a slightly looser style than I usually do, trying to capture some of her energy.

  But to paint like this, Josie had to do a certain amount of preparation, preparing her board, preparing her sketch outlines, most of all, preparing herself. As I say, putting on the mantle of an artist...

Definition of MANTLE

1

a : a loose sleeveless garment worn over other clothes :cloak

b : a figurative cloak symbolizing preeminence or authority, mantle of leadership 

I saw Mummy kissing Santa Claus

I was helping raise some funds for the Salvation Army by doing Christmas Gift wrapping at the Yeppoon shopping centre, and to keep me company, there was an older guy with me, playing Christmas songs on his cornet. I was surprised by the youth of Yeppoon. Two young lads came out of the adjacent Surf Shop and one said 'listen to the old guy on the trumpet!' The other boy said 'it's not a trumpet. That's a cornet!' See, not many people can tell the difference, so I was duly impressed.

Anyway, my cornet playing friend would've played "I Saw Mummy Kissing Santa Claus" at least three times, and in the quiet times between gift wrapping, I worked on this.

Might see if I can get it done as a T-Shirt for next year, maybe...

just the FAQs

frequently asked questions...
  

How may I help you? 

How long is a piece of string? 

Who do you think you are? 

Why is it so? 

What time is it?

What about me? 

Do you want fries with that? 

What are you lookin’ at?

Huh?

Is there a God? 

And what does he want of me?

Who's on first? 

Do you even know what day it is?

Excuse me sir, do you know how fast you were going just now?

Does it come in red?

Do you really want to hurt me? 

Would I lie to you? 

Who are you?

How do you do?

How dare you? 

Is that all? 

DO YOU LOVE ME? 

******
  

variety...

I've just glanced over the things I’ve done for Illustration Friday this last month or so. I hadn’t realised that there was such a variety of styles and techniques! Going backwards from here we have

• ·         paper sculpture combined with carved MDF to create a kinetic artwork
• ·         drawings done in Flash using only the shapes tools
• ·         a cartoon done with a fineline pen and markers
• ·         a cartoon cat scanned, vectorised and coloured in Flash
• ·         a watercolour
• ·         two photos and some drawn elements combined in photoshop
• ·         a gouache painted paper sculpture mounted on a flash back ground
• ·         another cartoon scanned and coloured in Flash
• ·         my old blog header, done in photoshop, probably, with photo of my head which I traced and cartoonified, probably in Flash using my old Wacom tablet
• ·         scan of my sketch pad with other graphic elements added
• ·         fineline drawing
• ·         google sketchup 3d graphics
• ·         and a drawing done with a biro

I have a bunch of other vector drawing programs, but I still like the style that Flash mx gives me. But then, I guess I’m a little weird…

Round and round

Round and round.

After I made my last post, I remembered this guy, an unfinished automaton that I started a few years back, but who now resides in another part of the continent. His hair goes round and round.
He is carved out of medium density fibreboard (MDF) using a computer controlled routing machine and painted with acrylics. Note the articulated eyebrows and ping pong ball eyes.

The suave, and civilised little devil and the ratbaggy little angel are made of components printed on photo paper, cut out and assembled. The devil's arms and pitchfork move to animate the jabbing action.

The story line goes as followed. The angel is  grabbing our hero by the ear and trying to show him all the hurts in the world, the injustice that needs to be dealt with; the last, the lost, the least of the human race that need some mercy and compassion.

Eventually he starts to listen and feel moved to do something but then, JAB! the little devil gives him a quick poke with his pitchfork. Suddenly his focus is back on himself, rather than the plight of others. 'Its all too hard! What will the neighbours think...'

And around it goes...

I could imagine him singing the Delirious song Gravity

This generation is full of religion
Fed up with a diet of nothing
Give me the real thing flowing through my veins
This is the day, this is the hour
Show me the truth cos I want to be blinded
I wanna run, which way should I go

Gravity's pulling me, but heaven is calling me and
My head's spinning the world's twisted
My head's twisted the world's spinning
My head's spinning the world's twisted
My head's twisted the world's spinning round, around

What do they say? Evil happens when good people do nothing...

So, if you feel a little angel prompting you to do right, do it! But be prepared for distractions from that 'civilising' little devil...

round

Round. Circles. Songs that overlap and never end. Balloons. Fat ladies. Billowy clouds. Round, the very sound in my mouth is round. RRrrrrrroooouuund.... So I though, how much of an illustration could I do using as much as I could circles and ellipses. No pre-drawing, or scanning sketches. Just throw a bunch of curves together and see what happens. Hmm. See what happens? A Weird looking Zeppelin (a non-round sounding word, its full of spikes, not really suiting its lighter than air elegant but dangerous grace), and a rather rotund angel, suspended below. A fun exercise, but I dunno....

you have the right to remain SILENT

I've been on a jury all week and the judge tells us what an important right this is, the right to remain silent. It has been an interesting week so far, but has left little time to work on illo's or get them on-line. So, here's a quick one i did a couple of days ago, but haven't uploaded til now. Hope it'll do!