Adam Paquette - Maximalism

66. Artists Help Japan

2011-03-15T00:25:00.001-07:00

Sometimes when crises occur abroad it can be a little daunting to figure out the best avenue to contribute, and it can mean a lot to see a charity that is accountable and has a proven track record dealing in a certain area. Dice Tsutsumi has set up Artists Help Japan - working through Give2Asia to help relief efforts for the quake/tsunami crisis in Eastern Japan.
Dice has previously organised the Sketchtravel Project and the Totoro Forest project, and I like Give2Asia's policy of awareness of support funding at the mid/longterm stages of recovery, as most emergency funding goes to immediate relief.

More info can be found here

Dice is also auctioning off some of his new books and prints, over at his blog

I continue to hold the intention that all of the support and love from around the world that is being sent to Japan makes its way directly to where it is needed - the people on the ground.

65. Winds of Khalakovo

2011-02-11T08:45:00.000-08:00

Here is a cover I painted not too long ago for Bradley Beaulieu, art directed by Dave Palumbo of Nightshade Books. I'll also be doing an interview soon on Brad's speculative fiction podcast 'Speculate', which I'll link to when it goes up. Its been really exciting to be a part of the process of getting Brad's vision into the hands of readers. When you are dealing directly creator to creator and supporting a personal vision, not an amalgam of a large team, it is a really special kind of reward when they dig the art and feel it has contributed to their story in some way. Check out Brad's website here - its got some great content, interviews, insight into his process and info about the series.

Hope you like the painting :)

64. bree

2011-01-28T07:13:00.000-08:00

@ the new studio, 3hour sketch working looser and bigger than usual. opened a new door or two!

63. Sketches from 2010

2011-01-23T23:18:00.000-08:00

Some of my favourite sketches from late 09 to late '10. A few people have wondered why I wasn't updating sketchbook work anymore - the answer is very unprofound, I was simply too busy to scan and resize all the images :) Some of these are from Mt Kosciuszko in Australia, some are from our stay in Bali. Others are from the states and many from here at home. I'll add a few relevant anecdotal bits and pieces with the interesting ones. Hope you like!
a

Emerald Pool (Vernal Falls), Yosemite National Park

Upper Vernon Cascade, Yosemite

Crater Lake NP, Oregon

Jazz Musician playing at Andy's Jazz Club, Chicago

Niagara Falls... so much white!!

Chateau Frontnac, Quebec

Top right is my friend and fellow artist Jens, who was my guide in Quebec old town :)

Amazing model from Chris Pugliese's figure class in NY

Awesome life models at Society of Illustrators, NY

MET. Nuff said.

Beautiful public baths near Lovina in Bali.

View from Sari Organik (great resto) near our house in Ubud, Bali.

MT Kosciusko NSW

Amazing tree wedged into cement footpath blocks on a cement street in cement sydney.

Dr. Karl who we spent a... fast paced day with, at triple J.

Inspired by Jeff Jones 'Idyl'

Breakthrough with pencil, this was a GOOD day.

These cutouts are of paintings by an Italian expat painter who lived in Bali. Antonio Blanco formed friendships with many of the musicians and artists who toured through bali in the 60's and 70's and captured an amazing combination of western academic aesthetic and balinese sponteneity.

The Laughing Buddha, Ubud Bali

Hope these were an aperitif for the eyes and soul :)
a

62. Long Overdue

2010-12-02T01:07:00.000-08:00

I have finally given my website an update with 20 or so new images. Some I have put on the blog before, many not.

Take a look...

www.paquette.com.au

Hope you like!

61. There's no place like home (unless you deign to roam).

2010-11-18T04:23:00.000-08:00

I have lived in 13 houses in 4 years.

I have to say, I love the experience of constantly being on the move. I am not a material person by nature, but the full time pursuit of art tends to magnetise an array of books and art supplies to the creative studio. Moving a few times each year has forced me to continually reevaluate, prioritise, and purge a lot of what would otherwise have become dusty baggage shuffling from one domicile to the next in cardboard boxes.

We just moved house again this week, to what is our first real apartment that we have had full control over. No roommates, no family, no restrictions. Its a small studio apartment in Kings Cross, Sydney's 'Red Light District', if you could call it that. Its a fascinating area - rough, old, unpredictable, dirty, beautiful, creative and desperate. It's madness, and it can be joy to ride the eye of the storm while such an environment rages around you. For someone interested in the study of human nature, it is like daily access to a psychological wetlab.

We are setting the apartment up to cater for our painting - splitting time between home and the Cartel studio. One is for efficiently and professionally chipping away at the long term visions of our group of painters... the other allows us to be truly ourselves, raw and without pretext. It may sound hyperbolic, but for someone who usually embraces the intuitive dislocations of the nomadic lifestyle, fostering a nest - even if it is a temporary one - is a new and exciting prospect. 2011 is shaping up to be an amazing year, and I am inspired to be living it out in these two spaces until the wind should blow me elsewhere.

Vito, Piccolo Bar

Cumulo: Studio View

60. Today's Painting Session

2010-11-14T23:23:00.000-08:00

Every Monday at Cartel we have been working with some great life models, doing 3 hour study sessions. Our recent routine has been based on Keith Dewell's recommendation of 3 quick limited palette studies per session, although we are still toying around with different combinations of shorts and longs.
These are the two longs from today. The standing figure is 40 mins (2x20) and the portrait is 60 mins (3x20).

59. Passwords

2010-11-14T22:32:00.000-08:00

Somehow my FTP pass got changed a while back... finally got it back in order :)
Have a lot of content to post, going to spread it out over a few days.

Going to start with a promo image I did for Sydders band Cosmonaut:

And some work from early in the year:
All images (c) Wizards of the Coast

58. from 'True Perception'

2010-09-13T03:36:00.000-07:00

" Whether we have the attitude of a student who could still become more proficient in handling his materials, or the attitude of an accomplished master, when we are actually creating a work of art there is a sense of total confidence. Our message is simply one of appreciating the nature of things as they are and expressing it without any struggle of thoughts and fears. We give up aggression, both toward ourselves, that we have to make a special effort to impress people, and toward others, that we can put something over on them.

Genuine art is simply the activity of nonaggression. "

Chogyam Trungpa

11:11 - CAPACITY

2010-07-18T15:39:00.001-07:00

Tight lipped for now... but its all about potential.

56. Return to New York

2010-07-18T15:23:00.000-07:00

After IMC wrapped up, I went back to New York. The city is just such a fascinating mass of interaction, a hybrid culture of elation and despair, it is worth lifetimes of study and devotion as an artist. Despite the madness and extremism of Manhattan, for the painter it has a magnetic allure that has been echoed through generations of my favourite illustrators and artists.

Coming back in from Amherst to Times Square, I sketched for a while in the alien illumination, fending off billboard death rays while I struggled to reconcile the week of inspiration just passed. I knew there would be a come down from the intensity of the studio environment, but New York has a way of keeping your pace up. Holding on to new insights while clicking back into the craziness was a learning experience in itself.

The society of illustrators is such a great place for any artist to visit. It was a nice way to continue the feeling of kinship I was starting to miss. We met Greg in the afternoon for a stickybeak at his studio - which was inspiringly practical and full (full) of his paintings - amazingly prolific. I can't speak highly enough of Greg's insight into painting as a career, his broader intellectual bent, and his generosity as a teacher. I feel very honoured to have made that connection. We headed to the society for figure drawing, and to jaw slap the floor one last time looking at the Teppers, Schaeffers, and Rockwells. Dinner afterwards constituted our final farewell to our new Empire State friends.

The following day we took a relaxed train to Brooklyn to look around the area near Dumbo. I was happy to stumble onto a crumbling old wheat paste that a close friend of mine did a couple of years back - staring out like an old friend from the red bricks of a big studio building. Brooklyn, from the little we saw of it, seems like it would be an exciting place to live and work. Great ambience and lots of art around.

We couldn't help one more trip to the MET - in particular i wanted to stare at the Repin again for a while. The sheer volume of galleries and museums in new york is enough to constitute a university degree in itself. Another trip to Arcadia to take a second look at the Lipking show yielded a surprise as the collection was being changed over to the next show and was full of pieces by other contemporary figurative favourites like Michael Klein, Malcolm Liepke, and Daniel Adel.

A huge thank you to all my friends in New York and in particular Chris Pugliese and Maria Kreyn for graciously hosting me at such an amazing pad, and for sharing your insight and enthusiasm for great craftsmanship.

55. Wizards of the Coast Web Backgrounds

2010-07-18T15:12:00.000-07:00

For anyone who frequents the D&D website you might have noticed these guys lurking in the background under mountains of other text and info since late last year...

54. IMC Wrap

2010-06-30T16:33:00.001-07:00

Here is my final painting for the Masterclass, alongside the sketches i submitted as possibilities at the start of the week.

I am very inspired by the whole process… the faculty chose a thumbnail sketch that was quite a far cry from the types of painting I normally approach - which pushed me outside my comfort zone and into experimentation. Each night I would hit my stride at around midnight and the brush would start working its way around in unfamiliar patterns. This was perhaps the biggest lesson I learned at IMC 2010, and one that is difficult to put into words.

Mid way through the week I had a brief talk with Boris Vallejo which was a profound confirmation of much of my inner dialogue this year. He expressed how important it was to have fun with painting - especially when you are struggling - and not just to enjoy it as a means to an end, but to really consciously appreciate and enjoy the visceral act of what you are doing.

While I feel that the final image I created is not a portfolio piece, its value to me personally is inestimable. When Greg and Scott picked up my brushes and the three of us stabbed at the canvas simultaneously… when Jeremy Jarvis compared my painting to my digital reference and my fechin reference, noting that it was closer to the fechin with a sly smile… when Boris said he could see how the painting was changing me just by watching me paint. These are the moments I have been longing for for years - and were worth the trip tenfold.

Coming out of a long period of semi-isolation in a country without a booming painting scene, into a group of such inspired, spirited people, stirred up incredible shifts in me. Never before have I felt such a strong compulsion to move beyond what is possible, into ineffable territory. The faculty were both mentors and at the same time fellow illustrators - and I have not felt myself to be in such good company in all my life.

Above all else, I was reminded that great artists live full lives of joy, inspiration, and consideration of others. When Donato spoke about how a painting was rejected from an exhibition, only to be placed into a museum where school children got to walk past it and see it every day - when he placed the effect of his work over its recognition or sale value - I was reminded, in part, of why I do what I do.

To see a generation of painters so healthy, so inspired, so vitally alive - gives me great courage on my own path - and I aspire to be part of a generation that carries this great legacy forward. I can't recommend the masterclass 2011 enough - just don't take my spot!

*PS* - I am almost home from my trip. I will be updating a backlog of posts that I havn't gotten to do due to lack of internet. Please excuse them being a bit late! Thanks for sticking round :) a

53. IMC

2010-06-15T00:20:00.000-07:00

Im a bit out of date and have a whole slew of stuff to update from the last few months in Bali and the states, but i wanted to throw up the process shots from the first few days at Illustration Masterclass... what an experience. Im not even going to try to sum it up until I've had some time to assimilate it all!

Here is the initial speedpainting that I submitted at the start of the week:

After some revisions, and with thanks to my model Rebecca - here's a bit of a kit bash. Though after Scott and Dan's demos it made this look like hack work!

Here is the drawing transfered (landmarks on an artograph projector, then drawn by eye from there)

And lastly tonight, 7 coats of Acrylic Matte to seal the canvas and then a layer of gesso on top to give the whole thing some nice chunky texture. Im going after a thick painterly finish akin to Nikolai Fechin (who is sitting up on the right of my board).

The IMC is incredible - and the people I have met here are some of the coolest on the planet. More when I can pick my melted brain up off the floor!

52. Mixed bag

2010-04-14T20:33:00.001-07:00

Heres some more mixed stuff i thought would might be of interest :) I wanted to write a long and philosophically intriguing post, but i just finished writing a long and philosophically intriguing email, so it will have to wait till my batteries recharge! :)

51. Speedies

2010-04-02T03:38:00.000-07:00

still got about 10 000 cliche's to flush from my subconscious, better get a move on :D

50. Ilya 'The Wepin' Repin

2010-04-01T07:49:00.000-07:00

Francis threw up a link to some Repin Paintings.

After I mopped up the blood from my bleeding eyes I did some studies, trying to figure out bits of stuff about colour. The drawing wasnt really my focus, which was silly, cos I only spent a few minutes on the lay in, which made the finals look really wobbly. On the other hand, I was suprised how much I had improved at eyeballing colours since the last time I attempted studies like this. Something has obviously clicked! Doing it from imagination is a whole nother ball game though :)

49. Landscape quicks

2010-03-23T02:52:00.000-07:00

Just working through new brushes and new approaches.
:)

48. Island Time

2010-03-17T00:27:00.000-07:00

Been very busy and inspired here in Ubud.

I have been working hard at the book, and I finished another article for Imagine FX, based on travelling, sketching and turning those observations into concepts... I'll be releasing a free full length DVD after the mag comes out... does anyone know the best way to host DVD's for free download online?

Here are some more studies from the life around me :)

47. Pranoto's in Ubud

2010-01-27T03:26:00.000-08:00

Found Pranoto's life drawing here in Ubud today. Professional model, good space, really great people, great life session overall. Its on twice a week so im ready to get into full time anatomy study while I'm here.

Here's a digi study I did in the session.

46. Swami Bagus

2010-01-25T22:01:00.000-08:00

Here is the first painting from Bali, inspired by the beautiful Banyans, deep tradition and ceremony, ornate temples and serene energy. This was done for the 2 year anniversary of Gorilla Artfare and there is a lot of great art over there, do check it out.

Bali, and especially Ubud, is a great place to paint. We found a well stocked art supply shop, a big room with space to paint and a pool for the heat... its very cheap, wifi is everywhere, and it retains its genuine culture, without being over-touristed like the beach areas.

Im looking forward to painting and writing here for the next little while.

45. New home studio

2010-01-16T14:06:00.000-08:00

This will be my home... and my studio for the next year and a half. It is a strange feeling when everything you own fits in a 70 litre pack.

I want to thank my 'sponsors' from 2009 - Epiphany Games, Lascivio, Wizards of The Coast - Jon and Mari, Babyfoot, Mitch Brown and the Bang Gang, Thundamentals, Capture, Mark Barold, Fuzzy, Green Ronin and of course all the gang from Empty Room... without ALL of you, this mad adventure would never have begun.

44. Darker than dark

2010-01-15T18:26:00.000-08:00

Its the Underdark! Some stuff from Wizards that just got released, these were from around June last year. Only one day left in Sydney, then I fly out - and the real fun begins :)

43. Back in the game

2010-01-09T19:28:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone

Its been so long since I updated, no doubt I will have to go back on the campaign trail to bring back my jaded readers!

The second half of 2009 was an amazing rollercoaster... I got to work with two of my dream clients on two feature films which were extremely enjoyable and productive to work on. I have been forcing myself through the eye of a needle and I think it was a really beneficial experience.

I will be moving overseas for quite some time, attempting to work full time on the road as I travel, and it should free up quite a significant portion of my time to work on my own stuff - which is a long, long time coming. The cost of living in Sydney is so high, staying here feels like spinning your wheels... its time to go live where its cheap, sunny, and full of culture!

I have a great deal of work to do this year, and my pace will be just as frenetic - but thankfully I can say a temporary goodbye to restricitve NDA's and start posting actively here again. I will also be starting a second blog for a particular project before long. In the meantime I hope you forgive my absence, and I will try to have lots of work - and more importantly - process and thoughts - up here over the coming months.

I want to say a big thank you to Kim Taylor, Evan Shipard and Yohann Schepacz, for the huge impact they have had on my learning in 2009 - you are all true friends and I will miss being away from your inspired company!

Here is a piece I did for Imagine FX magazine recently. I am trying to arrange another article with them - something more unique and specific ot what I'm doing - I really hope it works out!

Here is a quick album cover for Electro/Disco group Golden Bug on the Bang Gang Label

And here is another quick illustration.

I will try to get permission to show some work from the films as time permits. Fingers crossed!! Next time you hear from me I will be amongst the silversmiths and warungs of Karangasem, East Bali -- wifi permitting :)

I hope 2010 provides many exciting challenges and shifts of thinking for all my brothers and sisters. Be good ;)

a

42. T'unarath Step-b-step

2009-07-21T13:37:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone :) Hope this months tute is useful to some of you!

41. The Like Minds Collective Success!

2009-07-21T10:20:00.000-07:00

Saturday was wicked. Awesome turnout, perfect atmosphere, model tunes and people were bang on. Just awesome to have everyone vibing so creatively in one spot. Can't wait to put on another one! WEEEEE

Demo by Kim Taylor

Demo by Ville Ericsson

ONE DAY TO GO!

2009-07-17T00:04:00.000-07:00

40. Desert Knight

2009-07-15T05:55:00.000-07:00

Just a little sketch i painted up tonight. Desert-oriented fantasy gear. I didnt even realise I was painting it until an hour in... just came out of nowhere -- been a while since iv had that. it was nice :)

39. Tunarath

2009-07-11T19:05:00.000-07:00

The latest from the Wizards of the Coast frontline - a Githyanki city built atop a dead god. 7 more enviros this month, can't wait to get into them :)

Hope you like!

Like Minds Collective #1

2009-07-06T17:34:00.000-07:00

Click for larger

Hey everyone! I will be running Like Minds Collective at my Warehouse, next to Central Station Sydney. Really hope to see you all there - its going to be killer.
More details and info at thelikemindscollective.blogspot.com

38. Wizards of the Coast AIRSPUR Tutorial

2009-06-16T09:56:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

Im stoked to be able to show the first tip of the iceberg that has been my new freelance position with Wizards of the Coast. I had the pleasure of working with Jon Schindehette, the AD over at wizards who also runs the ArtOrder blog, on a series of illustrations. Jon and I decided it would be cool to do a write up on the piece's progress and then share it with the readers here and at artorder. So below is my step-by-step for my first ever WOTC illustration! I hope it is helpful to you -- and expect to see more of these in the very near future ;) Can't wait to show my other paintings also, as they are published :)

Make sure to click the tutorial to go full size!

37.785 - Want ad

2009-06-03T01:46:00.000-07:00

Im really keen for a second hand canvas puller. The damn things are so exhorbitantly priced retail, would be very happy to take one off the hands of a willing donor! Happy to do an art trade for it!!

37.5 Cut and Paste

2009-05-31T03:47:00.000-07:00

More news... in one week I will be a competitor at Cut and Paste, Sydney's biggest live painting competition. The winner not only gets a shiny new cintiq, but also gets to jet to New York to compete in the championship, siiiiiick! If you are in Sydney, come along and check it out, yo!

37. Sketches and News

2009-05-30T02:45:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone :)

It has been a great week! I have wrapped up a couple of jobs and made some very exciting new inroads into creative collaborations in Sydney. First some news and shout outs...

Extra Cheeese 3 is on!

Now part of Sydney Design Week and run by my good friend Daniel Dittmar, The annual EC exhibition is now in its third year and has upped the ante by calling out artists and designers to join forces in 2-man collaborative efforts! I will be working with Dave Foster who is an amazing typographer. The call for entries is now open and I encourage you all to find a buddy and apply - it is a fantastic exhibition and the space this year will be magnificent.

ArtOrder feature: Wizards of the Coast

I was recently spotlighted on the blog of Wizards Lead Art Director, Jon Schindehette. I have had a lot of fun working on this job and will be able to post the work, and a tutorial, soon as its published.

Kim Taylor's Blog

Kim works as a Matte Painter here in Sydney at Animal Logic, but his concept work is easily on par with his matte stuff. He has started a new blog which is great inspiration for those who want to keep up their practise. Visit Pencils and Jam

Sydney Sketch Meet 3!

Its about time! For more info, go here. It is this coming Saturday, 6 June, and we kick off around 10am at the Archibald Fountain in Hyde Park. Come packing heat/pencils.

There is more news in the pipeline, which will have to wait for now! I have had a hell of a lot of work on the past few weeks so sketching has been on the backburner, but here is what I have managed to get down on the paper... more digital paintings soooooooon! Stay well.

Pen Pages
Click to enlarge

Sydney Sketch Meet (Artline + Water)
Click to enlarge

Origin (Gouache)

Click to enlarge

Mum (Gouache)

Click to enlarge

Float (Inspired by Joao Ruas)

Click to enlarge

The Filmmaker

36. More Lascivio

2009-05-10T02:11:00.000-07:00

I have been steadily working at my production speed to get my work-for-hire as efficient as I can. Reduction, simplification, and a better starting thumbnail/block in.

The Lascivio project has been a loyal client and has allowed me to be very experimental and honest with my working methods - a real reciprocal client/artist relationship.

Here are 3 from the week just past, each less than a day from conception sketches to revision.

35. Bree

2009-05-05T09:14:00.001-07:00

Usually I love to write a whole bunch of long winded nonsense to accompany my images, but when it comes to Bree words fail me completely.
So I'll just stick to 'damn you craig mullins!' and let dat be dat.
xx
A

from life

.

34. Shot

2009-05-03T21:16:00.000-07:00

Had a photoshoot yesterday with Daniel Dittmar of FLOOD (Creative Direction) and Charles Dennington (Photography) for an upcoming project. Had a lot of fun shooting different angles throughout my studio building.

Thanks heaps to Julian and Kareena too for being such patient and enthusiastic models and to Jo and Rei for reliable assistance :)

Some behind the scenes shots: (Campaign will be released later this month)

Here is a speedpainting from the other night, jamming with oyo, after being completely blown away by the latest offerings from the Steambot crew.

Click for high res version!

Be good :)
A

33. Dave Palumbo's Panties

2009-05-03T21:12:00.000-07:00

The insurmountable Dave Palumbo has been kicking ass with his traditional painting for years now, and its about time he gave me his panties!

Lo and behold, I wept for joy when my roommate approached my studio slightly confused, telling me I had recieved a painting of underwear in the mail!

Said panties now have pride of place between the two windows next to my desk - a constant reminder that somewhere out in the wild world, Mr Palumbo is noodling the next doodle.

Thanks Dave!

32. WATIM

2009-05-01T00:51:00.000-07:00

I was recently featured by WE ARE THE IMAGE MAKERS in issue 19

Just a short interview accompanied by work you have most likely seen, but thought I would share nonetheless.

31. For the record

2009-04-07T10:04:00.001-07:00

30. Sketchbook Pages

2009-04-07T09:36:00.000-07:00

I have been working full time as of a few weeks ago on an amazing
feature film project so I havn't
done heaps in the way of personal paintings, but I thought I would throw
up some sketchbook stuff :) hope you like!

Im testing email blogging so hopefully this formats ok!

29. Studies

2009-04-07T09:30:00.000-07:00

Some studies from photoreference and from masters.

20 Minutes a pop. Values and colours, not worried about shapes and edges
much.

28. Fat Post

2009-03-10T00:49:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, here is some stuff from last week and some sketchbook scans.

Hope you like :)

27. The results!

2009-02-16T08:17:00.000-08:00

On thursday Oh Really gallery hosted their 6th Culture Jam and I was privelaged to be their guest artist. Hermitude and Rumpunch played live on the night, and the crowd was the largest we had seen (around 100 in the small venue). Was the most fun I have had in a long time!

Sorry for the sucky video quality. This is the first time iv uploaded a vid so ill try to redo it and get rid of the letterboxing. And people have been bitching at me for the crazy music so I guess ill change it to something 'mellow'...or whatever :P

Hope you enjoy!

CULTURE JAM!

2009-02-09T19:45:00.000-08:00

I will be live painting at culture jam this Thursday 12th feb from 6.30-9pm

OH REALLY gallery, 55 enmore road newtown

Would love to see you there!

xx

and here is an oil painting in progress :) im starting a new course tonight run by a friend who teaches at Julian Ashtons - cant wait for new brain-pain!

26. Sketches, Projects, Faces and Places

2009-01-26T06:22:00.000-08:00

inspiration overload at the moment... the start of 2009 has been everything I hoped it would be...

I have multiple projects on the boil, and for once I am seeing solid progress on each one. I have been doing a lot of painting and sketching, consolidating new directions in my work and ideas. I have made a start on a body of work to be exhibited later this year and am making solid headway. My book (see below) is also steaming ahead - perhaps 10% complete overall (still in R+D stage, havnt got into the full on crunch yet). Freelance has been keeping me with two roofs over my head and food in my belly. I have been privelaged to film several recent art events - live painting, mural painting, and music sessions around and about the local scene, which is tying into a documentary that is underway with a group of fellow artists. I have started some new initiatives which will come online soon, and have had enough time between all this to spend some good chillout time with friends over the holiday break.

Normally with this much on I tend to burn out quickly, but so far with the constant momentum I am staying inspired and keeping at the task moreso than usual. I have dittmar, james and aaron largely to thank for constant personal feedback and ass-kickery and I am excited to be doing more work with them as a collective.

Here is some stuff:

First, a photo taken on the roof of Hibernian House, where my studio is. The book I have begun work on is largely centred (conceptually) around this amazing place and its inhabitants. I fell in love with it over a year ago when I first found the underground jazz club and since moving in, each day it has revealed new aspects of itself. Truly one of the most inspiring places I have been and I hope to stay here as long as I can! I will share some work from the book over time, but would like to keep it mostly under wraps until it is published :)
I also found a kind of cheesy video shot in the building from a few years ago. The gallery in the video was in the space now occupied by my studio. There are several art studios, some rehearsal spaces, a jazz club, fashion designers, sound engineers, filmmakers, a hairdresser and even a fetish dungeon here... what more do you want??

The next few images are from a freelance gig just wrapped up with 2and2 and mentally friendly.

'Brutus' having a nap at Cafe Hernandez - Cross labrador/shepherd from memory.

Comps for larger paintings (oils if i can stomach it!)

Experimenting after some inspiration from Dan 'Ears' O'toole, cept mine sucks :D

Im planning to do around 100 of these and frame them - i managed to get 100 frames for $100 (5x7 simple black frames) so want to see what a whole bunch would look like lined up with each other...

More sketching/comps

Bridge livepainting at Culture Jam (OhReally Gallery Newtown)

The following 2 pages were both done at the 'All Tomorrows Parties' festival on cockatoo island - an amazing festival leagues ahead of the normal fare round here. It was hosted by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and featured a whole bunch of (amazing) musicians I'd never heard of. Clean, well run, no queues and the most amazing festival venue I have ever seen - and I got it for $25! Definately raised the bar.

Righto, thats it for now - there is lots of stuff almost ready to show and plenty of action for 09. Love to all.
A

25. New Site, New Cover, New Year

2008-12-23T06:05:00.000-08:00

I finally have a proper website! Some of you may remember the shitty temporary html scrolling thing that has been up for over a year now… I had thought I would never get around to overhauling it, but my mate Dittmar at Flood Studio helped me out with a slick, clean design. Nothing fancy, exactly the way I wanted it. He usually does curation/graphic design which is the studio’s forte, so it was extra nice for him to help me out on this one.

Check it out - PAQUETTE.COM.AU

I’d love to know if you think it compliments the work.

Im saving the new art up (especially the traditional stuff) for a big update in one go and I may add a traditional section specifically for it.

Also thought I would share this latest cover i finished a while back (still unreleased in Aus). The brief was a bit insane and i think the visual complexity killed it, but seeing the printed version amongst a bunch of other 12″ covers, i was surprised at how effective that was. Mitch at Bang Gang 12″s is yet to finish it off with the title text and the back cover. This is the second cover I have done for the label and they are muchos fun. Not the least because most of our ‘business meetings’ take place at the beach :)

BAGRAIDERS: TURBO LOVE REMIXES

And the sketch/approval stage for shits n giggles:

As for the new year, I have some really definite goals in mind. Both artistically (more traditional painting, performance, storytelling and writing) and in my own life.

The end of 08 in the new studio has been a profound experience and has shifted me into uncomfortable places I may never have otherwise gone. It has reminded me of some things I had let myself forget over the last two years, and has (in a roundabout fashion) brought me back onto some very important paths.

I wish you all a safe consumeristmas season (spend time not money!) and happy creativity throughout ohnine.

Peace.A

24. Some of the crew

2008-12-09T21:35:00.000-08:00

Photographer and Promotional extraodinaire Christopher Lee Dusseldorp stopped by the studio yesterday to shoot a promo for the Hallelujah group show. This is a bunch of the guys who work with me in the studio, doing our best to look 'street'. I stole my pants from Vanilla Ice.

23. The epoch of intention

2008-12-08T18:53:00.000-08:00

I have had a really hectic few weeks settling in to the new house, taking a plethora of new projects on board, meeting so many amazing artists in sydney i had never heard of, and generally adventuring around. The last 2 weeks or so I have found myself in a purely ideas-based headspace. Apart from work stuff, most of my time has been spent more on writing and development than painting, which is fun. I now have enough work to keep me busy for about a year and enough personal projects to kill my free time till I retire i think :D its a fun feeling to be this busy, to always have something to go on to next. As im deepening my personal maximalism manifesto, im starting to gel with how it works and the differences that occur between it and, say, the path of a 'specialist' artist. Most important is to nail out any fundementalist, self-righteous ways of thinking and be able to interact with all the life views of those you meet, as rainwater passes through the leaves of a tree. (LOL!)

Moleskines

Here are some moleskine pages... this book ended up turning pretty much into a storage space for thumbnails and notes, with only one or two 'finished' sketches. I try to conserve the expensive moleskines for more laboured drawings... but i guess the nature of the coffee shop sketchbook is to doodle and write without thinking too much about it.

you might have to click these to see them properly.

Single Origin Roosters

My caffe of choice for the past few months has been Single Origin Roasters on Reservoir ST, surry hills. The coffee is the best I have ever had (in any country) and the staff are all amazing people who bring caffe service the closest to spirituality I have ever seen! Some of the switched on conversations I have had there have been genuinely inspiring and thought provoking and its amazing to see just how good food and drink can be for your soul when it is prepared by those who care about it. Check it out if you are local, and tell Gav I sent you!

This kid was sitting with his grandpa, playing scissors paper rock. Somehow he found a way to make scissors beat rock AND paper, which gave him a distinct advantage in the showdown. Life is better before someone tells you what the 'rules' are! I played the little champion in a best of 3 when gramps was out of the ring... sad to say i was soundly defeated. How did he always know to use scissors?! Coffee art copyright Single Origin Baristas.

ORLY?

Don't forget CULTURE JAM this thursday night at Oh Really in Newtown. Apeseven is on the walls and I reckon this will be a big one. More info at OhReallyBlog (a worthwhile stop on your daily web route).

MORE ART IN PARTY!

Speaking of live art, we had a big housewarming party on Sat night, got a great turnout and unleashed a crate of spraycans on the back courtyard. Was so fun to see so many people getting up and letting their creativity out uninhibited. Cheers to krez for supplying the good tunes in a timely fashion and contributing to the can fund! The face was the first ever thing I have done with cans... it was easier than I expected but I can see how the finesse of linework with cans is a real art in itself. Monkey king was a collab between myself and David Smit from Amsterdam.

Emptiness

I found a way to get photos off my phone, and noticed this one I took when I was bored on a film shoot last month. I really liked the way my silhouette was made in the negative space from the light. It reminded me of the imaginary nature of the 'self' - essentially an empty space framed by the elements of what we identify with as us - our bodies, emotions, memories, etc. Its one interesting and perplexing way of looking at things :)

Sculpture By The Sea

I never got around to posting my shots of sculpture by the sea, but I did have this one on my phone... i thought it was really nice to see a sculptor in an otherwise somewhat 'highfalutin' show allow kids to walk all over their piece of art in the name of fun! Apart from the graceful perpetual motion bird overlooking the cliff face, this was my pick of the show.

This is Cecily..

She's a poet, I like her stuff.

Hallelujah!

I have no idea what this show is all about but apparently I'm in it! I got added to the roster last minute, last night... and it seems all the family's in it... I'm not on the flyer but I was part of the promo photo (LOL!) They are using one of my old works... anyway a bit of a mystery but check out the show if you are about :) Its at blankspace on crown st, opens on the 18th.

Lots more updating to come next day or two. For now, this is LAUGHING GAS signing out.

22. Weasel!

2008-11-18T02:48:00.000-08:00

Evening :)

Today I have christened a new invention - a hybrid wacom-easel contraption I dub the Weasel 1.0!! I am having a lot of fun painting digitally but feeling the lower back pain and foot-sole cramps normally associated with arduous traditional painting!! Why suffer through these tormentuous horrors, you ask? Well it all has to do with freeing up my old friends Mr Elbow and Mr Shoulder, since Mr Wrist can get a bit selfish on the old wacom...

My only complaint is that this angle can force the wrist back a bit (will tweak the arrangement so its a bit lower i think) and that everything can get a little wobbly/unstable when the strokes start to get a bit faster. Overall though, it keeps me much more engaged in the painting.

Here are my sketches from the caffe this morning

This is another one from The Scar - Bellis and Silas strolling through Croom Park (a sprawling parkland/forest grown over old clippers and battleships). I feel the narrative/composition are a bit weak, but i had a lot of fun zoning out and rendering away over my venezualan crack-coffee :)

And the first work in progress for the new cover im doing - Turbo Love Remixes from The Bagraiders. WEEEE! its a bit unclear for now, but i think i have a fairly strong vision to see it out :) What you are looking at is the early stages of a large megacity in the shape of a woman lying prone, with a monolithic band logo behind her. Im going to try to go into as much complexity and detail as I can - particularly around the... er... focal points?? And im after a very cheesy, overtly sexual, miami-neon style aesthetic (which is all to do with the vibe of the band). More updates tomorrow/next day :)

21. A more verbose contribution

2008-11-16T20:40:00.000-08:00

Hellooooo :)

I felt a bit more inclined to pondering and prose the last week, so I thought capping it off with a bit of indulgent rambling would be suitable :) Bear with me!

i: 2nd 3rd eye - I was at Single Origin on reservoir street grabbing a morning coffee (awesome place - best coffe I have had in Sydney and inspirational staff working there) and noticed everyone had indian bindi's on their foreheads. I asked the waitress what it was all about and she regailed me with a story about her recent trip to the north of india, and then proceeded to offer me a bindi, which she placed between my brows. Its the second time in less than a week that somebody has placed a symbollic 'offering' on my 3rd eye;

ii: I was stamped with an admission stamp (fluro pink) right between the peepers, last thursday at Oh Really? gallery in newtown, where Daniel O'toole and the gang put on their second 'Culture Jam' gig. Amazing music and art abounded, absorbed by a crowd of dedicated and genuine people. I hang out with the orly crew again yesterday at the glebe street fair, and I have to give it up for them - their dedication and maintained effort to prop up the local scene with good work ethic and strong art practise is an inspiration.

iii: I met two cool young designers at the caffe too - Dan and Emily from Novel Creative (website under construction - but does have a cool showreel) and we had a great spontaneous discussion about our own practises, and the state of the creative scene locally and abroad. They seemed genuinely determined to make a go of their creative, non commercial, more personal work and I want to wish them the very best of good fortune in that endeavor!

iv: I slept in a park for the first time - i mean properly slept - without being drunk or lost! I met another inspiring person over the weekend - a poet - who has helped turn my world around and shake some things up. We spent a very fun early morning randomly exploring poetry, art, laneways and parklands while high on nothing but self indulgent armchair philosophy and cold air. That was a fun night!

v: earlier the same night i hung out across the hallway from my studio at a dance school where I was blown away with some amazing demos of urban break, popping, and freestyle dance. We jammed long into the night and It made me remember how vital it is to work with the body's rhythm and movement - its so fundemental to being a human - and the classes are cheap and run by very professional dancers, so I've signed up for a series of 10 classes to see how many muscles I can pull before I chicken out and go back to wacom-ballet ;)

I have been working on lots of art recently - reinspired by some old novels I am going back to reading for the first time in a few years. One, I already mentioned in a previous post, was China Mieville's 'The Scar', which I have continued to work on with a series of previsualisations which I am in the process of comping out to turn into full feature illustrations. I havn't had this much steam in a long time - and its unusual for me to get so much satisfaction from working with somebody else's ideas - but for now its feeding my soul - so on i roll.

I have felt a big change in the last week. All the spiritually-minded folk are talking about big steps in our mental/spiritual evolution, and while I'm fairly naive to the particulars, I have certainly felt an overwhelmingly clear and lucid change in myself - and I believe in others too - and am very excited by the high spirits and increased communication going on around me. People are talking more, and meeting my eyes in the streets, and discussion and change are being provoked. Im sure you have seen it happening in the arts communities too.

Well thats enough waffling on, for now - so here are some more scans from the moleskine to fill up the void until my next update which will be some digipaints worked up from several of my recent sketches.

A scene from The Scar where Tanner Sack walks through a more quiet district of Armada - This one is the next im taking to colour i think

A page of quick sketches made while I was reading the Scar - visual notetaking to record what was naturally leaking out from my imagination. And on the right, just a random comp started from a scribble.

Left page was some notetaking from a small Da Vinci exhibit put on by UTS university - the students made finctional models of DV's inventions/improvements. On the right, more chaos scribbling.

Random faces. Still struggling!! Just discovered a treasure trove of knowledge on Kevin Chen's space though. Starting to find the forms are clicking and i'm remembering structure.

Random bug-man stuff.

More chaos. I need to get away from using only curved forms all the time when i do stream of consciousness - find ways to loosely approach geometry and solid perspective too.

This one was done to the inspiring live music at Oh Really, and im giving it a small and humble frame to send to one of the band members who got a kick out of it.

All the best to all the best :)
A

20. Speedies

2008-11-11T02:23:00.000-08:00

Say no more...

19. moreskine

2008-11-07T22:31:00.000-08:00

Time for a few more scans :)

18. Small update

2008-11-06T22:33:00.000-08:00

Here are two speedpaintings that I will most likely leave as they are :)

First one is a 'Cactacae' from a great scifi book i went back to reading after a couple of years. 'The Scar' is by UK author China Mieville and has a wicked sense of imagination. Im likely to do some more of these as its good to kill my ego and let my inner child run wild :)

Second is an unfinished painting that seemed to 'lose it' after a while - the background was quite nice originally, and I think giving it the flat wall background stuffed it a bit. May go back to it in a few months with new insights.

Having fun at the new studio :) Have a good weekend everybody!

New Studio!

2008-11-03T01:12:00.000-08:00

I'm now in world's end studios, right near central station here in Sydney. Been a hectic weekend settling in - confronting a lot of old fears and new ones, and embracing some amazing new opportunities and evolutions, and chances to do some things over (hopefully with the benefit of hindsight!)

Thought id drop a photo of the new pad (im on the mid left with the screen, of course!) and a speedie i did today to try to nut out some weakness with form and colour.

Hope you are all smiling.
A

Sketches, Lifedrawing etc

2008-10-23T10:45:00.000-07:00

About time I scanned all this recent paper work iv been up to. All stuff for practice and out of the moleskine. Working, working, working at correcting my shitty figures and faces!!! Such an achiles heel. Getting there...

Bismarck Finished Version

2008-10-23T09:10:00.000-07:00

Wrapped up the Bismarck today, client happy, smiles all round :)

Cant wait to see it on the cover. Its now in Mitch's capable hands for typography/design work.

Work In Progress BISMARCK

2008-10-22T07:15:00.000-07:00

I dont share my wips often in public - which is something I would like to do more of. Here is one started today - and due end of tomorrow. Its an LP cover for the Lost Valentinos. The brief was basically to come up with an image that indicated a battleship, and somehow encorporated their logo. Here is what I came up with so far today. Tomorrow is all colour shifting, rendering, and finishing off the design.

My mate Mitch Beige Brown will be handling the design.

Campaign Pitch - Bluetongue Beer

2008-10-22T07:11:00.000-07:00

* I HAD TO REMOVE THE IMAGE FOR ABOUT 2 WEEKS, THEN IT WILL BE BACK UP*

Some friends of mine who run a web design studio here in Sydney asked me to help them knock up some artwork for a pitch to Bluetongue Beer - a local premium, niche beverage.

It normally frustrates me to work for those types of brands - but in this case I couldn’t resist indulging in the concept. My brief was essentially to create a giant fantasy brewery interior environment, colourful, playful, and magical. I mean how can you resist?

I had just downloaded some new brushes and found the painting a lot of fun and I actually learned a shitload on it too. I had one day in-house in their studio to do it - inside their working hours, which was another great experience having such a limited time in the studio and outside my normal working time. The concept took about 2-3 hours to nail through thumbnails and revision, then about 5 hours to paint it up.

Here’s what came out: I hope they go with the pitch as i would love to finish the painting and continue concepting for it…

Lightness of Being

2008-10-22T07:05:00.000-07:00

I am finally gaining confidence with my character work. I did this one for an online Card Game, and played it safe with the posing etc to make sure I stayed within my comfort zone since it was work, but I think Im really getting somewhere with correcting my long time fear of figure work.

11.11 Encourage...

2008-06-01T04:37:00.000-07:00

If anyone is reading this, I would like to give you a word of encouragement:

YES, there are people like you, who think the way you do, who want to see the same changes in the world as you do.

YES, there are people who can still hold a conversation outside facebook

YES, you CAN do what you love, and what you are good at, and still make a difference. Treasure your talent.

May you all 'find' your 'purpose'... and have a great day!

10. Work

2008-06-01T04:29:00.000-07:00

That old chestnut!

CCG:

Film:

Magazine Article (published IFX Issue 30)

9. New Thumbnailing Method

2008-06-01T04:14:00.000-07:00

Here I have copied my two posts from Gorilla Artfare that speak about a new method of pre-vis I have been using.

I was messing around in photoshop today, trying to combine tools I don't normally use to get interesting effects - and I came up with a new method for thumbnailing that I'm finding really enjoyable! I don't know how readable these are to others, but as far as generating ideas for my own end they are working perfectly - just depends whether they need to be shown to the client i guess!

Id say i could get through a sheet of maybe 30-40 of these in an hour, although i was going a bit slower today because I was experimenting. Not a bad way to knock over the initial stage of a job - and a big improvement in my own job workflow.

Please click for the bigger version, as these probably wont read very well with aliasing!

Post #2 : So, more of the same method this morning - slowly refining it... heres a small tute for those who asked how im making them!

First, I quickly grab a bunch of photos from my ref folder. Almost anything will do, i just try to avoid big familiar shapes like faces or cars. I drag them all in and resize em in one document to thumbnail size, merge, and desaturate the lot.

Then, starting anywhere i feel like, I grab the PATCH tool and make a ragged, random selection over one of the photos, and drag it to another:

The result is a nice mixture of the two, as you see in the two cases:

After this, the process is just repeated, working with all of the photos at the same time, finding interesting shapes to drag around. I timed again, and each thumbnail takes about 2 minutes - so between 20-40 in an hour (because sometimes you will hit a comp you reall like and you want to spend time noodling it out or developing it).

Here are this morning's products: The ones with the pine trees I did first, the second set I did specifically for a contract I'm on at the moment. I found that when i had a preconvieved requirement (in this case, Cargo Bay), the thumbnails took a bit longer (3-5 mins ea) because i had to reign in some of the ideas that lost their relevance to the topic.

Cargo Bay:

So what I know about the method thus far:

Pros:

* The patch tool has a unique way of blending, and its faults turn into happy accidents for us painterly bastards. When two values are too polarised, the tool will try to blend them with a soft edge. This creates lots of nice edge variation for us, suggesting light sources and plane changes.

* Unlike a method of just layering photos and hoping for something to pop out, this process becomes creative as soon as you make the first patch. Because it previews the patch destination as you move it around, you can line up areas of value, shapes, lines etc and actually construct your image with intent. The initial patch generally gives you an idea or shape to develop, and after that it is the perfect blend of randomity and intention.

* Achieves a high level of IMPLIED detail very quickly. Very loose, and at any time if you need to strengthen an idea you can just paint directly onto the thumbnail (for instance, in the first set of finals, the barn-like shape top right was all painted).

Cons:

* Because of the photographic elements, there are a number of perspective errors that need to be cleaned up when you up-res

* Generally will have to scrap a thumbnail or two before sending to clients, as the repeated elements can sometimes be obvious

* Makes it very easy to see a cool new idea not related to the job, and get a bit sidetracked ;)

I know its a very simple technique, but I hope it gives some ideas for anyone who hasn't used the patch tool in this way before!!

:)A

8. Impermanence

2008-06-01T04:07:00.000-07:00

When we talk about impermanence, fear is a common reaction - we jump to visions of death and disability, loss and tragedy.

But impermanence has no innate negative connotations - it is more like a principal of physics or engineering. Impermanence is what allows the world to function. Most of our global society is based on a fear - a fear of the world we live in brought about by its inherant perfections. So much of our social heirarchy is based on trying to bring permanence to a reality that is impermanent by nature. Consider the investment in banking and personal security for instance - so much effort, driven by fear, to attempt to create a feeling of unshakable certainty.

If only we could accept impermanence (truly), we would understand that it is the mechanic behind everything that is beautiful. Consider the simple act of applying moisturiser to your skin. The fact that we are impermanent is WHY we are able to perform these small and beautiful acts. If we were permanent, unchanging beings, why would we bother applying the cream in the first place? Without impermanence, how can we go from one state to another - happy to sad, and back again?

Impermanence is not to be loathed or feared, but to be understood fully, as a part of the beautiful imperfection of everything.

As Leonard Cohen sings: "Theres a crack, in everything. That's how, the light, gets in."

7. Some artmaking

2008-06-01T03:33:00.000-07:00

It has been another big few months for me (I derive a lot of pleasure from living life at a dangerous pace). I have ploughed through a few different jobs, fallen deeply in love and deeply out of it, met many new people, shared laughs, swapped cultural memes and in general have been having a blast.

Artistically, I have found new purchase in several techniques and I feel more energised than ever. I think a big part of it has been finding a vital balance between traditional and digital work - enough traditional to keep me sane and inspired, and enough digital to assure myself that I can produce with speed and efficiency.

Below are a few digital speed paintings, all half an hour each, with simple topics as idea-starters.

Here's to inspiration and love - those things which remove us from the spiral and remind us of the truth, if only temporal, of our existance ;)

6. Wabi-sabi

2008-06-01T03:22:00.000-07:00

Wabi-sabi (in Kanji: 侘寂) represents a comprehensive Japanese world view or aesthetic centered on the acceptance of transience. The phrase comes from the two words wabi and sabi. The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete" (according to Leonard Koren in his book Wabi-Sabi: for Artists, Designers, Poets and Philosophers). It is a concept derived from the Buddhist assertion of the Three marks of existence — Anicca, or in Japanese, 三法印 (sanbōin)), Impermanence. Note also that the Japanese word for rust, 錆 is also pronounced sabi (the borrowed Chinese character is different, but the word itself is of assumed common etymology), and there is an obvious semantic connection between these concepts. Characteristics of the wabi-sabi aesthetic include asymmetry, asperity, simplicity, modesty, intimacy, and suggest a natural process.

5. KVB, Ingrid Morley, Archibald Prize, Environmentoring, PUPPIES.

2008-02-08T00:22:00.000-08:00

Although I don't have any art to share for the moment, there were a few updates I wanted to share

1. KvB

I have just started teaching a new class at KVB College in North Sydney. The current class revolves around gaming and designing for games, but I am planning to present several proposals for digital painting and concept art courses. To get the class to run I need to show that there is an interest in Sydney for digital painting. If you are a Sydney based digital painter who thinks a university course would be a good thing, please let me know!

2. Ingrid Morley

Ingrid is a fantastic sculptor based here in Sydney who I have known for a few years, and she gave a public presentation last night of her latest travelling body of work. Her practise conveys a strong energy and she is absolutely dedicated to her craft. She runs several classes in Naremburn and regularly exhibits, also being included several times in 'Sculpture by the Sea' overlooking Bondi. She recently returned from a residency in Beijing which also included travelling to Tibet and the Gobi Desert. Thanks for your fantastic presentation of your inspiring journey Ingrid - shows the power that travel can have for your art practise.

3. Archibald prize

I have made a commitment to submit to the Archibald Portrait Painting prize (Australia's biggest) in 2009. It requires the portrait to be of a notable member of the Australian community or a prominent artist/art figure (and cannot be a self portrait). I approached my intended subject and have secured her to sit for me later in 2008! She is a fantastic character and I can't wait to spend a whole 6 months working on this painting. I'm definitely in the deep end on this one!

4. Environmentoring

My first online class has wrapped up this week and the students have produced some great work, which I will ask for their permission to post here. The class taught me a lot about teaching, especially how to handle it in an online environment. I wanted to post a link to the 2nd class which I am currently accepting applications for. If you know any artists looking to improve their environment painting skills, please direct them here.

5. Puppy

I saved a puppy today who had been hit by a car. I live on a 5-way intersection with multiple lanes of traffic. The puppy had been hit by a passing car which did severe damage to one eye and 3 of its legs. Please, if you ever hit an animal on the road, STOP and help it. The poor dog was left alone on the road for the 2-3 minutes it took me to get some clothes on and get out to help it. In that time it easily could have been wiped out by another car. An accident is unavoidable, but once you choose to ignore it and drive on, that accident becomes a choice. Big ups to the puppy who, once she had been rugged up, was pretty easy going considering. You rock, Milou!

Thanks for listening to my ramble :) Hopefully I can do some scanning and photographing soon!
Until next time, hope you find inspiration in an unlikely place.
A

4.5 Quick colour study

2008-02-03T05:33:00.000-08:00

This was a 25 minute colour study I did to test out some theory that James posted over at GurneyJourney. Such an obvious element of light, but I completely missed it up until now. Had a good epiphany moment...

Rule: In the shadows, during daylight, up-facing planes catch blue light, but down facing planes catch radiosity from lit ground. Simple huh?

4. Norman Lindsay's House, Slump, and The Minister

2008-02-02T10:18:00.000-08:00

The past week or so I have been in a bit of a slump with my art. I'm not sure what it is - at first I thought maybe it was my roommate (and fellow artist) heading off to New Zealand and being alone in the studio. I thought maybe the lately rainy weather had killed off the nice summer we were closing off on. I also spoke to a few other artists in different countries and they too, incidentally, were feeling the same way. I couldn't finger the precise reason.

Its an interesting phenomenon, the art slump, and I think eventually you start to develop a sort of fondness for them (perhaps more so in hindsight, however). I generally find myself in a slump every 6 or so weeks, and its just a few days of being unable to paint well, or feeling general dissatisfaction with what I produce. But I have begun to notice that the end of a slump generally heralds a new breakthrough or evolution in my work. I forget who said it or where I heard it, but there was a great quote to the effect of 'cherish the moments of great difficulty in your life, for they are often the herald of the greatest inspiration, as the fire heralds the rebirth of the phoenix'. Something like that. I think once you get used to 'the slump', you can learn how to live with the dissatisfied feeling, instead of pushing it away or trying to ignore it. Instead you embrace it, you listen to it like your stomach grumbles when you are hungry. You take time off and let your art wax and wane like the moon, and when it comes back it is full of renewed vigor and strength. I would be really interested to hear from you guys - what sort of slumps you get, how you feel about them, how you overcome them and so on.

Today I visited the Norman Lindsay estate in the Blue Mountains, a half hour drive outside Sydney. The mountains are a stunning natural landscape, very inspiring and full of the power of life defying the negativity that preoccupies 'modern' life. The grounds were stunning and recalled the halcyon days of Australian artists in the height of bohemia. There was a massive circular swimming pool carved into a cliff face, surrounded by statues, now overgrown with grass, that evoked memories like a cheesy flashback sequence in a film.

The studios were left as they were when Norman died, and it was great to vicariously connect to someone of such a similar personality to my own; Often when his wife would hold big jazz parties with the creme of society in the 'main house' on the hill, Norman would spend an hour or so mingling and 'picking his victims'. These would be artists, poets, or people whom he thought could hold a good conversation - and whom he would then retire with back to his private studio a hundred or so metres away. Outside of the noise and the drinking and the debauchery, he would sit by the fireplace or at a canvas and discuss painting or literature or philosophy. I definately have a streak of the hermetic in me, and I sometimes feel the same way living in the city - that I am most inspired when I take from it in bite size pieces and then retire to contemplate or to create alone or with close friends.

Then there was this painting which I just finished now. It was only about seven minutes worth of painting, but it came about through a somewhat personal conversation with a close friend and artist. Our discussion left a very strong impression on me and I felt like I needed to somehow translate that impression to canvas as quickly as i could in the fleeting moment, to make my thoughts concrete, to bring the archetype out and visualise it and paint purely the feeling or the intention and not worry about aesthetic. Sometimes artists can get a bit jaded with their own work, feeling that it lacks personality or a message, or that it is conceptually uninteresting. I think moments captured like this, without conscious cognitive reasoning, can be the most powerful reminders of how art can help us all work with the powers of our mind, and the collective human narrative.

It's called 'The Minister'

Enough from me - sorry (to you and to myself) that I couldn't post more personal paintings this time, as I have been chocker-block with work work. I found 3 door panels discarded on the road recently, which i sanded, stained and partly primed, which im looking forward to doing a triptych in oils on. Hope you are all inspired and sustained. All the best. A

3. Sun Day

2008-01-27T07:06:00.000-08:00

I sat at Kawa in Surry Hills for 4 hours this morning, and reconnected with an exterior world I have been passing by this week, lost in my work. It was good to engage again and I enjoyed the company of a few people who were looking over my shoulder as I sketched. I hope that sometime, somewhere, somebody sees me sketching and is inspired to exhale a breath of their own creativity.

I've been backed up with work for Epiphany, but got a chance to finish off this character for a challenge run by my friend Alex Drummond at CA. The topic was 'Leaf Goddess of the Light'. This is the first character I have painted (and actually finished) in maybe 6 months! The competition is just warming up and looks like a fun preoccupation to keep me on my toes with character work (thanks Alti).

And finally, the new Gorilla Artfare HQ is up and running and the family there is already posting some beautiful work. Go check it out. And by the by, I'm currently their volunteer copywriter and editor, so enny spelinng mestaks are my folt! Sorey!

2. Brainstorm Day

2008-01-21T09:03:00.000-08:00

Today was a busy one, ongoing brainstorming and preparatory explorations for a series of concepts for Epiphany. I decided to unplug from the computer and work analogue so I used my drawing table. I took a shot of how it typically looks during a brainstorming session. I like to spread my visual explorations out so I can see them all at once, as well as all my lists and written ideas. It helps me cross reference my ideas quickly and easily...

Also uploading an oil I did recently - my first multi-session painting as I come to grips with the new medium. Also the first time I have painted a long pose in any medium. I was fairly happy with what I achieved considering I had never worked beyond a loose sketch in oils, but I am photographing on a small camera with flash so it was hard to get it anywhere near how it looks under a natural light.

Canvas toned with Raw Umber/Ivory Black mixt. Painting done with:
[Yellow Ochre] [Ivory Black] [Titanium White] [Light Red]

Our teacher was very much a salon inspired classical realist and, using a limited 4-colour pallette, most of my time was spent trying to achieve subtle temperature shifts throughout the skintones which dont pick up in the photo. The face, legs and arms were barely worked on in fact - most of the work went into the torso. Didnt even get time to go to shadows (which were just left as the raw umber wash, except for areas like the hair and platform). Subtlety was definately the biggest lesson here and the progression from my initial, very high contrast lay-in to the final, more subtle finish was really great to be guided through. Im looking forward to the next one!

Also watched Paprika today, and would highly recommend it for those who dig animated stuff! Visually stunning and great weighted animation.

Kicking things off

2008-01-20T04:53:00.000-08:00

Gday! I'm back after a blogging hibernation, and both my roommate and I have decided to split up our collaborative blog and run our own individually. I'm hoping to post daily with artwork, unless I get a stint of NDA work that I can't show. But I will also most likely fill in the gaps with philosophical banter and oddities, so if that's your thing, go on and subscribe. Ill try to make my post titles as elucidating as possible for your feeds ;)

Anyhow I was supposed to get to writing this an hour ago, inspired by the work James Gurney does over at his own blog; Gurney Journey. But I got wrapped up in the ever entertaining controversies of PDA and Tom Cruise, Scientologist! and must admit to them as tonight's primary source of inspiration (sorry James).

To start off the blog with some art, here is my entry for Last Man Standing 3, administered under the uncompromising and all encompassing care of Cody 'The Suggestive Guy' Tilson and run on Conceptart.Org (if you havnt seen it, check it out now!)

'Underneath It All'

I began with another painting that eventually lost its way and I felt didn't have a lot going for it.
Due to a topic extension I decided to reconcile my ideas and tackle a new, simpler and more direct painting. Thematically, I wanted to veer toward optimism instead of pessimism, as is often the case for work I dont plan well. Doing the new painting in 2 days (due to the deadline) was refreshing and rewarding and stopped me from getting bogged down in overcomplication.

I found that I still resorted to my usual crutches - a static shot angle, lack of human figures, and indiscriminate rendering - all things that I am working to improve. I also had to make a difficult choice of how much contrast to put in the background, and ended up sticking with my initial intention which was to capture something of the atmospheric, indistinct landscapes of

Millet:

And Innes:

Here is the initial painting, which i dropped:

On the submitted painting, I had a lot of fun and found a happy and flexible medium between rendering and composing, and I am slowly improving my ability to keep decisions open until the end of the painting instead of my usual routine of committing to major decisions past the thumbnail point. I also referenced Whit Brachna's 'Alps' painting for inspiration on how to approach the rocks without a texture overlay. Needless to say his virtuosity in that regard far outweighs my own!

I also enjoyed the initial painting (with the helmeted figure), however the parts I liked most, notably the character and the roof, ended up being stagnated and stripped of their freshness by time and over-rendering. Nevertheless I look at it as 'two learning experiences for the price of one'.