Out Of The Atmosphere

The journey beyond Earth's atmosphere has captured peoples imaginations for years including mine. The curiosity of what lies beyond prompted man to venture into space and that same curiosity inspired this illustration. Not even I know what this astronaut has discovered but the look on his face says it all.

Lego Chest

Have you ever had a moment when you discover something from your childhood that lights up your imagination and take's you back to being a kid? If you've ever had a moment similar to this you could probably understand my excitement when my dad discovered my old Lego chest in the ceiling. I felt like a pirate who had just found the treasure he had been tirelessly searching for all his life. I began rummaging through the chest discovering things I had built 10 years back, it was like searching through a visual history of my imagination. I tried to capture that sense of amazement in this illustration which gave me the opportunity to play with light and how it affects mood. I'm happy to say I spent the rest of the weekend playing with my Lego. 

Pascals

A couple of weeks back I went to WOMADelaide, a world music and dance festival that brings out my inner hippy every year. I made my rounds of the stages and was on my way to see a band I had heard on the radio, when suddenly, my ear was caught by a strange and amazing mix of sounds emanating from the distance. I couldn't help but divert my path and find the source of this beautiful sound and when I did, nothing could break my trance like state. A 16 piece Japanese band playing the most unique blend of instruments I have ever seen and producing sounds that felt like zero gravity. I created this illustration as a tribute to the Pascals music, not as an accurate portrait, which is why some of the band members are missing, but my aim was to capture the indescribable energy of the performance.

African Time

My recent visit to South Africa inspired this illustration. All throughout the country I encountered workers dressed just like this one, in blue overalls wearing hard hats (even if there was no danger of falling objects from above). Alot of the workers seemed to be on break most of the time, but African time is your best friend when you're not in a hurry. I referenced this particular worker from a photo I took on the waterfront of Cape Town.

Drum Machine

I've always been fascinated by the process of animation from the beginnings of scribbled ideas on paper, character designs and storyboards to a final, fully coloured and rendered moving image. I am currently in the beginning stages of creating a short animation and I'm learning fast just how big the process is and how time consuming animation can be. This is one of the characters that is featuring in the animation, it's a wind up drum machine and after pages of concepts I narrowed it down to the illustration at the top. I'll keep you posted on the progress as I complete each step on my way to the final animation.

Feedback!

I thought I might introduce the new year with my first sketchbook entry of 2012. I've been watching a heap of cartoons recently and loved the expression that animators can give a 2D character. I tried to capture that same energy and expression in this character and though this is a static illustration, you could imagine what he would be doing if he was moving......and if you can't, it means you need to watch more cartoons.

Lucky

This is a portrait of a gypsy woman that I met three years back, she has had a profound influence on my life since that day and continues to bring comfort to my soul daily. She has the most amazing eyes that trap passer by's and a voice that lures your soul from your body. Her name is Lucky.

FOUL!

If the Underwater Basketball League existed this would be it's star player and that umpire spitting a FOUL! in his face would be one of the most despised manfish in the whole entire sea. The inspiration for this illustration surprisingly came from a pickle I put on my sandwich, I was fascinated by the texture and colour of these tiny delicious sandwich companions.

Un-Wise Counsel

I clearly remember the counselor at the High School I attended, when he spoke it was like he was analyzing every move and peering deep into the soul of his subjects with a word of advice for every question. His knowledge seemed to surpass his human sized mind and I'm pretty sure he had laser vision, or so the stories go. This curiosity led me to create this shady character, I imagine if you were to pull the human disguise from that same counselor he may look a little like this.

Skater Ink

Skating took up a big chunk of my time in my younger years, not that I really got too good at it but just the feeling of being on a board was enough and still is, which is why I got excited when I was approached by a local skater who was looking to get a tattoo embracing his love of skating. I immediately got on the job and came up with a few concepts. These are just two of the many ideas I've put onto paper.

Chasers & Stealers

I was recently approached by a local Netball team and asked to design a logo for their club. Being called The Chasers & Stealer's they wanted two separate logos that worked together and fit with their theme colours of blue and orange, and the theme of cops and robbers. The logos needed to be bold lined and solid coloured vector based illustrations which isn't my usual style, but one that I was familiar enough with to get a promising result. I am really happy with the way the logos turned out and the cops and robbers at the club thought so as well.

Animation for Restless Colour

This is a production stamp that I recently animated for Restless Colour, who promote local artist and illustrators in Adelaide. I used a combination of Flash and Photoshop to create the animation which involved a whole bunch of scanning and piecing together. I recorded an original score for the clip using my keyboard and the free sound editing program, Audacity. I am very happy with how it turned out and can't wait to see it in context.

Smooth Grooves

This is the first piece in a series of Jazz inspired illustrations that are going to be sold as framed prints. The smooth sounds of the sax that jazz produces, flow through this in tune player, who is caught up in the moment of music.

The Teacher

I was looking at old records the other day and came across a couple of Jazz covers that really leaped out at me. The smooth style and dress of the musicians
coupled with their brass instruments captivated my imagination. I combined a few of the musicians to come up with this illustration of a fictional character who I thought looked like a Jazz Teacher.

CHECK!

Nothing compares to the feeling of picking up a mic and emptying the thoughts you've congested over the weeks through what is commonly called, band practice. The intensity of what I feel when playing a live set can't be described in words so I used the art of illustration in the hope of communicating the pure rush that runs throughout my body when I approach the mic.

Tigermoth

I was recently approached by Adelaide Biplanes, who gave me a brief outlining a poster design for one of their classic planes, the Tigermoth. I wanted to create a professional looking illustration while keeping my single line, loose style. My plan was to create a poster that would appeal to both aviation enthusiasts and the general curious eye. I used classic colours and a brown paper background to reflect the themes presented on the Adelaide Biplanes website. This is just one of the concepts and still needs text but I wanted to present the poster in it's true illustrative form.

Peace Of Mind (Watershed Art Prize)

This is an illustration I recently finished for the Watershed Art Prize. The brief was to create an artwork depicting wetlands, biodiversity and water sustainability. I approached this brief with an idea that would appeal to kids and promote thought in adults. The title of the artwork, Peace Of Mind, embraces the concept of being conciouse of the environmental impact you make during day to day life and the incredible sence of peace that can be found in nature's wonders.

Beyond

I recently watched a documentary about chameleons which explored the lives and diversity of these fascinating creatures. I immediately pulled out my sketch book after the documentary and created this illustration. I'll be the first to admit that it doesn't look heaps like a chameleon but I guess imagination triumphed over reality.

Street Corner

I have always been fascinated by watercolour images and the amazing texture and life it gives to illustrations. This fascination has led to recent experimentation, trying to harness this unpredictable medium resulting in the illustration above titled "Street Corner". After many failures and muddy coloured faces I was incredibly happy just to get one success. I still have a far way to go but I have started the journey.

Day and Night

Images from jazz and blues clubs have captured my imagination for as long as I can remember. The atmosphere and lighting in the clubs make it such a interesting subject matter to draw and the people who hang out inside fascinate me. In this illustration I have tried to capture the expressive movements of blues and jazz pianists playing day and night.