Flow Mountain Bike

At the end of last year I was approached by Flow Mountain Bike magazine, who asked me to create a series of editorial illustrations to be published in their second issue, released in January 2013. The magazine reads more like a coffee table book and is published throughout Australia and New Zealand, so I jumped at the opportunity to get some publicity.

Stand-Off's

In this article Garry Sullivan tackles the nature of riding wild trails that stretch through New Zealand's wilderness. In the years that Mountain biking has spread though New Zealand, so have signs that clearly communicate 'bikes not welcome'; but that's all beginning to change with the realisation that most mountain bikers are conservation-minded and trails that were once off limits are being put on trial periods.  

Death From Above

A feeling that many bike riders in Australia would have experienced...the deadly magpie SWOOP! This was the focus of the article written by Chris Southwood. I encountered the ferocity of the magpie on a bike trip when I was younger, so illustrating this article dug up some old wounds but also helped me to bury my ghosts. hehehe

Can The Nerves

In this article Kath Bicknell talks about pre race nerves and overcoming the fear and pressure you put on yourself. This was a real tricky article to illustrate. I tried to capture the intense nervousness and pressure by illustrating Kath being scared out of the frame and pushed down by the large crowds and media.

Below are the illustrations in their context:

Bearded Gypsy Band

I was recently approached by the band manager of Adelaide's Bearded Gypsy Band, who asked me to design a poster to promote their upcoming gigs. I was pretty familiar with the band having gone to many of their shows, which gave me the advantage of taking a few notes on how they played their instruments and interacted on stage. Their gypsy, jazz, folk styling inspired the sepia earth tones, and vinyl shaped centre. If you dig bands that are better live than on CD, check out the Bearded Gypsy Band.

No Idea

Sometimes I just want to draw...but sometimes trying to figure out what exactly it is I want to draw is an entirely different scenario. It's these moments you sit in front of a blank page trying to force an idea out and end up drawing yourself thinking of an idea.

Illusionist

The distortion of reality by an illusionist is something that has captured peoples imagination for centuries. A simple distraction of the eye for a split second is all it takes to leave you scratching your head for days, trying to figure out just how a person vanished into thin air. The worst part is wanting to know so badly how the trick is done, but knowing that mystery makes the magic.

Aang The Airbender

I don't usually delve into the fan-art side of illustration, but after watching Avatar The Last Airbender, I was curious to see what it would look like if the series was drawn by me. I put my curiosity to rest after I attempted this portrait of Aang, the main character of the show. It seemed strange converting a character that is drawn in an anime style to a more western form, considering it usually happens the other way around. Even with the simplification of lines I think I was able to maintain his curios, kind and playful childlike character.

Rock'nRoll

You know those people you see that you swear have grown up in the wrong era. I recently went to a gig where there was a guy that looked like he walked off the set of Wayne's World. He had the biggest hair I've ever seen and a denim jacked with cut-off sleeves. I'm pretty sure he somehow gained access to The DeLorean from Back To The Future and rocked his was to 2012 to make our ears bleed with his insane riffs!

Christmas Pageant

Illustration Commissioned by Community CPS for the 2012 Christmas Pageant

This is an illustration that was recently published in The Advertiser newspaper and was commissioned by Community CPS for the 2012 Christmas Pageant. I've posted the illustration in it's raw format without the added text or logo. I don't think I've ever done an illustration this intensely populated by so many different characters and colours. It's filled with many of Adelaide's most famous floats and well known characters, designed to be a feast for a child's eye. I spend many hours finding the right colours to complement a Christmas themed pageant making sure to steer clear of the cliché'd red green and white that seems to plague every other Christmas poster. I've posted a few close-up's of the illustration below to show some of the detail that went into creating the illustration. 

"Penguins grooving to the sound of the marching band"

"Clowns doing what they do best.....scaring young children"  

"Elephants, snowmen and jesters finally living in peace"

"Unicorn's making an appearance after years of extinction"

Barndance

Nothing lifts my spirit like seeing a group of people enjoying themselves. The type of enjoyment that is infectious. It spreads through the body, causing your feet to tap and your head to bob. You find yourself joining in, so caught up in the moment. From my experiences, a lot of people seem to find this at nightclubs, which is cool......but give me an old fashioned barn dance any day.      

Baddies on Bikes

I grew up watching 80's and 90's cartoons like Biker Mice From Mars and credit a lot of my drawing skills to the amazing hand drawn nature of those 2D animated episode. They overflowed with fresh inspiration in each frame. There's many thing's I think kids are missing out on in the modern cartoon, but I'll just focus on one......BADDIES ON BIKES! Baddies that would throw smoke grenades behind them while reaching incredible speeds through alleyways, escaping the grip of the good guys once more. The bad-ass image of motorbike's has died down in the last decade, which is why I decided to pay tribute to those golden years with this illustration. 

ROCK AND RIDE!

Stuntman!

I have always held a deep respect for those few humans who completely break the boundaries of possibility and embrace their inner adrenalin fuelled being. I distinctly remember being that kid you see building a crooked, barely legal ramp on the side walk. The kind of kid that put a card in the spokes of a bicycle to make it sound like a it had a motor. When the time came to jump I would approach the ramp reaching speeds just above walking pace, achieving not even a rulers length off the ground after I had hit the ramp. To onlookers I must have looked like a complete spanner, but I felt like the greatest stuntman the world had ever seen.

Edward Norton

Creating a celebrity portrait is no easy task. I learned this when I decided to attempt a portrait of one of my favourite actors, Edward Norton. His recent role in Moonrise Kingdom as Scout Master Ward completely captivated my imagination. After sketching over 50 studies of his face, I finally came up with one that I was happy with. I tried to capture that same vintage, yellow, filtered look that Wes Anderson achieved in the film.

Good Morning Summer

The sun beamed through my window for the first morning in months and it was like summer had stopped by to say good morning. The feeling could only be described as being embraced by a loved one who has been gone for what feels like forever. SUMMER IS ON THE WAY!

Mapped Out

There is something completely inspiring about seeing and hearing stories of expeditions and the people that push their mind and body beyond the limit to achieve their goal. Constantly breaking the boundaries of human possibility and survival. They range from treks through the hottest of deserts to ice climbing the coldest peaks. It's the diverse nature and storytelling attached to expeditions that inspired this illustration.

Computer Problems

Computer PROBLEMS! They are as wide and diverse as the earth itself. 

BirdWatcher

My trip to South Africa earlier this year rekindled my childhood past time of bird-watching. Now, at age 24, I find myself crawling through bushes and reeds, getting as close to wild birds as possible, to try and get that one in a million shot. Its amazing just spending time in nature, it gives you a lot of time to think and it's especially easy to lose track of time when everything is perfectly still and you find yourself just gazing. I really enjoy watching birds but getting the perfect photo of them is what I like most. I guess I like collecting birds like people collect cards, some are rare and others just plain and common.......but I haven't seen any holographic birds yet.  

Where do fish go to dance?

I recently asked myself the question, where do fish go to dance? Such smooth moving, groove filled creatures have got to learn their moves somewhere and I know it's no from their parents. I'm still unsure of the answer to this illusive question, which I'm sure has baffled scientists for decades, but I'm pretty sure that if we explored the ocean floor thoroughly enough we would discover some sort of super layed back club with an octopus as a DJ and it might look something like this. 

Rave on my FELLOW FISHY FRIENDS!!!!

Anatomical Guide

I thought I might go back to the foundations of drawing, studying what gives the human body its shape. This study of muscles has helped to refresh my understanding of where to put my lines when drawing the human body, instead of just guessing where they might be. No matter how much you learn, there's always more to learn, and there's no better way to do that than going back to basics.

Superhero

I remember spending a lot of my time as a kid making up superheroes and bringing them to life with my pencil  and paper. I re-kindled some of that passion recently, when I sat down and sketched this character. It gave me a chance to push my lighting and colour techniques and explore how different colours affect each other. I don't have a name for this character and judging by his gear, he probably doesn't even have a superpower, he's probably more of a gadgets man.    

A Farmers Work

A farmers work is never done. This is one of the many things I figured out about farming when I had the chance to experience a week on the farm with my uncle in South Africa. It seemed that even when he was at home there was still things to worry about and still work that needed to be done. I came back with a renewed respect and understanding of the sheer amount of time and effort that goes into producing our food. This illustration is basically a representation of the farmers mind that never sleeps.

Facial Studies

I recently bought a facial expressions reference book so I decided to brush up on my skills by doing a few studies. I made my marks with ink straight onto paper with no pre sketching, so I could capture what I saw, even it it was a mistake.