blue ewe downs

Blue Ewe Downs

I've started playing along with a second blog this week, so it gives me something to aim for between Monday Project themes. The creatives over at Sparkapolooza put up a theme every couple of weeks and their latest was an open brief but had to include: you, an animal, the colour blue, money and a bottle.

The graphic designer in me just had to do some packaging and a play on words so above is my latest vintage 'Blue Ewe Downs'.

beach baths

Toes in the sand

Once again the Monday Project has added creativity to my month. This time with the theme 'beach baths'. I have referenced the style of David Hockney which I found because of Forgers Masterclass, which has become my sunday evening addiction of late.

It was great to apply paint to a canvas with a roller, it seems as though you achieve a lot in a small amount of time.

Something new

In my couch ridden stupor I have found a spark of inspiration from Forger's Masterclass on ABC. Every week John Myatt (art forger) introduces one of the masters and 3 'students' have a go at it. With nothing better to do I also had a dash at it. Though I don't think I have a future in forgeries it wasn't a bad exercise for someone who hasn't painted in a long long time.

First up was Edward Hopper

Next came Andre Derian

They have also worked through Monet and Van Gogh, but I don't think I am ready for those yet.

Another person also working through the shows themes is barbsartfrenzy, it's great to see her painting skills improving with each piece.

re:ducks

re:ducks

With open arms i welcome back the Monday Project to my list of monthly inspiration. Having been inactive for a while they aptly chose redux as the theme of the month. But being that I'm still slow I've mangled together a homophone and gone back to my early artist days to make a potato stamp.

Perhaps I will revive the theme later in the month to have another go!

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Also,  BenZen is heading off on a new adventure under the guise of Larsen. 

hop to it

Now that I am stuck at home with a broken hip I have no excuse to not be drawing and reading so here is one from my latest scribblings. Now to get my sketching mojo back and create something from nothing.

get your work seen - new competitions

 

a couple of great sounding design slash arty comps which have popped up on my radar today are mother tongue (with is more of a online exhibition than a comp), being run by indigo design network, and positive posters new comp with the theme of 'glass half full'. grab the briefs on their sites.

i can't wait to see the submissions showing up online.

Update: if you are ever looking for a comp to work something up for visit the graphic competitions site

Art of Brewing

at ambush last week

art of brewing

sponsored by some tasty beer

these darkened streets

every time i take a walk through my neighbourhood i catch a glimpse of something i have never taken the time to commit to long term memory before, and quite often i will comment on the same 'new' interesting thing many times. walking up victoria street newtown gave me a back in france moment which was quite a pleasant surprise. followed by some wild 'budapest'ish' powerlines and german signage. 

i wonder what i will 'find' next time i go for a walk

so far a quiet year for the blog

So far this year has been a bit of a fizzer for the ol' blog. Mostly because I have spent so much time driving the mouse and not enough behind a pencil. Fortunately a couple of projects were realised.

Firstly a cycling jersey I designed for a friend in Canada was produced for the GatiGators triathlon team. With textured skin and yellow eyes it is certainly something different.

How hot is the helmet hair in this pic!

Also a colleagues performance 'click tease' needed a poster for the Adelaide fringe festival, which kept me busy in the lead up.

I even managed to fit in going to Semi-Permanent in Sydney.

Then finally, for easter, headed out of the city for a country break. Below is a quick sketch I put to paper to leave at the farm-stay in Ruffy, and a photo from my vantage point on the hill.

The Naked Truth

After convincing myself I wanted to wake up at 3am, go into the city, get naked and stand with thousands of others I finally did it. Joining the 5000 other people on the steps of the Opera house and then in the concert hall for Spencer Tunick to snap a few frames. It was an amazing experience being surrounded by a surreal landscape of bodies.
Hopefully one day I get to do it again!