Bi And Large (Volume Study)

This began as a pencil sketch of a stereotypical representation of some of the people one might meet in the streets around where i grew up. It was very a colourful, and flamboyant kind of area where one's gender had little to do with it's presentaion. Wanted to get used to creating volume and mass in colour, and also play with some fleshy tones.

New Irish Folklore

As an outsider coming to live in Ireland, i had many misconceptions about what it would be like here. There is a lot of folk lore here, and i have always had an interest in myths and the like, for almost any culture, since before i could read - looking at picture of the Greek and roman legends, hearing stories of Australian Aboriginal dreamtime, as well as the Irish and English tales.

Now, i don't expect to see any leprechauns or banshees, but i was expecting rolling green hills, plenty of stone walls, dread-locked sheep, and wrinkly old men tipping hats. What i wasn't expecting was piles of rubbish on the roadside, colonies numbers of caravans parks on roundabouts or median strips, tracksuits tucked into socks without a tongue anywhere near a cheek, and pyjamas. Pyjamas everywhere....

French Man (Attitude Study)

Shortly after Ireland were knocked out of a position in the soccer world cup 2010, when the ref failed to notice Terry Henry molest the ball with his hands, i found my self in France to attend a wedding. I had 40 minute train ride to spend doodling, and thanks to a fellow facing me on at an opposite window, i manage to capture the perceived attitude of arrogance the Irish were assuring me the French had. The man didn't look like this or have the attitude, but he was French.

The Man Who Ran Away From The Circus

Based on a lyric from a song of the same name, by Sydney band, Karma County.

"The man who ran away from the circus

said it wasn't fun any.more.

The fat lady just got fatter,

the strong man, he got wasted all the time."

This was actually started in Photosop when i first got the wacom, and was finished in Painter.

Boy With Match (Reflection Study)

Along the same lines as the reasons for the Bluebottle Boy picture - children and dangers - this came after my boy manages to lock me out in the backyard.

This is the imaginings of him locking me out, then finding a match. It was also an attempt at getting a better understanding of painting reflections.

Limerick Woman (Attitude Study)

It's weird in this cold dark country how the women seem to have evolved to utilise make-up foundation as a way to change ones own skin tone to another. Many women walk through the shopping malls in their best pair of pyjama's, with an iridescent orange face - presumably designed to give off the impression of a healthy tan. But the tan stops at the jaw line, the concept of 'blending' having been bred from the gene-pool along with shoulders and good teeth.

What lies beneath, from jaw to cleavage, is the natural pale blue if Irish skin. A pale green eye-shadow is often selected to complement this and heavy black eye liner ensures the look of an infant at mummy's make-up table is complete. Add large gold hoop earrings and you're nearly there.

Lastly adopt a look of aggressive distaste one might use after stepping in something nasty.

Torment

Done while thinking about a good friend and work colleague who was going through a particularity hard time. It was his own stupid fault, but the heart still goes out....

Impaled

This was one of the first attempts using painter. Done using the gauche brushes, though beginning the sketch with the pencils. It had no direction and started as a bit of a doodle. I also captured it using ScreenFlow, and the result can be seen here.



It was fun....

Blue Bottle Boy

When my son was about 8 months old, i began thinking about the potential dangers he would face at he grew, and about things that i had to look out for when i was young.

When i was young, we visited the grandparents at their house on the northern beaches of Sydney. We spent a lot of time learning to swim and splashing around there, but there was always the danger of the painful sting of the Portuguese Man-O-War, or as most coastal Australians call them, Bluebottles.

Throw in an unrelated fascination for the biggification of the small, and floating things, and this is the result.

The Gouhl

A emotional whirlwind trip back to Sydney a couple of years ago to attend the death and funeral of a grandparent provoked this unflattering caricature. If they're not married, are they still referred to as In-laws?

Say No To Altar Boys

The first piece of graffiti i saw upon arrival in Ireland was in a toilet stall in Shannon airport. It said "Say No To Altar Boys". I was amused if not a little perturbed at the advice presented to me, given the near terminal levels of Catholicism i was wading into. 5 years later the 'revelations' that paedophilia actually exists within the catholic church, in an attempt to capture a feeling of clerical serenity, i painted this picture.