Silver Gull in paper mache

Working with the book 'The Field Guide to Birds of Australia' as reference,
a recent model of a Silver Gull. This one stands approx. 17 cm high.

From a black and white photograph by Frank Hurley, today I made my own colorized version in pen and water color. The image depicts The Endurance in harbour at South Georgia Island. Original photograph taken atop Mount Ducefell. 

Recent watercolors

Cape Wild, on a good day no doubt.

The antarctic continent  both mesmerizes and fascinates me -
therefore am glad to have the net to draw inspiration from when I can't visit first hand.

And some sketches closer to home.

My beautiful Camille by the sea.

More watercolors from a recent trip to historic Williamstown.....

Point Gellibrand Heritage Park .

And on location below -

recent charcoal study in front of mirror.

Four panels of late, painted on reclaimed board.

Keeping it simple, bold and strong. 

Stormy mind scape.....

I enjoy painting both realistically and abstracting reality too. The purpose of this painting , really though, was for something to display in my home and transport me away from the burbs....

and without a car, ( well I am proud to be non car dependent) it's seldom that I am fortunate enough to visit the seaside , let alone paint it, in its many moods.....therefore, I have to rely on my imagination.

'raging with anger above
 silent waters run,
dark and deep below'



'Stormy Mind Scape'

acrylic on canvas

150 x 100 cm

'rogue wave'

acrylic and varnish on reclaimed plywood

70 x 34 cm

I have four panels of plywood that I put aside some time ago , saving these from some old furniture that was falling apart, as they were the perfect longer format that I needed for this design. After a series of quick loose sketches, I have chosen a few that I felt were the best, and so I continue on with this series. 

Above is the painting in it's first stages, roughly drafted in with chalk.  I decided to omit the moon  behind the wave , and instead opted for the crest of the wave as it drops from overhead.

Now, what  I would really like to do, with just a little bit of luck for a change, would be to  paint this as a very large mural.....

"man suppresses in himself, unnecessarily, the highest spiritual capacity - that of sympathy and pity towards living creatures like himself - and by violating his own feelings, becomes cruel."

"A human can be healthy without killing animals for food. Therefore, if he eats meat he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite."
Leo Tolstoy

Remarkable words by a man way ahead of his time .... today was the day I had to draw him.
charcoal and white chalk on paper

Portraits Henry David Thoreau, Sir Ernest Shackleton and more

'Thank God men cannot fly and lay waste the sky as well as the earth.'
 - Henry David Thoreau.

charcoal on paper

My cloud study and portrait juxtaposed on photoshop.

 As much as I have tried , I cannot discover who the original photographs were taken by. Nevertheless, capturing such inspirational people on paper with my my chosen medium is both challenging and exhilarating.

Sir Ernest Shackleton - famous Antarctic explorer

 "We had seen God in His splendors, heard the text that Nature renders. 

We had reached the naked soul of man.”

David Suzuki

charcoal on paper

Archie Roach

charcoal on paper

Reading a book about Leonardo Da Vinci and his passion for drawing the human face, I was pleasantly surprised to come across the term 'physiognomy' - at last I have a name for my affliction!

The dictionary definition as is-

Physiognomy

noun (plural physiognomies)

The art of judging human character from facial features.

a fascination for the human face

a person’s facial features or expression, especially when regarded as indicative of character or ethnic origin:

Dickensian afternoons spent drawing......

 I’m an avid Dickens fan and I equally enjoyed the tv series adaptation of The Pickwick Papers, featuring a star studded cast including Nigel Stock, Phil Daniels and Clive Swift of which I think Dickens himself would have approved . Cannot pass up the opportunity to draw and sketch these wonderful characters in all their fine period costumes.
Dickens inspires many an artist, poet , musician, and so it goes on…..

A Brush With Nature.....

A few pics from my show 'A Brush With Nature ' at  _____ ( I 've decided to remove the gallery name from this post because I don't want my images plastered all over Google images ha ha) on Saturday. We ate lots of good vegetarian food, and drank lots of good wine, while listening to the Edwin s wonderful guitar playing away in the background.

I was pleased with the presentation of my work, and to see all my paintings under the spotlight was something else, if not a bit daunting. Painting for the love of it is one thing - having it scrutinized by the public is another. Being able to see my work displayed in this context, gives me better perspective on what my work looks like as a whole. It's a struggle to balance the demands of every day life and to keep that consistency in my work. I wish I could devote more time to it, without being pressured by government departments that see no real  value in art as a career nor give any support. There's the dilemma.

Heat, and all that........

'40 degrees in the shade (of the Wonga Wonga Vine)' 

acrylic on timber

122 x 185cm

Heat wave has seen me try to escape in painting. 

Finally found a large piece of ply wood at the re-cycling centre just around the 

corner, and very happy to bring it home without the need for 'wheels'.

A couple of magpies kept me company in the early stages of the painting,

entertaining me with their song, and funny antics as seen above.

This fella trying to 'eat' a citronella candle , obviously attracted to the aluminum foil

patty case it was contained in.

'evening clouds over ringwood'

pastel on paper 

....escape is staring at the vast skies above us...

void of all the turmoil and strife taking place on the land

above us you can sense freedom,

in the wisps and currents of the wind.

recent life drawing.......

in a spot of bother at the moment as I have some plans 

for another large canvas but funds are low, and difficulties finding

it on foot/public transport. Internet may save the day.

Am thinking of just buying a roll, laying it out on the grass

and painting from there....

'the shack out the back'

pencil and charcoal on paper
25 x 35 cm

These shoes......

'these shoes were made to travel'

graphite pencil on paper 2011

After looking at Vincents paintings of his own boots, and being fascinated by
his habits of walking vast distances, sometimes for days, I felt a deeper admiration for the
then, often-mocked dutch artist.
Walking as a means of travel in times gone by wasn't such a rarity as it is now.
Captain James Cook was another famous example I can think of who would walk
two hours to work and  return, each day.
Puts our modern species to shame me thinks.

'Looking Into Infinity 3'

acrylic on canvas

Two sick children home this week......missed out on life drawing so decided to draw a few of my own models

I found lounging about the house in typical pose.......