a few adjustments to this painting over the weekend

'storm brewing '

acrylic on canvas

95 x 65 cm

i read somewhere that a a 2 degree increase in global temperatures could push us past the point of no return. 

'tipping point'

acrylic on canvas 

50 x 60 cm

Took a trip into the city recently and at the last minute , made the spontaneous decision to stop off at the Southern Cross Station and take in the sights of the Polly Woodside and surrounding docklands. Well, all I had was a biro, but I took the opportunity anyway to sketch this beautiful piece of maritime history. Later on in the day, touched up the drawings with watercolour.

Painting, seeing what surfaces and once again , I'm painting the sea. ...
An imaginary watercolor sketch

 imaginary landscapes in watercolor.

Finished painting of the beautiful Bushrangers Bay at Cape Schanck. 

Acrylic on board

90 x 60 cm

Have started a painting of Cape Schanck, a most beautiful part of Victoria and one that I haven't visited for some time. Home of the Great Southern Right Whale that we were most fortunate to see the last time we visited, the cape holds fond memories for me. Getting familiar with the scene,  a rough start this morning using acrylic paints.

The old bungalow out the back

The weather is perfect  so I have taken the opportunity to sit outside and paint a few 

studies of the old out - house in our back yard. The yellow daisy's are popping up their bright sunny faces all over the lawn and the native birds are frequenting the bird table- meanwhile I sit and paint at the table under the shade cloth, the only nuisance being the occasional mosquito.

 'four masts'

acrylic on recycled timber palings

scorching heat calls for a languid afternoon, watching as the sun sets, casting soft light on my immediate surroundings.  

Rhythms in pencil. 

From my sketchbook today. 

.

My second attempt at a papier mache sea bird - 

an improvement on my first. 

Banded Stilt - Cladorhynchus leucocephalus

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: