Meh

Seeing as though uploading photos to this blog is a long, tiring, frustrating task, I've decided to give it a break for a while, at least until I can afford a decent scanner. Thank you to whoever has viewed this page and appreciated my works.

Sea Eagle, Dark Abstract

It's been a while since my last post and since I'm not really doing anything right now I'll write about two of my current works.

The first work is an abstract interpretation of... well, I'll let you figure that out. That's the beauty of abstract; it is based on a natural form but designed to look quite unlike what it's based upon. Anyway, this work is a school based assignment so It's been rushed to an extent. The canvas I used is second hand so it already had a design on it, which is unfortunately showing through as slight embossing in the image. I decided on using cool colours to add to the sense of darkness and mystery of the image and added a large, red section cut abruptly by another form over the top of it to contrast it against the other colours. The red symbolises a startling, out of place thought amidst otherwise calm and flowing thoughts, symbolised by the cool colours.

Before I get too involved in my thoughts I'll just add that it's acrylic paints on canvas, the green was made using blue and yellow, the purple was in a seperate tube because I can't yet mix purple from primary colours without making it brown.

Back to the work... Ok, it's abstract of a pine cone. Ten points if you guessed that already.

The second work I won't write about right now but I will say that I am slowly working on fixing it up to make it look more realistic. I rushed it quite a lot to begin with and it's been fixed up a lot of times now so I've decided to just take my time and let it flow. After all, these works are an extension of my mind. I want to present them to my full capacity.

This first version was going to be a sunset but I decided a daytime scene inspired by the sights and smells I experienced at Rottnest Island would be more reflective of my mind.

In this one I have painted over the ocean and sky and added some soft clouds using cotton buds.

These are the adjustments I'm making to the picture. This small section has taken me two days to add in but it has been well worth it. This is what my work is really like, even if I am still getting the hang of painting.

Two Sides to Faith

This is an image I came up with during maths one day when I was bored. I was in the mood for creating something with fine detail so I drew this. It's basically a cross with a dragon on it reflected upside down. The reflection isn't symmetrical, it's more on a morality level; the top cross says "Satus Victus", which is Latin for "Start Living", and the dragon has soft lines and light features. The vines growing up it represent life and the struggle to the top. The cross reflected is grounded by black crystals which I thought looked cool at the time. I clearly remember drawing these crystals in Media one day, one of those memories that stands out for some reason. The cross itself says "Letum", which is "Death" in Latin. The symbol of the cross represents faith, and this image basically questions where a person's faith lies. It's double sided, and the dragons are facing each other as if to protect their territory, each cross is the exact opposite in terms of morality. BASICALLY, it's a contrast of good and evil in human faith, and the link they share. There's no escaping the evil, but good always happens no matter what. Note that the good side is positioned above the evil, a position of power.

By the way, this drawing is not emo. I was in the mood for creating something that questions faith, and contains fine detail. I think it showcases my artliner skills quite well.

Bass Dude and an old truck

Ok, so this is where it all begins. I'll try to keep a record of all my home projects on this blog and accompany them with photos as often as I can. Really this is just so that I can look back on my works every now and then and see how they've come along, but I guess it's also a good way of letting people see my work and perhaps learn a little about the way that I produce my art.

Assuming this stupid computer actually uploads my photos, there should be two images: one of the work I'm wanting to talk about, and one of a dilapidated old truck in the bush I came across that inspired me to do something with the imagery it presents.

To the left is my "bass dude". He hasn't yet a name (I name my characters so that I can let them "talk" to me while I'm working) so I guess Bass Dude will have to do... Actually, it fits rather well. Ladies and gentlemen, you have witnessed me in the process of naming my work.
Anyhow, it's an A3 portrait layout using pastels and Derwent pastel pencils, with an F lead rough draft which I sketched in art a few weeks ago.
This is one of the rare pieces I produce which comes naturally without any real inspiration, I guess you could say he's part of my musical passion so that could be part of why I drew him. At first he was going to be lead all over with shading and everything but I discovered a new love for pastels so I just had to give them a go. I reckon it's pretty good so far. The shading on his awkwardly shaped face isn't too flash but I'll fix that as I go along. I want the background to be dark with a light coming from behind him, an image stuck in my head from watching the Lez Zeppelin DVD too many times. It kinda reflects the darkness around this dude and the light that he produces, metaphorically the music he brings to his fans in a world of shit music. I gave him facial hair because I kinda like that style, one of Faith No More's members has the same do. The headband was inspired by my hero, John Bonham. He's Zeppelin's drummer and in The Song Remains The Same he wears a similar one, I wanted part of Bonzo to come out on my work so I thought the headband would do nicely. The bass design is from mine, you can't see it yet but it's going to be the same colour eventually. I guess this dude is what I secretly want to be, I doubt it will ever happen but I've always dreamed of rock and roll stardom. My ambition in life is to teach art but there's always room for teenage fantasies I suppose.
To wrap things up, Bass Dude is a subconscious image that I managed to conjure of a bassist enjoying his music in the world of fame. I've positioned him so that the viewer can see his full expression and maybe feel as though they're right there in front of him, and the focus is his face hence the dark shading around him that I will later add in.


This image is a photo I took in outdoor ed (while orienteering up near checkpoint 15 for anyone who knows what I'm talking about). I went past it a few weeks ago and should have taken a photo then, while the sun shone through the truck's crumpled windows and made the greens around it rich and complete. My phone's camera isn't too good so I'm going to have to add in some creativity when I do this one. I'm thinking pastel, although I do want to paint it as I feel I could get some very rich textures from the old truck and the bush around it. I like this image because not only is the truck rusted and old, but the bush around it is broken and there are branches on the ground. It's as if everything is in a state of untouched harmony; the old truck would have been one of the original utes and It's a great historical piece because it's obviously been there for a long time. Looking at this truck in person, I feel a strong connection with it. I guess that's why I want to immortalize it in image. I'll add more later as I begin work on it.

That's all I have for now. I'll update this whenever I can and add some stuff I've done in the past so that you can see how far I've come.

Art is my life. I thank you for taking the time to read how I feel about my work.