Back in the painting mode..

After quite a few years of not painting, MAMBO ask me to do a piece for their MAMBO SMART ARTS lounge, as part of the Sydney Art Show. It was a lot of fun to paint, plus the challenge of filling the unique space of the long board. Above is a few snaps I took as a work in progress. Click on the image to veiw it larger. Enjoy, and Merry Christmas.

KAYNE WEST..6 hours illustration.

Here's an illo I did yesterday (primarily my entry into the Big Day Art comp) to see if I could knock out an editorial portrait in half a day. I am 95% happy with the result considering the time, and have a portfolio piece. Will try this again in the new year, with some more conceptual editorial work for sure.
Wish me luck, and any aspiring artists reading this, follow the link above and have a go.

THE PERFECT STOCKING FILLER.

Hey, need some ideas for Christmas?? Here's a beautiful collection of postcards, all nicely packaged into one book, and in slip case to boot! All work is part of the Black Rock Collective, a group of artists I am proud to be a part of. (that's mine, 3 down and 5 across.)

Check out their other stuff for sale, and stay tuned for the 3rd card deck early in 2012.

A different approach to this piece, and it was fun to do. Part of a bigger piece that I can't really talk about, but thought I would share this.Drawn with Prismacolour non photo blue and 2B leads on Zeta bleedproof paper. Zeta is my favorite paper, a semi transparent layout paper. It has a coating on the top side, so drawings using spirit based markers won't bleed through to the next sheet, and has a slight tooth to it, which is perfect for sketching.

As soon as the over all piece is printed (early 2012) I will share it. Until them, enjoy the pencil-ly goodness of this piece.

MAMBO GOD OF ARM CHAIR SPORTS.

Ok, so maybe my blog is slowly becoming 90% tee shirt work, but hey, that's how I roll. Here's one of my designs for beach wear Australian icon MAMBO. I got to say I am loving working with those crazy buggers out there in Manly.
Check out Benji Marshal sporting my wares in the paper, and a shot of the Ben, Brent and Luke from Mambo hard at work.

EVEN MORE TEE SHIRT COMP WORK!

Threadless are running a comp to design shirts based on US Colleges (or universities) sports mascots. I original chose LSU (Louisiana State) Mike the Tiger (on the right) and recoloured for the Auburn Tigers (on the left). Today I did the bear in the middle for UCLA. Hope you like them.

POSTHUMOUS PALE ALE REPRINT.

My design Posthumous Pale Ale has been reprinted at Shirt.Woot.com, this time on hoodies! Grab one today, as they are limited edition, for only US$25!! CHEAP!

AMERICAN GODS online exhibtion.

I was very honoured when the very motivated and resourceful blog SUPERPUNCH asked me to submit a piece for their homage to Neil Gaiman's book AMERICAN GODS. Above I have posted my original sketch, as well as my final coloured piece of my chosen god KALI.

WATER COLOURS!

Here's my latest work that I had an absolute blast doing. It's been so long since I did some water colour work!
The client was Sydney's Child magazine, a free parenting magazine that also distributes in issues as Brisbane's, Melbourne's Child, etc.
The brief was to visually explore the challenges of children 'overcoming adversity' today, wether they have a disability, are gifted and so forth. (most of this is explained in bylines on the right, where the 'greenery' is.) The idea of a child being carried up a mountain was given to me by the art director, and so I ran with that. I hope you like it.

While I can't publish any actual work til it is released, I can publish my competition stuff. Here's a wine label (yes, the wine IS called TIGER BLOOD, and no, it's not Charlie Sheen's vineyard..) for the new wine label design comp site WINE COUTURE. Not a big fan of the name, but it challenge me to do something with a serious feel as opposed to a parody. Tiger's stripes are represented by a stylised circulatory system, and the tigers head was drawn in graphite and finished in photoshop. I hope you like it.

Of course, ANOTHER competetion entry! Hey, I got to stay productive when I don't have work on the table right?? This time it's for Threadless's 'Design a Temporary Tattoo' comp. Basically Threadless have a yearly meet-up of designers in Chicago. This year they want a temp tattoo for the event, winner gets flights to Chicago and accommodation . Their new tagline is 'MAKE GREAT TOGETHER', and I based some of the imagery on a handful of their chicken themed shirts. Keep your fingers crossed for me ok!!

SYMETRICWOLF, my favorite band.

Yet another tee shirt competition sub, this time at my old friends at DESIGN BY HUMANS. I wantes to do this idea a while ago for a tee sub but never got round to it. Was fun to do, and I've included some reference and progress above also. The original wolf drawing is half drawn, and flipped for perfect symmetry. SYMETRICWOLF is not a real band btw.

More competition work. These skatedeck concepts will be up for voting soon at INFECTIOUS.
Check out my previous winner HERE!

Here is my entry into the FOOTLOCKER ART PRIZE 2011. Long story short, it's a AUS$50,001 art prize, where your canvas is a sneaker. Various style are available, but you have to follow the template. My choice was the classic Chuck Taylor. I hope you like it.

My collaboration shirt is up for sale now, part of the high end SELECT range at Threadless.

The credit for the concept belongs entirely to my good friend Ross Zietz, who ask me to work some pencil magic on this illustration, part of the Select's Nautica themed range. I worked completely in reverse, using black heavy graphite where pure whites would be, and vice versa. When the artwork was printed in white ink on a blue shirt, you get the above result. I am stoked with how it turned out!

Here's my winning entry at INFECTIOUS, where they produce laptop skins, iPhone and iPad skins, and many more things of coolness!

Of course when I saw a zombie themed competition, I had to enter! :)

ADIO shirt becomes a tattoo!

Check THIS OUT! Back in December 2008, Canadian Jason Craik emailed me asking if he could get a tattoo based on the tee shirt artwork I did for ADIO earlier that year. I said sure, with the ADIO branding removed of course, and it has taken him that long to pluck up the nerve, and funds, to get it done by his favorite tattoo artist at Liquid Amber Tattoo.
Again I have to thank the members of staff at Neogine Design, Source Recruitment and the New Zealand Vets Association who modeled for me. If you look closesly, you'll see me in the zombie second from right.

More tee shirt work! This time I have a design up for 24 hours only at TEEFURY from 12am, US time. Shirts are only US$10 each. If you are a gamer or just nostalgic about your old Atari, maybe pick one up.
Click on the image above to see a higher res version.

A COLLECTION OF LOGOS.

A collection of logo's I did for one company, CRAYFISH MEDIA, and it podcasts, Generation Melbourne and Radio Moa. Hence the type face is constant with all. The Moa one is my favorite.

I've been asked to be in another Tee Shirt Book (this one being the first). Here's some shots I took today. So glad Clavin at Woolworths finally came around, and even got into it when I asked him if we could 'meat wrap' the sheep's head shirt. Stay tuned for more when the book is out.

Revisiting the cards I did with the Black Rock Collective, for their 2 card decks to date. I art directed and managed both of these projects, and I still love the unlimited ideas that come through with everyone's art.
The first deck was an open canvas, unlimited style, colour and typographic treatment. It's amazing to see how everyone's art sits together, although almost all the cards are completely different in style and medium. I landed the Jack of Hearts and the Joker on that set.
Deck two was more refined I think. Limited colour palette (black, white and red) and a uniformed suit and value. Again, we went wild with content, but the cohesiveness of the limited palette makes the deck really feel like a complete set. If that makes sense. I got the King of Diamonds and the 5 of spades on that one. Enjoy!

HELP IF YOU CAN!

HERE is the charity shirt I worked on with Threadless. The tragic flooding here in Australia, and in Brazil, and Sri Lanka, saddened me terribly. Ross Zietz, my friend and art director at Threadless, and I realized that sometimes art can speak louder than words. We contacted Brazilian designer Matheus Lopes Castro and Australian designer Simon Massey Di Vallazza and began collaborating on a flood relief shirt design.
The resulting design is now available for purchase. $9 from the sale of each shirt will go toward flood relief.
Info taken from the Threadless page:
"On working across continents, Ross says he "was worried working on a collab with people in 3 very different time zones might have been a challenge but not with these guys. It was an easy organic process that came together nicely. Big props to each of the guys, and Matheus especially for his amazing linework and melding of everyone's styles.
Simon Massey Di Vallazza lives in Brisbane, an area hit especially hard by the Australian flooding. After seeing the damage firsthand, he's "so grateful to be involved in this great initiative with such talented designers that will not only help Australian flood victims but also those in Brazil and Sri Lanka's devastated regions. A huge thank you to Threadless for making this happen."

HAPPY NEW SHIRT! (and year..)

This is a nice start to 2011 for me. My latest Threadless design is up and for sale. I got the chance to do this after having secured 4 prints (over almost 7 years I might add) at Threadless. Nice to do a design I wanted to produce, and unlimited colours and size, etc etc. Check it out today.