Sekaido - 2013

2013 entry - F3 canvas / Acrylics

Initially setting out for a bugs-eye-view visual, missed the mark a fair bit. With a few more hours I'd like to have darken the women's facial contours a little, as the light against dark backdrop was a little harsh. But all in all, scaling up on last years work, creating 2 pieces on a right deadline, it didn't turn out half bad!

2012 entry - F2 canvas / Acrylics

Testing the water

My wife is pretty awesome, but I've never been able to capture her character in my work.

Layering thin films of acrylics might have been the wrong choice. Its's safer but the final result isn't satisfying.

Think the next portrait see a return of thick acrylics. Safe isn't getting results.

Sweeeet

Thinking of crossing the CandyLand concept in with the PlanetPeel... Or simply - I love Candy and this is a great opportunity to buy bundles for "reference".

CherryPop comes straight from "Adventure Time".

LolliPops are a simple way in. The shape is quite simple, but the folds in the wrapping will blend nicely with PlanetPeel ideas.

I really should press down harder, but the paper is almost transparent.

Peel

Messing around with the clay earlier this week lead back to some Planet Peel visuals.

After a few months of working on portraits, animals and plants it was about time to go back and see what could be done with the Planet Peel visuals. 

Overwhelmingly these visuals give me a sense of satisfaction unlike the portraits. The ribbon effect is just a bunch of fun, so I'll be spending the next week working on new ides, colours and expanding the world a little.

Claying

The past few weeks I'd been peeling back pieces of paper, cutting and tearing to understand the basics a little better while sketching.

Clay would help to understand the lighting a little better, but actually it was just a whole lot of fun to play with.

Light contrast.

The way the flex influences the folded areas was pretty unexpected so I'll look at including it for future works.

The exercise was more fun than informative, but in a way that proved pretty informative. The best part of the whole thing was mashing the clay back into a ball for next time!

Planet Peel - Plants

A4 wood - Acrylics

Recently running into a lot of good ideas, but having the ability to properly execute them is becoming a struggle.

It's ok though, at this point concepts mean more to me than execution. This idea of wrapping plants sounds fun and gives me a lot of ideas to follow later on.

Planet Peel - Drafting

A3 Pad - Acylics / Oils

Just a rough draft testing different stroke techniques. 

The "PP" visuals had all been quite smooth, which is nice, but too simple. To really connect and believe in this environment there needs to be texture and emotion.

Sekkaido - 2012

F20 wood - Acrylics

I was pretty content with the final piece. It's no Matisse but for a first attempt I was satisfied.

I'd gotten wind of the competition 2 weeks prior to the deadline and so needed to work fast. Choosing an F20 format and a limited pallet would cut costs and save time.

Following the theme of "Planet Peel" I looked for vibrancy and movement and also immersion which foreground and background action.

If I'd had more time before the deadlines I'd have spent more time on the pencilling, as looking back, there needed to be other elements such as flowers or insects to make the context clear.

Planet Peel - Concept

A4 wood - Acrylics

As a kid, Doug TenNapel (creator of Earthworm Jim and Neverhood) had a big influence on me. The "planet peel" concept comes from many places, but the kind of vibrancy and creativity of the EWJ series has a lot of bearing on this type of work.