illustration

The Prisoner

| Anna Cull
Stamp design, artwork – mixed media – student project, 2011
Stamp design, artwork – mixed media – student project, 2011

The Prisoner theme music

The Prisoner (1968-1969): The prisoner is a former British spy who, having abruptly resigned from the secret service, has been abducted and imprisoned in a strange village…and he has no idea who his captors are. “I am not a number, I am a free man” was the catchphrase of the series. The stamp depicts the prisoner being apprehended by a large, white, mysterious bouncing bubble called ‘Rover’. 

Those bouncing bubbles used to give me nightmares!

The stamp design, poster and text are from one of my favourite student projects. Each stamp depicts an iconic science fiction TV series from the 1960s. For a recap on the project, click here.

Science Fiction stamp poster (594 x 420 mm) Stars and planets (background collage) courtesy of the Internet Student project, 2011
Science Fiction stamp poster – student project, 2011

A sparrow’s tale

| Anna Cull
Work in progress #1 – the underpainting
Work in progress #1 – the underpainting

These photos show the progress of Sparrow (Monday’s In the style of…) painting. I started with an underpainting of Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Umber ― I’ve fallen in love with these two colours because they blend together to make the most beautiful black (see the note below about chromatic blacks).

Work in progress #2 – painting the background and the body
Work in progress #2 – painting the background and the body
Work in progress #3 – filling in details
Work in progress #3 – filling in details
Work in progress #4 – adding black and white
Work in progress #4 – adding black and white

I’m a big fan of chromatic blacks (made using colour rather than a specific black pigment). It’s so satisfying to mix your own ‘black’ and achieve subtle variations of colour — it’s much more fun than simply reaching for a tube of Ivory Black (although I do that too). I’ve used both kinds of black in my little sparrow painting.

Work in progress #5 – no no no no no
Work in progress #5 – no no no no no

I got a bit carried away adding white to his feathers and ended up with a colour I didn’t like ― a sort of pale grey-brown ― so I waited for the unfortunate, dreary colour to dry and painted a more cheerful pinky-brown over it (see below).

Sparrow – acrylic on canvas, 200 x 255 mm, 2013
Sparrow – acrylic on canvas, 200 x 255 mm, 2013

I also made him a little bit fatter and a whole lot fluffier. And I still really like that strand of spider silk in the corner.

Thanks for reading.

In the style of… Celestino Piatti

| Anna Cull
Sparrow – acrylic on canvas, 200 x 255 mm, 2013
Sparrow – acrylic on canvas, 200 x 255 mm, 2013
Sparrow – Akaroa, 2012
Sparrow – Akaroa, 2012

It may seem a strange thing for an arachnophobe to say… but my favourite thing about this painting is the thread of spider silk.

I’ll post my work-in-progress photos later in the week.

Celestino Piatti

The Happy Owls, 1964 and Animal ABC, 1966 Images from http://onceuponabookshelf.com
The Happy Owls, 1964 and Animal ABC, 1966
Images from http://onceuponabookshelf.com

Prolific Swiss artist and designer Celestino Piatti (1922–2007) has an instantly recognisable style. I may be wrong but I’m pretty sure I’m one of his biggest fans. My favourite Piatti quote: “You can draw an owl a thousand times, and never find out its secret”.

In the style of… appears occasionally instead of my regular Shoot it, Sketch it posts. Using my own photographs as a starting point, I’m drawing inspiration from some of the world’s greatest illustrators. It’s not about slavishly copying someone else’s art; it’s an experiment in seeing things differently.

This is home

| Anna Cull
Canterbury – acrylic on canvas, 405 x 305 mm, 2013
Canterbury – acrylic on canvas, 405 x 305 mm, 2013. Private collection.
Canterbury in detail
Canterbury – in detail

I originally created this landscape as a digital illustration (it’s the background of this poster). The scene is based on a number of different photographs and even though it is not an actual location, it is typical of the scenery here in Mid Canterbury ― the snow-covered Southern Alps, the colourful Canterbury Plains ― except that I omitted the rivers… and the houses… and the sheep…

Double take (pen vs earthquake)

| Anna Cull
Pen vs earthquake #1 – Mona Vale, 2013
Pen vs earthquake #1 – Mona Vale, 2013

Mona Vale restaurant and function centre was damaged quite badly in the February 2011 earthquakes. The 5.5 hectares of gardens are still open to the public but the beautiful historic homestead needs a lot of TLC to restore it to its former glory. Mona Vale used to be one of our favourite places for special occasions and we miss it dearly.

The idea for this photo shoot came from Ben Heine’s ingenious Pencil Vs Camera images. I have a number of sketches I’d like to photograph in situ like this ― all are from this student project (click on the link and scroll down).

Anna Cull Pen vs earthquake Mona Vale

The sketch is from my time at art college (2011). I took the photographs last week.

Shoot it, Sketch it: Survivor

| Anna Cull
Survivor – ink and coloured pencil, 195 x 220 mm, 2013
Survivor – ink and coloured pencil, 195 x 220 mm, 2013
The old cash register – Tauranga, 2013
The old cash register – Tauranga, 2013

We discovered this beautiful antique in an art gallery while we were away on holiday. The till and its owner used to live in Christchurch but moved because of recent events (such as earthquakes) ― the sign says it’s still in good working order!