Shoot it, Sketch it: Flow (WIP)

Flow (work in progress) – acrylic on canvas
Flow (work in progress) – acrylic on canvas
Hamurana Springs, original photo, 2013.
Hamurana Springs, original photo, 2013.

This week’s Shoot it, Sketch it painting is an abstract inspired by the reflections in the crystal clear waters of Hamurana Springs. If you’re ever anywhere near Lake Rotorua in New Zealand, this magical spot is nearby and well worth a visit. It’s the largest headspring in the North Island and is an impressive 15 metres deep (15 metres!). If you want to know more, click on this Envirohistory NZ link.

The painting is still a work in progress. I hope to have it finished next week…

Dear diary, part three

‘Trash your ash – play the game and everybody wins’ – sketches and final illustration  Visual diary, two-page spread (student project, 2011)
‘Trash your ash – play the game and everybody wins’ – sketches and final illustration
Visual diary, two-page spread (student project, 2011)
‘Trash your ash’ mock-ups (billboard and installation) – ink, photography and digital Visual diary, two-page spread (student project, 2011)
‘Trash your ash’ mock-ups (billboard and installation) – ink, photography and digital
Student project, 2011

The brief for this project was to design an anti-cigarette-litter billboard and public installation for the city council’s ‘Future Vision of a Clean City’ campaign. The focus had to be on anti-not-thinking rather than anti-smoking. For the installation, I turned my drawing of Christchurch’s Anglican Cathedral and Chalice sculpture into a pop-up board game that could be played in public spaces around the city. It was a lot of fun putting my illustration into the photo ― I wonder why I don’t do that more often?

The diary pages are from a journal I designed for my Design & Arts College exhibition in 2012. Two years of research, ideas, word maps and sketches had to be reduced to a mere 72 pages. It was no easy task but it’s something I’ll always treasure.

In the style of… A. B. Frost

Welcome to my first ever In the style of… which will be appearing occasionally instead of the regular Shoot it, Sketch it posts on Mondays. I plan to draw inspiration from some of the world’s greatest illustrators. It’s really Shoot it, Sketch it with a twist ― I’ll still be using my photographs as a starting point but I’ll be drawing/painting them with a particular style in mind. It’s not about slavishly copying someone else’s art; it’s an experiment in seeing things differently. My hope is that it will take my own art in different directions.

At the beach – ink on paper, 140 x 240 mm, 2013.
At the beach – ink on paper, 140 x 240 mm, 2013.
At the beach – Nelson, 2011.
At the beach – Nelson, 2011.

Drawing this week’s photograph was a bit of a challenge. The rocks and stones were straightforward enough (believe it or not) but it took several attempts before I was happy with the driftwood. And if you’re wondering who A. B. Frost is…

A. B. Frost

A. B. Frost – illustrations from Lewis Carroll’s A Tangled Tale, 1886 Images from http://www.gutenberg.org
A. B. Frost – illustrations from Lewis Carroll’s A Tangled Tale, 1886
Images from http://www.gutenberg.org

American artist Arthur Burdett Frost (1851–1928) is famous for illustrating  Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn characters as well as Joel Chandler Harris’ Uncle Remus and Brer Rabbit stories but it’s these two illustrations from A Tangled Tale that inspired this week’s sketch. Frost’s compositions and linework are simply brilliant.