Tag Archives: portrait

Rain, rain, rainy day.

Posted by on

The top sketch is of Brunswick Bound – a bookshop I am fond of. I sat with my friend B – we went to VCA together – and it was nice just to drink tea, sketch and buy books. I then visited another friend – Nicholas Jones – in his studio and did a very rough sketch (above ). I’d like to go back and draw for longer.


I’ve been sketching people about town a lot lately. The above one is of an artist recreating an old work in chalk on Swanston Street. His friend watched me and then introduced himself when I had finished – he told me his name was Wayne and said that his name will probably change again soon. We talked very briefly about art and composition and then I made a mad dash to meet my better half for a delicious dinner.


I was also at the Wheeler Centre and I decided to do some more sketching out front of the State Library of Victoria. I had aimed to draw the building but found I wanted to do quick sketches of people sunbathing, reading and chatting on the lawn instead.


I’ve been thinking a lot about Dürer lately and deciede to do a quick drawing referencing his prayer hands drawing. I nicknamed it “Dürer with nailpolish” – not sure anyone apprictaes that, but I do.

I’m thinking of doing a series of portraits of men – as my last two big drawings of Nicholas Jones and TUSK were very popular. So I asked my long time pal and fellow artist Mo Campobasso to pose for me as well. We chatted about Dürer’s self portraits.

New painting – Georgia Fields

Posted by on

I like painting but I struggle with oils. It’s smelly, it’s sticky and I really can’t do it inside the house with a small child. I’ve been playing with water colours and gouache for about a year now and thought that maybe I could buy myself some proper paper and do a large portrait series.

I asked Georgia Fields to pose for me – continuing on with making portraits of people who are inspired/ inspiring. She said yes – obviously!

This is mainly painted in watercolour with gouache highlights. It’s on Sennelier cotton paper, size 64 x 49cm. The paper cost me a small fortune but basically working on it is like a dream/ mad love affair/ all awesome feelings pressed into 300gsm paper.

Sexy, sexy expensive French paper.

The hair took up most of my time – it is layers and layers and layers of colours and paint at different transparencies. I think I nearly went mad – as I do with a lot of my works – but I am proud of the result.

And now, I must start work on another one.

Working, thinking

Posted by on

I feel like I have been drawing this drawing forever. Which is utter nonsense because I only started it last week .. perhaps the week before.

But I’m at that point where even though I work and things get drawn and it’s evolving – I feel like it isn’t going anywhere.

Perhaps this is the danger of focusing all of my time on just one artwork. Maybe this is why I ( usually ) work on many artworks at once. Because if there is just one work then I think about that work. I think about it while I’m working on it, I think about it when I am packing up from working on it, I think about it at dinner time, I think about it while I’m showering, spending time with loved ones, changing a nappy. I think about it on trains and in cafés and I think about it while I am trying to sleep. Which is the worst because with no other outside influence I think about it in a hyper-realistic state. I note the textures, the way the ink takes hold of the paper, the layers – I feel myself drawing it.

So then I am doing all of this thinking and feeling and it’s taken up so much of me it almost feels like it is going to implode. There’s too much and when there’s so much information and feelings it’s almost like I’ve experienced this artwork completely and then I think, well, I don’t have to finish it. Because I’m kind of lost to it and what’s the point anyway.

So this is the point I photograph and upload it onto this blog to say look, I’m making things and something is happening – even if my tired brain, eyes and hands tell me otherwise.