Monday, August 17, 2009

Freaky Nasty!

Room Service

Mum

Nursery

All new(ish) works being produced as I happily trip the light fantastic, beyond the constraints of traditional 'fine art' and fill my illustrative boots with something a bit more 'my cup of tea'.

I had sought to segregate this lot from what you might normally find on this blog - but I felt a bit like I was hiding some of my children under the stairs - so out they come... blinking their little little gothic eyes, anemically spluttering, coughing and rattling their nerdy little sci-fi lungs.

Don't stare - you'll make them nervous!

(They're all mixed media - oil paintings with a bit of digital jiggery pokery thrown in.

Friday, August 14, 2009

More Nekkidness...

More work from the life room. I've been working on tone a fair bit (which is why there are slabs of value included at the bottom here [this is a page from the MA journal from my current studies]). For those interested in this sort of thing - I thoroughly recommend 'The Artists Guide to Figure Drawing' by Anthony Ryder. It's not particularly strong in terms of experimental exploration, but he brings a lot to the party in terms of an 'American academic approach to representational observational figure drawing' (try saying that after a bottle of pinot).

Also included as few pics from A5(ish) sketchbook. I've been battering my self confidence with biro (ballpoint pen) drawing off and on for a while now. The other day my better half moved the headphones I was drawing in a bid to tidy the house whilst the nipper was sleeping. I hadn't finished (much to her hilarity) - and couldn't get them set up again 'just so' (again - further hilarity). Not to be beaten (biro is an unforgiving enough medium as it is) I plastered some of the page up with address stickers to start half over again. Revelation! I'm diggin the translucent obscuring effect these stickers have over black ballpoint. There's now a wad in the back of my sketchbook just singin to be used to layer up subsequent drawings!

Of course - it's only a matter of time before they go 'Karabekian', the glue toxically degrades and they go a brittle yellow before dropping off the page (queue more hilarity from certain quarters of the Robinson household).

Penguin by Illustrators

With only 130 odd shopping days 'till Christmas' - check out this rather fabulous book published by the Penguin Collectors Society. It's a stunna! Loads and loads of fabulous covers (new and old) + interviews, unpublished material, sketchbooks etc. It's a rare thing of beauty. Thanks to Steve Hare for inviting me to be part of it (and congrats for making such a lovely book). So if you're a-hummin-and-a haaarin about stocking fillers for that 'difficult to buy for' arty booklover in your life... (not me, I've already got one you idiot!)