Update for July: Sketches, sculptures and the Melbourne Coin Show

Last weekend was the Melbourne ANDA Coin show and I was invited to the Coin Club stand to help out and meet with coin collectors. Simon (the managing director at Coin Club) and myself organised an autographed limited postcard that featured my take on the animals in the Wildlife in Need series that is being issued by Coin Club. I think a few people thought I had designed the Wildlife in Need coin, but credit in fact goes to talented artist Karen Hull. I had a great time and it was really nice to meet with people that are fans of my coin illustration work.


I've done a few more sculptures since my last post including a metallic rabbit as a baby gift and the unicorn as a gift for my niece. (A huge apology to those who follow me on facebook and are probably sick to death of seeing this unicorn as I kept posting progress shots!!).

Animated progress shots of the unicorn (I think you have to click to activate it?):

I also did a couple of sketches for a contest to create a boss monster for the MMORPG, RIFT. The game features a series of Rifts that open up, releasing hordes of monsters from a particular Plane. The planes represent different elements such as Life, Death, Earth, Fire, Water and Air. I was intrigued by the colourful Life rift (which actually had a strong survival of the fittest theme) and created this guy. A large gentle creature driven to insanity by the spores of a sinister fungus. Fun stuff :)

Full set of Australian Bush Babies coins on eBay

Just a quick post to shamelessly plug my auction. I finally got a hold of a complete set of Bush Babies and now have a complete, signed set up for auction on ebay.

Final coin released: Bush Babies - Australian Koala.

The final coin in the Bush Babies series has been released by The Perth Mint this month; the Koala!

Colourific!

After talking about values and tones at sketchgroup I decided to try rendering a greyscale image using different colours. I worked under a white "colour" layer and in hindsight I should have tried working without it in order to actually gain something from doing this drawing. I was more curious than anything though, so I guess now I know what that looks like ...pretty psychedelic!

I've been wanting to put up photos of the skull model I got for Christmas for a while now so that more people can get some use out of it since I am probably not doing it justice. So here they are for all those artists looking for a (fairly) clear turnaround of a skull. Below is a just thumbnail but you can download the .zip folder containing high res images using the link below.

Download high resolution skull references here

Taking photos of the skull was kind of my way of "backing it up" as well because I was about to cover it in plasticine and I'm not sure if it's going to come off easily. I sculpted the muscles of the face onto the skull which was actually a pretty good learning activity. I figured they must be fairly accurate because the face started creeping me out while I was working on it. At least it stuck in my head what the muscles look like and where they go (what they do exactly is another thing!).

I think I will take a similar set of turnaround shots before I do the skin layer and then keep them as references for later.

Here are those handbags I was talking about in a previous post. I'm not sure if I would actually expect anyone to use these but they were fun to make and I have some better ideas for some that might actually be acceptable in public. These are my Aunties' dogs, say hi to Molly and Wishbone.

I've also been doing a fair bit of reading lately (probably a manifestation of my procrastination) but if you are a serial procrastinator like me try to get your hands on a copy of the War of Art by Steven Pressfield I'm confident just about any creative person can pick out a few quotes from this book to keep them soldiering on. It also comes in audio tape format so you can listen and work at the same time.

New coin released: Bush Babies - Australian Bilby.

The next coin in the Bush Babies series has been released by The Perth Mint -Bilby!

Shortly after subscribing to the series I decided to start a second set. Now these are doing so well I can't even get my hands on an issue price one to complete a second set I am collecting! Oh well, I'm glad they are doing well at least.

Photos courtesy Talisman Coins

Since December..

Seriously where is the year going?

I'm not really sure if my lack of posts is due to being busy or a lack of productivity. Strangely, it feels like both. I'm hoping  this update on my progress will remind me of what I have achieved.

Well, I moved house and finding a place and setting up took a good part of a couple of months. I'm happy to say I finally found a place in a good location and am now hooked up on an unlimited internet line which is just great, especially for uploading big files, downloading big files... and well, loitering in the world of warcraft.

Recently I have been working on a series of marketing materials for New Orleans Live and Rebirth Brass Band for their Australian Tour. Below is an image of some of the things I produced including a poster, flyer, newspaper adverts, email newsletter and facebook page.

I've done a logo for GECO Science Inc. A green company that restores lakes and rivers using effective microbes (think probiotics/ good bacteria kind of thing) . They wanted something green and organic but professional. The solution I created was symbolic of a gecko eye that can also be interpreted as a leaf in a blue circle. The colours and slightly more corporate look give it some individuality from the hundreds of rounded green-and-brown existing enviro-company logos.
 

I've also been updating my website. It now has a flashy animated banner, some information for clients and some new projects added. My blog now shows up as a feed inside the html framework as well. There's still a lot of work I want to do, but at least for the most part it's functional... it's kind of fun making little frequent improvements.

I've also been playing around with making stuff at www.artscow.com . The quality is really inconsistent, but if you do get a good print, you're in for a bargain. I'm thinking this could be a good way to cost-effectively prototype some stationery and the likes to present to gift shops. I don't know where I've put the photos for now but I will have some soon.

I just submitted my entry to the Kokoblack Easter Drawing Prize yesterday... who can resist a years supply of chocolate?a years supply! Not to mention some nice cash prizes to help with art supplies or study. Rushing things in my usual style, I didn't get a scan of my entry but if I'm lucky enough to make it into the finals hopefully they will scan a copy for their website. Fingers crossed!

So I guess I haven't been all that unproductive and I've also been working on some freelance contracts which haven't gone public yet. My goal from here is to gain more momentum in the client department and try to work on some personal IP projects.