So, at last I have a new website. I’ve spent the last few days on this and not much else, I’ve been wanting something a little more managable for quite a while and took time out of what I was doing to (finally) make sure I represented myself and my art properly. Here’s the link:
Feel free to let me know what you think….
Regular Rembrandt aren’t I (laughs)… I wanted to have a bit of a play with lighting on this one. I’ve been looking over my work and although (maybe) some of it has a certain amount of mood and atmosphere, I’ve come to the realisation that much of it is lacking in different lighting effects… I’ll be rectifying that in future works.
I’m currently painting a watercolour of my son (at my wife’s constant request)…I’m rather pleased with how it’s going so far and enjoying it immensely- there’s something VERY satisfying about painting in watercolours.
This is what I came up with whilst scribbling this evening…..
This old guy’s pretty intense huh?… I started it last year on March 14th and dug it out whilst going through some old drawings today. It’s hard to believe how fast time has gone. I began drawing this almost a year ago to the day and I can still remember drawing it…. scary.
Anyway, I’m enjoying working on these faces, I don’t do this kind of thing enough and I need the practise. It IS fun though.
Haven’t had much time to sketch and I’m not allowed to post anything I’m working on right now, sooo….here’s a very old watercolour painting of my wife.
Oil/digital.
The model is the lovely:
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I’ve been working on this image on and off for a very long time. Due to work commitments, I only get to splash a little oil paint onto this every now and again. I’ve been feeling a little out of sorts when I settle down to work (due to the Christmas break), so I thought I’d add a little paint and loosen up this afternoon.
here’s an older digital (photoshop/painter) image that I’ve recently added to, I may get to finish this one day…… the model is the very lovely:
sitara-leotastock.deviantart.com
Forget that ‘Twilight’ nonsense…. and the 2012 BS….. ‘A Christmas Carol’ is THE film to see at the moment. Disney’s latest take on the classic book (surprisingly) has all the feel of the orignal story- I was astounded, the effects are BREATHTAKING… I defy anyoneNOT to be moved by the opening sequence- absolutely incredible I tell you! Jim Carrey has also done a superb job as Scrooge… what more do I need to say? If you haven’t already seen it, go see it….
I rushed home, straight into my studio and dashed off this little sketch:
Here’s my take on Ol’ Scrooge from about a year and a half ago:
Here’s a drawing I did a couple of years ago when my son was a lot younger. I’ll be drawing another soon as my other son’s around the same age. I’ll post it when it’s done.
Graphite 2007.
here’s a recent drawing of a young Pixie, based on photos of my oldest son Niall. I don’t usually use reference for my Faery illustrations, but the opportunity presented itself one day when Niall walked out into the kitchen with a pair of his long johns on his head… “perfect!” thought I. I quickly ran and grabbed the camera and now have a fair few pics to use as reference (If Iever find the time…).
Here are a couple of sketches I made a few months back. I’m posting older work at the moment as I’m VEEEEEEERY busy ploughing through my current workload. I’ll get some new sketches and things drawn soon.
I had a request a while ago to draw a little angel, I gave in to the urge to use the watercolours today after so long in front of the PC scratching away on my drawing tablet… Here’s what I came up with, and I enjoyed it immensely, it’s lovely to use ‘real’ paint from time-to-time. 
I’m feeling a bit rusty after not being anywhere near my art stuff for a day or so. Feeling the need to get something done before I start colouring up a fair few of the images I still have on th go, I used this drawing of a witch I’d finished recently to get me back into the swing of things again.
‘Witchie’-Digital colour over traditional line art.
It’s Monday morning and I’m still removing the sand from my eyes. I have a whole heap of stuff to do today so I’ll be busily working away all day, so no warm-ups or anything this morning. Instead, here are a few sketches I worked on earlier this year…
and here’s another new one from the book I’m currently illustrating- line art (pending coloured work)…
I’m very busy with family stuff this weekend, but managed to slip out to catch my breath. Here’s a recent sketch I did on the PC…
Before I start my day at the drawing board, I generally do something to warm up. It may be drawing something completely new, reworking something I’ve done previously that I may not be entirely happy with or inking up old sketches. Here are a couple of older images from my sketchbooks that have been inked over the past few days….
‘Granny’s Magic Slippers’- originally drawn a couple of years ago….
‘Broom Cupboard’- a reworking of an old drawing from a couple of years ago…
‘Paint Like Arthur Rackham’- Commission for The Official Corel Painter Magazine. This image was discarded in favour of a simpler image. It was drawn on paper, scanned in, then inked and painted using Corel PainterX. I’ve already posted the line art for this in an earlier post…
What a fantastic day it’s been so far. I was quite suddenly woken up at 7 Am by my eldest son Niall…”Happy Father’s Day!!!” he exclaimed. Rubbing the sand from my eyes and bidding the wonderful dream I was in the middle of goodbye, I looked up to see my beautiful wife holding my youngest son Finn and Niall with an armful of gifts, and of course, the toys he can never put down they all jumped on the bed and I opened my gifts.
It’s Father’s Day here in Australia today. It’s been a pretty emotional journey through the day so far as I count my (many) blessings and gaze on at my boys with absolute love in my heart. I became a Dad at the age of 36, later in life for many, I just know I wouldn’t have been ready for such a role any earlier I also feel as though I’ve reached a point in my life where I’m about as happy as I’ll ever be and the overwhelming sense of pride and the surreal honesty of looking on at my sons as they play is almost more than I can bear at times. the tears aren’t far from the surface today
UPDATE…… Just gotten back from lunch at the local cafe and went to the park with the boys. Finn took his first step today!!! Also, his first tooth has come through…. Very exciting. 
My Dad, my sons Finn (left) and Niall (right) and I on Dad’s trip over from the UK a couple of months ago….
Niall (2 1/2 yrs old)
Finn (10 months old)
The boys and I at the park today… Can you tell I’m not a big fan of having my photo taken?
I did some work for a client yesterday, I had to produce a dragon silhouette for a company’s logo. It was a great job and I came up with a fair few designs I rather liked. A few of them were far too elaborate for a company logo though, this is one of them….
This painting is taking up a lot of my head space. When I can think of anything other than the jobs I have on the go, I’m thinking about actually finishing this one. It’s kind of a landmark piece as it’ll (hopefully) set the tone for the rest of the art I’ll be producing for the exhibition. Working in oils is very time-consuming and I won’t be producing all the other pieces in this media (thankfully). There’ll be some acrylic paintings, some watercolour stuff, mixed media, some pen and ink and some graphite stuff. I’m pretty comfortable with most of the mediums mentioned so that’s ok, but I’ll feel a whole lot better when this one is finished.
I’m also really enjoying the black and white art at the moment. For one thing, I’m terribly quick, and instant gratification is so important whilst I’m so busy. here’s a drawing or two I’ve worked on when I should be doing other things. (ahem.)
Nothing earth-shattering here. Just some playing around with cross-hatching. I like to vary my approach and learn as many different styles as I can to keep things fresh.
Here’s another crow. For no other reason than the fact that I love drawing crows.
Distilling all the pen work into a silhouette. Trying to say as much as I can without all the hatching, criss-crossing and other detail that can sometimes be unneccessary. This is a discipline in itself and one I thoroughly enjoy.
and here’s a typical ‘hand loosening’ page. I frequently go through the routine of warming up before I start working on paid gigs for the day otherwise my work can look very stiff and lifeless. I find even half an hour a day is a great way to:
1) do your own thing
2) play with other ideas you may wish to pursue but don’t have the time, and…
3) free your mind up before attempting a (sometimes) daunting, difficult or even boring job.
Here’re a couple of pics of me hard at work in a couple of different guises:
1) Aaron the ‘Illustrator’….
2)Aaron the ‘Fine Artist’…
What’s the difference? I have two artistic sides to me, one is the ‘Illustrator’. he’s the busiest one. Overseeing all the books, Cd sleeves, the magazine illustrations and the other bits and pieces that come flying from all angles, taking it all on the chin and trying hard to make deadlines and such. the other is the ‘Fine Artist’. he’s much more laid back, only comes out to play every now and again and works mainly in oils and watercolours and acrylics. He’s much more disciplined and takes his time. At the moment, he’s working on getting some pieces together for his 2010 exhibition in the regional gallery. He says he’ll post more of his work as he goes… the painting in the pic is one he’s working on at the moment and was shown in an earlier post here on this blog.
Below is a painting for a recent children’s book-available soon (next month or so). If anyone’s interested in finding out more, or where they can get one, let me know….
I don’t get to paint in oils very often, but relish the opportunity when it presents itself. I have an exhibition in 2010 and have vowed to produce 25 (or so) pieces of art in traditional media, of which this is the first. The model is the very lovely:
elandria.deviantart.com
I’m just at the blocking in stage right now, getting the colours and the basic idea sorted out on the canvas. I’ll update more over time.
