Artwork by Luke Watson

Old Faces

2012-01-23T20:13:00.000-08:00

Here a couple of faces from a few years ago that I stumbled across.

Different Caricature Style

2012-01-15T20:11:00.000-08:00

Late last year I had a couple of clients ask for a different style of caricature. It was fun to do and hopefully I'll get the chance to do a full piece like this soon.

45 min Sketch: Ryan Gosling

2012-01-05T17:34:00.000-08:00

A few areas of my art improved last year, but sketching definitely wasn't one of them...I seem to be getting looser and looser with the sketches I do for paintings because I know how it'll end up once I finish it. This is fine for me, but bad for clients who can't see directly into my mind.

So here's a sketch of actor Ryan Gosling to start the improvingness...

Echonet Cover

2012-01-05T16:35:00.000-08:00

Here's a cover I did for the independent newspaper Echonet (see it here) as they launched their new digital tablet version of the paper just before christmas

Fox Hunt: step by step

2012-01-03T21:05:00.000-08:00

Here's a step by step guide of how I put together my Fox hunt illustration. All up it took about 15 hours, done on Photoshop.

Okay, so here is the final artwork...

Step 1: Here I've laid out my idea using some rough reference photos to get an idea of scale etc, the initial idea is a bit different than the final artwork, but a little way in I realised that the fox wasn't working.

Step 2: On a new layer I've refined the sketch to get an idea of facial expression and detail using some more reference photos (I've coloured matched the photos to one another to make sure they'll all have the same look).

Step 3: A mid tone is laid down (mid to the horses and backround) and I start blocking in the first details on two layers (horses and fox).

Step 4: I've separated the front guy and finished the painting to a pretty high level of detail, focusing on expression and lighting. As he's the main guy, his colour and level of contrast will be the base for the other elements as I progress.

Step 5: The fox is gone and I'm painting the secondary figures while trying to figure out what to do in its place...

Step 6: I've blocked in the background figures on two new layers, to allow me to adjust the depth of field later on. I've also started to rough in the background colours to match them in.

Step 7: I managed to come up with a new idea to pop in the foreground (two dogs) which I painted to final level striaght away, before I changed my mind again...

Step 8: I cropped the artwork for better balance and have started adding the little details, extra dogs, more background detail, and contrast on the ground to match the lighting of the figures.

Step 9: Background details are finished and then depth of field is added to draw the focus to the bits I want people to look at. This also means that the background woodland can be a lot looser ans the blur will tie it all together.

Step 10: Final flourishes are added, some splashing and light reflections behind the different elements to soften the look. Done.

Cartoonists Exhibition

2012-01-02T16:18:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year All!

I've been ridiculously busy and have a lot of stuff to post, but I'll try and resist chucking it all up at once.

Here's a little cartoon exhibition I organised to show off the work of some colleagues. It's at a great venue near my house (Jinks Creek Winery) and it showed the work of some great Australian cartoonists, and friends, Jason Chatfield, Mark Knight, Alex Hallatt, Nik Scott, Paul Harvey, Bev Aisbett, George Haddon, and myself...naturally.

Below is a piece I did for the exhibition called "The Fox Hunt", I've got a step by step of how it came together to post in the next couple of days.

Quick Commission

2011-12-13T18:29:00.000-08:00

I'm in the middle of the Christmas rush, hence the lack of posting. But the end is in sight and to fill the gap here's a commissioned caricature for Mark Butler the Federal Minister for Health & Aging (unless he's lost his portfolio in the reshuffle, but I haven't checked...)

Super Baby

2011-11-30T17:47:00.000-08:00

Today I received, hot of the presses, a series of children's books I illustrated earlier in the year.

It was an interesting job, as 3 of the 6 books were to be redrawn and updated from their original version in the 80s and I needed to match the original illustrator's style - then use that style to illustrate 3 new books.

The style was definitely something I hadn't done before and it was that challenge that interested me.

Visit the Super baby website to check out some more illos and some cute stories with good morals!

The Roger Project

2011-11-17T15:57:00.000-08:00

One of the special moments of the Stanley Awards night was when Roger Fletcher, the man behind stalwart Australian cartoons Torkan and Staria, was presented with the "Roger Project".

The project was a book that contained 35 artists showing their appreciation for Roger's work and I was lucky enough to be asked to contribute.

Roger is a top bloke and has done an enormous amount for the industry in Australia and below is my contribution to the book and a small token of my appreciation.

It's digital mixed with india ink.

Staney Awards 2011

2011-11-13T16:04:00.000-08:00

I've just gotten back from the 2011 Australian Cartoonists Assoc Stanley Awards and Conference in Sydney.

As always it was full of learning, laughing and drinking and was something I was really looking forward to (especially as I was taking my dad with me for his forst foray into the dark world of cartooning). The conference was over two days and was the most full on one I'd ever been to. It started with Anton Emdin showing us his inking style and finished offf on Saturday with Glen Lelievre talking us through how to get a cartoon into the New Yorker.

I've made it as abridged as I can, because the amount of amazing work I saw from the likes of Ronn Cobb, Reg Mombassa, Leigh Hobbs, Cathy Wilcox, Stephen Axelsen, Roger Fletcher, Dave Follett, etc would take me all day to explain and I have work to catch up on...

The Saturday night awards were great as always and congrats to the big Winner on the night Anton Emdin! He's terribly talented fellow and all round nice guy. Congrats to Anton for his Gold Stanley and all of the other winners.

I was lucky enough to be nominated for Caricaturist of the Year, but was beaten out by David Rowe, who's had a great year and is never off his game.

Just testing mobile upload...

2011-11-08T18:00:00.001-08:00

Just testing

Promo Piece

2011-11-03T23:01:00.000-07:00

Here's a promo piece I just finished for my agency to potentially go in Contact 2012 an illustration directory in Europe.

Movember Prints

2011-11-02T18:08:00.000-07:00

Movember (prostate cancer charity) has sprung upon us once more. Now I can't grow a moustache to save myself, let alone save a bunch of other dudes, so I've devised a plan to raise some cash for the charity.

Click on "The Many Faces of the Moustache: A guide to Pronunciation" below and it'll take you to my profile at Redbubble where you can buy it as prints, posters, postcards, and iphone cases. I've whacked a 40% mark up on the production costs which I'll donate to the cause.

If you haven't heard of Movember head here to check it out.

PIG

2011-10-31T19:44:00.000-07:00

it's a public holiday here so I have a legimate excuse for avoiding work - and I've done so by doing a 45 min sketch of a pig.

Vincent Price for Caricaturama 3000

2011-10-25T19:05:00.000-07:00

Here's a "quick" (2.5 hours) painting of Vincent Price for Caricaturama 3000. I recorded the painting process, like I did the Kobe Bryant, caricature but the program packed it in and I only captured the last bits, but have a look if you want to.

Promo Postcards

2011-10-19T21:53:00.000-07:00

I got a stack of my promotional postcards from my agenct Lemonade today. They look great and hopefully they'll get the attention of some people who need pretty pictures painted...

Pug Prints!

2011-10-16T21:15:00.000-07:00

This is the first of a limited edition of prints of my Pug caricature I'll be selling. I've had a great response to it and now you can have a copy in your own home. This first print was a test to see if the printer did a good job and they did!

It's an archival print on Canson Rag Photographique 100% cotton museum grade white Fine Art paper.

Hand signed and numbered (#1) if you're interested send me an email or message and I'll get back to you with the price.

Australian Cartoonists Association Yearbook Online

2011-10-12T22:25:00.000-07:00

Just in time for the Stanley Awards voting, the 2011 Australian Cartoonists Yearbook is online now for all to see. So jump on the link here and have a squiz at the work of the Australia's best* cartoonists!

*I'm also in there...

The other Canberra Times bits and bobs

2011-10-04T21:10:00.000-07:00

Here are the other Canberra Times illos I did for last Saturday's and Monday's paper.

Canberra Times

2011-09-27T22:25:00.000-07:00

I'm doing a bit of fill in work for the Canberra Times this week while they're a bit understaffed in the drawing dept. Here's Tuesday's and today's piece with a couple more to come.

If they're out of context you'll just have to read the paper!

PUG!

2011-09-25T18:42:00.001-07:00

it's a pug.

Carmelo Anthony

2011-09-21T17:34:00.000-07:00

Here's the other promo illustration I did for the agency promotion. NY Knick Carmelo Anthony

NYC Agency Promo Illustration

2011-09-07T16:38:00.000-07:00

My new agency Lemonade have just officially opened their new office on 5th Ave in NYC! I contributed a couple of NY-centric paintings for the promotional A1 poster/postcards they're sending out to their US client list.

Here's the poster (with me down the bottom)

And a close up of my painting of Yankee Derek Jeter...

Speedpainting

2011-09-04T21:43:00.000-07:00

Here's a speedpainting of Kobe Bryant. It was completed in a little over two hours (ignore the time on the movie title...I wish I was that fast).

It's more an experiment in the recording process than the caricature itself, but it came up alright.

sketchy sketchy: Style experiments...

2011-09-01T23:12:00.000-07:00

Friday fun times!

2011-08-18T20:51:00.000-07:00

Here's a illo I did as a bit of fun, mainly to have more of a play aournd drawing fur, which sucks. I usually just use basic PS brushes to paint but I enlisted the help of one of Chris Wahl's custom PS brushes ) that he has kindly made up for all of us to download for free) for the bulk of the fur.

What a lovely chap.

idle hands...

2011-08-14T19:07:00.000-07:00

I had a quiet day on Friday, waiting for clients to get to me with feedback, so the latent narcisist in me made me do a self portrait.

It was done on PS, and all on the one layer, except for the late addition of the well arty sploshes and spots. nice.

The 3 Beardos...

2011-08-10T22:13:00.000-07:00

I just got a hard copy of this in the mail today. It's a caricature by Jason Chatfield of Himself, Anton Emdin, and Me that's been used in the latest Inkspot magazine as the title image for our combined journal of the Reuben Cartoon Awards in Boston in May...

I didn't think of it at the time but we did all have facial hair of varying degrees of success in Boston...In the image you can clearly see Anton holding up his award for growing the only real beard...congrats.

New Cover

2011-08-10T21:23:00.000-07:00

Here's the cover of the latest Australian Cartoonist Association Magazine "Inkspot" featuring my caricature of Reuben Award winning illustrator and drinking buddy Anton Emdin.

It's come up alright...

Website Illustrations

2011-08-07T18:51:00.000-07:00

I worked with a local company RPS Industries as they overhauled their website. It's gone live so I guess I'm allowed to show some of what I did for them. It involved cartoons for buttons and then larger illustrations that needed to be like jigsaw puzzles to allow for mouse hover functions to select different elements. It was a bit fiddly, but it seems to have worked.

2011 Stanley Award Submissions

2011-08-07T18:35:00.000-07:00

This is the post to show the work that I've submitted for the 2011 Stanley Awards . If you've dropped by from the year book, it appears I spelled the link correctly! Below are my two submissions for Carictaure and Media Graphic Artist repectively.

I realised when I was putting my submissions together that I'd actually done a lot of the Media Graphic stuff this year through posters, graphic facilitation and website illustration, when I hadn't done much of it before. It's funny how that happens! The post above this one shows some illustrations that I did for a website that has now gone live, so check that out too...

Caricature

and Media Graphic Artist

Thanks for looking

My New Illustration Agent!

2011-07-31T21:57:00.000-07:00

I'm really excited to announce my new international illustration agent...

They have two offices in the UK and are getting bigger and better with an impressive list of artists and clients. We really see eye to eye and that's the best possible way to start!
Here's the post on their blog:

"BLUMING' MARVELLOUS WORK LUKE!

We are overjoyed to welcome, award winning, Aussie artist Luke Watson to our roster.

He has already made a huge impact here, as you can see from this superb caricature of Heston Blumenthal. Luke is a prestigious digital painter and has lots more work on our site. We are sure you will be as impressed as we are!"

Draw on watto, draw on...

Cadel Evans' Big Win and Bum Chin

2011-07-25T00:03:00.000-07:00

It's my wife's birthday today and in honour of that I'm not drawing her, as is her wish.

Instead, Australian cyclist Cadel Evans won Le Tour De France last night so I'm gonna draw him and his bum chin...good times.

Here's a WIP after about 45 min this afternoon.

Vulture Sketch

2011-07-20T17:32:00.000-07:00

Been busy with commissions so heres a sketch that've had lying around for a while to keep this thing updated.

Shrinks!

2011-07-14T22:59:00.000-07:00

My mate and amazing cartoonist Anton Emdin has a new cartoon strip up and running called Shrinks! It's an agony aunt piss take, where he enlists some great comedians to answer your questions that he illustrates.

It's a great concept, beautifully executed and I got in early.... and he needs new questions so hit him up!

Bear WIP

2011-07-05T22:40:00.001-07:00

Kanye West

2011-07-04T20:15:00.000-07:00

Here's another promo piece, this time of Kanye West (please note head is actual size)...

Kanye WIP

2011-07-04T00:45:00.001-07:00

New merch available now!!

2011-06-30T20:25:00.000-07:00

New Chicks with Dicks t-shirts, hoodies, etc available now!

I GOTSTA HAVE ONE!

Li Na

2011-06-30T19:17:00.000-07:00

Completed caricature of Li Na - first south east asian tennis player to win a grand slam.

WIP 2

2011-06-30T00:46:00.000-07:00

Getting there...

Sneek Peek

2011-06-29T22:22:00.000-07:00

Here's a sneek peek at some packaging illustration I'm doing, I'll share the whole thing when I'm allowed.

WIP

2011-06-26T23:38:00.000-07:00

Something I'm fiddling around with...

Tony Abbott

2011-06-19T21:18:00.000-07:00

Reuben Awards! Aftermath...

2011-06-08T22:45:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of heading to Boston last week to attend the 2011 Reuben Awards. The Reubens are in their 65^th year and are the night of nights for the National Cartoonists Society of America. I wasn't sure what to expect but I sure as hell wasn't disappointed.

I the train into Boston from NYC on the Friday morning, looking to meet up with fellow Australian cartoonists Jason Chatfield (ACA President/Ginger Meggs) and Anton Emdin (Reuben Nominee 2010/11). A quick phone call at 12pm found Jas and Anton just waking up and looking to explore Boston. I headed down to the Fairmont Copley Place, the venue of the Reubens, and caught up with an excited Anton and a very jet lagged Mr Chatfield.

We registered for the conference bumped into Chad and Karen Carpenter (Tundra – who would later tackle a criminal to the ground outside the hotel) and then headed out. Immediately over lunch we were chatting about who is attending this year and how many famous cartoonists we can meet. After getting refused a beer because I didn't look over 21 (which makes Chatfield 10), I skipped out on the tip and we went to get Jason fitted for his tuxedo.

I managed to fit in a conference session in the afternoon, learning about the growth of web comics and the revenue streams to be had...and how hard it is to come by. Then it was back to my hotel for a change of clothes and a quick beer (of which I sampled many).

Friday night is traditionally the meet and greet cocktail evening followed by karaoke (more on that later) I strolled in a fashionable 20 minutes late to see Jason and Anton propping up a table with some of the Reuben Regulars Sean Parkes, John Kovaleski (Bo Nanas, MAD) and Jenny Robb. Introductions were done and a quick bonding session between Sean and myself was had as we managed to carry four beers each to the table as the free bar closed. We were thick as thieves from then on!

Not long after a bearded gentleman sauntered over to our table and was introduced to us as David Silverman. As Chatfield wet himself I had a little mental blank until my brain put into context who I was meeting. David Silverman (architect of The Simpsons, Monsters Inc., Robots, etc.).

He couldn't have been nicer and would become a staunch supporter of late night debauchery for the remainder of the weekend. I was introduced to Adrian Sinnott, Daryl Cagle, and saw Stan Goldberg and Tom Richmond floating around. Not a bad start to the night.

We then moved on over to the next room where the Karaoke was well under way. Sean Parkes convinced us to sing either Midnight Oil or ACDC if they were on the list, fortunately for all involved they weren't, But that didn't stop Jason belting out a Sinatra classic and the NCS board singing their traditional anthem 'All We Need is Love.” Anton chewed the fat with illustrating legend Roy Doty, while I listened to Sam Viviano (MAD) and Mike Lynch serenade the cheering crowd.

We ended up in the Presidential suite discussing the finer points of world diplomacy and drawing Jason and my ongoing (wine induced) character “Dick Eyes”. It was his international debut and was reviewed positively by syndicate bigwigs, although his marketability was put into question. As the night wound down, Anton and I hid the drawing of ol' dick eyes somewhere in the suite and headed to bed.

Saturday was known to me in two stages 4am and then later at 1pm as I woke up. I managed to listen to Jeff Kinney (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) discuss the development of his world dominating cartoon with the help of a giant American coffee while Jason and Anton slept until mid afternoon. I decided to explore Boston and ended up with a New England lobster for lunch and then headed to Cheers to quench my thirst. Not too shabby...

I then borrowed Jason's spare bow tie and headed to my room to attempt to iron my shirt, ready for the Reuben Awards. Several hours later I was looking sharp enough to head down to the Fairmont's ballroom for the night's festivities. The pre dinner drinks were held to the side of the ballroom and the room contained all of the nominated artwork. A quick look around saw the nominated Anton was in good company, but by no means out of his depth. It could be a good night...

The Aussie contingent sat down at table 20 with Michael McParlane (Reuben Winner 2011) and his wife Katie, that Silverman guy again, Daryl Cagle and Michael Kandalaft (That Monkey Tune). We enjoyed an meal of lettuce and were wowed by the subtle opening sequence by Tom Gammill (writer for SNL, The Simpsons, Seinfeld) including dancing girls, baton twirling, and streamers.

As the meal ended, the booze dried up and the awards started to be given out. Anton discussed whether it was better to know you're nominated like at the Reubens or be surprised on the night like at the Stanleys. I spat in his dessert.

Keeping his composure for his first category, Anton missed out on the prize and now had an excruciating wait until his next category came up. As his nomination was read he seemed calm, the table had already had one winner and he didn't think this was his night, up against Tom Richmond among others.

As his name was called out, Anton's head fell to his hands and he had to find his way up to the stage to be the first Australian to ever win a Reuben award. His gracious speech was well received and a proud David Silverman took our table number and added “Two Winners Here” identifying us as the table to beat.

More amazing work and Tom Gammill MC'ing closed out the night and a standing ovation met Richard Thomson (Cul de Sac) for the night's big honour. We then headed to the Oak Room for the after party and shared drinks with cartooning royalty until the next morning when the complaints from the hotel became serious.

Sunday was the opening of the One Fine Sunday Exhibit. A collection of original Sunday strips from some of the best cartoonists in the world, and Chatfield. A miscalculated trip to Harvard University meant that I missed the opening but from all accounts it was a great success, with many cartoonists doodling for fans and Anton being approached for some sketches even though he was more often asked who he actually was...

The Sunday night dinner was a less formal affair and I found myself seated at a table with The rather tired looking Australian contingent, David Silverman, Sean Parkes, Rick Stromoski (Soup to Nuts). As the night progressed the karaoke came on again and our table became the place to be for snide remarks, loud outbursts, and dirty jokes thanks to Daryl Cagle, Stromoski and Hustler's Dan Collins. I wouldn't have had it any other way...

The night continued onto scotch drinking in the Oak Room, putting drinks on Universal's tab and chatting the night away in the presidential suite until the wee hours. It would've been the perfect end to the night except for my 6am train the next morning...

Will I be back. You'd better believe it.

Reuben Awards!

2011-05-26T16:01:00.000-07:00

I'm currently in NYC awaiting an early morning train trip to Boston for the Reubens weekend. I'm part of a three tiered Australian contingent completed by Jason Chatfield and (nominated!) Anton Emdin. While Anton's already in Boston and Jason struggles to get a plane to fly where he wants, when he wants, I've been tramping around the big apple enjoying the sunshine and good times.

I'll post some stuff from Boston when I arrive.

Keith Richards New face

2011-05-21T20:18:00.000-07:00

I did this caricature a while ago, but I was never happy with the face. So I had a couple of hours to spare so I gave him another face.

Unfortunately the real Keith Richards can't do this.

New Sliding Door

2011-05-15T19:48:00.000-07:00

With winter coming fast I needed to organise a door to shut off our main living area and keep it warm. I designed (and had fabricated) a sliding door mechanism that runs on two heavy duty steel wheels. The style is kind of in keeping with old school barn doors and are all the rage with architects at the moment. To buy something similar in Australia you'd be looking at well over $1000 for the mechanism only, I got it for way less than that!

The door is a 1200 x 2200 pine laminate and weighs about 95kg, way more that I thought it would, so I had to reinforce the rail attached to the wall. But it's up and seems to be staying up, looks great and keeps my wife warm...

If anyone in Victoria wants one let me know and I'll be able to sort it out for you I should think.

it's quite a spectacle

2011-05-04T21:57:00.000-07:00

My hetero life mate Brad is staying with me for a couple of months while he plays his special brand of anger porn ballads around Victoria.

I just popped downstairs and he's officially taken over...check out his rad new website below.

SPECU-LATION

This is what used to be my living room...

...and the culprit.

quick spot cartoon

2011-05-02T00:14:00.000-07:00

here's a quick spot cartoon I did for a mate to finish off the day. Chanelling Anton Emdin here 'cause he's just so damn good at these sorts of things.

duck, duck, goose...

2011-04-27T00:06:00.000-07:00

I finished off an illo for the new website today.

one down and shit load to go...

Cartoon Experiments

2011-04-19T18:33:00.000-07:00

I've made my blog all new and pretty!

Here are some cartoon style experiments I've been playing with. I'm looking to mix up digital work with actual ink and paint to create "orginal" artwork for those people who still freak out about using a computer to paint...

Also I'm in the midst of updating my actual website, which there's now a link to on the side bar, and also working on some merchandise (mostly so I can get myself cheap t-shirts). Plus I might get myself a facebook thingo.

The future is now....

MONA

2011-03-28T21:43:00.000-07:00

I took the weekend to pop down to Tassie to visit the new MONA museum or Museum of New and Old Art. It's the new penis extension of gambler/art collector David Walsh and it's amazing.

The structure itself is fantatic even before the stuck any of his $100 million collection into it, but the artwork didn't dissapoint. I even sat next to Walsh on the plane ride home (after being bumped up to premium economy) - but he rebuffed my advances...

The opening exhibition runs until July, after which I will be heading back.

Have a squiz at the website here.

Chevron Poster

2011-03-08T18:32:00.001-08:00

Here's a poster I just finished for Chevron. It's one of those jobs where you have to make a whole bunch of power point files and documents about some business process look interesting and understandable...

The poster is about 1200 x 1000 (that some inches x a few inches for any American's playing) so there's a lot of detail. I had a lot of fun putting this together and mucking around with the colour pallette.

Sexy Firemen

2011-02-16T19:05:00.001-08:00

Well, I'm not sure I need say more. Sexy firemen for some instore advertising.

sexy.

WIP

2011-02-14T22:54:00.000-08:00

Well I guess the narcissist enjoyed the self portrait yesterday so I spent 2 more hours today pushing the painting around and refining.

I just started blocking in colour without any sketch underneath. I took me longer than usual to set up the proportions, but it was probably a better way to tackle a more realistic portrait...otherwise it'll just end up as a caricature.

30 or bust

2011-02-13T20:02:00.000-08:00

Well I'm 30 today and I've afforded myself 2 hours for self reflection through portraiture.

looking old Watto, looking old...

Happy New Year...

2011-01-13T21:30:00.000-08:00

...for two weeks ago...

Here's a couple of fun Christmas caricatures I did but couldn't post before Christmas incase they were seen by the subjects (unlikely, but I'd look like a dick if it did happen).

Jean-Paul Sartre and My sister-in-law Naomi, hopefully you can tell who's who...

Merry Christmas

2010-12-20T20:39:00.000-08:00

Well it's been a flat out Christmas rush for me and I'm off for a break. Thanks for stopping by over the year and I'll have heaps of stuff to post once I'm back.

I'll leave you with some Christmas card comissions.

Luke

Larry David take 2

2010-11-28T20:52:00.000-08:00

After my first crack at painting Larry David using acryllics I was asked to give it another go for a trade with colleague Anton Emdin.

So I did and he liked it.

Whippy Characters

2010-11-15T21:27:00.000-08:00

Following on from the Whippy Kiosk logo I posted a while back, the company asked me to come up with a girl and boy character to replace the Micky and Minnie mouse cartoons they were using on their vans...

2010 Stanley Awards

2010-11-10T21:53:00.000-08:00

Well the weekend just past was home to the 2010 Australian Cartoon (Stanley) Awards in Melbourne. I went along to meet special guests Stan Goldberg (Archie) and Jas on Seiler (caricature smarty pants) and to catch up with colleagues.

Seiler put on a fantastic master class, which promptly put my drawing skills into perspective, and Stan regaled us all with stories from his involvement in the US cartoon industry for the last 50 years...

On the Saturday night the annual awards were held and I was lucky enough to be nominated in both the caricature and illustration categories I entered. I was deservedly beaten by David Rowe and Anton Emdin, respectively, and the night went on from there to be a hoot! Plus I have video of Jason Seiler pulling some killer dance moves, which I'll use for blackmail down the track...

I was also voted in as the Victorian/Tasmanian President for the Australian Cartoon Association and hopefully the next two years will be a fun ride.

So below is the work I submitted to the awards and some photos from the night (thanks to Jason Chatfield and Judy Nadin).

Well until next year I guess and one step further...

Caricature Submission
Illustration Submission

Caricature nominee Judy Nadin, Me, and the lovely Stacey

The after party

My friend the muppet...

2010-11-02T19:32:00.001-07:00

A good friend of mine recently completed his Phd, so as a graduation present I organised to get a puppet made in his image..naturally.

Luckily he does look like a muppet (sorry Brett) and it wasn't too hard of a task for a local puppet maker (every town should have one) Kerryn Jean Patton.

It was possible the funniest thing I've ever seen when they were finally united on Friday and the puppet's presence has changed the way we make fun of our friend for ever!

Tom and Alex Caricature

2010-10-22T00:59:00.000-07:00

Okay so further to the caricature of Ollie Wards below, he asked me to do a caricature of the radio hosts Tom Ballard and Alex Dyson so he could surprise them on air.

The caricature is below and although I had some pretty shitty reference photos it came up okay and got a good laugh when it was revealed - check back later when I figure out how to post the audio of when they saw the caricature for the first time.

Ollie Wards

2010-10-06T22:06:00.000-07:00

Ollie Wards is the producer for Australian youth radio station Triple J's breakfast program. He mentioned on air that he had a list of 40 things he wanted to do before he was 40 - a premature busket list if you will.

Number thirty something was to get a caricature drawn of himself. I volunteered my time and the result is below.

Photoshop 4 hours.

Heston Blumenthal

2010-09-16T16:55:00.000-07:00

Been a bit slack on the posting - mostly been working on some stuff that I can't share at the moment. But I had some spare time yesterday afternoon so I had a crack at chef/scientician Heston Blumenthal.

Photoshop, 4 hrs.

Whippy logo

2010-08-30T18:38:00.000-07:00

I got this rush job late last week. An ice cream van company that needed a new logo pronto. They had comissioned a "cartoonist" to do them a logo, but that unscrupulous individual ripped off someone elses logo and claimed it as their own concept.

Naturally this was brought to my client's attention by lawyers and so the need for a new logo was born!

It's an icecream. Nothing complicated and a little too close to the original logo, that caused all of the issues, for me - but it's my clients logo now and the result isn't too bad.

Acrylic Painting

2010-08-17T00:33:00.000-07:00

I spent a couple of hours over the last few afternoons having a crack at painting in acrylic. I had a false start a few months back, it was my first ever go and it was an unmitigated distaster, so I had a bit of a breather before I tried again. I tried black and white this time, to make it easier on myself and I also chose to paint a caricature of Larry David, which also made it easier.

Any way I'm pretty chuffed for a first real go.

And a sequence of how it came together

When a super studio becomes a MEGA studio!

2010-08-12T21:07:00.000-07:00

I've been in my new studio for 10 months now and as super good as it is I felt the need to update a few things...mostly after a friend begain building his new music studio at his house.

Anyway, I updated a few bits of hardware and rebuilt my desk to make better use of it's enormouse size and to build in my light table.

It was all completely unnecessary, but sometimes I get a hankering to design and build something and luckily it didn't turn out crap!

Scarlett Johansson

2010-08-11T23:22:00.001-07:00

I've spent the last week or so drawing a lot of ugly blokes, so I thought I'd give myself a break and draw someone who wasn't...

3 hours, 100% photoshop

A few commissions

2010-08-11T18:00:00.000-07:00

Here are a few commissioned caricatures for clients around the country. I've been renovating my studio desk the last week so I've just been doing the work I actually have to get done...

Kristina Keneally

2010-08-02T19:40:00.001-07:00

This is an illustration I did a while ago for a magazine in the US, but I've been waiting for permission to use it. They haven't gotten back to me either way, so I thought I'd post it regardless because it came up a treat.

For those who don't know Kristina Keneally is the Labor Party Premier for the Australian state of New South Wales. She's originally from the US, hence the interest from a US mag. She's jumped into a position that's really a sinking ship, after years of mismanagement from her predecessors.

I don't really care though because I live in Victoria...

Enjoy!

Master Chef Caricature

2010-07-25T15:47:00.000-07:00

I love cooking shows, I always have and in fact I spent most of my uni degree watching them...and naturally I got hooked on Masterchef Australia which concluded last night.

I was approached by, then finalist, Adam Liaw to work with him on a caricature and quick logo for his food blog (adamliaw.com) during the week. I knocked out the work and then what do you know he won the whole competition!

I'm just glad that after watching the show for so many hours it actually resulted in me getting some money! If only that system worked for The Simpsons...

New Australian Creative Cartoons

2010-07-18T21:15:00.000-07:00

Christophe

2010-07-13T18:12:00.000-07:00

ACA member and 'It's a Jungle Out There' cartoonist Christophe Granet was kind enough to go out of his way and pick up a couple of bargain Gerald Scarfe books for me the other week. As a thankyou I drew a funny picture of him (and I paid him for the books of course...).

Julia Gillard our Prime Minister

2010-06-28T15:47:00.000-07:00

Our new PM, Julia Gillard, has a cracking good head to draw and so the other night I was seeing how simply I could represent her. I got it down to a couple of shapes that I made into a collage last night.

Tim Burton

2010-06-26T17:05:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of visiting the Tim Burton retrospective that opened in Melbourne yesterday. I highly recommend it to anyone who can make it to ACMI in Melbourne city or who has the exhibition cross their paths in the future.

I'm a bit of a Burton fan, he's made some great movies and some shit ones, but they're always Tim Burton's...if you know what I mean. So in that regard it was great to see his work from a teen onwards as he found his feet and his style.

I found that there was some definate stylistic leanings towards Gerald Scarfe and Ralph Steadman, but that said I think it's hard for any illustrator trying to find their own style not to reference these two legends.

Either way I'm gushing, it was super and you must see it. And if you're going to go, buy the tickets online before you head down - the line is waaaaaaay shorter!

Rudd is gone

2010-06-24T18:56:00.000-07:00

Well, in a unexpected/expected turn of events yesterday Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was ousted from his position. He's only been in the Job for 2.5 years and now is great big melon head is outta there. I know many cartoonists were a little bit worried when he won the election in 2007, because his head is sooo plain and coming off 11 years of drawing John Howard's head it was a big difference.

But they all found their way and below are a couple of my versions of Rudd's head while he was in office...

Who's a pretty boy then...

2010-06-09T22:56:00.000-07:00

I'm seem to be in a sketching and posting mood so I just knocked out a self portrait to replace my various avatars and to put on my new batch of busniess cards.

Let the visual comparisons to Dave Grohl begin!

Dave Grohl 30 min digital sketch

2010-06-09T19:47:00.000-07:00

The last one was shit so I tried the digital way for 30minutes to see if I could crack his face. I'm not sure how many people have said I look like Dave Grohl in the past but I'm not sure it's a good thing...

Dave Grohl 25 min ink sketch

2010-06-09T18:49:00.001-07:00

Here's a quick ink sketch of Dave Grohl I did yesterday. The caricature is pretty rubbish but it was more of an exercise in style and technique to see what works for me. FYI I used black ink, an old rigging brush, toothbrush and a 0.4 and 0.6 artline.

It's something I guess...waiting for the go ahead from a few clients to post some more commisioned work I've done.

20 minute ink sketch

2010-06-03T20:57:00.001-07:00

it's an elephant...

Ol' Dickeyes

2010-06-02T19:32:00.000-07:00

This was a little gift left in my studio from Ginger Megs cartoonist and all round nice guy Jason Chatfield when he visited a while back.

The concept stems from a drunken train of conversation on my Bucks night...nuff said.

Editorial Exhibition

2010-06-01T17:40:00.000-07:00

My editor from the Video Journalism Movemen t has sent through some photos of a recent cartoon exhibition on press freedom that I was a part of in Amsterdam. The exhibition was an apparent hit and there's now talks of it being on the move to Lima, Moscow, and New York!

The exhibtion looked brilliantly put together and it was a shame to be so far away from the launch (although any future "business" trips to Holland sound okay by me).

My contribution (top): Nothing like a colo-rectal examination to bring out the laughs...

newmatilda.com is no more

2010-05-27T00:14:00.000-07:00

satirical/informative Australian news website newmatilda.com has pulled the pin due to lack of advertising revenue after 6 years. More importantly they have pulled the pin on the newmatilda.com prize for political cartooning after two years.

I'm devastated, not only had I organised my entry for this years competition, but I was on a good run, 5th in 2008 and 3rd in 2009, and anyone with even the slightest understanding of numerical patterns knows that that means that this year I was a shoe in for 1st (and a cool $6000, although being in financial difficulty probably isn't the best time to give out 6k, and winning it and never getting paid would've been a real kick in the dick, but I digress...).

Anywho, this years entry in the now defunct competition is below and hopefully some of you guys get a laugh out of it.

What a jip.

Pretty house photos

2010-05-19T20:05:00.000-07:00

As anyone who has looked at this blog knows I've been designing and building my house for the last 18 months. It's been the longest project I've ever done and most definitely the hardest. But now we've been in for 6 months, the landscaping is done and it's starting to look how I imagined.

My main reason for the photos is that I have unrealistic expectations of how my house should look after trawling through dozens of home magazines. It's like if people look at models in magazines they feel pressured to look that way. I had the same problem with the house...So the other night was clear and calm so I took a few photos and I'm pretty chuffed with the result.

Character Design

2010-05-06T21:09:00.000-07:00

I love doing character design, but it doesn't come along too often. Here's a couple of characters I developed for a garden expert. The characters are to be used to teach kids about eating healthy, gardening and the like.

The characters are based on real kids who play the character sat schools and events, so it was bit of design and a bit of caricature, which was good fun.

It's a Chicken!

2010-04-27T00:27:00.001-07:00

Here's a comission for one of my regular clients in-store promotion.

It's a chicken...a big chicken.

I'm currently working on their next promo and i've got 4 posters to do, so I'll share them when I can.

Australian Creative Magazine Cartoons

2010-04-22T15:04:00.001-07:00

I have a regular gig doing a cartoon for one of the columnists in Australian Creative Magazine (advertising industry mag). I've had the job for a while and a few months back the column changed authors and the new author was looking for a new style to represent his writing.

He mentioned Ralph Steadman as a guide. I was so happy that I jumped aboard with a Steadman rip off and they were happy. Since then I 've been working with that style and trying not to make it too much of a rip off, but generally I don't care - Steadman is such a legend I have too much fun trying to work like him.

The other bonus is that the artwork is done with brush and ink (finished in PS) - something I'm not great at but love to do, it makes me feel like a real artist.

The "Bit List" Addition

2010-04-22T15:01:00.000-07:00

After my honeymoon in Thailand I can add jelly fish to the bit list.

One Hell of a busy couple of months

2010-04-21T15:24:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy couple of months, I finished landscaping my house, got married, and went on a honeymoon to Thailand. My work had to squeeze in between all of the above...which I kind of managed.

It was a great couple of months and coming out the other end I'm back in a position to work freely and effectively, the first time since we started building the house over a year ago.

This means more posts on the blog and less time crying in the corner of my studio trying to figure out how to get it all done, YAY!

The "Bit" List

2010-02-25T20:52:00.000-08:00

I've got some good work to post as soon as I get the all clear from the clients. In the mean time I was doing a spot of gardening and raked over a wasps nest. I copped a couple of stings on my ankle and it got me thinking of a mental list I've head in my mind for a while - it's called The "Bit" List.

It's a list of all the weird and wonderful things I've been bitten/stung by in my 29 years and it keeps growing by the day - so much I finally need to get it down on paper (digital paper I guess).

Dog
Cat
Pelican
Emu
Budgy
Human (Baby, Child, Adult)
Guinee Pig (Gerbal for those in the US)
Goat
Horse
Rabbit
Lizard
Fish
Crab
Mosquito
Bee
Wasp
Ant (many types)
Spider
Scorpian
Centipede
Chicken
March Fly
Sand Fly
Flea

If I think of any more or unrepress some horrible memories I'll add 'em on.

Old Commission

2010-02-07T18:57:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I posted, so I thought I'd post something I've been waiting to be allowed to post. It's a advertising illo for an ongoing client. Much fun to draw! The final illustration was 1.8 x 1m in size so there was plenty of room to go bananas...sorry.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-13T14:07:00.000-08:00

A little late I know, but I've been busy lazing around my house for a couple of weeks. I'm back in the studio and looking forward to a new year of more consistent posting on the blog, more caricatures, and I'm even going to have a crack at tradtional painting....god help me.

Here's a nice way to start the new year, I got the new Video Journalism Movement book in the post. I've been a part of this from the start and it's great to see all of the cartoonists complied into a neat book - plus it feels good to be published like this.

And the Winner is...Me!

2009-12-14T15:41:00.000-08:00

I mentioned a couple of posts ago about the Michael Collins Caricature Award. It's an Australian award (great prize money) and it's been going for 4 years now. The award is one of the driving forces behind me improving over the last couple of years as everytime I enter I'm blown away by the competition.

The last coupleof years I've been entering digital artwork and although they've been well received there's still a bit of a stigma attached to digital painting - the judges still believed that they were just manipulated photos and it took some explaining for them to believe otherwise.

I believe that some great artwork has been overlooked for top honours in the past becasue it wasn't painted traditonally.

This year though they opened up a digital category and I took out the prize...thank you, thank you.

The prize money for this new category wasn't great, but I did get trophy (below) and hopefully it'll grow with the huge number of sponsors available in the digital painting industry and people like Terry Dunnett won't be over looked any more.

My winning entry
My, first ever, trophy

WIP

2009-12-03T18:16:00.000-08:00

A little somethin somethin I'm working on...

Stanley Awards - Sydney 2009

2009-12-02T14:41:00.000-08:00

The Stanley Awards are Australian cartoonings night of nights and this year were held in Sydney. Not a bad spot at all. The weekend had two days of conferences and two nights of frivolity, it was a tiring combination.

Guests of Honour were most notably Pat Oliphant (ex pat aussie pulitzer prize winning political cartoonist who changed the face of US editorial cartooning from the 60s onwards) and Tom Richmond (MAD magazine illustrating whiz and all round nice guy) who both did great presentations.

The night was spent enjoying drinks on Sydney Harbour, watching an impromptu strip show at a seemingly innocent restaurant, and the awards night itself.

No nominations for me this year - fair enough. But the night was great fun and representing the new generation were Anton Emdin and Dave Follett with their first Stanley Awards wins. I did come runner-up in the after party cartoon contest, the results of which are unpublishable, and scored me a nice bottle of Red - which I responsibly brought home.

Below are a few photos of the weekend and some sketches done while I wasn't paying attention in the conferences.

Some bridge I guess...

My lovely fiance, Stacey, and me.

The Awards night, just getting started!

Rolf Heimann

Pat Oliphant

Jim Bridges

Me by Tom Richmond...and yes I've framed it.

Taking life very, very seriously indeed.

Hugh Hefner

2009-11-26T16:05:00.000-08:00

This caricature has been floating around for a while and I finished it off a couple of months ago, in time for the Michael Collins Caricature Award here in Aus (which I won the digital category...more on that later).

What am I playing at?!

2009-09-15T14:46:00.000-07:00

Hey, sorry no posts for a while I'm in the final throws of building the house and we should be in less than two weeks.

I have a heap of stuff to post when I find the time. So to keep you busy I've included the most recent (Australian band) Grinspoon video, to which I contributed a quick caricature of Marilyn Manson. The whole video is in the paper craft style, not really suited to me but I snuck one in (at about 1:10), blink and you'll miss it though...

I'll be back soon posting from the new studio, oh yeah!

New Matilda Cartoon Competition Entry

2009-08-13T16:45:00.001-07:00

A while ago I mentioned the New Matilda prize for political cartooning. I urged everyone to vote for me, which worked because I made it into the finals.

The final entries were voted on by a panel of judges, including Australian cartooning legends Bill Leak and Peter Broelman, and I was lucky enough to come away with third place.

Not too shabby.

So here's my entry, thanks for those who voted, and I have a few editorial carton outlets at the moment so as soon as I'm allowed to post them I will.

To put the cartoon into context, it was drawn of the back of Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's multi billion dollar economic stimulus package. Some said it wouldn't work, some said it was too big, some said it would really f**k the economy...all good fodder for a cartoon.