Environment Painting

Here's a little piece I did for myself. Trying to loosen up my work a little and get more texture in, but I really don't want it to be arbitrary or sloppy. This one went pretty easily and I'm happy with it. The architecture is inspired by some unusual Japanese thatched homes, hence the pagoda in the background. During our brief visit to Japan there was a 5 tiered pagoda in Nara that really blew my mind. I've been wanting to put one in a painting ever since. Though this one is so distant that I couldn't put any detail on it without ruining the balance of the piece, so I might have to revisit that fixation yet! You may also notice a wee nod to great illustrator N C Wyeth snuck in there.

Thanks to Adam Anderson for the encouragement and input while I was working on it :)

Recent Life Drawings

Here are some more drawings from a recent session at Vincents.
It's good to be back in the rhythm of these classes. Great atmosphere and great people.
A beer before or burger on the way home never hurts either :P
I've noticed that I always draw better when I have my headphones on and listen to some mellow or upbeat music. Pearl Jam have become a regular staple for my drawing sessions. The music just relaxes me a bit. It also distracts the annoying part of my mind that can be so critical of every mark as it goes down on the page.

Strawberries with the Fuhrer

Hello strangers! Almost forgot how to work this thing.

Anywhoo, here's some new stuff for ya.

I recently did a set of illustrations for a friends documentary project "Strawberries with the Fuhrer". Inspired by the book of the same name, it deals with the thoughts, memories and associated guilt of Helga Tiscenko. Now a grandmother in New Zealand, she was once the content young child of one of Hitler's top Generals in the Third Reich. Many of you will be familiar with the book and may even have read it as part of your studies in school. Director Amy O'Connor was so enthralled by the story that she sought out the author, and even traveled to Germany to create what she thinks of as "an extra chapter for the book". It was screened as part of the New Zealand International Film Festival in Wellington earlier this year, where it sold out it's initial screenings and duly had its run extended. The doco turned out great and Amy has recieved well deserved recognition for her directorial debut.

My images were created to accompany scenes where Helga is sharing specific memories about her youth. Time was tight to complete over 30 illustrations, but I was really happy with how some of the images came out. Here are a couple of them, all from different sequences in the film.

http://www.strawberrieswiththefuhrer.com/