Mario: Portrait of a Portrait

Starting the year by finishing my first commission for 2012! 


For something different, I was requested to do this painting outside my usual cartoony, exaggerated "Lucy" style. A challenge - but I thought I'd give it a go. Below is the finished result (and below that, preliminary "study" sketches)  

    

Meet Wilber the Dragon

Beginning at the end of 2010 I was approached to illustrate a children's book, which is something I'd never been asked to do before. However it has  always been something that I've been interested in pursuing - so to have this opportunity just 'drop into my lap'...

well I didn't need to be asked twice.

Over the following months I submitted one illustration a fortnight, and in recent weeks that changed to two a week. Today, this very afternoon, I handed over the final illustration (so excitement!) Now it will be sent away to be professionally published and I'm really looking forward to seeing the completed result.

I've included a couple of sample illustrations below to "whet the appetite"

The book will be officially launched some time in early 2012 and from what I've been told by the author, Bronwyn Heeney, will be toured at book expos globally. Next year will also be the Year of the Dragon, so fingers crossed this book gets a noice bit o interest and publicity.

People's choice award winner 2010 (woot!)

So I did it. This painting (which I hold so dear to me) won the People's Choice Award for the 2010 Cancer Council Art Awards.

First EVER Exhibition

CONGRATULATIONS!

Yes, congratulations to me!

Congratulations to me for finally exhibiting for the first time EVER!!!

Finally after much support and gentle but persistent nagging from friends and family, it was very appreciated nagging by the way, I finally got my act together and teamed up with fellow artists Emma Kirsopp and Elspeth McIntosh to create the exhibition Mammalian.

Here is the ultra rad flyer/invite we sent out. I'm very proud of it

(Thank you Emma)

Here is the show's title and our names printed on the window of Hogan Gallery.

Very exciting indeed.

When I first approached the theme of Mammalian my mind went completely blank, I had no ideas, I was stuck. So I asked a number of friends what they thought of when they heard the word “Mammalian” and the main response I received was “Boobies!”

A friend, Greg Shields, cleverly made the suggestion of “Ma’am” and “Alien”. I thought, “Brilliant! A female alien made of boobies!” And that, folks, is how the character of Maam Alien came about.

She’s a sexy, sassy, strong superhero come pin-up girl presented in the format of a comic book series with influences from pin-up artists Gil Elvgren and Bill Ward and the wonderful comic artist Albert “Asterix” Uderzo. Imagining that the Maam Alien series could be pitched to a viable publisher, I have put together a folio of potential comic book covers, painted on canvas to illustrate how her series would look.

Click on any of the photos to view larger

My intention is that you laugh and be entertained by her and her adventures.

One commission, two commission, three commission MORE!

Below is a selection of past painting or portrait commissions I've had in the last two years.

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Some are wedding presents, some are birthday presents and some are just personal and special gifts.

Flirty Fleur

A lot of my work is inspired by my friends and people I know. Fleur is someone I've known seemingly forever. However, unlike most of my subjects, Fleur actually asked me to paint her - "when are you going to paint me?" .... so I did:

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This piece is called "Flirty Fleur" as I intended it to capture her very social personality. Is she toasting the viewer or accepting a free beer that happens to be coming her way?

Mum

This is a very personal piece. It’s a tribute to my mother who passed away from bowel and liver cancer in 2002. She was a strong and beautiful woman whose love was unconditional and everlasting.

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In this painting her spirit is represented in the form of a Ghost Gum with strong branches that support the family she made for herself – My dad, my sister and myself.

Represented on the ground below is the unfortunate “family politics” that occurred as a result of her passing.

We still mourn her and miss her everyday.