Old Sketches

At Starbucks

More from Singapore, drawings from Coffee Bean

 

I sort of went on a mini pen binge with this one.  I had just bought expensive pens from Muji and couldn't decide which one to use...so I used all of them.    

Starbucks at Holland Village

Backlog 3

Exhibition Notes from 2010-11

Unfortunately I haven't been to as many exhibitions as I'd like this year.  Even when I am out looking at shows I don't have the time to make detailed notes or any drawings at the moment.  But here are a few 'exhibition notes' from earlier on in the year and the end of last year.  Mostly of when I went down to Melbourne to visit some friends.

Chipper Cafe @ Glebe

Backlog

I seem to have quite a large backlog of cafe drawings that I haven't brought out yet, most of them done in Singapore when I had free time (I can almost remember what it was like to have free time).  Drawing in Sydney doesn't seem to happen too often mostly because I either feel like 

a)    I should be doing something productive  

b)    If I'm not working I should be spending time with my friends

c)    If I'm drawing it should be for my Honours Project

d)    Coffee and food is so expensive! Why are you spending money?! You're Broke! Stop doing drawings that require you  

to spend money!

I also intermittently get the horrible drowning feeling of despair when I'm drawing and I think the drawing is not going well.  Then I look at the clock and realize that its taken me an hour to do a bad drawing.  Drawing takes a long time.  I always seem to forget how long it takes.  It's usually worth it in the end, and I have some saving techniques up my sleeve when it gets into crunch time for finishing (this is usually when the guilt of not doing something productive and the urgent need to pee nudges my concern for the picture out of the way)

Horrible drawings seem more frequent in Sydney.  Detailed and enjoyable drawings usually populate my Holiday time, so I'll be scrounging around in my backlog for more drawings from Singapore and Melbourne soon!

Mr Tulk in Melbourne

I was in Melbourne during the earlier part of this year to visit some friends.  Had a wonderful time but still feel like Melbourne is a holiday destination rather than a real place to stay.  Something about the cheap, logical and functional transport system, the abundance of cafe's, and the amount of art galleries to visit. (Though there was an overwhelming amount of video art at grassroots contemporary art spots)  Here's one of the few drawings I did while I was over there: too much social action and gallery visiting.  Mr Tulk was a lovely cafe, though the food was quite expensive for me.  It's part of the State Library of Victoria in the city, below is the address.  

Mr Tulk   

328 Swanston Street

Melbourne VIC 3000

The long delay

I apologize for the long delay, I've recently begun my Honours Year at University and it is a pretty big endeavor.  That said it is also an amazing time and I am enjoying the work that I've been doing.  Hopefully I will be finishing off a few things and will start posting little snippets as the year progresses.


That said I have done a lot of other work and I just need to slowly crawl through the backlog with scanning and cleaning on photoshop.  The above picture is just that, I made this in Singapore last Christmas (hence the little snowflakes on the windows) its one of the first images I drew that holiday in the NEW Starbucks!  It was somewhat painful to go and see the New starbucks (I liked the old one).  Unfortunately last year it got severely flooded and they had to basically rip out all the old fixtures.  It really is bizarre to go to a favourite haunt and realize its been completely changed behind your back.  All the more stranger because I have so many drawings from this one place that it seemed to be visually haunted.


Nevertheless it turned out to be a great drawing spot, just like the 'Old Starbucks', and one day when I've amassed enough of them I might do a little chronological book of this one address over the years.

Taking my time in the New Year

It has been a while since I've used tone to help create depth and aid in differentiating people in an image. And for me it certainly is laziness to a certain extent. But I'm glad I made the effort for this image since it really helps complete the composition and help highlight certain features and characters that would otherwise be lost.

It's always worthwhile to consider different ways of making an image work and not constantly rely on familiar line making or easy compositions. You can often find a few illustrators or artists who stick to the same composition over and over. A particularly famous one is the forward shot of a character floating in a white void. While this is an enjoyable composition, and at times the correct composition for an image, character or product design, learning to be dynamic and engage with backgrounds is a really important skill to manage. Learning what you can do, and what you enjoy doing with backgrounds or a full page image takes time.

Choices in depth vs flatness, tonal variation vs large slabs of color, or changes in style between the focus point and the background can come naturally to some, and not so naturally to others. So its good to practice and push what you’re capable. Here’s to new goals for the new year.

Calendars don't help me remember anything

Its okay if it rains because I'm stuck inside for work anyway

Pokolbin Village playground

I did my first trip over to Hunter Valley recently, and between wineries and hotels I managed to find an incredibly cheesy fake tourist village. Full of faux homey restaurants (which always seem to have large realistic cow statues) and village shops selling Hunter Valley chocolates (as well as flavored liqueurs available in man shaped bottles) this little tacky respite from grape ferment was surprisingly enjoyable.

There was a bright cheery family orientated feel to the place where previously we'd only come across tittering groups of twenty something’s often vibrating with either a single chicks vibe or pre-marriage hen's night excitement, that and couples.

The fresh squeaky clean attraction left me wondering however who would plan a family outing to an area famous for its booze, let alone plan and build the architectural duet to Disneyland in the Hunter. Leading from assumptions, Pokolbin Village might have been built to accompany the nearby heftily priced Hunter Valley Gardens.

Some entrepreneurial spirit might have noticed many visitors such as myself pause at the $25 entry fee for landscaped gardens and back away without turning, comfortable with trying to peer over the garden’s walls and content with posing for photos in front of their entrance sign and flower display. Understandably the gardens were a thing of beauty, left for weddings and corporate functions. While the village was for people who enjoyed picnic facilities, small town layouts and playgrounds: the complimentary things in life.

During the day the eager bustle of young families in this convenient stop over was infectious, the entire place was made for eating, playing and buying edible gifts. At night however, the sterile timelessness of this kitsch counterfeit community reminded me somehow of Melbourne suburbs. The nice ones that had gone up maybe a little too fast near distant train stops, sudden suburbia of large homes and preened front gardens still awkwardly sitting next to un-cleared land. After sunset and without the neon diffuse of surrounding urban development you felt like you were walking in an empty movie set. Where at any moment the cardboard facades could pitch in the wind, leaving the land to move back in.

There were spots of what I imagine to be forests left in the Pokolbin area. They might've simply been scraps of the original landscape or windbreakers for the wineries and picnic spots for tourist locations. Whatever they were, though unnoticeable during the day, at dusk they gained a solidity. Something we noticed when we accidentally stumbled across the Pokolbin village at around 4:30pm. As one of the awkward late visitors wandering in the deserted tourist village I think we were struck by the lack of lamps and the disparity of the theme park image and its location. Time in the Hunter still runs by sunlight and with all the shops closed and an hour or so left of manageable light I managed to make a brief drawing of the enjoyable and eerie juxtaposition of the empty playground backgrounded with sparse woods.

Me and Bernie hanging out at Mel's Studio

A short sketch of life at the studio, Bernice and I were taking advantage of Mel's hospitality and generous spirit by lounging around her studio space and making little artworks with her materials.

Love is in the air

It's nearly Spring! or it is Spring! I come from a tropical island without seasons so I'm not the best source of information on this. But I feel like the weather is becoming beach friendly. Nevertheless I managed to snuggle down with a friend at Bad Manners (spelt Badde Manors) down at Glebe to have a nice warm fizzing mug of cider. Awesome. Also got a quick sketch on of these two love birds who are gave off the Spring couple-y vibe. So cute! I've tried to catch the millions of ways they managed to hold hands while a poor neglected carrot cake sat forgotten between them. (They still hadn't eaten it when we left)

The Zoo cafe with Husky

detail

detail

This is a nice loose image I produced a while back at the Zoo cafe in Bondi Junction. I'm just having fun with the construction and placement of chairs, particularly their relationship to other objects and their own distorted parts. 

Sugar Cafe

Detail

Just a quick image of a lovely cafe nearby. I've gone to Sugar cafe quite frequently. Not because of the coffee (grinders) but the service is just really relaxed and friendly and don't chase you out the minute you're done or 15 mins before closing time. Also the decor and the shape of the cafe is just so enjoyable to be in and to draw. They have quite a few customers and due to my eavesdropping I hear their lunch menu is pretty good though everyone else's opinion on their coffee has been mum.

Smoking Woman at The Zoo

Detail

A quick drawing of a beautiful french woman smoking in an outdoor cafe. The thing that made me hastily bring out the sketchbook on this one is that she's partially obscured by a giant palm leaf plant in a shopping trolley. So with just a few tantalizing glimpses of her through the foliage I managed to capture the basics before her coffee and cigarette ran out.

Snap draw of my life

This is a full page spread of crazy squish happening. Its fun to have lists and notes on my life collide with images and doodles every now and again. Although they may not be as pretty to look at I really enjoy these pages just because they remind me of my concerns and living standards at particular times of my life.