Tag Archives for illustration

Bundles of Badass

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Romp DMC? LL Cool Legs? Justin Bib? Cooli’Onsie?! Ice Tee?!? SNOOP LEGGY LEGS?!!

I mean, what part of those product names sound anything less than *HELLA TIGHT*?

I had the privilege of creating the print design, logo design and photography for my very excellent friend Sarah’s new babywear brand, Milk Riot!

Mad kudos to her for keeping the fabric organic, the dyes natural, the production local (Aussie designed and made), and the vibe epic. Tell all those nasties to get on their bike.

Check out some pics from the shoot, starring my extremely handsome godson and his outstanding group of pals.

 

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Skate or Fry

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We are all in search of that illusive golden Maccas fry… Figuratively and literally. So when Klaus asked me to slap some new art on his skateboard I thought “It’s a stretch, but I think we can make it work.”

To be honest, I really just wanted to draw a seagull eating Maccas fries as the image resonates so strongly through my childhood (along with the ibis and my chicken nuggets, but that’s a story for another time)… Klaus had just watched Gleaming the Cube so he wanted a “Skate or Die” on it… and then nature just took its course.

Skate or Fry, betches.

P.S. How’s the fake wood lino in my kitchen?

Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board

moon_meets_mountains

When Klaus and I were being dragged along like a bag of oranges behind a speedboat (?) by Sydney rental market search we had embarked upon, we decided to get into some zen activities to balance ourselves out.

So we painted.

But first, we built our canvas out of timber, then blackwashed it…. then we painted. Then glued and added some of that gloriously floaty GOLD LEAF (like the classy bastards that we are), then varnished it all.

We reckon it’s a picture of the moon.

We did finally find a place (thanks for asking), and as it’s a rental, we can’t put any holes in the wall. So it sits on the mantlepiece, which turns out to be more trendy than hanging it up anyway. So what I’m trying to tell you, is that we are somewhat on point in this instance.

Check out le processé:

black washed canvas with solid black shadow line
dem geometries doh
filling in the blanks
painting with glue
adding gold leaf
before vaccum
post-gold leaf sealer, pre-varnish (keeping the shadow line matte)
completed!
~fin~

You may have noticed this piece in the most recent fVogue “It Girl” video with Andrea Andrësen

Wall paper planes

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Upon my return to Sydney, I was commissioned to do a mural in the Universal Magazines office in Sydney.  Let’s not waste any time getting to the time lapse of the project….

I used tape, acrylic paint and acrylic paint markers (so as not to fumigate the office while they were working).

Now to backtrack… As the client was not keen to have an enormous animal or two sprawled across their walls (as I most certainly would have done otherwise), the concept sketches, (based on the broad ideas of paper, inspiration and spreading ideas) looked something like this (made a gif to keep things jazzy):

Universal_mural_concepts

 

Great. Now my blog feels like Las Vegas.

I Don’t Think You’re Ready for this Jelly.

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I was going to title this post “Goodbye Cali-prawn-ia, Hello Octstralia!”, but as I’m not moving back to Sydney for another 5 weeks, I thought I’d keep it classic – plus, I’m going to a Prom themed party tonight, and I’m expecting to hear a ton of Destiny’s Child.

I just got back from a night at Dillon Beach, NorCal, where I squeezed in a little sea gazing accompanied by some highly relevant ocean-themed watercolour painting. After all, I had a new self-watering brush I wanted to try out which I used for the jellyfish and the octopus. It was a little limiting, and the thing I love about watercolours is their flexibility… So I put it aside and grabbed a normal brush to add some movement to the octopus.

Then, something magical happened in about 15 seconds. And that magical thing, was a prawn.

Really pleased with the prawn.

Also, can’t wait to chuck a coupla prawns on the barbie in 5 weeks! Oi oi oi!

Octopus in a hurry
Jelly (audience favorite)
Stoked on my prawn

Postal Party!

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So legends keep doing nice stuff for me and special occasions keep popping up so I keep on posting out the personalised greeting cards! Here’s the latest crop…. I hope everyone had a very merry Christmoose.

thank you
birthday
thank you
30th birthday
wedding
christmas
christmas
valentine’s day

Custom Cards Comin’ out my Keister!

thank ewe

Being up to my eyeballs in a ton of creative ventures, it may take a moment for any more of them to surface here….. but trust me, they’re coming. In the meantime,  here are some cards I’ve drawn for pals over the past few months to tide you over in my cyber-presence drought.

Who knew pigs were so hard to draw?

Get Your Order in Before Thanksgiving

Over the last 2 years of living in the United States, I have been surprised by how often I am asked: “Do Australians celebrate Thanksgiving?”.

The enquirer usually figures it out immediately after the question leaves their lips, swiftly taking into consideration the origins of the holiday. This will generally be followed by a sheepish explanation of their mistake and a quick departure.

That’s right, the answer is no.

But if we did….

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What Does the Fox Say?

 

claudia pickering foxen mural

In the interest of staying relevant and on the pulse of popular culture. Wait. Let me start again. In a convenient coincidence, I have just finished a mural of foxes in the same week as the release of that catchy new hit single  “The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)” (dingadingdingding ding) touted as this year’s Gangnam Style – so you know it’s a ripper.

Finally someone (three former members of the Harvard Fox Club) let me paint a massive double-height wall in their residential home with the help of many pals, two big-ass ladders, a ton of nachos and the occasional beer. After drawing a shockingly vague sketch on an old cardboard box of how I wanted the geometries done, it took about a month (a few nights every week and a party) and here’s the progress:

Pascale taping
Klaus checking out his tape work
Painting party
Kramer and Katie helped us one night… But this is a picture of Kramer and Klaus
Big-ass ladders
After the tape came off… Crisp geometries
Krink pen for the foxes

Yep, little guy on the right is totally dreaming up those shapes.

An overwhelming number of people who came to see the mural commented how strikingly ‘3D’ it appeared in person. About 4 people. Such feedback pleased me as it is, after all, 2 dimensional pretending to be 3 dimensional. Which is not that many dimensions compared to how many we might actually be existing amongst according to string theory. Anyone who has ever wondered about space and time should watch the series The Fabric of the Cosmos: It’s fascinating.

Special thanks to all who helped: Klaus, Paul, Pascale, the 2 Canadian Alex’s, Katie, Kramer and all you cats at the post-masking tape party. And the landlord – for not spewing about it.

If you think this is the last fox post, buddy – you are wrong. All good things come in threes.