Vinny !

A bit of play in CS5 with multiply and a pencil brush on a parchment background.
A caricature of Vin Altamore an American caricaturist I have the utmost admiration for - and a nice bloke to boot !
He's the king of the cross hatch check out his stuff HERE
My unworthy attempts at emulating his style - sigh !

Ronnie Burns

This is a commission from Tasmania for a Birthday gift for former Aussie 60's Pop star Ronnie Burns. I wasn't familiar him having grown up in the UK in the 60's where we had serious pop star overload and I think the only downunder stars to get a look in were The Easybeats and of course the BeeGees - hang on they were Poms !!

Ronnie has had a varied, but very successful career Pop star, TV host and then a builder. He settled in Tasmania and now runs Appin Hall which is a children's foundation, home and hostel for kids that have been neglected and suffer trauma.

He was a recent recipient of Tasmania's Australian of the Year.

Tel - Caricature - Circa 1989

This was sent to me today - a copy of a caricature I did of a workmate some 21 years ago - 1989 ( and still a good friend today - despite the caricature - all true BTW !) I've blurred out all the captions mostly personal and obscene - that was the style of the time. Rotring pens and coloured pencils as we'd never heard of Wacom's and such things.

Scanned off the original - isn't that nostalgic !

Tel by Amit

One of the great things about being a caricaturist is having a 'go' at other artists and receiving renditions of yourself. This shot at 'yours truly' was done by Israeli graphic designer and illustrator Amit Boniel.

Amit is just entering into the world of caricature and interestingly does all his work in vector - something I've not even tried.

Also he's very kind, especially with my face, and great attention to detail - left handed - spot on.

Thanks Amit !

More cars ...

Just finished another vehicle picture to feature in a car dealers caricature, Photoshop again as I haven't had time to get my head around Illustrator yet. I'm sure that software will make a better job of the reflective surfaces.

This was the Holden HQ Monaro circa 1972 a really hairy chested machine from the era when petrol was cheap and anyone could afford a 350 cubic inch ( 5.7 litre ) V8. They made a great rumbling note which sadly went when all the anti pollution gear went on later generations.

I don't know if this was a bona fide colour for the Monaro but that green was on a V8 Holden Sandman I owned in the late 70's - happy days !!

Here's up close .....

Nico Di Mattia

My humble attempt at the face of Nico Di Mattia in response to his magnificent attack on my face. I received a hi-res version from Nico - that fine brush work is something special.

Gawd it frightens small children !!!

Anyone who visits this Blog will know I'm a great admirer of brilliant young Argentinian Nico Di Mattia, I was going to call him a caricaturist, but he's more than that with a broad range of fabulous skills.

I am very honoured that he's done the above to this rugged old head - really chuffed, top job Nico.

Check out the work of this genius at his Blog and Website.

Mr AFL - Dennis Cometti

A bit of messing around - could never figure out why there weren't an abundance of caricatures of this Australian icon. Especially considering the head has been a bit battered - particularly the nose. Makes him a good target !

Dennis Cometti is the No.1 Aussie Rules TV commentator with an unmistakable voice - and face. This is the 'rough' for a more detailed piece - couple of bits need changing.

Mrs Slocombe

A speed painting exercise that I probably couldn't have picked a more difficult subject for. Caricaturing a caricature. Mrs Slocombe is the role that Mollie Sugden made part of British TV folklore in the very dated 'Are you being served'. Mollie died this week aged 86.

She had more 'pussy' one liners than most blue stand up comedians !

In a week when the world is grief stricken over the death of a talented but very strange man, who you would have wanted under Police surveillance if he lived in your street, Mollie and a couple of others got overlooked.

Not at all happy with it BTW - but there you go !!

Kim Jong II caricature ......

Now this is different, I made an effort to add to my 'celebrity' file. Kim Jong II North Korea's crackpot leader.

This is the only smiley reference I could find and it's a few years ago. Have you seen the state of his teeth I wouldn't be heading to Pyongyang for any cheap dental work. Unless you really like green !

I have it on good authority they're building a Halitosis bomb - true !!

Ford Mustang Dragster !!

This is yet another vehicle caricature, but a fun one to do. This is the driver and engineer of a drag car race team, you'll note the drivers on the wrong side, no wonder those American car companies are going broke they've been building them back to front !!!

I've just lashed out buying Adobe Illustrator CS4 with the influx I've had of vehicle drawings. It makes a far superior job on producing cars, boats, trucks - all manner of mechanical devices. You can always bring it back into PS to put in all those little embellishments that finish off a job so well.

I paid the extra for the manual, as a former Freehand user, I'll need it.

Mr Justa AKA Tony Mac

This is Tony Mac from Gloucester in the UK, a keen caricaturist and visitor to this blog (gotta look after your readers !). Got lazy finishing off around the neck - I'll fix that Tony !

Commission & Chris Wahl's Brushes !

Part of a new commission, a speedway driver, nothing particularly different about that, I do a lot of them. What is different is I used new brushes. I regularly check on the Blog's of fellow caricaturists and 'earwig' anything new.

Chris Wahl of Sydney posts some great stuff on his. He, very generously, put up some of his Photoshop brushes for download, and, I thought 'must try them !'

Well the above caricature was the result using Chris's 'paint texture 6' and 'Hair 1'. The hair brush in particular makes a lovely job.

If you're a Photoshopper they're HERE - enjoy !!

Yesnomaybe !!

Quick - well quick for me - speedpainting exercise of a budding Perth caricaturist .......... who hides under the tag of , would you believe, yesnomaybe !!

Fun practice !!

I'm the victim again .......

I realise now why I grew a beard !

The above rendition of yours truly was done by fellow ISCA member Paul Flatley - Flats - from Lancashire, England. Thanks mate - I think !

It's April Fool's Day !!!

Well it is - that must account for me doing a black and white hand drawn commission, well hand drawn in Artrage anyway. No colouring or rendering and to be used for a T shirt print for a couple of rugby fans.

They loved it and will be back for a 'proper' job !!

Apologies to Bundaberg Rum for grabbing their polar bear icon !

Inkwell - warm up caricature ...

This is my shot at 'Inkwell' a fellow ISCA member. Broke the shackles of commission work to have go at him - good fun !!

Colin Barnett Caricature

I finally finished the Colin Barnett caricature - threw away the gimmicky little body - I'm fairly pleased how it turned out despite being super self critical. Even typing this out I'm looking at the collar and tie thinking 'I should have done more there !'

It's part of an ACA exhibition running at the Ellenbrook Gallery from Friday 20th to the 21st of March. I have put it up for sale with all my proceeds to go to the Victorian Bushfire Appeal.

I also entered it with a couple of my earlier works that are not for sale.

I've also overcome the 'brush lag' problem in Photoshop CS4. When you have a Mac with more than 4 Gig of RAM you have to install a plug-in called VM Buffer, available from Adobe, to fix the annoying glitch. It also was in CS3 but Adobe don't advertise it or even have the plug-in on the install DVD. It's a dream to use now.

Australian Gothic ......

My parody of Grant Wood's famous 1930 'American Gothic' painting - the client wanted his parents depicted as 'country people' outside the Casino. Client loved it, I'll await reaction from Mum & Dad !!

This will be the last post for the year - and I really hope each and every one of you has a great 2009. Thanks for your comments both on the blog, email and phone - it's an isolated existence doing studio work ( I chat to myself quite a bit - not a lot of sense there ! ) - I appreciate it !

Wedding Bells .... .. again !!

These are a couple of my favourite people - currently living in England but coming back to Perth to get married in November. This graphic is for the invites and a framed A3 original for the house. It's my wedding present to them ... a rare freebie !!!!