Middle Earth Madness

So a bit of an update to the blog with a slightly different flavour than usual. As part of the gigantic Tourism NZ campaign associated with the release of the Hobbit, my colleagues at Weta Gus Hunter, Paul Tobin and I have done a series of illustrations transforming photography from around New Zealand into illustrations depicting locations and characters from Middle Earth. The idea being to convey that with a little bit of imagination New Zealand is Middle Earth. Here are a couple of my images that have been released so far.

Check out the website to see Gus and Paul's work too:

http://www.newzealand.com/int/

Elven maidens watch soldiers ford the River Bruinen on their approach to Rivendell

Radagast's rabbit drawn sleigh hurtles through the depths of Mirkwood

A view into the abyss....

A preview of the album art I recently did for Wellington metal band Bulletbelt for their upcoming debut "Down in the Cold of the Grave". The painting is oil on canvas and the logo was a relatively new foray for me into the territory of graphic design.

EMPIRES OF GREAT ENSLAVEMENT

This is a recent project of mine in collaboration with Sweden's Vomitous for their upcoming release "Empires of Great Enslavement". 75cm x 75cm oil on canvas \m/

If you're partial to a solid slab of brutal death metal check em out: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1m1oGW43rq0

Some recent scribblings

 Been a bit lazy updating the blog. Here are a few sketches riffing on a theme, a couple of which I'm currently developing into paintings. Further posts to come.....

Figure painting update

So, as a quick follow up to the previous post, here is a higher quality image of the final painting.

Figure Painting at the Florence Art Academy

Having recently attended the Florence Art Academy for their Summer school course in figure painting, I've put together a progression of my project using photographs at the end of each days 3 hour session. I learnt a hell of a lot through the process as this was the first time I've done this sort of extensive, multiple session life painting. Oils on canvas, 45cm x 70cm.

Razorwyre album on the way....

Ooohhh.....the release of the long awaited Razorwyre LP on vinyl featuring album art courtesy of yours truly. Available from the 15th September  I believe.  Looking forward to getting my grubby mitts on a copy. Check out info on the band here: https://www.facebook.com/razorwyre

Existence....

A film poster I did recently for the upcoming NZ film "Existence" -  a Salvagepunk Western set in a dystopian future. Trapped behind the Boundary Fence, Freya dreams of escape and pursues a mysterious outsider who can free her. Condemned by her desires she destroys her world to discover that the reality of her existence was not what she imagined. 

Check out the facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Existence/143037925767280

Oil on board

Warrior's Way Weaponry

Thought I'd inject something a little different than my usual posts on this blog. These are a couple of weapon designs for the film Warrior's Way I did way back in 2007. Somewhat historical, exluding the rather exaggerated nature of  the sniper rifle for Geoffrey Rush's character.

\m/ >_< \m/

Here's another album cover preview for Auckland metal band Exordium Mors' upcoming EP "Sacrifice, Perish & Demise"

Check them out here: http://exordiummors.com/

Razorwyre preview

Here is a little teaser from a band I recently did some cover art for....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMhkkvcBHYk

Morphogenesis

Wow, I realize it's been a while since I've updated the blog! Heres a random painting I did towards the end of last year. Ended up being fairly faithful to the original thumbnail sketch (not sure if thats a good thing). Somehow stirs up thoughts of 'Night on Bald Mountain" from Fantasia.

28"x 28" oil on canvas.