INTERFET

Acrylic on MDF board. 44x67cm. Completed – 15th January 2004.

Soldiers in East Timor - INTERFET

Photorealism can be used to not only convey beautiful shiny reflective things but communicate an idea. As a keen observer of the politics of the world I was strongly in favor of the Australian military deploying to East Timor in order to stop the horrific violence being enacted upon the local Timorese population after a successful vote for independence. Immensely proud when they did deploy, I have shown a sunburnt Australian soldier on top of a vehicle manning a machine-gun. Another soldier stands further back as they patrol the streets of Dili, the capitol.

This piece is about an idea – of war and aggression and right and wrong.

It was difficult to paint the flesh tones of the sunburnt soldier in the very bright sunlight and the creases in the uniform – it ended taking 166 hours all up. When it was done I sold it to the lady who lived in the front unit who bought it for her boyfriend. They broke up, she left for another state in a hurry and he was left with the packing of her things for the removal van. He packed it in a way that when it arrived it was badly scratched. As I paint with a system of very thin layers of paint and then use very find wet and dry sandpaper to keep the paint surface totally smooth it was returned to me months later to be repainted. This took 18 hours! However when I tried to contact the owner she had moved on again and I took ownership again I guess. I decided that I would never sell a painting to anyone again unless it was framed behind glass due to the very easily damaged surfaces.

This (and Fast, Beautiful, Dangerous which was done at the same time) were difficult pictures to do as I had to have surgery to my left hand due to being assaulted by three young men. The surgery was botched very badly and I had to undergo constant, painful hand therapy which yielded next to no results and made my life very hard. The depression of not being able to work, and no action from the doctor who’d operated on me, was immense. This was the lowest period of my life and I really struggled but my art helped me get through it. Later I had the finger completely amputated.

Neda Soltan

Chromacolour acrylic on MDF board. Completed 30th June 2009.

Neda Soltan

Photorealism enables me to paint people I have never met. This is Neda Agha Soltan the young woman who was murdered in the streets of Tehran. She has become the symbol of the Iranian revolution and hopefully that revolution will bring about a less brutal regime. The image I started with wasn’t very high resolution so areas like the eyelashes aren’t at the standard I’d usually work with, but there’s little I can do. I have searched high and low on the internet for a better image but with no luck. I also believe that Neda should have been awarded the 2009 Nobel peace prize instead of the war criminal Barack Obama.

 

C is for champion

Acrylic on MDF board. 90x132cm. Completed 28th September 2009. Time taken – 598 hours.

C is for champion

This is one of the hardest paintings of photorealism I have ever attempted. This work is not modified from the original (Autosport magazine) and includes the headings of the original article. The foreground with the pebbles, the C-type Jaguar car, Tony Rolt’s parka, the building with its old bricks says – photorealist painting technique taken to the extreme! The ‘C is for champion’ image when I first discovered it was too tempting to resist because it would be so difficult to paint – it just had to be tackled. It was an incredible challenge as every square centimetre was complex and the title ‘C is for champion’ was a great metaphor for my boastful accomplishments. The work was begun in January of 2005, and was finished in 2009.

The car is in front of Tony Rolt’s home and the car is owned by Adrian Hamilton. Sadly Tony Rolt passed away recently and he, with Duncan Hamilton, made this particular car one of the most famous Jaguar’s of all time by winning Le Mans in 1953. Tony acheived much in his life, he was a soldier in the second world war, and later went on to have a huge part in British motor racing both as a driver and was among the unsung backroom heroes of British racing development.

I hope this artwork, more than any would come to stand for my theme in art – to strive for perfection. Perfection being, in my eyes, the ability to recreate just that – what my eyes saw. It is hoped that this work will be marveled at in centuries to come. Link to Tony Rolt’s obituary.

Looking back

When I started this painting my primary concern was with the depiction of the ‘surface of things’. It was the challenge of the techniques that was the initial inspiration. That is, and always will be, an important part of my makeup as an artist, but it became more and more about the subject. I had gone online to find about Tony Rolt because I was spending an inordinate amount of time on creating this painting. I spent an incredible number of hours on the drawing and painting. It took 12 hours alone on drawing the parka Tony wears!

I soon came to realise that the subject was going to be as important, (or even more important), as the artists skillful depiction of the car or the vinery etc. to the viewer. The admiration and respect that the writer of the heading and text has for Tony Rolt and his achievments is quite apparent. When I decided to paint this image, I scanned the two a4 pages into my computer and then joined them into one file. I considered using the clonestamp tool to remove the lettering, but in the end thought – ‘no it will be ultra contemporary photorealism’ if I leave it in. There is the fact that it’s source, that is it has been taken directly from a magazine, left to create an implicit link to the magazine. It also becomes about the value we place on images in our society. It is my belief that photography is being judged by the worldwide community at large to be some of the most regarded art of our time and definately surpassing that of contemporary painting. It doesn’t have to be this way, as an independant, contemporary artist I can use any visual source to create visual beauty and talk about a specific subject.

This work is for sale. It is offered at $2000 Aus.  Serious enquiries only by contacting the artist.

Jesus

Chromacolour acrylic on MDF board. 30x17cm. Completed 25th April 2009. Private collection.

Jesus

On Saturday 25th April 2009 I painted a portrait of Jesus for my friend Rebecca in a single day! It took 12 hours and at 17cm x 30cm this painting is quite small. She has since decided that she doesn’t want the artwork. Photorealism? Well maybe not. It shows the first communist – in vividly colored robes. I think the work is very beautiful and isn’t anything but a portrait of a man who changed much of the world. Painters have depicted Jesus Christ many times before. Rembrandt painted him numerous times, picturing him in many historical scenes from the bible. I gave this to a friend of mine who is a devout Christian and he loves the portrait.

Suicide bomber

Chromacolour acrylic on MDF board. 110x120cm. Completed 24th July 2010.

Suicide bomber

This painting was created because I feel I need to make a statement about this hideous idea of killing in the name of God. As an atheist I find the very idea that humans will take a religious idea and then use it to create violence absolutely abhorrent. Suicide bombing is a recently new atrocity, and much of it (but by no means all) is perpetrated by people of the Islamic faith. Having read the Koran I find that it is a discriminatory, intolerant, sometimes violent and often contradictory piece of writing. I chose this particular quote because it is just the sort of thing that would have been taught to this young man.

I believe in non-violence and freedom of speech (amongst many beliefs) and what I have done is take this image from rotten.com and add the Koranic text. I neither perpetrated this foolish act nor wrote the Koran, so if any Muslim’s find themselves offended then so be it. It wasn’t created with the intent of insulting any person at all. It was however created with the intention of saying the following – Stop this disgusting violence in the name of God.

When I first came across this image there was some text explaining the story behind the image. The photo was taken in Iraq by the soldier who shot him. The suicide bomber was walking up to a roadside checkpoint shouting “Allah akbhar” (god is great) and despite being given several warnings he continued. The result is as you can see. I spent 215 hours painting this and I thought a lot about the human who’s name I didn’t know, who’s ‘portrait’ I was now painting. And I genuinely feel sorry for him because he has made a stupid, (and very morally wrong) decision at the point he has decided to put on that bomb vest. He’ll never achieve his martyrdom, and he’ll make little impact on the occupancy of the American armed forces and worst of all in the name of God he actually thought he was doing God’s will. I do not support the war in Iraq (or any war) in any way, shape or form. I understand that he wanted the American’s out but suicide bombing isn’t the answer.

Charlie Chum and Hanna Nguyen

Chromacolour acrylic on MDF board. 136x90cm. Completed 26th October 2010.

Charlie and Hanna

Charlie Chum asked me to paint a photograph from their wedding. It was a very satisfying portrait in its process of being painted, there’s a young, happy couple, a stunning dress and a dark background – very much like something you would have seen in seventeenth century Holland. It is one of my best paintings and it is also one that brings a great deal of pain to my heart. I poured every ounce of my ability into creating it and it took almost 200 hours to create. I worked 10 hour days most days in order to complete it on time.

I had an agreement from Charlie that the cost would be $10 per hour. I gave him an estimate of anywhere between 170 and 300 hours and he was fine with that. There was also an agreement that there would be three payments. One of $500 to start, then at the midpoint he would pay me for my work to that point and when finished he would pay for the rest. I got the first payment of $500. The second payment was where I should of stopped because he had a bullshit excuse. I trusted him implicitly not to screw me over because I worked with him at Deks Industries. He came and inspected it soon after (with Hanna) and they both expressed that they were very happy with the portrait at the 2/3rd mark. Encouraged by this I worked very hard in finishing a beautiful wedding portrait that was to be treasured. It was finished and I asked Charlie to pay me.

I then spent 2 months asking and came across so many lies and broken promises which led to a huge nervous breakdown and I decided to quit my job at Deks. I decided that I was not going to be treated in this way and have cut my losses and retain the painting. I returned to work at Deks and when my boss Andrew Meese ‘mediated’ I was never given a reason as to why he and his wife didn’t want the portrait. As for Charlie I went on and worked at Deks for a further 9 months and we never had a cross word or discussed it.

Now I am free of any concerns of hurting him or my employment situation I will say just what I feel – CHARLIE CHUM YOU ARE SCUM. YOU ARE A LYING PIECE OF FILTH AND I HAVE ONE QUESTION FOR YOU – WHAT SORT OF PERSON COMMISSIONS SUCH A PERSONAL WEDDING PORTRAIT AND THEN DOESN’T PAY FOR IT.

Southern California landscape

Acrylic on canvas board. 60x90cm. Completed 1999.

Southern California landscape

My first work using photorealism was taken from Snap, an American magazine. I had learnt a grid would enable a detailed drawing to be made, and that this was to be the key to creating my own work. It featured a group of BMX riders in the first berm battling for position. I was always a keen cyclist and had started riding at the local track in my early 30′s discovering a passion that I’d missed in the early eighties when it was going through its first surge of popularity. The picture features two riders prominently – Christophe LeVeque and John Purse, who at the time were dominating the sport. The race was called the So. Cal. Nationals and this became the basis for the title of the painting – ‘Southern California landscape’. Metaphorically speaking this was perfect as an example of America’s worldwide cultural influences. The addition of a commentator in a green jumper was added to create an idea that this art was about commenting and not just a visual thrill.

A computer running Photoshop was used to view the work, which meant learning a new set of skills. The original layout of the magazine article had several photos inset over part of the shadows of the riders. I then had to work out what actually lay under the overlaid images, so I whited out them out and with a pen had an educated guess. Once I was happy with the forms I painted them. Still unsure I contacted the photographer who e-mailed a copy of the original. Much to my delight I was very accurate in filling the shadows in! There were problems encountered, however, the background was changed because it didn’t suit my needs and the use of canvas board didn’t lend itself to detail work, (I decided to use a different support for when starting the drawing for the next work).

Therion

Chromacolour acrylic on MDF board. 59x79cm. Completed 14th February 2010.

Therion - symphonic metal band

This is a portrait of the Sweedish symphonic metal band Therion. This is entirely black / grey / white. There is no color because the source image had been modified with some sort of color channel manipulation, so I converted to greyscale and it was a real challenge to paint such a piece. This band have provided me with such joy over the years and when I saw this image I thought it would make for a most dramatic portrait.

I first heard Therion in 1997 and was blown away by the absolute beauty and dynamism of the music. Please go to their website and check out their music (free samples!). Christofer Johnsson is the founder of this band (bottom left) and he is an incredible guitarist. Supporting him (in this topmost photo) are, female vocalist Lori Lewis (top left) and the bass guitarist Johann Niemann (top, second from left), vocalist Snowy Shaw (top, third from left), guitarist Kristian Niemann (top second from right), vocalist Matt Leven (top right), drummer Petter Karlsson (bottom right), female vocalist Katarina Lilja (bottom middle).

The biggest arsehole on the planet

Acrylic paint on MDF board. 61cm X 91cm. Completed 7th August 2002.

Osama - the biggest arsehole on the planet

September 11th 2001 was so shocking to witness that I had to use photorealism to paint a response to what I saw as pure evil. Time magazine donated the source image of Osama bin Laden sitting in his tent; when it came to composing the size of the piece it was decided to add the title to the work written at 90 degrees on the right side of the board. This work was called ‘The biggest arsehole on the planet’, I don’t want my position to be misunderstood.

The size of the initial photo from which I started with was quite small and I took little time to do the work – 121 hours. When it came to doing difficult passages such as his beard I did not spend as much time as I could have. This work is meant to be 100% conceptual.

I fully expect to get in a lot of trouble with all sorts of Islamic extremists because of this work but to be a true artist you have to be true to yourself and not worry about what the rest of the world thinks. I am doing this art for myself – no one else. I have another image about Islamic fundamentalism – it is called Failed Mission.

I am not the only one who has taken a similar harsh view of the world – Denis Peterson depicts the worst aspects of our world by showing the homeless, and the poverty of the third world. He calls his work hyperrealism but I have an aversion to the over categorisation of art. For me it’s all photorealism. Even artists like Damien Hirst have taken the medium to talk about unpalatable subjects. His theme is death and he has had assistants churn out images of cadavers in morgues.

I think it is very important as an artist to show the world as it really is – both at its most beautiful and at its ugliest. The worst indictment of the impressionists was there refusal to paint the horrors of the French revolution, instead painting a wonderfully pretty world.

King of Dirt

Acrylic on MDF board. 60x90cm. Completed 2000.

King of Dirt

Titled ‘King of Dirt’ after the contest series, this artwork features a rider (TJ Lavin), mid-trick, over a big dirt jump. Photorealism is the only way such an image could be painted properly. This is where I really began to use the incredible power of a computer to manipulate the image to be drawn and then painted. In this case the image was changed to reduce to the obvious curvature from the wide angle lens. The source was from Snap BMX magazine and the photographer was Keith Mulligan.

However I felt the subject matter wasn’t serious enough and nor was it as hard as I had expected. I did continue to improve on many levels; the initial computer work, the drawing stage and finally the painting stage. There’s a lot to making a photoreal painting work and there were no teachers I could look to, no books or anything. I had to develop my own techniques and skills. There is an abstract painting titled The joy of listening to Miles Davis on the rear of this work.

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