Merry Christmas! + a new Sketchbook update

Hey all!

Thanks to everyone who supported this blog this year, you are all awesome and I appreciate all the feedback that I've been getting. It's been a good year, but 2011 will be better. I definitely need to take it to a higher level, and I have 2 solo shows and a group show coming up in March/April.
Hope you all have an awesome Christmas and New Year!

Anyway, just got an update of new work to share with you via Hi Fructose, big thanks once again to Ken Harman for helping me share the inner sanctum of my black book with everyone. Please click the link below to check it all out.

WIP

Bird Lady

The main reason I started this was to improve and build upon it further. I feel like an idea which feels good to share with other people is always worth pursuing. In this case it was the significance of the symbiotic relationship between the lady (who appears to be homeless) and the birds. I tried to put in little subliminal details to suggest that, like the trees + verticals above forming cathedral churchy shapes, and triangular shapes, having the colour scheme the same as you'd find on a pigeon, and more things like that. I learnt a lot of things like the importance of ideas, purpose and intent driving content, and only using enough detail to get the message across, stuff i always struggle with, it was hard to limit the amount of detail on the pigeons to just the basic shapes and colours. The final painting took about 2-3 days

Here's also an interview I did for a website called My Modern Met. Big thanks to Alice for taking the time to do this.

http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/gorgeous-traditional-art-12

 gestural sketch, the pencil dark/light thumbnail, and the same one coloured and altered in photoshop.

 resultant colour study:

  alternate study with a different colour scheme

Back to the other scheme and messing around more with the colours

This is the initial drawing, I used pencil and just wanted to think about placement, design and composition.

Wash

Final Layer Wet

Final

Prints For Sale + Oils painting

hey,
I've teamed up with the Drawing Book to sell prints! They're really nice A1 high quality Giclee limited to 15.

I need to sort out the ridiculously expensive framing and shipping for some exhibitions overseas next year. Any little bit helps, and I'm offering these prints as a way to help me get there.

I'm also available for Commissions, so please email me if you're interested!


Just Click the image Below for whichever print you're interested in. You can also see zoom shots on that website!

This drawing actually comes printed at it's full size, not cropped as in the webshot

Ok Great now I can share some art!

This is a little oils study I did for another painting i want to start soon, its a bit smaller than A4.

Sketch paintings

Hey guys!

I'm working more in my sketchbook, and am also planning to do more studies too. Once the moleskine project is done, which I'm feeling really confident about, I'll probably start a new book as well as a new daily project.

I'm planning to get at least 1 work done a week which will easily arrive me on target for my shows next year, if it is done over the next four months.

If I could ask one last thing, I'm trying to raise funds to pay the large costs for framing and shipping, so if anybody is thinking of a commission, now is absolutely the best time for it! I haven't sold anything in a few months so it would be amazing to break the draught, and have enough time to get the most out of it.

Today's recommended link is this blog by Artist and Designer John Coulthart
http://www.johncoulthart.com/feuilleton/


paintings are in oils

Hi Fructose pt 2

Hey!

Been lucky enough to get featured again on the Hi Fructose blog, continuing the Moleskine journey.
Huge thanks to Ken for the support!

There's some new stuff I did for the post so please check it out! I'll be dabbling in the moleskine daily and soon it shall be complete :)

"A few months back we took a look into an ambitious project by a young emerging artist named Rod Luff. The twenty-three year old artist lives down in Australia and has taken on the daunting task of buckling down and completing a moleskine notebook from cover to cover with sketches, miniature paintings and various studies. The response from our initial article was so overwhelmingly positive that we just had to catch up with Luff and take a look at how his progress has been going."

Click here or the image below to go to the post

Bloom

Took a couple weeks off, this is the first thing i've done since I returned.

it was great to start with a drawing on white paper- its always a struggle to get it down as every little mistake can't be hidden by fancy colour or texture :)

lotsa fun, didn't want it to end :(pencil with pastel on paper, 14" by 17"/ 35cm by 43 cm

Also some links for you all...All links open in new window.

-Updated my Website

-Put in New Moleskine Section on Website!

-Also check out this great blog by Julie Smits, good info on nutrition, healthy living and more! It's called Feathered Love.

Also I have some works on sale, Detail shots are up there too, so go check em out! 

Phone Booth Gallery did a great job in revamping their website.

Click each image to open in new window.

Millicent Mimicry

One night, my parents' friends remarked on the similarity my bird lady paintings to a popular Australian children's book, Millicent, which was written in 1980 by Jeannie Baker!

Today, I got my hands on a copy of the book and I can't believe the similarities! The images are also located in Hyde Park, Sydney.
 The techniques of the book involve making the textural shapes from materials like plasticine and fabric, and photographing them. There is a definite sense of depth and vivid life to each page. I definitely remember reading and loving this book in primary school now that I've seen it again!

"Those birds understand everything I say to them."

 After seeing her in person I can't deny that she has formed a reality in which the boundaries between her and the birds are dissolved, it's quite beautiful.

Here are some images from the book mixed with paintings and drawings of my own which were mostly finished last year. I hope you enjoy it and don't find this too self indulgent ;)

I wonder how much of our art consists of childhood memories, thoughts and images? I read TONS of books when I was younger, perhaps I'm still running on the imaginative fuel of my inner child :P

hi

well last week was a disaster- had to bin a drawing i worked really hard on, so that sucked.

since sunday though ive managed to work on the following stuff.

wip

dream hug

  just various touch ups on this piece the most obvious being shifted the some temperature shifts in areas but i think it made a difference, though you can tell more in person

its a3 size, though maybe i will transfer this for a large painting.

Please take the time to see the larger version by clicking it (opens a new window)

Re Vision

just messing around more with this, mix media on paper

friday double

Hello all, hope you are gearing up for an amazing weekend! As I am posting this the sun is setting from yet another glorious spring day in the land down under.

I only have a couple drawings here, I've had a really hard time finishing work- lot of f***ed up drawings getting binned and lots of fresh starts. Hopefully I can get something better finished soon.

Disclaimer

- blogger likes to absolutely shit on the images by compressing them somewhat and so if you click you might get a better view.

Cheeeeeeers!

offering

A3 drawing ive done, might work on it a bit more...i hate what the scanner does to drawings, they really need to be seen in real life it looks better i swear :(
also included in the prelim in case anyone's interested.
cheers
clicks open in new window.

thunderous joy

Good News!

I've just been confirmed for an exhibition at Gallery Nucleus in March 2011.

Other confirmed artists:

Joao Ruas
Wes Burt
Andrew Hem
Michael Zulli

I am effing excited, honoured and terrified to be an ant in the company of such giants. I will do my best!

Also I will be having a solo show with Phone Booth gallery next year, though the date is TBC.

Yay!!!

Also- selling some limited edition signed giclee prints- details soon! Gimme a buz if youre interested!

Anyways, I finished this thing, took another couple days. click to open in new window.

plug it!

hello hello!


Some of my online art friends have been posting some kickass inspiration blogs which are updated daily and are a feast of glorious eye candy, sleazerotica, painterly delights and jaw droppingly curvaceous line pushing!

Some of these may not be safe for work due to nudity/whatever, so be careful but enjoy the thrill if you are at a risk of being caught ;)

**Ville Ericsson's Dirty Turps**

**Clo's Empty Pool**

Here are a few more that I enjoy:

**Illuminate the world**

**Skinny Love**

**Decapitate animals (no animals were decapitated in the making of this blog)**

**amusing blog of carniverous plants!!**

Thanks to Rafa Sarmento for tipping me off to this AMAZING artist  **Giacomo Favretto (1849-1887)**

Also Connor Dejong sent me a link to a whole bunch of michelangelo art he uploaded, so go download those photos here

If you know of any more, please share them in the comments section,

Phew, after all that you can't help but go and create! Inspiration is a cup never filled!


Soooo anyway, heres a drawing i worked on sat/sun. didnt get as much done as i wanted but oh well! Definitely enjoying it though, can't wait to give it more lovin'

dream vortex

Hello!

Sorry I've been slack with keeping this thing updated. been drawing, painting and studying!

First up is a little drawing i just finished.

This A2 size drawing was a failure. However, I managed to learn so much from it that I'm happy I pushed through it, although it's unfinished still. *burns drawing*

 I was kinda happy with this part though.

Couple a sb pagez

Sneak peek at a painting WIP...early days...