The latest ramblings and rumblings from www.leithomalley.com

South Australian Living Artists - August 2011

2011-07-28T04:55:00.000-07:00

Art and Food Dept.
If you're in Adelaide during August, I have several works hanging in Celsius... the now number one Contemporary SA Restaurant 2011.

Also, if you're hungry how's this: Ayhan Erkoc from Celsius was declared "Best Chef" in the Restaurant and Catering SA's annual awards for excellence at the Adelaide Convention Centre on Monday night.

Adelaide artist Meaghan Coles along with myself will hopefully be trying to match the amazing art on the plates from Ayhan and his staff with equally interesting art to digest..

Food for Thought.

2011-02-14T05:47:00.000-08:00

Art and food.
I’ve always loved the combination. There’s something about experiencing interesting art over good food and wine.

I’m sure I’m not the only one guilty of contemplating an abstract, landscape or figurative painting across a table whilst in conversation or waiting for an entrée or main course to arrive. Mind you, I’m easily distracted when it comes to art, particularly paintings or drawings.

In what is now the second time I have exhibited paintings in a city restaurant, I am pleased to announce an exhibition of mostly new or unseen works at Celsius Restaurant & Bar in Adelaide, South Australia.

It’s funny, many artists might baulk at the idea of exhibiting anywhere outside of a gallery space but I simply love the opportunity and environment, especially knowing that the works are experienced for a far longer period of time and often by a wider range of people as they study, scrutinize or simply glance over at the works during warm conversation and culinary delights. Often this is some diners first or only introduction to contemporary art, as many don’t dare step inside a proper commercial gallery space.

So it is.
What I can tell you is that this particular restaurant is noted for creating art on a plate and has recently picked up a “best new restaurant” award in Adelaide.
It’s run by two charming brothers Kasim and Ayham Erkoc.

Ayham, who was awarded the title of Chef of the Year in 2008, has worked at this year’s ruling best restaurant of the year, in the world, that is, Noma, in Copenhagen, as well as Marque and Pier in Sydney.
Hopefully having my work on the walls there will be complimentary to the art on the menu, and that just for a moment they too might be distracted from their day to day lives by canvasses of thick paint.

So, want to check out my recent work over a great meal?
Here’s where to head if you’re in the neighborhood..

Celsius Restaurant and Bar
95 – 97 Gouger Street
Phone: 8231 6023
celsiusrestaurant.com.au
Mon and Sat: 6pm – Late
Tue – Fri: 12pm – 2.30pm, 6pm – Late

Here's a selection of the works available for sale at the restaurant. Just click on an image to enlarge. There is a close-up of the painting surface below each image.

TITLE: “FREE YOUR BIRD”
MEDIUM: OIL & COLLAGE ON CANVAS
H X W: 75 x 40cm

TITLE: “LETTER FROM VINCENT (VAN GOGH)”
MEDIUM: OIL ON CANVAS
H X W: 100 x 75cm

TITLE: “GIRL ON A WHITE CANVAS”
MEDIUM: OIL ON CANVAS
H X W: 101 x 75cm

TITLE: “SAVE YOUR BREATH”
MEDIUM: OIL ON CANVAS
H X W: 120 x 90cm

TITLE: “LETTER FROM FRIDA (KAHLO)”
MEDIUM: OIL & COLLAGE ON CANVAS
H X W: 76 x 50cm

TITLE: “THE CROSSROADS”
MEDIUM: OIL ON CANVAS
H X W: 100 x 75cm

TITLE: “THE YELLOW HIJAB”
MEDIUM: OIL ON CANVAS
H X W: 101 x 75cm

TITLE: “SPEAK NO ART”
MEDIUM: OIL & COLLAGE ON CANVAS
H X W: 60 x 50cm

TITLE: “HARD JAZZ CAFE”
MEDIUM: OIL ON BOARD
H X W: 120 x 92cm

TITLE: “GONE FOR COFFEE”
MEDIUM: OIL ON CANVAS
H X W: 122 x 92cm

Celsius Restaurant and Bar
95 – 97 Gouger Street
Phone: 8231 6023
celsiusrestaurant.com.au
Mon and Sat: 6pm – Late
Tue – Fri: 12pm – 2.30pm, 6pm – Late

A recent article from "Adelaide Now".
One of the paintings is featured in the photo.

FIVE is the magic number.

Five of Adelaide's best chefs showcased their talents in a unique dining event at Celsius Restaurant last night.

The dinner had five chefs, five courses and five wineries, with the event aiming to raise $10,000 for the children's family cancer charity, Camp Quality.

Lachlan Colwill with Emma Shearer from The Manse (who were counted as one), Ayhan Erkoc from Celsius Restaurant, Vincenzo LaMontagna from Vincenzo's Cucina Vera, James Brinklow from The Lane and Johny Triscari from Chloe's each created one course at the dinner, matched with wines from Natural Selection Theory, K.T, Alpha Box and Dice, Samuel's Gorge and BK Wines.

Executive chef at Celsius Restaurant Ayhan was chuffed with the event.

"Adelaide's dining scene is alive," Ayhan says.

"We are all passionate about food in this city and by coming together for this event we are learning from each other, having fun, raising money for charity, and we give people an amazing food and wine experience."

Group Exhibition at The Urban Cow..

2010-12-18T06:58:00.000-08:00

One of my illustrations will be part of an exciting exhibition featuring a variety of Australian Illustrators at the funky "Urban Cow Gallery" in Adelaide during January 2011.

The exhibition "Nursery Rhymes" will open on Wednesday January 5th and run through to January 28th. If you're in the area, come along to the opening at around 6pm on the 5th!

Here's some detail and images to guage an idea of the quality of the work on display..

Please note that the images below are not necessarily showing in the exhibition but serve as an example or indication of some of the participating artists style of illustration.

ABOUT: Nursery Rhymes is an exhibition inspired by the dark point of reference of traditional nursery rhymes. It is an exhibition featuring a group of creatives that have chosen one nursery rhyme. Each creative built their art work around the nursery rhyme, in their chosen medium, to showcase their signature style.

Each of the participants in the exhibition arrive from a wide range of disciplines, from art and illustration to graphics and apparel within the creative industry. Many of the artists are multi-disciplinary and have had group and solo exhibitions of their work and have had their work emblazoned across tee-shirts, banners, books and magazines.

This exhibition at Urban Cow Gallery gave each of the artists an opportunity to demonstrate their creative passion in any way they chose, creating an exhibition of awe inspiring beauty, colour, sinuous line work, and textures, whilst expressing the creative vision of each of the participants. To have such a diverse range of artists with distinct styles, interests, view points and focus, each creating a piece to be held together by the concept of a nursery rhyme, makes for an interesting, visually challenging and inspiring exhibition.

Opening night: Wednesday January 5th 2011
Time: 5:30pm
Urban Cow Gallery : 11 Frome Street, Adelaide
Exhibition runs until Jan 28th

The artists in the exhibition are:
Anita Alcorn – Melanie Allen – Sam Barratt – Siobhán Boughton – Courtney Brims - Letitia Buchan – Peta Alannah Chigwidden – Jordan Clarke – Anna Creasy – Klaus Kinski – Milo Kossowski – Beci Orpin - Leith O’Malley – Elisa Mazzone – Suzanne McPherson – Anna Moretti – Naomi Murrell – Wendy Olsen – Lilly Piri - Nani Puspasari – Joshua Smith – Eugenia Tsimiklis – Ella Versteege – Bec Winnel – Sally Wren – Nancy Alice Wood

My own piece in the group show is an interpretation of the nursery rhyme "Little Boy Blue" and is somewhat of a return to my cartooning roots. I wanted to present a new take on it.. a different angle.

What if the story behind this boy with the horn came from contemporary folk lore?
What if Boy Blue was a young jazz player who was forever on the road with his band The Meadow?
What if his sleepiness was the result of playing his horn every night in clubs like The Haystack?

I wonder what music these sheep headed musicians lay down behind Boy Blue's trumpet solos? Maybe some of it might be from Miles Davis's "Kind of Blue" album which I had playing for my own inspiration during the construction of this painting..or maybe something from Tom Waits "Blue Valentine" perhaps?

Sneak Peek: Close ups of the illustration I created for the exhibition. The reference to "Birdland" (as mentioned in my previous blog post) is a famous jazz club in New York. The final illustration is approx 30 x 42 cm (H x L) in oil and collage.

Click on the image above to see the final work. Any comments welcome below..
The original will be available for purchase.
I will also be making available a short run of signed limited edition prints (30 only @ 42 x 30cm).

No Sleep Till Birdland.

2010-12-06T02:31:00.000-08:00

So there’s this thing I do.

I always have paint left over on what ever it is I’m working on at the time.

All sorts of unused pure pigment, coloured premixes or subtle glazed medium that didn’t end up on the drying canvas. It seems such a waste to just scrape it all off into a waste bin and I don’t really like to let them mount up on the palette like some artists do.

It’s my little indulgence at the end of the painting hour if you will. My own little ritual. I use this left over paint on a separate work in progress.

So this was the beginnings of “Birdland”, the latest in a line of left over meanderings, residual after thoughts whisked off a brush or scalpel in conscious self indulgence at the end of a night.

I’m happy with the result, especially as I watched the piece over several months take on a different look, a different layer of meaning with every layer of paint.
It’s a mixed media in the true sense of the word. If I happened to be working on a paper collage drawing at the time then on would go some collage. If another night I was using gold leaf on a painting then some of this would also end up on Birdland.

I even resisted the temptation to paint over my pencil lines so the picture is a real combination of different media, an unusual jigsaw that evolved as a result of not only the materials used on its surface, but also the juxtaposition of Klee-like abstraction and colour with the roughly sketched pencil drawings of birds.

For me it is successful in that it breaks a few rules of what a painting is supposed to look like.

The birds are not new. I have made reference to these particular feathered friends in some of my other work in recent years. They are “New Holland Honeyeaters” and are a very common bird around my neighbourhood here in South Australia. My favourite bird in fact.

Several like to make their homes under the tiled roof of my studio each year and I am always hearing them scurrying about up there or feeding their young. Maybe it’s the protection that roof space provides for raising their young, but I prefer to think it is the music emanating below them that sees them return time and time again.

The title “Birdland” actually has a double meaning.

It is also a reference to the famous jazz club that was established in New York in 1949 and named after the saxophonist Charlie "Yardbird" Parker.

As much as I love many genres of music, I’m a bit of a jazz head and even play a little saxophone myself. I’m no Bird, far from it.. but being able to mix art and music does make me feel like I have some licence to fly.

*********************************************************

“All composition left to chance.
Technique a trap you set yourself.
To prize apart your own resemblance,
and free the bird inside your head”.

*********************************************************

Ok, feel free to comment below.. gotta fly…

Art is Music, Music is Art – Just ask Big Joe.

2010-11-07T21:06:00.000-08:00

If there’s anything that can distract me from creating art it is good music.

Listening to it, creating it, being surrounded by it.. it’s something that was constantly around me growing up and I am seldom far from listening to the music I love whether I am at home, in my studio or driving my car.

All my family are musicians, I have two brothers and two sisters, all of them sing and play guitar exceptionally well. In and out of bands and also recording their originals.

My dad “Mike O’Malley” was in fact a pioneer of Australian Country Music and has been honoured more than once for his years of contribution to that genre of music and the early recording industry in this country (Rodeo Records).

In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if he still has some of the cement under his finger nails from his Tamworth Hands of Fame induction a few years ago now.

Dads old guitar has taken some mighty plectrum use around the barbecues and kitchen tables of my youth and onwards. My brothers and sisiters and I would take our turn on his knee early on, but there was also a beautiful 1950’s Gibson guitar to compete with. To this day I am yet to hear a guitar with a warmer tone than that piece of family history.

So anyway I am really fortunate to have experienced a rich musical upbringing and it’s something I’m not only proud of, but also feel (like art) has enriched my life in many ways. Being open to and discovering so many incredible forms of music and ways of making music is a kind of wonderment that continues to be a fascinating and addictive pastime.

Which brings me to the reason for this particular blog posting. You knew I’d eventually get there right?!

Occasionally I get an opportunity where I can mix these two together.. art and music.

Some of you will already know about the artwork and design I provided for the Mercedes Garcia release “Cross My Heart”, but another recent and just as interesting design based project involved providing the cover art for something closer to home.

Anyone who knows me well will tell you how much I really enjoy roots, blues and jazz music so this opportunity was an easy one to say “yes, let me at it”.

Apart from the fact I occasionally play in some local blues outfits (amplified blues harmonica and saxophone), I also enjoy creating much of the promotional material (logo, posters and ticket designs) for a popular live blues night in my neck of the woods known as “Live @ Lefties”.

My involvement in creating the cover art for a new CD compilation I am about to speak of came about after Jacob of the studio label Stobie Sounds saw some of the work I was doing promoting these Lefties blues nights.

After some detail and discussion on what Jacob had in mind, I submitted a few alternate images and the result is the cover art we see below for the album.. a composite image of photo reference and hand drawn line art that has been given the simple “mono print” look that has become so indicative of the Stobie Sounds branding.

At that stage I had heard a little about the label from it’s growing reputation for creating quality glass bottle-neck guitar slides, as well as recording home grown (Adelaide) musicians. I was pleased to learn that my work would be contributing to an eclectic, brooding and earthy recording of blues that would feature reinterpretations of the songs of the American stalwart blues musician “Big Joe Williams”.

I was also anxious to not only see how my image of Big Joe turned out in print, but also hear what lay within the CD package itself.

I couldn’t have been more pleased when the postman arrived with copies of the CD. The record label has done a remarkable job with the production throughout, both in a visual and aural sense. The labels branding entails hand printed covers onto recycled cardboard sleeves and includes everything people love about buying records.. interesting liner notes, good artwork (yeah I can blow trumpet too) and good design.

The album is made up of sixteen tracks and features both Australian and US based musicians giving their own take on the Big Joe Williams originals. The liner notes have been generously provided by recording artist and ABC announcer “Lucky Oceans” (who I read actually spent time with Big Joe in his youth), and includes a 12 page booklet with everything you’ll ever need to know about the big man.

For music connoisseurs, Stobie Sounds is a roots record label from Thebarton in South Australia and they specialise in putting out small releases of 50-500 albums which are marketed and promoted to a small selection of independent media and record stores in Australia and the US. Real collector items just quietly.

Anyone interested in purchasing the Big Joe Williams album or learning more about Stobie sounds should head to http://www.stobieandco.com/stobiesounds/?page_id=3&category=13&product_id=29

"Worlds Apart". {a postcard from Down Under}

2010-10-28T23:14:00.000-07:00

“I love irony and that is evident in your work - but in the irony is also sadness and reflection which is born from deep thought” - Jennifer Groome.

Breathe out.

It arrived.

Finally.

It’s always a bit of a worry, sending original art overseas.

Particularly when the work is winging its way from Southern Australia to Verona, Italy.

Such was the case with a recently completed canvas I had titled “Worlds Apart”, a literal reference to it’s destination in some respects, although the title had its origins in a more metaphorical analogy of choice, difference and balance.

Did I say metaphorical analogy? I think I’m just about ready to write that new artist statement hehe..

It’s a long story but this painting was a commissioned work for someone who has taken great interest in my art practice during the last few years, and I was keen for it to arrive safe and sound. After some initial postal tracking confusion, I’m happy to say the work now hangs safely in the home of its new owner Jennifer, her husband Tarcisio and daughter Sophia.

I have known Jennifer for some time now. I originally created the gig poster for a band she was in called “Doppio Malto” and in recent times she has done a cracking job of recording some prose of mine, a side project I am still working on.

Some months ago her husband Tarcisio granted her a birthday wish of purchasing one of my oil on canvas works.

It’s kind of a small world you know.

I mean, this whole networking and friendship forming phenomena reminds me so much of a time when I was about thirteen years old receiving pen friend postcards in the mail from Europe.

This time the picture on the postcard becomes a link to many more pictures from an image gallery and the scribbled text on the reverse side of the postcard has metamorphosed into globe trotting short messages or email.

It’s fascinating and at once astonishing how we can now communicate with people across the country and around the globe, and although I now take it for granted, it still amazes me how far we have come.

But I digress.

I wanted to post this painting earlier but needed to wait until it was in the hands of it’s new owner.. why spoil the surprise right?

The best thing about this private commission was that there were no conditions. Jen made it clear early on to “paint it for yourself, don’t email me any work in progress images.. and then post the painting to me” so that’s precisely what happened and it became a joy to complete.

That’s not always the case with commissioned work and it brings me to another point about the difference between selling artwork as a private commission versus gallery sales from an exhibition of your own work.

In my experience there is quite a lot of anonymity involved in who is buying your work from a gallery. I don’t include all galleries in this but the buyers identity are kept at arms length it seems.

I suspect the gallery does this to protect themselves from artists approaching these people outside of the gallery (for further or future sales avoiding gallery percentage on sale fees). I can understand that. They are a business and I respect that also, but I still like to know who is buying my work and why.

Believe it or not this infatuation with creating art isn’t about money. I’m not selling time, effort and materials in my work.. it’s not craft… I’d like to think people are not only buying something of aesthetic resonance or investment value but also a real creative component. Something of me.

In a response to the arrival of her new painting Jennifer wrote “I have a piece of your imagination in my home Leith, that is how I feel about it" and further “it contains so many references to your other work which I have always admired”.

Unless you are speaking to buyers or art enthusiasts on exhibition opening night, feedback is few and far between once your work is sold. I’m not talking about ego stroking but genuine feedback and an interest in what it is that people like in your work enough to purchase it.

Maybe it says more about the person buying an artists work but it really means so much more when you know the buyer connects to your work, and in this case the buyer clearly has.

The Jack in the Box has a very sad face Leith, almost as if the two worlds he is holding up are a burden to him. He doesnt want to go back into his box actually. He could have been a smiling person, but he isn’t and this makes him even more interesting.

The little bird - his alter-ego, or his friend, wants to fly away and could but chooses not to because he wants to simply stick around. Seeing that bird really made my heart jump because I knew then that your heart had gone into this painting - I love it when that bird pops up in your work. And the allusion to the music - to the piano. Which is where he now lives in my music room, so that is just perfect of cours”.

“Sophia says the Jack in the Box is sad because of the two worlds he is holding he does not know which one to chose and his eyes are fixing the beholder almost desperately trying to find an answer to that question. Which world does he want - the coloured one or the greyscale one”.

I’ll take this opportunity to explain a little about those two worlds.

Around the time I was painting this Jack in the Box image I was also working on some digital logo work. It was all greyscale stuff and the decision making was more to do with font choice, dimension and form.

It was so liberating to leave that work every now and again and work on the painting. Pushing actual paint around a canvas with a brush and being seduced by so much colour. It was like respite from that other stuff. Worlds apart.

That is the genesis of where the two dangling temptuous worlds of colour, tone and choice come from.. me working on other mediums and it then feeding itself back into the piece I was painting.

Whether it’s colour or greyscale, I’ll always waltz between the two. Painting and drawing, charcoal and brush, computer and canvas, love and insanity.

Elaborating on her new painting Jen continues:

Much art that I admire, and maybe this is because I am a simple little soul, contains wonderful colour. I love Paul Klee for example - just like I also admire other types of art, Bauhaus, post expressionism, pop art - and I find modern art more fascinating than old Rembrandt or Constable, or even Joseph Wright from Derby - who painted light like no one else.

Paul Klee loved colour too. But even more than that, like you and me he was a musician at heart and his musicality, in my opinion, comes out in his work - as it does yours. It is not easy to describe how it does, it just does. I suppose it is a certain feeling of liberation and exploration.

But I am not going to rabbit on about Paul Klee now...although I will just say that he abandoned his music because he found the music around him, the so called successful music of his particular time, banal and uninteresting. He could be living in todays society with our modern bland music - he would hate it. Art libertated him, music trapped his creativy.

Henri Matisse said that to me this evening Leith - he came round for a beer bless him, Picasso, his mate had just left..

Thankyou Jennifer. Thankyou for reminding me of the value in what lies beneath the paint and the recognition by some of what has been woven within it.

It’s a pity I missed Henri and Pablo you know. We could have painted the town red.

It’s a good day for art..

Breathe in.

Music to my Ears.

2010-10-16T23:00:00.000-07:00

One of my little pleasures over the last few years has been sharing music with people from around the globe.

Every now and then I post off a collection of tunes on CD to a friend, and in return enjoy some of the music that inspires, enlightens or simply shakes the ass of the person sending it.

These friends are mostly artists, musicians or writers.

Some I have met, others not. All of them different but all sharing this inherent ability to choose music that informs, ignites and inspires.

Music like art, consumes me.

Subconsciously I use it to both fuel my thoughts on conception for a painting and consciously as a backdrop or soundscape during the physical act of painting. The two and fro from the canvas, the sitting, the looking and the sitting again.

I wouldn't say I have an eccentric taste in music but I guess it does lean towards eclectic at times in that I follow what strikes my own chord, and for the most part that doesn't usually turn out to be what is popular, or charting or whatever they call it these days.

I don't listen to a lot of radio or watch a lot of TV and it's just getting harder to find "my" music on traditional media so instead I enjoy the pleasure of discovery through music press, friend recommendations and some trusted online music sites and blogs.

So, I wanted to share with you an example of one such musical gift that arrived in the mail recently, and that is a beautiful compilation of music from my friend “Nasty” Nigel Lawrence of Melbourne.

Nigel is a musician himself and has a deft touch when it comes to sniffing out incredibly interesting music. This time it is in the genre of reggae in which he is well versed.

Nigel has an amazing record collection (both vinyl and CD) and thankfully he took some time out to put this together for me.

Well this is where I leave it folks, it’s the painting hour and I’m itching to hit the play button on the latest Nasty offering..

For the record, here’s the play list Nigel sent me, and to the man himself.. thanks mate!

1. Moving to the Top - Don Carlos

2. Champions of Arena - Jackie Mittoo

3. Mind made Up - Mikael Rose

4. Our day will Come - Heptones

5. Silhouette - Dennis Brown

6. Upside Down - Joe Higgs

7. Rudeboy Shufflin - Israel Vibration

8. Sponji Reggae - Black Uhuru

9. Rumours - Gregory Isaacs

10. Pick up the Pieces - The Royals

11. Thin Line - BB Seaton

12. Hot Milk - Jackie Mittoo

13. Never found a Girl - Cornell Cambell

14. When you are Wrong - The Royals

15. You will never Find - John Holt

Website Versus Social Networking Versus..

2010-09-09T07:38:00.000-07:00

I recently received a message from an old friend who has been asked to help set up a facebook site to promote an artists work.

He asked me if it was beneficial to have both a website and a facebook presence.. and would I recommend one over the other?

Although my answer was to be specifically for him, I thought it may be of interest to the artists following my blog.

That’s right, the three of you.

First of all, I don’t pretend to be an expert in this area but will answer the question based on my own experience and what I have observed from other visual artists, the various pod casts I listen to and the many contemporary artist interviews I read both online and in print .

I have a reasonably good web presence.

If I type “Australian visual artist” and the word “jazz” into Google for instance, I am the second rated link on the list.

Typing my name in Google returns the first eight pages of links to my artwork on various sites in one form or another.

Ok, now that I have put my trumpet down, I’ll elaborate.

Just because you have a website or presence somewhere on the net it doesn’t mean everyone can or will find you.

It’s like putting up a poster in New York City.

There are several ways to help boost your Google rating or search engine visibility on a source tag level, but having your work featured on a multiple of (respectable) portfolio or networking sites can also increase visits and ultimately exposure of your art to a greater audience.

You have to ask yourself what it is you want to be there for of course. Do you want to advertise and sell your work? do you want to network with other artists and/or art directors or galleries? Do you want to converse and learn from your peers? Do you want to send little glittering animated gifs to people? Ok, scrub that last bit.

Stick to the topic Leith. Back to that question.. a website and/or a Facebook site and which is best?

The answer? Well for me it’s both.. but there’s something a little more important than each of these that an artist should consider developing and that is an “Artist Blog”.

To explain, my website along with many other artists here serves a purpose. It showcases a portfolio of work.

It’s probably of more use to galleries or art directors who may be interested in seeing what work I do, but realistically these people along with art enthusiasts and the general public all love art blogs. I love art blogs.

A blog offers a more personal insight into the artist and if done well and updated regularly, can present more of a personal touch to an online presence and this is far more interesting than just a bunch of colourful images and a laborious navigation route to get to them.

Many artists add tutorials to their blogs, sneak previews of works in progress (always a favourite) and interesting news about process or upcoming shows. With the help of a youtube account artists can post video onto their blog.

It might be footage from an exhibition, a moving image look at your studio, step by step footage of artwork.. you name it.

Some artists include the blog within their own website or on specific blog sites, two of which are the popular “Wordpress” and “Blogger”.

So a blog is a useful addition to the artists promotional arsenal and having subscribers can often ensure future visits if the content is topical and interesting for the viewer.

Facebook (in my opinion) offers a respected and user friendly environment for anyone wanting to help promote their work and at the same time network with people with similar interests or arts practice.

Lets face it, its networking reputation at both a social and professional practice level is almost unsurpassed.

I keep my personal facebook page separate from my arts practice page.

I have forged not only some long friendships with peers on this site but also secured gallery representation and gained valuable insight into how other artists conduct and present themselves online.

Like any social networking site, forum and indeed in real life, one has to listen as well as communicate with intelligence. A sense of humour can open some doors too. Art can be a serious business but it doesn’t mean all artists are serious people. Just no “why did the chicken cross the road?” jokes ok..

Ok, this is a fairly long winded answer to the original question but by now you should know that yes, tick those boxes.. website, artist blog and Facebook.

But why stop there? If you have the time, the inclination and the strength of coffee why not add a few more to your list?

LinkedIn, Deviant Art, Talent House, Behance, Naymz, Twitter, Artabase, CreativeStem, Blue Canvas, RedBubble, Art Break, Tumblr, Flickr, SelfPortrait.. the list goes on and all offer good opportunities to promote your work with little or no outlay.

Just make sure you have a good think about how you want to present not only yourself but also your work before signing up with any of these sites.

How you present yourself is important.

What you present is important.

How you conduct yourself is important.

What you say is important.

Good luck! Lecture over.

Thankyou to Bozzy who raised this question with me initially.

Wet Paint..

2010-08-27T04:22:00.000-07:00

Presently drying in the studio is this recently completed oil on canvas which will soon be travelling interstate to it's new owner (Gen) in Melbourne . Colder than usual temperatures, several changes and thick paint meant the work took a little longer than usual to dry sufficiently for the trip. Gen is a Melbourne graphic designer who commissioned the work some months ago. Her patience has resulted in a piece which takes it's lead from a previous charcoal drawing painting of mine (The Black Butterfly) which is currently hanging in a gallery in Texas

The working title of this piece is "The Blue Butterfly"

A close up of the surface paint which is slightly more blue than the above image suggests.

The completed work approx 100 x 74cm in oil on canvas.

Charlatan Ink Prize 2011

2010-07-31T06:49:00.000-07:00

I am pleased to announce I have recently been selected to be an Honorary Member of the Advisory Board for the 2011 Charlatan Ink Prize to be held in New York later this year. I join six other members in the advisory role from several different continents including the multi talented artist Phillip Brooker, American contemporary figurative artist Richard T scott, fellow Australian contemporary artist Hazel Dooney and the amazing German painter Michael Hutter.

For further information on each click {here}.

The $25000 prize will be judged by Anthony Lister (AUS); Peter Gric (CZ/AU); Bing Dawe (NZ); Winston Smith (USA); Marleen Antico (AUS); Joanne Berkoe (USA) and Ed McCormack (USA)

Grab your fly swatter and click here to visit the Charlatan Ink site.

The CHARLATAN INK ART PRIZE for the VISUAL ARTS will be the gateway for the Charlatan Ink Art Project to connect worldwide with artists, galleries and art organizations, facilitating cross pollination and creation of fertile soils to establish new and exciting means to present art to a wider public.

Once the Charlatan Ink Art Project has established itself within the New York art establishment and with time on a global stage, Charlatan Ink LLC New York will pledge itself to metamorphose into an art-entity, that will not only search for new inventive art and art practitioners, but will commit itself to nurture new talents through its facilities of publishing and art management. Charlatan Ink LLC New York will create an innovative new model in artist representation, allowing artists to be free of commercial conformity and limiting art market policies.

THE CHARLATAN INK ART PRIZE for the Visual Arts is open to all artists practicing VISUAL ART : painters (in any medium & stylistic expression from classical painting to collages to illustrations to graffiti to drawing to print); photographers (film/digital); sculptors (3D works/jewellery); film-makers (video/film-camera/animation film); conceptual artists (working in all mediums mentioned above); crafts (from pottery to weaving to carpet-looming)

For more information: visit the Charlatan Ink site.

A Change Is As Good As..

2010-07-19T04:35:00.000-07:00

First it was America.
An African American President. Who would have thought?
Things change.

Now it’s Australia’s turn.
A female Prime Minister? In a country steeped in bloke’dom?
Yes, things do change.

So it is with change in the air and another election in the wind, I present my (and in the case of most Australians) our new Prime Minister, “Julia Gillard” (click on image to view larger).
But I’ll get back to her in a moment.

I like to jump between mediums. I adore the freedom of drawing.
I love the physical act of painting on canvas.
I am seduced equally by charcoal, brush, pencil and scalpel.

I also love new media.
I love drawing with a digital tablet, painting with a digital palette.

Here’s the rub.

In my correspondence with other artists this comes as a surprise to most traditional, natural media artists or illustrators who hold fast to the belief that real artists use real media.

There is no argument here. I encounter my work in both mediums day in and day out in the studio, and a freshly painted oil on canvas is hard to beat next to a 600dpi print, no matter how large it is or what archival ink properties it has for longevity.

I’m keeping the Prime Minister waiting though..
This picture is a digital drawing. It was created using a Wacom Intuos tablet and the software programs Adobe Photoshop and Corel Painter.
It looks painted you say? Well yes it is. In a manner of speaking.
It looks painted but the processes to get there are worlds apart. No cleaning of brushes in turpentine for this baby.
No, not you Prime Minister, I’m referring to the painting.. I mean drawing.. no I mean.. oh never mind.

Frankly, I’m over the disparities, debates and the politics (sorry Julia) of natural media versus digital. Of tradition versus modernity. I make art for arts sake. Work bound for galleries, work bound for publication, work bound for sketch books.. even work bound for the dust bin. I don’t have any hang up about it whatsoever. It is just about exploring and creating work in a different media for me.

I don’t pretend to be a master of any of this, and using an electronic tablet for a drawing seems no different to picking up pastels, pen and ink or doing some collage work. It’s another way of mark making, any way you look at it and for me, another way in.

So this blog piece comes with a little more rhetoric than usual, and I had better remind myself to stick to the purpose and that is my latest distraction, Julia.

She took about five hours to complete and came about whilst waiting for the (real) paint to dry on a commissioned canvas I have been working on in my studio for some time now (more on that in our next chat).
Quite frankly, I enjoyed it. Putting down a brush and picking up the Wacom pen and tablet that is.

With an election just around the corner, I have Miss G here giving Australia a “womans touch” with a metaphoric make over and wielding her trusty Australian Labour Party brush. She’s also wearing an Australian Diggers uniform by the way.
There you have it, a picture with no sign of Dorian Gray and not a single drop of paint was shed.

I’ve been thinking a lot about this recently and I’m convinced my warmth towards this new medium is because I simply love the act of creating.. of drawing and painting no matter what the medium. What ever road gets me there, and whatever medium I choose to realize the image in.

So, would I ever choose one over the other? Digital or traditional?
I doubt it but who knows.

Things change.

The Mercedes Garcia Project

2010-07-13T07:54:00.000-07:00

I have finally completed the CD cover and booklet artwork for the soon to be released "Cross My Heart" album by Queensland based vocalist Mercedes Garcia.
A few months ago whilst discussing the music, ideas and imagery for the project and browsing some of my portfolio images, Mercedes was taken by the image of a girl not unlike that used in my "Red Dust Girl" series, hanging or levitated in chocks. It was a drawing I had produced digitally (Wacom tablet/ Painter/ PhotoShop) and using that imagery as a basis for the work, I decided to make some significant changes. During all of this I had been finishing off a large oil on canvas commissioned work called "Red Dust Senorita". I decided to use the dress from that painting and add yellow in the stripes. Mercedes is Spanish herself so this was an ideal way to emphasise this. In fact, Mercedes really wanted the artwork throughout the booklet and jewel case to be representative of herself and her music so it was important that I capture not only her heritage (Spain) but also her life in Australia and the area of South Australia where she grew up and started to perform music. Hence the symbolism of a deserted Australian landscape and isolation throughout the CD artwork, as well as references to the freedom that a love of music can provide.

Carmen Wells of Larry Tyler Management was overseeing this project and provided me with the details of the brief along with working with graphic artist Tony Drew who did the text and photo layouts. Carmens help in putting this all together has been tremendous. Her concept of having the landscape follow through on the back of the jewel case was a winner!

The CD itself mimics the front cover of course.

Booklet page preview: I created a winding barbwire stem for two roses here which wound themselves around the microphone stand. The collaged, background textures and the coloured streams of light that run throughout the booklet were also part of the concept I envisaged for the finished art.

Inside: Some of the booklet inserts I created using a combination of electronic collage, digital image editing, text layout and hand colouring/drawing.

One half of a booklet page spread. The booklet imagery, themes and colour were very important components in marrying an Australian/Spanish feel throughout.

It was such a pleasure to be a part of this project and I highly recommend that you visit and listen for yourself to the amazing voice of Mercedes Garcia at the myspace page address above. Her "Cross My Heart" release is a cutting edge album of soulful beats and grooves, and the production is a credit to its producer Ken Sheppard. Nice work guys and I'm glad to be a part of it!

"The Red Dust Señorita"

2010-04-20T08:46:00.000-07:00

I have just had word that my recently completed commission "The Red Dust Senorita" was well received by it's new owner Justin Hunter of Melbourne. I spent several weeks off and on the painting, laying down a thick textural surface and the result is another work revisiting the Red Dust Girl series.

I'm posting a few images of the work here along with one photo of her hanging in Justins home and two close up photos of the surface..

O'Malley @ Art Melbourne

2010-04-12T04:06:00.000-07:00

Watch out for four of my works hanging in the SmartArtz Gallery booth at this years "Art Melbourne". If all goes well they will be hanging Friday afternoon, Saturday and Sunday..

"The Girl with the Golden Microphone", "Coltrane" "The Wild Young Things" and "Caffeine Girl #4" will feature along with what looks and sounds like a swag of incredible Australian art.

When? The Weekend Australian Art Melbourne 2010 will be abuzz in the Royal Exhibition Building, Carlton from 22-25 April 2010. Adding to Melbourne's vibrant art scene, Art Melbourne 2010 showcases over a hundred galleries from around Australia and overseas with thousands of new artworks.

If you are strolling past their booth (G3) and spot the work below (unfinished and untitled at present), please say hi to Gallery owners Sharron and Di for me, who will no doubt be busy with all things art over the four day event.

For further information:
ART MELBOURNE
SMARTARTZ GALLERY

Viitors to The Weekend Australian Art Melbourne 2010 will enjoy the convenience of seeing over 100 galleries under one roof offering original, high quality art work accessible both to a growing market of new art buyers and appealing to the most discerning collector.

The Weekend Australian Art Melbourne 2010 aims to equip visitors with adequate information and guidance to give them confidence in their acquisitions. The Weekend Australian Art Melbourne 2010 recognises the equal importance of work by emerging and established artists.

Art Melbourne 2010, Melbourne's affordable art fair is part of the AAF global group, with similar events held annually in New York, Singapore, Brussels, Paris, London and Sydney.

New Work, Old Brushes..

2010-04-12T03:59:00.000-07:00

Sneak preview of three new works on the go in the studio.
A simulaneous outpouring of paint and music. All three bound for Melbourne buyers.

C O L T R A N E : painting and all that jazz..

2010-03-15T01:53:00.000-07:00

Have camera, will film Dept.
Thought I would share a short wander around my John Coltrane inspired work from a few years ago..

"John Coltrane"
Oil on Board - 128 x 96cm
Property of Artist

On the Easel..

2010-03-13T00:46:00.000-08:00

Currently working on a new Red Dust Girl painting in the studio.
The yet unnamed work is progressing well and I have taken a number of progress photos as well as film to document its emergence. I am posting an image or two here but there is quite a bit of work ahead of me to get it to how I envisage it. So just work in progress shots.
Good to be painting again though after a sojourn into digital work mentioned in my last post here. This particular girl will be travelling to Melbourne when completed, where her new owner (Justin) eagerly awaits the unveiling and hanging in his home.
Well, enough of this rambling.. time I returned to a paint soaked brush!

Here's the photos at various stages and some footage from earlier on in the piece. The colour in the film is a little off, but apart from that..

Publish Post

Posters and Paint (well sort of..)

2010-03-06T04:22:00.000-08:00

Took a break from painting on canvas recently to complete a poster project for The South Australian Government department known as The D'Faces of Youth.
I was still painting, but this time in the digital sense.. creating posters for large scale A1 reproduction of prints for the four themed programs/projects: "Visual Arts", "Acting", "Clowning" and "Dance".
I used a combination of my own drawings, textures and some collage/photo manipulation to create the posters in Adobe Illustrator, PhotoShop, and Corel Painter using my trusty Wacom tablet, some genuine South Ozzy sweat and the obligatory late night (ok, make that several).
Anyway, they are all complete and I'm hoping to return to the brush and oils real soon :)

Roll out the Red Carpet.. Lights Vision, Action!

2010-01-13T01:12:00.000-08:00

Artisans! I am pleased to announce that a design of mine has been chosen as the brand identity for The State Theatre Company of South Australia’s 2010 theatre program “Red Carpet”.

The design will be seen across Adelaide throughout the year as the company promotes and markets the exuberant new theatre program.
It’s a great honour and nice to have more of my work out there in the public arena.

I based some of the idea for the character on Colonel William Light.

He arrived in South Australia in 1836 with the task of deciding upon the site for Adelaide. Light, was in fact the first Surveyor-General of South Australia and himself an artist. In fact, if you are in the neighborhood, there is a wonderful self portrait of his in the Art Gallery of South Australia and it is from this painting I have "borrowed" his uniform jacket for my own design (see image at the bottom of this posting).

On a similar note, the pointing finger of my charater is a reference to the incredible statue of Light which stands at Montefiore Hill in North Adelaide. The area is known as “Light's Vision”, hence my title "Lights Vision..Action" which is a metaphor for live theatre. I have this arm pointing down at the red carpet in my design..

The black crown the character is wearing is a nod to the “king” motifs in the work of painter Jean Basquiat (ok some self indulgence :) although that along with the mask and nose lend themselves to a theatrical setting.

Old habits die hard, and my continuing fascination with elevating people or objects in my paintings snuck its way into this little fella’s space via a floating red carpet.

The whole thing was put together in Adobe Illustrator and PhotoShop, after hand drawing and scanning various versions of the design from my sketchbook.

For the record: The State Theatre Company of South Australia is the state's flagship professional theatre company performing an annual season of classic and contemporary Australian and international theatre works at its main performance home – the Dunstan Playhouse. The Company is a major community and cultural resource for all South Australians and is vital to artistic life in the state.

Glenn Barr/O'Malley @ the 4th Wall..

2009-12-10T04:13:00.000-08:00

The 4th Wall Gallery of Dallas (Texas) will be exhibiting the works of celebrated illustrator/artist Glenn Barr during January and February 2010.
My paintings and drawings will also be exhibited in the gallery during this period with a variety of original works available for sale. It is a privilege to be exhibiting in the same gallery as Glenn whom I have held in high regard for many years and been inspired by for just as long.
Glenn is one of Detroit's most celebrated and successful underground artists. His paintings have appeared in galleries from Seattle and San Francisco to New York City. His work has been featured in a variety of comics and graphic novels such as Mad, DC Comics and Paradox Press as well as in a series of self published books called HEEP.

Glenn Barr's contribution to animation include background styling for The Ren and Stimpy Show, Bjork's I Miss You video and The New Woody Woodpecker Show. His paintings have been reproduced in art journals like Juxtapoz, Erotica and Film Threat magazine.

For those of you lucky enough to have an opportunity to see Glenns work close up, I encourage you to head to the 4th Wall Gallery and whilst there find a moment to also press the flesh with my own work..

The Blue Duck Cafe

2009-11-20T23:00:00.000-08:00

"The Blue Duck Cafe" has recently opened in St Leonards, Sydney.

An illustrated work of mine was commissioned to adorn the walls of the cafe in large print form and has also been used in the beautifully crafted hard backed menu.

The cafe is located at 601 Pacific Highway, St Leonards NSW (2065) and I recommend a visit.

They blend Asian ingredients into contemporary dishes and their Jack and Bean boutique coffee is designed and blended by the World Latte Art Champion and Australian Barista Judge Jack Hanna.Very cool..
If you're fortunate enough to pop in, say hello to Simon and Mary Lee for me!

You will find more information soon at www.blueduckcafe.com.au which is currently having the finishing touches applied to it.

The original drawing of the Blue Duck Cafe (then titled "The Fat Duck Cafe") is owned by good friend and budding wine buff Ian Burrows.

Work in Progress

2009-11-07T03:07:00.000-08:00

Two new works in progress in the studio at the moment.
They will eventually become works in oil on stretched canvas.
The pictures show the underdrawing in progress which I will be updating with new images as time permits.

SYDNEY June/July 2009 - New Works on Paper..

2009-06-18T07:05:00.000-07:00

The Frances Keevil Gallery where I am represented in Sydney is holding a "Works on paper" exhibition later this month.
My work will be joining that of talented artists Adrian Lockhart, Stuart Boggs, Daina Mattis and Ilan Lemberg.
All works will be for sale.
The exhibition runs from 26th June 2009 through to 14th July 2009.

More Details: www.leithomalley.com/franceskeevil.html
The Frances Keevil Gallery
Bay Village, 28-34 Cross Street
Double Bay, Sydney.

info@franceskeevilart.com.au

Leith O'Malley at "The 4th Wall Gallery" Dallas

2009-05-16T05:36:00.000-07:00

Several large works on canvas and paper from Australian visual artist Leith O’Malley are currently featured at “The 4th Wall Gallery” in Dallas, Texas.

Opened on May 21st at 2925 Fairmount Street Dallas, "The 4th Wall Gallery" brings its stable of popularly recognized artists from the Lowbrow movement (The underground visual art movement that began in LA in the late 1970’s and is now recognized as a widespread populist art movement called pop surrealism.) to Dallas, Texas.
O’Malley joins an amazingly diverse group of world-renowned artists brought together by one of the most respected dealers of Lowbrow editorial and illustratrated art in the US, “Storyopolis” owner Matthew Abramowitz'.

Abramowitz has earned a reputation among artists and collectors for being among the most respected and finest dealers of editorial and illustrated art. The 4TH Wall Gallery is a culmination of the success achieved with The Gallery @ Storyopolis in Los Angeles.
The Gallery @ Storyopolis has hosted over 80 exhibitions for such artists as Gary Baseman, Calef Brown and greats from the illustrator and graphic novel genre such as Will Eisner. Matthew Abramowitz's newest gallery has a unique and limited collection, which is home to an amazingly diverse group of world-renowned artists. The 4th Wall Gallery abolishes labels and lets the greatness of each piece define itself. The 4th Wall Gallery is a place that celebrates artists breaking down the walls of conformity.

The 4th Wall will present a selection of O’Malley’s works, which continue his blurring of the line line between fine art and illustration.
Eight of his works will be hanging in the gallery during the inaugural exhibition. The gallery is located at 2925 Fairmount Street, Dallas Texas and all will be available for purchase.

Leith O'Malley will be showing with such a diverse group of renown artists including Sterling Hundley, Joe Sorren, Ana Bagayan, Anna and Elena Balbusso, Jim Bauer, Justin Bua, Cynthia von Buhler, Christopher Buzelli, Ray Caeser, Nicoletta Ceccoli, Brothers Corvo, David Diaz, Bob Dob, Gerard Dubois, Andren And Olga Dugin, P.J. Fidler, Mary Grandpre, Jody Hewgill, Pedro De Kastro, Gary Kelley, Anita Kunz, Karen Locke, C.J. Metzger, Natalia Molinero, Mark Murphy, Yan Nascimbene, Carlos Nine, Greg Noppe, Cathie Olivas, Claudio Parentela, Guido Pigni, Arthur Rackham, Jon Reinfurt, Martha Rich, Joe Rocco, Jeff Soto, Gary Taxali, Paul Torres, Kouki Tsuritani, Pol Turgeon, Ivan Valtchev, Milton Blas Verano, Jonathan Weiner, Noah Woods and Robin Zingone.

The Interview..

2009-04-05T00:57:00.000-07:00

Leith O’Malley: Visual Artist:

Interview by Audrey Novak.

Could you tell me something about your art?

I'll try…

It seems to be evolving although I'm sometimes not sure where it is all leading at times.

I like to move between various mediums but have a real fondness for painting in oil. I also like to express parts of my own personality or interests within my paintings.

I’m leaning towards a figurative expression of some kind in my recent work and have a sort of 'to thine own self be true' approach to what I do and paint.

I’m always filling up little art notebooks with ideas for drawings or paintings. The inspiration behind a lot of my work comes from wanting to express something within myself and usually associated with the things I love (or dislike) about life or have experienced. Some are metaphor, others more obvious.

Where are you based right now? Does your current environment impact on your work?

I’m based in a regional part of South Australia that is a little isolated from metropolitan art circles but I kind of like that… being isolated I mean.. no distractions.. no influences. Just following my own road, my own sense of place so to speak.

Finding my own voice and keeping the work as original as possible has been very important to me. What I do miss about living in the city (Adelaide) is not being able to access a larger variety of art supplies and visiting galleries. So sure, I am fairly isolated from metropolitan art circles but by the same token am not influenced by perceived city art trends. Don’t get me wrong, there’s no point being ignorant, I’m very in tune to what is happening in art in Australia and overseas through art magazines and the internet.

I’m also lucky that I have met several likeminded, gifted artists in regional areas who are just as passionate about what they do.

I wouldn’t say the environment informs the current work I’m doing.. at least I don’t think so, but certainly with the previous Red Dust Girl paintings I was trying to express or maybe celebrate that isolation.. at least in a subliminal way through the girl in red.

Do you have a time of day that you feel most creative? Or do you have to set aside time for art?

I can’t really switch off. I tend to think about art and ideas for paintings or drawings throughout the day no matter what I am doing. I’ll jot things down or do a thumbnail drawing or two in my sketch book but I do much of my painting at night. I have quite a well lit comfortable studio building and most of what I do is for exhibition so the result is pretty close to how they will look under normal gallery lighting. There’s also something about painting at night.. a certain ambiance. You can have some of the most wonderful insightful moments painting, and having music which inspires for company is an important part of my palette.

When starting a new work, how do you decide what medium you’re going to work in?

Certain subjects or the content of a picture might determine what medium I use but often it’s just an intuitive thing. I usually start out with a charcoal drawing and depending how that goes, decide on whether to add colour (paint) or not. I’m working mainly on charcoal drawings lately along with large paintings in oil.. they are the mediums I tend to favour. Canvas is very tactile and immediate, and painting in oil offers me the most power or impact for the type of work I am doing.

I read somewhere that you like to blur boundaries.. what did you mean by that?

I was talking about the argument between art and illustration, what actually constitutes art these days and how that gap between traditional or natural media and digital is closing. I used to get so hung up on technique and method.

One day I just realised art is anything you want it to be, threw the rule book in my head out and started working backwards towards a more intuitive style of painting.

I love the brush but occasionally like to use a wacom digital tablet to create art or at least an initial concept.

Some people have a problem with using digital means to create art.. I don’t.

For me illustration, art, design and life are pretty much interwoven. If I’m not thinking about creativity I’m doing something with a pencil, pen or brush. I remember thinking how strange this ability to draw was when I was about eleven and continue to be surprised by how far it has taken me.

These days I create artwork using traditional methods, but am fluent with digital mediums, using computer programs like PhotoShop and Painter to create digital art or edit my originals even further with the digital drawing tablet.

You have called creating art a “frustrating and exhilarating journey”. When are you most frustrated and when are you most exhilarated by the creative process?

In the case of a painting, the exhilaration for me is after I have drawn my image onto canvas.. just before I’m ready to start painting. I always wish I could capture the look and immediacy of that charcoal outline or drawing in paint, but a lot of the time it is lost in the application of paint. I guess that is why I love do a lot of charcoal drawings!

You seem to enjoy working in different mediums using such things as oils, pastels and as you mentioned digital mediums. Do you just like variety or are there other reasons for the changes in medium?

I generally get a little stagnant or bored with my own work if I stay in the same place (medium) too long, so I like to keep moving. Also, some of my ideas simply call for a particular medium or practice. My love of illustration and graphic art often draw me back to the line orientated mediums such as charcoal, pastel or the computer, but I do like to experiment with collage and paint glazes which is another reason I love oil on canvas.

The trick is being able to retain your own style throughout the medium changes and knowing the limitations. Like music, I have a broad appreciation of many different forms of art and thankfully don't have that blinkered approach where everything needs to be categorised, or you must stick to what you do best. I just let art lead me in all sorts of interesting directions and get just as much enjoyment out of looking at unknown illustrators or artists stuff as I do Goya or Rembrandt.

I’ve noticed a circus motive is a recurring theme in your old paintings and drawings.. those floating tents, melancholy clowns and your use of strong colour and stripes? Can you talk about that?

It’s just something that resonates with me. A strange attraction I suppose.

My Dad was a traveling musician in the circus and although I was too young to know, I traveled to every state in Australia with Mum, Dad and my brothers and sister. So maybe it’s a subliminal thing.

To this day I love being around any visiting circus.. that carnival spirit.. it really fascinates me, and naturally comes back to town in my work from time to time.

So you have a musical upbringing, does music inspire you?

Oh yes, for sure. Its one of many things that informs my work.

That’s an obvious thing to say I know, but it's true. How can you not be inspired by music? Laura Veirs put it “love of colour, sound and verse, is it a blessing.. or a curse”. I love that line and it’s true.. a double edged sword.

I grew up listening to so much music, a real education really. Everyone in my family played instruments and sang, and I’m seldom far from it these days particularly in my studio. It can be so emotive and part of the arsenal when painting.

Yeah, music in all it’s forms is big influence and of course emotion plays it's part.

What about your latest success.. that New York festival.. what’s that about?

Oh yes, of course…I was recently commissioned by New York’s Festival Productions Inc to produce the promotional artwork for the 30^th Anniversary Saratoga Jazz Festival being held in Saratoga Springs, New York.

For that I basically reworked and combined two of my paintings of jazz musicians. The design featured heavily in the concert promotions including brochures and the very collectable thirtieth anniversary concert t-shirts! I’m quietly jumping up and down over that one mainly because it is a major US jazz festival with a line-up including George Benson, India Arie, David Sanborn, Al Green, John Scofield, Roy Hargrove, Ravi Coltrane, Troy Haynes, Jean-Luc Ponty to name a few…

Is there a deep subtext to your paintings – and, because all interpretation of art is ultimately subjective, are you ever fearful of being misinterpreted?

The larger paintings I do are quite labored and can take months to complete. There is a lot that can happen in that time and much experience, thought and emotion can be exercised in each solitary session of painting. I like to think that it’s what binds the paint and hopefully the painting itself. There is metaphor in some cases which may or may not be understood or recognised by the viewer. Not all my work, but some.

I don’t have a problem with misinterpretation, just as long as the painting holds your attention. I mean, I look at some pictures now by artists that I have a completely different interpretation of or feeling for than I did several years ago.

Your painting “Talking to the Muses about Art” is another interesting piece and quite contemporary with a lot of text in the background.. are they your words?

Yes. The text in the background of the Muses painting is a sort of tone poem in my own words. It is reproduced in full on my website and talks about the struggle to paint and the obsession with wanting to keep painting (“paint on through”) no matter what.

Although it sounds a little strange, sometimes I feel like the painting is telling me what it wants rather than the other way around. There is definitely a sort of love/hate relationship with some of my work and I often feel empty after a painting is completed.

I scraped the text into the paint with my fingers, stick and a brush handle. They represent my thoughts and an imagined conversation with Bret Whiteley, Basquiat and Van Gogh.. who happen to be the figures in the picture.

How long do you work on a piece for before you decide that it’s ‘finished’?

It’s never really finished for me. I still see some of my older work and think to myself maybe I should have done this or that. It’s an intuitive thing I guess. I tend to have an auto pilot (note: not a muse who flies planes) that lets me know when it’s time to sign the painting as complete.. thankfully in time before I over work it. What did Da Vinci say? Art is never finished, only abandoned.

What are you working on now?

I’m sort of in between stuff at the moment, digesting a lot of what I have done and enjoying the space between exhibiting where I can think stuff through and start afresh. Having said that, I’ve just finished a seven foot long charcoal diptych and have a couple of other large paintings I am working on for a group show in Sydney… plus works for an Adelaide group show.. so yeah, busy.. busy.. but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

What is your strength as an artist? And what is your weakness?

That would be getting free red wine on opening night and probably getting free red wine on opening night.

No seriously, that’s a good question. I would say that my diligence in continuing to chip away and work on my own style, making my own marks and keeping the work honest and meaningful.. at least to me.

I think that recognising the difference between being inspired by someone elses work as opposed to being influenced by it is very important and understanding this early on has put me in good stead. I also feel that my insistence to continue to blur the line between art and illustration has helped my work remain fresh and accessible.

Tutorial for the illustration "Nestworking"

2006-09-15T04:39:00.000-07:00

The Asian/Pacific site of Wacom are currently showcasing a walkthrough of mine on how I create an illustration from scratch. I have reproduced it here and hope it gives some insight into how I work a drawing up from sketchbook draft to finished digital artwork. Enjoy!

1. It Begins..
Everything starts with an initial sketch. This is usually something I map out briefly on paper, although I do at times go straight onto screen using the tablet. In this case I have used a recent pencil drawing from my sketch book which I scanned and “cleaned up” a little in PhotoShop.

I scan my line-work in grayscale at either 300dpi or 600dpi and import it into PhotoShop. I raise the line-work from the background by placing it on its own separate layer. I duplicate this layer and use one specifically for colour. I’ll try and not bore you with the technical details as I often create several layers throughout the illustrations I do. Let’s concentrate more on colour..

2. You say Color I say Colour!
With the drawing saved as a PSD I open it up in Corel Painter and get the show on the road with some broad sweeps of the background. I’m also trying to get a feel here for what colour each of these bird boxes will be and you will notice I have already decided which one will be red.

Incidentally, although my Intuos 3 works perfectly fine without it, I still like to tape a sheet of textured paper on top of the drawing slate. I find that the extra “tooth” of the paper gives a more natural feel to the whole thing, especially as I do a lot of traditional media works on paper. It also gives me somewhere to write things like “don’t forget to put out the garbage”!

3. Off with the Birds..
I continue to map out the colour in the Painter program using a combination of oil brushes and pastel. I will be building up a warm foreground as it progresses, layering colour over colour.

4. Caution – Wet Paint
At this stage I’m still messing around with the background and decide on working it up into a nice cloudy sky. The freedom and accuracy of the pen in comparison to using a mouse in a drawing like this is like chalk and cheese.. and in combination with programs like Painter I am continually amazed at how close it comes to looking like real traditional media.

5. Hey You, get off of my Cloud..
Speaking of traditional media, there’s a great little mixing palette in Painter (seen here at the bottom right of the image) where you can “dip your pen” and literally mix the colours just like the real thing.. no messy turps wash up here although I miss the smell of the linseed oil!
As you can see I have an expressionistic skyline happening and really made some progress on the bird boxes. I decided to make the middle one green.

6. Burn Baby Burn
At this stage I take the image back into PhotoShop for another makeover. Some of my favorite tools in PhotoShop are the Dodge and Burn tools. In short, the Dodge tool will lighten areas of the image whilst the Burn tool darkens them. If you use them wisely and adjust the range and exposure, you can create some very subtle shadow and highlight areas. I have used these on the bird boxes to help indicate the direction of light. You may also notice I have added numbers too, now turning them into bird “houses”. I also brushed in some scratches, splotches, stains and other marks for added pizzazz..

7. Birdscape?
Getting close now.. Using a combination of Painter and PhotoShop I’ve tidied up the sky and worked on the foreground adding colour washes and texture. The trusty Burn tool gave me the shadows at the base of the bird houses and I used the Dodge tool once again to place highlights on each of the posts.

8. A Star is Born..
You can get a lot of free PhotoShop brushes on the internet whilst others come at a price or with copyright conditions. I found this star whilst browsing my own PhotoShop brushes and just thought I would drop it in somewhere. I also added the wire which binds or networks all of the bird houses together.

9. Hey Presto! It’s “Nestworking” (click image to enlarge)

As you can see, I have decided to give the bird houses a “lived–in” look with the addition of a chimney, ariel and window… couldn’t help myself.
There’s also a reference to the whole networking theme with a conspicuous “www” stencil painted on one of them.
The wires were produced by long elbow sweeps with the pen stroke at a fine setting. In some cases I had to click the “step backwards” button in PhotoShop to delete previous swing attempts that just didn’t have much curve.
One of the last steps I perform with each illustration is to make level or curve adjustments for tone and then some final UnSharpening to make the whole thing zing..

So there you have it, a brief breakdown of my illustration process which I hope made some sense.

See you on the other side of the canvas!
- Leith (feel free to make comment at the link below)