Paintings

I like acrylics for the ease of use and fast drying time as I often paint two or three simultaneously.  Acrylic on canvas is my main medium.  I will do oils one day but they require more time than I can devote at this point in my 47th year of life.

I've also used watercolours but not for their usual purpose.  The thing with watercolours is that they are very quick and I can use them on paper.  I then scan them into Photoshop for use as digital images, particular Manga drawings.  I love the perfect colour saturation that can be achieved with this technique.

A lot of the early acrylics you'll see below, I started with a black canvas, more out of habit than intent.  This style of painting was a natural progression from my earlier Black Card Art drawings, many of which I reproduced as paintings.

Asian Boy Fishing (Acrylic 2009) is one of a series of paintings called "Summer 09".  All of them feature people on the beach pursuing whatever leisure takes their fancy.

It was a fun series and light-hearted, which is a a huge contrast for me.

Axel (Watercolours 2001) is a Bishonen Manga painting, then scanned and digitally enhanced in Paintshop Pro.

It is one of three watercolour paintings I was doing simultaneously when the news of September 11 splashed across the TV.

I remember thinking, "Here I am painting while people are dying."  I felt quite irrelevant then numb.  A strange day I still remember vividly.

Axell (Acrylic 2004) is a remake of Axel.  60x45cm on canvas.

I painted this to challenge myself, to prove that I could achieve the same perfect colour bed of Paintshop Pro using layered acrylic.

This was a risky piece to paint, as once I achieved the desire result, I decided to take it one step further.

The very final stage was to overlay the finished painting with chrome enamel spraypaint to create the sea of stars.

I've only done this two other times, on the painting 'Jai' and the Black Card Drawing 'Celestial'.

Blue (Acrylic 2004) is a simplistic painting based on the earlier drawing Echo in the Wind.

I later recreated the painting yet again in 2009 as Echo.

"Blue" is truly awful but if I'm showing you my good stuff, you've got a right to see the crap as well.

Bust (Acrylic 2009) is a trivial piece of pop art.  It has little artistic merit.  60cm x 45cm canvas.

Catnap (Acrylic 2009) is a 60x45 canvas depicting a naked youth stealing an afternoon nap.

I wanted to capture the private smile of a happy dream.

"Catnap" is a blend of Bishonen and realism which I thoroughly enjoyed experimenting with during 2009 and 2010.

It is the companion piece to Purple which features a female.  Both paintings hang on the wall of Reef Beauty Rockhampton.

China Girl (Watercolour 2001) is a Shojo Manga piece, scanned then digitally enhanced.  Shojo is a type of "school-girl" Manga often used in Japanese teen magazines.

Coquette (Acryllic 2004) 60cm x 30cm canvas.

I find it interesting in that it blends a few different painting styles and also lifts some ideas from black card art.

Two other pieces, "Dreamer" and Fallen were made soon after in the same style.

Danos With Sabres (Watercolour 2001) is a Bishonen Manga, scanned and digitised with Paintshop Pro.

Danos is an oft repeated name you'll see on this site as he is a hero in the Khataria series of novels that I'm currently writing.

Danos With Sabres is the best Bishonen watercolour I've ever done, and the only painting that ever captured his face true to the image in my mind.

It was also the last time I used this medium, as I could see no reason to further explore a technique that I'd mastered.

Devotion (Acrylic 2008) is a Bishonen Manga painting on 70cm x 40cm canvas of myself and a friend in the Second Life virtual world.

Does that qualify as life drawing?  Not sure.  That can be a question for future academics to answer.  The original photograph was taken in-world on the Second Life grid.

Dreamer (Acrylic 2004) is a simplistic portrait of a wistful mermaid laying on a rock.  Canvas 60cm x 30cm.  It was given to a friend as a gift.  No image is currently available.

 Dream Weavers (Acrylic 2004) is a 75cm x 60cm canvas based on the earlier drawing "Dreamers".

A lot of people like this painting but personally I don't.

It took many years to finish as I lost interest in it early and shelved it in my unfinished pile.  Not sure why.

Echo (Acrylic 2009) is a 75cm x 60cm canvas based on the earlier drawing "Echo in the Wind".

Echo has a mix of different paint application styles which gives the background an interesting haphazard look.

Interestingly, I find that it's a piece where people either empathise with the character or can't stand to be in the painting's presence.

An interest study into human psychology.

Fallen (Acrylic 2004) is one of three romanticist Manga-style paintings created within a few days of each other.

"Coquette" and "Dreamer" are part of the same series.  Canvas 60cm x 30cm.

 Girl in Repose (Acrylic 2009) is unremarkable.

I was bored.  People like it for some reason but I can't fathom why.  60cm x 45cm canvas.

Grrr Johnny (Acrylic 2010) is a 75cm x 60cm canvas and very cool.

I painted it for something different to promote men's waxing for my chain of Reef Beauty salons.

The guy at front thinks, "Grrr! Johnny always gets the girl!"
The girl is thinking, "Mm, silky smooth skin and a smile made for kissin'.

Johnny simply thinks, "Thanks Reef!"

It gives the clients a giggle, and it gave me a great excuse to dabble with Bishonen Manga again.

Grrr Johnny hangs at Reef Brisbane.

Hope  (Acrylic 2004) is another totally crap piece.

Companion to "Blue", both should be burned.  I think I will.  Hang on, I'll be back in a minute.  Ikon (Watercolour 2001) is a Bishonen Manga, scanned and digitised.

This is arguably the most significant painting I will ever do, in that it changed the last 10 years of my life.

Ikon resulted from a "crush" I developed for Danos, a character from the Khataria novels.

I had drawn and painted Danos is his heroic long-haired splendour several times, most notably in the watercolour Danos with Sabres, and decided to give him a 2001 emo-punk overhaul.

The result was Ikon.

This started a chain of events in my mind, beginning with the notion that if Danos could be reborn as Ikon in art form, then I could reincarnate him in my novels as well.  And so I did.

I repainted Ikon in acrylics as Jai, and simultaneously began work on the novel "Exile of Titania", in which Jai d'Erstinaya is a central character, and identical in every way to Danos.

Whether Jai is a reincarnate of Danos remains to be seen.  Exile is unfinished, but assuredly, the crush remains. :)

Jai (Acrylic 2004) 75cm x 60cm canvas, Jai is based on Ikon in the same way that Axell is based on Axel.

Touchingly, after reading the pre-edit proofs of Exile, a friend took the name Jai as his own and uses it in-world in Second Life.  Jai hangs in my house at Yeppoon.

Jeune Amour (Acrylic 2004) is probably the most sexual piece I've painted but it's not about sex.  As the name suggests, the subject is young love, and everything that goes with it - the vibrancy and fire and emotion.

It's a worthy piece, and slightly cryptic companion to the Symbiosis novel. At the bottom of the painting is a piece of prose:

"Love is not a pallid smudge of pastels, but a vibrant explosion of colour that sucks the air from your lungs, and leaves your heart reeling in glorious wonderment and pain.  Cling to it, embrace it, never let it go."

 Jhakaat (Watercolour 2001) is a Manga painting, scanned then digitised.

Jhakaat is a support character in the Khataria series of novels.

Karelia (Acrylic 2009) is a Bishonen Manga painting 1.2m x 1.5m in size.

 The character Karelia is a central character from the Khataria series of novels.

Crown Prince Karelia is the unassuming and utterly charming heir to the throne of the Khatarian Empire.  In this painting, he is a boy about 12 on the brink of manhood.

The young heir's life becomes chaotic at an early age with the realisation of the mantles of responsibility that lay ahead, and most painfully, pursuing an impossible romance with his equally besotted friend Danos.  And so it goes ...

If it's true that I fell in love with the mythical Danos myself, then it's also true that I have written about and portrayed Karelia as the heroic and honourable character I would be if only I had the courage.

I chose to paint Karelia at this young age to act as a time capsule to preserve his innocence.

Kayaking (Acrylic 2009) is one of a series of paintings called "Summer 09".

All pieces in the series feature people on the beach pursuing whatever leisure takes their fancy.

 It was a fun series and the colours vibrant.

Midnight Silhouettes (Acrylic 2004) is a romantic expressionist piece on canvas 75cm x 60cm.

Midnight Silhouettes is a multi layered painting and the waves are built up thick without impasto.

It draws on aspects of two earlier drawings.  The first is also called Midnight Silhouettes from 1998, and a slightly later drawing from 2000 called Sapphire Moon.

Purple (Acrylic 2010) is a 60cm x 45cm canvas depicting a girl sprawled out asleep.

One breast is exposed, not coquettishly but simply because her clothes fell that way while she slept.

I wanted to capture the subject completely at ease with herself and unthreatened - without a care in the world.

On the surface, that might sound uninspired but when was the last time you felt that free and utterly safe?

"Purple" is a blend of Bishonen and realism which I thoroughly enjoyed experimenting with during 2009.

It is the companion piece to Catnap which features a youth instead.

Sanctuary (Acrylic 2004) is a 1.5m x 1.2m canvas.

Sanctuary is a variation of the 1998 drawing Wapparaburra yet has a different, less urgent feel.

It's very richly layered and the paint has a silky "chunky" feel that mimics impasto.

Undoubtedly one of my more popular paintings, and I like it myself as well, which makes it doubly special.

 Siren Song (Acrylic 2008) is a 70cm x 40cm canvas, loosely based on "Dreamer" from 2004.

It's a whimsical piece and has no deep hidden meanings.

Sleepless (Acrylic 2009) is a 1.5m x 1.2m canvas is drawn from life and features a beautiful and wondrous muse who enchanted me throughout the winter months.

The detail is meticulous, particularly the hand which continues to fascinate me still.  This is definitely one of my best canvasses to date.

Sleepless hangs on the wall of my house at Yeppoon.

Sprite (Watercolour 2001) is Shojo Manga, scanned then digitised.  Dull and stupid.

What the hell was I thinking?  I'll blame it on the twin towers.

Summer Girl (Acrylic 2009) is one of a series of paintings called "Summer 09".

All of them feature people on the beach pursuing whatever leisure takes their fancy.

It was a fun series and the colours vibrant.  Summer Girl hangs in my office in Rockhampton.

The Saved (Acrylic 2010) is a large 1.5m x 1.2m canvas.

None of my painting have evoked such contrasting reviews from observers as this one.

On the surface, it seems a little cheesy but that's because of the bright colours.

Look at the drawing, Darumbal Dreamtime, which this painting is based on.  The original uses darkness instead of light and the message is different.

With Dreamtime, the darkness makes both characters look helpless and afraid - perhaps the one being carried is even dead, whereas this one portrays hope and salvation, hence its name "The Saved."

I love the use of colour to portray emotion, which is why half my paintings are done on black canvas and the rest on white.  I paint with the mood of the piece, which generally reflects my mood (or need) of the moment.

Warrior Chick (Watercolours 2001) is Shojo Manga in watercolours, scanned, then digitised.  It was a once-off experiment with cartooning in the Manga style.  I really hate Shojo Manga.

Will (Watercolours 2001) is a Bishonen Manga piece in watercolours, scanned then digitised.

He is ... well, he's just perfect.

 Will is brilliant, in proportion, colour, everything.  Sigh ... I really, really, really love Will.

Yolis (Acrylic 2004) is a Bishonen Manga on canvas 1.5m x 1.2m.

Yolis is a pivotal character in the fifth and sixth books of the "Khataria" series of novels.  Yolis hangs in the Reef studio in Brisbane.