'Airport' Exhibited @ Nola Millar Library.

Nola Millar Library
Toi Whakaari:NZ Drama School
Te Whaea: National Dance and Drama Centre
11 Hutchison Road
Newtown
Wellington

This 'Airport' is the second in a series of drawings leading up to an exhibition early next year. This along with the first image have been exhibited first at the Nola Millar Library.

I installed this piece today. It will remain for the next 2 - 3weeks.

It was great to catch up with staff and students. They're busy with end of year shows and exhibitions. The first image was met with quiet reserve from most so it was wonderful today to see people rushing to it. Openly discussing and enjoying the work. I'm more relaxed sharing the work and the audience, it seems to me, is more relaxed in receiving it.  A pleasure basically :)

Airport

Pen and Ink on Archival paper

Drawn by Brendan Heffernan September 2013

A drawing is a series of risks, mistakes and corrections. Each line is drawn in relation to the other to create composition. I explore as little in pencil as possible and discover the drawing within the permanence of ink.  The stakes are higher and the result alive.

Angels - Work in Progress 2

Angels - Work in Progress 1

2 new Drawings

I have begun 2 new large drawings.  For a few weeks I've procrastinated committing to an architectural drawing.  Another drawing has been nagging at me to be put to paper. So a second easel was set up and another large sheet of paper ready to go.  Last night I laid down the first bit of pencil work.  In some ways the image is still spatial but rather than using architectural forms I am using human figures to define the space.  This will be immensely challenging.

I'll post some progress pics soon.

Last Patrol a wrap.

A little Update from Jamie Irvine's FB feed

Jim Irvine

11 hours ago near Surry Hills, New South Wales, Australia · 

• That's a wrap on the last patrol . Congrats to Piers Gilbertson Jamie McGregor Paul HooperRyan Bennett Ben Hall Brendan Heffernan . Good luck piers with the edit and brendan with the artwork. Sounds terrific. Jx

New film going great

The new film is going great. I'm working with 1 other concept artist Anthony Allen. I first worked with Anthony on Kingdom Come. Anthony was a sculptor then. Now his skills are being applied to concept art and his work is very cool!

Lots of familiar faces and a few new ones. Very early days but cracking into some fun design.

Kind words from Tom McCrory as to my teaching at Toi Whakaari

Tom McCrory
Brendan Heffernan

12 hours ago near Wellington

Hello Brendan - great to briefly catch up with you yesterday. Just wanted to take an opportunity to celebrate your time at Toi Whakaari. Your presence in the school had an immediate and extremely positive effect where it really counts in the work of the students. You inspired them with your artistry and equipped them with a vast array of new tools with which to create. The result was a quantum leap in the quality of work being produced, one of the most noticeable shifts and marked impacts of a new staff member I saw in 16 years. As a colleague I very much valued your warmth,
positivity and openess - a very generous soul and a pleasure to be with. Thank you for the gifts you shared with the school they will reverberate through the work of those whose work you touched and my sincere good wishes to you and your delightful little family on the next step of your adventure. Much love and respect - Tom

Lovely to receive this message. Sometime this week I'll draft a response and reflection as to my time working with the students and staff at Toi whakaari.

New Film Contract

Monday 14th of October I begin work on the concept design for a new film. Can't wait to get started! In fact I won't wait... you may find me scouring libraries this week hunting for reference. The nature of the project is confidential for the time being. I will update more when I can.

This work will occupy much of my time so I imagine less posts and updates. I will be keeping up my own art practice alongside this big piece of work. I hope to share some stories as I can.

Minos - Radio Play Promo Poster

Tomorrow Marc Tyron will be re submitting a short film I wrote in 2012 for funding. It was called 'The Last Patrol' but has been retitled 'Minos'.  The film tells the story of four NZ soldiers who, during the 1942 battle of Crete, face off against the Minotaur of Myth. The film has been renamed after the Mythological Greek King of Crete.  We had a Casting call over the weekend and had a wonderful session with Tom Eason, Jonathan Power both recent Toi Whakaari grads and Shane Bolton who have all been cast along side Jamie Irvine for the film.

In the meantime Jamie is directing a radio play version from my script of which he has cast. Here's a promotional poster I've made for the radio play and development stage of the live action version.

The process : 2013 - 2014 drawing series

The series of drawings I have posted recently is a process of putting my thinking on creativity into action. I hope if one sifts through my earlier posts they will make a connection to the work I am making now and the process and approach to art I have discussed earlier.

This series of drawings is not about concepts. Too often I have wondered 'what work should I make?' This is a waste of time therefore I have ignored originating concepts. Instead I am selecting reference from old work I have created then applying a new artistic approach and medium to it.

The new medium is pen on archival paper at a large scale. Traditionally I have worked digitally or with pencil on paper. The new medium forces me into a position of learner.

The scale is important. It makes the process slow. I cannot complete the work in days. rather it takes weeks if not months. What's the benefit of this? The result is I am not connected to the result. The result is too far off therefore I am instead connected to the making. It makes sense then that In the future I will move into far more challenging mediums.

To further the quality of discovery in the work rather than a quality of discipline I do not plan the drawing out to it's end rather I work to discover it.  The risk and focus is intensified by working in the permanence of ink. I make mistakes. As i cannot correct or change those errors I must adapt the rest of the drawing to incorporate them and welcome them into the composition. The challenge in the work is to risk, make mistakes, correct and adapt for the greater composition.

The resulting work benefits from this process. The drawing has movement in the variation of approach and quality I bring to it each day. The lack of consistency gives the work it's vitality. The work is unique, unknown and new to me each day.

I wanted to say the process is alive and thrilling but to be honest it is quite the opposite. Being attached to a result creates the thrill and drive but in this process that attachment is gone. Instead the process is simply a joy. The art is about making, not what is made.  My hope is that this quality that I enjoy will remain somehow in the experience for the viewer even once the work reaches it's completion. Basically I enjoy making the work and I hope as a result people will enjoy viewing it. :)

'The Airport' is finished