The Dead Lands Teaser Trailer

Looking petty sharp for a little film from NZ. :)

The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies Teaser Trailer

Here we go!!  :) 

Great new Hobbit Poster

Great new poster for the final installation of the Hobbit!  Looking forward to seeing new footage as it comes out.  Has it been almost 4 years since I was drawing Smaug's attack on Lake Town? I'll keep telling myself it was only 3 years.

Sketch - Meditations on Death

Made this sketch this morning. It's of my friend Lee. It's based on a photoshop image he created.

In renaissance painting the skull was a representation of mortality and death. It acted as a reminder to the viewer (as well as the artist) of their mortality and therefore the necessity for humility before God.

For me this image is a meditation on similar ideas... :)

The Last Night - Official Selection for LA Shorts Festival

Great news! The Last Night has been selected for LA shorts. So all you Hollywood lot go check it out!! :). Congrats to David Wanda and the whole team! Well done!

http://lashortsfest.com/film_program_details.asp?programnumber=20
http://www.brendanheffernan.com/The-Last-Night-Production-Design

Something a little kick arse!

The Dead Lands - Few more stills exclusive to Twitch

http://twitchfilm.com/2014/06/maori-warriors-strike-in-the-first-iamges-from-toa-frasers-the-dead-lands-gallery.html#6

The Dead Lands - First look stills and News

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=11277219
http://www.flicks.co.nz/blog/news/why-you-should-be-excited-about-maori-action-film-the-dead-lands/

U.F.O short selected for NZIFF.

"A unique take on a child escaping his surroundings. Good use of makeup and effects sets you up for a turn from the surreal to the tragically real. In the bleak New Zealand tradition the film is affecting and stays with you." Andrew Adamson.

U.F.O The short film from Gregory King and Mhairead Conner has been selected by Andrew Adamson along with 5 other Kiwi shorts to Premier at the New Zealand International Film Festival.

It's great to see NZ films gaining acknowledgement and success. I was fortunate to have a great art department come together for this one whom I cannot give enough praise. If you get a chance do check it out at the festival. Link below with details.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/movies/news/article.cfm?c_id=200&objectid=11267423
http://www.flicks.co.nz/blog/news/andrew-adamson-selects-short-film-finalists-for-nziff-2014/

Melbourne till Christmas.

With Moon and the Sun finished the landscape for the rest of the year has become a little clearer. I have ongoing work developing another project so will stay in Melbourne until the end of the year with a shoot end of 2014.

I had hoped to stop in to NZ sometime this year to catch up with everyone. I’d especially like to touch base with the staff and students at Toi Whakaari.  Sadly I won’t have the chance. I can only wish them all well and keep them in my thoughts.

I continue to wonder how I best might use my blog to keep sharing work and my learning. I keep students in mind when I do this.  Obviously much of the work I am doing is confidential so I cannot always bring the depth I aspire too.  I am reminding myself of that goal though and will share more as it comes.

Entrance - New work in progress

Grim Discovery.

Here's a sketch for a little idea I'm writing.  Each discovery leads to more questions.

'Absolutely Anything' - News

Last year I joined designer Jim Acheson in making art for this new film 'Absolutely Anything' from Terry Jones. The film Features the Python Crew, Simon Pegg,Kate Beckinsale and the voice of Robin Williams (his character is a dog).  Below is a link to some news about the film.  It's receiving strong sales this week at Cannes.  Can't wait to see the film and to see how the art I made has reached the screen.

http://variety.com/2014/film/news/cannes-simon-pegg-monty-python-absolutely-anything-strong-sales-1201186241/

raagghhh!

Moon and Sun - More News

Couple of articles in relation to Moon and Sun. The first shares this great Pic of William Hurt in Character.  The second from Inside Film Australia speaks of some exciting future projects for the producing team.

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/william-hurt-shoots-for-the-moon-and-the-sun-20140509-zr864.html

http://if.com.au/2014/05/09/article/US-producer-plans-two-more-films-in-Oz/LEZWSMZLPS.html

The Dead Lands - some pics from filming and Twitch Article

So Just hunting through XYZ films facebook page. They're the distributor of Toa Frasers Deadland's. Found some great instagram pics from the shoot (it's now in Post production) as well as the link to an Article in twitch that features one of my drawings for the film. Very cool :) Link below... Oh and yes that is a head on a stick

http://twitchfilm.com/2013/12/toa-fraser-explores-maori-martial-arts-in-the-dead-lands.html

Another pic released for Moon and the Sun

Another pic released for Moon and the Sun. Costumes looking pretty sharp! 
Here's a link to the article.
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-skys-the-limit-for-the-moon-and-the-sun-258102741.html

Moon and Sun - Media Release with Pic of Kings Chamber

Here's a bit of news from 'The Moon and the Sun' featured in the Sydney Morning Herald at the link below. Great pic of the producer Bill Mechanic and Paul Currie on set.  It's all looking great! :)

www.smh.com.au/MoonAndTheSun

sketching an android

Light Bearer #2 in colour

Mantis - Work in Progress

Bug Driving Train...or is it a Melbourne Tram?

Wolf,Butterflies and Snails in colour

'Wolf, Butterflies and Snails' - Sketchbook Works in Progress

 

'Light Bearer' #2 - Sketchbook study

'Light Bearer' #2 - Sketchbook work in progress

Artist in his Studio

I picked up a wonderful book yesterday. 'Inside the Painter's Studio'. It's a series of interviews of contemporary artists from Joe Fig. It's a wonderful read for any artist or designer.  It made me realise how little people discuss how they work. I think there is a fear that it will take some of the mystery out of what we do or even worse reveal ourselves as frauds! Not to worry though. As a result of transparency and questioning what I do I only find myself deeper in the mystery.

This book invites me to reflect on how I work and how ideally i'd like to work.  So below I've recorded my own current work routine as a concept artist for film.  This is the beginning of a wider discussion on how I work, why I work that way, how I want to work and what I'm working toward.

Melbourne - The work Routine

I wake around 6am. I do 20min meditation. Some mornings it’s breakfast at home. Others it’s straight out the door to the café downstairs for a fresh juice, poached eggs or a bagel.

I catch a tram to the studios. I like to settle down to my desk by 8am.  First up I check emails, facebook and the news, my diary, pay bills and basic house keeping until about 9am.  At which stage I start to scribble on the computer.  The morning consists of generating a bunch of ideas maybe 4 or 5 variations on ideas. While I work I listen to music.

I break for lunch at 1pm. I like to eat out, take a walk. I rarely sit at my desk to eat. If I do sit at my desk I’m usually watching a documentary on youtube or a movie. If it’s good it’ll keep playing in the background while I work through the afternoon.

From 2 – 5pm I focus in on one drawing. This is usually when I’m doing my best work. From 5 – 6pm I tend to experiment with major adjustments to the work looking to have it complete by 6pm. The last hour of my work is the least focused but more playful and often bares strong discoveries.

I clean my desk once I’ve completed a body of work, that is to say any series of drawings relating to each other. I keep all my reference around but as soon as I move into a new series I do a tidy.  This is at least weekly. So though I’m messy in the middle of my work I often am seen at a bare white desk and drawing board.

I keep a drawing board and sketch book at my desk. I use these periodically. They’re tools to loosen up, explore ideas that are, at least at the time of making them, outside the spectrum of the work I’m making for the film. I tend to give time to this in the mornings. Afternoons are always film focused and digital artwork.

I work a 10hour day which is standard for film pre production but I only ever draw or paint for 5 – 6 hours a day. I enjoy the intensity and focus of my work. If I work any longer than those hours the work becomes flat and lifeless. The rest of the time is reading, writing, housekeeping, making coffees and checking out how set construction and the other artists are going.

I do lots of research at the start of a job but after that rarely seek out inspiration. I believe that by ‘just starting’ the work will come.  So most days I sit to my desk with no idea of what I will create.  I sit to work at a computer but like to stand to draw.  I make a drawing or 2 a day but let the final touches happen over the next day or two. I return to drawings often throughout the process. Many of my early morning sketches get discarded though if I had the resource of time I’d love to see them all develop.

After 6pm it’s home to dinner with my family. If Finn is still wide a wake after dinner…which he usually is… we like to take a walk, play diggers or over summer we’ve gone for a swim sometimes too. If he goes down early I like to take a walk or swim for myself.

Somehow there’s time to fit everything in. I don’t work on weekends or evenings and I don’t work at home.

Charging Bulls, Study

I'm slowly working away at this prep sketch for a larger drawing.  An extension from the last post...

'Light Bearer'

I have walked away from my short film Minos for the time being.  But the imagery from it is lingering. So it seems the minotaur continues to feature in my sketch book.  I am planning a large scale sketch to follow along from this one.  I am delving deeper into this Mythology with Picasso's work 'Mintauromachy' and his epic painting 'Guernica' as a guide.