Steve from Mine Craft Caricature, First Fan Art of 2015

Welcome to 2015!! If you're new to my blog or have accidentally clicked on a link and found yourself back here, well hello there, we meet again.

I'm a freelance Illustrator by trade specialising in caricatures, cartoons and graphic illustrations. I also paint, sculpt and work both traditionally and digitally. Along with a whole bunch of commission artwork, I also dabble in fan art.  

I got into Minecraft last year, kind of a "let's see what all the fuss is about" type deal, I'm kind of at that age where I'm old enough to know I'm kind of not into so many things that are in the zeitgeist.

Essentially it was this episode of South Park that got me into it.

And I still don't get the appeal of the game :P

Meet Steve, initially I was confused by the character design and it prompted a few questions, for example:

Stand back from your screen and allow your eyes to unfocus for a few seconds...

• Why is he crosseyed? 
• Is that a five o'clock shadow or is his face dirty?
• Where is his nose?
• Does he have eyebrows?
• Are those supposed to be lips?
• Is he making a duck face?
• Is that a goatee or is he smiling?
• Also his shirt, is it tattered or untucked?

Now granted, I understand that when everything in retro look sandbox game is supposed to look like a pixel in the witness protection program (you can only do so much with everything being essentially a Rubik's cube with an 8 bit palette). 

 There's most definitely a wiki page devoted entirely to these nagging FAQ's

But honestly as I grew up with the original NES and Atari consoles (never owned a console but had friends and family who had them) and that I  pretty much study faces for a living I thought about it some more and after playing the game for a little while this is what I interpreted the face to look like.

This is what I see when I look at this character... And when you stare long enough into the abyss, sometimes it stares back at you... and wants a kiss apparently.

Happy New Year to all my friends and Family on the other side of the world ^___^

2014 a Year in Review

I write this in the wee small hours of the first day 2015, a holiday where you don't have the same kind of expectations that the other big ones do. You're not figuring out a good hiding spot for your camel back booze supply under the tree.

This NYE/NYD was much more low key, I spent it watching Bill Burr's "I'm sorry you feel that way" on YouTube as I worked on a couple of commission pieces and played Hearthstone on my ipad.



I had wrenched my lower back at the gym and was in a fair amount of pain so I wasn't really up for going anywhere.

However this time last year I was battling through the crowds and police barricades, getting back after the pyrotechnics after working.

Had some amazing commissions.

This year surprisingly was about a lot of "Firsts"

So here's my list, the order is somewhat jumbled but hey who cares.

It was my first:

Gym dedication:

I had made plenty of false start attempts at getting in shape, but I guess I never put my fitness first. This year was different, I found a small 24 hour gym perfect for my night owl needs. And I'm proud to say, I still go regularly nearly a year after signing up. Basically I need to get away from the house, may as well work on my muscles.

Driving:

This may strike some as odd but up until April of this year I didn't drive. To me my learner licence was simply a replacement card so I could be let into pubs and clubs without any red tape from bouncers.
My "proof of age" card had long since expired and it never occurred to me hey this small plastic card in my wallet could also be used to, oh I dunno may be "learn" to "drive".
As it was about to come up for expiry in its own right, I figured "No, enough of this! Now is the time I learn to drive!!" much like the "Ah Ha!" moments the other shoe finally dropped and I booked my test, which needed to be taken in order to keep having the learner licence.

The method:
1. Find a reputable driving instructor. 
2. Get to know and memorise the entire driving test route. 

*This may require upwards of 20 separate trips and will add up.  

I got back into sculpting macquettes.

A work in progress I made of Sarah Kerrigan from Starcraft.