Custom Car Ornament - Xmas Gift

For Xmas, my brother-in-law asked for a custom ornament. He had something specific in mind but my wife had trouble finding it so I picked this up at the auto museum for a couple bucks just in case. We decided to give him one from each of us and this is the one I gave him. Because he asked for something custom I thought it would be fun to turn the car into a hot-rod.

It is hard to tell but the green on the body is actually metallic and all the details are in gold. I added a screw/washer for the air duct on the engine. It was fun working on this but it took me way longer than I expected.

Pollutopia Arc. - Genesis

This is my second acrylic painting for the Pollutopia series. I am giving it to my niece for X-mas so I hope she likes it. I used an oil paint pen for the white bubbles for the first time and I found it reasonably easy although they came out a little rough but I don't mind.

It is open to interpretation but I decided to call it Genesis because the scene reminded me of some kind of cosmic event. Also, my wife and I have been playing Sega Genesis lately.

TJ

Pollutopia WC - FishFace

Another attempt at creating a form from random water colour splatter. I couldn't decide if I should go with the face I could see or the fish I could see so I merged both into one happy creature although the fish is a little harder to see. Sorry about the quality of the image, these canvas boards are too large for my scanner. I did the outline in pencil because I can be more precise that way but after a while it wears off and it ended up taking me a very long time to redo the outlines. I had fun working on this one but not sure it was worth the time and energy. I finally got some paint pens though for next time.

TJ

Texas - Photography

Adze - Bone Carving

I have always liked the form of the adze and finally made a carving of one with a contemporary look. They are a little easier to make than I am used to and I was able to make it very quickly. I plan to make a few more along these lines and I have already started on some larger ones.
Available soon on www.studiotapu.com

Steamship - prepaint

I found this at the Salvation Army. It is a print of a steamship design that they probably never made because it is huge. Although this is actually pretty cool, I brought it to paint a Pollutopian creature over it maybe attacking the ship. I will post the results.

Splatter Brains - Water colour, Pencil

This is another water color based on Alex Pardee's style. I focused more on the line work and basically just attempted to add form to a random mass of colour. It is hard to see but there is a face in the image. I really liked the idea of the creature's head just floating away hence the name Splatter Brains. The line work was just done in pencil for this one and it was easier for me but I'll try and use a paint-pen next because it doesn't scan very well.

Wishbone Carving

The very first of my Wishbone carvings. I made this for a friend who was down on her luck and I just thought she deserved something positive. It turned out she has a special connection with the wishbones so it worked out great. I am working on making more that will be closer to the actual wishbone form with a curve to them.

Available soon on www.studiotapu.com

Pardee style practice water color

I did this for a bit of fun to see if I could figure out how Alex Pardee creates his water colors. It is nothing in particular just a form that manifested itself but I feel like I am going in the right direction. Obviously the line work will take some time to get right but I actually had a really good time just playing with the paints. I think Pardee might use a paint pen so I might try that next time because I think that would be much easier for me although using the brush for the line work was fun.

Totem - Sculpture Design

This is a sculpture concept design I did a while ago that I think I might start working on. I like the idea of incorporating bone carving into sculpture because I think it is a pretty unique idea. This particular design will take a long time because each piece of the spine has to be hand-carved! So I'll let you guys know how this one goes.

I am currently working on a mural/painting for the SD Auto Museum's Indian Exhibit and just finished this center section on Illustrator. I have to project it onto a board and cut out the outline yet then paint it all up but I am happy with the progress so far. The design is based closely on an original advertisement for Indian Motorcycles from back in 1908.

I'll post a photo of the finished result along with the other two images when they are done.

Bebe Medusa - Pollutopia

This is my first completed painting in ages and my first painting for the Pollutopia series I am working on. It is also a reference to an earlier series featuring Medusa which I made concepts for but never painted (I still plan to though).

I used acrylic and went for a kind of flat Jeremy Fish style.
I plan on doing lots of these little paintings just based off thumbnail sketches I have done for Pollutopia.

Another Watercolour for Pollutopia. This one was an earlier trial and I was just tring to figure out how watercolour works. The three creatures represent my two nephews and my niece back home in New Zealand. I haven't decided who is who though (open to interpretation!...Jack is probably the jellyfish).

Trio, watercolour Pollutopia series

This is one of my first water colours and it came out almost how I wanted it. I am still trying to figure out a colour scheme for this series but I wanted it to be essentially murky and polluted.

SD Auto Museum Keep Off Sign

This was my first creative project at the Auto Museum I work at part time. We have this cool old truck outside that stays out over night and people think they are allowed to climb all over it etc. So my boss asked me to slap 'KEEP OFF!!!' on a tin sign. I thought the truck deserved something a little more suited to it so I put this together.

So it begins...

Hi, this is my first attempt at...blogging and although I am coming late to the game it should be fun. This blog will basically be a way for me to keep my friends and whanau (family) up to date with what I have been doing creatively be it work related or just for fun. So, I'll just submit everything that I have been working on as soon as I do it whether it is good or bad or whatever and that way I will be able to track my own progress as well.

THANKS for reading readers.