Monday 25 August 2008

Finished Painting!




Da nah! Here it is the first Jason Hickey painting. I have yet to sign it and varnish it and I may touch it up tomorrow if I think it needs it but I think I've done enough with it now to move onto to something different. I learnt a lot from this one. Specifically the techniques of building up strong light, making areas seeem textured with minimal paint and the importance of visble brush stokes and layering colours (even if the layered colours are imperceptabley different to the naked eye).

Tell me what you think!

A big thanks to Sebastian fo supplying the inspiration and Joby for supplying technique and style.
I'll start another one tomorrow. Oh and keep the entries coming in, there is still a week to participate!

J out.

Tuesday 19 August 2008

Puglia






Puglia is great. We just got back this morning from our week camping in the very deep south of Italy. Here's a quick run down of how it went:

Fede drove for our 10 hour trip which took about 15 hours. I slept, smoke ate and drank wine and watched the sunset and sunrise and listened to old tapes my friends made for me when I was a teenager. Tapes like "Ould Stuff" and "Prodigy Mix" from Ross, "The Muppet Show" from Roger and "This is Cult Fiction" from Sebastian.

We arrived in a camping site which is run by proper hard core communists, is really quiet late at night but everyone is lively and talkative until one or two in teh morning. Bar playing reggae and kitchen always in use with the most amazing food being cooked by the damned Italians. No beans and potatoes for those folks. 5 euro a day and 10 minutes from tent to beach.

Played in the white sand and red sand, swam in clear water, ate fish (fried, with pasta, grilled, pickled...you name it, we ate it). Drank beer and wine. Met 5 new friends (all form the north of Italy of course). Danced to Drum and Bass Taranta and traditional Pizzica, walked through ancient city centres, picked figs and cactus fruit. Spoke lots of Italian drew pictures, took photos and slept in the sun and in the shade, played with cats and chickens and dogs, got cooked for, cooked for others drank some more, breakfasts of coffee and cigarettes, breakfasts of fish, breakfasts of ice cream, melons and prosciutto.

I also ate several portions of various types of meat on a stick which I think is fundamental to every good holiday. If you haven't done it yet and you're still on holiday. Quick, order meat on a stick!

We're back now and I lost a few kilos and got a lot browner. Fede cut my hair too. Cheap and entertaining. :)

More on art tomorrow, oh and I have another interview in Italian in the morning...

PS Sorry Photos are all of me because Fede only took pictures of me and I was using it mostly for film..

Friday 8 August 2008

Art is Hard

It's started, the first "Art is Hard" competition.

Art is Hard, make it easier for me! And I'll write a footnote about you in my biogrphy when I'm famous.

Entry: Send a photo or image to my email or facebook. Only one image per candidate. First image recieved will be considered so don't send more than one and think carefully about which one you want to send!

Winner: The best picture (decided by me according to my tastes and my painting style) will be transformed into a painting/piece of art/fashion item. The final piece will be the property of me but I can make you a copy of it if you like (I decide what format but probably a print poster or a t-shirt or something. If you like it so much you want to buy it I'll give you a discount. :)

Enter now!

Deadline: 1st September 2008. Painting will be finished by 1st October 2008.

Picture Painting Continued



Hello, here's the latest update. The painting is based on a photo taken by Sebastian Hickey.

I have worked on the "water van", front motorbike, water, road and shines. I still need to finish the road/water. After that it's tidying up details, increasing contrast where needed and putting some kind of yellow wash over the sky. I also want to add some detail to the top right corner, perhaps some telegraph lines would break that area up. Maybe the wash will help too..

Please post comments, you don't have to be witty or smart or even positive. just to know who is reading this and who I can tailor the blog to.

A week in Sicily sounds nice..

Ciao! So back to painting today, as usual my DVD writer went on the blink yesterday so I lagged behind my schedule.. again. Expect a post or two about the process later today.

Check this out. Tee Hee.

Thursday 7 August 2008

Mayan Sounds and Photomontage

Painting on hold until today because of video editing for Cristina and William (I'm doing a honeymoon DVD for them for their wedding present, better late than never) and architectural stuff for BBW. Both of which I have finished this morning.

I found this crazy video of Aztec musical instruments. Scary noises. Brrrr! Enjoy it until I get another picture of the painting up here..

Friday 1 August 2008

Painting step 3


Hello, here's the latest update, lighting is really bad sorry. I did another layer on the trees and fixed the 2 bikes and van. Next step foreground bike (finish) and road surface, then water from front van, washes for unification and some extra details for composition. Obviously lots of tidying as i go. Interestingly I found out about using thinner, it's glossy even though it's not supposed to be but adds a nice vibrancy to the colours.. More after the weekend or during if I get time.