Julia Gillard sculpt WIP

I started modelling this late last year, but wow, wouldn't it be a waste of work if Julia Gillard somehow manages to lose tomorrow in the Labor leadership battle. So to ensure I get at least some use of the work I shall post this Work in Progress of Australia's...at least for now, current, Prime Minister.

And what a face she has too. So many unique forms, funny nuances and those ear lobes! Beautiful.

From a technical standpoint this was modelled from an ordinary ZSphere in Zbrush and retopo'ed a few times. The suit is hand modelled to achieve its crispness.

Still have a long way to go on it though. It would be a shame to stop now, so she better not lose!!

David Beckham, OMG

When one of your boyhood heroes rocks into town, there's really no stopping the childish giddiness associated with it. Late last year, David Beckham came into Melbourne in what would be described, a lacklustre game with crowd engagement at an all time zero. That didn't stop me however, from printing a portrait I did of him and holding it up in the crowd like someone would care.

Specifically for digital painting I wanted this roughness and bite to it that's rare in printing. After talking with the printers for awhile we settled on a paper called 'Breathing colour - velvet'. And although in photo form it doesn't show up very well, in reality the texture of the paper really lifts the stroke work. So I would recommend giving it a go. It may not be the cheapest thing to do, but it's certainly rewarding having something tangible to hold.

And for reference, here is Becks at the game. If I could just say, everyone writes him off being a superstar and only caring about his image - but on the field, my eyes fixated on him - I thought he had brilliant presence and sense that he actually cared about the team. Not to mention that he still has those skills.

Lux St Sin and Corel Painter 12

I spent alot of 2011 just experimenting with my digital painting and going to every brush and tweaking them to my liking. I began to make a switch from Photoshop to Painter because I believed, somewhere, there was a better engine that could create the look I wanted.

I wanted some 'guts' in my painting, some randomness. There are ofcourse brush settings in Photoshop that emulate this but nothing that makes the canvas feel as if the paint is still active.

Which brings me to brush attributes in Painter like 'resaturation' and 'feature'. You can control these to bring out surprises that actually make you feel excited about your work as you do it.

Coupled with the 'arists' variant brushes that create interesting shapes and mix paint accurately to what's already on canvas - every time you open the work you see something different that you've gotten for free.

Another piece of greatness about Painter is that it recognizes the pen you have in your hand. I've built up a collection of various Wacom Pens over time and I physically switch pens based on the tool I want. Yes you can set up a palette for your brushes, but some reason I found this method more intuitive and speedy.

This piece was of a Dr Sketchy's Session late last year of Lux St Sin - who was wearing a striking Asian outfit with strong makeup. Great model. I tried to stick to only a few brushes

• Sargent Brush (edited with less spacing)


• Loaded Palette knife (reduced 'feature' setting)


• Grainy Water (Blender that reacts to Canvas)


• Soft Flat Oils (with a pen that detects rotation, this brush is excellent)

I've stuck by these brushes over the break and hopefully can post more of these experimentation's for you soon.