Benedict Cu-Cumberbatch

Cool as a cucum....alright

Sherlock star, Star Trek star and all round internet senstation, Benedict Cumberbatch.

Captain Kirk (or Chris Pine)

Did this last year after watching Star Trek into Darkness. Loved the film, and Chris Pine is dreamy.

And gees, how good is this:

Rafael Nadal

Sketchy at the mo..

Prime Minister Tony Abbott

God help us all

Robert Downey Jnr.

Done on a +SamsungMobile Galaxy Note and Sketchbook Pro.

Ellen Degeneres

Sebastian Vettel

The dreaded Sebastian #Vettel finger. All Zbrush +f1fans

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!!

Nadeshiko Japan - Women's World Champions 2011

This is Homare Sawa and Nahomi Kawasumi of the Nadeshiko Japan soccer team who are the current FIFA Women's World Champions. I also thought that they had my pick of goal of 2011. This gigantic, split-second lob:



Art wise, this was done fully in Painter, again trying to use new brushes. In this case an edited Oily Bristle. I tried to mix it up by not only caricaturing their faces, but shadow patterns and designs to try to make it appealing. It was a fun study and process.

The Karate Kid Painting Montage

Going through my hard drives made me stumble on some old WIP files of my Karate Kid painting I did awhile back. What a joy it was too.

Although I still watch the movie on a religious basis, artistically it was the European Masters exhibition held at the NGV last year that really made me want to stick with this painting - it was a study.

It was a real privilege to see such works at that exhibition - but what amazed me was the artists' richness, variety and control in their darks - things you'd never notice on crumby scanned or photographed images on the internet. Works like this one by Edgar Degas were one of many inspirations for the Karate Kid painting that I should credit in the video above.

Hope you enjoy it anyway!

Baby Lionel Messi

For such a beast in the game of football, Messi has one of the most softest faces, kind, cuddly. Hardly someone to be feared on the pitch. His likeness has endless possibilities though, and this one somehow ended up like a 3D baby version of him...with stubble.

Happy Holidays from Down Under

I watch the news and I'm not sure if the 'white Christmas' thing is all its cracked up to be. It looks... cold, damn cold. I even feel it through my television.

On the other side of the equator in Australia it's, well, unseasonably cold as well...but hey, you could put on a singlet and survive, for now at least.

Anyhow, while Santa is gearing up and getting ready for his trek around, I would like to wish you, your family, your loved ones, your cats, your dogs or whatever you have, a very merry Christmas and a safe, happy and healthy 2011.

I tried to fit as much as I could in one sentence because I meant it.

Here's to a great year ahead! Cheers.

Nori

The Karate Kid

There was the Karate Kid of 2010, but nothing, repeat, nothing compares to the trilogy of the 1980s. The movie still sits proudly in my DVD collection as one of my all-time most inspirational movies that defined my childhood. This, ofcourse, is the hilarious Fly catching scene (that was somewhat replicated in this year's film) with Miyagi's tagline "Man who catch fly with chopstick accomplish anything".

So I thought, hey, if that movie had such an impact on my life, why not use it as the theme to the upcoming Drawtism exhibition to raise awareness of those affected by Autism Spectrum Disorder. Watching it now, almost 30 years after its original release, it dealt with the mixing of middle class America with different cultures, classes and values. Yet despite all the social constraints there was some commonality that allowed all characters (not just Miyagi and Daniel) to succeed. Loosely, this is what I felt the challenge of having autism was - the overcoming of the barriers of communication and expressing thoughts, ideas and actions freely.

Then again, if over analysing something wasn't so annoying, the Karate Kid just remains to be a legendary film.

This piece as well as many others will be auctioned off for the charity in November and will be on display at the Melbourne Treasury Building from this Friday!

Good old Collingwood for-eeeeeever

Sports stars are fun to caricature, particularly ones that have been bashed around in the AFL. This is Collingwood Magpies coach Mick Malthouse with his assistant Nathan Buckley who incidentally won the 2010 Aussie Rules final.

Again I used Painter for this one and just thrashed it out quite honestly with a palette knife. AFL is like that, a bit rough and tumble.

Congratualtions Collingwood for season 2010!

Her Majesty, the Queen

Nothing says "you vile commoner" than a snotty nosed portrait of the Queen of England. I did this for the Facebook group Caricaturama 3000 where there's a pile of talented caricaturists submitting.

I started this sketch off with the iPad out of anything then finished it off with Painter. I used the Charcoal Variants as well as a slightly modified 'Loaded Palette knife' which is awesome. It sorta creates the unexpected randomness you get when you paint in real life?

I also recorded it on both my computer and my iPad, so hope to share it soon :)

Diego Maradona and some divine intervention

Well, tonights the night where month long mayhem begins. And sometimes you'd think it's 4 years worth of blood, sweat, tears trying to make the most of this World Cup in South Africa. But, poetically, sometimes it's just plain old luck that gets you through. Like Maradona's infamous 'Hand of God' Moment.

Some people hate this aspect of football. I love it. I mean, it makes the wait all the more sweeter when you know you were robbed 4 years ago where a freakish gust of wind swirled a Cahill goal millimetrically to the right, smacked against the post and some yobbo in the crowd with a gravitational pull akin to Magneto sucks the ball goal bound. Spiraling you to a state of shock and resentment keeping you up all night wondering what you did to deserve it... for four years. Yep, I love it!

Soooo, enjoy this World Cup. There'll be lots of moments to talk about in the years, even decades to come. Unless you're a supporter of Cameroon, the Netherlands, or Denmark, I wish you, your family, your loved ones, everybody, the very best of luck.

And okay I'll say it for the hell of it. Go Socceroos!

Formula 1 vs Super Mario Kart

Who remembers the good old days of Mario Kart? I'd go round and round and round Mario ciruit 1 to chase those lap record times. I got close. Those days are long gone now, gone...

where was I?

Oh yeah, then Formula 1 bought in this KERS system and you'd SWEAR it was like Mario Kart. If you were an F1 driver, KERS would feel like a Mushroom giving you a temporary burst of speed. So what if we went one step further? Life imitating art? You never know.

Now you too can give this free image a home on your very own desktop. Here they are at whatever resolution suits your computer decor!

1920x1200
1280x1024
1024x768

Pim Verbeek at the Bald Archies 2010

So it's all good to post up now, I was a finalist at this years spoof to Australia's Archibald Prize, the Bald Archy's.

Congratulations to Judy Nadin whose hilarious painting of Bert made headlines pretty much everywhere. Happy to be part of all the brew-ha-ha really.

So, okay, he's not the most glamourous, most famous Socceroos coach ever in Australia. But in this sport loving culture we have here, I thought it would be a travesty to not have an Australian football piece in this gllllllllorious World Cup year. Way back when, I just found his head to be really funny. It's commanding but if you were down 2-0 at half time, would you really take anything that came out his mouth seriously? What about the "Something About Mary" tuft of hair waving around.

And it doesn't look like it, but this piece is big. HUUUUUUUUGE in fact. So do yourself a favour and get down to the Bald Archy exhibition touring around Australia at the moment. It's in Sydney right now till the 25th of April at the ABC Ultimo Centre. Further dates can be found here.

50 days to the World Cup!!!

C'mon Hammer Jaw!!

Aussie Grit. Yes that is what Australian F1 driver Mark Webber is called on Twitter. But underneath that harsh Australian exterior lies eyes that a orphaned puppy would be jealous of.

Yes, there's no denying his talent but it counts for nothing if Red Bull don't provide him with a reliable car.

So please, give Mark the best chance possible for winning in Melbourne tomorrow. We're all behind you!

This is only part of the full illo, so stay tuned in the coming weeks

And now, for news closer to Home

Many of you probably wouldn't have a clue who made the headlines in Australia last week. An Australian Rules player who had an affair with a young model, who sued after photos were release of her naked in the shower, who disrupted the tour of her then current fiancee cricketer, who then came back from the tour and announced their engagement was over. All in the space of a week.

Makes sense? Me neither.

It's like...like a story conjured up from those afternoon soaps - of lies, of cheating and fake pregnancies to get the inheritance of some dieing man.

Such is the hard hitting, important news we have, here in Australia.