Inked Up

Phew. I've been working on this piece for about five days straight. It should've been an easy task but I kept spraying over and re-working the "tattoos" until I was happy with them all.

Stormhobo, 60 x 90 cm
Enamel and marker on particleboard
Painted July 2009

Simple premise, really. The props and pose are derived from a photo of a homeless Vietnam veteran while the quotes and adornments are taken from the helmets of American G.I.'s.

Here are some detail shots:






I was toying with the idea of a graffiti-on-graffiti deal and the stormtrooper provided a clean drawing template. I guess its also a commentary on the sad state of this day and age -- we are more likely to recognise a pop culture reference than to identify significant events in our own immediate history.

I can't say I'm above this either -- when I was a kid all I wanted was a lightsaber and Marty McFly's hoverboard from "Back to the Future II".

May You Live In Interesting Times

The 1960s produced some of the most emotionally evocative imagery ever. This illustration is derived from a photo whose strong self-contained narrative appealed to me. Very powerful stuff.


I digitally cleaned up the drawing (read: Live Traced it) to compensate for the crappy ink that I use/can afford. Not sure if that's frowned down upon ... anyways, here's the original scan:


Recommended reading: Joe Haldeman's "1968", an account of the war fought on both Vietnamese soil and the American home front.

Soldier Boy

A postcard-sized pen sketch that I might properly render one day ... I kind of like this look though.