Page 12 - AdNews Magazine Jul-Aug 2020

Creative Sides
“The children love it. They’re always trying to join in. It’s a bit of a battle trying to get them to go to bed, they always want to have a bit of a dabble. And they come back with good work.”
He works mainly with acrylic on canvas and sometimes wood.
His subject matter is Australian landscape, where he often explores the interaction between natural environments with man-made con- structions. These are places from his travels or lives close to.
The brush work is detailed, with dramatic lighting and vibrant colour palettes to accentuate the appearance of nature and the last- ing impression these environ- ments have had on him.
“I used to do a fair bit of drawing in the earlier years but I graduated to doing a bit more painting,” he says. “Even did some spray paint- ing and stenciling work as well. That’s another technique and area I explored. But generally it’s acryl- ics that I like to work with -- doesn’t create too much mess and havoc.”
When AdNews spoke to him, he was working on a piece inspired by holidays in the south end of Victoria, Lake Hume, the other side of the Murray River.
The family got caught up in the bushfires. “When the lakes were blanketed in smoke, there were some really eerie sunsets,” he says.
“Still we had a couple of really good experiences on our holidays. So I am starting to work on a cou- ple of those and work up the vibe of that trip was.”
He likes to plan out the compo- sition before he starts and see whether he’s got the most interest- ing angle, focal point or lighting.
“The bigger the canvas I choose the more work I know is involved to get the painting to a standard where I’m happy,” he says.
“I also like the challenge of meet- ing deadlines, whether it’s entering a painting competition or meeting a commission due date. I guess work- ing in advertising has equipped me pretty well in that aspect.
“Painting gives me a sense of escape from day-to-day work but at the same time it can be the best source of ideas for it.
“Having painting to focus on gives me a change of scene, time to
“My mum was also a keen painter. I was always interested in how she was doing courses and learning new techniques as she went.”
myself and something else to concentrate on. Often I’ll have to stop painting mid flow to jot down some thought starters for the next day’s creative brief.”
Commissions
He gets the occasional request to create for someone else.
“Generally, I’ve done it as a gift,” he says. “Friends or friends of friends,
weddings and family. It’s a different way of providing a present.”
He enters painting competitions for the thrill of the chase.
“I never have expectations of winning. It’s the curiosity of being
involved and seeing what type of work resonates with judges,” he says. “It also gives me deadlines as well. They drive me to get in and get the
stuff done and try to produce more paintings.”
He recalls winning a drawing competition in year 2 at school.
“It seemed pretty cool to get rewarded just for doing something I
loved,” he says.
“My parents always encouraged me to pursue art. They let me do extra
art courses as a kid which I loved.
“My mum was also a keen painter. I was always interested in how she
was doing courses and learning new techniques as she went.”
He also had cool art teachers.
“I can still remember doing school excursions up to the Art Gallery of NSW
in Sydney (from where I grew up in the Southern Highlands) and being blown away by the scale, composition, drama and realism of the 19th century painters such as John Glover, Eugene Von Guérard and Tom Roberts,” he says.
Comparing to the day job
Similarities: “Time management is important in both, there’s always a looming deadline. Composition and planning are always a key part of both my ‘day’ and ‘night’ jobs. Space (which is normally an art director’s best friend and worst enemy) is equally as important in painting. It’s often what is left out that can really make a painting. Strangely enough, there’s always an approval process in painting (just like advertising), whether it’s my kid’s giving an opinion, competition judges or the owner of the painting.”
Contrasts: “The most obvious ones for me are that there’s no logos, terms and conditions, call to actions or brand guidelines. This leaves me a lot more space to work with. There’s real ‘undo’ function in paint- ing as opposed to design. Sometimes I wish it was as easy as Command + Z when I stuff up a colour scheme or an element of a painting, or calling on our crack team of retouchers at Ogilvy to work their magic.”
The brush work is detailed, with dramatic lighting
and vibrant colour
palettes to accentuate the appearance of nature and the lasting impression these environments have had
on him.