Contrast

I love the way I was able to breathe some color into this picture. The original image was quite dark and had a brownish tint to it. A few filters from photoshop later and the skin has a nice healthy color. Love the contrast! As usual, I must thank my lovely model for putting up with me. Love you GG :)

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A few images that were taken during last year's summer while touring around the North Island. From Cape Reinga down to Wellington. The second picture was taken at Kerosene Creek near Taupo. Awesome trip!! Needless to say, the company was the best part of it all :)

Pool time!

The days are definitely getting warmer over here and it just seems appropriate that I should have finished this drawing that had been put aside for quite a long time now. I started this sketch in June, which is our winter. I must have been suffering from cabin fever and couldn't wait for some warmth to come over this way.

What am I most happy with in this illustration? Well, it would have to be the lace. I think that's one of the things that took me the most time to do. Once again, I must thank my wonderful model who puts up with my demands even though she may find herself in awkward and uncomfortable positions.

Thanks GG!

The Professor

The first of two cards that I will make to illustrate an article on the MacDiarmid Institute website that talks about the efforts of bringing together the scientific world with the business world in New Zealand. The New Zealand government is promoting the commercialization of science and has set in motion several programmes in order to achieve this.

Spring Fairy

 

Practicing with some brushes, trying to get a watercolor effect. The end result is quite nice although didn't quite obtain the effect I was after. Definitely need more practice. I do like the tones of the skin though, nice and peachy! It's spring finally and a fairy seemed like a good idea to draw :)

WIP

This one has been waiting for quite a while to be finished. There are so many details that need my attention still but here's a small preview of what's to come. Inspired by the girl with the most beautiful smile! Come back again soon to see the final version.

New illustration for the MacDiarmid Institute, this one is to illustrate the blog entry "The Funding Flood".

When thinking about a concept for this illustration, I remembered the famous print The Great Wave off Kanagawa from the Thirty-six views of Mt Fuji by Katsushika Hokusai. I made some modifications in order to match what has been written. It's not an exact reproduction of course but I still like the end result. I changed the color of the water so that it would seem like it's a wave of money and the yellow foam represents coins. Maybe that's not very well achieved but I think it still gives you a good idea of what's happening.

Enjoy!

Cooking on the job!

I was asked to take a picture for an article that the MacDiarmid Institute was going to publish on their website. The article talks about a new way they have been able to determine if there's bacterial growth on meat and kiwi fruit in New Zealand. You can read the whole article here.

There were two possible ways to showcase this article. The first one, which would have been the obvious one, would have been to take a picture of rotting meet covered in some kind of bacteria. But who would be motivated to read about something that's oozing some possible kind of goo?

I thought the second option would be the best way. Having a nice picture of some cooked meat presented in a nice way would probably catch people's attention. The article may even be more appealing, if not by the article in itself, maybe by the fact that your brain is acknowledging that there's a tasty platter in front of you, hahahaha... yeah right.

The first place to get all the required material was the fridge of course. A quick check in to the freezer confirmed that I had some meat that just needed to be defrosted. Some fresh tomatoes were at hand and I had some nice mushrooms that were just screaming to be used. A couple of apples were thrown in into the mix and some spring onions too. Things were cooking!

Now I'm not claiming to be a good cook but the result was very satisfying. Not only did I end up having a great meal, I also ended up with a nice picture; two fulfilling results. Both my stomach and my pocket would be full after this little job.

Yum!

Best Poster Ever

OK maybe I'm exaggerating a bit but there's no denying that the simplicity of this illustration reflects so much! What evil machinations is this little guy pondering about? That's besides the point, the point is that this little guy is savoring a moment. He's in total peace knowing that he has in his possession a carton of milk. As soon as I saw this image, it struck a chord in me. How can I forget coming back from school and enjoying a tall glass of cold milk? Or having 25 cents in my pocket during elementary school so that I could buy a carton of milk from the school cafeteria?

I have no idea who made this illustration but it is totally Awesome!!! I've been searching for the illustrator/artist who came up with this image but have come up empty handed so far. I would love to have this little guy living somewhere in my flat. I may have to make a reproduction myself, although would love to give credit to the guy who came up with this masterpiece.

Those who know me, are aware of the importance of milk in my life, hehehe

Mmmm.... milk!!

A storm had just come through Wellington and another one was on its way. That weekend I had planned to go to the Wairarapa and visit one of its vineyards and enjoy a really nice lunch with Alexa. There seemed to be no point in venturing out and driving over the Rimutakas if the weather was going to be bad. You might as well stay closer to home and appreciate what you have in your backyard.

A drive around the bays is always a good drive and each and every one of them has its own appeal. Owhiro Bay, Island Bay, Lyall Bay, Scorching Bay, Evans Bay... drive to each one of them and have a little stroll, 10 to 15 minutes will be enough before you head on to the next one and you'll be surprised by the amount of things you'll see. Penguins, seals, dolphins, orcas and even the occasional sea leopard can be encountered. That day however, only the seagulls were out braving the weather, the Cook Strait had been roaring and was getting ready for another uproar. Amongst the shiny kelp that had been strewn across the stoney beach, the white plumage of the seagulls really made them stand out.

In the end, we spent around 4 hours gathering seashells and enjoying the views that were on offer. Maybe the lunch we had had not been as fancy as I had planned originally, maybe the weather hadn't been as great as expected, yet, those few hours had been spent in great company and with the discovery of little treasures in each seashell and views from the bays. Perfect way to end the weekend.

A journey to remember

New Zealand is full of surprises and you never know what you may encounter. The weather is a very important factor that keeps you on your toes at all times. This picture was taken at Cape Reinga, at the northern tip of the North Island. Even though it was midsummer and the rainy season was nowhere close, we had to change our plans a couple of times in order to avoid the bad weather, this was unsuccessful however.

As we arrived to the lighthouse we were greeted with a spectacular view of clouds. We were immersed in some of the thickest clouds I've ever seen. You could hardly see more than 2 meters in front of you. We had finally reached the very tip of the country and we could see nothing at all. The sand dunes that are normally visible where completely hidden. The currents of the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean that clash together as they encounter one another could not be appreciated. The Pohutukawas that symbolize the journey of the spirits leaving the material world in order to join the ethereal world could not be seen either.

A major disappointment you would say at first glance, but we decided to wait it out a little bit. Maybe if we were lucky enough, the clouds would rise and we would be able to get a glimpse of the spectacular panorama. During that half hour, we encountered a married couple who were living in Oz and had come back to visit NZ, where they were both from originally. They had been in Australia for 40 years and were a bit homesick from the sound of it. They were loving the fact that we were shrouded by the clouds and it brought them memories of their early childhoods growing up in rural NZ and having to deal with the rain while wearing gumboots and drenched wool jumpers.

It was one of the nicest conversations or storytelling I had come across in such a long time. The clouds lifted a bit and we were able to see the coastline (sort of). In the end, the views weren't the most interesting part of that stop, even though they are spectacular (trust me, they're picture perfect when it's not raining, I've been there before). The thing that really made the place magical, apart from the environment created by the weather, had been talking to two complete strangers and been able to walk down memory lane and having a glimpse of their lives.

It's nice to be able to travel around beautiful places in the world and be enriched by the experiences that you will always remember. Sometimes there are certain journeys that become unforgettable and will always have a special meaning. To be able to share a trip with someone special makes the adventure even more rewarding. Thanks Alexa for those ever precious moments!

  

Nom nom nom!

 

 

After viewing the last entry I decided to post a few more shots of food. I don't normally take pictures of every meal I eat but every now and then, if the plate has a nice presentation, I will try to take a nice shot. All of these pictures have been taken on the fly, meaning that there has been no special lighting nor any special preparation. Most of the times, when I take pictures of food, it will be because I'm covering some special event and there's some catering service involved. I've been asked if I get to enjoy the delicacies presented before me and normally I don't have time to savour them. Either I'm too busy trying to get a nice action shot of people in a candid atmosphere and I don't notice the food disappearing or I just scoop it in so I can continue with the shoot. My bad!

Yum!

Girls!

This Christmas break I don't have pictures of my travels around New Zealand or any other parts of the world that I can upload. Instead, I stayed at home this time and decided I should do something to cover some of the bare walls.  My solution was to gather some of my girl illustrations I've created over the years, print them and create squares which can be hung on walls or placed around the house. So far, I've made 22 of these squares and they encompass sketches, pin ups, vector based illustrations, hand drawn and mixed techniques. The result is quite colorful but I think I should make even more.

In the future, it would be great to have at least one illustration per week so that by the end of the year I would have 52 new illos! Let's see how many I end up with.

Happy New Year guys!!