Ray Forkan

bride. mine.

2011-12-15T16:00:00.001-08:00

rarely do fantasy art, unless they are someone elses and im paid to. heres one of mine. bride. mine.

ball bag wip

2011-12-15T15:06:00.001-08:00

heh folks. heres a lil feller i've been keepin in me brain box for quite a while. hope ya enjoy

shortlisted

2011-09-21T05:02:00.001-07:00

Well thats a nice surprize, just been shortlisted for Reading Association of Ireland’s Children’s Book Award for a project i illustrated through the Cartoon saloon for O'Brien press "Olannas Big Day". Nice to think some kid may be doodeling copies while ignoring their teacher. my work here is done. congrats peeps

http://rayforkan.blogspot.com/2010/05/must-have-been-weather.html

sculpts

2011-08-08T15:18:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks, gotten into doing some small skulptures recently for fun, its been a nice tactile change from the machinations of the machine. Also, it's nice to have some company round the house. No idea yet how to cast them yet but sure we will burn that bridge when we come to it. This here sham is a friendly barman.

Thanks to Remi for the photos. Hope to have more up soon. Hope you enjoy, have a good one

sculpts

2011-08-08T15:13:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks, gotten into doing some small skulptures recently for fun, its been a nice tactile change from the machinations of the machine. Also, it's nice to have some company round the house. No idea yet how to cast them yet but sure we will burn that bridge when we come to it. This here fellar is "That Forkan Fadden Murtagh Head". Which is actually a balkan curse.

sculpts

2011-08-08T15:08:00.000-07:00

sculpts

2011-08-08T14:57:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks, gotten into doing some small skulptures recently for fun, its been a nice tactile change from the machinations of the machine. Also, it's nice to have some company round the house. No idea yet how to cast them yet but sure we will burn that bridge when we come to it. This here fellar is "The duffle coat muffler". This is how you talk when your at the mart. Out the side of your mouth about some heiffer espionage and some such

Heh, been workin on some little sculpts> its been a really nic

faces

2011-07-18T16:47:00.000-07:00

well. cant do any harm. http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/the-human-face/

winter sketch book clean up- line and tone

2011-07-08T06:54:00.000-07:00

heh. some clean up studies from my winter sketch book to practice tonal placement. still have problems with placing highlights, any advice..?

another fountainbleu

2011-06-23T04:29:00.000-07:00

yo folks, heres one i missed from fountainbleu. did a lil p shop on it, just some dodge and burn and a lil paint to simplify and organise. (thats Andrej Radka cheating on our Sketching trip, for shame andrej, for shame!) right, back to whitteling you silouhette and sketching a place in paris to pose you. a toute, bonne journee.

fat lad coppings zzz's

2011-06-17T05:23:00.000-07:00

an that promised fat lad coppings zzz's on the train from dublin to kilkenny

sketch book june 2011

2011-06-17T05:15:00.000-07:00

yo! here's, how we all doin... good, good, thats nice. glad to hear it.
a wee sketch book update from mayo, fountainebleu outside paris and birthplace of the barbizon school and a fat lad copping z's on the way to kilkenny. Thought i'd post them in their raw unprocessed form before i tackle them with tone and proper perspective, realise i'm lost and shelve them till i know what the hell i'm at. turaloo,
mr o sunshine

black sod 001

2011-06-10T17:29:00.000-07:00

heres another one from the mayo sketchbook. black sod. its a bit mor abstracted, i like me the colors in this one! goodnite

old head mayo from memory

2011-06-10T11:06:00.000-07:00

yo folks. getting geared up to start as a bg painter on Le jour de courneilles so I'm working over some sketches to get used to the tools style etc. Heres one from memory of the beautifull Old Head in my native county mayo. Had the oppourtunity to visit there recently with my family. Great day. Beatifull place is county mayo. hope you enjoy. Ray

le tableau

2011-06-06T05:09:00.001-07:00

the trailer for the feature i worked on with remi, andrej, jean and eve (of destruction), Le Tableau by Jean Francoise Laguione. (remi really. shhhssshh!) nice to see the plan come together, http://www.catsuka.com/news_detail.php?id=1307051957

kilkenny landscape from a moving train

2011-05-09T13:35:00.000-07:00

landscape based on a quick sketch made several years ago on a train going from kilkenny to dublin

my new website

2011-01-12T08:27:00.000-08:00

my new website, check it out if your skiving at work.

www.rayforkanart.com

thanks to Niall Moran for code machinations etc.

2011-01-07T01:28:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year folks, Hope you all had a nice chrismass.

Im happy to say that I have won my place on the background team as a layout and color bg designer for an up comming top secret (I could tell you but I'd have to kill you) production at Je Suis Bien content in Paris. Great team, having a fine time so far...;

All the best for 2011...

M o Sunshine

thumbnails in french-perambulations 001

2010-09-22T06:33:00.001-07:00

Observational life drawing, quick perambulation sketches- roughs. Out and about in Paris. Origionally thumbnail size in a5 pads.

thumbnails in french-perambulations 002

2010-09-22T06:29:00.001-07:00

Observational life drawing, quick perambulation sketches- roughs. Out and about in Paris. Origionally thumbnail size in a5 pads.

thumbnails in french-poses 001

2010-09-22T06:24:00.000-07:00

Observational life drawing, quick poses sketches- roughs. Out and about in Paris. Origionally thumbnail size in a5 pads.

thumbnails in french-poses 002

2010-09-22T06:16:00.000-07:00

Observational life drawing, quick portraits sketches- roughs. Out and about in Paris. Origionally thumbnail size in a5 pads.

thumbnails in french-portraits

2010-09-22T06:02:00.001-07:00

Observational life drawing, quick portraits sketches- roughs. Out and about in Paris. Origionally thumbnail size in a5 pads.

mayo landscape

2010-09-21T22:02:00.000-07:00

Hi folks, here are some quick line landscapes from my trip back home a month ago. Thanks a million to my mate David Lenehan for the company and the transport. While I was busy scribbling Lenny was busy shooting the landscape, it was a cool day, literally. These are from Belmullet North West Mayo. Next stop H'Amerikay.
It was sweet to be out in the wilds of my homeland google eyed at the power of nature again. Theres nothing like the sound of the ocean on a silver gray blustery day to put things in perspective.
I know the scans look pretty shitty, it has to do with the thickness of the paper and the scanner and me not wanting to spend hours cleaning them up!
More really quick scribbles of Newport and Achill done from the inside of a fast movin car, Zepplin blaring on the way...
Thanks for popping by
peace,
Ray

mayo sketchbook

2010-09-21T21:58:00.001-07:00

mayo sketchbook

2010-09-21T21:53:00.001-07:00

2010-09-08T09:22:00.000-07:00

2010-08-23T03:58:00.001-07:00

yo, my friend Remi Chaye is just back from a month long trip to Russia and Mongolia, check out his wonderfull sketchbook here, http://remichaye.blogspot.com/2010_08_01_archive.html
enjoy, ray

Key color work, Le Tableau, Paris

2010-06-16T01:36:00.001-07:00

Salut,

Here are some samples from my current job working as a key background on the new feature by Director Jean Francois laguionie, Le Tableau At Blue spirit studios in the heart of Paris.

Producer- Eric Jacquot.
Assistant Director Remi Chaye- Story board, animatic, character, design tonal layout.
Julien Bisaro- Story board, animatic, animation design, tonal layout.
Jean Palenstijn- Color script, Bg painter, style guru.
Andrej Radka- Animation.
Assistant in Everyting- Eve "of destruction" Guastella.

Ray Forkan- Key color bg painter.
Antoine Saugier-Key color bg painter.

Blue spirit- 3d design, animation, texturing and lighting

The style as you can see has been developed with Mr Laguoine and the above and is based on
his personal work and inspired by Le Fauves, The Nabi and Cubism, in particular Matisse and Cezanne.

It has been a great challenge everyday to find the style and a very interesting journey in terms of technique, in fact it would be hard to describe how much I've learned about the use of color, color scripting, mood, balance and proportion from Jean "I see colors" especially

and the Animation process in general from these guy's, it has been the best kind of learning curve, difficult and great fun.

I have 3 more months remaining on this project and look forward to working with these guys again in the near future.

If anyone has a gig comming up for after August, dont hesitate to contact me....
There are samples of realisim, tonal, abstract and lighting work further back in my blog,

Salut!

Olannas big day

2010-05-27T17:10:00.000-07:00

Salut from beautifull Paris.

2010-05-06T02:40:00.000-07:00

Hi there folks, a wee update, currently I am delighted to be reunited with some of my old "Brendan" collegues working at Blue Spirit Studios on a new feature by legendary auteur Jean Francoise Laguione as a key color background artist. Its has been a great challenge to match the style but I have the best of the best as colleagues to learn from.
More later,
Salut from beautifull Paris.

2010-04-15T00:33:00.000-07:00

Yo, check out my colleague, animator Andrzej Radjka's cool photography and photoshop work over at the link on the left;
Bon journo

secret of kells up for

2010-02-02T08:03:00.000-08:00

Yo, un' buh leaveable, "the Secret of kells" in the best animated feature category for oscar nomination, well done folks, whoooooot! Shit, wish I was in kilkenny now!

wip

2010-02-01T20:32:00.001-08:00

Hi folks, I've been studying how to paint eggs recently as a method of studying how light falls on a rounded object which naturaly led me on to, dont laugh..

A wip from photo ref, this is about four hours in.

It's an initial lay in, as broadly and painted from as far back as possible, the values of the tones are not 100percent there yet but they suffice as landmarks for the underlying skeleton/muscel systems.

The brush strokes after this to be renderd "across the forms" as WIlliam Whitaker advises to render more skulpturally. A correct value range and bounced light being the primary focus of this exercise. I hope to get back to her soon..

auto portrait in german.

2010-01-29T10:29:00.000-08:00

yo. heres a quick squibbly portrait in artrage- 1 hr, wicked wicked programme. of course i see my mistakes now but heh, whats done is done and this was fun. painting eggs and practicing graysvale really really helps you assess value and hue in erm, reverse order. nice. some lovely lovely boobs next i promise.(id hate to continue putting you off your noodles)

need a model, pref female, 20- 35, can pay in green tea, biccies and a lil 'dig it all immortality? any takers, eh, eh?

High praise for "The Secret of kells" by Disney Imagineer

2010-01-16T23:51:00.000-08:00

Pam Koller to Director Tomm Moore...

"My friend Ramsey Avery, a former Imagineer at Disney, world wide theme park designer and innovator said this about the screening today, ' Just saw The Secret of Kells. Unbelievably beautifull, audacious and compelling. If you care one iota for design or world building-- and how
they make a well told story soar--there has been nothing better in years"

I'm very proud to have been part of the team.

You can read the rest at http://www.theblogofkells.blogspot.com/

and you can follow links to the right if you would like to check out the work of the artists, designers, animators involved and a fistfull of others too.
feast yer eyeballs.

some new year news

2010-01-16T05:38:00.000-08:00

Heh folks, happy new year. I had a lovely quiet time back in the welcoming, though frosty bosom of my native Mayo. I had been hoping for a wild time to make up for the quietude of Stafford in T'ingland but 2 inches of snow, -13 degree temperatures put pay to that. It would'nt happen in the Schtates boys, ill tell ya.

I did get time to hang with my family and "twang away the first two chords to da do ron ron on my ratty geetar" though, which was nice.

During the break some of my more intellectual mates who listen to the radio ( not just pop hour on Mid West havin a plethora of pints and a scrap on dole day out the back of Mellets) and such gave me the heads up on a broad cast of Pat "the plank" kenny's radio show where Ross Stewart, Marie Thorhague and myself recieved praise for our illustration work on the "Bridges" series For O'Brien Press. Nice.
Thanks also to the writers of the series and the mighty Cartoon Saloon.

you can view the article here..

www.rte.ie/radio1/todaywithpatkenny/2009-12-15.html

You can order your copy now at...

www.obrien.ie/Series.cfm?series/ID=28

merry syphillis

2009-12-17T15:40:00.000-08:00

Merry syphillis folks!

This is part of my facial modelling assignmment, the model was made in 3ds max, my first one and took way too long! the rest was done in zbrush, modelling 2 hrs painting one hr. skin of my teeth and 24 hrs to go.

enjoy

first matte painting assignment...

2009-11-20T16:39:00.001-08:00

a process- surrealistic divinations tonal wise

2009-11-08T09:17:00.000-08:00

diffuse lighting

2009-11-05T04:02:00.000-08:00

hi, a quick sketch focusing on linear and arial perspective, saturation in fg and a subtle pool of light in the mid g. all round diffuse lighting. about half an hr.
laters

matt test

2009-11-01T07:23:00.001-08:00

dual brush madness.

2009-10-29T23:28:00.000-07:00

gotta love the chaos. instant tech enviournment/texture/character.

make some dual brushes for yourself,

check adobe help, brushes, dual.

2 hour zbrush model

2009-10-29T20:32:00.000-07:00

yo, a quick test in z brush from an previous 2d skeatch, ukranian alien.

some quick character silhouettes

2009-10-29T06:23:00.000-07:00

yo, here are some quick and loose character silhouettes developed from some squibbely squibbles in my note book to help mein director idealise a games project we are working on. more about that later. need me some sleepies.

(left the drawings on some, they were thumnails, for my future ref, well i did say they were quick annnnd rough!)

spot the abundant 2000ad reference!

troll test

2009-10-25T14:22:00.000-07:00

zbrush tests

2009-10-23T13:59:00.000-07:00

yo, started zbrush today. instant convert. i'm never leaving my room again, who needs the real world anway?

now just gotta get a keyoard that isnt dyslxic and does'nt need the weight of an elephant to use it, "genius" me hole,

slow on the pick up more like. get what yer given in a "deal" i suppose. should know better.

here are some very rough tests from this eve, will post the previous when i get a chance.

nite,

peace,

mr o sunshine

life drawing

2009-10-16T13:58:00.000-07:00

30min study

Graham Corcorans blog

2009-10-12T06:43:00.000-07:00

yo, go check my mate and x co worker, Graham Corcorans awesome new site, sweet chicks, sweet designs, great stuff, whoooooot!
http://www.digitalrampage.com/gallery.html#

a zombie wonders where he left the hp sauce

2009-10-09T11:02:00.000-07:00

color test 002-"a zombie wonders where he left the hp sauce"
annnnnnd now a pint or six. have a good weekend.

zombie clr test 001

2009-10-09T08:43:00.000-07:00

zombie self portraits

2009-10-09T07:23:00.000-07:00

yo, gotta model a self portrait in 3ds max as part of my course and then turn myself into a zombie in zbrush, whoooooot!

luckily i've been blessed with an evil lookin niuk so it shouldnt be too much of a problem, just head down to london for the weekend and take a picture on sunday mornin. easy peazy puddin and pie.
Here are some studies in graphite that i did last nite gurnin into the bathroom mirror, which, due to a heavy schedual, I may or may not have a chance to correct all those drawing mistakes in photoshop or painter, but heh, its a start and its so nice to be evil for a change, always an alter boy, never a priest. harrumph

laters, innit

poses and postures from the human zoo

2009-09-30T11:52:00.000-07:00

two hrs of life drawing in euston station london (sweet location to view the human zoo) lookin at s curves, torsion and weight combining to describe personality. Gotta do more of this stuff. the last is a sketch from the train inspired by the girl and a doors tune.
havin a real pain in the face with technology so thats all my schpiel for now.
peace

character developments

2009-09-24T07:27:00.000-07:00

concepts, check below for details and some blaah blaah blaah..

"Shaman" developments from initial sketch to final illustration,
"Every good shaman must make sacrafices, personal and otherwise"

Short film development, "Duel with diablo" El Sheriff character development. more later...

Short film development set in post appocoliptic wasteland, character developments.
Random character design from sketch book, mixing animal. bird and human anatomies.
the lenghts some dudes will goe to just to get a females attention. Burty Paradise.

A portrait study from memory.

Yo yo, some new concept designs, well I say new, what I mean is developments on some personal projects that have been on the back burner for the last couple of years which I hav'nt had the time or skillset to tackle till now.

just started concept design at stafford uni in the north west midlands of england, the course looks great thankfully, 2d and 3d techniques from a scientific, essential
skill set oriented view point.

Got bumped into second year yesterday due to previous dip in animation from dliadt and 10 years work experience. nice. Hope it all goes this well though i know I'm facing a serious year of combining what I would have learned in first year 3d wise with what I will have to learn this year, phew!

luckily the town itself is small and I'm kinda geriatric in terms of the ages of my fellow students, though they all sem pretty sound so far, so its work work work for the next two years. luckily I do know some colleagues in the uk so its off to the major cities for partyyyyy!

Oh yeah, check this, the library has every educational dvd made by the Gnomon work shop and conceptart.org! geeeeek out.

Marie Thourhauge's blog

2009-09-14T08:33:00.001-07:00

Heres a link to Marie Thourhauge's blog, shes a designer with the Saloon, what an awesome designer topped only by her ability as a wise ass viking!

http://www.artbythorhauge.blogspot.com/

great line, synthesis of forms, beautiful stuff..

cartoon saloon comic layout work

2009-09-14T06:48:00.000-07:00

Hi, during the year I got the oppourtunity to work again with my old pals at the Cartoon Saloon doing layout work (layout, borders, bubbles, text, extra color and fx) on the "Secret of kells" graphic novel which culminated in my doing pep line work and color on a few of the prequel pages drawn by Maestro Tomm Moore and colored by myself, Marie Thorhague Torslev and Tomm.

I had the good fortune of earning my place on to the clean bg department of the film way back when and had the honour of viewing all the art work in psd form. I can vouch that reverse engineering the production techniques on these pieces thought me more in the 14 or so months working with these guys than I ever learned or was thought in college. annnnnd i got paid to do it! Ha! sweet deal.

It was great to take a trip down memory lane and review the collaborative work of the many, many contributing artists on these pages.
There were so many outstanding artists, all humble and hilarious , just as ready to rip the piss out of themselves and each other as the were to take time from their hectic schedual to drop pearls of wisdom about art/design theory and practical application.

A special treat was to work with maestro Barry Reyonalds who did the final designs on every single character in the film. I dont think its any offense to say of him that he did not sketch but drew everthing so well, on model in perfect pose and attitude that he quite clearly has something wrong with his brain, not to mention his banjaxed right knee which was the only time I could come close to him talent wise and that was at playing football.

aaaah. Happy days.

Thanks to Tomm for letting me use these in my portfolio.
you can follow the blog here
http://theblogofkells.blogspot.com/
and the saloon site..
http://www.cartoonsaloon.ie/

some character designs

2009-09-13T11:23:00.000-07:00

some old character designs culled from a couple of self motivated projects...

i alsop updated my deviant art page with folders, you can just hit the sit back full screen mode and watch your work in a slide show, cooooool.
http://beigeape.deviantart.com/

Two studies

2009-09-08T08:14:00.000-07:00

Yo, two studies, Friedrick deane and a Repin, lookin for that oil painting vibe....i love the lighting in the originals and the expressions, trying to tighten up on that. I shouldnt be workin from jpgs but heh, who's got time to sit for me.... any takers?

Im supposed to be leaving for England like many a mick before me cause there's no work in this country and true to form I just got offered work on tv series here, un buh leavable, now I gotta go count some chickens none of which have even hatched yet... sheesh, animation man, what an industry

peace ray

life changing decisions and how to avoid them

2009-08-27T11:12:00.000-07:00

How to avoid making monumentaly life changing decisions, go do something else.

self portrait study in painter. thick oil brushes. 3 hrs.
Now to feed the cattle.
peace.

2009-08-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

Hi, here's a cd cover I made recently for a friend of mine, local musician Conor Walsh, Inspiration came from his devotion to fly fishing.
Check out his beautiful piano pieces at his myspace here

http://www.myspace.com/conorwalshpiano

postcards from the hedge fine art prints

2009-08-21T06:53:00.000-07:00

degas study

2009-08-20T11:12:00.000-07:00

Yo, a three hour Degas study. The slackness of the posture and features in the original add to the spaced out drunkenness of her expression. I've always been a huge fan of Degas, savage draftsmanship, great sense of color, motion and pictorial rhythm.
Still, makes me wanna go get locked though, anyone know where i can get some absinthe? See ya out the back of Horkans later..
peace
Ray

kilkenny to mayo and back speed paints

2009-08-13T07:18:00.000-07:00

Hi folks, doing some speed paints on the exorbitantly priced train journey from Mayo to kilkenny and back. I've changed tact in terms of choosing colors and am now trying to tune them in using the rgb color sliders rather than the color picker, this is quite difficult but is starting to make sense to me, I am the worlds slowest learner after all.
This discovery is due to reading a tutorial by a chinese artist, Lin Ran on conceptart.org, check out his work, he is amazing, you will find the turorial there also

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?p=2387249#post2387249

Beautifull day here in kilkenny which makes up for the quietness on the buisness front.
peace

"Postcards from the hedge" at kilkenny Arts fest.

2009-08-05T10:32:00.000-07:00

Ray Forkan in conjunction with Martin Delahunty would like to cordially invite you

“Postcards from the hedge”

a limited edition series (120) of fine art prints inspired by Irish landscapes by Ray Forkan at the Kilkenny Arts festival 7th-15th august.

Doors open 12 midday Friday Aug 7th. add- No 1 The Parade, New Plaza on the Parade .( across from the castle gates) Kilkenny.
Official opening by the esteemed Mr Tomm Moore (Dir, The Secret of Kells ) at 7.30 Friday Aug 7th.

artist statment...
“ I make art because the world around me gives me a head full of wonder and woe; Art allows me to maintain some sense of equanimity. Perhaps more importantly, to validate my existence as a sentient human being on this plain right now .

After all, “ Its not the thought that counts, its the shape of the idea”
Samuel Beckett.
Ray forkan, beigeape, mr o’ sunshine amongst others, 09

about the art work..

These works are created multi media style, painted in photoshop, art rage, painter, oils and acrylics then textured using hand painted water colour textures. This process takes up to 50 hours to complete and in some cases several hundred. They are laser printed locally on the highest quality fine art matt paper available and promise 170 years of colour
retention without fading when kept out of direct sunlight.

Pricing
They are priced at 140 euros each including frame for the duration of the Kilkenny Arts Festival. 120 euros (plus packaging and mail costs) minus frame there after and are available exclusively from beigeape@gmail.com

about the artist....(taurus excrementus)

Ray Forkan was raised free range on a farm in north east Co Mayo. Since childhood he has made things broken things and forgotten how to put them back together. He has always drawn and is a self thought painter.

He studied animation at Dliadt and begun his professional career as a formative member of animation design collective Del 9, creating music videos and light shows for international acts.

Since then he has continued to provide art work in a variety of roles on interactive info-tainment games, adverts, short films, comics, childrens book illustrations, award winning Tv series and feature films (Skunk Fu!, The Secret of Kells.) while continuing to teach himself painting, computer programmes, sculpture and music. Hobbies include, staring and being irritable.

Currently he isseeking fulltime/freelance work in a variety of roles while taking not being serious very seriously indeed.

”When all is said and done, more is said than done” Wi’ Seass

All of his works are available as prints and can been
seen at www.rayforkan.blogspot.com.
(the content of this current show will be posted after the 15th of Aug so come view it in person)

to order you can contact him at
beigeape@gmail.com , tel 0851457276

exhib, live music and live vj

2009-07-28T19:57:00.000-07:00

2009-07-21T12:59:00.000-07:00

yo, a quick sargent study, wish i could have done justice to those come to bed eyes, yeouch!

rembrant study

2009-07-15T08:55:00.001-07:00

yo folks, todays effort, a rembrant study from crap internet ref, can never get the eyes to look in the right direction. buh!

different process for me,

initial lay in hard ragged edged airbrush, soft airbrush, median filter on lowerd opacity,
more soft airbrush, flat rough oil brush moving toward definition, make ragged hair type brush,
redefined hair and darker areas. details and definition, hard round watercolor brush on many layers, lowering opacity to suit.

4 hrs later, a spaced out rembrant looking like he's wondering if he's left the oven on.

there ya go fellow geeks! hup

orpen study

2009-07-13T07:10:00.000-07:00

Yo folks, great to see my old Del9 Amigos and Cartoon Saloon fiends down in a lashing rain at the Galway film festival, who won?

Heres a 3 hour detail study of a three hour study by William Orpen of Sean keating.
One rough oil brush at 100% opacity, trying to commit to a correct tonal range and order them right up to the highlight, aint got it yet but its the way to go. (have a goo at the original, both of these guys were masters at it)
hup!

news involvng feet

2009-07-08T08:37:00.000-07:00

"The Secret of kells" wins audience award at Edinburgh film festival!
Go on the lads! hup!
http://theblogofkells.blogspot.com/

Also check out the wicked work of mentalist mate Mick Harrison

Random quote,

"Here we are then. Me and owd Wilco there. A wonderful selection of garments, all hand cooked using feet"

utterly picturesque incomprehensible genius, the best dude to imbibe with this side of Flann O Brien.
There is but one...

http://zeteos.blogspot.com/
http://mickcartoons.blogspot.com/

redo's

2009-07-08T06:48:00.000-07:00

A 'lil bit of added color and design to some previous works.

portrait studies

2009-07-06T09:02:00.000-07:00

Heh folks, takin part in the international portrait month over at http://www.conceptart.org/, great thread, great inspiration.

Here are two portraits from life, my bro and my smelly elf, also a master study of a self portrait by Joaquin Sorolla Y Bastida. A friend of Sargent and influenced by Velasquez. Needless to say, I'm a big fan of his fluency with a brush. Back soon with more.

Peace,

Ray

portrait prep study

2009-06-10T09:07:00.000-07:00

yo, takin a break from work to do some prepatory tonal sketch for a portrait commission.

Familiarising myself the sculpture of the model from shitty photographic ref, looking at defining plains tonally, blurred edges versus sharp ones, composition and design flow of finished image.

face on/top down lighting for now, dont think the resemblance is there yet...

pshop painting, one flat rough oil brush. bout 8 hrs.
will post a development sequence of this when internet allows.

follow the leader

2009-05-26T19:18:00.000-07:00

Bridge on the way to the Windy gap, and on into North West Mayo.

Fibonacci spiral, photo shop, one oil brush, bout 3 hours.

hugely influenced by the most excellent American painter Josh Elliot,
check out his stylings here

http://data.fineartstudioonline.com/dataviewer.asp?keyvalue=1893

Way to sickened by the state of my country at the moment to say much more.

Freedom is the only true burden.

Fibonacci spiral-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fibonacci_spiral.svg

what goes around, comes around, for infinity.

chup chup

2009-05-06T16:50:00.000-07:00

spent an hr in kildare waitin on a train, did this between there and kilkenny, bout 40 mins, p shop.
self as a sheep who needs more sleep.

red gurrrrrl

2009-05-06T15:26:00.000-07:00

update,
photoshop, bout 6 hours, workin with colors and what, i think, is a tertiary combo.
brushes by the freekin amazin zhuzhu,
link to deviantart page,

http://zhuzhu.deviantart.com/

go find his stunning work.

if you ever read this, thanks for being deadly.

2009-05-05T15:21:00.001-07:00

a wip, pshop.

mmmmm buh?

2009-04-08T16:11:00.000-07:00

been hugely inspired by

Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida

of late, amazin artist,
study practice study. one day, maby.

jug lugs

2009-04-07T13:29:00.000-07:00

45 min tonal study (5 degrees) done from reflection in the back of a savage Planxty album and way past my bed time. if ya look real close, no, i mean, real close, you can see that i'm actually smilin! (pints for guessing why correctly) No,
look closer.

postcards from the hedge series

2009-03-25T11:11:00.000-07:00

some paintings started in acrylics and continued in oils. Painted in many different homes across Ireland on and off for about three years, due a make over.
Possibly if not probably digitally, who the hell can afford a 5 by 4 foot painting? Not me that's for sure.

"Postcard from the hedge" series will be part of my up coming exhib, stay tuned

boogie man

2009-03-24T10:11:00.000-07:00

Yo, i did this as a study on modeling bounced light and cast shadow for an online submission thing but wasnt happy nuff with the result so did'nt post it, tried to rework over hours upon hrs minus the mirror and the same lighting, big mistake and a total waste of time. dont tell anyone.

used painter oil brushes and palette knives and some rough round brushes in pshop too, between 6 and 8 hrs. the other 10 or so were a complete waste.

mr o sunshine.

ian

2009-03-18T06:46:00.001-07:00

study of my wee nephew ian, he's the man.

clse up

2009-03-18T06:09:00.001-07:00

broseph

2009-03-18T05:29:00.001-07:00

half hr and other abreviations

die hard

2009-03-13T09:21:00.000-07:00

die hard. artrage study. 45 'ish mins

yer ma

2009-03-12T11:39:00.000-07:00

me ma. Teresa Forkan. study, pshop, 1 hour approx.

yer ma.

smells like content

2009-03-12T05:47:00.001-07:00

artrage, painter, photoshop, study from a mirror sans goggles, beer or otherwise. need me a model. dont we all.

auditory mantras-boubacar traore, meshuggah, helmet, kaki king, paul brady, debussy, satie

-the books, smells like content.

"balance, repetition, composition, mirrors.
most of all the world is a place where parts of wholes are described,
within an overarching paradigm of clarity and accuracy,
the context of which makes possible an underlying sense of the way it all fits together
despite our collective tendency not to conceive of it as such...

go cut your teeth on the blade of their wit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHNArEfBKdc

2009-03-04T07:22:00.001-08:00

more art rage, self portrait study from the reflection in the machine, fauve'ist hues completly invented.

solitaire, speed study

2009-03-04T06:14:00.000-08:00

solitaire, funky artrage tonal study, took about an hr, gotta do more of these

grayscale study

2009-03-03T10:43:00.000-08:00

grayscale study of an old friend using some home made brushes..bit of a mile stone me thinkst..
couldnt have been done without martha daligs tutorials in imagine fx last month. dont know you but this culchie thanks you.

the secret of kells and some other news...

2009-03-03T04:21:00.000-08:00

Yo, Im back! I knew you missed me. Some news, I had the great fortune to attend the premiere of the 'Secret of kells' last sunday week in the Savoy O Connel st with the rest of the crew, red wine, red faces, deadly,
The film, which looks freakin amazin is due for public release this wed I believe, everybody go see it, it is some piece of work, and, if enough of ye go, we may just get the chance to treat yer eyeballs again! solidarity brothers and sisters, solidarity.
You can follow progress from the films creation up to promo and release here,

http://theblogofkells.blogspot.com/

On another note, Ive had the oppourtunuty to propose an exhibition, my first solo painting and first since the Mayo artists exhib in the linenhall center a couple of years ago, its set for Aug in Swinford Co Mayo as the Siamsa festival celebrates its 25th anniversary and the Meitheal achievement award.

There are plans for a multimedia event featuring some of my nearest and dearest musicians and general arty types also but nothing confirmed as yet. may even brush up on the ol banjalely meself. Who knows.

Yesterday as a burt day treat I downloaded a copy of the amazing package artrage, like a simpler version of painter, its amazin. I imagine myself hangin out the window of my brothers (he is fancy and has a socket under one seat!) car painting like a mad thing on a trip throught the countryside. heres a couple of testers to get the feel.
Check back for more re the above.

The very best of luck to all from the cartoon saloon, heres to the next one.
Ray, another year older and none the wiser.

drunk driver. te hee hee

2009-02-24T12:22:00.000-08:00

drunk driver. te hee hee

character sketches, location thumbnaill

2009-02-17T09:55:00.000-08:00

Some quick character sketches done for a buddy of mine a couple of years back..

some oil paint wips...

2009-02-16T04:44:00.000-08:00

some oil paint wips...

thumnail progress, no biting

2009-01-22T05:56:00.000-08:00

Thought this might be interesting to see for process/progress...

train thumbnails

2009-01-19T08:25:00.000-08:00

composition thumbnails, train window, dublin to mayo. enjoy

from life n stuff

2009-01-14T06:07:00.001-08:00

some pshop brushes make an image

2009-01-13T05:17:00.000-08:00

Happy new year folks, 'may the clay dance to balance you'

Have been messing with creating my own pshop foliage brushes, the idea being for ease and rapidity of execution. Turns out to be a false economy and quite obvious if not tweeked
but a handy trick none the less.

heres an image that designed itself...

birds on a wire

2008-12-01T06:56:00.000-08:00

Maudlin around kinaffe. pshop, water clr textures

heron over floodplain

2008-11-26T05:12:00.001-08:00

Clouds from photo ref over flood plains in Balla Co Mayo, heron from tinternet ref. all painted in photoshop, no layer effects. For Whistler, Grey days in Mayo.

view from diamond hill and somewhere in america

2008-11-19T13:18:00.000-08:00

Yope, Ive been spending ages working out pallets, thats color not ten ten twenty ya silly billy before starting to paint for the last couple of months in an effort to realy understand color relationships in terms of lighting and form while constantly focusing on simplifying for rythmic composition, it sure as hell aint easy but its definatley the way to go, so here are two vastly differing ones.

Firstly there a lot of people to thank for these technical insights, artists, colleagues and mentors, here are just a few,

Hans Bacher, Mick Harrison, Ross Stewart, Neil cambell Ross, Josh Elliot, Remi Chaye, Gordon Mc Bride, John Morris, Andrew Wyeth and Nicholas de Schtael amongst a legion of others.

I promise to update this entry with links to the above once I get to a geographical location where an interface with the ghost of the t'interweb is possible.

.. a pretty subtle one of letterfrack trying to work with grey Irish light...and a not so subtle one of a wee cold lake somewhere in H'merickaa.
painter and photoshop from photo ref.