New Deck

So this is my latest finished skate deck - a 7.75" this time, so a wee bit wider. Board is a beautiful natural wood finish on the reverse side w no grip tape, so keeping in theme w this I did her up in warm, chocolate browns.

Built up in layers, Starting w a vintage embossed wallpaper as background (This paper was rescued from an old brothel in Wellington that has since been bought and transformed into student housing for Vic Uni) - paper has been over-painted in multi layers in Gouache; The girl sitting on top is hand cut in 600gsm watercolour paper and hand painted in Gouache. The whole board has then been coated in a hard gloss resin that resembles clear toffee - Delicious!

Bah Humbug

Yup - Christmas this year has left me feeling Grinch-like.... I blame the nasty stomach virus i've just gotten over - 8 days in bed followed by a week of still feeling generally lousy, if at least up.

To combat this, i've been making some Christmas goodies to give away in the hopes this will put an end to these grumpily feelings....

Native flax Christmas wreath - still fresh, will dry to a beautiful golden by next year.
Wreath w willow, found seed pods and Paua - using dried flax flowers to achieve the light golden colour as opposed to Green
Flax flowers for giving and wreaths - I have just put some new bunches up in a new blog post - you can see them here at : http://vincenteknight.wordpress.com/2011/01/31/flax-flowers-with-more-bang/

Cartoony

"Hey Narwahl - . - Hey SeaCow. ''-Gouache and resin on 185gsm Aquarelle watercolour paper, mounted on board - 20.5 x 29.5 cm. Available - Please contact vin at : mightymouselikescheese@gmail.com if interested.

"Its a Stickup" - Gouache and resin on 185gsm Aquarelle watercolour paper, mounted on board - 20.5 x 29.5 cm. Private collection, Wellington

Latest Orchid work

Pink moth orchids - Gouache and resin on 300gsm Saunders watercolour paper, mounted onto board. 14.5 x 19.5 x 3.0 cm Available - Please contact Vin at : mightymouselikescheese@gmail.com if interested!
Green Cymbidium orchids - Gouache and resin on 300gsm Saunders watercolour paper, mounted onto board. 19.5 x 25.5 x 3.0 cm Available - Please contact Vin at : mightymouselikescheese@gmail.com if interested!

I heart DC x Royalefam Skate comp

On 11th November 2009 DC Shoes and Loaded presented the Asia-Pacific launch of the newDC x Royalefam collection designed by renowned Singaporean sneaker artist SBTG.

In conjunction with the event and to celebrate the role of collaboration in culture, DC selected 20 artists to participate in an art competition.

The selected artists used a blank skateboard deck as their canvas to create their own unique artworks. Here are some shots from the night!

Old, but new work... Has not been photographed/posted until now

yep.... not recent, but I have a habit of giving work away un-photographed - arrrgh! So here are a couple a old ones, yet unseen unless you happen to have walked into the houses they hang in!

Escape - 2/2 in set, A1 size approx - Gesso, spraypaint & stencils, Flashe and Acrylic on natural handmade flax paper - Private collection, Wellington.

Timekeeper demons - Gouache and Indian ink on 600gsm watercolour paper - Private collection, Wellington

Grouped work

So, having to pick five pieces of my work as an example for a comp recently entered, it got me thinking about some of different styles I have worked with over the years.

One of my friends was lovely enough to do up a powerpoint for me, alas, I can't just load it up here! I've re-made them into grouped photos, so at a glance, if you didn't have time to scroll all the way down my blog, you can see what the content is.

(Notes as written by Ana!).

And its got me brewing up some new ideas for a series of new work using skate decks as support - stay tuned!

Group 1 : These designs are perfectly suited for the shape of a skate deck and the design itself is simple and dramatic and could easily be transposed to a ‘series’ across several skateboards where each piece would be different but always identified as coming from the same series.

Group 2 : This grouping would look beautiful on a skateboard - they are simple and reflect the print method that seems to be favoured by royalefam. In particular - Anemone would look beautiful on the bottom of a deck.

Group 3 : Anime is a powerful reminder of Western influencing everything Asian and how Asian is now influencing everything Western.

Clare and the crown would look kick arse on a board but the Collective piece could showcase a style that would look awesome on a board - ie some dark superhero typesGroup 4 : If I had a skateboard I would want this sort of illustration on them - A really feminine design on a skateboard is kick arse and makes it different to all others - however, the majority of skaters who fuel the market are notoriously young, male and bogan. I reckon this would strike a chord though for female skaters/ art enthusiasts.

Group 5 (Below) : These designs would transcribe beautifully onto a skateboard and really appeal to the demographic. Personal favourites here are the Blimp Cats and Fearsome Friends - I think the Fearsome Friends is at that real high end of street art - where the characters could become a really well known graffiti/sticker series. - but the frogs are striking and helps represent the ‘breadth’ of my work.

In progress - Skate deck for Loaded comp

yup - this is what its for... So I submitted my 5 pics chosen from grouped work and now get to be one of 20 artists participating. I have about 3 1/2 weeks, inc. travel back and fourth of boards and resin (the type I use isnt stocked over in Melbourne anywhere - arrrgh!). Luckily for me, I can produce the work on a diff. board and swap. All good!

Board to start with... 7 1/2 deck from fast times in Melbourne.

All taped up waiting for glue to dry w initial layer vintage wallpaper

And again...

W all the tape off and trimmed

Mask on, ready to start painting

First layer of paint... just applied, so is shiny, will dull down to matt once dried

Lightened it up heaps w another layer of soft duck egg blue/ grey + layers of a dove grey, cream and white as highlights.

Checking out w mock up to see if the top image/ background look alright together

Sexy sexy finished board w resin topcoat poured on and dry.

Close up of detailing in top layer + highlights on vintage paper also showing through.

Below are Loaded's posters advertising the opening of the art show in conjunction w the release of the sneakers - Wednesday 11th November at Loaded store in Auckland on High st.

Other works in progress

So usually I don't put pieces up till they're absolutely finished, but occasionally its nice to see how they progress. yes no?

Paper works :

Some Orchid pieces i've started recently from live orchids my friend owns and has kindly let me paint. The first below is a lady slipper, the next two are Cymbidium orchids. Very cool - thanks Dan!

Before and after Shots - Lady Slipper Orchid, A4, Gouache on 300gsm Heat pressed Saunders watercolour paper - Original part of Private Collection, Wellington - Limited edition Giclée prints available.

Floral piece w moth orchids - gouache on watercolour paper, still more detailing and background work to complete

Masked out gouache piece - just background pattern, still w more detailing to complete at this stage

Background print masked out - Acrylic - Set of 3 i'm working on

Canvases :

These canvases are really small... like 10x10cm at most, maybe not even that. They're raw linen, which i've clear primed. Then they have a layer of stain, pencil and gouache... next they're getting a print pattern on - like the background of the Louis and Phoebe series and some more pencil work.

Stay tuned!

Below : Fourth orchid piece - another paper work - in set i'm working on.... this one needs the most work still!