Knockout caricature

When I'm not painting or blogging, I am the production manager at the Albany & Great Southern Weekender newspaper. Today, one of my caricatures adorned the front page.

(Tuckey vs Crook. Digital. Original image 25x25cm @300dpi . © 2010, Andy Dolphin)

 

Wilson Tuckey had been the political representative for the federal seat of O'Connor for thirty years. It was considered one of the safest seats in Australia until boundary changes were made prior to last week's election. As a result of those changes, The Nationals' Tony Crook became a legitimate contender for the seat. Following a notable pre-election battle, Crook eventually won the seat after preferences were distributed.

As with my other caricatures, this one was done in Photoshop CS using a Wacom Graphire4 tablet & stylus. With relatively short notice, and with Mr Crook not previously being a well-known face, I'm really pleased with the way this one turned out.

Nuytsia floribunda: Oil painting

My most recent oil painting.

 (Nuytsia floribunda. 25x35cm oil on panel © 2010, Andy Dolphin)

This was based on a digital painting I did a few weeks ago.

Everyone's an art critic!

Dirty Harry, a saltwater crocodile at Crocosaurus Cove in Darwin, was shown my recent caricatures of Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott.

It's hard to read a crocodile's mind so I don't know if snapping at Julia was a tick of approval for my digital painting technique - or a scathing critique.

Perhaps he found the complementary juxtaposition of the flaming red hair and neutralised green background just a little too contrived.

Okay, so it wasn't really an art competition. The real story is that Harry was asked to predict the outcome of this weekend's federal election, using two of my caricatures and some chicken carcasses.

It seems he took a liking to Julia's carcass.

The ABC has video here.

Blog Frog: Digital painting

Another digital painting. This little guy (or girl?) is one of up to 30 green tree frogs that live in our backyard pond. They are so comfortable there that you can get within 30cm of them to take photos.

 (Tree frog - digital painting. Original 1450 x 1000px . © 2010, Andy Dolphin)

Millie: Digital painting

Another digital sketch. This time it's one of our four pet lambs, Millie.

 (Millie - digital painting. Original 1200 x 1050px . © 2010, Andy Dolphin)