Category: Digital - Cavanagh Art

persevering is the challenge

26/9/2018

Indeed it is. But onward we go....

Week 31's theme was Bunting, and this happily coincided with a commission based on the Mum and Dad dinosaurs from the Welcome theme near the end of last year. But this time the egg was open, and a baby girl dinosaur could be seen, and the bunting above had her name on it.

For Week 32 the theme was City, and this image was born after a few days of trudging around North Sydney, with the impression of a city and no recognisable landmarks.

The theme of Crayon for Week 33 took me in the opposite direction - back to nature. Crayon isn't a medium I use by choice, but it seemed like a good idea to take a stroll down to where the ocean meets the shore and to draw from life.

What to draw for Week 34's theme of Sheep stumped me for a while until my father used a phrase about his commuting experiences that I could visualise. There is quite a corollary between the experience of sheep being herded onto trucks and taken off to the abattoir and the many people who get onto crowded trains everyday to get to work.

With the Week 35 theme of Mistake it was a whole new experience deliberately doing mistakes rather than having them happen naturally and trying to rescue the results. A mistake, of course, is not perfect.

By the time Week 36 came along, a little of my pre-grief mojo was returning, and Frame was the theme. Many framed things only make sense when viewed from a certain direction.

If the locals are starting to dust off and begin reassembling their Christmas lights it must mean that it is time to think about getting my 2019 Calendar together. If you would like to order a copy, contact me before December hits, because I usually only do a single print run.

midway through the 2018 challenges

28/8/2018

Continuing with the weekly challenges, without the moral support of others doing the same, has been hard work, especially during these early stages of grief.
But onwards I plod.

The theme for Week 26 was Homeland. For this I decided to do an ink-scape cross-section of the elements that make up home turf for me.

Week 27's theme was Puzzle. In this one someone is lost in a hedge maze, and is trying to use the 'Marco Polo' game to attract someone to help navigate to the exit by sound.

With Week 28 came the troubled theme of Climate Change, where so much confusion reigns, and yet the conclusions remain the same.

Normally with a theme of Meadow for Week 29 sweetness and light would be the order of the day, but what looks so nice from the viewfinder can be a whole different story at ground level.

The theme for Week 30 was Futuristic, so instead of doing something Jetsons-like or Star Trek-like, I went for something that has been promised to happen in the future Phil 2:10-11 where every knee shall bow and every tongue confess. Each kneeling person embodies the colours of their national flag.

More weekly themes await their turn...so onwards I continue to plod.

sometimes life gets in the way

13/7/2018

The month of June 2018 was a tough one because it contained the last three weeks of life of my paternal grandmother, and her funeral. During that month, life was anything but normal. You can read about her life here, which contains footage from an interview I did with her a few weeks before her health really declined, which I edited later.

Things went very quiet on the creative front, but I was able to catch up to the 52 weekly illustration timetable earlier this week.

The theme for Week 21 was Haunted House, for which I deliberately wanted a limited colour palette. Yes, it does have a bit of an 'Adams Family' vibe.

For Week 22 the theme was Spectacles, which this teddy bear is wearing in a haphazard way.

Cottage was the theme for Week 23, and if you look carefully you will find that a small creature has made a cottage-home on top of the much larger swamp creature.

With the Week 24 theme of Anatomy I decided to have some fun. This well dressed frog was off to a very exclusive soiree when his plans were interrupted by some students of animal anatomy, and he very much wants them to get it over with so that he can resume his evening plans.

Because Week 25's theme was Nursery Rhyme, trying to choose one out of the many was proving to be difficult, so I combined three of them. Thus we have the mouse up the clock from Hickory Dickory Dock: Little Bo Peep with some of her sheep stopping to have a look at this sight; and Humpty Dumpty also surprised by this unusual view.

If you don't want to wait for the next blog-post to see Weeks 26 and 27, Facebook and Twitter are where you should look.

further weekly challenges

23/4/2018

This continues to be a lonely road, but each step is hopefully getting me closer to something worthwhile. If others are doing the 2018 weekly challenges, they don't appear to be using the #52WIC hashtag.

The theme for Week 11 was Stamp, so I included both the stamps you put on envelopes and the a stamp that requires ink.

For Week 12 the theme was Zoom. Sometimes when you zoom, everything goes right. Other times when you go zoom, you end up like this:

Do you remember Igerrom? Well, when he heard that the theme for Week 12 was Tea Party, he just had to invite himself. He's always trying to start a tea party and get people interested in his favourite beverage.

Week 14's theme was Geometric. So let's make some lovely circular arcs together with this waltzing compass.

Letterboxes was the theme for Week 15. With this one I went digital and enlisted the help of a robo-postman - who seems to be in a hurry.

My family are all engineers, computer geeks, teachers, number crunchers or fascinated by personal medical histories, (there is an aunt with a creative gene but her work is offline and hand-crafted - pottery, folk-art, dolls and teddy-bears).
This means I have none of the regular pathways to connections with art directors and creative studios. So if you know of anyone like that seeking the work of someone like me, please invite them to contact me.

recent cinema4d work and an s.o.s.

7/3/2018

I should post more of my Cinema4D work. I spend a lot of time experimenting with that software, and watching online tutorials about it.

So here's my Whirly Gig Glider

And some other views of it because a single view didn't do it justice.

With a few special motion effects as well

And further detail

Most recently I took one of my early paintings from a Central Coast Art Society workshop in 2011 with Fran Melrose called 'Tugboat'

And worked on transforming it from 2D to 3D with Cinema4D.
Here's one of the renders:

And now for the S.O.S.
I've been using the student version of Maxon Cinema 4D, and that licence runs out soon after Easter. To get a full licence costs around $4,000 which would be easy if I had paid employment, but that hasn't happened yet. Without the licence I won't be able to continue with this 3D illustration, and I won't be able to access and use the last 3-4 years of work. The closer it gets the more worried I am.
So should you have some small 3D projects that need doing and for which you are happy to pay, please contact me.

the 2018 challenge has begun

9/2/2018

Even though the 52 Week Illustration Challenge community is now disbanded, at least we were given a list of themes to work through 2018 with, and a hashtag to use #52WIC.
So I have been working through them:

The theme for Week 1 was Me.
At the time I was feeling miserable, as you can see. That was me for a good 2-3 weeks starting just before New Year.

The theme for Week 2 was Sweet, and this is something that would definitely cause a sugar rush:

For Week 3 on the official website the theme was 'Hybrid', but on the Facebook group somehow it became Meadow. Hybrid wasn't easy, but I eventually came up with this solution:

I filled a page with sketch scribbles for the theme of Circles, and this robot was chosen to fulfill the theme. He doesn't look particularly happy, but few sentient beings are happy when they are going around and around in circles.
'Would you just go and keep Junior content for a while?' was probably the command that initiated this response.

Then along came the theme of Flight for Week 5, the first one after the Facebook group got archived.
Different robot, but a similar command, 'Keep Junior occupied for a while, show him a few asteroids'.
This image took a lot longer because it was coloured digitally, the ink work was still hand drawn.

Should you know anyone who is looking for artwork like this, please contact me.

recent work in the illustration challenge

11/12/2017

These are my images from Weeks 42 to 47 of the 52 Week Illustration Challenge #illo52weeks

The theme for Week 42 was Door. For this one I revisited a hand-drawn imaged and gave it the digital treatment. The original image was an illustration of Baptism as 'the gateway to life in the Spirit, and the door which gives access to the other sacraments' CCC 1213.

Week 43's theme was Friend. For this one I went with man's best animal friend.

Week 44's theme was Delicious. Meet Igerrom. He's a character from Book 2 who thinks that a cup of tea is absolutely delicious and offers a cup to everyone he comes across.

It took a while to settle on what to do for Week 45's theme of Homage to a Favourite Artist. In the end I went for architect Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926) who designed the Sagrada Familia (Holy Family) cathedral in Madrid.

Week 46's theme was Pencil. What do you think coloured pencils would say to each other if they could talk?

Reptile was the theme for Week 47. I decided to go non realistic and smile inducing for this one.

I enjoy the variety that the Illustration Challenge offers me.

Earlier this week I picked up copies of my 2018 Calendar from the printers, send me a message if you would like to purchase a copy.

further challenge work

23/11/2017

It is nice to have good news to share. The Facebook community for those doing the 52 week illustration challenge #illo52weeks has been so popular that they stopped admitting new members during the year and asked new entrants to wait until November. Thankfully they admitted me as a member as soon as the doors were open.

Week 38's theme was Jump, and I liked how this one turned out. I tried a much looser style with both line-work and digital colour.

Week 39's theme was Grandkids, and this one was fun to do.

Week 40's theme was Rope. At the time I needed another image that said 'family', so putting rope and family together resulted in this:

For week 41 the theme was Bookshop, and after the many hours spent on Rope in front of the computer, something simpler was needed:

Currently I'm in the middle of work on Week 47, so hopefully I'll get the others uploaded soon. If you are unable to wait that long, visit my Twitter and Facebook pages :))

recent 3d artwork

19/10/2017

These were all done with Cinema4D software during the last two months.
The first one is a counting robot:

Followed by what a foundry in space might look like:

And back to robots, this time with a cute gumball-like head:

And finally, a Giant's Causeway:

You may have noticed that I've streamlined the website a bit.
Hopefully it will make website navigation easier for you.

more creations due to the 52 week illustration challenge

26/9/2017

These are from Week 34 to Week 37 #illo52weeks.

The theme for Week 34 was Deep, and because I felt a need to mix things up a bit I scanned a sketch into the computer and then used Photoshop to build the image. This intelligent deep sea creature is the result:

For week 35 the theme was Bucket List. I don't have one of those yet, so I thought about others who might have trouble choosing. Again I sketched first, and spent even more hours on Photoshop. Here he is. His bags are packed, and the taxi is waiting outside for him. But where of all the places to go on his bucket list, should he go? His solution is a blindfold and a 'pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey' type pin.

Week 36's theme was Printing. There were several ways to go with this one, but I decided to go with the blocks of type-set letters that were used before printing text became electronic. For this one I went back to ink and watercolour.

Week 37's theme of Queen could have gone in many different directions too. But my inspiration was drawn to build on Lewis Carroll's character, mine being a bit more regal and less likely to yell 'off with his head'.

This is the kind of stuff that I like to do, bringing ideas and images to life in a variety of ways. What I don't know how to do is make a living by doing it. I have gone down many paths that have proved to be dead ends. If you can see an untried new path for me to explore, please get in contact.