http://paperclip.cgsociety.org/gallery/ paperclip's gallery of images en-us 120 http://paperclip.cgsociety.org/gallery/746984

I did this for a CGSociety Daily Sketch, 'Thing on the Subway'. The background is clearly a photo (dunno source), while the creature is from Photoshop.]]> Sat, 28 Mar 2009 03:25:47 +0000 http://paperclip.cgsociety.org/gallery/780428

One evening, when both the moon and the sun were in the sky at the same time and the evening star burned bright, Lucy left home for the last time.

The trail turned into a forest, dark and wild. Though she knew she shouldn’t, Lucy went in. The trail became smaller and disappeared and the trees grew closer together and thicker. The sky vanished overhead and the only sound was that of Lucy’s feet parting the grass gently. She was unafraid.

She came to a little clearing with mushrooms of many colours. Cerulean foxgloves and chartreuse moss padded the fallen tree trunks. She sat down on one, a little tired and keeping quiet in the hopes of seeing one of the white doves that she heard populated the forest. She heard a quiet breathing. It was gentle and vibrated the ground slightly. Look as she may, she could not locate the source of this breathing. The tangled roots gave no shelter to any creatures and the blades of grass were undisturbed. It was clear that this area was not one frequented by any of the animals of the forest.

Lucy began to wonder why and she turned over the little yellow stones around the stumps. A movement caught her eye and she jerked her head upwards, only to be met by hundreds of eyes gazing down at her from all around her. The trees had eyes; they were watching her every movement.

The source of the breathing was no longer a secret. She had spies on each shoulder. How will she escape the fingers of the rustling roots?

This is my take on Alice in Wonderland. Hope you like it. ]]> Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:48:56 +0000 http://paperclip.cgsociety.org/gallery/741495

This was primarily an exercise in achieving more of a likeness in my characters. I think it turned out pretty well.
This is the current Taoiseach (prime minister) of Ireland, Brian Cowen. He's a pretty, pretty boy for whom life is going pretty bad these days- the previous taoiseach dropped the ball, leaving him to pick up the pieces in the middle of the biggest financial crisis for the past 20 years. Even during this period, he still manages to find the time to look beautiful. Here are the references I worked from:

]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2009 03:46:30 +0000 http://paperclip.cgsociety.org/gallery/735802

This is General Poodly, one of a long line of the mutant rabbit generals. He came about as a result of a nuclear war that killed off all the humans- only the strongest rabbits survived, but somewhat modified. They became smarter and formed armies against each other. This particular general is at the head of the Diffidil army, which rewards bravery with ribbons (all the metal was melted during the nuclear blast but somehow the ribbons survived).

However, a particularly brainy rabbit with a crest of white hair has just discovered E=mc^2.
]]> Sat, 28 Feb 2009 13:40:01 +0000 http://paperclip.cgsociety.org/gallery/618131

There isn't really a story behind this, other than the tuba is a family heirloom dating way back. I like it when people look at art and give it their own spin on it, so here you go- I had fun painting it, I hope you have fun looking at it. ]]> Mon, 07 Apr 2008 20:03:03 +0000 http://paperclip.cgsociety.org/gallery/727770


'Come with us through space and time to the land of the Mighty Boosh'-- it's a surreal TV show, nothing quite like it. This is my favourite character- Vince Noir.
He's a laidback cockney who was raised in a forest by Bryan Ferry. For the rest of the story, watch the shows!
For those who have, I hope you like this tribute. ]]> Sun, 08 Feb 2009 05:11:12 +0000 http://paperclip.cgsociety.org/gallery/722900

My CGChallenge entry...

Cúchulainn was a fearsome warrior in Irish mythology. Here he's shown facing against Queen Maedbh's army in the great battle for possession of the Bull of Cooley.

The entire story is here, in case anyone's interested:
http://www.celtic-twilight.com/ireland/tain/tain.htm
Everyone who grows up in Ireland is initiated early in this legend- the epic tale of Cúchulainn the hero (the name means Hound of Culainn) who battles his best friend Ferdiad at a ford- this comes as the ultimate battle after Cuchulainn has spent all the days from Samháin (Halloween) until the first day of Spring in fighting the men from Queen Medbh's army.

Why is he doing this? Medbh is a jealous queen and the story starts with her stocking up all her possessions against her husbands'. When she discovers their possessions are equal, save one bull- a white one- that her husband owns, she vows to get her hands upon the greatest bull in all of Ireland- the great Brown Bull of Cooley, who belongs to the king of Ulster. She brings her army up to Ulster, only to discover that the way is blocked with Cuchulainn. In enquiring about him, she hears about the heroic stories of his youth and childhood.
Can anyone beat him? The one man who grew up with Cúchulainn is his equal-Ferdiad. The Queen then invites Ferdiad to her castle, gets him drunk and, while he is in his bragging state, shames him into agreeing to the battle. Afterwards, his gillie (sort of like a squire?) tries to convince him not to fight his best friend- but his sense of pride is too great.
In this image you see the moment where Cúchulainn and his gillie are scoping out the area around the ford, with the army of Medbh behind. I tried to make the bull as imposing as possible, to show its status in Irish legend and also because giant bulls are fun to depict.

I'd like to thank everyone on the forums for their help, particularly those who criticised constructively- you know who you are!- and helped me to push myself a bit further. I learned a lot in this challenge. Thank you to everyone!]]> Sun, 25 Jan 2009 09:12:17 +0000 http://paperclip.cgsociety.org/gallery/716828

Easter Island: during Victorian times, an insane scientist set up shop on a remote island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, where he intended to build a colossus that would rival that at Rhodes. The Scientist's weakness for cute squirrels led to his downfall, however, when he contracted rabies and died violently. Some hundreds of years later, Easter Island was discovered by explorers....

This was one of my concepts for the Steampunk CGChallenge and while I didn't enter this one- I liked it enough to want to finish it....]]> Sat, 10 Jan 2009 11:02:02 +0000 http://paperclip.cgsociety.org/gallery/699731

This is an extract from one of my favourite poems by Gerard Manley Hopkins, 'Inversnaid'.

What would the world be, once bereft
Of wet and of wilderness? Let them be left,
O let them be left, wildness and wet;
Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet.

G.M Hopkins

It inspired this painting- I wanted to celebrate the wilderness. Crits as always very welcome, I have much to improve upon. ]]> Sat, 22 Nov 2008 10:44:22 +0000 http://paperclip.cgsociety.org/gallery/698089

For a series of short stories (children's illustration). Crits welcome. ]]> Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:11:43 +0000 http://paperclip.cgsociety.org/gallery/698087

This is based on a dream I had a while ago. I was walking around beside a beach near my hometown when I came upon this scene...a woman waiting for this creature to return to her. I don't know if it was her husband or her pet. It haunted me, so I had to return to it and bring it out of my mind into reality. Crits welcome as always...]]> Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:04:03 +0000 http://paperclip.cgsociety.org/gallery/698070

No real story here, I wanted to develop a style that's a bit more realistic blended with a certain amount of graphicness in it. I think I achieved that...crits welcome though! ]]> Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:25:47 +0000 http://paperclip.cgsociety.org/gallery/660496

In a land far away
Many years ago
Lived the spider Hamahakki
Half buried, he lay
in the lone mountains, grimacing away

Lone as the mountain was the hamahakki who sat alone
Surrounded by bones that had turned to stone
But the hamahakki never stirred, his head never turned

Until the sun rose over the furze
Pale hands reachnig and touching his face
It was Eleanor, dark of face and strange
Lone she was as the mountain and lone as the hamahakki
Together they sat, feeling strange together
Until she turned to stone, they sat alone
Each waiting for the other.]]> Mon, 04 Aug 2008 20:20:06 +0000 http://paperclip.cgsociety.org/gallery/403865

This is something I did a while ago, inspired by the movie 'Monster House'....I love that film.]]> Mon, 11 Sep 2006 23:34:26 +0000 http://paperclip.cgsociety.org/gallery/394544

I got the idea for this story from the films 'Bringing up Baby' and 'The Eccentric Millionaire'. You can probably guess where the blend comes in.

I had a lot of fun painting this! ]]> Thu, 17 Aug 2006 18:04:21 +0000 http://paperclip.cgsociety.org/gallery/366545

Here's a master copy I produced in the ODFW 17 under the fantastic tutelage of Rebecca kimmel. Here's the original image:
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b380/rebeccak5/OFDW%20017/04_Zorn_Mona.jpg

While doing this, I've gained a new respect for the masters- they have a lot of sneaky tricks up their sleeves and they like to utilse them in ways that you wouldn't even notice, but which make a huge difference overall, particularly with subtle colour choices and complementary shades.. I learned a lot while doing this and I'm glad I did it. Having said that, I'm glad I'm finished now- that sleeve was starting to drive me insane.
So, here you go! I hope you like looking at it as much as I enjoyed working on it.
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