Ghoul Friends poster

Come along! Its my first solo exhibition! 

I'll put some photos up of my messy studio soon, sneak peeks!

Cryptid Factoring

Yikes! I'm to be interviewed on The Cryptid Factor this morning at around 10.45am-ish.
http://www.95bfm.com/default,195095,rhys-darby-david-farrier.sm
Tune in or be damned to spend the rest of your days hovering on the tenuous line between myth and reality. Or sleep through it if thats how you choose to Sunday.
To prove my worthiness for this prestegious radio show here are a few illustrations from my 2009 Cryptid Calendar. These paintings are now 2 years old, here are some which I don't find too cringingly amaturish.

Fear Laith Mor (Big Grey Man),Ben Macdhui, Cairngorm Range, Scotland.

This mysterious cryptid has been sighted on Ben Macdhui since the 1700's and is reputed to have paranormal powers. He can control the fog, sometimes appearing to climbers only as fog (albeit a fog which can make people and animals fearful to the point of suicide). He is approximately 6 meters tall, covered in grey hair and is sometimes reported to wear a top hat.

Howler Monkey Snake,

Amazon rainforest, north-east Brazil

This formidable cryptid is said to have the head of a Howler monkey on the bldy of a Boa Constrictor. It has a vociferous call, a venomous bite and, like a snake can swallow its victims whole, including the occasional human foolish enough to stray into its swampy territory.

Ningen,

Pacific and Arctic Oceans

Ningen is the Japanese word for human and is the name of a mermaid like sea serpent whose face, hands and arms resemble that of a person. Little is known about these mysterious cryptids and sightings are infrequent as they live deep in the ocean. Ningens are rumoured to grow to lengths of 20-30 meters. 

Waitoreke,

South Island, New Zealand.

The Waitoreke is an otter like cryptid which was reported by Maori and early colonialists in the South Island of New Zealand. It is about the size of a cat and has short brown fur, webbed feet and a wide, flat tail similarto a beaver or platypus. They are water dwelling creatures and are reported to make hive like huts.

Mapinguari,

Amazon rainforest, Brazil and Bolivia.

The Mapinguari resembles a sloth although instead of fur these cryptids have skin similar to that of a caiman. These remarkale creatures are carnivorous animals and have a secondary mouth on their bellies. The Mapinguari are bulletproof, exude a horrible odour and have been known to punnish hunters who violate religious holidays. 

Luscra,

Bahamas, Caribbean Sea.

The Luscra is a giant carnivorous octopus which is reputed to have a taste for humans and can grow up to 10 meters long. It has sharp shark like teeth and can change colour to camoflague itself to hide from oncoming prey. Luscras live in underwarter caves near warm, shallow bays and lagoons, and like all octopodes discharges ink when threatened or need to make a speedy getaway.





Capsize Party!!

Well I wasn't going to do a poster for this because of being busy with my exhibition but then we couldn't get anyone else to do one so here it is:

It's based on a few old posters from the late 50's, and once again I found the process of making a new poster look like an old one oddly staisfying, albeit pretty time consuming. You can't tell with this version but I even went to the trouble of putting halftone on all the photos, now that's dedication.

This gig is going to be super awesome and its for a good cause, so just come along whydon'tyanoexcusesnow, ok?

Bowls me overs

Here's my bowls for the Seed Gallery christmas show Bowl Me Over. They're only $80 each which is a BLOODY BARGIN!

Its was nice to get back into doing some oil painting, makes me feel like a proper artist.

MORE print designs

These top two are going to be gocco prints if everything goes well. Is it obvious that I've just discovered the joys of using screen tone? My friend and gocco aficionado Ms Millicent Crow is going to help me with printing them. Actually Ms Millicent is the figure in the drawing below, her feet aren't so pointy in real life though.

This one is going to become a A4 sized black and white screenprint. As my exhibition draws scarily close I've been searching through my old work for inspiration/material to fill the 16 or so meters of wall at The High Seas. I've never had a solo show before and a lot of the bits from the past haven't been exhibited before so I guess its ok. This drawing is from July last year but I gave it some touch ups using the magic of the ol' potatoshop.

At some point in time I might have a website where I can sell prints and whatnot, but until then (but only up to the 24th of December 2010) you'll just have to get them from your favourite shop in Auckland, The High Seas.

A two colour print in the works

'Stumped'

On the door drawing

Way out

Ghost Friends

Ghoulie girls

This one was an experiment with watercolour and carbon paper

This one is for a book project 

Futurexhibitions n stuff

So I'm working of stuff for Seed Gallery's christmas show again, this one 'Bowl Me Over' has us working with 10 wooden bowls, I'm doing oil paintings on mine and have 4 left to finish.
ALSO I've got a solo exhibition 'Ghoul Friends' which will be at The High Seas from the 19th of November - 2nd of December.
AND I'm working with a graphic designer friend to make a few books, one of which has something to do with this picture:

Bedfellows exhibition

This is an exhibition of work by NZ illustrators which I curated and have some work in. The opening was on Friday and its up till Wednesday the 6th at The High Seas. 

The illustration on the poster is by Wellington's Devon Smith.

The other contributors are Beck Wheeler, Stephen Templer, Ned Wenlock, Henrietta Harris and Ellie May.

I ran out of time to make something new so my pieces in the show may look familiar to some people.

Old stuff surviving the test of TIME

Some pencil drawings from 2007, they're all huge except for the one with the ghosts. And I'm still quite fond of them.

Here's Sas' stamp in a book.

And the back of the stamp

Sisterish

I saw a sign..

This sign has been half finished for about 4 months but now its finally upright and outside, hurrah. I painted it and my dad assembled it.

Seaweed look.. familiar?

Doodling

Ok, so I REALLY like cheese. 

I'm also really enjoying using these tombo pens, they've got me thinking about using colour to define shape and layering colours to make new ones, useful because I'm planning on doing some screen prints for my show at The High Seas in November.

But back to the cheese, if you want to try the BEST cheese in NZ order some from here http://www.evansdalecheese.co.nz/

Their Tania is dreamy, your mouth will fall in love.

The almost last poster

We haven't done the announce for this gig yet...sshhhh!

I did the bones of this drawing years ago then fiddled around with it and added some colour, hey presto!

Ancient castle T-Shirt

Up close

And from afar (with hat!)

The image on the shirt is something I drew about 6 years ago and put on a screen maybe a year ago and finally printed a few weeks ago. Its been an epic quest but I think its been worth it. Black print on white coming soon (maybe even this year!). Just be patient.

 

Not only that but I made a sweet castle font to go with it.

The back of the tag might get reincarnated as a business card. 

One day.