A sneak peek of one of my recent drawings which I completed last week.

Since my last post I have been occupied searching for a suitable space to relocate the studio (no luck yet), sustained injury, stepped back in time with a tedious dose of slow “capped” internet, melted some solder and laid down a decent amount of carbon graphite polymer with my trusty mechanical pencil.

The recent completed drawings are starting to pile up around here and I must say I am extremely pleased with how they are turning out, very pleased indeed! Would love to show you a few but my current scanner is being a tad temperamental at present, seems I am in need of a new scanner. Does anyone have a working Epson 10000XL laying around they are keen to dispose off?

Believe it or not, the four pastel drawings featured in this post (which I drew around the age of ten) are not images from a disturbed little boy, contrary to what a great many people thought at the time.

I wasn’t a violent kid who beat up on his peers, worshiped satan and tortured animals in his spare time, I was actually a pacifist. I didn’t want to take part in violent games and clearly remember once sending a neighbour home after he ran over one of my toy plastic dinosaurs with my sister’s Barbie car. I wasn’t a damaged or bullied child screaming out for help either.

One of the skills the artists I looked up to displayed, was the ability to evoke strong emotions and thought. These were some of my early attempts at creating powerful and emotional art which made people think. Back then (and still now) I believed art was much more than just a showcase of amazing technique and draughtsmanship. I had seen a lot of expertly rendered images that just felt cold, left me feeling nothing.

On another note, there are a few recently finished drawings hanging around my studio at present. I might post a sample of one in the next week or so (we’ll see if I can drag the old scanner out). Could make for an interesting contrast.

One of the quickly scribbled, crude sketches from the planing stages of the most recent drawing…

An early layout sketch.

Seems a few of you out there found the Gradation of a Woman post interesting. Here are some more photographs I snapped while working on that same drawing.

If my camera is in arms reach I will generally take a few photos while I draw. I find it can be rather helpful for me to process and actually “see” the drawing from a detached perspective. There is also the additional long lasting sentimental, nostalgic benefits.

Enjoy!

The finished piece!

As a few of you have noticed the “shop” section of this site has been open for business the last week or so. Rather than continuing to operate in stealth mode, I decided to make an official announcement and cut the celebratory red ribbon with my giant scissors.

There is a new series of prints in the works, planned for possible release later in the year…

Stay tuned!!

Furby Babies before skinning…

I have been collecting and skinning both Tiger Electronics‘ standard Furbies and Furby Babies. The collecting part has almost become some kind of strange obsession, resulting in Furby furs and carcasses now littering my entire studio… Once circuit bent, these guys are capable of all sorts of crazy glitch and drone sounds.

Skinned Furby Babies!

Prototyping with a couple of bread boards.

After a nightmare customs ordeal, I finally received my large order of potentiometers but sadly with a much lighter wallet than anticipated… Some freight forwarders are shifty money thieving nasties! Beware!!

With potentiometers in hand, I dusted off my bread boards and started prototyping. I’m currently working on finalising two circuits.

First is a circuit adapted from Forrest M. Mims III‘s popular 1984 “Stepped Tone Generator” (Named The Atari Punk Console by Kaustic Machines). It’s an extremely lofi Synth based around two 555 timer integrated circuits or one dual 556. My version will share a few similarities with Curious Inventor’s “Voice of Saturn” and will include a third 555 IC acting as an LFO and the ability to stop the second 555′s oscillation as well as a few other tweaks I am working on.

Second is a 4017 “Baby 10” style sequencer which will have to ability to control among many other things the Stepped Tone Generator through it’s CV inputs. I have been inspired by the work of a few DIYers and their 4017 sequencers such as Peter Edwards (of Casper Electronics), Fonik, Ken Stone and Ray Wilson just to name a few…

This is my current kit: cheap plastic 0.5mm side-click mechanical pencil and three (the third is stuck to my index finger) erasers. Also, I’m pleased to say the new drawings are coming along quite nicely… You might be able to just make one out in the background.