It's been a good few months since my last post, but don't worry... I've been busier than ever and a lot has happened, including a wonderful Christmas holiday, having an illustration published in a magazine, and quitting my job to go travelling in April!

This will be my last post on this blog, and you can find my new blog over here:
iamlarsen.blogspot.com

New things...

I've been doing a lot more realistic style drawing lately in the hope of moving my style along and learning some new things. I'm not sure that it's a style I'll stick with, but I'm learning lots about light and shadow, and while I've found this style of drawing really challenging, it's also really enjoyable. Hopefully I'll be able to bring some things back from it into my other work.

Travelling fox

This is a drawing I did straight into my sketchbook while I've been experimenting with using my pencils and watercolours in a rougher style than I usually do.

When I was working on this drawing, I was probably thinking about how the afternoons are slowly getting longer, the days a little sunnier, and how spring is almost here. I can't wait until it's warm enough to go on mini Saturday afternoon adventures with friends again!

DisBand drawings

Fox song


Mon bateau (my boat)

These are 2 foxes I drew for the DisBand exhibition that was recently in Melbourne. The exhibition has now ended but my framed original drawings for the show are still available for sale at the Leeloo website if anyone is interested. There was so much amazing work there, and once again it was a privilege be be involved along with so many talented artists. A big thank you must also go to Renee and Angela from Leeloo for oganising the show.

Trouble on the high seas

This is the first of three pieces I created for the DisBand exhibition at No Vacancy in Melbourne which opened last night. A big thanks goes out to all the people who came along to see the show.

If you couldn't make it last night, the show continues today and tomorrow (27th & 28th Aug) from 11am - 5pm, details are here.

Any works left after the show will also go on sale on Leeloo's website soon.

Lines and adventures

Lately I've taken to drawing on loose sheets of paper in a more open and care-free fashion than normal, in the hope that it might lead me somewhere good. The above are two of these rough drawings completed on the weekend... ideas that I may or may not come back to down the track, but thoughts recorded on paper none-the-less.

The weekend just gone was spent catching up with creative friends, seeing the Tim Burton exhibition, and giving dollar coins to buskers performing entertaining dance routines in Swanston street. The city is slowly coming back to life after a very long winter.

And don't forget... DisBand opens this Thursday!

One week until DisBand!

Just a reminder to anyone in Melbourne that it's only one week to go until the opening night of DisBand, a wonderful group show that was at aMBUSH Gallery in Sydney in May, and will be opening at No Vacancy in Melbourne next Thursday night, the 26th. See the exhibition website for more details.

I've done 3 new drawings for the show, and they're all finished and in their frames, ready to go!

Károly Reich

How amazing are these Children's book illustrations by Hungarian Artist Károly Reich! I came across them a little while ago, and I haven't been able to find much information about the artist himself (most of it is written in Hungarian) but he illustrated over 500 books during his life, and exhibited his work around Europe, including Paris. His work reminds me why I want to be an illustrator/artist and inspires me to keep working!

Yen

A big thanks to Yen Magazine for putting me up as the featured illustrator on their website this week!

Boat

Above is just an experiment from my sketchbook for a new piece I'm working on for the DisBand exhibition which opens at No Vacancy Gallery in Melbourne 3 weeks from today! Details are here and there's a facebook event page here. It's my first exhibition in my home city so I hope lots of people come!

Tonight a friend and I are going to see Johnny Flynn, Boy and Bear and Laura Marling perform... excited!

Back to work

July's been such a busy month with moving house and sorting out a bunch of other stuff, but I feel like i'm finally on top of things again and finally have time to get back to making some art. I've spent the most part of this weekend so far listening to French tunes and drawing, and nothing makes me happier!

By the way, I'm in a group show called DisBand at No Vacancy Gallery in Melbourne next month. If you would like to come, there's a facebook event page here!

Fox lantern

I managed to take a few days off last week to go visit my parents who live in the country, where I spent my time catching up on winter sunshine, sleep, good food and drawing. There are a few exciting things coming up for the rest of the year, including my first group show in Melbourne! More details on that later. Busy times ahead!

Adventure time

Reading fox

It's funny how you can agonise over some drawings for weeks or even months until you come to something that you're happy with, and others just seem to naturally happen over the course of an afternoon, as this one did.

It's safe to say that Autumn has left us for another year, and winter has well and truly arrived... perfect weather for staying warm, reading a book, and drinking chai tea like it's going out of fashion! I have been busy lately learning to draw some new things, and saving for a big adventure next year!

Autumn - Big Scary

It's been a while since I posted a song up, so I thought I would share this one. I caught these guys when they supported Florence and the Machine when she played in Melbourne in February, then I heard this song on the radio the other day, which reminded me how much I loved it.

This weekend I've been catching up with some friends, and using the cold and rainy weather as an opportunity to stay inside and draw. Now that the pieces for the last exhibition are all finished it's been good to start work on a few new things. I've been getting a bit more experimental with my paints, so let's see where it takes me!