Work In Progress...

I started this painting after it began as something completely different, which is something that happens when I'm daydreaming (that means alot). I got to the background, and I ran out of steam. I'm still thinking about what to put in there. But I'm feeling a full-on background with some other characters in there. It might take me 6 months to get around to that though, so for the meantime, here she is. Godfairy and Cinderella mash-up. I call her: Tinkerella. Or something like that :)



Some close-ups of the face and hair details. These were a lot of fun to paint.

Tenochtitlan Prints


I've been looking at Aztec Prints for what seems like forever now….when did they become popular again? I always liked the strong colours and geometric patterns of Aztec art, so I decided to spend a lovely Monday/Tuesday afternoon making one of my own :) You can tell I've looked at a lot of Mary Blair :)

I decided to make a series based on a colour palette inspired by their indigenous art and the natural landscape (or what I imagine it might be, at least. Trip to South America, anyone?). When I was working on this, I discovered two things: firstly, I love patterns! The riot of repeating colour and form, that is. Not so much on the match-matchy. Secondly, experimenting with colour is a lot of fun. It kind of makes me want to do another one, and another one, and another one…For now, I stopped at four (ten, but who's counting?!) that I'm going to share here. Sunrise, Day, Sunset, Night…and some extra bits and pieces for fun.

Tenochtitlan Sunset (Original) Claire o'Brien Illustration
Original

Tenochtitlan Sunset (Night) Claire o'Brien Illustration
Night
Some experimenting with colour palettes
Tenochtitlan Sunset (Evening) Claire o'Brien Illustration
And…another one. These are way too much fun to make!


After all of my experimenting, I couldn't resist making a vector mask. Who cares that my pattern is weird and only repeats every 15-20  images? Or that it won't fit neatly (symmetrically) into my lovely symmetrical heart? I still like it. Maybe I'll design the next one to fit. That would be ace.

Tenochtitlan Sunset (Heart) Claire o'Brien Illustration


I love the idea of having Aztec border trims. Or just border trims. They make everything look so much more interesting, don't they? 


Taxi! 的士! Tda-síh!





Hong Kong Taxi




Like New York and London, Hong Kong is famous for its distinctly coloured Taxis. The red taxis dominate Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, though few will cross over the Harbour unless they have to. The New Territories are the home of the green taxi, while the outlying island of Lantau has a unique blue taxi rarely seen elsewhere in HK.