This is my latest experiment on the road to developing a possible art style and conceptual framework that I might pursue in the future. Completed in April, it follows on from January’s Silence artwork, and breaks out of the all-pencil mould to play around with different mediums and colour.

I’ve written more about this experiment over on Patreon, but overall it was an interesting exercise and has given me plenty to think about going forward. Honestly, it’s so difficult to make decisions here! There’s a lot of potential in pursuing so many different aspects.

Perhaps the one thing I definitely dislike is the way the standard blue texta looks, undoubtedly due to its obvious lower quality, but otherwise I’m quite happy with how this test turned out. I can always switch to better materials once I begin to pursue this style and concept more seriously.

It’s also been interesting to hear a suggestion via my Facebook page that links this work to the previous Silence work. Connecting stories between different works is definitely a worthwhile idea and something I’ll be considering more seriously as the greater project takes shape. This also potentially works well with my general plan to incorporate an increasing amount of more meaningful text into my style, as per the suggestions of my teachers back in art school.

I will admit that it’s been hard to stay focused over the last little while, however it’s still exciting to see some progress in this idea. I just need to find a little more self-discipline to help it all pick up a little bit of steam. Improving my time management also wouldn’t go astray – I have too many interests and too many projects to be allowing myself to stay as distracted as I have been!

Thanks for reading, and to keep up with my shenanigans, please consider following me on social media – search for DestroyerMariko on your preferred platform, or check out the links under my Contact tab. x

For the third year in a row, my art made it into the Artists of Mosman: 2088 exhibition! Of the works I submitted, this time my portrait of my brother’s dog titled “Playful Marley Rolling” was the one to get in! I think it’s kinda nice that I’ve now had portraits of myself, Hope, and Marley shown at the local gallery, that’s pretty much a whole set!

So once again, I attended opening night, this time on March 29th. Being later in the year, this meant cooler weather, so I was able to wear my new lolita fusion kimono from Punk Rave Australia! It’s always fun dressing up in this relatively conservative area, though I looked a lot cuter this time so the reaction was less disapproving and much more curious. Twice I was approached by members of the public, asking if I was an artist and which painting was mine (#73 in this year’s catalogue). Most surprisingly, both people later followed up with me to compliment me on my artwork and further appreciate my outfit. As an interesting side note, I think the outfit also really highlighted some of the more Japanese aspects of my personality, as it seems I subconsciously default to receiving compliments with a slight bow and other mannerisms associated with Japanese modesty, but this was the first time anyone had ever seemed to notice and remark on it. It’s easy for me to forget I’m half-Japanese sometimes, but every now and then something like this happens haha!

Here are some photos of my outfit on the night:

I also have some photos with the speakers who opened the exhibition! My friend Judy came as well, and after we’d taken selfies with my painting, we headed downstairs to listen to the speeches by Mosman Mayor Carolyn Corrigan, who recently ran as an independent in the NSW state election, and Wendy Whiteley, former wife of artist Brett Whiteley. I had planned to leave after speeches were over, but with Judy’s encouragement and enthusiasm, ended up at the front getting photos taken and talking about my outfit. I was even asked if I was a fashion designer, haha I wish I could have said yes, I really love this kimono!

As always, there’s a lot of art on show this year! Nearly 200 local artists across various mediums, even including video. If you’d like to check it out, Artists of Mosman: 2088 is on display at Mosman Art Gallery until Sunday 28 April.

Thanks for reading! And if you’d like to see more of what I do, you can find me on any of the links below!

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Here we are with another puppy painting, but this time it’s my brother’s Labrador, Marley. We’re not entirely sure how old he is, we got him back in 2013 from a rescue shelter when he was around two years old, but no one knows for certain. In any case, he’s now at least 7 years old, yet his playfulness has only increased over time! We suspect he was abused by his previous owners, so as he settled into our family and then became increasingly confident of his place in a loving environment, he’s continually opened up to expressing more of his playful puppy self, a self that may have been suppressed or even punished in his past. We don’t know for sure, but it’s been an incredible journey with him – when we first met, he would flinch if anyone made a sudden move, apparently afraid someone would hit him… whereas now he will actively seek out our hands to pat him, even nudging under them and leaning into us to maximise that connection!

Another thing he likes to do is roll about on his back, asking for tummy rubs, or sometimes just for the fun of it, and that’s what I’ve depicted in this painting. The inspiration came just after we’d installed a new vinyl floor, one which looks like wood, but is noticeably softer to walk on compared to what we had previously. I cannot pretend I know what Marley thought of the whole thing, only that he took to it immediately, happily rolling about, glancing up at me like this was the best thing ever! It’s at this point that I snapped the reference photo that eventually lead to this composition.

This was a particularly challenging painting for me to complete however. When I painted my portrait of Hope last year, well he was in the sun, so his white fur was even whiter and brighter than usual – relatively easy to handle – and the rest of his features were pretty well defined in patches of black, brown, and grey. Marley, on the other hand, is in theory a single-coloured “yellow” Labrador, but in practice, his fur features different shades of orange-brown, without any very clear points of distinction separating different sections, not helped by the layers of undercoat that seem to vary in shades as well. On top of that, I was painting him upside-down, exposing the rolls of his neck which create their own odd areas of light and shadow. But beyond the difficult colours, I also just had a huge struggle even drawing him in the first place. Hope, in his portrait, is essentially just an oval with ears. Whereas Marley was a whole lotta shapes all put together.

I had to take a different approach to this painting. You can read about my process and see some “making of” photos here.

In any case, I’m both surprised and happy with the results on this one! There seriously was a point about halfway through where I thought I wouldn’t be able to do it. But as with my previous Hope painting process, I just persisted, adding layer after layer and refining it each time, until suddenly I took a step back and realised it was actually improving, and soon after, finally done! It feels like such an achievement to me, to be able to complete a painting like this, so far out of my perceived set of skills. An intimidating challenge, but you have to step out of your comfort zone in order to improve.

So now I’ll be pairing this painting with Sunny Hope Dreaming, and taking it up to enter them in the local gallery show. Cross fingers they like what I’ve done! These paintings are not for sale however – I’m too attached to them! Not just because they’re my family, but also because of what they represent to me as an artist, overcoming my doubts to paint better than ever before.

A few weeks ago I shared this artwork on my Patreon, original on the left, edited version on the right:

Well, I forgot to upload my work-in-progress pictures! But since Patreon is kinda bad for uploading multiple images anyway, I’ll put them here – you can view them all at once in the gallery, or click for a larger view.

As you can see, it started from a sort of outline of where the silence would be, along with a square-ish diamond from which the rest of the lines and shapes grew. It was tempting to stop at times throughout the process, whether to leave it with a chaotic ball floating in the sky, or as a cascade of shapes falling down onto the silence, but in the end I’m happy that I went all the way!

So that’s how this work grew. Once completed, I then scanned it into Photoshop to create the inverted version. It’s a pretty cool effect!

Let me know what you think, and if you’d like to know more about this work, you can read my original post over on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/silence-january-24099692
The post is publicly viewable, and includes details on what the artwork is about, as well as where I might take it in the future.

Thanks for checking this out! And yes, for those of you who have already seen my Patreon post, I am at the time of writing still looking for a band! If you’d like to get in touch about a possible project, please use my contact form to email me, or you can find me on Facebook and my other social media.
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My latest painting once again returns to one of my favourite subjects: my dog Hope. He’s a Maltese-Chihuahua, and I love his adorable antics. Today though, he’s curled up in the sun having a snooze, and I can’t help but wonder what he dreams about.

This is my first acrylic painting in a while, but even though I don’t practice as much as I should, I feel like each time I still get a little bit better, and I always learn something new. In this painting, I actually made a conscious effort to start with the background for a change. I also came to appreciate just how much I prefer wood panel (aka artist board) over working on canvas, and I feel like I’ve finally got the hang of glazing. I’m still struggling with some aspects of colour mixing, but I’m aware that upgrading my paints would make this a lot easier, when I can afford to make the switch.

In any case, I’m really happy with the result! I still often struggle to see myself as an artist, and I tend to underestimate my skill, so it was actually a surprise to step back and see my painting for what it is. I’m not sure if I’ll ever get over this phase of self-doubt, but I’m hoping to work on more paintings in the new year. I’ll also hopefully get around to uploading some of the other art I’ve done this year! It’s funny how time gets away from you, and procrastination sets in. Haha, sounds like I’ve already got some new year resolutions brewing without even trying!

If you’d like to read more about my process in creating today’s artwork, check out my post on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/sunny-hope-23607588

I’ve also made a video blog about it, which you can view here:

Speaking of, I totally forgot to post on my own website about my vlogging! I recently completed “Vlogmas”, where you upload a daily vlog from the start of December through to Christmas. It was tough, but I did it, and actually had a lot of fun! If you’d like to catch up on that, the entire playlist is available here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcnGYCY37VxDsuCziA_lEx_I5RwZWYgwC

That’s all from me for now! Thanks so much for checking out my art, and I hope you have a great 2019!