Happy 2022!
Happy New Year! To everyone who supported me, helped me hold shows, has a piece of my work in their home, has commissioned me for illustration projects or followed me over the course of 2021. It was a big year, and I couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you very much!
Wishing you a happy new year and all the best in 2022!
Though I’ve lapsed from the habit of sending New Years cards (年賀状 – Nengajou) to friends and family over the last couple of years – it used to be a yearly challenge to come up with a new design, usually following the 12 year calendar (干支 – Eto) – this year felt like a good time pick it up again and at least do the creative part. 2022 being the year of the tiger was a big motivation too.
新年明けましておめでとうございます。昨年はたくさんのサポートありがとうございました!今年もよろしくお願い致します。2022年最初のアートは干支の寅です!
Once Upon a Time – Procreate
Super happy to share this piece I’ve been working on for the last few weeks with Savage Interactive, for the latest release of Procreate. The new version has full type and font support and I was invited to give the new tools a whirl. This is what I came up with. ??⚔️??
本日リリース Procreate new バージョン4.3。文字の入力が新しく追加されたツールを使って完成した 僕の作品とプロクリエイト製作会社 Savage Interactive とのコラボレーションが実現しました!
Winding down 2017… Welcoming 2018
A huge thanks to everybody out there for all the support over 2017. Lots of challenges over the course of this year, but your energy and encouragement have kept pushing me along – so that’s a big gushy thanks from me to you!
With everything winding down now, it’s also about time I shared a bit about next year’s plans.
2018 will be a year of change, and I’m really excited to announce that in Feb I’ll be having my first solo show of paintings in quite a while. If you’ve been following my instagram (@seanedwhelan) there’s been plenty of shots of sketches and work in progress over the course of some 2 years. If you haven’t, you now know exactly where to get a preview of what to expect. If you’re in Melbourne for the opening on the 8th, it’d be great to see you there, but in the meantime, visit Blackartprojects.com.au for more details.
Once that is all done and dusted, there will be some much overdue online spring cleaning. New site? I think so.
There will also be new illustration work with Dormilona, my friends over on the west coast of Oz, who consistently kick bottoms with their amazing wines, and an illustrated cover feature with a New York wine mag. So look out for all these updates in the first quarter.
Finally, hope you all have a great new year, happy holidays and I’ll see you in 2018.
Kamidana
Acrylic on canvas
60 x 60cm
2017
(From upcoming solo exhibition: In the Spirit of the Age)
MiniComic.club Project Updates
After about a month of late nights – I’ve finally got the comic off to the printers for this year’s MiniComic.club.
Hungry Workshop in Melbourne are handling the production, and I’m looking forward to how it shapes up.
Printing starts really soon and right after that will be in the hands of everyone that subscribed this year. It’s been fun, but damn hard work putting it together – I’ve learned a heap about everything that goes into producing them and have a new appreciation – hats off to all the writers, pencilers, inkers and colourists out there. Truly amazing art form.
MiniComic.club Project
Later on this year, in September, I’ll be releasing a comic with MiniComic Club – an annual project that’s been running since 2013, and last year, I got the call to submit for 2017’s edition. To give you a bit of a background on it, here are words from the website.
“…bringing you and your mailbox a years worth of minicomics and zines from some of Australia’s most interesting cartoonists and comics-makers…. 12 comics over 12 months, one each from these beautiful people…“
Beautiful people artists and a new comic book every month. Nice! And all it takes is a little subscription fee and they come to your door in miniature format – A6 size to be precise.
From year to year the line-up has consisted of well established and emerging comic artists, and occasionally artists from other fields – and that’s where I fit in this year. So once I have the show I have been planning for years finally done, I’ll be working on a comic – which is pretty neat.
And if you want to learn more you can go here, where I have a short interview about my experience with the comic medium, on medium.
https://medium.com/@smallercomics/
(There are also interviews with other comic artists from past and present MiniComic Club projects to check out.)
If you are even more interested, you could also visit the MiniComic.Club page and get yourself a subscription for $38 AU. Very nice!
F(L)ight Exhibition in Bristol
If you haven’t already seen my facebook or instagram posts in the last week or so, I was invited to join artist and curator Paul Roberts’ self initiated project F(L)ight – opening this Friday at Hamilton House in Bristol, UK.
It’s a real pleasure to be asked to attend the group show, which has brought together a huge line up of over 140 artists; not only because it’s great to be part of the international creative community, but because sales from our artworks will be going towards two very worthwhile charities that promote peace and support those directly affected by war. The Veterans for Peace, and War Child. If you are in the U.K. even better, close to Bristol this weekend, it would be great if you could throw your support behind Paul and this great project.
For more info about the show, the artists and the charities our efforts will be going towards, visit the dedicated website here, and get details on the opening and location at the facebook page.
(Pictured above is my piece for the show)
New Commissioned Artwork for Dormilona Wines
Over the last few years I have been working closely with Dormilona Wines in WA. They create some really great wine the old fashioned way – with hard work and no shortcuts. They flipped it up a notch this year with the Clayface series, (which I posted about in January), but I’ve also been commissioned to create art for their latest Cab and Chardonnay – coming soon! It’s great working with these guys – so into those little details that make things sing. See the new art work above.
Merry Christmas!
Late nights
Working on a big old ink painting. Not sure how this one will turn out. It’s been about a year since I worked with ink on paper and I’m a bit rusty. It’s great for grads though
2015
2014 was a funny year. In late December I left Japan and came back to Australia – the last month of my decade abroad punctuated with a month of intense activity including 2 small private exhibitions, several last minute projects, farewell parties and the insanity of moving house internationally.
But, with all the work required to make the huge move back to Australia last year, I didn’t have nearly as much time as I would have liked for solid art practice.
That said, 2015 is shaping up to be very different already. In the next month, I’ll be back in the studio working on new stuff and there’s an interesting project with a toy maker in Japan on the boil – but more on that soon!