NEIGHBOURS.
Jan 2023.
Old backyards. Vera St Toowong. Brisbane AUS.
34x44cm pen and pencil hand drawing on heavy drawing paper.
Available to purchase as the original drawing or as a high quality art print.
The drawing was a commission for the site owner. From the kitchen window there is a view into an adjoining public park framed by the trunks and canopies of old trees. Though the original houses are both early 1900s, the view also bears traces of habitation from the 1950s to the 1990s. I was intrigued with the compexirty of an overgrown garden with its subtleties of light, shade and textures; as well as with an era when neighbours were separated only by small transparent fences, when neighbours talked to one another and borrowed an egg or a cup of sugar for the weekly baking; as opposed to the currently prevailing mentality of surrounding one's property with 2m high solid barriers.
I was intent on producing a drawing which looked like an old hand coloured black and white photograph ... and I think I succeeded.
The image on the right below is a collage made up from many site photos to get the exact view I wanted to portray. This involved a lot of Photoshop editing. I usually assemble in Indesign. This phase of my work is where I do the bulk of my composition.
