I create my stencils by distilling a photograph into distinct contrasting tones, digitally hand tracing the constituent shapes over various colour layers, then laser cutting those layers into stencils to be spray painted. The drawing process takes months, the painting is over in an hour.
I find that aerosol stenciling captures the feeling of light, air and atmosphere effectively, perhaps given the literal lightness of the paint suspension borne to the paper via air.
My artwork “Lyrebird” tries to capture the motion of the animal scurrying at speed. The groundcover and leaf litter are removed from the image, but In this image I am trying to represent the sound of the bird’s hurried footsteps in the otherwise still air as it dives off through the underbrush when disturbed.
This artwork is part of a series I’m working on presenting landscapes and their associated animal. The companion piece to this work (finalist HEAP 2024) presented a sunset landscape in Barrington Tops.