2013 | A year of Opportunity

As many of you may already know, I'm not one to shy away from a project, in fact Lucky is happy to tell you that I tend to commit myself to too much. But I tend to think that if I stop doing something to keep my mind active then I'll go insane.

Regardless of that I've got quite a few projects on the go for the year already and I think I should probably list them then stew a little on my self imposed workload.

1. Grade B - Alphabet Movie Poster Series

Every second Monday for 2013 I will be releasing an alphabet poster (A is for...., B is for ...., etc.) in the style of a B grade movie poster. The first, A is for Attack of the Alien Bombshells , has been released:

and the whole series can be followed if you want to follow the Iron Oak facebook page or just check back regularily to the contents page .

All posters are available for sale but there is a limit of only 10 per letter. Click through the Red Bubble Contents Page to the poster you want (when it's available) Alternatively you can buy postcards and greeting cards of the designs.

2. Archibald Prize Entry - Jessica Madden

This is the first I've officially announced this but I'm going to put an entry in for the Archibald Prize with the subject as my friend Jessica Madden (Tremp). The Archibald is said to be the pre-eminent competition of portraiture paintering in Australia but I'm really looking at this as a challenge for the first three months of the year.

The subject is intended to be an artist and can be a self-portrait but requires you to have had a sitting with the subject that I completed early last year while sitting next to her dog Soda. You may recognise the name from other posts I've done or just from her being a highly talented and well known photographer, but I'm really looking forward to enjoying putting this piece together (as big as it becomes.)

I hop to have the piece completed before the end of February so I'll keep you all updated with the progress and the final option.
 

3. HIVE - Tile-set Art

What would it be for a year without something entirely out of left field and HIVE is a project I didn't see coming but am really happy to be working on it.

HIVE is a role playing video game being written and developed by a friend of mine, Dave, and he was looking for assistance in a tile set artists. Essentially this will involve working with tile-sets, patterns and creating artwork for the world.

Check in on Hive here or the facebook page here

4. The Nauticals - The giants of the deep.

A while back, while watching the waves at the beach I started imagining giant creatures slowly wandering through the surf. This idea kept on floating back and forward until I started to get the idea together for a book and the idea still hasn't left my head.

The story, about a boy of 16 traveling on the top of a giant mechanical contraption, known as a nautical, over the waters of the Mediterranean has not left my head and every day new ideas pop in about the world, the mythology of the creatures and the ways that the rest of the world would respond.

I'm hoping to start getting art out and about after the next six months but like all my projects, if I don't happen to get it done then nothing will happen but while the idea sits in my head it's easiest to get the concepts out.

And that's 4....

If you have any questions on the four I'm more than happy to answer them, just place a comment below.

but wait there may be more:

• Ukelele design (Pimp my Uke - Melbourne Ukelele Festival)
• 1 Niece is turning 3 and so get a personally designed book each.
• The school of faces is still going (but has been put on hiatus, at least for a few months)
• Sketchbooks from 27 onwards

So as you can see there are a few things on my plate, a few things more than I expected but nothing that can't be finished if I have a Delorean and a Hoverboard.

Michael.