Simon Coates' Traditional Illustrations

The Manly Ferry Collaroy

2011-12-05T15:27:00.000-08:00

Feeling a little homesick from time to time, which I think is pretty normal. So I thought I'd post a painting I've been working on of the Manly Ferry, the Freshwater Class Collaroy to be precise.

There is something very romantic about Sydney's Ferries, particularly the Manly Ferry for people like me who come from the wonderful suburb which splits the harbour and the ocean. Port Jackson is one of the most beautiful harbours in the world and the daily commute is less of a chore for the folks who make it every day.

I spent a chunk of the 1990's catching the ferry nearly every day and miss the serenity of it... The drumming of the diesels and the bow carving through the water is almost meditative. A good book, your feet up on the rail... Once upon a time a bloke could enjoy a quiet beer on a Friday afternoon as well... I think that's gone the way of the dinosaur thanks to uptight PC'ism and idiot drunks sadly.

And the sight of Manly Cove itself, with it's Norfolk Pines, pleasure boats moored, and the old ferris wheel (and way before that the Fun Pier), and the crowd at the Wharf Bar enjoying the evening as the boat pulls into Manly Wharf...

It's one of the best feelings in the world; it feels like you have come home.

I felt for a long time like I really hadn't finished this painting; like it was unresolved... But now I look at it, probably feeling a little sentimental, and I quite like the messy, gestural nature of much of it. The water, chopped like the wake of another boat, the masts of the Ferry loosely described, the bald canvas around the smokestack... I really like it.

"An intellectual says a simple thing in a complicated way. An artist says a complicated thing in a simple way."
Charles Bukowski

I've always liked Bukowski's writings and I like the sentiment here: you can say a lot with a little brush stroke, and If I was to model the entire boat like a photographic record, it would be kind of boring and static. Sometimes good things happen by accident, and compositions can be ruined by overworking.

For a few weeks there I felt like the sky needed a few clouds in it; but then again, I seldom recall the cloudy days and choose to remember the sunny blue sky days...

And I hope you'll forgive me - as beautiful an area as it is - when I think of my home I tend to look through rose coloured glasses, and imagine the sun is always shining on Manly...

Jewellery Sketches

2011-07-30T23:53:00.000-07:00

It seems like all I post is old stuff but I found these old sketches from when I trained as a jeweler and thought they were really nice...

Oldie but a goodie...

2011-07-30T22:26:00.000-07:00

Found an old cartoon of some fellers I worked with about ten years ago. I was between degrees and it was an unskilled health care job. Clearly it's a Simpsons style of the blokes I worked with and lacks the impact it would have on people who knew them. I was told by my colleagues it was pretty much spot-on... I believe a couple of them still work there which is astounding to me. Feels like a lifetime ago..!

Ethiopia Stella

2011-03-03T04:45:00.000-08:00

Last year my lovely fiend Mandy Shannon passed away from Pancreatic Cancer. She was a beautiful person who loved life and touched so many people with her exuberance, sense of humour and love of other people.

Mandy was a Registered Nurse who for much of her career cared for so many sick people - many terminally ill - and devoted so much of her life to caring for others…

She left behind Tim her husband, and daughters Eva, and Stella (who was in-utero when she became ill), as well as Kiarra Tim’s daughter (& proud big sister). Stella is a miracle and very much the star her namesake suggests.

In January I was asked by some of her friends to produce some paintings to be auctioned and raffled at a benefit night for Tim and the girls. Of course I jumped at the chance to contribute.

Gerberas were Mandy’s favorite flowers & I felt that was what we needed; flowers kind of echo the shape of the sun in a child’s mind and we all know how they respond to the sun - which is our own star – just like Stella is to Tim, Eva, Kiarra and all their family & friends...

So if anyone is available please pop along to the Shining Star Benefit Night at North Sydney Leagues Club in Cammeray - it will be certain to be a wonderful evening for a wonderful cause.

See link below (please cut & paste into your browser)

http://www.norths.com.au/ContentFiles/NorthsLeagues/Documents/SHINING_STAR_2011[1]%20Updated.pdf

BTW Ethiopia means 'Shining' in latin... Interesting...

Wez Wally

2011-02-23T01:18:00.000-08:00

Commission for friends...

Only the names have been changed to protect the guilty.

The less I know the better…

Tyrone Jenkins & Chet

2011-02-23T01:07:00.000-08:00

A little illustration done for a pal of mine – unsure of the purposes but I suspect it’s for he and his partner in crime to manipulate events to cause trouble for other people for their own amusement…

Good luck to them I say; life’s to short to take everything too seriously…

Emily

2010-02-23T18:56:00.000-08:00

Portrait of a person I knew for a couple of years, but never in any way really got to know...

American

2010-01-26T23:15:00.000-08:00

Portrait of woman I knew for a short time, what feels like a long time ago.

The Waterfall

2009-04-02T18:01:00.000-07:00

It’s an art school cliché that the most naïve and fresh out of high school student will always paint a waterfall; just like they will always develop large, underexposed glossy black and white images of their dog or cat in their first Photography lessons. What’s important and touching to their impressionable eye and sensibilities is banal shite to the initiated mind and trained eye.

I grew up near a waterfall and typical of most parts of Australia it was either trickling like a gutter in dry spells or gushing like a Hydroelectric Plant after periods of rain.

The local council have built a walking path through there in recent years; it’s kind of lost it’s charm as it was such a difficult spot to climb down to many people didn’t bother making the effort. I honestly believe there will be more damage done to the forest rather than prevented by visitors. Idiots in grass roots council can never be told.

I have done a series of painting relating to the waterfall over the years, because it was a place my friends and I visited and had adventures in; later we drank booze there by the fire and took girls. It was a magical kind of place; the constant running water was kind of meditative; like white noise in the background.

I like the idea of it being a secluded and relaxing place but with an element of danger. When I began this doodle I had included a figure of a man looking down on the woman lying in the sun below. I painted him out of it; it made me uncomfortable but perhaps it was a mistake. Who knew what the man’s motives were. Was he a dangerous man, looking to harm her… or just looking..? Was he a gay guy walking his dog, admiring her fashion sense..? Was he her boyfriend, bringing her some lunch..? I like this ambiguity.

Many feminist thinkers, artists and philosophers have suggested that the waterfall as a motif is a euphemism for the vagina. The meeting point of a valley, moisture, somewhere life springs from. Goodness-gracious. How embarrassing, he said, mopping his brow. I do like girls, very much actually, but I don’t think I had this in mind.

Or did I..? The collective consciousness may be having the last laugh.

I think the painting needs to be pushed a lot further so I view this as a study; an experiment.

Stay tuned; when I find time I may just be able to get back into the waterfall again.

Study of The Venus de Milo

2009-03-15T02:10:00.000-07:00

Lead pencil study of the Venus de Milo

Aphrodite of Milos (Greek: Αφροδίτη της Μήλου, Aphroditē tēs Mēlou), better known as the Venus de Milo, one of the most famous works of ancient Greek sculpture. Created some time between 130 and 100 BC, it is believed to depict Aphrodite (Venus to the Romans) the Greek goddess of love and beauty. It is a marble sculpture, slightly larger than life size at 203 cm (6 ft 8 in) high. Its arms and original plinth have been lost. From an inscription that was on its plinth, it is thought to be the work of Alexandros of Antioch; it was earlier mistakenly attributed to the master sculptor Praxiteles. It is at present on display at the Louvre Museum in Paris.

Famed for her missing arms, I have always wondered if she was actually playing the banjo.

In all seriousness, archeologists and art historians believe her right arm extended across her torso, her hand resting on her left knee, as if holding up her drapery. The left arm was holding an apple at roughly eye level.

Not every apple will keep the doctor away, least of all a marble one; but aside from her missing arms old father time has been pretty kind to her.

Christ Triptych

2009-02-18T12:55:00.000-08:00

A while ago I produced this Christian triptych for a fundraiser my Mother was running. It seemed to produce a really positive response from everyone who viewed it.

I’m not a religious person; I have many issues with organized religion, and my own beliefs which are complex and ironically simple at the same time. I still believe though there is a great deal of good which comes from it, such as community support, tradition, enlightenment on many levels and sheer goodness.

There really isn’t enough of that in the world so it should be encouraged, not mocked or derided.

I chose a triptych as it’s a type of work which developed through Christianity. In the first few centuries as the church developed, folding three-piece screens were set up behind altars for masses. After a period, Christian motifs appeared on them and this developed directly into the tradition of multi-paneled painting and associated art which is employed world-wide throughout studios and galleries.

In producing this work I was aiming for imagery which everyone could relate to. Elderly people, little children, those who don’t normally view art, and hopefully some of those who do. The result is it’s a little benign by some standards. Regardless, it touched people on some level and for this I’m glad.

It also raised several thousand for impoverished people in South America, so for this I’m very glad.

Faded Thoughts

2009-01-28T13:37:00.000-08:00

I found an old photo of an ex-girlfriend in a book I picked up last night. Realized I hadn't thought about her in a long time. It seemed a lifetime ago. It's funny how time changes the way you feel. Once apon a time you feel like you would die for someone, then you feel the oppposite, then you feel nothing.

Sometimes in life that is, happily it doesen't always turn out that way.

Still, made me think. Wondered how she was. Not exactly intrigued, too much water has passed under the bridge, but hope she’s doing well.

Remembered these little sketches I'd scanned from an old sketchbook of our time together. Pretty good.

The Cabinet Sketch

2009-01-23T01:44:00.000-08:00

In keeping with the theme of posting old drawings, I found this little sketch I did a year ago today.

How amazing that I would sit down at my parents place and discover it on their computer..?

I’ve always been the type of sentimental person who looks at old things I have held onto; even movie tickets, and wondered what I was doing on that day. What I was thinking… Feeling… Was I happy or otherwise?

Today I can look at this drawing with the scribbled little date underneath it and know this time last year I was doing a drawing of my grandmother’s old cabinet.

She passed away not quite 20 years ago now. So much has changed.

I wonder what she would have though of it..?

Drawing Lessons

2009-01-10T01:15:00.000-08:00

An initial sketch for an old proposal for a mural... Nice line-work, completely from my imagination. The client wanted a waterfall in order to relax customers.

Happy Valentines Day

2008-02-14T22:08:00.000-08:00

More Flowers… already! Another floral still-life!

Well, it was done on St. Valentines Day; the day of love and romance, so I felt it appropriate.

Life on Mars

2008-01-28T03:58:00.000-08:00

I’ve been watching Carl Sagan’s Cosmos: A Personal Voyage on cable. I haven’t watched it in over 20 years.

http://www.carlsagan.com/

Of course Sagan has long since passed away, a real loss for us all, and fair to say back into being a part of the universe he loved. Ashes to ashes; as we are, as they say, all made of stars.

I did a sketch in an old notebook in the 90’s, right after Sagan died in 1996, and planned to develop it one day. So, thanks to Dr Carl Sagan’s inspiration, here it is.

Hopefully, one day I’ll see something like it in my own lifetime.

It’s been a long time since I’ve considered myself a spiritual person but this show is amazing; truly awe inspiring when you realize what a tiny little rock we live on, and how vast space is and how science really is more than a dry subject at school; it’s us and everything we see, know and even think to a degree.

The show’s production values have really dated, I was blown away to learn it was made in 1980. But somehow that’s part of its charm. This is also thanks to Carl Sagan’s remarkable mind and his laconic ability to bring the wonder of Astronomy to the layman. Even in the eighties I can recall doing my Carl Sagan impression and cracking my mate Nick up with it; he was the only other kid at school who seemed to also watch the show.

Original Sketch

Still Life: Lillies & Violets

2008-01-26T18:32:00.001-08:00

More colour pencil on Canson paper; this time with oil pastel.

Hmmn, I realize better than anyone it's an artistic tradition, but It might be time to lay-off on the still life-posts for a while, and stick to painting Muriels...

Still Life: Diana Jug

2008-01-24T14:53:00.000-08:00

I knocked this up last night whilst watching a John Wayne flick. A connection I'll explain presently.

Man, I'm really loving colour pencils at the moment; here's another effort on Canson paper.
The subject is a Jug by the Diana Ceramic Company of Bendigo (Vic, Australia) which is a well known pottery region in Australia, circa 1940.

My folks have owned two of them for years; inherited when my grandparents passed away. Only after I picked the dern things up did I read underneath "Grand Crest Whisky by Diana". After a bit of research on the net it turns out they were a promotion by the liquor Co. as water jugs for their whisky drinkers.

Hmmmn, that’d be right…

Oh yeah, my grandfather loved a scotch, and John Wayne, so it goes hand in glove...

Still Life: Skull & Matches

2008-01-23T20:53:00.000-08:00

Colour pencil on Canson paper.

Just your good-old fashioned type we all used as children. I never would have thought as a kid you could render nice images with them; but perhaps that's down to the incompetent turkey's I has as art teachers at school.

Fruity

2008-01-19T03:13:00.000-08:00

Oil pastel on el-cheapo drawing pad; I reckon the acid in the paper will give it a life of around twenty-forty years before those tell-tale yellow and brown spots appear.

What a cheery thought..? Oh well looks good though.

Mmmm; good enough to eat.

(Or to stick in a daquri...)

Drama

2008-01-19T02:58:00.000-08:00

An old pen and ink drawing; always makes me think of a pose from a soap opera. Hence the temntative title DRAMA!

I still really love this drawing though; it seems so simple and honest, as corny as that sounds.

Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-BATMAN!

2007-12-14T20:29:00.000-08:00

I was sitting around the other day in a meeting doodling when I knocked up this pretty nice George Barris Batmobile with a piece of A-4 and a black biro.

It’s not totally accurate of course: it was done entierly from memory of the 60’s TV show, the ubiquitous 1960’s-70’s 1/43rd-scale Corgi toy (every boy had one), and the subsequent design in the comic book DC artists modeled after the TV one. And a few cartoon versions in there too.

Not bad I'd say, considering. As I'm always saying about these things; it make's me want to do a whole serise of Batmobiles and Bat-gadgets.

The 1968 DC comics version

It reminded me how much I loved the car, probably one of the main reasons I and thousands of other bat-fans chose Batman as their favorite Superhero growing up.

An early Illustrator image of mine of you-know-who

I loved the TV show; it was long off the air in the city in Australia in the 70’s, but visiting my Grandparents in Rural NSW, the first thing my sister and I would do after arriving in the afternoon was rush into their lounge room to watch Adam West and Burt Ward on local TV station 6,8 & 9 (longest channel name ever) as they duked it out with henchmen and a cavalcade of cheesy performances from guest villains.

Interestingly, any camp subtext was totally lost on us. We thought it was serious business!

Yet Another! I must be Bats-Man!

The Barris Batmobile has an interesting story all of it’s own.

In 1955, the Lincoln division of The Ford Motor Company designed and built a futuristic concept car called the Lincoln Futura. It was built entirely by hand in Turin, Italy at a cost of $250,000 and like many concept cars, was never put in to production. In the mid 1960's, George Barris of Barris Kustom City acquired the car for $1 directly from Ford.

Fast forward to August 1965, the all new and exciting Batman TV show producers approached Barris to have him build a new Batmobile for their upcoming program. The only catch was the car had to be ready for action in a mere three weeks. Seeing the bat-like qualities his Futura already had, he felt it was the perfect answer to the dilemma 20th Century Fox had created for him.

Overviews of the Lincoln Futura

Three weeks later, in October of 1965, the Batmobile was born and television history was made...

Many versions have been built; originals and replicas. But perhaps that's a story for another post...

Same Bat-Tiiiiime; Saaaame Bat-Channel...

Vroom Vroom VROOOOOOOM

2007-11-16T23:27:00.000-08:00

1976 (-78) Ford Falcon Cobra

The XA Falcon Hardtop in terms of design was the bastard son of the US 1970-71 Ford Torino, and the 1972 Ford Mustang Mach 1. Much of the mechanics were the same as the earlier series of Falcons, such as the drive-trains which carried over from the XY series. Mechanically they were a very different proposition though, with Australian Government restrictions limiting the power that the 'full-house' GTHO engines had produced.

What resulted though was arguably Australia’s best looking muscle car and definitely it’s most iconic, after the art director for a small film company found a customized version sitting in the front yard of a suburban home and cast it as a non-human character in Mad Max, and the sequel Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior.

This illustration is the XC Ford Falcon Cobra

The Cobra was a limited edition of the Ford Falcon released by Ford Australia in 1978. It was based on the XC Hardtop (following on from the XA, and XB respectively). Originally it was a scheme to use up the 400 remaining completed Coupe body-shells which were filling up the Broadmeadows Victoria plant in 1978, before the radically redesigned XD Falcons were introduced. Several marketing ideas were considered, including a licensed Playboy style graphic. As a family company the idea was scrapped; and Edsel Ford II who was touring Australia at the time suggested the bright blue racing stripes and "Cobra" emblems, a throwback to Carroll Shelby's Mustangs of the 1960s (and today) that made the car easily identifiable as a Ford muscle car.

Each of the cars was given its own individual serial number and fitted with a sequentially-numbered plaque (from 1 to 400) in the dash. The first 200 produced were given the 5.8L 351 Cleveland V8, while the other 200 received the 4.9L 302 Cleveland. The first 30 cars were named the Option 97, fitted with optional parts to allow homologation for racing. This included twin thermostatically controlled fans, an engine oil cooler and racing seats. Easily identified from the other 370 Option 96 Cobras by a large rear-opening bulge in the bonnet.

Many pundits complain the car wasn't as toey as it's predecessors owing to a heavier build. However Falcon Cobras are still highly revered by car collectors across Australia. A mint example can be worth upwards of AUD$70,000.

1971 Ford Mustang fastback.

1971; ah, a good year.

The Ford Mustang is in industrial design terms as iconic and internationally recognizable as the Coke bottle or the AK-47. Even the uninitiated recognizes the car without any prompting.
Revolutionizing the muscle car industry and creating the Sub Genre known as the “Pony-Car”, it featured in its various incantations in such films as Bullitt and Gone in 60 Seconds. As the characters in Death Proof muse; “Not the Bullshit Angelina Jolie Version”.

Indeed, although the Nicolas “King of Crap Movies” Cage starring shocker is worth watching for a good look at the ‘Super-Snake’ Shelby Cobra driven in the film, dubbed Eleanor, another car-character within a movie.

This car has had such an impact on the automotive industry and design, that Japanese car companies built virtual poor-mans’ rip-offs (Mazda RX-3, RX-4, Toyota Celica A20/35 Series [1970-1977]). And you can’t tell me the 67’-68’ Chevrolet Camaro wasn’t heavily inspired by the Mustang also, as was the Ford stable-mate the first generation Mercury Cougar (67-70).

Both of these illustrations work well, but were done very early during a period I virtually taught myself how to use Adobe Illustrator. Having developed my skills a lot further they make me want to sit down and churn out some better quality images of classic cars.

Modesty...please!

2007-11-12T21:15:00.000-08:00

These were some images I created for an application for a contract with an ice cream company. The rude bastards didn’t even respond to me. I thought they were pretty good. If anyone out there sees any of these images pop up in advertising please let me know; it means they’ve stolen them off me. Don’t laugh; I guess it could happen, like a story ripped from the pages of Modesty Blaise herself. I remember her well from my childhood syndicated in Australia in daily tabloid Newspapers. She seemed sexy, smart and mysterious.

Modesty Blaise was a comic strip featuring a fictional character of the same name, created by Peter O'Donnell (writer) and Jim Holdaway (art) in 1963, the ‘golden age’ of espionage fiction. The Cold War era strip follows the adventures of Ms. Blaise, an exceptional young woman from parts unknown (suggested as the Middle East) with many talents and a criminal past, and her trusty sidekick Willie Garvin. Another staple of the era; the platonic professional male-female friendship based on respect, like John Steed and Emma Peel in The Avengers.

But let’s face it; they were built on the same sexual tension which had the punters tuning in to The X-Files thirty years later. Modesty Blaise was adapted into films made in 1966, 1982, and 2003 and a series of thirteen novels and short story collections beginning in 1965.

Many critics see the early years of the strip as a classic of adventure comic strips. The novels are regarded by some as being among the classics of adventure fiction. The hitman character Vincent Vega from Quentin Tarrantino’s Pulp Fiction can be seen reading a Modesty Blaise novel (on the toilet) throughout scenes in the film.

I enjoyed doing this work, but it felt a little pervy. I think grown men who draw their sexual fantasy women are bordering on being very sad. Not to say I didn’t like her, I’m just a far cry from Robert Crumb I suppose. And every straight man IS attracted to a woman with more curves that Olive Oyl.

And I likes the lady so much I threws her into my current header/letterhead (see top of page). Ugh ugh ugh.

Aircraft Illustrations

2007-11-07T04:42:00.001-08:00

I spent the first few years of my life an Air Force Brat whilst my father was a Royal Australian Air Force Officer. My earliest memories are Navy Skyhawks flying over my house like it was normal; to us it was absolutely no big deal.

World War II holds a huge fascination for me, as both of my Grandfathers participated in it as Infantrymen and the very fact that it had such a profound effect on an entire generation. That we will never understand the suffering and sacrifice these people endured on so many levels, is our debt to them.

This has led me to produce a few images on the subject; and the fact that flying machines are the most magnificent ones ever built by man.

RAAF Mk V Spitfire
From the Australian Defence Force Serials Website:

(RAAF Serial#) A58-758 (Construction #) HF.VIII MV239 LS 2820 (Delivered) 19/06/45 Crashed on test flight 6MU 20/03/45 UK. Shipped to Australia 23/04/45 on Landing Ship LS2820 arriving 19/06/45 in Australia. Delivered 04/45.1949 Sydney Tech College.1961 Sid Marshall, Bankstown AUS, 1983. Sold & restored for ground runs only. 29.12.85 Airworthy as VH-HET with Col Pay, Australia Flying as VH-HET, previously painted as A58-758 but now painted as A58-602 and now located and flown by Temora Aviation Museum NSW. May 2000 Acquired by David Lowy and in the Temora Aviation Museum, New South Wales, Australia, on extended loan.

What this means is I have actually seen this aeroplane fly, on August 1st 2007, at Temora NSW.

A thrill for a nerd like me...
A photo of the aircraft before it was repainted into another aircraft's markings.

Col Paye, RIP

Mentioned above in some of the stats for this Spitfire, the man who restored it and operated it for many years, Col Paye, was tragically killed whilst experimenting with using crop dusting aircraft as fire-bombers on December 7th 2007.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/icon-crashes-into-lake/2007/12/07/1196812973226.html

A great tragedy for not only the Australian Aeronautical industry at large but for Warbirds community in particular.

RAAF Hudson Bomber

Another Temora flying museum piece, the Hudson was the first Australian Aircraft to engage the Japanese during the war.

From the Australian Defence Force Serials Website:

(RAAF Serial#) A16-112 (Construction #) 6041 41-23182 (Delivered) 05/12/41 Served with 14, 32 and 6 Sqn's (last two in PNG). Then as VH-EWA to East West Airlines in 1945. Adastra Aerial Services as VH-AGS. Now VH-KOY and previously registered to and owned by Malcolm Long. First Post Restoration Flight 10/04/93. On Display at Avalon 2001. Now on Display at Temora Aviation Museum. Registered VH-KOY to Temora Aviation Museum 07/07/04.

Again, I saw this Aeroplane fly on the 1/8/’07, but had no idea it was the same one I had previous done this illustration of. A total co-incidence.

If only I could use these 'powers' for predicting next weeks numbers in the Lottery...

Portraiture

2007-11-06T23:31:00.000-08:00

These are a couple of examples of portrait style digital work. They’re developed from flat planes of colour in Adobe Illustrator and ‘painted’ up in Adobe Photoshop.

Design Process

This is typically how the image is produced...

Step 1. Flat planes of colour; shape defined

Step 2. Further colour, background

Step 3. Modeling on the girls face begins; the dimensions begin to develop, starting with her eyes.

Step 4. More Modeling, light direction and "truer" colours are rendered (eg the 'blonde' hair becomes a genuine blonde colour), the blouse/shirt takes on volume, the background is begun. The girls face is modeled further, individual features are embellished and given volume...

Step 5. The trees are rendered, with blurred photographic-depth-of-field reference, the grass in the medow is modelled, her hair is modelled, the rough 'straw' effect suggests random clumps of individual strands. The hand is added and modeled, light shining on the trees, and and little drops of blue suggest the sky behind the trees.

Step 6. The image is flipped to run from left-to-right, and purples and blues are introduced to the background to create subtle shadows and the illusion of vollume within the shade. The images is cropped to 'tighten' it, losing a little of the modelling on the twig in the hand, and the sky.

Other minor tidy-ups are performed...

The illustration is finished