Doggies Paintings 2017

I drew my first footballer way back in my teen years.

It was of one of my younger brothers playing a game on his own in the backyard.

Our back yard was a few blocks from Windy Hill. My brother commentated as he kicked, and he roared as though there was a crowd of 99,000. Of, course there was not. Not even at Windy Hill, was there ever a crowd of 99,000.

There was only me, with pen and paper in hand. I was keen to see if I could draw a moving figure. And so I tried.

Since then I have explored footy as a subject through my art and through my painting.

These paintings form part of a collection of work that I have done since the start of the 2016 finals. It is the first time I have used a grand final as a theme to inspire my work. The Doggies win against the Swans was an uplifting experience for all; not just mad keen footy fans, but for those too, who claim proudly to 'know nothing about footy'.

From the depths of despair at having such a long span between the glory of only one ever premiership cup, the anticipation of having reached finals and the unlikely chance of charging up through the final series to make it to the big day, was...well, such an unlikely story.

Being a tiger fan, I was able to take it in, unencumbered, from the periphery, going into to the city on the night of the Hawthorn final to sketch the grandiose stream of people walking to the G, anticipating all the possibilities of the Sydney/GWS trek, absorbing the atmosphere of the red, blue and white Scray landscape in the days before the granny, to the finality and joy of the big day.

These paintings focus on the footy family, any family, any nationality, any age, any gender, the concern and the weight of possibilities as they charge forth to the final game of the season. 

My families are portrayed at the station, waiting and wondering and hoping the win will be theirs only.

And with this long awaited premiership victory, there came the drenching sense of joy. To me the intensity of those feelings is perhaps, at a contained peak upon the drive home for those who attend any such sporting game and for those supporters in the days, weeks…...and sometimes months, afterwards.

The statement made by hanging ones' team scarf out the car window, is the one simple gesture that epitomises a sporting celebration and for the Western Bulldog fans, the grand celebration that was the 2016 season.

Dog Mad

I have been working on canvas paper these last few weeks. My youngest was home sick with a tummy bug for over a week, which meant I was stuck at home. This left me working smaller again and working with acrylics.

I wanted to work from the memories and feelings I had of the Doggies win, I think because it was such an all encompassing experience for Melbournians. The whole experience was uplifting and left us all feeling a bit Dog Mad.

Image 1. Circle of Joy, inspired by that moment right on the siren

Image 2. The Running, Jumping, Leaping, Flying Game, inspired by our prime ministers description of Aussie Rules footy last year.

Image 3. The Big men Fly, inspired by Pickens mark

The prints are a signed limited edition of 25 per image, using pigment ink on Museo Max Archival paper.

$125 each

Contact here

Footy Finals

Well, I am a bulldogs fan only in so far as I have jumped on the proverbial bandwagon. I suppose it is a bit of relief when your own team bombs out way before there is even a slight chance of making it.

One gets the chance to regroup and take on whoever it is that might seem like a good proposition.

I was curious to see how the Bye week would play out; would interest wane amongst the fans; would the players be affected. In Melbourne there was plenty of speculation in the lead up to the footy free weekend. A lot of it was negative...and, at a gut level, yes I would agree "A bye before the finals, how could you?'

I didn't go to any of the finals games. The closest I got was to the city and the area around Birrarung Marr on the Friday night that the Bulldogs played the Hawks in the semi final on the 16th of September.

The atmosphere in Melbourne on that night was amazing. With so many going to the game, and taking the long walk from Flinders Street Station there was a never ending stream of fans strutting the promenade.

A constant sea of red, white and blue mingled with a bit of brown and gold. The Scrays were perky, ambitious and on the cusp of daring to dream.

It was a balmy night and I found a spot down just beyond Federation square where I did a couple of ink and watercolour drawings on paper.

The distance in being a bit further away was ideal. The actual stadium fell further into darkening background. It was replaced with a cityscape of lamp poles, the lit spire of the arts centre and a variety of of buildings from the Eureka tower on the south bank to the old Herald Sun on the North side of the Yarra.

From these sketches, I was able to work up some more work. Acrylic on canvas paper as the one to the right shows. 

The atmosphere in melbourne during grand final week was intoxicating. I always like the anticipation that leads up to the final game, but this year was taken to another level with the Western Bulldogs having reached this grand occaision.

I was met with many fans saying that even if they don't win that the fact they were in a grand final is ok. Such a momentous time for a team with only one premiership cup in the trophy cabinet.

One Trophy 

September 2016

There are more works in this series, in fact I'm still work ing on some now...four weeks later. I'll post some more when I feel I might be finished with the theme.

ink and watercolour on paper

sketched as I watched and listened radio and TV

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