Chris Wahl Art

Ricky Gervais

2011-11-28T00:32:00.004+11:00

A caricature of Ricky Gervais done for the Facebook Caricaturama Showdown 3000 challenge. Digitally painted in Photoshop.

Wheel of Life, Wheel of Death

2011-10-14T00:13:00.003+11:00

Another Steve Jobs caricature. 'Wheel of life, Wheel of Death'. One is part of the Buddhist philosophy which Steve followed, the other is a dreaded sight to any Apple user.

The colour elements are clip art from the internet. I didn't draw those.

Head of Apple

2011-10-08T22:07:00.004+11:00

A little tribute to Apple's mastermind and innovator, Steve Jobs who passed away a few days ago. This is based on a younger photo of him circa 1985, around when the first Macintosh computer was released.

Brushpen and Photoshop.

Van Gogh

2011-10-06T12:19:00.010+11:00

My rendition of Vincent Van Gogh. I noticed how earshaped his head was in his self portraits, so I thought it would be interesting to explore the concept of his madness and the possible reason behind him cutting off his own ear- the persistent nagging of the artist's self-doubt and the sinister whisperings of his insanity.

For this I used dry brush and Photoshop.

Tom Waits

2011-10-03T22:43:00.006+11:00

A caricature of gravel-voiced singer/songwriter, Tom Waits. Ink and Photoshop.

Big Badaboom!

2011-09-01T21:09:00.010+10:00

One of my favourite sci-fi movies is a 1997 flick called 'The Fifth Element'. This is a couple of scenes I did from the movie in a comicbook style for a drawing jam on Facebook. It would have been a lot of fun doing a comic adaption of this movie. Loads of great characters and costumes.

OPTIMUS!!!....Optimus??

2011-08-27T01:26:00.016+10:00

A bio-mechanical/insectoid reinterpretation of Optimus Prime from Transformers. This sketch was done for a challenge on Facebook. Pencil and Photoshop.

I figured an advanced race of robots would be more organic instead of clunky metal.

By Crom, everything's Smurfy!

2011-08-24T15:48:00.015+10:00

Two nightly sketches- Smurfette from The Smurfs and Conan the Barbarian. Both of whom have movies out at the moment.

The Smurfette is a companion piece to another Smurfette I did 5 years ago. Here's a link to the old one.

I can haz Hellboy?

2011-08-18T04:00:00.013+10:00

Hellboy and some kittens. Done for the latest OzComics Hellboy challenge on Facebook. A colour version and the original black and white. Pencil and Photoshop.

Everyday I'm Shufflin'

2011-08-17T09:58:00.014+10:00

Ah, good ol' zombies. To me, drawing zombies is the culinary equivalent of eating 'comfort food'- a nostalgic, sentimental and relaxing experience. They're always fun to draw, no rules and no limits. Good times with the undead...

Anyway, this was done for a challenge over at the OzComics group on Facebook, I didn't complete it in time due to paid work, but I can never leave a zombie piece unfinished. I originally intended to blend the pencilwork and colours together to get a more painterly finish, but I found it lost the energy and grittiness that was in the pencils, so I just left it as is.

(The title of this post is reference to a song by LMFAO called 'Party Rock Anthem'. It has a great music video with a zombie '28 Days Later' vibe.)

Forms and Figures

2011-08-12T17:44:00.008+10:00

Lately I've been making a conscious effort to improve my art (well, I should say more than usual as I'm always trying to improve). Specifically, I've been working on improving my use of values and form and also brushing up on my human anatomy knowledge (which is a neverending task). Basically, filling in all the huge gaps that get overlooked when one is self taught.

Anyway, here are some forms and figures (of the female variety). Why not have fun while you learn, I say.

CLICK FOR UNCROPPED IMAGE (Warning: nudity)

CLICK FOR UNCROPPED IMAGE (Warning: sexy underwear)

Also here was a fun exercise exploring different lighting setups on my older Velma piece.

Great White

2011-08-06T22:57:00.013+10:00

A little something for the close of Shark Week. I'm fascinated by sharks and have the utmost respect for them, but the thought of seeing a Great White emerge from the hazy water towards me has always been a thing of nightmares.

This started as a shaded pencil drawing which was then coloured and blended in Photoshop. Here's a link to the pencil sketch.

(...and no, it's not Bruce from Finding Nemo, although when caricaturing a Great White those comparisons are inevitable)

The Power of the Imagination

2011-08-01T21:08:00.005+10:00

This piece was done for the themed topic of 'Power' for my reps over at The Drawing Book Studios. My interpretation explores the power of a child's imagination. Digitally inked and coloured in Photoshop.

All things Chewie

2011-06-20T22:03:00.012+10:00

You may remember my Hoth Encounter piece I did for Acme Archives a few years back...well, not to sound like I'm flogging a dead Wookiee, but the piece recently resurfaced in a few exciting places.

Firstly, I was informed that my piece was featured in the latest Star Wars Galaxy trading card series 6. As a result, a few people sent trading cards my way to be signed and I ended up doing a few sketch freebies in the process. One of them I coloured up for fun. If anyone wants their cards signed, feel free to email me for my address and I'll try and find the time to do a little sketch as well.

Secondly, I found out that my piece made an appearance in the nerd comedy, 'The Big Bang Theory', hanging as a print in Leonard's bedroom. Blink and you'll miss it, but a spinout nonetheless.

Thirdly, I was happy to hear my Chewie print is available for purchase at both Disneylands in the US! Nothing says Disney more than a big hairy Wookiee. ;)

Well, that's enough of me tooting my own trumpet. I guess a bit of self promotion can't hurt once in a while.

I'll be posting some new work soon. Thanks everyone for your continuing support.

Kafka's Metamorphosis

2011-05-07T19:15:00.008+10:00

A caricature of famous writer, Franz Kafka. Considered one of the most important and influential writers of the twentieth century, most of his work only became published and celebrated after his death from Tuberculosis at age 40.

One of his most well known tales, 'Metamorphosis', is about a man who awakens to find himself transformed into a giant insect. That was my inspiration for this caricature. If you look closely you'll notice I integrated bugs and bug parts to make up the features of his head. The parted hair is made up of two large roach-like creatures, his nose is the head and neck of a Praying Mantis and the shapes of the ears, the jaw and cheeks etc, are made from various creepy crawlies. I love looking at art with depth which keeps the viewer coming back for a second look. That's what I was aiming to achieve in this piece.

This was a pencil drawing scanned and coloured in Photoshop. My custom fingerprint brush was used for the textures.

Prince William sketch

2011-04-29T22:16:00.005+10:00

A caricature of newly wed royal, Prince William. I'm surprised at myself for drawing him as the Royal family and all their shenanigans bore me to tears. Here in Australia the media and public have been at fever pitch waiting for the wedding.

This was for the latest challenge over at CS3000. I said to myself, 'If you're going to draw a Royal, be as unflattering as possible'. In that I probably failed as I coiuld have been a whole lot harsher.

My approach to this drawing was to pretend I was designing him for the classic UK satirical puppet show, Spitting Image. If you're unfamiliar with the show, Youtube it. Classic stuff with great caricature puppets.

'This is not a pipe'...or a swan

2011-04-23T00:27:00.018+10:00

Two entries to CS3000, one done before and one after my previously posted Lou Ferrigno piece. Both of these are anthropomorphic concepts (i.e. taking something, in this case a swan and a smoking pipe, and humanising it). The first is my latest, Natalie Portman from the movie 'Black Swan'. Had a lot of fun with this concept and it turned out alright. Also below once again are a few stages from it's creation. Did my best to wrangle Portman's form into the swan silhouette, the head could have been more swan-like, but you get the idea.

Next is my submission for the Norman Rockwell caricature jam. Many people were drawing Norman smoking his trademark pipe, so I turned the tables. This time the pipe is smoking him!

Lou Ferrigno Caricature

2011-04-19T12:31:00.007+10:00

A caricature of body builder and 70's Hulk actor, Lou Ferrigno. This was done for the Caricaturama Showdown 3000 challenge. Below you can see some of the steps in the process of it's creation. This started as a scanned pencil sketch which was then painted in Photoshop.

RIP Elizabeth Taylor

2011-03-25T18:40:00.011+11:00

A caricature of a very young Elizabeth Taylor who died yesterday aged 79. I haven't seen any of her movies, and only can name a couple ('National Velvet' and 'Cleopatra') but there is no denying her iconic status in Hollywood and in the world of cinema.

Here is a link to the first sketch and the revised version which I then used for the final painting. Pencil and Photoshop.

Beat Takeshi

2011-03-21T02:08:00.011+11:00

A caricature of Japanese actor/filmmaker (as well as comedian, painter and tap dancer) Kitano 'Beat' Takeshi. I mainly know him from two fave Japanese films, 'Zatoichi' and 'Battle Royale'.

This was scanned pencil, overpainted with texture brushes and texture overlays in Photoshop. Here's a link to the original pencil drawing before Photoshop textures were added.

...and on a different matter, this blog just turned 5 years old!

Takashi Miike and Audition

2011-03-18T10:01:00.008+11:00

A caricature of Takashi Miike, who is a controversial and prolific filmmaker from Japan. His notoriety has come from his bizarre and ultra violent films such as Ichi the Killer, Imprint, Visitor Q and the film which the caricature below is based from, Audition.

These were both done for a Japan themed Caricaturama Showdown 3000 to raise awareness for the recent Japanese quake and tsunami disaster.

Chow Yun-Fat

2011-03-15T11:07:00.006+11:00

A caricature of famous Hong Kong actor, Chow Yun-Fat done for Caricaturama Showdown 3000. My exaggerations are usually fairly conservative, so I made an effort to push myself further on this one. It was fun slotting together all the features like a puzzle. Below is the b/w version before colouring.

Jinkies!

2011-03-15T10:59:00.004+11:00

I thought I'd break the run of headshots I've been posting lately with something different. This is a fun sketch of Scooby Doo's Velma I did for a Drawing Jam over at The Drawing Board.

No, it's not Carlos Santana...

2011-03-12T23:52:00.010+11:00

It's that Gaddafi guy.

Done in Photoshop (over a lo-res sketch after it was accidentally saved over the hi-res version. D'oh!) Below is the original sketch before colouring.

Bill Murray

2011-03-04T22:03:00.006+11:00

A caricature of actor Bill Murray from his younger 'Stripes' days. This was a pencil sketch scanned with extra shading and texture added in Photoshop. Not sure if I'll take this one to a painting as I like the way the rough pencils suit the scarred textures of Murray's skin.