The art of Christian Bocquee

Frog Orchestra

2012-01-25T16:36:00.000+10:00

Lockyer arts festival

2012-01-23T21:29:00.000+10:00

Giving a small workshop with children's book illustrator Craig Smith. Together we had a go at turning a volunteer model into a character. Thanks to our brave model and all who joined in!

Happy new year

2012-01-17T11:23:00.001+10:00

Hi, greetings from 2012!

I am back, and will posting again regularly. I hope this year is off to a good start for you.

I've just returned from a trip to the Lockyer valley, a region which experienced some of the worst of the 2010-2011 Queensland floods. This past week I was honoured to have the opportunity to give some illustration related presentations at a four-day arts festival held there.

Above are some drawings from the trip. I don't know the name of the trees, but majestic would probably be a good word to describe them. The top location sketch inspired the illustration below it. I hope you enjoy them.

Tree study in pen

2011-12-23T08:40:00.000+10:00

I left my paints at home by accident so was only able to do a pen drawing. In the end it forced me to try and make it work as lines only which was good practice I think.

Have a safe and happy Christmas wherever you are, see you on the other side of the silly season!

Horse Paddock II

2011-12-20T21:21:00.000+10:00

Life drawing

2011-12-16T15:14:00.000+10:00

Horse Paddock

2011-12-15T12:41:00.000+10:00

Rusty roof

2011-12-11T08:00:00.002+10:00

This sketch was done from my car. There was at least a dozen times I wanted to give up on it, but I'm glad I persisted. The light was fading fast and a storm brewing, but I think this all made for an interesting atmosphere.

Gnarled old tree

2011-12-07T08:00:00.019+10:00

Another tree study. I don't know where all this observational drawing is headed exactly, but the last few months or so I've had the urge to draw the things around me. I do believe using real life, and nature as one's starting point is a good way to develop a visual vocabulary of one's own. I suspect something is being stored away in the back of my mind as I spend these hours looking at things and recording them.

Tree studies

2011-12-05T10:52:00.000+10:00

I found this nice place to study trees in my local area. There are some big old trees, and a few paperbark groves. It's quite untamed, and apart from the constant hum of traffic in the background, you might think you were in the countryside. Places like this eventually get manicured and developed, and one by one they disappear.

Life drawing

2011-12-02T08:00:00.012+10:00

Travel sketches

2011-11-26T08:00:00.009+10:00

Travel sketches

2011-11-25T08:00:00.013+10:00

Travel sketches

2011-11-21T08:00:00.003+10:00

Travel sketches

2011-11-17T19:39:00.003+10:00

I've just returned from a holiday in north Queensland. I'll be posting sketches from this trip over the next few posts. Here's two to get started on. I hope you like them.

Cafe sketching

2011-11-10T19:00:00.005+10:00

Cafe sketching

2011-11-07T18:59:00.000+10:00

Tree caricatures

2011-11-01T19:47:00.001+10:00

Yes, you can caricature trees... I think so anyway. The top one is an Umbrella tree, and the bottom one is a Paperbark, both very typical sights in Australian backyards.

Hungry homeless guy

2011-10-21T18:50:00.000+10:00

The topmost image is the closest so far to what I think I want the look of the book to be, however the composition was simplified. The images below it are earlier experiments, one showing an idea for the full composition. I first posted about this project here if you want to see more.

Good Witch

2011-10-17T09:43:00.000+10:00

You might notice a similarity between these character designs and the previous post. They were inspired by the same person. I couldn't decide what kind of character to make though. The one's with a broom are supposed to be some kind of 'good witch'.

Cuddles

2011-10-11T21:30:00.000+10:00

Watercolour canal II

2011-10-08T08:00:00.003+10:00

Watercolour canal

2011-10-05T08:43:00.001+10:00

Sketchbook intermission

2011-10-01T22:04:00.000+10:00

Kids Pursuit

2011-09-28T18:45:00.001+10:00

Still with the fox project, here are some concept sketches for the children in the story.

'River Crossing'

2011-09-21T18:21:00.000+10:00

A more polished version of the previous 'river crossing' concepts. I'm still unsure whether I'll go with this style but it was fun to try something like this.

Landscapes

2011-09-20T11:34:00.000+10:00

Inspired by some recents visits to a place called Marburg. My personal view of observation is that sometimes it's best used through the filter of memory. I think we somehow distill what was important to us in the subject when we recall it from past observation. When the subject is in front of us the details can be overwhelming.

New project

2011-09-14T16:39:00.002+10:00

Here's some concept art for a new project I've started on. The fox concepts were some early ideas which I think I'll change, and the top two images were just figuring out a composition and working out a technique to use. I didn't really like the black ink in the topmost image, but thought the background was heading in the right direction

Ipswich Festival of Children's Literature

2011-09-09T19:16:00.002+10:00

Here are some photos and doodles from my first 2 days at a festival for children's literature. I don't generally like drawing in front of people, but the kids were very enthusiastic and made it unexpectedly enjoyable for me.

Her Ladyship Awaits

2011-08-28T18:42:00.002+10:00

I sidled past the birdlike lady in the doorway. “I’ll set the table.” I looked over my shoulder, she was coming.

I made my way to the kitchen and put on the kettle. I could hear the shuffle of her feet as she made her way to the morning room. I smiled. Ma’am was waiting to be waited on.

As you can see from the initial drawing below, she has had some radical weight loss. I had to modify the finished pencil rendering digitally to make her thinner and more frail looking. This illustration was done for a short story by Jennifer Poulter. Entitled 'Her Ladyship Awaits', you can find it in the anthology '100 stories for Queensland' (eMergent Press), and it's first American publication is in 'Tribute to the Stars' (Static Movement).

Cake boy

2011-08-24T21:11:00.000+10:00

My break is over.. I am posting! Here's another Hunchback of Notre Dame inspired character.

Taking a break

2011-07-19T10:00:00.000+10:00

I'm taking a break!

Until I return, why not check out these other great illustration / art blogs,

http://mattiasa.blogspot.com/
http://ericorchard.blogspot.com/
http://jedart.blogspot.com/
http://joesutphin.blogspot.com/
http://brianflocablog.blogspot.com/
http://minitreehouse.blogspot.com/
http://clitka.blogspot.com/

See you again in a few weeks..

Urban landscape studies II

2011-07-05T18:00:00.003+10:00

It's refreshing to be using lots of colour, and these mini compositions really are a joy to play around with.

Urban landscape studies

2011-07-04T17:31:00.001+10:00

These quick mini-studies were a lot of fun to paint. These two were my favourites. They are interpretations from memory of familiar places around my city. I was exploring colour, space (or depth), and composition. Size is about 5x6 inches. Next, the plan is to make a more polished piece from one of these.

Frollo Brooding II

2011-06-30T08:31:00.001+10:00

I thought I'd try a closer view here. As a composition the previous post was more in line with my original idea. I had in mind a long shot with Frollo coming more towards us. Only his face and a few spots here and there were going to be illuminated. I also wanted him to be gliding smoothly through the shadows, but he looks more hurried here with his flapping cape.

Brooding Frollo - illustration

2011-06-29T09:49:00.000+10:00

Claude Frollo once again. This was only meant to be a concept to work out composition etc, but I've already had several attempts at this one. Not sure yet if I will do one more version on good paper, or move on with the knowledge I gained from doing this one...

scene from Hunchback

2011-06-16T21:27:00.001+10:00

Extracted from Notre-Dame de Paris, Claude Frollo is interrogating Pierre Gringoire about his relationship with Esmeralda,

"Dom Claude had been listening in silence. Suddenly his deep-set eyes took on an expression so shrewd and penetrating that Gringoire felt them probe him to the very depths of his soul.."

This was only meant to be a preparatory study for a more finished illustration. You can still see my rough under-sketch in red if you look not so closely..

I wanted Frollo to look a bit scary - his lanky body protruding out from the shadows - while retaining some humour regarding his insecurity.

(Apologies for the watermarks, but it's either that or lower res images!)

Claude Frollo II

2011-06-15T09:26:00.001+10:00

Another character concept for Claude Frollo the archdeacon. I'm trying here to find the personality and degree of caricature that I feel is right.

Claude Frollo

2011-06-10T11:19:00.000+10:00

A character concept for Claude Frollo.

Gypsie character concept

2011-06-07T19:40:00.000+10:00

At the moment I'm reading The Hunchback of Notre Dame or 'Notre-Dame de Paris' as it's called on my Penguin copy of the book. Here's a concept for Esmeralda the gypsie. It's a good read so far. The writing is beautiful and extremely vivid if you can get past the chapter on the history of Paris which is very, very dense with Middle Ages and architectural jargon.

Illustration - Wolf Child

2011-05-30T21:57:00.002+10:00

As many of my visitors are no doubt aware, there have over the ages been numerous stories and myths about children raised in the wild by animals. I thought it would be an interesting theme to explore. It raises all kinds of questions about things like nature vs nurture, our 'humanness' and so on. In this image I wanted to depict a really wild child - one in which many of the traits we consider to be marks humanity are absent. I was going to include wolves in the image, however the extra elements were more than I wanted to take on for now. In this image I have the androgynous child perched on top of a mossy rock in what could be a drinking hole.

Sketchbook

2011-05-22T18:40:00.000+10:00

Some observational drawing practice done in the mall.

Concept sketch - wolf child

2011-05-19T18:50:00.002+10:00

Another update on an in-progress illustration. Still brain-storming on the character designs and composition. Here's another two concepts.

Wolf concepts

2011-05-14T13:07:00.000+10:00

More preliminary sketches for a painting.

Watercolour landscape

2011-05-08T11:16:00.000+10:00

One of my favourite spots to paint outdoors recently. This was done back at home after several sessions on location. Far from a masterpiece, but I definitely feel like I am making progress.

Preview sketch

2011-05-04T18:45:00.000+10:00

It's time I started on a new illustration... Here's a preliminary sketch for an idea I've had. For the sake of suspense I can't say what it's about yet! Hope this sparks your interest.

Sketchbook

2011-05-01T10:09:00.001+10:00

Sketchbook - gesture drawing

2011-04-25T18:09:00.000+10:00

Some super fast gestural sketches done from a cafe. These particular poses would probably make a bit more sense if I had drawn in the partners as well. Both ladies were walking hand in hand. It was a bit too much information for me to take in on the spot, and I was running out of space on the page. I was happy with the rhythms and movement. More practice needed..

Boy colour sketch

2011-04-14T12:18:00.000+10:00

Experimenting with watercolour..

'The Flute Player'

2011-04-11T10:14:00.001+10:00

Waiting for a train one day, the faint sound of an Irish flute started to waft into the platforms. With the usual hiss and grind of trains coming and going, this music couldn't have been more out of place. I eventually found the source. It was this man (drawn here from memory) hiding behind a pillar. Who would have thought a little bit of magic could creep into such a mundane daily routine? Thanks mr. flute player :)

Sketchbook - old ladies

2011-04-04T17:24:00.000+10:00

Character design - cat

2011-04-02T10:12:00.000+10:00

I never quite know if my work is finished enough. I guess this could have been a lot rougher. Personally I prefer looking at things that are at least a bit spontaneous and expressive. I think that somehow our brains turn a drawing's quirks and approximations of form into something that works perhaps more effectively.

anthro cat sketches

2011-03-31T18:46:00.000+10:00

Sometimes it's all too easy to tell yourself you don't have enough time to draw, or whatever else it is that you do. These sketches only took about 45 minutes. I'm glad I pushed myself despite thinking "I don't have enough time to draw today".

sketchbook - character design

2011-03-26T16:52:00.000+10:00

Just a quickie from my sketchbook, enjoying drawing anthro cats at the moment.

Swarm

2011-03-22T17:49:00.000+10:00

This was meant to be my Illustration Friday entry but it's about two weeks late. The theme was 'swarm', though I think this would probably go better with the word 'spore' since the children kind of look more like floating spores. The bottom image was a value study. The final watercolour has had quite a lot of colour correction as the finished piece turned out very insipid.

update / more plein air

2011-03-10T09:36:00.001+10:00

oh dear.. good thing I didn't make any promises! Between a bad cold and other commitments I missed getting my Illustration Friday entry finished on time (see previous post). I didn't want to rush it as I thought the painting had some potential, so in the meantime here's a quick plein air I did before breakfast.

Illustration Friday entry - preview

2011-03-02T09:19:00.000+10:00

Only one day to go, here's a preview of my Illustration Friday entry for this week.

Picture book project - concept art

2011-02-20T18:50:00.001+10:00

More concept art - these are earlier pieces that were painted digitally. Again most of this is likely to change as these were concepts done before the story had been formed. The character had regular human-like hands here for instance.

Picture book project - concept

2011-02-13T15:08:00.001+10:00

Still working out colours and technique, so here's another simple composition. The colours are probably getting close to what I want, but the technique I'm not so sure yet. I don't want it overly fussy looking, but am definitely still struggling to control the medium. More to follow.

Picture book project

2011-02-10T09:47:00.000+10:00

Some good news to report, I have teamed up with published (and award winning) author Jennifer Poulter who has taken my initial concept art and done a truly brilliant job of working them into a story for picture book form. Above you can see some new concept art created since receiving the finished first draft of the manuscript. At this stage I'm still trying to establish the look, so nothing here is final. If you missed the earlier concept art I posted here/here & here, it was all digitally painted. I'd like to reinterpret the world created thus far in watercolour if I can manage to get to grips with this medium. I still have a ways to go on this front.

Plein air study

2011-01-30T18:12:00.000+10:00

Brisbane river is still muddy from the flood.

Plein air study

2011-01-29T10:05:00.000+10:00

More practice with watercolour.

Watercolour study

2011-01-28T15:46:00.000+10:00

An outdoor painting that I redid back in the studio. Studying light, colour and composition.

Plein air watercolour

2011-01-27T11:06:00.000+10:00

More outdoor painting.

Plein air watercolour

2011-01-26T12:26:00.000+10:00

This one was painted on location with a few touch ups back in the studio.

Watercolour study

2011-01-24T22:26:00.000+10:00

More studio watercolour painting based on plein air studies.

Watercolour seascape

2011-01-22T19:54:00.000+10:00

Painted back in the studio for practice with watercolour, this piece is based on some paintings I did on location at the beach.

Petanque playing elephants

2010-12-27T07:48:00.000+10:00

Some character concept sketches for a humorous piece. Inspiration can come from unexpected sources. This one came courtesy of a friend who provided a very colourful description of their neighbour.

watercolour illustration

2010-12-19T19:58:00.002+10:00

This is about my 3rd attempt - maybe 10th if I count all the paintings of separate sections I did to try and decide the colours. I knew this one was going to be a challenge for me - being a learner of watercolour still. It's far from perfect, but time to move on. I'm happy enough with this one.

(P.S. It's a mulberry tree if you missed the previous post)

Illustration roughs - "Attacking the Mulberries"

2010-12-13T12:50:00.000+10:00

Here are some preparation sketches for a new piece. I'm planning to try watercolour for this one. Hopefully I can improve upon my woeful earlier attempts at using this medium. For the idea here, I borrowed an old theme from Illustration Friday which was simply the word 'savour'. In this piece I'm also drawing on childhood experience, climbing on top of the shed to attack the mulberries.

Character design

2010-12-07T10:08:00.000+10:00

Here is some concept art for the main character of the picture book I've been working (and posting) on. The first image is an experiment with new ways to render digitally. The second image is more of an exploration of personality. As the personality crystallizes I expect to develop a more consistent way of drawing and constructing this fellow.

Illustration "Visitor"

2010-12-01T08:00:00.044+10:00

Number 4 in the series.

In this illustration we follow the character towards a house on top of a hill. I thought this might be a good image to provoke a feeling of intense curiosity in the viewer. Who lives there? Why is this character going there today? Is he a regular visitor, or is this a special occasion? etc. I must admit, I'm not yet sure myself. I do have some ideas, and quite a lot of imagery floating around in my head. Hopefully I can make sense of it all at some point in the future, or else a writer can! In the end I may even reveal the identity of the hill top dweller prior to this scene, as these illustrations aren't necessarily in sequence.

"Day Trip"

2010-11-26T09:29:00.001+10:00

Number 3 in the series.

I'm thinking that as I explore this character's world a loose narrative will unfold. Eventually, I envisage possibly collating the series into a picture book without words - a purely visual story. One example of this picture only format is Gon, the Japanese manga about a dinosaur.

"Basking"

2010-11-22T13:52:00.001+10:00

This illustration entitled Basking, is the second installment in a series of digital paintings I'm doing around a common theme.

"Care Free"

2010-11-18T08:00:00.014+10:00

As promised, here is the higher res version. Feel free to download and use it as your wallpaper... I am! This piece marks a milestone and a new direction for me creatively. I hope to develop the style and motifs futher in subsequent pieces.

I decided to call this one "Care Free". So.. what do you see? Where's he going? What's he thinking? Your feedback and comments are most welcome!

Blog makeover

2010-11-15T15:33:00.001+10:00

It's been long overdue, a blog makeover! The new banner features my latest digital painting, so far untitled.. I'll be posting a higher res version within the next week for anyone wanting a feel-good wallpaper for their desktop.

Hope you like the new look!

Cheers
Christian

Character design - elderly lady

2010-11-12T12:10:00.004+10:00

Long gap since last post sorry! Just finished up a 7 week 2d animation project. I'll hopefully get approval to show some of that in a few weeks. More on that later..

I did this character sheet for fun, starting with a photo reference I found appealing, then simplifying and caricaturing until I felt I had a design with lots of personality. These drawings are quite loose still, so if they were for animation they'd probably be classed as 'development art' or 'concept art'. The forms would need to be further simplified and clarified. But for something like children's book illustration, these would not be far off usable designs.

Hope you like them.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

2010-09-14T14:41:00.010+10:00

This children's music video wrapped up end of last month. I was the main animator, responsible for about 80-90% of the character animation. Considering our schedule and budget I am really happy with the results. The software used was Blender. The project was coordinated by Fuzz Studios.

Illustration - "Stowaway Adventurer"

2010-09-09T17:42:00.003+10:00

Character illustration

2010-09-05T22:32:00.003+10:00

Now let's see if I can colour it..

Character designs

2010-09-03T18:14:00.004+10:00

Character design - Shepherd boy

2010-09-02T11:12:00.009+10:00

I should be back to regular posts now that the animation project is finished. More on that later. Here's a new folio piece, from concept sketch to clean. I prefer the rough one personally. Preserving the vitality of loose sketches in a clean up is something I'm yet to master!

Update

2010-07-21T13:23:00.003+10:00

Just an update for anyone viewing regularly, or wondering when I will post again. I'm about to start on a largish animation project, so posts will be a little sparse over the next month or so, but I will try and put some quicker things up. Thanks for visiting, and please feel free to say hi and leave a comment!

cheers,
Christian

Quick Portrait

2010-07-08T15:54:00.005+10:00

Digital speed painting.

"Blimping Together"

2010-07-05T22:08:00.004+10:00

More speed paintings

2010-06-28T10:15:00.006+10:00

A couple more quick speed paintings. These were done completely in sketchbook pro. I just start with random colours and shapes until something starts to form. My main focus is on colour and composition with these, also trying to capture some kind of mood in each one.

Speed paintings

2010-06-27T17:31:00.005+10:00

A couple of quick colour and composition studies.

My new web site!

2010-06-18T09:10:00.005+10:00

www.christianbocquee.com

This blog however is still the place to see regular postings of my latest work.

Caricature

2010-06-07T21:23:00.002+10:00

Another quick caricature / character design. Will try to keep these coming, I'm having fun!

Caricature

2010-06-06T22:15:00.003+10:00

A quick caricature from a photo reference. Will be posting a lot more of these since they are really quick to do, and fun, both to make and look at I think. This is also how I like to start character designs, using photo references, and then exaggerating etc.

Digital painting - "Curiosity"

2010-05-28T15:22:00.003+10:00

This was only meant to be a header for my new website but it turned into a full-blown painting. It's black and white intentionally, since I thought it would be less overbearing.

Speed painting

2010-05-26T21:44:00.004+10:00

A quick digital painting - about one and a half hours. I used a photo reference of the Japanese actress Horikita Maki. The likeness is not perfect. My main objective was to practice painting light and shade for skin tones.

Character study

2010-05-15T16:59:00.003+10:00

This digital painting is a quick character study for an in-progress illustration. More on that soon, hopefully!

Rowing By Moonlight

2010-05-06T18:12:00.006+10:00

Big post this week, this illustration is intended for sale as a print. Going for lots of mood - I was listening to the French classical composer Erik Satie a lot while doing it, particularly Gymnopédies, and Gnossienne, and Ogive. If you know those pieces, you might be able to tell me if I have capture the right mood.

Character design

2010-05-06T17:48:00.006+10:00

Some character concept art.

The Royal Conversion

2010-05-04T09:34:00.004+10:00

Just an illustration for fun and folio. The idea here was a lord or king who has been convinced to discarding his riches for the sake of a 'higher' calling.

Forest Monk

2010-04-26T12:15:00.004+10:00

I find the whole idea of the 'holy fool' interesting. You may notice this theme popping up now and then in my work. This digital painting was made using Mypaint, and Gimp, the free open source programs. Special thanks to the developers.

Two Tigers

2010-04-18T17:39:00.004+10:00

A preliminary sketch for an illustration idea. Will post the final piece once it's done.

Sketchbook

2010-04-01T08:00:00.001+10:00

Samples from my sketchbook. These are all observational sketches.

Colour storyboard

2010-03-25T11:41:00.010+10:00

This is a storyboard for a mock commercial. It was done as a folio piece. The panels are in sequence starting with the top-most image.