I Ripped This Illustration In Half

When you rip your art in half, a thing of beauty takes flight. After completing countless illustrations, with countless responses of “it looks like a photo, why not buy a photo” – I decided to give up! Rip it up and start again with a new medium. Maybe painting? What could bridge that gap…. Then it hit me. Why not rip it up and merge the two mediums – Illustration & Photography? Having the balls to rip up a completed illustration with that much love and detail seems crazy… It is, when you actually come to do. Yet a sense of freedom envelopes you when you do so. Through this process ‘Two Original’ was born. The 1st piece – pointillism portrait of Jay Z via collab with NYC photographer Martin Schoeller. A large piece took over a million dots to complete. Martin and I loved the end result. Upon completion, I had to return to my hometown Melbourne, Australia. Once settled, I approached iconic Australian photographer Gary Heery to create a similar project. I had seen his latest BIRD photography and wanted to capture the detail from his stunning images. I started with an Owl and after its completion, we decided to go large! Next drawing… the reverse view of a Cockatiel. Stretching its wings on its perch, the photo instantly gained my attention…

Result = what you see here, contrast of black and white, merging the two mediums and two artists.