The Bad Hatter - an old character originally drawn and painted on canvas back in 2014 recently got remixed and revamped into one of the drippy faced..This version has a cool teddy back pack thats full of equipment and, having just looked for the old blog post / picture of the 2014 version, I'm happy to say that this one is way better and I have improved over the years..If you wanted to see the original bad hatter blog post, you can find it by clicking here...
This version was painted on a bigger 70x50cm canvas, with spray paint and acrylics and sold quite quickly to someone on my social media..
Other versions of this character are already being scribbled in the sketch book so I'll more than likely be painting him again soon..
With the end of a decade insight I figured a few more paintings of this guy in the world wouldn't be a bad thing..Having mostly worked on drippy faced characters this year, I decided to make my last few of this Masked character who has been in development / existed for 20 years now..
Nod your face to the latest drippy one... Painted on a 50x70cm canvas with spray paint and acrylics, this latest piece was developed from a scribble in the book (pictured below)..Like most of the recent drippy faced paintings on canvas, this one also has chrome and fluorescent in the mix which means staring at it for too long might make your eyes run..
Like the title suggests, I've been working like a man possessed recently on quite a few of these possessed looking spray cans..Each one of them is an original sculpture which has been hand painted with spray paint and acrylics and given glossy eyes, dribble and teeth that glisten in the light.. To finish them off, they have all been topped with a used / blocked nozzle that has a complimentary color dribbling out of it...
Why Do They Exist?
Recycling my never ending pile of empty cans and blocked nozzles into affordable objects has been a big part of my work for many years..During that time of development and experimenting I've gradually tried to speed up the making process, while working out a style / formula that I enjoy doing, having worked out lots of things that didn't work or took way too much time..Over the last month, more than 30 of them have been made and added to the stores, with several of them already being claimed and becoming somebody's personal possession..I like the idea that their insides have been sprayed up a wall until there was nothing left to squeeze out of them , yet they will probably be around / live for way longer than most of the stuff that came out of them..The majority of the work created with their paint will either be covered over at some point or fade away over time...I lost count a long time ago how many cans I've worked on over the years, but I'd like to think the majority of them are still out there with my name on it, doing their thing..
(If you'd like to see a few more sculpted cans from over the years, checkout the sculpted cans page on my site - here.. )
How Are They Made?..
I often get asked how to make these so one day I might make a little video of the process ( let me know if you'd like to see that?) But basically without going into too much detail, they are made by sculpting with air drying clay onto an empty spray can which has been burst open with a small hole to depressurize the can (mainly for postage reasons) and to make sure they are totally empty.. The eyes and teeth are made with baked super sculpey as this clay is much firmer and easier to make look smooth..Each can is embossed / signed with the Hoakser patch before being dried and painted with spray paint and acrylic washes to pick out the details and make them look weathered and dirty..The eyes and teeth are glossed so they glisten in the light along with some added dribble..
Where to get them..
If you'd like one in your life to make your shelf surface look slightly cooler than it did before, take a look in my Etsy and Ebay stores as there are some available in each at the moment..Some are sold as sets but most are sold individually with worldwide shipping and FREE UK postage...
This giant 31 inch Storm Trooper is the fourth one of it's kind to be heavily vandalized in Graff Camo..With some added battle damage, this figure has been painted with layers of acrylic and spray paint with words like Star Wars,Sith Style, Dark Side, Rebel Skum, Storm, Trooper and obviously Hoakser...Given a grimy, weathered /rusted look with several washes of acrylics before finishing with clear lacquer..If you're into graff and star wars, this custom is now up for grabs from my ebay store (here) with worldwide shipping available..
Another one for the drippy face series - Tag Hasher is painted on a 60cm x 40cm canvas in spray paint and acrylic.Given the sketchy look on purpose, this character has been developed from a quick biro sketch on paper so I tried to keep some of that hand drawn quality, but painted with a brush...If you feel you'd like to see this on your wall, it's currently hanging in the store (here) with a make an offer option and worldwide shipping available..
These 20 inch K2SO and 18 inch Storm Trooper figures have been heavily vandalized with layers of paint and rusty weathering washes..The first few were painted on giant 36 inch figures (which you can see here) and after the last one sold, it was decided the work space looked a little empty without them..These large scale toys are made by Jakks Pacific and have articulation in their legs,arms and heads so they can be played with and posed a little bit.. Covered in layers of tags and color pieces with words like: sith style, star wars, dark side, k2so, troop, storm, storm trooper, other random stuff and most importantly, hoakser.. Painted with spray paint and acrylics and finished with several coats of clear satin lacquer, these one of a kind collectibles are up for grabs in the store (here)..
What The? is the latest drippy faced study from a scribble in the book and it's of a startled looking writer who was busy in the yard..Like most of my recent canvas experiments this piece has neon orange tones which in this case don't really show up too well in photographs and appear differently in certain lights.. Measuring 70cm x 50cm , this original one of a kind is now available from the store here...
More paint sprays and brush strokes that have just dried recently due to some late night painting....This little alley way scene on canvas measures 35cm x 36cm an has a mixture of metallic and fluorescent paints used in the background.. Different lights change how these mixtures look as the gold reflects the light and the neon orange appears more vibrant against it (something that has been experimented with in recent paintings)..Developed from a rough scribble in the sketch book (pictured below), this study has a bit more detail than the original pen drawing but has retained some of it's looseness which is a look that increasingly pleases me.. Therefore plans to paint more of these smaller scale paintings that are born from scribbles are already being thought about, which doesn't usually happen...
As usual... this one is for sale and if you'd like this one up on your wall, it's currently available from the ebay store (here)..
An idea I'd been toying around with for a while happened recently in the form of one of these anonymous no face characters ..Having painted quite a few of them by now, I wanted to see what one of these drippy faced characters would look like as a figure, so I started sculpting a head...It sat unfinished on the side for a few months until not too long ago, when it was added to with more clay, poked around with tools for a bit and given a resin cast body..Once the sculpting and sanding prep was done, it was undercoated ready for paint and photographed...
Standing 7.5 inches tall this piece is the first attempt / prototype for one of these characters in 3d form.. The head is an original sculpted piece that connects to the body and held in place with embedded magnets.. The body and arms are solid chunk of hand cast resin from the MaskedMan version 3 sculpt ( who also made an appearance on the hoodie - painted with a tiny brush in acrylics..) The little face mask on his hat looks suspiciously similar to my ceramic pieces and sculpted spray cans, which is probably another boring fact, but there you have it...
This character (like most of my others) was made mainly so it could take up space somewhere and represent.. If you happen to have space for such a thing you can currently find it in the Etsy store here among other things that do the same thing but look completely different..
Thanks for looking!!
More brush strokes and paint sprays were made to dry in the shape of another one of those drippy faced characters recently...This one was painted on a 51cm x 40cm canvas with lots of layers / built up textures and like many of my most recent works on canvas, has shiny chrome and fluorescent paint that reflect light and hopefully burn retinas..
Featured in this piece is that masked character I've been dropping for the last two decades which started life from a scribble in a book all those years ago.. The concept for this painting was also born from a sketch in one of my many black books, and similar versions have been painted on walls in spray paint (at Upfest 2018) so it was nice to develop the idea further in more detail, on a smaller scale..
If this one takes your fancy and if you think it belongs on one of your walls, you can find it here ( in my Ebay store)
The ongoing series of PreGraffalites just got added to with this latest piece called " A Happy Family - The Thread of Life, originally painted by Italian artist Giovanni Battista Torriglia (1858 - 1937).
BEFORE...
AFTER...
This old reproduction print on hard board has been carefully doctored with acrylics and remixed with a commissioned looking Family mural in the living quarters of this hard working family.. I wanted the mural to look faded and blend in with the rest of the painting,which required lots of weathering and washes as it looked far too fresh without..
The aim of these paintings is to include graffiti style artwork into them as if it always belonged there.. It sounds easy, but adding artwork around or behind already existing shapes, shades and tones of colour requires lots of paint mixing and careful choices which can't be erased if it looks wrong.. It's quite a slow process that needs quite a lot of thought and careful application mostly with small brushes..
Also featured in this piece is that masked man character proudly hanging on their wall, along with a few other bits of artwork they seem to like.. The chunky wooden frame got re sprayed in black, which compliments the piece and looks much nicer (in my opinion) than the original old wood and has been finished with a coat of lacquer.
As usual, if you'd like this piece to be hanging on one of your walls, head over to the store (here) where its currently listed with worldwide shipping available..
Thanks for looking!!
