ABOUT
Commissions completed since 2017 include
2024-01. Catalina yacht in Moreton Bay.
2024-01. Old garden in Ashgrove.
2023-12. Old house in Auchenflower.
2023-11. Old house in Wilston.
2023-10. Old house in Taringa.
2023-07. Apartment building. West End.
2023-05. Modernist house. Graceville.
2023-02. Streetscape. Given Tce Paddington.
2023-01. Old backyards. Vera St Toowong.
2022-12. Hideout and GlowWorm in Wickham St Fortitude Valley.
2022-10. Old house in Kelvin Grove.
2022-08. Nowhere Espresso. Bent St Toowong.
2022-07. KO&Co Architecture office. Musgrave Rd Red Hill.
2022-06. Midcentury house in Kapunda St Toowong.
2022-02. Old house in Broomfield St Taringa.
2021-03. Rear view of an old house in Borden St Sherwood.
2021-01. Judge St cityscape in Petrie Terrace.
2020-09. Brisbane Powerhouse in New Farm.
2020-10. Old houses and streetscape in Gaunt St Newmarket.
2020-05. Eight drawings on a single canvas.
2019-07. Old house in Adsett St Taringa.
2019-05. Hillman Minx in a Paddington heritage setting.
2018-12. Mt Coot-Tha Summit Lookout.
2018-07. Story Bridge with Brisbane CBD in the background.
2018-03. Story Bridge Hotel.
2018-01. McWhirters Building in Fortitude Valley, and
2017-11. The Queensland Police Academy in Oxley.
All have become limited edition prints within my portfolio. The Story Bridge print shown below is 100x70 cm plus frame. Included below are some proposals to reproduce work at approx 2.5m high. The style of my commissions tends to differ somewhat from my location sketches because I need to work in a way which I know is deliverable. By comparison, even though I've got a fairly high hit rate with location sketches, they can be hit-and-miss in terms of result.
ENQUIRIES
alaninnes@me.com or 0414583851 or use the email form in CONTACT in the navigation bar above.
NOTE
Left click on the images to enlarge. Then right click to copy, save or share the image.
SICILIAN REMEDY. January 2024.
Catalina 320 MKII yacht on Moreton Bay. Another enjoyable secret commission delivered as a 50x50cm print on Canson Edition Etching paper in a 50x50 black shadowbox frame.
Catalina 320 MKII yacht on Moreton Bay. Another enjoyable secret commission delivered as a 50x50cm print on Canson Edition Etching paper in a 50x50 black shadowbox frame.
I was lucky to find a video of the yacht, published on YouTube by the boat broker YOTI, from which I was able to extract a good still shot of the Catalina, which, in turn, served as the drawing base. Since still shots from YT videos are not very sharp, I carefully studied endless photos in an attempt to correctly portray the spidery web of ropes, wires, sail seams and rigging shadows cast. For good measure, I checked out the boat at its mooring in Manly, though I could only view it from the shoreline. The artwork is a hybrid drawing containing several drawing layers at varying opacities, an 1880s map of Moreton Bay, and some photos of seagulls. Drawing the colours and textures of water breaking under the hull is something I’ve not done before … an interesting challenge.
On the old map Coochiemudlo Island is shown, ironically, as INNES IS. The name was created by the government surveyor in 1840 but reverted to its current name in the 1880s.
RACHEL'S GARDEN. January 2024.
Old garden in Ashgrove. A secret birthday present and a very enjoyable commission. The original drawing is A3 in size. The commission was delivered as an A1 canvas print in an oak float frame.
I chose a view where I could draw as many individual plants and garden objects as possible and still have them recognisable. In a more distant view the plants would mass up and become a variety of textures. When I had finished, I felt that the scene was as much about the gardener as the garden; so it’s called … RACHEL’S GARDEN. The scene was manipulated and collaged in every direction to create the end result. The artwork was first proposed as a square but was quickly extended upward to capture the crown of the very old poinciana which forms a dominant backdrop to the scene. Leaving two odd socks [socks that belong to the owner … not random socks found on the internet] on the clothesline is a reference to that standard joke about the missing socks and the sock fairy. The screwdriver in the bottom left is a reminder of WHERE’S WALLY.
Old garden in Ashgrove. A secret birthday present and a very enjoyable commission. The original drawing is A3 in size. The commission was delivered as an A1 canvas print in an oak float frame.
I chose a view where I could draw as many individual plants and garden objects as possible and still have them recognisable. In a more distant view the plants would mass up and become a variety of textures. When I had finished, I felt that the scene was as much about the gardener as the garden; so it’s called … RACHEL’S GARDEN. The scene was manipulated and collaged in every direction to create the end result. The artwork was first proposed as a square but was quickly extended upward to capture the crown of the very old poinciana which forms a dominant backdrop to the scene. Leaving two odd socks [socks that belong to the owner … not random socks found on the internet] on the clothesline is a reference to that standard joke about the missing socks and the sock fairy. The screwdriver in the bottom left is a reminder of WHERE’S WALLY.
BW36. December 2023.
Old house in Auchenflower. A hybrid job with many layers of drawings and three photogenic magpies. A secret Christmas present delivered as an A2 size archival canvas print in a black float frame.
The artwork is a compilation of various house and garden elements that have significance to the residents. The commissioner from the outset, said he didn't want a "photo" of the house.
Old house in Auchenflower. A hybrid job with many layers of drawings and three photogenic magpies. A secret Christmas present delivered as an A2 size archival canvas print in a black float frame.
The artwork is a compilation of various house and garden elements that have significance to the residents. The commissioner from the outset, said he didn't want a "photo" of the house.
NINETY SEVEN. December 2023.
Old corner house in Wilston, built in 1926. A hybrid drawing with a photo of the house, taken in the late 1920s, sky photos, and photos of jacaranda flowers. The jacaranda was in full flower at the time. A secret Christmas present delivered as an archival paper print on 310gsm Canson Edition Etching in a black frame with low reflectance Artglass.
The long side of the house is a mixture of styles which are the outcome of additions and alterations over ten decades. The long elevation at the top also includes the city view you get from the front of the house. This view is something you only get through a 90 degree view rotation. The scene below the long elevation is an assemblage of elements from the garden and from the different building eras.
Old corner house in Wilston, built in 1926. A hybrid drawing with a photo of the house, taken in the late 1920s, sky photos, and photos of jacaranda flowers. The jacaranda was in full flower at the time. A secret Christmas present delivered as an archival paper print on 310gsm Canson Edition Etching in a black frame with low reflectance Artglass.
The long side of the house is a mixture of styles which are the outcome of additions and alterations over ten decades. The long elevation at the top also includes the city view you get from the front of the house. This view is something you only get through a 90 degree view rotation. The scene below the long elevation is an assemblage of elements from the garden and from the different building eras.
TIME TO GO. October 2023.
1930s house in Taringa. A hybrid drawing with car and dog photos. Delivered as an archival print on 310gsm Hahnemuhle Rag.
IMG 1: Finished artwork.
1930s house in Taringa. A hybrid drawing with car and dog photos. Delivered as an archival print on 310gsm Hahnemuhle Rag.
IMG 1: Finished artwork.
IMG 2: Second artwork mockup sans sunset.
IMG 3: Second artwork mockup with sunset.
IMG 4: First artwork mockup.
The scene is based on several photos edited and composed on computer. I usually prefer to draw house commissions as part of a streetscape, but in this case the house is difficult to see from the street. The sunset sky which one can often see setting over the nearby hills seemed like a good thing in the beginning but, in the end, didn’t work well and was dropped.
IMG 3: Second artwork mockup with sunset.
IMG 4: First artwork mockup.
The scene is based on several photos edited and composed on computer. I usually prefer to draw house commissions as part of a streetscape, but in this case the house is difficult to see from the street. The sunset sky which one can often see setting over the nearby hills seemed like a good thing in the beginning but, in the end, didn’t work well and was dropped.
AU REVOIR. July 2023.
Apartment building. West End. Brisbane AUS.
A momento for a family returning to Rennes in France after spending several years in West End. Image 2 was my artwork mockup and artwork proposal. In image 3, I was testing some foreground options on the almost completed drawing. I pulled streetscape elements into the picture from outside the frame in order to convey the story of the immediate neighbourhood. The apartment has a beautiful outlook over an expansive landscape that drops away toward the Brisbane River which is obscured by many trees. From the apartment balcony you can see thousands of flying foxes on their daily journeys up and down the river.
NUAGES. May 2023.
Modernist house. Graceville. Brisbane AUS.
A hybrid drawing including photos of a passing postie, the neighbour's cat keeping watch at the gate, and the commissioner taking in the view from the balcony. The work is called NUAGES which is French for clouds. The day was cloudy when I first photographed, the sky photo I've used has a soft cloudy feel ... and there is a beautiful music piece by Django Reinhardt which goes by the same name. The work was turned into a greeting card, shown below, which I make. The back face of the card illustrates the story behind the artwork title. The card is here shown flattened out with the dotted line being the card fold line.
JORDACHE. Feb 2023.
Streetscape. Given Tce Paddington. Brisbane AUS.
A commission for the owner of the house with the mural. A 30x30cm pen and pencil drawing on 310gsm hotpress Fabriano Artistico extra white. The original drawing was purchased with the commission.
We discussed a number of views before deciding on this manipulated street view in which we capture the CBD backdrop and the edge of Suncorp Stadium. Early discussions focused more closely on the house. The work is intentionally drawn in greyscale with minimal colour to meet the commissioner's brief. The mural by Jordache Gage, which provided me with a title, was also commissioned by the house owners.
NEIGHBOURS. Jan 2023.
Old backyards. Vera St Toowong. Brisbane AUS.
Much of the artwork time is spent taking site photos, looking at view optoions, building photo montage artwork mockups prior to doing the actual drawing and discussing with the commissioner. It's like getting the set ready for the actors who come in at the end for the public showing.
Much of the artwork time is spent taking site photos, looking at view optoions, building photo montage artwork mockups prior to doing the actual drawing and discussing with the commissioner. It's like getting the set ready for the actors who come in at the end for the public showing.
AFTERGLOW. Dec 2022.
Hideout and GlowWorm. Wickham St Fortitude Valley. Brisbane AUS.
The commissioner wanted a hybrid drawing which captured the urban topographic and development context of the heritage listed black building formerly known as the A.E.Griffith's Battery & Electrical Service Station which was built in 1929. On close inspection you see that the ornate Spanish Mission style facade is an attachment to an old timber house. The crowd scene at the cafe is a mixture of a photo taken from the Hideout's Facebook page [just happens to be at the right angle for my artwork] and my photo cutout people. The plants beside the central column are photo cutouts of the actual plants on site. Images below show the development of artwork mockups and site photography which are typical components of my commissions. The finished artwork was printed at 60x60cm and mounted in a 75x75cm frame with a black mat board.
The commissioner wanted a hybrid drawing which captured the urban topographic and development context of the heritage listed black building formerly known as the A.E.Griffith's Battery & Electrical Service Station which was built in 1929. On close inspection you see that the ornate Spanish Mission style facade is an attachment to an old timber house. The crowd scene at the cafe is a mixture of a photo taken from the Hideout's Facebook page [just happens to be at the right angle for my artwork] and my photo cutout people. The plants beside the central column are photo cutouts of the actual plants on site. Images below show the development of artwork mockups and site photography which are typical components of my commissions. The finished artwork was printed at 60x60cm and mounted in a 75x75cm frame with a black mat board.
CHARTERIS 1889. Oct 2022.
Old house. McCullough St Kelvin Grove. Brisbane AUS.
The drawing captures a moment in time in the midst of ongoing changes to the exterior of the house and to the garden. The existing fence will soon be going. Then you'll see the mock orange hedges which are currently behind the fence. After that ... a new fence. We took photos from a number of view points before selecting the one that would give the best outcome. The owners wanted to include the neighbour's house with the black and white striped awning. The inclusion of the neighbour helps create a streetscape given the absence of significant streetscape elements like power poles and signage.
The drawing captures a moment in time in the midst of ongoing changes to the exterior of the house and to the garden. The existing fence will soon be going. Then you'll see the mock orange hedges which are currently behind the fence. After that ... a new fence. We took photos from a number of view points before selecting the one that would give the best outcome. The owners wanted to include the neighbour's house with the black and white striped awning. The inclusion of the neighbour helps create a streetscape given the absence of significant streetscape elements like power poles and signage.
NOWHERE. Aug 2022.
Nowhere Espresso. Bent St Toowong. Brisbane AUS.
One for Emily, owner of Nowhere Espresso. The shop has a range of my cards and prints for sale. The artwork was setup from multiple photo shots assembled to capture various elements [signs, community book case, red furniture, red doors, yellow and red dog kennel] and colours that Emily felt were important to her idea of the shop. If you haven't guessed, red is Emily's favourite colour. I wanted to create a view which shows the shop in it's neighbourhood context ... a street with cars, houses on the hillside, power poles, street lights and palm trees. I also needed to create a view where the shop facade and people seated at tables on the footpath are not obscured by cars.
One for Emily, owner of Nowhere Espresso. The shop has a range of my cards and prints for sale. The artwork was setup from multiple photo shots assembled to capture various elements [signs, community book case, red furniture, red doors, yellow and red dog kennel] and colours that Emily felt were important to her idea of the shop. If you haven't guessed, red is Emily's favourite colour. I wanted to create a view which shows the shop in it's neighbourhood context ... a street with cars, houses on the hillside, power poles, street lights and palm trees. I also needed to create a view where the shop facade and people seated at tables on the footpath are not obscured by cars.
The work was also setup in both rectangular and square versions for multiple commercial uses. The artwork is already on sale as small square framed prints and greeting cards. It is destined to appear on tote bags, tee shirts and bucket hats. We've also been talking about turning it into a jigsaw puzzle.
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. July 2022.
KO&Co Architecture office. 127 Musgrave Rd, Red Hill. Brisbane AUS.
This commission is the latest in a set of original drawings now owned by KO&Co Architecture / Karen Ognibene. The latest drawing [Img 1] of the KO&Co building complex shows the project following the completion of additions and refurbishment. The other three drawings [Img 3-5] portray the complex in it's former life. The original building was an old shop dating from the 1860s-1880s which once belonged to the neighbours on the high side of KO&Co. Due to the road cuttings, I was able to get a birds eye view of the renovated complex from the top of the vegetated rock face on the side road.
This commission is the latest in a set of original drawings now owned by KO&Co Architecture / Karen Ognibene. The latest drawing [Img 1] of the KO&Co building complex shows the project following the completion of additions and refurbishment. The other three drawings [Img 3-5] portray the complex in it's former life. The original building was an old shop dating from the 1860s-1880s which once belonged to the neighbours on the high side of KO&Co. Due to the road cuttings, I was able to get a birds eye view of the renovated complex from the top of the vegetated rock face on the side road.
ROUND MIDDAY. ED 1/50. JUNE 2022.
Midcentury house in Toowong. Brisbane Aus.
Commissioner: House owner.
The significant part of this scene is the garden/courtyard which forms the entry to the house with a very old cypress pine in the foreground. The facade of the house next door and the car in the street help create a sense of a house within a neighbourhood. The house number attached to the tree is a type of street number sign that must have been sold around the area some decades ago. I've seen a similar one in Sherwood Rd Toowong. They are sheet metal with hand painted numbers with two faces at right angles to one another.
BROOMFIELD STREET. ED 1/50. FEB 2022.
Old house in Taringa. Brisbane Aus.
Commissioner: Former house owner.
The work was commissioned by a previous owner and is a view of the house as it was when they left ... with their small black dog making an appearence outside the front gate ... and with the two old poincianas in full flower. In reality, much of the house form is hidden by the trees.
DOMESTIC ARRANGEMENTS. ED 1/50. MAR 2021.
Old house in Sherwood. Brisbane Aus.
Commissioner: House owner.
The house is pre WW2 vintage and has been turned on the site at some stage so that, what is now the front of the house, was originally the side. The current rear deck is a more recent addition. The owners have lived in the house for 15 years and wanted a memoir of the house before it is relocated and replaced by their new house. Since the back of the house is where they spend their time, they liked the idea of the rear view with all the bits and pieces of daily life ... bikes, wheelie bins, a football, washing, pot plants, plants in cloches made from plastic bags, people doing stuff etc etc.
MOTOWN TWENTY. ED 1/50. JAN 2021.
Cityscape. Judge St Petrie Terrace. Brisbane Aus
Commissioner: Sacha Hennessy at Place West Estate Agents, Guthrie St, Paddington, Brisbane AUS.
The work was a gift to a client following the sale of a property. The work was intended to be a locality memoir rather than a property portrait, and I was given free rein in terms of the outcome including power poles, power lines and wheelie bins which are all permanent features of Judge St. I took a number of photos of the street over a couple of days in order to get the right shot. On the second occasion I photographed from a ladder to get the old Barracks buildings and city skyline which are in the background. The end result is a collage of various photos in order to capture the intensity of the scene as it layers up the hillside and the narrow double sided street.
MOTOWN TWENTY #1 is primarily a single layered drawing with a white sky achieved via photoshop cutout. Since I enjoy creating variations on a theme, after delivering MT#1, I developed MT#2 with a pencil coloured sky and with the LHS building inverted to white on black.
The name MOTOWN TWENTY was based on
The big MO sign by FRITZENBERGER which looks down over the valley, like a lord checking on the peasants
The 20 I painted on the wheelie bin outside No20.
TRESPASSERS WELCOME. ED 1/25. sep 2020.
Brisbane Powerhouse. 119 Lamington St New Farm. Brisbane Aus
Built 1928. Arch: Roy Rusden Ogg | Refurbished 2000. Arch: Peter Roy | Heritage Listed
Commissioner: Herbert Smith Freehills.
The work was commissioned by international law firm Herbert Smith Freehills, Brisbane AUS via Kirsty Faichen, a HSF partner. The work was beautifully printed on canvas by Art House Reproductions as a gift for a departing partner. The choice of subject was mine based on some suggestions from HSF. I love the Powerhouse and had photographed and sketched it on a number of previous occasions from about 2009 on. My first Powerhouse sketch was around 2016. I was a very rusty sketcher at the time and I gave up without finishing. The second time was in August 2019 when I wanted to try out a new calligraphy pen … hence the title of the sketch was ROUND TWO. After accepting the commission, I returned to the Powerhouse to find the view I wanted and take photos. I was delighted to find out during the course of my investigations that HSF are a corporate partner of the Brisbane Powerhouse … a serendipitous relationship between commissioner and artwork.
The work is a multi-layered digitally assembled drawing with other media. The artwork includes a grainy photo of the sky over the Powerhousetaken by me in 2009 on an analogue camera, photos of Powerhouse posters taken by me in 2009 on a digital camera, an historic photo of the Powerhouse sourced via brisbanepowerhouse.org, cut-out photos of people working on site during August this year, cut-out photos of art signs by Richard Tipping that are located around the site … and a photo of myself presenting at Pecha Kucha in the Turbine Room in Dec 2018 … it’s mounted in one of the poster cases beside the entry ramp with the workman in orange fluoro jacket pointing at me pointing to the Turbine Room.
I named the work TRESSPASSERS WELCOME after Richard Tipping’s sign because I thought it to be an appropriately inappropriate legal situation. The images below include details of the finished work and of the working process.
THE ONE IN THE MIDDLE. ED 1/50. OCT 2020.
Old Queenslanders. Gaunt St Newmarket. Brisbane Aus.
Commissioner: House owner.
In this work the commissioner was especially interested in her house as part of the streetscape which included the house on the left which had been undergoing renovation work for some time by an owner/builder. The street is divided in the middle into upper and lower streets with pink porphyry stone retaining walls. The view is drawn standing in the lower street looking up. The houses have been pulled together somewhat in order to get all three in the view. I visited the site several times over a couple of months during which time the palms came into flower and fruit. To get the streetscape detail right I included the number on the power pole.
The grey linework was originally drawn in blue and was converted in photoshop. The grey linework version was chosen as the final artwork to better suit the interior of the house.
PHOTO MOCKUP
COLOURS AS DRAWN
COLOURS ED IN PHOTOSHOP
NUMBER ON POWER POLE
UNTITLED. MAY 2020.
A commission installed in the home of an architect friend.
The work consists of 8 sketches printed on stretched canvas measuring 3.2x1.4m.
KOSVITZ DEMISE. ED 1/50. JULY 2019.
Old Queenslander. Taringa. Brisbane Aus.
Commissioner: House owner.
The sky background relates the history of the developer who created the land subdivision known as WEST MILTON ESTATE [now Taringa] in the 1860's. The text tells the story of AUGUSTUS JOHN KOSVITZ, a Brisbane artisan jeweller and watchmaker who became insolvent due to marital problems, bronchitis and the bottle. ... hence the artwork title.
BELOW:
Exploratory images for the commission. The first photo establishes the subject and approximate view for a drawing. The following two images are experiments with background imagery which relate to the history of the site ... getting the right grunge and weathering textures, getting appropriate transparency levels, finding the right fonts for the history text. The replica fireplace which I fabricated finished up on the cutting room floor.
BACK TO THE FARM. ED 1/100. MAY 2019.
Completed as an August birthday present. This image is a remix of an earlier sketch of Paddington character architecture which has been modified with a revamped sky, birds, a crumpled aluminium can on the footpath and lots of people. To that I added the birthday boy's pride and joy ... a beautifully restored bright blue 1964 Hillman Minx.
SUMMIT TALKS. ED 1/50. DEC 2018.
Completed as an anniversary present. I was given a choice of locations and a free hand as to the form the work took. The woman in the front was working for the Mt Coot-the Summit Lookout gift and souvenir shop. The text used as a paving pattern is a reference to the fact that the commissioner is also a muso.
WINTERS DAY. ED 1/50. JULY 2018.
A birthday present from husband to wife. The location was my choice from a number of suggestions. The work was printed at 70x100 cm. In my usual manner I photographed the site and worked from a photo collage which I presented for approval. The base drawing was setup on site in pencil after which the work was completed in the studio. The final work is a multi-layer digitally edited and assembled drawing. The sky in the drawing is a photograph of the perfectly clear blue winter sky over the city on the day I did my setup drawing. The work is available with a blue photo sky, a yellow digital sky or with a white sky as shown below.
WAITING FOR JUTAC. ED OF 25. MAR 2018 - FEB 2019.
This work is not strictly speaking a commission. It was done at the instigation of a potential buyer who had purchased a couple of my drawings as presents for their son. The work was refurbed in Feb 2019 [the two images immediately below] as a possible wall mural in the staff dining room of a Brisbane construction company. There are three associated drawings with different titles, different colour skies, different faces on the roof sign, different clock times and temperatures on the roof sign, and different numbers of people in the street.
The night scene is called WAITING FOR JUTAC. Jutac was the email name of a woman who passed by twice while I was sketching on site and who was curious regarding the outcome of my labours.
TIMES PAST. ED 1/25. JAN 2018.
The work was produced for a buyer who requested something of heritage value in the Fortitude Valley area as wall art for their new apartment in the Brisbane Showgrounds redevelopment area.
WHEN JACARANDAS BLOOM. ED 1/25. NOV 2017.
A work produced for a friend who was working at the Academy at the time.
