morganobrienart's profile
Name: Morgan O`Brien
Website: http://morganobrienart.com/
Member since:2010-02-08
Last online:2010-02-08
Background
I am a freelance Illustrator. I live in Galway, Ireland with my beautiful wife, two cats and two turtles in a creaky old bungalow, on the top of a hill, in the very centre of a spooky machinery graveyard. . . .
After 3 years of formal training as a traditional animator in Dun Laoghaire`s Institute of Art, Design and Technology I decided to specialize in the areas of childrens illustration and design. Since then, I have been working on my own childrens books as well as numerous freelance art and design projects. I have exhibited my paintings throughout Ireland, and my work can be found in private collections all over the world. My art draws on the innocence and beauty of childhood life, while taking inspiration from nature, and the magical world around us.
Professional Statement
My work stems from one creative truth: As children the art we create is brave, honest, imaginative and perfect. I try every day to recapture the spirit and enthusiasm I had as a child.
I was born with an old soul but will forever possess a young heart. I believe this contradiction of sorts in some way describes the art I create as well.
On the surface my artwork may appear as nothing more than simple illustrations for children. But there is much more bubbling cheekily beneath the surface. When I at times describe my work as simple I mean only the line work is simple, the images are intentional, concise and either a reactionary statement or even better: a portal to a brand new world.
I love watercolours. The creation of an art piece through this medium is exhilarating, risky and sometimes unpredictable. I rarely clutter the image with more than it needs. I add nothing more than a few tufts of grass to anchor the character in place. I want the viewer to absorb the very essence of the person/creature I have created. I want them to smile, laugh or be reminded of a fond childhood memory. These arent illustrations for children. The Illustrations I create are for the child within us all.
I am greatly inspired by the works of Charles Schultz, Bill Watterson, Beatrix Potter and Theodor Seuss Geisel. Not to mention Edgar Degas, Vincent Van Gogh and photographer Frans Lanting. In fact I find inspiration everywhere, movies, magazines, people, life, and of course nature. I find all my answers there. Childrens art however is the core inspiration for all of my work. I am simply fascinated and in awe of the wonderfully perfect and concentrated view of the world a young child manages to transfer to paper. I find early childrens artwork concise, honest, and overflowing with imagination and creativity.
A quite recent evolution in my work is the fusion of native Irish quotes and proverbs (Seanfhocail) with my traditional watercolour illustrations. These illustrations are intended to accompany, complement or respond to the text rather than be a literal graphic translation. The first watercolour Illustration I ever created to include text was that of a bear, walking with a fishing pole. The ground beneath him was formed from an excerpt from the poem The Song of Wandering Aengus by W.B . Yeats. This was for a Childrens Exhibition I held in Autumn 2008 in conjunction with the Babor International Arts Festival for Children. The piece in question was the first to sell, and received a lot of interest and kind words. Up to that point I had intentionally avoided adding captions or speech bubbles to anything I drew. This one illustration has opened a whole new creative world for me. A world I hope to explore further over the next few years.
I create art because I need to. At heart I am still a five year old boy, lost in my own day dreams, drawing simply because I love to.
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