Besides computer graphics and websites, I have an artistic bent that has seen me experiment with various media over the
years, plus I enjoy creating things. This section highlights a few samples of my artwork and designs.
Artwork in Various Media
Finished art pieces in various media such as pencil, pen, airbrush, sculpture, even computer generated art.
Engine drawing
(Pencil, 1978)
This was drawn during my teenage years when I flew model airplanes, and the full drawing shows the engine completely disassembled.
Radio drawing
(Technical pen, 1984)
I liked the challenge of recreating the mesh over the speaker, plus I was experimenting with various ways of drawing shadows.
Eye airbrush painting
(Airbrush, 1984)
This was my first ever experiment with using an airbrush. As I didn't want to also use a pen, I airbrushed a simple eyebrow and left out the eyelashes.
House drawing
(Pencil, 1985)
I liked this house because of the curved arch over the main window and the intricate roofline details that reminded me of my parents' home.
Circle drawing
(Technical pen, 1985)
What started out as a bit of arty / technical doodling spread out to fill the whole page and came out rather nicely.
Chain image
(Computer generated, 1993)
To produce this experimental computer image of a chain, I wrote a program to generate the mathematical data describing the links. A ray-tracing program then used that data to generate the image.
Inge drawing
(Ball point pen, 1994)
I find that a ball point pen is wonderful for drawing details like hair. (This image is from a photocopy, so it doesn't do justice to the original drawing).
Calligraphy letter 'M'
(Fountain pen, 2002)
Earlier incarnations of my website had calligraphy headings throughout. I've always loved penmanship, and used a fountain pen even in secondary school.
Ian Knot diagram
(Sketched 1994, scanned 2000, re-drawn 2007)
My original sketches for my Ian Knot, the world's fastest shoelace knot, were scanned in 2000 for my website, Ian's Shoelace Site, then re-drawn in high resolution in 2007 for my book, Laces.
Manufactured Items
Items that I have built myself or that I have had manufactured from my designs.
Flashing badge
(Electronic circuit, 1980s)
Wearable electronics were not common back in the early 1980s. I designed and built this electronic circuit myself, and it still works 40+ years later!
Flashing badge innards
(Electronic circuit, 1980s)
Crude innards of my electronic flashing badge. My home-made circuit board had the chips surface-mounted to keep things flat.
Sovereign coin advertisement
(Technical pen artwork, 1984)
I created six illustrations of sovereign gold goins for use in advertisements. A cutout was used to turn any coin illustration into a pendant illustration.
3 Buck note leaflet
(Technical pen artwork, 1983)
These leaflets were designed to resemble the style of the Australian banknotes of the era (as shown underneath – and which look quite different to the current Australian banknotes).
3 Buck coin
(Technical pen design, 1986)
Following the success of the previous 3 Buck notes, the Australian currency once again inspired the design of our 3 Buck novelty coin. We minted 10,000 of these "coins".
Diamond ring design
(Ball point pen drawing, circa 1987)
During my years working as a precious metals merchant, I designed numerous diamond rings to customers' requirements and had them manufactured by jewellers.
Ian hand castings
(Plaster castings, 1989)
I wanted to capture the natural "expressiveness" of my hands. The molds were made by painting my hands with hot wax. I've since discovered less painful methods.
Gold dragon trinket
(Wax sculpture / gold casting, 1993)
I carved the master for this tiny dragon trinket from a special wax which was then used to make a mold for the final gold casting.
House extension plan
(Computer designed plans, 1998)
I drew an accurate floor plan of our existing house using computer. This was then easily modified to create plans for our house extension.
Pentium pendant
(Hand-made pendant, 2000)
I made this pendant from a (until recently) working Pentium CPU. A reminder of beauty that is sometimes hidden beneath the surface.
Salera's catalogue
(Desktop publishing, 2005)
After setting up in-house desktop publishing, I subsequently produced numerous high quality jewellery catalogues – eight in one year alone!
Ian's shoe lacing cards
(Desktop publishing, 2016)
I created a set of playing cards with 52 of the shoe lacing methods from my Ian's Shoelace Site. Unfortunately the Kickstarter campaign went cold due to insufficient support
Logo Designs
Logos that I have designed or drawn up either for myself or for others.
Ian's personal logo
(Circa 1980)
My first logo design was for myself; it spells out 'I-A-N' in 3-D. You can see I was experimenting with 3-D graphics at the time.
Australian Gold Exchange logo
(1983)
We wanted a bold 'A-G-E' logo that was suitable for stamping onto bullion bars. This logo is also symmetrical in that it reads the same upside down.
Adelaide Coin Exchange logo
(1984)
Although the shape of this logo has nothing to do with the coin business, it guarantees that the company's initials 'A-C-E' will be remembered.
Australian Coin Dealers Association logo
(1986)
In this instance, the design was not just inspired by – but in fact was largely copied from – a traditional Australian coin from 1937.
Thomas Timber Designs logo
(1988)
This was designed to look like a traditional brass plaque, and in fact such plaques would be affixed to their furniture.
SayData Business Services logo
(1988)
SayData was a business that supplied computing solutions. This logo represented the customers' transition to computing.
E&F Computer Services logo
(1990)
As this business followed on from SayData, I maintained a similar 'digitised' style representing the transition to computing.
The Spa Works logo
(1991)
The overall rounded shape was representative of plumbing, while the old-fashioned faucets lent a traditional air to this design.
Ray's personal logo
(1999)
My nephew Raymond was impressed by my personal 'IAN' logo and asked me to design a similar 3-D one with either his name or initials.
Kingston Boatshed Association logo
(2017)
While creating a website for the Kingston Boatshed Association, I whipped up a quick logo in the style of groups of colorful boatsheds.
Ian's Photos
Shoelace
Software
Graphics
Ian
Tree