I recently entered a Photoshop competition to overlay a canvas scene of Sydney with another view of the world. Entering competitions are a great way of sharpening discrete skills, in a focused time period, while having some fun!
The source image I selected was one of several available of locations around Asia-pacific.
Sydney Train at Central Station
I decided to create an image that told the story of our beloved Australian animals, the threats to their very survival and try to bring some of the incredible vibrancy of Australian outback colors to a urban city scene lacking a soul and out of touch with nature.
Our Lucky Country was a book by David Horne, published in 1964, was a title dripping in irony, the story of Australia’s luck despite itself and its bumbling populace. Our national anthem waxes lyrical about nature’s gifts and beauties rich and rare, but its riches that we’re continually failing to protect in meaningful ways. It’s incredible to think that Australia has 1,700 threatened species and the highest rate of vertebrate mammal extinction in the world.
If it interests you, here’s a link to an Australian environmental charity that I’m helping to set up with like-minded friends and colleagues – thebeats.org.
Driving in Australia, you often see warning signs of potential wildlife on the road. Here I created images of animals such as Koalas and echidnas reaching hauntingly beyond the signs.
I used images I created in Adobe Fuse, Illustrator and Photoshop to bring this scene to life.
The Spoken Word 