Derek Murphy Art » Random posts

Using famous icons and trademarks in fine art?

Derek Murphy — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 14:28:20 +0000

Lately I’ve been playing with icons and famous cartoons for an upcoming show. I usually do my own thing, but have noticed that “Fine Art” in Asia is usually a combination of traditional/ancient art skills with modern pop culture. Paintings of Hello Kitty, KFC, Doraemon, Astro Boy etc. are huge sellers (tens of thousands of dollars for a little hello kitty painting.) Recently I’ve seen Angry Birds and other iPhone apps making an appearance in fine art. Technically all this stuff is copyrighted; so it should be illegal. If I want to use them in a graphic design and sell them on TShirts via CafePress – I can’t. So why can I sell trademarked images on paintings for big money to private collectors? No idea!

However, since it seems to be “the thing to do” I’m doing a big series. It’s much faster, simpler than the oil paintings I usually work on. It’s not particularly creative. But I’ll be giving the art world what the art world likes, and we’ll see if that pans out for me.

Taiwan Centennial Painting Contest

Derek Murphy — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 21:15:41 +0000

Finished this is less than a week for Taiwan’s Centennial International Painting competition. Luckily they extended the deadline and I was able to shoot off the entry today before packing (for an extended holiday in the states). Originally this painting had Jesus holding the Taiwan baby, being growled at by the local gods (whose turf Jesus – the white colonizing masculine authority – had breached). It works pretty well this way too.

In October they’ll pick a winner (grand prize is $1000usd or an ipad!)

This is kind of a boring painting for me – what do you think?

Flash Gallery

Derek Murphy — Tue, 31 May 2011 08:49:49 +0000

Portraits

Derek Murphy — Mon, 30 May 2011 16:39:22 +0000

I began sketching portraits in high school, and my first dozen or so oil paintings were portraits. Although I prefer to incorporate portraits into more complicated surrealist pieces, every once and I while I just do something “normal”. Here are a few of my best; some of these are close-ups of surrealist works.

Guest Book

Derek Murphy — Thu, 26 May 2011 13:39:23 +0000

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Derek Murphy — Wed, 25 May 2011 12:13:45 +0000

Coming soon

Taiwan 100th Anniversary International Art Competition!

Derek Murphy — Sun, 08 May 2011 07:45:06 +0000

Art competitions are a great way to get more exposure for your art, and maybe pick up some great prizes. I’ve been telling myself for some time that I need to enter more art competitions but I don’t – mostly because I like to paint what I want without worrying about “winning” the crowd or judges.

However I just saw this post for an international art competition for Taiwan’s 100th Anniversary:

Get your brushes ready – Radio Taiwan International invites foreign nationals to celebrate the Republic of China’s birthday through paintings! 100 artists’ submissions will be selected by professional judges to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Republic of China (the official name of Taiwan’s government). The selected pieces will be shown off to the world in a digital gallery on the event’s website, and exhibited publicly in an outdoor projection exhibit in October to coincide with the nation’s centennial.

First, second, and third place winners will each receive a 7-day, 6-night food and accommodation package upon arriving in Taiwan! (From October 5 to 11, 2011; cost of plane tickets and visa fees not included.)

Prizes
‧One first place prize: US$1,000 and 7-days, 6-nights of food and accommodation
‧One second place prize: US$500 award and 7-days, 6-nights of food and accommodation
‧One third place prize: US$300 award and 7-days, 6-nights of food and accommodation
‧97 honorable mention prizes: ROC 100th anniversary memorabilia

Additionally, the winner of the most online votes will receive one Apple iPad 2. 20 participants in the online voting will also be randomly selected to receive one RTI retro-style radio each.

Eligibility
The contest is open to all foreign nationals living either in Taiwan or abroad. (ROC nationals are not eligible.)

Eligible paintings must include the following elements:
1. The artist’s impression of Taiwan
2. The artist’s blessing for the country’s centennial
3. The digits ‘100’

Judging Criteria
A panel of five professional judges will chose the 100 winning paintings. Evaluation will be based on each piece’s thematic expression (40%), creativity (30%), and use of color (30%).

Specifications

Entries must be A3 sized (420mm x 297 mm) for paintings in traditional media, or 720 dpi (1920 x 1080) in JPG format for digital paintings.

The submission period is from April 15, 2011 to June 30, 2011. Entries received after June 30, 2011 will not be accepted.

for more details visit: http://www.rti.org.tw/ajax/2011/2011_blessing/en/

How to win an art competition

So I’ve decided to enter, and win both $1000 and the ipad 2. This is going to be a bit tricky: I will need to paint something incredible that grabs the audience and gets them to vote for me. I’ll also need to be less jaded, cynical and controversial to get the judges to pick me – nothing too sexy or with political/religious undertones. Something fun and awesome… with the number “100″ on it (I hate that requirement, but what can you do?)

I don’t have an idea yet but it’s definitely worth thinking of one. I wish I could do my “google God eating people” painting which is going to be awesome, but I don’t think that will fit; neither will the “hot girl gives fellatio to Taipei 1o1″ idea. My “two Taiwanese gods angry as Jesus steals Asian Baby” painting is out, too.

Maybe just people laughing and having fun? A pretty landscape? I’ll think of something.

Taking a break from painting to write my book.

Derek Murphy — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 13:16:27 +0000

Just in case you’re looking for any recent activity… my exhibitions in both Tainan and Taichung have just finished. I sold quite a few pieces so they were pretty successful. Now I’m working on my book (Jesus Potter Harry Christ) and studying my PHD at National Taiwan University. Fun stuff. Tomorrow I’m going to a Fat Boy Slim Party. Here’s a pic of me working on my computer:

102 Gallery Exhibition Tainan

Derek Murphy — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:29:05 +0000

A nice little exhibition held in October of 2009. 102 Gallery is a trendy spot in Tainan county.

Painting = performance art?

Derek Murphy — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:07:44 +0000

Today I forced myself to carry out my ‘paint in public’ plan. Theoretically, it’s a great idea: I go somewhere famous and local and paint in public… people crowd around and I give them all my business card. It’s a way for me to get free and easy exposure. However, when I actually arrived at the Confucius Temple in Tainan today, having skipped breakfast, carrying too much junk (easel, paints, canvas, etc), drawing a lot of attention to myself wasn’t appealing. And let’s face it – as a foreigner in Taiwan, I already draw attention to myself. Setting up my easel and canvas is about the same as lighting myself on fire or screaming “LOOK AT ME!!”. Taiwanese people are naturally curious and won’t feel self-conscious about standing beside you and watching you paint – I know, I know, that’s the whole point of me being there, right?

But I’m an indoor artist. I don’t mind being in the spotlight – but painting in the spotlight… any way, I finally made myself set up, in a little corner, put on my headphones and ignore all the people that came up behind me and took pictures of me as I painted. Not very social. Definitely counter-productive to my intentions. I managed to finish this not terrible painting in a few hours – I did it without sketching or anything first. I’m trying to learn how to do impressionism; I’d like to make my own canvases rougher, darker, more alive. Obviously, I’m not that great at it yet. Next week I’ll go back and paint the same thing again, bigger, without the headphones.