I can’t tell you how many people have urged me to draw Brad “The Slim but Savage One” McCahon, producer to Eoin Cameron on 720 ABC Perth Breakfast.  I got up very early on Wednesday and found him in his native habitat…

It can’t be that bad working for Eoin if Slim can smile like this!

It was hard to capture Eoin.  The man just can’t keep still!

Orrie is the queen of the reception area.  I saw immediately that she was a character and a repository of great stories…

Hidden in the corner of the newsroom… Steve.

I found Lisa in the Sound Library and Archive.  The walls are covered in CDs… seconds from around the country.

I had been misled.  There were two Alicia Gorey desks, the real one hidden away.  Following my nose, I soon found it. 

(I’ve hidden a mouse in this picture just for fun)

“I’m going to treat you the same as the Grade 1s and 2s I sometime teach” said Peter, at the beginning of the workshop yesterday.  Sixteen potential artists from all corners of the ABC in East Perth sat, now slightly nervously, in the foyer and looked up at this – it must be said – somewhat manic artist.  We’d been living with his art on walls around the building for the week and were keen to have a go ourselves.

“I’ll start with cartooning, ” says Peter “but remember I came out of the womb with a pencil in my hand so I draw quickly.”  He drew two circles with dots in the middle.  “I always start with the eyes, and the only decision I make is big or small. And the rest kind of draws itself…”

Well it did for him – suddenly there was a man on the whiteboard, and then a hippo in underpants, and another throwing up with bits of vomit flying from his mouth (“The kids love it when I draw this”, Peter explains).

“The second thing to do is put in the emotion.”  And with one line – we saw happiness, sadness, anger and suspicion…

We drew cartoons for a while… some of them were quite good.  The next exercise was harder.  We drew a basic skeleton of a person – front on and side on – and then put another sheet of paper over the top and filled in the body around them – you can see the skeletons on the right behind Peter’s head in the top photo.  We practiced bodies. 

And then the big challenge.  We were to draw the person opposite without taking our pen off the paper. This was hard.  Some even tried side on views.  Really hard. But some of the drawings ending up looking like the person.  Some of us were surprised they had a passing resemblance.

All agreed it was a great workshop and thank you Peter for entertaining us while encouraging our inner artists into the light.  The next event for ABC staff will be an “ABC Archibald”.  Our drawings will be on display and staff members will be encouraged to vote for their favourite.  The prize – a bottle of champagne.

To make it easier for you to see how the painting came together we’ve combined a few posts.

10.00 am

Every surface of the studio likely to get spattered with paint has been covered in plastic drop sheets. It looks like we are going to commit murder.

Peter is calm and excited – if you can be both at the same time. He got up at 3 this morning with another idea. He’s going to paint the boys… and then his plan is to swivel about 90 degrees and paint the view through the glass into the control room. But will he have time?

In the studio… Glenn Mitchell (in green), Ken Judge and Jon Dorotich.

10.30am

10.30am Paint hits the canvas…

10.30am First pass…

10.35am Glenn’s green shirt appears…

11.00 am

Peter says the painting is different to what he envisaged. He’s thinking in abstract terms – the red blind behind Ken, the gold of the desk, the grey window. There’s a lot of technical stuff on the desk which he’s suggesting rather than detailing. He’s only got two hours and two paintings to do!

He’s using an oil based medium and a range of brush sizes… the big one you’ll see soon is used to soften the painting.

He’s just told Ken Judge “You’re a wriggler! The biggest wriggler of the lot.” He wants Ken to fold his arms and point his finger. Jon has a great fist says Peter.

Glenn would like a little less “gut” if possible and Jon reckons Peter has his eyebrow down pat (and wants us to send him a photo of the finished painting – so he must be happy).

11.05am

11.35am Finishing touches

11.40am Buggered

“I’m buggered. My energy has just gone. I stopped when the communication finishes and the communication finished.”

Peter is now sitting in the control room to watch the last few minutes of Sportstalk.

“Hey that looks pretty good.” Peter sounds amazed but for Roanna Edwards who has watched this painting come to life well, we’re not amazed at all.

“For me, who sits here every week watching these boys, you’ve got them exactly!” says Roanna. “The body language… Glenn slouching in his chair, Doro very upright and Ken leaning in at the table… this is what I see every week.”

“There’s no time for me to get all the proportions right and I know there are little glitches but it’s about getting the message across and what you said Roanna… that was the message.” Says Peter. He sighs loudly and sits back. “I won’t be able to do a second one… I’m done.”

Well we’re happy with the painting you’ve done Peter – Awesome work!

11.40am Signature

11.40am Details

11.45am Finished painting

11.50am Painting and subjects

Glenn has just said on radio: “The biggest surprise for me this season is how good I look on canvas.”

A statement which has us rolling on the floor!

11.50am Peter is interviewed by the Sportstalk panel.

12.00 noon Roanna thinks the painting is spot on. Clint is in the background admiring Peter’s work.

Peter’s next project as part of his residency (which is sadly nearly finished) is to run a one-hour workshop for staff this Wednesday lunchtime.

Staff need to tell the State Director’s office if they’d like to come along.

Peter promises that we’ll be able to draw by the end of the lesson as long as we “do as you’re told”!

And look out for Stateline this Friday, Elvira is looking at putting together an Artopia closer featuring the work Peter has done here at the ABC.  Tune in from 7.30pm Friday night to ABC TV to see him (and maybe us) in action!

Sarah