ILLUSTRATION.

Illustration

"DEVO" mixed medium

Adam's pencil, charcoal and mixed media illustrations reflect his appreciation for realism and surrealism, whilst showing the boundless and evolving range of his artistic technique. The pencil illustrations are often darker and contain more mystery than his other works, as they are deeply considered. Adam is able to tap into this focused state of creativity as a result of the great length of time required to produce these works.

"CHECKMATE" mixed medium

"REVELATION" pencil on paper

Portraits

In Revelation (2008), Adam depicts a portrait of Albert Einstein with a maze of ribbons unravelling from his open head. This illustration is an important convergence of his photo-surrealist technique and his use of recurring symbols, including the ribbon and the butterfly.

"SHIVER" mixed medium

"SELF PORTRAIT" mixed medium

Some drawings, such as WITH ALL THINGS BAD, THERE’S A LITTLE GOOD,(right) stem from a simple film quote and are then worked through until they express Adam's technically intricate and stylised vision of what the quote means to him. SELF PORTRAIT (above right) shows this detailed technical approach, while also giving an insight into the artist himself, which, like the meanings in his work, is quite private and not fully in view.

"THE COAT HANGER" acrylic on paper

"LAUGH OUT LOUD" water colour on paper

"PAULA LEE" pencil on paper.

"BECKETT WITH BUTTERFLY" pencil on paper

"WITH ALL THINGS BAD, THERE'S A LITTLE GOOD" pencil on paper

A lot of Adam's artworks explore the more surreal aspects of the mind. This is hinted to, in the 'Revelation' image above. His ribbon designs often contain hidden words and messages. These messages reference both old graffiti style and contemporary graphic design...

"SATIN SOFT MEMORIES" pencil on paper

"The more you explore, the more you’ll see,
The ribbons will help you find the way...
Good luck.”

"SELF PORTRAIT" pencil on paper

"Vicious circle"

"VIRTUOUS CIRCLE" pencil on paper

This illustration (above right) is a reworking of an album cover design from the 1980's punk band 'Vicious circle'. The terms virtuous circle and vicious circle refer to complex chains of events which reinforce themselves through a feedback loop. A virtuous circle has favorable results, while a vicious circle has detrimental results.

"Volcom T.shirt range"

Tomorrows a long way off' (below) was illustrated for a t-shirt range for 'Surf, Skate & Snow' company Volcom.

"ADAM KNAPPER F.A TEE'

"TOMORROWS A LONG WAY OFF" pencil on paper

The graffiti artist 'El exupet' says, "A t-shirt is the perfect way to hype yourself and spread your message, rather than on a wall. It seems more important. What's more, the shirt can travel on the street and around the world...It's a way for a logo to go anywhere in the world, without the artist ever having to set foot there."

"Stop the Violence"

Illustration can be seen as communicating visually both on an intellectual and emotional level. The idea of 'concept' in illustration is by not just restricted to storytelling and narrative, it also portrays ideas that are attractive to the eye or at times, harder concepts. These 'Stop the violence' posters, (pictured below) are a comment on the ongoing problem of domestic violence or private violence, in society today. Currently one women is killed by their partner in Australia every week.

"2017 Poster design"

"2018 Poster design"

"Poster design"

"2018 Poster design"

"Literacy books"

During 2015, Adam and his partner Güler illustrated nine books for co-health. Pictured left are some examples of concepts developed for the project.

"NMIT student exhibition"

This first year student exhibition was held on the NMIT campus in Melbourne and was based upon the psychedelic poster art movement of the 1960's.

'Hello Welcome Kits'.

In 2016 we saw the creation of the 'cohealth hello kit.' Concept design and illustrations by Güler altunbas and Adam knapper. This publication will be handed to all new sevice users in coming years.

"FRONT COVER DESIGN"