Free colouring-in with a hidden layer
Wellington designer-turned-artist Tim Christie is known for his abstract pieces of linear art, and now people can print off and colour them in at home to reveal the picture within.
An international award winner and exhibitor, Christie was fresh off a successful exhibition in Dubai when the Covid-19 lockdown was announced.
He realised distributing his art would be on hold for some time, and decided to make some of his pieces available to download and colour in.
He described his work as ‘‘geometric and linear’’, and with many of the pieces, the image below the lines was not apparent unless coloured in.
‘‘That’s how we came up with the name colour2discover.’’
His art was hugely successful in public exhibitions, as well as private homes, for its unique ability to act almost as an optical illusion.
This collection of work is called Monomoko – ‘‘mono’’ for monochromatic, and ‘‘moko’’ relating to the graphic, the symmetrical, and the face, as well as serving as a reminder of his New Zealand roots.
Christie’s background is in design, including developing the logos for the Interislander and RNZ.
A few years ago he discovered a passion and an audience for digital art, and has since exhibited in the United Kingdom, Sydney, Hong Kong, and Dubai.
He won the People’s Choice category in the prestigious Edinburgh’s Castle Fine Art Summer Exhibition in Manchester in 2018 – the only Kiwi along with 19 other international artists.
His story began, he said, as a last-minute decision in 2017 to enter a show in New Zealand.
He was admitted as a late entry to the New Zealand Art Show, with his work dotted around the gallery amid other works.
On opening night, texts from friends at the show were lighting up his phone, saying, ‘‘You realise your art is flying off the walls? There are people fighting over it.’’
His work sold out, and when he supplied more, that sold out too.
‘‘For me, the New Zealand Art Show is where my art journey started,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s a great platform for emerging artists to quickly test art on a massive number of people.’’
This year the show will feature more than 150 emerging contemporary artists in a dynamic virtual exhibition, a step made necessary by Covid-19 restrictions.
Art fans can go to artshow.co.nz to browse and buy hundreds of original artworks all from the comfort of your own home, and importantly support local artists, from tomorrow.
To view more of Tim Christie’s work and find out about his story visit monomoko.nz, and post your art online using the hashtag #colour2discover.