Stepping Stones is an exhibition that celebrates Darwin’s vibrant and flourishing young artist community and individual artistic growth.
Over the last year, through the monthly Geek Up program, young artists were involved in running art skills workshops and sharing their artistic knowledge and experience with peers.
These workshops focused on fostering connections and creating a supportive, non-competitive space for young artists to grow artistically and build confidence. In this way, Geek Up has been a significant stepping stone for many young artists.
Stepping Stones has been curated to both commemorate the progress made through Geek Up and to most importantly celebrate the hard work, effort, and dedication our local emerging artists put into improving their artistic capabilities to create incredible works of art, some of which are being showcased in this exhibition.
Stepping Stones is an exhibition that displays the small but important steps taken by young artists in their creative journey.
“Every now and then one paints a picture that seems to have opened a door and serves as a stepping stone to other things.” — Pablo Picasso
The Stepping Stones exhibition was curated by Kezia Dilettoso and Ifa Shiddiq and hosted by Casuarina Library as part of Geektacular 2024.
Emir’s Development, 2014-2023
Ariel Racines @aju.iice
Procreate, watercolour, pencils
Emir is an OC of mine I’ve had for almost a decade now. There’s been a lot of major differences in my style as well as his overall design, his eye being covered/scarred and his name being the only real defining aspects I’ve kept. It’s interesting to see how a character changes in this span of time, from which you can see how much I’ve aged with it, also. Though the disparity between the two results is large, I assure that I’ve taken lots of time throughout these years to change smaller aspects of his design to fit within my preference — which eventually has come to this. His first design was one that I wasn’t entirely sure about back then, but his background and story are the same. As I took inspiration from other artists and my own life, I was able to gain some semblance of a character that now feels more alive. Some might say he’s undergone his “villain arc” — which is, well, true. A character with flaws and scars (both inside and out) makes for more appealing designs which I’m sure people can find more relatable than the Emir from the initial design, who was really a blank slate.
Decade of Growth, 2013-2023
Bethany O’Shea @cordial_draws
Digital
This piece is a compilation of Bethany’s digital self portraits since she bought her first graphics tablet in 2013. This shows her ever changing and developing interests, styles and influences as she gravitates cartoon styles and realism to find her own unique style that still continues to grow.
Thanks for Visiting, 2023
Ifa Shiddiq @eskrimko
Digital
I have drawn my personified character of Geelong. He’s a bit of a troublemaker and a complete simp for Melbourne. This piece was inspired by my recent trip to the city and was initially a warm up after returning home.
Not only did I remember how to draw again, this particular piece shows a personal development; my feelings towards Geelong. I have been playfully hating him at the start for being the cause of my Apple Pencil tip breaking. Then I convinced myself into despising him after developing his personality. Amusingly, he has been my go-to character in the past year for whenever I was in a creative rut or bad mood.
After visiting the city, I was absolutely smitten. My week in Melbourne was miserable but that Wednesday in Geelong was most definitely the highlight of the whole trip. Oddly enough it reminded me of Darwin; sure it was 100% more colder with historic buildings but it felt familiar. I left Geelong feeling so enlightened before being reminded of the realities in Melbourne. Now back home, I can’t help thinking of my next trip.
My art has improved because of him and he has my thanks.
My Oma, 2023
Isabel Gardiner
Felt tip pens, white paint pens, coloured pencils
These are my Opa and my Oma.
To make the first artwork of my grandma, it took me an overall time of 10 hours, done over two weeks and to create the newer portrait of my grandpa it took me over 14 hours across the span of two days. I used the same mediums to create the shadows and textures to create a feeling of life in both portraits, only I experimented with different techniques for Opa’s drawing. I used paint pens to create highlights in places like the eyes, hair and skin, felt tip pens to create the clothes and coloured pencils to create their skin and hair. Opa was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2018. We weren’t sure how long he’d have as it had already spread to his bones. He wasn’t ready to go, with Oma by his side, he fought against the vicious cancerous cells while still being an involved grandfather, dad and husband.
I wanted to make something to honour them. Opa turned 80 this year, and Oma turned 78, still amazingly physically and mentally strong. They have always been there for me. This entry is for them, my wonderful grandparents.
Although I am still using the same materials to create both of these portraits, I feel I have grown in the way I use them, experimenting with different techniques and papers to create a more realistic look.
My Opa, 2023
Isabel Gardiner
Felt tip pens, white paint pens, coloured pencils
(see above)
Takahē Edith, 2023
Isabelle Henderson @dippity_
Ink, digital
I draw my OCs with this plague dr/masquerade mask, but I hadn’t really swayed much from the design I started out with. This is a coloured version of one of the drawings from when I started to consider species-specific variations, how they could look, and how they could add bonus symbolism and analysis flavour to the character/scenario. Now I associate certain characters with certain birds. For Edith: chickens, crows, kingfishers, and their qualities of being mischievous, small, and determined. For Leo: emus and tawny frogmouths. I’m not sure why. Possibly because they look strange and goofy but also vaguely imposing. For Arthur: Lyrebirds and other mimics for themes of confusion and memory.
The colouring and lighting process for the dress in particular was also a learning experience and I’m very happy with how it turned out.
Takahē Edith started out as Pūkeko Edith, but after researching the South Island Takahē, I found it to be much more thematically fitting for Edith. Freakishly well fitting, now that I think about it. The South Island Takahē is an example of a Lazarus Taxon, which is a species that vanishes and is declared extinct- only to reappear eras later, unchanged. They are similar looking birds so as far as the mask colour goes, it still works out okay. In future I will incorporate more green to reflect this change.
Something Sketchy, 2023
Maureen @_thenenden_
Texta and pencil
I was very inspired by dnd and used my original character Swindle who is a halfling rogue for this drawing, this only took me about 10-15 minutes and while it looks unfinished to some it fits the title and character well, she is a rouge which is a very sketchy class and her name is swindle which means to “use deception to deprive someone of money or possessions.” She is drawn in a way that is both sketchy as her character and sketchy on paper (pun intended).
(see above)
Kitty The Fishercat, 2023
Skye Lavelle @_.mayushii._
Digital artwork using Procreate
This piece was created as part of a project between Declan Smyth and myself for the NT ‘Ready, Set, Godot’ Game Jam in Dec 2023. Declan learned a new game engine, Godot, and I experimented with landscape art and a softer style!
Kitty The Fishercat is a rhythm game where you collect fish and sleep! I created simple animations for the kitty and different sized fish. I really pushed out of my comfort zone and with a short deadline as well, I’m really happy with how it turned out! You can play our free little game on Itch.io! <3
You can play the game at: https://smijj.itch.io/kitty-the-fishercat
Dark Side of the Meadow, 2023
Tessa Karimi
Acrylic
Oddly Peaceful, 2020
Tessa Karimi
Acrylic
Devil Panpan, 2023
Thuy @tinybloombear
Procreate
This artwork was made purely for fun and as a fun artist alley scavenger hunt for Tropicon 2023. During the process I wanted to try rendering using a different dark colour palette but still use the main pop of colour pink for my OC Panpan. I normally draw cute pastel and vibrant tones in my art. Despite that, this piece definitely still cultivates my kawaii art style but in a bold black pink statement piece.
Bus Ride, 2023
Yuri Macansantos (Zetra) @YukiaZyman
Digital
It takes a while for an artist to really make progress, and I am no exception. This art is my cultivation of different art styles, lineart and colouring techniques. This is one of the few times I draw backgrounds from scratch. Hopefully this art will become a standard for me to reach always.