AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK SERIES Original hand drawn designs
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Table of Contents 04. 06. 08. 09. 10. 12. 14. 16. 22. 24. 28.
Our Story Discovering lost treasure The hunt begins I’m Lloyd Foye Preservation How does it work Different colourways Individual Panels Left & Right Merged panel - 1 Mural Insitu Prices
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Our Story The Australian Museum of Design is the custodian of more than 7,500 original hand drawn designs by Australian artists, and our inspiration is to share them with new generations of designers, artists and art lovers across the world. David Lennie, understood the value of the design library and carefully protected it for more than 30 years. From time to time, he would release a selection of the designs for use as wallpaper and fabrics. The method of drawing repeat designs is very rarely used today. Artists would create a design using multiple layers of film acetate - often up to 9 layers for a more intricate piece. Today, Sydney business woman and friend of David Lennie, Margaux Everett has developed a way to not only preserve the historic designs forever but has designed a pathway to release them to the world through commercial licensing access.
AMoD Studio St Peters, NSW Australia
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Discovering lost treasure In early 2022, ten rare hand drawn designs of authentic Australian outback art was uncovered in our library. Like all noteworthy and historically important discoveries, it took some time to realise the full extent of the collection. We started by unrolling sheets of fabric that had not been seen for more than 35 years. It was literally like stepping back in time to an era that had all been but forgotten. In all our history and collective knowledge of art and design, we had never seen such a large collection of hand drawn art from the same series equaling the size of a commercial mural.
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The hunt begins The introduction of computers in the late 1980’s saw the demise of hand drawn designs. Software had made it easier to create designs faster, and production of wallpapers and fabrics were being produced overseas. Ironically, it was technology that eventually reunited us with the artist who drew the Outback series. The internet and online community came alive! Together links were shared, references made, stories told, and referrals given to possible artists. Phone calls were made, dead-ends reached... until one day we got the call!
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“I’m Lloyd Foye. I believe you might be looking for me?”
Lloyd Foye was an Australian artist who was commissioned to create designs and art pieces in Australia during the 1980’s and 90’s. His style was very unique and was often sought out for his ability to research and interpret creative concepts and turn them into unique representations to match the client brief. It was 1st May 1986 when Lloyd was commissioned by then design house Underline Pty Ltd to produce a mural for Ampol. This mural was to be for the Jumbucks restaurants at petrol stations with roadhouses.
“I remember that I did follow a fairly tight brief containing certain agreed subject matters, and then researched and planned the illustrations. Accurate tracings and roughs were approved at every stage. They gave me quite free rein to compose and design them as long as the history was covered”. Lloyd Foye - Artist
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Preservation The fragile designs were meticulously scanned to preserved the beautiful flaws only achieved through hand drawing. The process of digitising the original hand drawn designs and matching them up with screens took several months. The designs are so intricate, and without knowing what we were looking at, it took time to match layers together till we were able to finally discover the end story. One of the layers was missing. A key line layer that would present the intricate detail of a design together. A stroke of luck came with the missing layer on an original silk screen, and the residual ink showing the detail of the missing key line layer.
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In total, there are 30 screens that make up the 10 individual art designs, comprised of 5 pairs. Of all the artwork pieces, the ‘key line’ for Artwork 5 Left, was missing however the residual outlines remained on the original screen. Our team of volunteers are working to restore the ‘key line’ for Artwork 5 Left, by hand. This is drawn onto film positive in preparation for digitisation and emulsion onto screens.
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How does it work
Panel 4 Left - Dark
Panel 4 Left - Light
Panel 4 Left - Key Line
Each design is made up of three screens to produce the final art piece.
A lighter shadow was added for a more subtle application of depth.
This design included a dark shadow for depth perspective.
The lighter shadow adds delicate highlights that brings the design to life.
The key line is the ultimate definition of the art pieces and adds the very important detail across the design. It is here we see the smallest details of dots, strokes that highlight the authenticity of hand drawn art.
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Final - Combination of all panels By creating the art in a layered design style, the final combination shows how the balance of light and dark with key lines, captures movement and authenticity unlike art we commonly see today.
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Different colourways
Panel 4 Left - Dark
Panel 4 Left - Light
Panel 4 Left - Key Line
Each design is made up of three screens to produce the final art piece.
A lighter shadow was added for a more subtle application of depth.
This design included a dark shadow for depth perspective.
The lighter shadow adds delicate highlights that brings the design to life.
The key line is the ultimate definition of the art pieces and adds the very important detail across the design. It is here we see the smallest details of dots, strokes that highlight the authenticity of hand drawn art.
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Final - Combination of all panels By creating the art in a layered design style, the final combination shows how the balance of light and dark with key lines, captures movement and authenticity unlike art we commonly see today.
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Panel 1 Left & Right
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Panel 2 Left & Right
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Panel 3 Left & Right
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Panel 4 Left & Right
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Panel 5 Left & Right
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All 10 Panels as a
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single Art Mural
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Culturally significant We have had the great pleasure to speak with Lloyd Foye, the artist behind these rare and culturally significant artworks, to learn the story behind his commission. During the 1970’s and 80’s, illustrators and artists were in great demand to create posters, murals and montages to be printed in newspapers, billboards and flyers… to name a few. In a time that pre-dated computer drawings and design, you can channel the glamorous world of the advertising agencies (in walks Don Draper, Mad Men) who nonchalantly gives the creative brief to the waiting artists. Corporates with the likes of Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Rugby League, and other famous individuals would need artwork to promote their latest ads, branding or tours, just so we would all rush out to buy the latest magazine to see what we loved next. Line and wash style illustrations were very popular during that era and used to create the emotional connection with the artworks and the companies they were representing. In 1985, Ampol were looking to create a series of artworks that would represent regional and outback Australia for that era. This included shearers, jackaroos, cattle, hay-bales, bank vaults and much more. The illustrations were to represent hardworking Australia during a time when working the land was a manual and laborious period.
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A series of restaurants called ‘Jumbucks’ would adorn the artwork as a connected ‘wrapped’ montage where each illustration would subtly join with each other, telling the full story. Lloyd Foye was eventually selected to illustrate this culturally significant artwork collection. One of his strengths was the ability to draw people. When you look at the faces in the artworks, it is clear he was the obvious choice. The facial expressions drawn in Lloyds line style, show more emotion than even a photograph could capture. Being a three-layered illustration, Lloyd’s creative skill was to understand how the finished artwork would look. He was able to use the key-line as the first expressive version, and then create the depth and emotion through dark and light shading. A skill very rare to achieve these days with the use of computer technology. Needless to say, Lloyd Foye captured a part of Australian Design History that we can be thankful for today.
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INSITU
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Limited edition art 30 | Outback Series
Singles Art Pieces Key-line POA
3 colour
POA
Double Art Pieces Key line
POA
Double Art Pieces 3 colour
POA
CONTACT Margaux Everett Australian Museum of Design Ph: 0400 492 100 Em: margaux@australianmuseumdesign.com.au