Sophie Ward film strip the pictures are taken by artist Danny Roberts

Guest Writer

The Guest Writer Part 2

Dearest fans, watchers, readers, lovers, writers, painters and animal friends, Danny and I are back in collaboration and having a marvelous time in his studio once again. We have rummaged through cupboards to find Italian cafetiers to make extra strong coffee, of which one sip is enough to send the synapses skyrocketing. We have made breakfasts, second breakfasts and brunches. We have played hide & go seek with my painting and checked on a hummingbird’s nest – all the while listening to the background of birds chirping in the lawnmower filled air of a sunny Californian June. Meanwhile, I am on Twitter thanks to Danny; I am obsessed with Dorothy Parker thanks to a second hand bookstore in Sydney; and I have excruciatingly demented jetlag thanks to long air journeys and the aforementioned strong coffee. My boyfriend Jon has printed out the directions to get to Texas, we’re all drinking lots of water and debating whether peanut butter, lentil hummus and salsa is really a good combination (hey, it’s nice, okay!) Here’s to the Roberts family, who have welcomed me once again with the most unforgivingly open, generous and unfalteringly warm arms, that I am once again indebted to their hospitality. They are for certain a blessing, an “American Family” who thrill to the sight of me cooking asparagus, making crackers, and expounding the benefits of going gluten-free. I just love being here, the perfection is almost too good to be true, and I always miss them as soon as I’m gone. Farewell! By the time you read this I will probably have dust in my hair and the sun in my eyes….. Road map fluttering in the heat of the open window. I’ll be thinking of you all. Safe journeys to everyone! I must go pack! White Rabbits are calling me to New York!! — Sophie Go read Guest writing Post 1

Australian Model/ Writer Sophie Ward sitting and Posing for My Painting

Guest Writer Studio

Lady of The Paper Castle Visits Danny from Igor & Andre HQ

So I am at the maestro’s house! It’s incredible! Everyone should always be so lucky. Here I am bigger than life size on a wooden board being coated in oils. Magnificent. Danny’s studio is amazing: I have been having a sleep over while I pass through LA on route to Australia, watching CNN all day on a giant flat screen, getting kinda high off oil-paints, drinking milk and way too many Halloween chocolates. You know, I have never experienced the magic of a Baby Ruth before, but was drawn in by its reference to The Sandlot Kids – obviously. Legend in a chocolate!! The Pellegrino is flowing, inspiration is booming, Neko Case is swooning from giant speakers, paintings are looming over me from all four walls and dimensions. Did you know Danny can do 3D paintings? One painting is wearing real clothes. The apple I am holding in the picture below remains uneaten, I don’t know why, but I am eyeing it off, along with all the old LIFE magazines from the 60s with covers declaring the first man on the Moon, the Kennedy assassinations, Martin Luther King, even Batman, Superman and the Marquis de Sade wait patiently. I feel like Peach from Mario Kart in a multicolored universe of many dimensions: A bowl of cereal at her feet, coffee and compliments delivered daily by the beaming inhabitants of this magical land. If I have shared even a fraction of the greatness it is to be here, I hope you feel it: Danny’s paintings hold magic in them. And every morning I wake up having dreamt amongst them, having been spoken to by the beautiful women in ink that surround me. If I was a flat-lander in a 2D universe, I wouldn’t mind being one of Danny’s imaginary creations, just to live in this studio and watch him work all day. What a cool dude. Great life, great-ness.

The painting is part of a How to Series. Click the links below to see this piece come to life
Outline (current post)
The Under painting
Layer work
Finished painting