I-Fri: Run

Last week was "Children's Book Week" in Melbourne (amazing that such a thing exists!) and the major event is on one day where they have face painting, readings by authors, and demonstrations by illustrators. It was quite cool, although they put the illustrators in a different place this year, and I didn't find them until the end. Still got to see Elise Hurst and Mini Goss in action though, so it was good.

Also, the illustrator who won CBCA Picture Book of the Year last year does all the artwork and promotional material. Alison Lester won last year (see a previous post about her winning book here-it's the last book) - and she has quickly become one of my favourite Australian illustrators. It's my dream/fantasy to have an apprenticeship with her. Too bad she lives way the heck out in the boonies. Anyway, I think one of the best ways to learn and to inform yourself in new things is to imitate the masters, so this painting of mine is my version of Alison's horses which appeared on the Children's Book Week poster, which I bought, and which now hangs in my studio (see portion of it below). Hers are infinitely cuter, but I still like my horses with their spindly legs, and the background really just 'happened' - it was quite cool...

party fish

another birthday card, for a 2 year old this time.

gouache and black coloured pencil on paper

I-Fri: Match (encore)

This is going to be a birthday card for my husband, but I thought it fit the theme well. very happy with this one. i managed to stay fairly loose with the linework and I like the look of it. hope you do too!

* I've been having problems uploading images to blogger using Safari for days now, but just downloaded Firefox and it's oh so cool! works well with Blogger. i'd recommend it for mac users!

I-Fri: Match

Something a bit different tonight...

I've been thinking about how illustration is great because, to state the obvious, you can draw things that don't actually exist! I tend to draw nice little scenes, but thought I would try something a bit more conceptual this time. I figure I've populated my folio enough with cute little kids, but some more editorial-type pieces might be good too. and I must admit, I have been inspired by flossy-p and her ever-beautiful paintings and well thought out ideas.

I thought of illustrating finding a matching blood type, and out sprang these little ambulances. In my original sketch, I didn't have anything in the middle of the heart, but felt it needed something when I was finished, so overlayed the very faint a-. Not sure if that's what it needed exactly but it seemed a satisfying solution. I tried to stay quite loose with the linework this time and I am happy with it in the end. I just hope I don't ever need an ambulance to come to my rescue!!

I-Fri: Play

I've been sick for the last few days and having serious brain malfunctions. "Play" - great word - so many meanings - but I couldn't think of one good image. It took until the fog lifted today to come up with this silly one.

I'm really having fun playing with the sponge. and I think I've decided that I like the big thick black lines - as long as they're broken up a little bit it doesn't make it feel too 'heavy.' I need to try to stay loose when I'm doing them though - it's hard because it's the last thing I do so I don't want to screw it up at the last stage and I get a bit more precious about it. But it's what will give it the feeling of being 'loose and free' or tight and constricted so I need to keep working on that. ramble ramble ramble... sorry so I'm not totally well yet...

Content, yet disappointed.

A few months ago I was asked to do a spot illustration for a magazine on spec (meaning, do it for us now, if we like it, we might pay you for it) - not anything I would recommend as a practice. But, it just so happens that this time it worked well. I had the illustration below published in their August issue, will have another in their September issue, and am working on one for October too, which is great!



BUT when I received my complimentary issue in the mail and ripped open the envelope, flipped eagerly through all the pages to find my treasured-first-illo-published-in-a-magazine, what did I find? ...This:



BLACK AND WHITE? If you wanted a B&W drawing I would have done a B&W drawing! Drats. So. Content, yet slightly disappointed, as you might imagine. About half the illos were in colour, and half in B&W, so perhaps it was just luck of the draw. It was good to look through all the other illos though and see I am in good company - and always inspiring to see other people's styles and how they interpret a story. I soon got over my initial shock and was just happy to see my work in print, and I'll just keep my fingers crossed for the next two...

Let me out!

What is it with cats? If they're out, they want in, if they're in, they want out.

another quick one which I am quite enjoying doing. I didn't wait for the paint to dry before doing the linework and like the effect of the black spreading into the colour...

Kite

another lil quickie

Hey-diddle-diddle

I wanted to try doing something really quickly tonight, as I usually agonize over compositions before I transfer them onto good paper to paint. This time I just drew straight onto the paper - lots of fun! the blue colour is a bit blown out here - I think I would like it darker next time. I used black coloured pencil for the linework and I like the sketchyness of it...

I-Fri: Capture

I picked up some new brushes and a sponge recently and had LOTS of fun with this one. I went to see Pirates of the Caribbean 2 last night so I guess I was in a bit of a sea-faring mood.

Experimenting with doing the linework in different colours. I like it, though i do prefer painting the linework with ink as opposed to paint, (it's so much smoother) so I may have to get me some different coloured inks too. Another thing to add to the perpetual shopping list...

the paintbrush is my friend.

This is an illo I did for an educational Take-home reading book a few months ago. It's a bit of a board game - every night that the child reads they move ahead one square until they have been all around Australia and New Zealand and receive notoriety and admiration from all their peers. Anyway, this was done in B&W for the book, and I just added the colour tonight so that I could put this in my folio; it looked a bit bare in B&W.

I used Painter IX for the colour mostly because I didn't want to have to redo the linework and already had the lines scanned in. It was interesting to use it again after only having used actual paint and paper for my illos for quite a few months now. Although I am happy enough with the outcome, the process is so different. not so much in the way I would colour it, but how i feel when I'm colouring it.

First of all, there's the physical effects it has on me. This doesn't seem to happen as much when doing other computer work, maybe because it's not as intensive, but just one hour (or so) of Painter IX illustration and my shoulder hurts, my elbow hurts, my neck feels stiff, and my hand feels like "the claw" from gripping the wacom stylus.

Then, there's my attitude. Halfway through, I found myself getting bored, and wanting to be finished. Bored?? okay, some parts of doing anything with detail can be tedious, but I was amazed by how quickly that feeling came over me. I don't think I've ever been bored with painting.

So I think it's obvious where my preferences lie. I'm not knocking Painter - it's a fantastic program, has great effects, and I might still use it for quick & dirty jobs. (I find I use Photoshop a lot for rejigging compositions - scan in, move around, print out, trace - much easier than redrawing the exact same thing in a different position) But, as far as body-mind-spirit enjoying the process of illustration... the paintbrush is my friend.

I-Fri: Clean

Clean plate! Well, with a little help.

I was talking to a friend recently about how I was scarred as a child and will never ever ever in my life be able to eat brussel sprouts. Everything else I eschewed as a child I have slowly been able to find a taste for... broccoli... spinach (which I now love)... cabbage.... but brussel sprouts still make me gag like a five year old. I wish I had had a dog to feed them to! My cat didn't like them either.

Still playing around with different line qualities and techniques. this time I tried breaking up the black line a bit and only putting it where it is necessary, to make it feel a bit lighter...