Goodbye 06, hellooooo 007

Well I must admit I will be quite happy to see the end of this year and to usher in '007. As I said in one of my previous posts, it has been a bit of a hard year. That said I have accomplished a lot and am proud of where I have gotten with my illustration work this year. I'm also really glad for the friends I've made through this bloggy world. Thank you to everyone for your generous comments and support! It has been great e-meeting you all. So with that foundation, on to 2007 I say because it is looking bright!!!

Biggest of all is that we are going on a big overseas trip. We have been planning it for quite some time and it was in doubt for a while there because of A's father's health, but now that he is more stable, we are confident to Go Travelling For 4 Months!!! This is going to be a bit of a last hurrah trip before we make a few additions to our family so we are making it big! :-) The main thrust is to visit my family and to visit New Orleans, which is the birthplace of the music Andy loves to play. (hopefully it won't be too depressing to see it post-Katrina.)

SO, we'll be doing a big road trip from the Northwest of the US where my parents live, down to New O, then up to Boston where my brother is, and then up to Montreal to show A my hometown, with a little jaunt down to Mexico possibly too. So if anyone along that general path would like some visitors let me know!! ;-) Also will be heading to a few points in Europe and then a beach holiday in Thailand before returning home. So that takes care of 2007 from March to July!

For the rest of the year I hope to keep working solidly on my illustration and hopefully get some more children's book work. Hoping to join the stylefile to help with that. Oh, and while I'm travelling I want to keep a visual diary of our trip which I'll hopefully be able to post here! fun fun fun.... very excited....

So to everyone out there I wish you a fulfilling and creative 2007 with lots of happy days with friends and family and quiet evenings alone. lots of chocolate (or vice of choice) and healthy living to balance the vice of choice. Lots of things to celebrate and moments to savour. Lots of morning coffee smells and fresh laundry smells. I think it will be a good year.

I'd just like to leave you with something from my diary/daily planner thing for 2006. It is a sustainable living diary and on each page (for each day, actually) it has a little tip or handy fact. I hardly read them at all (I hope I absobed them by osmosis) but yesterday sat down and read the 'big uns'. So here are The Top 10 Little Things you can do for yourself and the world:

1. Eat more vegetables. More people die from cancer as a result of lack of good food than from smoking. Fresh unprocessed food is vital for good health.

2. Exercise (a brisk walk is good) for 20 minutes at least 3 times a week. Every day is better.

3. Ventilate the house to remove off-gassed chemicals. The home is nowadays filled with pollutants that affect our health - especially the young. Some of the worst pollution you will experince is inside your home. Use natural cleaners and personal care products wherever possible.

4. Deal with stress if it is getting the better of you. Seek help from a friend or professional.

5. Buy green power for the home. It's one simple phone call.

6. Minimise your use of the car - a trip here and there adds up over the year. Holiday closer to home because aircraft consume lots of fossil fuel (*eek! guilty of this one! l-k) Subscribing to Greenfleet can offset travel impact. (* I WILL do this! New Year's resolution number 1!)

7. Buy local produce, especially meat. Meat is energy intensive to grow and is often transported a long distance to the consumer. Eat at least 1 meat free meal every week. Shop at farmers' markets.

8. Recycle Reduce Reuse. have one bin for recycling, one for waste. in the kitchen add a bin for food scraps.

9. Do a water audit. See where you use water and fix those leaky habits. use greywater on the garden or install a rainwater tank.

10. Eliminate weeds. Grow local.


See you next year!! xx l-k.

Happy Holidays!

all the best to everyone for a safe and happy time spent with family and friends over too much food, too much wine, and too many good times (though you can never have too many of those)

Hope Santa is good to you and brings you elastic waistbands for Christmas!

xx lil-kim.

BIG sigh of relief...

Well this week I finished off all the work I have been commissioned for in 2006. It's a great feeling to have worked hard and to be able to look back on your accomplishments with some pride. Also to have a bit of free time now to enjoy the holidays, and this lovely spring/summer weather we are having (though not so if you are within reach of the fires, but that's another story.)

The biggest and most exciting project I have been working on is a 32 page children's book. This has been a fantastic experience. It's the first real children's book I've done, and even though it's not a hard cover glossy wonder, and probably will be sold in Kmart instead of Borders, it is still a book with characters and scenes and I loved every moment of working on it. And hopefully it is a step towards the hard cover glossy wonder too. :-)

I guess I can't say too much about it until it is actually published (in April) but I thought I might just jot down a few things that I learned, in no particular order:

1. Always use the right size brush for what you are doing. I tend to lean towards using a smaller brush than I need, and it makes for more work and not such a nice texture.

2. Put on some good music and take lots of dance breaks.

3. The easiest way to stay loose when doing linework is to do it fast and not think about it too much.

4. USE GOOD MATERIALS. Yes it might be a bit more of an expensive outlay but it will save you much time and frustration.

5. Don't feel like you have to answer the phone or door if you are in the middle of something.

6. Every once in a while, stop, look around, and say out loud, "I'm getting paid to paint!"

7. If your roughs are pretty tight then you can concentrate on the colour scheme as opposed to the composition when you are creating the finals (a good thing for me).

8. The computer is a great tool for trying out different compositions. Often I will draw something just how I want it, but it's in the wrong place, or slightly too small, etc. Instead of redrawing- scan it in, move, and print out. Ta dah!

9. Black, opaque, light fast and indelible india ink is just that, but you have to let it dry completely first.

10. Always check for consistency. Not just in the way the characters look, but also - if the little boy leaves his teddy on the front porch, is it still there in the next scene from a different angle? Is his bedroom still as messy as it was 4 pages ago? I got stung with a few things like this. Make sure it's the same, because you know the 5 year old will pick it up!

Well since I can't show you any illos from the book yet, I thought I could at least show you my characters. This is a little sheet I did before I started painting the finals and always had it on my drawing board to make sure I was drawing and painting consistently. Meet Max, a 10 year old farmboy, his parents and grandparents, and his nameless collie-dog. :-)



* * * * *

My current obsession is redecorating my studio. This began a few months ago when I started getting more illustration work and realised I needed a good setup. I half set it up, but then just had to get to work, and have been working in a total mess ever since. So now that I have some time, I can do all the fun cosmetic stuff, and it's so exciting because it's really coming together. I'll be sure to post photos when it's all spiffed up. Today is going to be devoted to setting up my brand new imac (to replace my grunting G4) which has been sitting very patiently in its box for almost a week now. I give it a pat every time I go by and hear it whimper very softly. soon, my precious, soon... and today is the day. wohoo! new toys!

I-F: Mask

Another quick one but quite a poignant one I must say. It's pretty much how I feel right at this very moment. I think we've probably all felt this way sometimes. I've mostly shied away from personal stuff on this blog because I've wanted to keep it mostly about illustration, but really, where does art come from but life. So. purge about to happen. (click away now or forever hold your peace.)

this has been a hard year. It has been an amazing year, but a hard year.
My illustration work has totally taken off; I got married; We're planning great things for the future.
my father-in-law had a stroke; I never see my husband cause we are both so busy; the year has slipped away.

it's a lot of ups and downs really... the ups are great. the downs are harder to deal with! Right now I am a bit down but I know it will pass. I guess I tend to focus on the positives since that's the kind of person I am. I suppose I find it easier than dwelling in the depths of sadness. Having a good cry is a good release though, so is painting, hence the illustration.

so... on the positive side... I have just finished some major projects (which I will post about very soon so stay tuned) and I am extremely excited about that. It also means I can get back to Illustration Friday a bit more regularly now. Yay! I have also been tagged by Jules! My first tag! So I'm going to do that before I go to bed to put myself in a good mood for sleep. (see next post)

hope you're all well out there in cyber-land. xx

I'm it!

I've been tagged by Jules! I feel all warm and fuzzy because of it. I've been looking at people's blogs getting tagged and thinking, 'oh. i want to be tagged. maybe I should start a tag just to be part of it all. sigh.'
so here we are...

4 jobs I have had:
- my first ever job was serving frozen yogurt. oh the glamour.
- at a software company doing animation and illustration for children's CD-ROMs. Probably the best job I've ever had (though freelance illustrator ranks a close second). I left that job to come to Australia.
- waitress at a pizza restaurant in Lygon St (the italian district of Melbourne) - i lasted about a week.
- jewellery designer - this was pretty cool until i realized that my job wasn't just designing rings for rich people, it was also being a salesperson for them too. In fact, it was 80% sales and 20% design. i didn't last very long there either.

4 movies I could watch over and over:
- Amelie
- Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
- Love Actually (and cry my eyes out every time)
- Fight Club. (how come I always forget how it ends?)

4 places I have lived (apart from where I am now):
- Montreal, Canada (where I was born)
- Portland, OR, USA (for 8 years)
- Footscray (western burbs of Melbourne. I lived there for a year)
- Brunswick (ok so it's where I live now but I totally love it and had to put it in!)

4 TV shows I love:
errr.... don't watch much TV. Um what's that one about missing people with Anthony Lapaglia? I like that one.
And I like the Simpsons, as does everyone, but I haven't watched it for yonks.
Saw an episode of Fawlty Towers the other night, still so rediculous and funny.
can't think of a 4th, sorry. next...

4 places I have been for a vacation:
- only 4? travel ranks just as high a passion for me as art. Okay um - Hawaii
- Trinidad
- Sri Lanka
- Spain and Morocco. (okay that's 5 but it makes up for my lack of TV shows)

4 websites I visit daily:
- My blog. cause you have to.
- Drawn! - so inspirational and such good info
- Aussie Illustration Forums - good chats with other aussie illustrators
- Illustration Friday - of course.

4 favourite foods:
- avocados. especially on toast with S&P and lemon juice and a bit of paprika or chilli powder. yum. I also make a mean guacamole.
- berries. oh I can eat them by the truckful. They never get very cheap here but when they get to under $5/punnet I have to go for it, and tis the season now. yessss.....
- smoked salmon or any kind of seafood, especially on the barbeque (ok, not smoked salmon on the bbq!)
- anything sweet. I like gingery or cinammony flavoured things a lot.

4 places I would rather be:
- Spain. I love it so much.
- With my family. I miss them so much!
- In bed!
- On this lovely island in Thailand where I went with A a few years ago and we are going to go back in 2007. little shack on the beach. fresh seafood. warm water. bliss....

4 people I am tagging:
- flossy-p
- irisz
- sweet pea
- annette
hope you haven't done this one yet!

*edit: this post has ended up before my I-F post by mistake cause I put pm instead of am. oops.

*ps. I feel better now :-) goodnight.