An illustrator who writes, brought to you by the number 4

For the last 6 weeks I've been taking a course called Writing Picture Books through Victoria University here in Melbourne. It's an online course, which is sort of wacky, but it means you can do it in your pyjamas at 1am which is great for me, because I often do!

So I now keep a notebook of ideas, have a stack of picture books from the library, and visit the bookstore regularly. I am immersing myself in PBs and figuring out how my lil story could fit into the wide world of children's literature. And because it's an accredited course, I even have writing assignments! It feels great to be in a learning environment again, and it's very exciting, I have to say.

So each week I log in to this:


to see what new messages there are, and each week there is a new topic, new tasks, new exercises, etc. Sometimes we have to analyse a PB looking at something specific, or do a short writing exercise and post our results.

Soon we will start writing 'the story' and that's of course what I'm most looking forward to. I've had an idea rolling around in my head for months now, I know once I finally put pen to paper it's going to come out in an irrepressible flood of words and pictures. I can't wait!

...

And... I totally forgot that Doda tagged me ages ago to "post the 4th picture in the 4th folder on my computer, then tag 4 people to do the same"

so here tis - sorry it's so late Doda...!

I keep a lot of images of inspiration - of art and of things. Loved this colourful desktop - but can't remember who's it is I'm afraid!

So I now tag:
Red dog & Jude
Paige
Gina
Sweet Pea

I-F: Subtract

trees - leaves = autumn. simple equation!

And I think these two might be a simple equation too. 1 + 1 = 2.

(speaking of which, today marks 8 years that A and I have been together, meaning I've been in Australia for 8 years too. My how the time seems to pass quickly these days....)

And another season rolls in.... autumn has definitely sprung in this hemisphere, and as much as I love summer, autumn is always such a beautiful season. Though there aren't many deciduous trees to turn beautiful colours here, the air feels crisp and brisk, and the sun still strong enough to make a difference.

Here are some other autumnal colours:

The beautiful japanese washi paper I used for collage in this illo (I love it when I find the perfect paper to fit an illo)

and a chili plant, as part of my bountiful herb garden.

Happy autumn!

I-F: Legendary

First illo in 3 weeks! It felt good to have a break, and feels even better to be back to it. My Writing for Children class is going well though, I'll post something about that soon. For now, it's Legendary for IF:

My mother-in-law asked for me to do a card for a friend of hers who was unfortunately diagnosed with cancer recently. She is affectionately called "Grandy" by her grandchildren. I reckon she's pretty legendary in her family.

Taking it easy....

I must admit that I have done no illustrations for two weeks now....!

So here's another little sneak peak from the book series that I just finished, called Healthy Bodies, published by Five Mile Press and due out in August. This book, set mostly in a supermarket, ended up being the most challenging but also my most favouritest book of the four...

so instead of illustrating I've spent some time at the beach, where I found lots of cloud shapes...


and sand shapes....

and water shapes...


We went down for a friend's wedding which was just magical...


and where I had the opportunity to wear these lovely earrings which I purchased through the etsy bushfire appeal store, where all proceeds go to the survivors of the bushfires:


it was a lovely time had by all....

hope yours has been lovely too...