IF : Idle

Ah, those idle days of childhood...

This one is a bit of an experiment - watercolour background, but the foreground is done in gouache. It is my second attempt at using gouache (too embarassed to show you my first one!)

I think it will be good once I get used to it. I remember feeling this frustration when I first started using watercolours! But I like that you can use gouache thick or thin - transparent or opaque - and then it dries with a matte finish (unlike acrylics) which means you can still use other media on top of it.

so stay tuned for more experiments!

New studio for a new book

Sorry for my lack of posting lately . . .

I have been busy moving my studio . . .

(It's still in my house, but we are renovating the room where it was, so i now share the lounge room. I was reluctant to give up my room at first -- small as it was, it was all mine. But it actually feels really good in here -- and now I have a couch in my studio!)

And just in the nick of time as it happens, because I am about to start illustrating a new book which I am VERY excited about. [contained late-night dozy wohoo!] I can't say much about it, except that it will be published next year, for Christmas, (it's a Christmas book) and is going to be A LOT of fun.

It's also the first hardcover book I've done, so it feels like a 'real' book! Not that my previous ones weren't, but this one just feels more . . i don't know . . solid.

Hopefully there'll be a few preliminary sketches and things that I can show here. I have 7 months to produce it which is a nice long lead time for me, so I'm going to enjoy some rare 'experimenting time' in the next coupla months. I'll update as much as I can!

IA & IZ

Just taking a break from painting -- house painting -- to report on the IA 20th year exhibition because it was was a HUGE SUCCESS!! (follow the link to see a video of the opening - I am in it ever so briefly but I won't tell you where - ha!) We had so many people through you could hardly move at some points during the evening.. The wine ran out within half an hour (we resupplied) and best of all, we sold lots of art for our members!

Also, I am happy to announce that I have joined Image Zoo, a website dedicated to stock illustration and licensing. I don't know if anything will come of it, but I always reckon the more chances to be sighted, the better. (You can see me here.) A lot of this work is fairly old so I will be endeavouring to add and update as I go.

Ok, my kitchen cupboards are calling. Hoping to get back to some more inspired painting soon.

ps. Happy Canada Day for all the canucks out there (3 days late), and Happy 4th to all the yanks!