I Love You, Mum - Kookaburras

I love You, Mum - Kookaburras

16.5 x 33 cm

Inktense pencils, coloured pencil and Pastel on Colourfix Suede

This is another illustration for the children's book entitled I Love You, Mum, due for publication by Hachette in 2014. I am using Colourfix Suede for these illustrations, which is a really versatile surface and is extremely receptive to a wide variety of media. As the Colourfix Suede is primarily heavyweight Watercolour Paper with the specially prepared primer applied, you can use water media without the fear of buckling and I find any wet media glides over the top, and because of the slight tooth, you get a very even application. The tooth on this surface is nowhere near as sandy or textured as the original Colourfix papers, so you can still get a high degree of detail, and yet also put down multiple layers. I have found most surfaces that allow for fine detail are quite limited in the number of coloured pencil layers they will accept and conversely the more textured surfaces which do allow for lots of layering are not so great for doing fine detail. 

Busy days

Mother Earth

8x10 inches

Coloured pencil on drafting film

I Love You, Mum - Dingos

16.5 x 33cm

Coloured pencil, Inktense pencils and Pan pastels on Colourfix Suede

 

Lot's of work lately and so not much time for posting. The Mother Earth illustration at the top of the page was a fascinating commission where the client presented me with one of Josephine Wall's beautiful paintings and asked me to recreate it in coloured pencil, but requested that I change the animals and butterflies in the wing to add a bit more detail. Josephine kindly and very generously gave permission for me to use her artwork as the reference. She truly is an inspiration and I would love to have her vision and imagination.

The illustration below is the fourth illustration for an upcoming children's book to be published by Hachette Australia in 2014.

I have also spent the last week working on another commission, which I can't reveal yet as it was commissioned as a gift.

Apart from having plenty of work to keep me busy, it has also been a very exciting time for our family, with our eldest son and his beautiful girlfriend of five years becoming engaged, so lots of lovely preparations going on. Back to the drawing board!!! :)

First demonstration for the Nepean Art Society

Just a couple of snaps from the demonstration last night, where I ran through how to do a pet portrait such as Lucy (in my previous post) using coloured pencils on drafting film. Amazingly we had 40 people turn up and what a wonderful crowd they were - attentive and interested and asking lots of questions. I couldn't have asked for a better audience. I got so much out of the night and am very hopeful that everyone who came was able to take something away as well.



Lucy tutorial and first art demonstration

Meet Lucy - this gorgeous kitty is the subject of my latest artwork and art tutorial and a huge thank you to Viola on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/aoa-/6942317269/in/set-721576230430 for allowing me to use her wonderful reference photo of Lucy. This artwork will be the subject of my first Art demonstration for the Nepean Art Society tonight, which I am extremely excited and just a teeny bit (!!!) nervous. Hopefully all who attend with get something worthwhile from the demonstration. If you would like to try your hand at drawing Lucy, you can find the 19 page step by step tutorial from my website

The Promise

The Promise

8x10 inches

Scratch art, inktense pencils, coloured pencils and ink on Ampersand Scratchbord

 

This was one of those pieces that started out with heaps of promise. I couldn't wait to get stuck in and sink my teeth into the textures and colours and due to the complexity of the box, decided to start with that which actually ended up being the easiest part of the entire artwork. It was once the box was completed that the headaches started and this one almost ended up in the scrap heap on numerous occasions. But, I battled through each and every element and what a sense of achievement to finally finish it. It didn't end up quite as I had hoped in my mind's eye (they never do), but I was glad I didn't give in to the temptation to give up.

Crown Prince

Crown Prince

9x5 inches

Scratch art, inktense pencil and coloured pencil on Ampersand Scratchbord

 

I have always had a bit of a love affair with peacocks and have used them several times in my art, but this time thought I would focus on the detail in their magnificent heads and crest. One of the things I love about scratchboard is that it really allows you to get a sense of the texture and 3D nature of the subject you are working on, which somehow makes the later addition of colour all the more interesting and exciting, almost like painting a sculpture. Many people have asked me to create a tutorial on colouring scratchboard pieces. At this stage, I still feel like I am refining my technique and need to create a few more before I can confidently pass on the way I scratch and colour but if you are interested in a tutorial, then watch this space - it won't be too far away :)

Confusion

Confusion

9x5 inches

Scratch art, inktense pencils and coloured pencil on Ampersand Scratchbord

 

With Easter rapidly approaching, I was inspired to do this little piece. Halfway through completing it, my order of tattoo needles arrived (a big thanks to all my Scratch art friends for their advice regarding these), which made my job on the Easter Eggs so much easier. It is time to buckle down now and get some illustrations done for my upcoming book, so no more scratch art for a little while, and probably a bigger gap between posts. Hope this one puts a smile on your face and gets you in the mood for Easter.