Who Stole my Ladder
12x12 inches
Coloured Pencil, Inktense pencil, black Promarker and
White ink highlights on Wooden Art Panel

Make a Wish
8x10 inches
Coloured pencil and Faber Castell Pitt Pens on
Watercolour canvas

A couple of more Trompe L'Oeil pieces and some big learning curves. After attempting and discarding Make a Wish 7 times, using a range of mediums, I finally decided that I had better complete at least one and move on. As you can see the black background is blotchy and whilst I had hoped that an application of varnish might resolve this issue, it actually made it worse. So what did I learn from all this trial and error and exasperation? I need to take a different approach and avoid doing large areas with black background, and this lead me to working on the wooden art panels, and this proved so much more satisfying and less frustrating, so I think this might be the start of a series. Hope these put a smile on your face :)

Around the World in Eighty Seconds

Around the World in Eighty Seconds

12x16 inches

Coloured pencils on gesso primed wood

This artwork was lots of fun to do, but caused me a few headaches in the end. Initially, there was no writing on the globe and then one of my sons commented that he felt it needed some text on the globe. At this point, I had already sprayed with fixative and so the pencil really wasn't adhering to the artwork. I should have known better, but used one of my finest permanent markers to add some text. All was fine, as you can see here, until after scanning this, I sprayed another coat of fixative, at which point all the letters bled into the surrounding areas. At this stage, all I could do was use a damp cloth and remove that whole section and start again. Thankfully this worked Ok, although the ocean now has a slightly more uneven colouring, which I suspect from miles away is how the earth would look anyway. We live and learn!!! :)

A successful day

No images today, as the commission I am working on is of a little baby that has passed. These commissions are always very special to me, but I never post them on the web for obvious reasons. Last night was a busy night, with the opening of the Blacktown City Art Exhibition, where I was honoured to find that I had been awarded a Highly Commended for 'A Life Well Spent', and also to see that the Council had acquired this artwork. We then left and drove to another exhibition opening night, and I discovered that 'The Artist or the Subject' had sold. Last night was also the opening for the Illustrator's Australia exhbition, and I am delighted to see that 'Untold Story' has sold. It never rains but it pours, as the saying goes, is so true. I can go weeks and not sell a single artwork, nor get any commissions, and then all of a sudden there are lovely days like yesterday, where you rejoice that people like your art enough to part with their hard earned dollars, and that is a great feeling!!!!

Art or Real - The Money Box

Art or Real - The Money Box

8 x 11 inches

Coloured pencil on drafting film

I probably should have posted WIP's for this artwork, as it took me all week to complete (which is a long time for me). I want to play with the idea of mixing realism with some playfulness, and this is the first artwork I've come up with. My youngest son's hand is putting the coin in the money box, and I must admit, his hand was much easier to draw than mine was with all it's lines. I might have to find a hand model for the artist's hand I think - someone with lovely smooth hands!!! I started this artwork several times, trying illustration board, Bristol board, Matte board, yupo and finally came back to the trusty old drafting film. Whilst I struggle with getting smoothness when there are darker tones on the skin, for me, no other surface allows for the same level of realism when working with coloured pencils.

New Series of Illustrations - Little Pig's Bliss

Little Pig's Bliss - The Smell of Hot Apple Pie

5x7 inches

Coloured pencil on drafting film.

This is the first in a series of illustrations I will be doing featuring Little Pig, a cheeky piglet who's greatest pleasure is gained from the simple things in life, whether it is winter's first snowflakes, or a long soak in a hot tub. I have closed off all my stores for a month, to take a breather and to work on a few ideas that have been brewing. I welcome any suggestions you might like to share :))