A New Series, New Support and New Medium

Monet's Makeover #1
12x16 inches
Coloured Pencil, Winsor and Newton Watercolour Markers and Micron
Micron pen on Xerox Polyester Paper

 After quite a few failed attempts with my previous series on Tash, I have gone back to what I know, which is drawing quirky and colourful animal drawings. This series features Monet the mouse who adds colour, mischief and fun to the world around him. I have used a new surface for this drawing - the Xerox Polyester paper which is very similar in feel and application to drafting film, only it is a solid white colour and is heavier in weight.

This first image shows how I used the Winsor and Newton Watercolour markers to underpaint the tortoise.

It can be hard to get deep darks on the polyester paper using coloured pencils alone, and so for the head and feet of the tortoise, I used the Staedtler Lumocolor Permanent pens to underpaint.

Monet mouse was drawn in using mostly only coloured pencils (Polychromos, Pablos, Verithins, Derwent Studio).

One of the great things about the Polyester paper is that you can use a blade, abrasive eraser or Fibreglass brush to scratch out highlights and textures as I have done in the shell of the tortoise.

Stay tuned and hopefully, there will be more to add to this series :)

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!!! :)

Let's Count Kisses Preview Books Out!

I received my copies of the preview books for Let's Count Kisses this week and am really thrilled with the way Hachette have compiled the books. It will be available in hard or paperback and features flaps on many of the pages. This book is targeting the 0-2 year age group and is meant to be an interactive bed time book for parents and grandparents to share with their little ones. The book is due to be published and available in retail outlets from the 8th May :)

My Gift to You

Opposites - High and Low - My Gift to You

26cm x 51cm

Coloured pencil on drafting film

This is a sample illustration for another book for Hachette publications, and seemed appropriate to post at this time, as we are in the midst of a season of giving and sharing. Hope this puts a smile on your face and that all my blogger and internet friends have the most wonderful Christmas, full of peace, love and joy, and a truly fabulous year in 2012!!!! xxx

'Tis the Season & Happy Thanksgiving

'Tis the Season

10x9cm

Watercolours and Watercolour pencils on illustration board

Firstly, a very Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends who celebrate this wonderful tradition.

More experimenting with watercolours and watercolour pencils, with the dual purpose of having an image for our Christmas Cards.
I really shouldn't be drawing or painting at all at this crazy time of year with so much to do and so much going on for us at the moment. Apart from a new puppy, which is giving me sleepless nights and has me standing out in the rain with an umbrella waiting for 'piddles' to happen, we have one son in the throws of uni exams (Psychology), one son just finished his HSC and has been enjoying formals, schoolies and the like, the third son is on school camp and just completed his School certificate, and our youngest is busy with all the pre Christmas activites that Primary Schools are so good at organising. Between that and trying to fit in Christmas shopping, spring cleaning and still catching up with friends, I think art really is my sanity escape, rather than simply a source of income!!!

Let's Count Kisses - Children's Picture Book

It is with mixed feelings that I post all these illustrations onto my blog. This has been the most rewarding and satisfying of projects to work on, and I feel a sense of elation that for my part, these illustrations are pretty much completed, but also a sense of sadness that this lovely project has come to an end. Hachette will be publishing this picture book as a flap book which is why the spreads are so long - most of them need to cover three full pages. Let's Count Kisses will be available in shops from May 2012 and is targetted at the 0-2 year old age bracket as a combined counting book and bed time book for parents/grandparents to share with their little ones.

Special thanks must go to Geoff Walker who kindly allowed me to use his beautiful butterfly photographs as references for these illustrations http://australianbutterfliesphotographed.com/defaultIframe.htm.

I apologise also, for the long stint with no postings, but working on these illustrations has left little time for anything else, and hopefully I can now catch up on a bit of networking and blogging.

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!!! :)

Illustration - Tigers

Tigers

Painted with Corel Painter

This is the final illustration commission for a series of coins for the Coin Club of Australia, and my last digital illustration for a while. Whilst the digital work is wonderful for illustration work, in that it allows for changes so easily, for me I lose something in the creation of a digital work compared to working with tangible media. So whilst, the income from illustration work is always welcome, I have decided to focus for a while on drawing from the heart, and hopefully sell an artwork here or there to help pay the bills :))

More Platypus Life Cycle Illustrations

Platypus mother lays her eggs in a burrow

Two adult platypus mating

I'm having a very constructive weekend in terms of work. We have a labour day long weekend, and so far the weather has been quite wet and miserable (which I really love) and all the men in our house spent yesterday glued to the TV watching the AFL Grand final and then today watching the NRL Grand Final, which left me with not much to do but work. These illustrations aren't due until Friday, but happily I am now well ahead of schedule and only have one more to complete, which means I can also spend some quality time with the kids during the school holidays this week. Both these illustrations were done using Corel painter and Paint.net.

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 :))