Signed Hard Cover Copies of Let's Count Kisses now available

Hachette are no longer going to be doing reprints of Let's Count Kisses in the Hard Cover version, only as a soft cover, so I have stocked up and bought the last 100 copies still available. You can get your very own signed and personalised copy of Let's Count Kisses on Ebay This 32 page flap book is geared for the 0-2 year age group and is perfect for bed time reading. It would make a fabulous gift for a child or grandchild and is a celebration of native Australian animals and butterflies.

Let's Count Kisses even has its own dedicated website with more information about the book and the species names of all butterflies illustrated within the book.

I Love You, Mum sample illustration

This is a sample illustration for Hachette Australia for a planned children's picture book, drawn with coloured pencils and markers (the sky and mountains) on drafting film. I love drawing animals on the drafting film, but one of the things I have always struggled with is getting a nice smooth sky using pencils on film. Last week I invested in the airbrush system that goes with the Tria Markers (Copic have a similar system) and used the markers that I have had for years and it worked like a dream. First time I attempted it, it didn't go so well - the key is to work from light to dark, so as to get the smoothest transition. I did the sky on the back of the film, working right across the page and then used methylated spirits to remove the marker from behind the koala and tree trunk. The mountains were also done using markers and a base coat of pale green was applied to the grassy area. The rest of the illustration was worked from the front using coloured pencil.

Let's Count Kisses now available in shops

Let's Count Kisses should now be available from most book stores (within Australia). If you are interested in getting a hold of the book and your local book store doesn't have it in stock, then they should be able to get it in for you. Outside of Australia, hopefully it won't be too long before it is available on Amazon. For more information visit Google books http://books.google.com.au/books/about/Let_s_Count_Kisses.html?id=gimjpwAACAAJ&redir_esc=y

Orangutan Commission

This is the second in a series of illustrations commissioned by the Coin Club of Australia for a series, which I can talk about more after the release date. It's funny how much more observant you become when you draw, paint or illustrate some aspect of our world. I always thought Orangutans were rather strange looking primates, but after researching them for this job I have a new appreciation for the glorious shades of red in their hair and their charming, human like qualities. Being an A type personality, having a busy, stressful job in nursing and raising four boys, I was often too busy before to stop and smell the roses and tended to rush through life without really SEEING things. Since allowing my art to become a much greater focus, I have a renewed appreication of the world around us and find myself studying tree trunks and sky colours, and people with interesting faces in a way I never would before.

Every single day I am grateful for the gift of art (and for my beautiful family)!!!

Polar Bears Illustration

Polar Bears

Commissioned Illustration

Painted with Corel Painter on a Wacom Cintiq display

This is my second illustration for the Coin Club of Australia. At this stage, I can't reveal too much information about these coins until after their release date (which I didn't quite realise before, and that is why my previous blog entry shrank a bit during the week). I am thoroughly enjoying working digitally, but there are times, such as this week, where I miss the simplicity of picking up a pencil.

I decided, since it looks like much of my commission work will be digital illustrations, to purchase a Wacom Cintiq tablet, which allows you to draw directly on the display screen, whereas with the Bamboo tablet, you are drawing on a tablet whilst looking at a computer screen and this takes a bit of co-ordination. I was so excited when the Cintiq arrived on Wednesday, only to find that the power pack supplied was faulty - rang Wacom and was assured one would be sent the next day. When no power pack arrived next day, I rang again (with steam coming out of my ears) and they arranged to courier me a new pack. It arrived late Thursday, but now I had problems getting Corel to open up on the Cintiq display and it wouldn't maximise without shutting down.

After spending about four hours on the phone to Wacom and Corel, uninstalling both Corel and the tablet and reinstalling both, the problem was finally resolved. And so today, I was able to complete the illustration that was started last Monday. Had I done this illustration in pencil, it would have been finished last Tuesday!!!

Commemmorative Coin Commission - Australian Cattle Dog

Australian Cattle Dog

Painted with Corel painter

I was approached last week to do a series of illustrations for commemorative coins for the Australian Coin Club. In so many ways, this is the kind of project I love to work on the most.

Please help me :)

Two blogs in one day - I'm on a roll. But actually I am asking a favour of my fellow bloggers. This is my entry for the upcoming Illustrators Australia exhibition and features our youngest son Sam, who has a particular fascination for dragons and dinosaurs. I wanted to try and capture the magic and wonder of childhood in this illustration, but I am stumped when it comes to giving it a title. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated. This is another digital illustration, done with corel painter and photoshop.

Sample illustration - Life Cycle of the Green Sea Turtle

Life Cycle of the Green Sea Turtle - attacked by a shark

Painted with a Wacom table, Corel Painter and photoshop

I must apologize, firstly to my blogger friends as I know I have got tardier lately with my blogging and checking out what all my talented fellow artists have been up to. Lately, I am happy to say, my workload has increased substantially, both with commissions and illustration work, and so between this increase in work volume, and also trying to still be a good Mum and wife, it doesn't leave a lot of time left over. This is another sample illustration for Macmillan Publishers, for a children's reference book on the life cycle of Green Sea Turtles, which if approved will lead to the commissioning of illustrations for two books.

I am still very much a novice at digital artwork, but definitely find this the most efficient way of working when doing illustrations. Whilst it still takes me the same amount of time to create an illustration digitally, as by conventional mediums, it makes any inevitable amendments that need to be made so much easier. I can't imagine doing this illustration in watercolours, or coloured pencil and then having to redo the whole thing because some aspects were not suitable. I do find that many people view digital art with suspicion, and in many circles it is not regarded as a legitimate art form. For the purpose of illustration work however, it is an absolute blessing and is somehow very liberating, as I am not overwhelmed with the endless fear that I am going to 'stuff it up' and thereby ruin hours of work.

Final illustration in Platypus Life Cycle Series

Life Cycle of a Platypus - Mother nursing her babies.

This is the final illustration for the series of four on the life cycle of the Platypus for Macmillan Publishers. It is amazing how few reference photos there are for platypus even on-line, which is obviously why Macmillan had to call on the services of an illustrator, however I did a fair bit of research for the project and hopefully have achieved some level of accuracy. These illustrations will actually be within small circular frames, so they will be cropped further, but so long as the kids get the general idea. :)

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.

Platypus Life Cycle Illustration

Platypus Life Cycle - Young Platypus swimming freely

Drawn with Corel Painter and Photoshop

This illustration is part of a series of four I will be doing for Macmillan Publishers for a book educating young children on Australian Animals. The life cycles of all the other Australian Animals have been depicted using photos, but the platypus lays it's eggs in deep burrows and are extremely sensitive, so getting photos in this instance is much more difficult. Platypus are also extremely hard to find in the wild. I have seen a couple at Taronga Zoo, but because they are nocturnal mammals, the tank was in darkness with only a touch of light and no flash photography was allowed. The only other time I have seen them is in a sanctuary in Tasmania, where they were swimming freely in a creek. We visited Jenolan Caves on Sunday, and there is a beautiful walk along a creek bed where platypus have been spotted, but they were all very shy and didn't appear whilst we were there (having four noisy boys in tow probably didn't help!).

They are the most fascinating animals and researching them for this particular job has been an intriguing exercise.

Unlocking Old Secrets

Unlocking Old Secrets

9x5 inches

Acylics on Plywood

This is my entry for the 2010 9x5 Illustrator's Australia Exhibition, where the theme is 'Untold Stories'.

Well, we all know it is a woman's perogative to change her mind, so after several weeks of experimenting and pulling my hair out, I have now decided to offer commissioned portraits in acrylics, rather than coloured or graphite pencil, I redid a commissioned portrait a couple of times last week for a very patient client, and whilst unfortunately I can't post the image at this stage, I was really happy with the results. I will spend this week doing a few more to include with my listings. Being an artist is never dull!!!

4th Little Pig - Making Daisy Chains

Little Pig's Bliss - Making Daisy Chains

5x7 inches

Coloured pencils on drafting film

This is the fourth little pig in the series and I'm not sure if I will do more. Sometimes I start so enthusiastically with projects and ideas that enter my head, but then self doubt creeps in, when the image on the paper doesn't quite match what I visualised. Either way, tomorrow marks the start of the two week school holidays, and my husband also has a couple of weeks off, so it is time to devote some time to my wonderful family and to give the art a bit of a break. I will still pop in to see what everyone else is up to, but probably won't be making many contributions myself.

Thank you so much to everyone who takes the time to view my blog and especially to those who leave comments - Hugs to all of you!!! :))

3rd Little Pig's Bliss - Soaking in a Hot Tub

Little Pig's Bliss - Soaking In A Hot Tub

5x7 inches

Coloured pencils on drafting film.

Today, Sydney shivered through it's coldest June day in 60 years (which probably isn't that cold compared to where many of my internet friends live around the world), and on these chilly days (which I love), there really is nothing more blissful than soaking in a nice hot bubble bath. I wasn't really happy with the face on Little Pig here, but couldn't seem to get it right - you get the general idea though!! :))

2nd in series Little Pig's Bliss - Rolling In the Leaves

Little Pig's Bliss - Rolling in the Autumn Leaves

5x7 inches

Coloured pencil on drafting film

Here is the second in this series. I wrote down a few ideas while watching the boys play soccer on the weekend and came up with about 25 ideas for Little Pig's Bliss - what fun these are proving to be, and I do hope you have a bit of fun viewing them!!!!

Entry for the Illustrators Australia 9x5 Exhibition

20/20 Vision

9x5 inches

Acylic on Plywood

This is my entry for the Annual Illustrators Australia 9x5 Exhibition where the theme for this year is '20'. How strange it was to go from working in miniature to working on such a large scale - a very interesting exercise!!!

Latest ACEO - Butterfly Kiss

One of the dilemmas I always have trouble with, is whether to do a background on my ACEO's. This week I have had fun experimenting with mediums and backgrounds and finally came up with a combination I was happy with. The effect I was after was something like airbrushing without actually using an airbrush. This background was done on the back of the drafting film. After doing the initial sketch on the front, I turned it over and coloured roughly with Faber Castell Pitt Pens in a range of shades. This was then smudged gently with a tissue. The pitt pens are not permanent on the drafting film, but a spray of fixative solved the problem. I was then able to turn the film back over and work happily from the front. I was quite content with the result! This ACEO is available for sale in my ebay store. Have a great week :)

Latest ACEO - Room for Two?

I had a lovely photo session with our new pet mice yesterday - they were so obliging. I loved this shot of one seeming to beckon to the other to join her in the crib, so couldn't resist drawing them. They really are the cutest animals. I watched one of them yesterday who was so busy for ages moving all the bedding material from different parts of their enclosure to this big mountain that she was creating. I would love to know what goes through their heads. We actually have one tan, one black and white and one pure white mouse, but I adjust the colours to suit the picture. This original ACEO is available to purchase from my ebay store. A wonderful day to all of you and hope no-one is close to the bushfires in LA :).

The Art Student

Well we bought our three little mice: Milly, Molly and Mandy (three girls so we don't get babies!), and they are a source of delight for the kids - until the novelty wears off. Here is the first artwork featuring Milly in amongst some pencils. Your challenge is to see if you can find the tiny paintbrush I have hidden somewhere in the picture. It took my husband and kids ages to find it, but I suspect it may be easier on the computer screen. This ACEO is available to purchase from my ebay store.

Latest ACEO - Hide and Seek

This is my latest ACEO - had so much fun drawing little mice, that I thought we might add to our extensive family pet collection to get a couple of mice, so I have ready little models - hope they don't smell too much, but they are very cute.

I was interested, and I must admit, a little disappointed to see the Innocence ACEO did not sell on ebay, so have moved it over to Etsy. That is the first of my ACEO's not to sell in a while, maybe because it was too much like a portrait. I have always started my ACEO prices from a reserve of between $20 and $30 aud, so thought I would try something different with this latest one and start the bidding at 95 cents, to see if it attracts more interest. I guess there is always a risk in doing this, that it does sell for only 95 cents, which really doesn't make 6-8 hours of work worthwhile, but will be an interesting process. This ACEO may be purchased from my ebay store.