Where do you start? I love the first stages of creating a picture book. Picture books hold a unique position for children in their first years. They offer a way to engage with the written word before they can read. The pictures, and the people who read the words, guide them and show them howContinue reading “Scribbles to Picture Book”
Category Archives: Illustration
Happy June!
Drawing and design side-projects can be a welcome distraction from a busy life. Sometimes they have surprising results and consequences.
Thinking Outside the Sketchbook
Let’s talk about finding inspiration to create. It can come from unlikely places and it can be difficult to find at all. Sometimes it’s easier to not go looking for it.
Wondering how to get started with drawing?
Drawing exercises can be a great way to get started with drawing. Sometimes the ideas that come from fun and doodling can be surprising.
Central Character Energy
Getting to know the central character of a picture book, their clothes and props, is a huge leap forward in developing a picture book.
My Most Recent Book
Teddy is the second book in a series of three. They all feature greyhounds but they are beautiful stories about friendship and acceptance.
Wildly Adorable
Creating Animal Character Illustrations The joy of illustrating animal characters comes from knowing you’re creating a substitute for a child. They can have playfulness, curiosity and silliness. In a picture book, they can show another visual story that might not be mentioned in the text. As the sidekick or silent partner they can offer someContinue reading “Wildly Adorable”
Relax, it’s just a piece of paper
Drawing without purpose Spend more than 30 seconds on the internet and someone will tell you how to monetise your skills and be better and more efficient. It’s exhausting. So it’s not surprising that many people are looking for hobbies away from screens. Pottery, crochet and sewing are having a moment. But they all involveContinue reading “Relax, it’s just a piece of paper”
Navigating the Craft Market Scene
The market season is drawing to a close. Here in Melbourne it’s getting chilly and the leaves are changing colour to mark Autumn. I’ve only been doing markets for two seasons and recently I’ve been reflecting on the whole experience. I started it just as we were coming out of the pandemic lockdowns and IContinue reading “Navigating the Craft Market Scene”
New Projects and Old
I’ve been creating work on the iPad for some years now. It changed everything for me. I could talk about improved workflow and efficient delivery of work to clients. Yawn. But, my absolute favourite thing about it is exploring brushes and textures to work in different ways. It’s like preparing a canvas with paper andContinue reading “New Projects and Old”
I Love My ‘day’ Job
Decades ago I trained as a teacher. Before I’d had a chance to work out what I really wanted to do. Does anyone know what they want to do at 18, or what they’re good at? I did a pretty good job at pretending to be a primary school teacher for a while. But itContinue reading “I Love My ‘day’ Job”
Embrace the mess
You may have noticed that I got very enthusiastic about writing for the past couple of weeks. I had decided that I could put out three blog posts a week ongoingly. Why? Well, it seemed like a good idea of course. I do this a lot with all sorts of things. I can never manageContinue reading “Embrace the mess”