Made on the Left display

I had my first art / craft stall on Saturday 14th November. I really enjoyed the experience. The actual day was fine and it was nice meeting customers and selling work, however, planning for it was a lot of hard work. First of all you have to make everything (the fun bit :) ), but you also have to shop around for the best printing prices, order cello bags, envelopes, stickers, business cards, design signs, price lists, flyers and information sheets. Then there is deciding how you are going to display your work. Fortunately i had some friends who run a newsagency so they lent me their card stands. There is also deciding how to price your work. I could list a lot more but won't. I think the efforts are worth it when you get to show your work to the public. It's quite exciting making sales and hearing feedback about your work :) Now I better get back to my book illustrations due this Friday!

Book illustrations

I am over the moon to be working on my first chapter book for Blake Education publishers. It will part of the Sparklers series, aimed at ages 7+. I received this job 4 weeks ago and i now have 1 week to get the illustrations finished. I am enjoying the process and putting my skills into good use. The editor and art director are great to work with. I have just attached a few roughs for now, will show more when the book is published next January.

Made on the Left, Saturday 14th Nov Hyde Park hotel, 10-4pm

2 days to go to my first art stall! I'm pretty excited about showcasing my work in this way. I love markets and have been thinking about having a stall for a couple of years now. What motivated me was a fellow illustrator Ali J suggesting I give it a go as it will give me a goal to work towards. For the past couple of months I have been staying up past 1am most weekend nights working on my wares. I will be selling hand made and digitally printed greeting cards, limited edition giclee prints, Christmas decorations and hair clips.

My stall will be on the Saturday, 14th November, 10-4pm. If you love art and craft come along and start your Christmas shopping :)

Germs

"Ewww, injection boy germs!", this is my memory of germs from school. I grew up in the 80s, so i also had a lot of fun incorporating items from that era. e.g. Adidas sneakers (I had a white pair with blue zig zag stripes), Reebok pumps, roll down socks, massive headbands, Pop Swatches, crimped hair. It was fun reminiscing!

I haven't done an Illustration Friday topic for a while but couldn't get this one out of my head so had to get it down on paper.

I have been doing a variety of things lately: making hundreds of hand made cards using chopped up bits of old artwork (I knew there was a reason i hadn't thrown them away!). I am applying to have my own art / craft stall at a market. First time I have tried this. I have been working on a couple of logos, graphics jobs, and you can see my latest editorial illustration below. I have also decided to give community art teaching a go. The activities I have instructed include wire and bead fairies, rubber band stamps and enchanted fairy / elf illustrations. It is good to get out of the house and into the community (can get a bit quiet working as a freelancer).

20 Questions - artwork for Illustrator's Australia 9x5 exhibition

I created this for Illustrator's Australia 9x5 exhibition. The theme had to be based on '20'.

As stated on the IA website:

"To continue the celebrations of our 20th Anniversary, the 14th annual 9 x 5 exhibition and auction is brought to you by the Number Twenty. - and will take place @Space 39, 39 Little Collins Street Melbourne on October 9".

If you live in Melbourne and can get there have a look.

Latest editorial illustration published

Always like seeing my editorial illustrations published! These were for Child magazine's. They have one in Perth, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra. These were a lot of fun, they were made using clay, hand painted, then photographed. I deep etched (cut out) in Photoshop and the background shapes and drop shadows were done on the computer too. I am glad I have both traditional and digital skills.

New studies of children

Some studies of children in different poses