Illustration Friday: Future

A quick pen and ink drawing, with digital colour, to get back into Illustration Friday. We’ve had a few day-job conversations involving E. Nesbit’s The Story of the Treasure Seekers, (due to: Albert-next-door’s laconic uncle; the name-checking of the characters in the first line of C. S. Lewis’ The Magician’s Nephew; and a delightfully unreliable narrator)  so there’s a mildly Edwardian twist to this image.

There have also, however, been several recent discussions touching on Lovecraft, which may explain the sequel image below.

 

Illustration Friday: Egg

The morning I went on holidays, I received a new illustration job. So that took care of what to read on the flight, and I spent much of the downtime between weddings, touring Melbourne with my mother, driving to the ACT and hanging out in Canberra working on sketches and making some test cut-paper swatches. So this week’s Illustration Friday picture was made at my older sister’s dining table with note paper and a box cutter. But it was (a) done and (b) posted! Several Illustration Friday pictures of late have only made it halfway.

Also: here is the latest cover o’ mine to be announced! Catherynne Valente’s The Bread We Eat in Dreams, from Subterranean Press. A process post will come in due course.

 

Illustration Friday: Wool

Another cut-paper illustration, to experiment more with shadows and try out some new paper (80gsm – some recent pictures were on something closer to cardboard). It was easier to cut, although not of course as robust.

I’m working on more pen-and-ink illustrations at the moment, too, it isn’t all silhouettes! But I have some possible projects in mind for the cut-paper, and Illustration Friday is always an excellent opportunity to practice techniques and ideas – how much detail and movement can be put into a small image, whether I can draw sheep…

 

Illustration Friday: Storm

A tiny (5cmx6cm) cut-paper illustration for Illustration Friday. This is (as so often) a test patch for several other projects, one of which is working on capturing the shadows cast by the paper rather than dropping them in digitally. I do not, however, have a modern functional camera, so this is taken with my phone, and assorted living room lights, and the picture raised by a piece of kneadable eraser. I may need to call on some photographer friends to show me the way. Possibly if I cut the picture to a larger scale, getting a decent resolution for print would not be an issue.

 

Illustration Friday: Wings, and February

I have conflicted feelings about the original, Hans Christian Andersen, “Little Mermaid”. It’s not a happy story, per se (although I am more sympathetic the older I get). It’s Jane Eyre without the happy ending.

I did have a number of cut-paper birds and feathers which I hoped to make do double-duty as cover sketches and an Illustration Friday picture, but they are ALL being used, so instead I did a little cut-paper header for February:

And here is the image on the February page of my kitchen calendar:

In other news: There was another flood! We were not flooded, but we didn’t have power for a few days, which is the reason for the latest Dalek hiatus. I did manage to post all about the Stranger Things Happen cover.

 

Illustration Friday: New

Happy New Year!

I spent much of the holidays eating, and occasionally stirring myself to work on illustrations. I didn’t wear shoes for days. This Illustration Friday picture is an altered paper cut, with a layer of stained paper behind it. The original was made as part of a journal of ideas for a larger project coming up in May (help!).

You should be able to see a larger version by clicking on the picture, which will take you through to its Flickr page.

This year bodes for many more projects – wedding invitations, book covers, internal illustrations, all sorts of things in progress already (shoes aside, it was a very productive holiday). Also, editing the Large Amorphous Manuscript.

 

Illustration Friday: Glow

And I’m back to Illustration Friday (remind me to tell you sometime how important it has been for me). This couple are Jack-be-Nimble and Nancy Etticoat, from their respective nursery rhyme and riddle. I cut them out of black paper to try out a new swivelling blade, after returning from Darren Hanlon‘s Christmas concert with Deb last night. The colour is digital.

In other news (since I’ve been away from Illustration Friday for two months): I have posted about the book cover development for Crandolin, things that are out as ebooks, and my American sketchbook.

Oh, and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

 

Illustration Friday: Sky

Two little drawings for Illustration Friday, to keep me cheerful in between packing and panic. Both are pen and ink with digital colour.

 

Illustration Friday: Crooked, and cards, and cloth

Crooked branches for Illustration Friday (and some birthday cards). The dog is in ink and gouache – my father likes to say of dogs that “every inclination of their heart is only evil all the time”, so presumably this one has some ulterior motive. The branch of flowers is in gouache and (imitation) gold leaf. That was my second attempt. The first attempt to use gold leaf (and do an illustration for this topic), below, went horribly wrong due to some misapplied… well, it wasn’t varnish. Anyway! Turns out the size and leaf apply rather well to fingernails, and the Dustbuster my sister gave me for my birthday comes in handy when the table is covered with tiny flecks of metal foil.

On the theme of cards, here is a belated thank you card for a gift of handmade concertina books from Trudi. The card is about an inch-and-a-half square when it is folded, and has foxes, birds, mice, a cat, a Dalek and me:

And on the theme of dogs, the Little Red Riding Hood fabric swatch arrived! The fabric is now available for purchase at Spoonflower: All the Wild Wolves

 

Illustration Friday: Burst

Because it takes so much longer than just drawing a picture, this week I am still playing with repeating patterns. This time, it is a pattern of bursting seedpods. I like what I tried with it, but it isn’t quite as seamless a repeat as I want. Here is a close-up of the base pattern:

And here is a snippet of another pattern, just trees, which worked much as I wanted it to. If the Little Red Riding Hood fabric swatch I ordered arrives and works, I might try this one, too.