Archive for March, 2009
Playing with purple
I love these berry purples with rasberry and lemon, it even sounds yummy. And despite the intensity of the purple (note to self: go easy on the plums) I think this scheme will be just the thing for a little girl and her pull-along toy duck.
(For the full list of credits, please click here)
March 31, 2009
Matchbox mania
I absolutely adore vintage matchboxes!
I love the textural quality of the inks on the card.
I love the limited colour pallets.
I love the use of contrast.
I love the mixture of line and flat colour areas.
I love that there is no such thing as true white or black.
And I love that their small size limits detail, making them beautifully graphic.
These are some of the qualities that I hope to bring into my ‘Child’s Play’ illustrations, fingers-crossed. I think my Gocco machine should deliver something quite close. I’ll keep you posted.
The vintage Eastern European matchboxes above are from an extraordinary collection of ephemera found by Jane McDevitt at Maraid Design.
Her Flickr sets are bulging with vintage treasures that are drool-worthy indeed.
(All images used with kind permission)
2 comments March 28, 2009
Little Things – Words and Pictures
It’s the little things that sparkle in our memories.
The smell of the first drops of rain on a sun-baked path.
Watching dust particles dance and swirl in a ray of sunlight.
Feeling the tingling touch of someone you love drawing on your back.
Life is full of little things.
(This post is in honour of the very empowering Ms Anne Lamott and is part of Pip’s ‘Words and Pictures’ meme. You can find more ‘little things’ here.)
3 comments March 26, 2009
Childs Play – Ink drawings
Ta Dahhh!!
Three ‘Child’s Play’ drawings out of what will be six. The other three drawings are in the works and the next thing to do is look at colour schemes for them.
I plan to print the series on my Print Gocco machine. I always wanted to get a little of the unpredictable textural quality in them, like vintage matchbook covers. And printing them on yummy thick papers will be so much fun.
As a side note, when I bought my Gocco I was told that it was the last new one available. Such a tragedy. I’m still hopeful that the well-loved system will be saved from extinction yet, fingers double crossed. Some clever entrepreneurial type needs to come up with a cost-effective, green method of adapting the machine and Voila! Instant clamouring market.
So naturally, one thing I have to bear in mind is the availability of Gocco inks. There are quite a few colours that are not in stock or discontinued. When I received the colour chart from Nehoc (the main Gocco stockists in Australia) I have to admit my heart sank a little. Still, we’ll see what I can get my hands on. Perhaps it will push my colour choices in a new, fresh direction.
5 comments March 25, 2009
Dreams of melting crayons
I first saw this clever idea on Fiona’s gorgeous blog ages ago, and made a mental note to try it out with my little poppets when they were old enough to appreciate the ‘Wow’ factor.
Well, that time was today. And the melty crayons were hugely successful on more than one level.
Firstly, there was the whole cooking thing that had them buzzing, then there was the anticipation fueled by the oven timer, then the big reveal and then, on top of all of that, there was the photography.
Oh! The agony they must have felt whilst they waited to use these tantalising tools…
UH AHH! NOT YET! (click) NEARLY FINISHED (click click)
(click click)
Lots of fun and as you can see very satisfying. One might say even yummy, ahem… but not around the children!
Oh, if you like the idea of these you might also want to check out the gorgeous crayon rocks that you see in action here, at Stubby Pencil Studio. What a cool gift… Of course, I mean for the kids.
Looking forward to tomorrow, I have some new work to show you.
6 comments March 24, 2009
Savaged by the travel bug
Yes, it’s true. Savaged, chewed up and swallowed right from the outset.
From my very first trip abroad, I was smitten. I loved exploring the differences in cultures and how it really opens your eyes to an environment and at the same time refreshes your perception of your home.
It’s completely addictive, unpredictable and incredibly romantic.
Ink Caravan would not be complete without this theme somewhere near its heart.
So this is the first of semi-regular posts on travel to exotic places reflected in illustration, photography or ephemera, whatever we find on the way.
This beautiful book, ‘Abroad’ by Thomas Crane and Ellen Elizabeth Houghton, celebrates tales of travel from the Victorian era (c1882). You can find it in the fantastic collection at The University of California Libraries.
March 23, 2009
Anyone for tea?
Still smiling at yesterday’s runway tea cosies and squiggling.
Wishing you a lovely relaxing weekend with your favourite people, your favourite food and a cuppa or two… or three.
March 21, 2009
Cozy as a teapot – Words and pictures
For some reason this weeks ‘Words and pictures’ theme sent me all literal.
My train of thought went something like this:
Tea cosy. Teapot cosy. How funny, that’s like a coat for a teapot. That’s a real Nanna essential. My gorgeously zany Nanna loves tea. Wonder why my knee is itchy? Wonder what Nanna’s ultimate tea cosy would look like? Ha ha ha! Oh! Is that a jam sandwich I’ve just sat on?…
THIS is the tea cosy my Nanna should have.
This is my Nanna, if she were a tea cosy.
The Carmen Miranda Spectacular. Yep, that’s right, it is haute couture for teapots.These were lovingly crafted by Loani Prior, the queen of tea cosies herself, and the patterns to make them are featured in her book ‘Wild Tea Cosies’.
I know, I know, you want to see some more don’t you. OK, just for you.
Takes your breath away doesn’t it!? Oh (fans her face) After all that, I think I need a cup of tea and a lie down.
(This post is part of Pip’s ‘Words and Pictures’ meme. You can find more cosy reading here. Images courtesy of Loani Prior.)
5 comments March 20, 2009
Eggcup Daisies
Today was a ‘home’ day. A day of domestic chores (all mine apart from occasional help with pegging out the washing) and kid-friendly games.
Mostly, the help I get with the washing is due to my poppets fascination with pegs.
It entails using every peg in the peg bucket and lining them up, like a row of soldiers, colour co-ordinated with the washing they grip.
Today, however, like many ‘home’ days we went for a walk to get fruit and veg from Borsellino Bros., our local Italian green grocer. As usual we walked slowly, scanning for sun-baking skinks, gumnuts or ‘fairy cups’ to sip from, dandelions to blow and tiny flowers to collect. On our way we visited the park, the sandstone lions and the tiny goldfish pool and arrived home just in time for lunch, with some tiny treasures nestled in the buggy.
The image at the top is today’s booty. When the daisies are as small as these, a vintage eggcup makes the perfect vase and two little girls very pleased.
2 comments March 19, 2009
All about fairy rings
It’s true I have a soft spot for fairies and cute red-spotted mushrooms too. Which is no surprise when I think of all the hours I spent immersed in fairytales as a kid. Even back then I could see that the best glittery fairytales had a sinister side. And it seems that the sweet little ‘mushies’ that are printed on everything vaguely kid related, don’t disappoint either.
Apparently, the sight of red spotted caps in unearthly rings have long struck fear into the hearts of mortal men. Oh, I love the drama! Oh yes, everyone knew nothing good ever came of straying into a fairy ring.
If you did, there were a hair-raising list of consequences, like being lured in and forced to dance till exhaustion, madness or death. And escape was nearly impossible. One Welsh tale tells of a farmer who tied a rope around himself and enlisted the help of four men to pull him from the ring so he could retrieve his bewitched daughter. Afterwards, the victims remembered nothing. Hmmm, sounds suspiciously like a night down at the pub.
Never the less, throughout art and literature the delicious descriptions of the fair folk and their world put ’stumbling into a fairy ring’ squarely on my to do list, with the help of four friends and a rope of course.
And I serve the Fairy Queen,To dew her orbs upon the green.The cowslips tall her pensioners be;In their gold coats spots you see.Those be rubies, fairy favours;In those freckles live their savours.I must go seek some dewdrops here,and hang a pearl in every cowslip’s ear.~ William Shakespeare
Credits | Midsummers Eve, Edward Robert Hughes | An illustration from Princess Nobody ~ A tale of Fairyland, Richard Doyle.
1 comment March 18, 2009
