To arrive where we started
August 31st, 2009 § 3 Comments
We shall not cease from exploration
and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started…
and know the place for the first time.
~ T.S. Elliott
The interesting thing about post-rationalisation is that whilst you’re explaining your choices, any weaknesses light up like neon. An ugly business! I’m starting to wonder if my last illustration, ‘Apron Strings’, hasn’t finished evolving. I’m asking myself more questions.
With that in mind, off I go exploring again…
Admiring all the cheery patterns and colour schemes found in vintage home linens; in tablecloths, sheets and aprons. Loving the worn warmth I see within them. Wondering which childhood memories are being stirred within me. Perhaps to me they symbolise all the nurturing of home itself; of daily grind but also of gentleness.
What is the true purpose of the bond between mother and child? And how do I capture that? Could it be about a basic human need to explore…? My littlest poppet is an explorer. She likes to know exactly where I am before she goes on another toddler expedition and makes many, many return journeys to check I’m still there. So I guess I am not only her guide, but her base camp. When base camp is warm and safe she can regroup and find enough courage to venture a little further. What an amazing role to play in a persons life! What a sweet discovery that maybe I wouldn’t have made unless, like my little girl, I’d gone back.
Images | Apron String, Various Brennemans | Vintage Tablecloth, Leslie Keating | OGBB Fabric Brown Green Squares by Craftapalooza | Mccall Apron 504, Carbonated | Please click on the titles for licence details.
Apron strings
August 28th, 2009 § 11 Comments
I don’t believe it! It’s Friday already!! Seems like it’s always down to the wire for me. This illustration, like oh so many before it, will be on Illustration Friday for exactly … ‘UH OH! Did you blink?’ seconds. This one’s for the topic, CAUTION. … Obviously not something displayed by me, ie someone way too tired to be attempting humour. Best I write a little more about it tomorrow. Yep, tomorrow or maybe Sunday… yawn! Nighty night.
A mad printing frenzy
August 20th, 2009 § 17 Comments
Today every square inch of my creative space is covered in small B5 prints. The Gocco course and my jitters are finished. A night to celebrate? Maybe…
I’d read that once you start printing you simply can’t stop. And I’m here to tell you, IT’S ABSOLUTELY TRUE! It starts out harmlessly enough; tentatively lining up the original, making the screen and swirling globs of ink all over every inch of the design. Yep, so far everything is going great. Then you push down and from the moment you lay your eyes on your first sparkling print… nothing will ever be the same. Your eyes glaze over and your arms pump wildly as you are completely consumed in a printing frenzy. And nothing, and I mean nothing, within arms reach will be spared. I, myself, was printed on as I prepared to leave! Oh, I didn’t mind, the colours looked amaaazing!!
I thought I’d use a sketchy sketch of a dapper Italian man I’ve named Mr Rubinacci to try out the Gocco on. A good idea because it’s scratchy nature completely disguised any dropouts or blobbing in the printing. The overprinting was interesting too, it worked much better on some colours than others. That could be a problem for readability of type but an asset for overlaying pattern.
I think the best way to Gocco is to leave preconceived notions of the outcome behind. Just let go and play. The surprises are guaranteed and could turn out better than you ever imagined. Oh, I almost forgot, I’m planning to hand paint Mr Rubinacci’s bike and socks in a matching colour, he is a very stylish man after all.
Head over to Kirsty’s for loads more frenzied creative spaces.
Spring wish
August 15th, 2009 § 11 Comments
So here is my take on the IF theme, IMPATIENCE.
I really liked this theme because it reminded me of how I feel in the middle of a sweltering Australian summer. Hot and fed up! And waiting impatiently for the change of season. I think it happens to everyone in the extreme seasons; it’s only the intensity that changes from a little wistful to flat-out climbing the walls. This image belongs to the former and not the dramatic (and possibly more apt) later.
One wintery day
August 13th, 2009 § 14 Comments
Oh, I wish it snowed here! It’s a great excuse for drinking hot chocolate and warming yourself in front of a log fire, and it would make drawing snow drifts much, much easier. There’s nothing like drawing from life.
Mind you, it would be a bit chilly, and I imagine numb fingers would give my line work an entirely different quality. My pencil would fall out of my chattering teeth every time I tried to use an eraser and I’d be forced to stop and regularly slap all four cheeks to avoid frostbite setting in or finding myself frozen to a park bench.
Hmm… on the other hand… Drawing snow from eye-witness accounts, vague personal memories and arty reference shots is inspired, leading to a highly creative result every time. Ahem, just like I always said!
You’ll find lots more warm and wooly creative spaces over at Kirsty’s.
Second image | ‘Angels.. On the edge of the wood’, Denis Collette | Click on the image for licence details.
Tales of the sea
August 9th, 2009 § 10 Comments
As promised a bit of a blurb about my last IF illustration (found in the previous post).
I chose the colour scheme and had the background painted long before I found this stunning shot by Prescott Pym. It was exactly the gentle stillness of first light I was looking for. I had pictured a soft, almost misty view where the sea blends away into the sky. And this image was gorgeous confirmation I was on the right track.
I’ve always adored foreign folk tales; Japanese, Russian, Irish… No matter where they are from, they all seem to push my romantic buttons. One of my favourite films is ‘The Secret of Roan Inish’ with it’s Selkie heart and achingly beautiful mood. That’s what I had in mind as I was scribbling away… But perhaps she was more a Vietnamese fisher woman, with long, long hair, woven into a beautiful throw net…
Oh, and that net; let me tell you, not easy!! So I went to my kid’s dress up box for advice. You know I never realised how versatile tulle could be. Silly really, it is a fairy skirt after all and totally in keeping with the theme.
So that’s it, the post illustration work in progress post or ‘PIWIPP’ if you like. There are still some tweaks needed to make it more successful but I love the colour scheme and I love the idea that perhaps she is bewitched and changes shape each day in the quiet stillness of sunrise.
Images | Hamilton Island Sunrise Redux, Prescott Pym | Fishermen with nets on the sea Bali, Tropenmuseum Amsterdam
