2017 in a Nutshell

Goodbye 2017! It's been a busy year which is why I haven't been posting as much, but I've taken on alot of illustration projects and jobs which is awesome but also leads to less time for blogging. So instead of just ignoring the second part of 2017's illustrations, I've decided to make a MEGA-POST of 2017's highlights. Here they are:

31 DAYS IN CHINA (minicomic)
Halfway through the year I published a set of 3 minicomics titled 31 Days In China. It was a collection of sketches from a visual diary I kept while travelling through China. I also recorded a series of Podcasts to accompany the minicomics. There's more info, some pictures and a promo video here.

ALNITAK KID COLAB (animated GIFF)
I've worked on a few projects with musician and long time friend Alnitak_Kid, but I think this was one of my favourites! He gave me a 30 second loop and asked me to create an animated giff to accompany it. Check out the video here.

CATEA CANISTER
I wanted something unique and one of a kind to put my tea leaves in when I travelled and after not being able to find anything online that I liked, I decided to make one myself. This was the result...a $2 glass canister that I made a moulded cover for and decorated with a painting of a Chinese Cat. I made a little promo video for it that can be found here.

CHINA MONTAGE
I have always loved collage but never really had an extensive library of images to work with that I had the rights to until I got home from China. I wanted to explore the art of collage while creating an image with meaning and a story, so I began to trawl through my library of images from China and created the picture you see below. It speaks of the chaos, diversity, beauty and intensity of China, a country that I fell in love with. Collage is definitely a medium that I want to continue to work with and explore in 2018! 

DARK GREY SPOT (minicomic) 
In June 2017 I received some bad news from the GP which led to specialists, scans and even a biopsy. Dark Grey Spot is a visual journal I began to work on as a way of clearing my head and processing what was going on. It is a collection of my thoughts and experiences that I put down on paper and turned into a minicomic.

It's free to read online here.

FRAMING PRINTS
A cool piece of gear I got this year is a Mat Cutter for framing. It has meant I can frame all my own prints with custom matting and I've been able to sell a few of my prints without the added cost of sending them to a framer.

PICCADILLY KITCHEN CARDS

My mom runs a cafe in the Adelaide hills called The Piccadilly Kitchen that is adorned with all sorts of foxes. To celebrate Christmas she wanted to create a card with a fox that she had drawn. So in a collaborative project between mother and son, I coloured and laid out the illustration and send it to the printers. The end product came out really nice on 300gsm recycled matt card which sold at the cafe.  

SCHOOL OF CHINESE MUSIC & ARTS
I studied a 10 week course at School of Chinese Music and Arts on the Guzheng (Chinese harp). While there I made friends with the owner and asked if she needed help with some branding in exchange for some more lessons. I presented some ideas and she loved them, so I went ahead with the project, designing a brochure, business cards, a banner and letter heads. This was the result.

31 Days In China

Over the past few months I've been scanning, editing and collating a series of illustrations I did while travelling in China. These illustrations have turned into a series of 3 minicomics that are going to be released in the next month. To celebrate the near completion of the minicomics I've released the 3 covers as well as the podcast covers. Check them out below.

Volume 1

Volume 2

Volume 3

Volume 1 (Podcast)

Volume 2 (Podcast)

Volume 3 (Podcast)

Upcoming Minicomic!

In November 2016 my wife and I went to China for a month. While there, I kept a daily sketch journal of all the peculiar things I saw, of which there were many! I compiled the sketches when I got home in the hope of making a single minicomic, never thinking I would be making 3! I'm nearly finished them up so keep an eye on this space for a release date.

TrailRun Magazine

At the end of 2016 I was approached by TrailRun magazine to do 6 illustrations for 2 articles. The first article titled The Revenant was written by adventurer and runner, Beau Miles. He wrote about his imaginative thoughts as he traveled by plane, overlooking the land where The Revenant movie was set.  

The second article required 3 illustrations and was about runners nutritional needs. Every illustration for these articles posed a new challenge and pushed my skills as an illustrator. I'm thankful for the experience and the free shirt they chucked in with my magazine! TrailRun magazine is available here.

Today's Word: Winter

I thought today's word should be relevant to the season so I picked WINTER or Dōngjì (in pinyin). It took a bit of time to make this animated loop sequence because each cell was hand drawn using a light box, but it was totally worth it for the way it turned out. It really helped me learn the symbol!

Today's Word: Toilet

The Mandarin word for today is toilet! What a handy word to know, especially when you may have eaten something that flows right through you. I like how happy this toilet is, so happy that it's overflowing with joy...or is that something else? Hehe, just kidding!

Today's Word: Noodles

The mandarin word for today is NOODLES! I'm guessing knowing this word will come in handy throughout China. Written out in pinyin it looks something like this: Miàntiáo. I spent a bit more time on this illustration because I wanted to get that manga watercolour feel. It was real fun to draw and learn.

Today's Word: Fruit

I've been attempting to teach myself some Mandarin before I head to China in November. To help me out I've decided to pick out a word every few days and draw a picture based on that word. I'm hoping this exercise will help me to grow in both Mandarin and illustration. As you can see, today's word is FRUIT .  

Punk Racer

I have been studying a few different aspects of manga technique to try and build upon my style and understanding. One thing I love is their ability to balance a black and white image with good line, tone and contrast. I decided to use my new understanding of theses principals and apply it to my own style. What better way to put principal into practice than drawing a punk kid with a bike!

Creative Congestion

As an illustrator it’s easy to get engrossed in your work and happily spend hours perfecting an illustration. It’s also just as easy to spend hours battling an illustration until you get so frustrated you throw your sketchbook as far as you can and vow never to draw again. I call this second scenario creative congestion, because it’s similar to the feeling you get when you’re stuck in traffic and you can see where you want to be but you can’t get there. If you’ve never experienced creative congestion, you’ve probably mastered the art of giving up, because it is something every successful artist I’ve encountered struggles with constantly!

Getting frustrated and battling with your creativity is often a sign of growth in your ability and shows that you care about your work. So don’t give up! Instead try and find ways of overcoming these frustrations, because they’re always going to be there. For me, the solution is found in three words…CLEAR YOUR HEAD! Go for a walk, ride your bike, go to a café, exercise, just do something that you enjoy that’s away from your work-space. Don't give up, just take a break! 

Soldier of Winter

Sometimes I sketch all night trying to come up with different ideas for new illustrations and end up frustrated. Last night was one of those nights. I drew tons of thumbnail sketches and the more I drew the more frustrated I got. I just started scribbling in the corner of the page and this illustration was the result. After a whole night of trying to create a structured illustration I went with the unplanned scribble that had more life and character than any of the others combined.  

Clean Your Studio

Over the years I've come to realise that having a consistent process in illustration makes every project so much easier. One of the main contributing factors to that consistency is having an organised, clean studio. I've spoken to many illustrators and artists over the years that say they can't start working until they have a clean space to work. 

For me, having a clean, organised space not only helps my process, but also my headspace. An organised studio makes me feel like I've organised my thoughts. This isn't to say my workspace never gets messy, I think you have to get messy sometimes, especially in the heat of creativity! My studio usually looks like a bomb has hit it by the end of the day, but if you take some time to sort it all out when you're done, you'll be rewarded with a space that's easy and enjoyable to work in.

Chinatown

I spent an evening at Chinatown last week and had some time to kill, so I pulled out my sketchbook and looked for an interesting position to sit. I found a spot, ordered a tea and started on this study of a couple sitting across the road. I didn't realise it was right next to a red light so cars kept on blocking my vision as they stopped, but I managed to fill in the details in a sporadic manner as the lights turned green.  

Dog Sitting

My wife and I adopted a dog a few months ago. Her name is Licci and she came from a family friend named Henry who has gone into hospice while battling with cancer. We take Licci to the hospice every now and then to visit him and he loves seeing her. There is just some things dogs can say that humans can't, it's amazing to see how she can lift his spirit. I wrote this comic for Henry to assure him that Licci is in good hands and to read whenever he's down. 

 



Kingfisher

I recently bought myself some Chinese calligraphy brushes which I've been playing around with over the past few days. I have never known such a deceptive medium, it looks so simple and easy but it's the complete opposite. The ink is so easy to overwork but I think I'm getting there, it just takes practice.

Dude Design

I was flicking through some of my animation art books the other day and just soaked up their character designs. I love the diversity of artists that work on each animated movie, bringing their own interpretations of the same characters. Each artist seems to have their own way of treating lines, colour and texture. I took that inspiration and condensed it into my own character that you see above.

Field Study: Crows

I LOVE BIRDS! The crow in particular has captured my imagination for years. I love their unassuming intelligence and character, along with their ability to adapt. On two occasions now I have been lucky enough to see a crow bury it's food and mark the spot to consume it later. On one of those occasions the crow picked up a stale piece of bread and took it to a trough filled with water, it dipped the bread into the water to soften it, then ate it. Crows are cool!