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.

Tea Time

I visited chinatown last week and for some reason it felt really nostalgic. I downed some dumplings and wondered through an asian grocer, picking up some special gunpowder tea (my new favourite). I even tested my skills on some chinese instruments and ended up signing up for classes. It was a really good night and when I came home I channeled my new love into this illustration.  

Nativity

When I think about Christmas I think about family, food and presents. I wish I could say that the first thing that came to mind was celebrating Jesus, but I guess he's been pretty well disguised under all the brands and bargains that adorn this season.

Art of Audio

Illustration is one of those practices where you spend big blocks of time with your eyes fixed to a sketchbook, canvas or computer screen. This leaves your ears wide open with nothing to do, so why not fill them with knowledge. I've always listened to music or had the TV on in the background while I illustrate but I've recently taken to listening to podcasts, audiobooks and sermons instead. Like many illustrators, I like to be efficient with my time and work process, so it just made sense to learn something audibly while I was drawing and colouring.

With an overwhelming amount of podcasts online, it's hard to know where to start. The best advice I can give is to find out what you're passionate about and see if there are any podcasts or audiobooks out there that can feed that passion. Try and pick a few different topics that interest you to keep your ears from getting bored. With enough searching you're bound to find something you like and when you do, you'll be hooked!

These are some podcasts I draw inspiration from:

• Pixar Podcast
• Ted Talks
• Animation Mentor
• Illustration Age

Enjoy!

Caffeine Christmas

I love the lead up to Christmas! I especially love seeing different peoples traditions and how they celebrate. There's one tradition that I've embraced from a coffee shop I visited years ago, which is adding 100% pure Canadian maple syrup to coffee during the Christmas season. I've exaggerated the amount of syrup I add in the comic to pay tribute to my favourite Christmas friend, Buddy the Elf, who puts syrup with everything!

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.

Winter Surf

I watched a documentary a while ago that had a few really brave surfers catching waves in some of the coldest waters in the world. My respect levels for those surfers is through the roof. When I swim in the ocean I generally go purple!  

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!

Gangster Pen

I have many moments where I open a clean white page of my sketchbook and have no idea what to draw. When this happens I just start to draw lines and whatever happens after that is anyone's guess. This time I was just looking at my hand analyzing how I hold my pen and then I thought, I wonder how gangsters hold their pens?

Mountaineer

I've spent the last few weeks listening to the audiobook Into Thin Air, which recounts the disaster on Mt Everest in 1996. Since I was listening to the book it freed up my eyes and hands to do some drawing. As I was drawing and listening, my mind began to drift back to Nepal where my wife and I attempted Everest Basecamp. It was all really inspiring and topped off by seeing the Everest movie the day it came out in cinemas. Everything culminated into this ink illustration that I call Mountaineer.  

About Me!

Over in America they've just celebrated Artist Appreciation Month and I was approached by fellow artist and creator of unique ornaments, Patience Brewster to get on board. You can check out some of her Christmas ornaments here. In an effort to get to know the artist behind the art I was sent a set of 5 interview questions. It took me a while but I've answered them all and even got a chance to draw a few accompanying comics.  

1. As a child, do you recall a significant moment when you felt truly affected or inspired by any particular artwork or artist?

I can't pinpoint exact moments that truly affected and inspired me along the path of illustration but the cartoons I watched had a lot to do with it. I loved Nickelodeon cartoons like Rugrats, Fairly Odd Parents, Hey Arnold and Rocko’s Modern Life. So in that sense I guess it was more a company of artists that inspired me rather than a single person.

2. As an artist, what do you hope to convey with your work?

As an illustrator I am always striving to convey emotion, life and simplicity in my work. I want people to be able to see the world through my eyes and feel something when they see it. I love making people smile or laugh or just ponder. There is no way to describe the feeling I get when I see an emotional response to my work, it’s just something money can't buy.

3. What memorable responses have you had to your work?

Probably the most memorable response I've had to my work was when I travelled to Nepal. I would go to the same coffee house in Kathmandu every day. On my final day I sketched a little picture to give to the people that worked there and they were very grateful. But the actual memorable response was a few months later on Facebook when a friend I had met in Nepal sent me a photo he had taken. It was a photo of the same sketch I had given the coffee house but it was hanging on a wall in another coffeehouse 100 km away. I’m not sure how it travelled that far but it was amazing to think that such a small gesture went such a long way….literally.

4. What is your dream project?

My dream project would be to have a small studio where I could teach and mentor young illustrators one on one and have other experienced illustrators come and mentor myself and others. I would love for it to be a place where people could just come and draw and work on their projects.

5. What artists, of any medium, do you admire? (Famous or not)

There are too many to name, but if I had to pick one it would be Charles M Schulz, the creator of Peanuts. I admire a lot about him. He managed to create these amazing characters filled with such life using only a few simple lines. He was an amazing storyteller and created a prolific amount of comic strips that are still relevant nearly 60 years on! I hope my work stands the test of time like his has.

 

Glory Road Motorcycles

I was recently approached by Glory Road Motorcycles to design their business card. They approached me with a solid idea of the text "Find the Glory Road" and the rest was up to me. The card is designed to promote curiosity in the reader, to make them turn the card over and find out what exactly the Glory Road is. I really liked the idea of a portrait business card because there are so many landscape ones out there.

This is an alternative concept that I offered. 

A photo of the final product.

Springtime!

There is no other feeling like waking up to the sun beaming into your bedroom and the birds chirping all around you...especially after a long winter. To celebrate the birds finally waking up and the sun appearing from those dark clouds, I decided to draw a little comic...HAPPY SPRING everyone!

Letters

In my spare time I create music under the alias jPEG invisible. I recently made a song called Letters where I tried to capture the feeling of receiving a handwritten letter. After I had finished the song I began mapping out an illustration that reflected the ideas in the song. A few days earlier I just happened to find a pile of old postcards that my wife and I had collected from op-shops over the years. I took a photo of them, which became the backdrop of the illustration. The foreground image is one of my old illustrations that I recycled titled the storm. They worked so well together in creating the feel that I was after that the only other thing I did was add the title.      

 I created a stamp inspired title to blend in with the postcards

The collection of postcards that formed the backdrop of the illustration.

CLOUDY!

I dont think I need to say much more...but I will! I feel like I haven't seen the sun for months now and it makes me sad. Dont get me wrong, I love clouds, but I wish they'd give the sun a turn for a bit. Cant wait to see you again sun.

Everything is cool!

I love seeing happy people walking around, they are always the ones who make my day. This guy shouldn't be happy! It's minus 5 out and he looks like he's on his way to some sort of school. Maybe it's the tunes he's listening to or maybe he's in love. Whatever it is, his cheerful face is contagious and I just want to say hi.  

Nickelode-billy

Like many other kids, I grew up watching all sorts of cartoons. In amongst all these cartoons one company seemed to tell better stories with more memorable characters. For as long as I can remember, Nickelodeon has been inspiring creativity in me. Whether it's a cat and dog joined at the stomach, a pair of angry beavers or a football headed kid, Nickelodeon has always created amazingly odd and lovable characters in wonderful worlds. One element that I have always loved is the zoom shot that shows a static picture of a character in full painted detail. After years of being inspired by these shots I decided to create on of my own Nickelodeon inspired characters, a hillbilly crossed Nickelodeon I like to call Nickelode-billy.

Junkyard Brothers Circus

I went to Cirque Du Soleil not that long ago and came home very inspired. Since then I've been trying to create a picture that showed how amazing it was but nothing seemed to do it justice. So instead of creating a whole bunch of cliche circus imagery I decided to as myself a question..."What sort of circus would I like to see or be a part of?" Then it hit me...a Junkyard Circus! As I was drawing the concept I came up with a backstory that involved three brothers who work at a junkyard by day and run a circus by night in the junkyard. I think it would make a pretty cool cartoon.

One of the brothers using a bike tyre as a circus ring

A closeup of some of the detail in the junk

This shows the way they construct the junk and use it

Fresh Air

"Have you ever wanted to just bottle a smell and take it everywhere with you? Well...wait no more!" Thats how I imagine the advertising channels on TV selling bottled smells to us. Then a 1 hour infomercial would follow on the health benefits, the ease of portability and the 100% natural ingredients used. Maybe it would even be followed by a slogan like "It's not just air...it's life". 

Surgeons Overworked

This editorial illustration accompanied an article on the dangers of overworked doctors. It stated that the Australian Medical Association found the longest recorded shift by a doctor had increased to 43 hours straight. I came up with this idea to show the severity of the smallest mistake when surgeons operate after long shifts.

Imaginat-gun

I've spent today designing the ultimate multitool for my imagination. It's loaded with a video camera, a keyboard, art supplies, a spanner and a multidimensional magic megaphone...and that's just on the outside! It's really just going to be a production stamp for a website I'm creating that encompasses music, illustration, videos and making stuff. I'll let you all know when the site is running.

Deep Sea

Nothing compares to the look and feel of old colour images printed in books and comics. The offset colours that didn't quite match the lines and brown tinged paper always attracted me to the images. They seemed to have an imperfect handmade feel that you don't see much these days. In this illustration I tried to replicate this feeling mixing my love of halftone patterns with early 90's Johnny Quest style colouring. You can really see the intent of the illustration in the zoomed up version below.

Devotion

Try new things! That's what my new years resolution was and it's no different with my illustration. So yesterday I decided to try a lino print which ended up being a very rewarding experience. I wanted to create a print that tipped it's hat to iconography but that felt more personal. This illustration speaks of the time I spend with God, reading and thinking. It represents the flow of biblical understanding to my head, my heart and my hands.

Pen Ink Paper

On the weekend I went to Inkers & Thinkers, a comic symposium and workshop. On Saturday, Australian comic artist Pat Grant led a workshop with a live demonstration of his process. During his workshop he spoke about the qualities of different papers, brushes and inks, encouraging us all to experiment with our tools. I often focus on experimenting with styles but I never really realised how much the right tools make a difference. So I went out and bought some different papers, inks and brushes and gave it a go. 

Mother Duck

Every year I love watching the little ducklings appear in the field near our house. It's cool seeing them all grow up and watching the amazing parenting skills that go with raising a heap of curious ducklings. So this mothers day I wanted to pay tribute to all those ducks but especially to my Mother Duck.  

Daydreaming at your Job

One past-time I've learned to embrace and even practice over the years is daydreaming. The art of daydreaming to me is one of the most important ways of generating new ideas and stories. People will probably tell you that daydreaming is just escapism and I guess to a certain degree it is, but for me it's like a key that unlocks my imagination.

Funnily enough, daydreaming seems to work best for me when I'm at my part time job working as a labourer, putting up shelters over playgrounds. There's something about the repetitive nature of the job that seems to free up space in my head for daydreaming (I experienced the same thing when I was a dishwasher and a gardener). It seems that if I do something enough times my brain seems to be able to do it without me even thinking about it, kind of like being on autopilot (there's probably a scientific name for it). It's in this moment when my creativity is at its peak, it's when I daydream the most and when I come up with a lot of my ideas.

These ideas eventually form into illustrations, comics, stories and just about anything you can think of. So the next time someone tells you “you've got your head in the clouds”, take it as a compliment. Just remember to come back down to earth every now and then to put your ideas to good use.    

Nepal Earthquake Relief

Nepal feels like a second home to me! At the end of last year my wife Lucy and I travelled there and attempted the Everest Basecamp trek. We had to be evacuated by helicopter after Lucy fell incredibly ill with HACE (High Altitude Cerebral Edema), the hours spent on that mountain watching Lucy suffer were the worst I've experienced in my life! I can't even begin to understand how the people in Nepal must feel after Saturdays 7.8 magnitude earthquake which has currently taken the lives of over 4000 people and left countless others without food, shelter and water. 

When I heard the news my heart sunk. I can't just stand by and watch, which is why I'm selling 4 original ink sketches from my travel journal I kept in Nepal and donating 100% of the money to World Vision's Earthquake Appeal which is currently providing food, water, shelter and medical equipment to the victims of the earthquake. Each sketch is $30. If that doesn't suit your budget or you want to do more you can make contributions directly to any of these trusted charities listed on the abc.net.au/appeals site. THANKS!     

KATHMANDU HOUSE $30

SOLD

KATHMANDU HOUSE 2 $30

 SOLD

FIRST SIGHTING $30

 SOLD

PORTERS LIFE $30

SOLD

Future Flight

I was at the library last week and found a book on old propaganda posters. I loved the strong and simplistic nature of them and the portrait they painted of their ideas. I wanted to create a similar kind of feel with this illustration but with less force and a warmer feeling. It gave me a chance to play around with a different style and use some brushes which taught me a few things.

Easter

If you were ever a curious kid like me you may have wondered where exactly the easter bunny got all those eggs from? I still don't know the answer, but it brings back memmories of the true story of Easter my dad told me as a kid. Using an Easter egg as an example, he said that "the tomb where they lay Jesus' body after he was crucified is just like this egg" he then let me break the egg open and finished with a simple conclusion "empty". I realise now that the genius nature of this story was using the symbol that diverts attention away from Jesus to illustrate the story of Jesus. Plus, I also got to eat the egg..hehehe.

Trademark the Pencil

Trademark the Pencil is finally here! It's been one of my life dreams to create a minicomic and it's come true today with this release. I've crammed 7 stories into 12 pages and printed, cut and stapled every issue together. I've printed a limit of 80 copies of Trademark the Pencil and that's all there will ever be. Each comic is hand numbered inside (eg. 1 of 80) so you know what you're getting is hand made. You can buy copy of Trademark the Pencil from my online shop for $4 + $1 for postage or pick up a copy from the Piccadilly Kitchen who will be stocking them from Friday the 10th of April until sold out. It's also worth mentioning that $2 from each comic sold goes to Our Home Community (a home for orphans in South India). Thanks for your support!

 

Piccadilly Bazaar

I went to the Piccadilly Kitchen on Saturday where they were holding their quarterly Bazaar. I had my sketchbook and some free time, so I decided to capture some of the market vibe. There was a big, folk jam session happening right next to me which helped the groove of my pen and kept my creativity flowing.  

(The Strumming Cowboy)

(The Bearded Food Merchant)

(Folk Jam Band)

(The Cactus Lady)

(Plant Scientist)