so far

Best laid plans went up in smoke early. Although what I learned was that it’s less exhausting if you go with the current than against it. Might not end up where you thought you’d be but better able to deal with what ever’s there because you’re happy and ready to go. 

January and most of February was swallowed by covid. Then a short holiday to Eden and home the long way through Canberra. Stayed with my sister-in-law and her husband , their construction is underway and making progress, I saw my niece and her beautiful family, fossicked in second hand stores and gift shops and played around in nature. Back in time to start the year in March.

With that, I’ve been quoting on some freelance work and about to start a book which the manuscript is on it’s way, but the best thing has been finally getting involved in a challenge on Twitter I’ve been stalking since, forever. #colour_collective  Has been going for a long while and run by an illustrator out of the UK, thus the spelling and one of the reasons I started following it. They post two colours (it used to be one, but now it’s two) and you have a week to create a picture with those colours. Some use it sparingly, others intensively, all look fab! These are some of mine:

Divas

Leaf season

Lily pond

Frog chorus

Fishies

Last blooms

I see such amazing diversity of work using #colour_collective and I try to like all of them (sorry if i missed anyones (eek!)). I often covet different illustration styles, marvelling at how these geniuses work, just amazing!

You can follow me @_essayer on Twitter and see all the other #colour_collective drawings they’re great!

Cheers!

future me

My love of drawing active older people is expanding.

They have such lovely jowly, wrinkly faces and expressive eyes. I just love them! I’m not sure I do them justice, but they have history which means they learned to make the most of the now.

Secretly I think I’m drawing the future.

Most of the older people I know are living the most amazing lives, getting together with friends, going out and having fun, to a show, to swimming, to the shops, to see the sights and in general - having fun and learning all the time. It should be celebrated. Most of the depictions I see don’t fully do this so it’s now my thing - older people doing all the things and having a ball doing it!

I love these people! Not always the same people, maybe I’ll make a narrative… They definitely deserve a story.

This does seem to keep cropping up, I’m not a writer, this type of blathering on has been the best I can do and I really just write what I’m thinking. Anyway, I’ll keep thinking and keep drawing and fingers crossed a narrative pops up. I’m confident it will. I think.

more drawing!

I really like how the drawings I do, tell a story, showing emotion and a sense place. I’ve really enjoyed developing consistency and simplifying my finish while not losing any of the information. Or at least, that’s what I’m aiming for.

In working towards getting better and building on what I talked about in an earlier post, Portfolio Development, what I’ve found out about myself is that I really, really, REALLY, like drawing old people. Their faces can have such sense of fun and although they have bigger ears, their face structure is quite similar to a child.

To play with this idea I’ve started drawing these oldies in the same situations as the kids and I think they've worked out amazingly well.

Love swings (2021)

Still love swings (2021)

I have a couple more and I’ll put them in my portfolio so you can go to my Work page and see them in amongst all my other pictures. I’ll also be putting them on Instagram.

Continuing to get better and challenging myself is ongoing so keep an eye out for more!

Cheers,

Pandemic shutdown continues... :(

It’s been an interesting time here in Melbourne. Shutdown 2: electric boogaloo might just be done with next week (fingers crossed) but we are not counting any chickens and I don’t think it’ll be opening up without restrictions.

Still, I’ve been practicing more with Procreate and am about to update to the latest version so a new learning curve begins - nothing but excitement about the changes… Before I do that though, I have been working on a book and until I know they’re happy with what has been delivered so far I don’t want mess around with the software. This is in case there is any loss of data. Over cautious, probably, and I have backed up all the drawings, I just might let the it settle for a bit.

So aside from the book I’ve been giving flowers to anyone. Well, via Instagram, and they’re drawings…

I’ve also had a bit of success with the animation features. They are easy tools and great to make simple gifs. I can see a lot more of this happening.

I’ve also been up to my old tricks with statues, which you can see on instagram, and you can it check out here: https://www.instagram.com/_essayer/

Cheers!

Learning

It’s all new here on the essayer platform! New hardware, new software, new new-ness!

After waiting eons, I’ve gotten my hands on an iPad Pro WITH A PENCIL!

I’m slowly moving everything over to using it as my base. The interesting thing is that it works so seamlessly that I often forget it is a mobile device, but then when I’m using my desktop I try to touch the screen to make that work, and that is a big no.

The pencil is AMAZING, it’s as responsive as you’d expect and some. To use it as effectively as possible I’ve bought a new drawing package, Procreate. It’s made in Hobart and is absolutely loved world wide. It has all sorts of functionality including offering simple animation tools. Below are some Father’s Day Drawings done on all Procreate, including text - if you know a card manufacturer who’d like to license them *wink*

Having used Photoshop and Illustrator from Adobe for years, it’s been interesting teaching myself this new program.

I’ve also found another drawing suite that can do all the other things the Adobe Suite, could do called Affinity. It’s much more cost effective so I’m learning that as well. It really is a brain exercise to learn all the shortcuts, gesture controls, brushes, textures and fonts. The options are mind blowing.

It has been very lonely in the studio so the portability of the iPad has made it easier during this second lockdown. I can put it all in my back and away I go, connected and able to draw almost anywhere. Usually at home, but in theory anywhere.

I still love and adore my studio - can’t imagine being without it. It’s my happy place. Here’s to this second lockdown working.

Cheers and wear a mask!

me me me me me

I’ve been working hard getting portfolios ready for various submissions. Some to do with illustration and others for art, along with the normal day-to-day etc. It’s been both and interesting and worthwhile process, distilling what I want to do as opposed what I can do and allowed me the time to really find my strengths and hopefully the work I get from this will better reflect this.

About me
hand draw, digitally finished, 2019

In not only showing how I draw and what I want to draw I’ve also managed to distill my own self into a kind of self portrait. The cardigans, are very important. As is the coffee.

Cheers!

PS: If you’d like an infographic portrait of yourself or maybe as a gift for a friend, let me know!

Breathe

Breathe, digital with hand drawn elements, 2019

Don’t go breaking my heart

People regularly ask for me to work for the pleasure of working them, which in itself is lovely. They like my work and want the work I do for their project, but I really have to draw (literally) the line somewhere and paying the rent is important.

This seems to be a universal problem for illustrators and I’ve noticed this happens for all people with any skill that any other individual lacks. We all want our friend who’s studied law to look over a contract, our mate whose a plumber to fix the hot water service and the kid who’s really good at the computer to show us how make a website.

It’s different though for a friend, it’s different for a project that everyone is into on an equal footing. Being asked work for nothing while other parties make profit or at least their costs back, is a bit of a smack in the face.

Anyway, IA have got on board The AOI’s #notahobby campaign, because we all need to make a living from the skills we have worked hard to learn and get good at. Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t help out a charity and it doesn’t mean I wouldn’t help out a friend, but put as succinctly as I can…

Your passion project, digital image with hand drawn elements, 2019

You read a bit more about this on a previous post about self-publishing.

Kisses,

Mad as...

A friend finagled tickets for us to a taping of last weeks Mad as Hell. It was a long session of four hours and funny all the way through.

One of the skits was when a Labor supporter (played by Emily Taheny) was asked a question replied “Albosolutley”. Then this popped into my noggin. Apologies to all the creative people on the show.

There's an exhibition on!

It's been a while, but you still love me? right?

I've been working hard over the past eighteen months volunteering for Illustrators Australia (IA). We've been moving the organisation to a new administration software system and planning for the future. It certainly been a challenge and I've learnt so much, met some amazingly smart people and hopefully it will stand IA in good stead for the next decade. Fingers crossed.

Along with all that, IA are putting on an exhibition, SHOUT! opening 6pm this Friday, at Collingwood Gallery, 292 Smith Street, Collingwood and runs for two weeks. I have a piece in this! You can check out the details on the IA website here and if you can't make it but what to see (and possibly buy a piece), there is an online auction! (fancy, I know!)

Opening night: 6pm Friday 13 July 2018
Exhibition runs 13 - 26 July 2018
Collingwood Gallery, 292 Smith Street Collingwood

There is amazing work on display, digitally printed on wood, collaged, drawn, painted, carved - the illustrators have pushed this theme to the max, worth seeing for sure!

Cheers,

Icons

I’ve often thought that the images available to me as icons for Instagram, Twitter etc were a bit boring and the same as everyone else! So I finally got around to making my own. 

This is the sort of thing illustrators can do for people, why be the same as everyone else? Have something that is made just for you, reflects your personality and helps you stand out of the crowd! And I've updated my about me page!

Cheers,

Happy George

Recently I developed and illustrated a new character, for a disability service. Introducing: Happy George! 

This little guy ties in with some other promotional material and is soon to be launched on their website.

Happy George is a friendly frog who like to say hello to everyone!

Happy George is technologically savvy!

Happy George is being used on colouring in sheets and word searches which I also developed. These will be available for people to download from their website .

It was great to translate the linear to the rendered colour and build up a stock of imagery around it all to describe the world in which George lives.

He will also be in explanatory material on printed documents and certificates.

It was a great project. I had lots of fun testing out techniques I've not used for a while. And it was fantastic to see it so well received by the client. 

Hopefully the participants of the service like him too, because I'd love to do more of this! 

Cheers and chin-chin,

Vote YES!

It's been amazing over the last couple of years to see the parade of unfairness and unkindness on all sides of politics in Australia. Less stealth like, which has been used in the past and more upfront meanness is really the hallmark of the last, I would say, four parliaments. 

The downright misogyny directed at Julia Gillard. Her parliaments lack of action on same-sex marriage. Kevin Rudd and his off-shore detention hell holes. Tony Abbott dismantling of the carbon tax and eating onions, raw, with the skin on. And then we come to Malcolm Turnbull, beholden to the right wing conservative to keep his bum on the big chair. These are just a few of the craptacular highlights of the last seven years (yes, seven years - four Prime Ministers in seven - count 'em - seven years. You can see my eyes rolling from space.)

Malcolm has bowed to the pressure of his party room and they've dreamed up a non-binding, non-mandatory, non-plebicite postal survey about same sex marriage. Rather than do their jobs. It is going to cost over $120 million dollars. 

As I write this the High Court of Australia are hearing a case against running the postal survey. So it may on may not even happen. But in the event that it does I'm nailing my colours to the mast.

YES : Love is love, let people marry.

So my birds for the weeks leading up to the non-binding, non-mandatory, non-plebicite postal survey (if it even happens) are all showing their support for changing the marriage act to be inclusive of all the people.

...and imagine, what the kindergartens of Australia would do with $120 million dollars instead.

Birdies everywhere!

I've been a bit slack with the blogging, but busy is as busy does and because not everyone has Instagram here's what I've been doing...

As you can see Birdies have exploded from my pencil and have taken a life of their own. Up to all sorts of adventures. Hopefully a wonderful and generous publisher can see the potential and gives me a call. I have so many ideas for what these little darlings can achieve, you just never know what they'll do next!

Cheers and chin-chin!

La, la, la, la, LAAAAA!

La, la, la, la, LAAAAA! Hilary Cresp, 2016