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:

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!

characters developing

I’ve been doing more skills development. This time to show the same characters in different situations. It’s not the first of these and will not be the last.

I’m loving the way I’ve developed my own shorthand for doing eyes and noses. In general, I love learning new ways to express all of the things, shapes and tones. It’s wonderful to draw an illustration that can tell a whole story and I think I nail that.Each one of these on their own could stand alone with a story. Together, they could build a narrative…

The colour palette is, again, my own. I like how the muted tones give a softness while remaining gender neutral.

I think these are a huge leap in developing the expression I want to be able to convey… getting there anyway, more drawing (yay!) , because it’s called a practice for a reason, and I’d do it for fun regardless.

Cheers,