hmmmm busy/lazy town

...is where I've been! Hence me slipping back into dreadful old blogging habits! Nnnevermind! Anyway - I've also slipped drastically on the girl of the month business...so this blog entry takes care of both the lack of blogging and the lack of lil' ladies!

Here's the Tarantino set...were I to update this selection I think i'd add a Nazi officer with a swastika carved into his forehead - y'know what I'm referencing!

Oh - and...hmmmm - Death Proof's a little trickier to nail down (i'd have instantly gone with a gun for a leg...but that's Rodriguez - still, it's a winner regardless!)

random bits of the working week!

Deadline - met!

Here are some random bits of the impending book I just finished moments ago! Make of these 'not yet published' marvels what you will!

(sorry for the lack of blog last week....I was lazy!)

Brazilians...

...apparently enjoy a good laugh! And needed a cover for a joke book which I've been told in good faith translates roughly as something like 'Laugh 'til you break your beak/face/mouth!'

Make of that what you will - all I know is - the good people of Brazil are in for a jolly good time once this baby hits the shelves...presumably!

I've not actually seen any of the jokes inside.

this week...

...I have been engaged in this stuff!

Make of it what you will - it's certainly kept me busy! The top image, you may recall, was last seen quite awhile back in a much rougher form!

(and no the use of the term 'engaged' was not deliberate in an attempt to raise the ire of those wishing to see the recently mentioned engagement/proposal book! I'll be sure to make it very clear if and when said book may appear here! But as you can see - so busy drawing random things to find time to post it!!!)

abandoned fairyfolk and things...

Hi!

so, in the interests of not showing you things that are in various stages of heading toward appearing in the public eye soon enough (but not nearly soon enough for me to allow to be allowed to reveal them...potentially! mmmmm - confusing!) - here's some stuff that IS out there...but not through my doing!

These are some abandoned concepts that were to be for a novel that was eventually published, just with someone else's illustrations instead of mine - from memory only because my elf designs weren't 'Christmas Elf-like' enough. Given, mind you, that the elf in the story was in no way a Christmas elf - I thought i'd go for something a little more interesting and unique than the lameness only the true Christmas elf can bring....to my detriment in this case!

Nevermind!

Our witch here is done. Work, I mean 'work' - our 'work' here is...nevermind.

Remember those little witches (elves and vampires) from April's blog of last year that were on their way from Barbie Magazine to fully fledged novels all of their very own? (Pause whilst you check back on that blog though how you could possibly have forgotten it?!).

Well FINALLY - we're almost there - and atleast, my part is done!

Having first created their Barbie Magazine look in 2004 (this is Gwen in particular as I very first drew her...having based her vaguely on Isla Fisher...very vaguely)

And then as far back as 2008 started on getting them up to date and ready for today's 'tween' woman...

Gwen has finally reached the current end of the journey - that being the cover art pictured at the top of this blog! it only took 7 years - but she's still the same age, yet somehow all growed up! *tear*

One can only presume that both Nel and Rain will get the full transformative treatment in sequels to come...

PS: No blog posts 2 weeks in a row? Sorry - busy working on a lavish book for the purposes of proposing to my ex-girlfriend...now fiancee! P'raps i'll pop it up here in the blog one day...how romantical!

The Cocky who cried lunchbags!

So here, for the only time EVER (unless another time occurs) a startlingly small glimpse into what has been going on lately and hence why things have been so busy!

Coming ever so soonish via Little Hare Books is a little number entitled 'The Cocky who cried Dingo' - which came together a little something like this!

FIRST - I decided abstract and boldly coloured backgrounds were the plan (partly as I didn't want to have to draw page after page of foliage - presuming the birds in the story were tree dwelling types - and they were!). And why not try a rustic 'torn paper' vibe to abstractly (see: thoroughly obscurely) simulate the Australian outback...sky in particular!

Now...I decided brown paper lunch bags would be the tool of my trade - why? Because they're brown! thus they're an actual colour THUS when scanned into the computer I can easily change an actual colour to another actual colour in photoshop much easier than if it were a grey or white piece of paper!

Next - a plan - and in the grand tradition of my previous complex plans - behold - my plan! Note the numerous pages with question marks - yep, intensely designed to the finest detail before proceeding to rip up lunch bags!

so here are two examples of the scanned bits of torn paper in place with the rough pencil sketches included...

And then after a bit of fiddling and drawing - some finished spreads!

EASY! Now all thats' needed is a cover design and then WHOOSH - another literary gem out into the world...all thanks to Coles lunch bags and grim determination NOT to repeatedly draw leafy leafy Australian flora!