Year 3 of the 52-Week Illustration Challenge, Week 1

Week 1: Fancy Dress

"Before and after." Watercolour clown sketch over black finepoint Sharpie and masking fluid on watercolour paper, with a collaged silhouette.

Update:

Week 1: Fancy Dress II

"Betelgeusian Chief Ambassador." This is the most expensive Hollywood costume ever worn in a movie by a screen extra - valued at $US10,000 in 1979 - but is barely glimpsed in the movie, Star Trek: The Motion Picture. The bolt of fabric used in the garment dates back to Cecil B. DeMille and contains real gold and silver thread. Very fancy dress! Oil pastels and Kindy Glitter Glitz on Quill "marbletone" cream paper, and based on a publicity still.

Return of the 52-Week Illustration Challenge, Week 32

Week 32: Fabric

"Boo!" Torn paper collage ghost over brown fabric, with black ballpoint pen detailing. (Created on the hop at the Lyric Theatre, Star Casino.)

Update:

Week 32: Fabric II

Cartoon in black medium-point Sharpie, coloured in watercolour, with a little brown Sharpie and white opaque finepoint Signo.

Return of the 52-Week Illustration Challenge, Week 25

Week 25: Africa

Freehand-cut silhouettes in black card (having glanced at a full page of thumbnail photos on Google Images using the terms "Africa sunset"). Collaged over sunset coloured paper strips: red, orange, goldenrod, metallic bronze and white on yellow card, skewed slightly in iPhoto. Detail in black finepoint marker.

Update:

Week 25: Africa II

"Rhinoceros cosplay." Cartoon in black Sharpie on watercolour paper, painted in watercolours. (Okay, I couldn't stand it any longer: one party hat added... to make the joke better.)

Return of the 52-Week Illustration Challenge, Week 12

Week 12: Costume

"Science fiction media convention costume parade". All of these entrants are me - Tellarites, Andorians and Robin the Boy Wonder - based on photos from several decades of costume parades, drawn and painted in a Perth hotel room. Sketch inked in black Sharpie on watercolour paper, coloured in watercolours and metallic Signo.

Update:

"The Not-So-Happy Dragon." Based on an actual event - when I walked into a dressing room at a charity fundraiser, to put on my superhero costume, and met half a naked dragon! No one is supposed to see who's inside the St George Bank's Happy Dragon mascot. But I did - and now... so have you! Black and green Sharpie markers with watercolour on watercolour paper, collaged onto purple handmade paper.

Week 12: Costume II

52-Week Illustration Challenge, Week 48

"What does the fox say?" (Inspired by the quirky Youtube song by Ylvis.) Freehand-cut white paper collage, glued over song lyrics in Word on red card. Highlights and shadows in yellow, orange and black watercolour pencils and silver Sharpie.

Week 48: Fox

Update:

Nobody here but us chickens! Black fine point ink and watercolour cartoon. Drawn without pencil lines!

Week 48: Fox II

Someone else beat me to this phrase but I decided to go ahead with my concept anyway. Extending an idea from Week 39 "Words", here is "A quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog", created in Pages with a little black Stained and finepoint Sharpie, brown pencilling and a touch of yellow acrylic.

Week 48: Fox III

I had no intention of doing another fox this week, but I encountered an old newspaper ad about two hours ago, and initially had thoughts of a traditional drawing based upon the photo. Suddenly, it demanded to be an assemblage artwork, and I found myself fashioning a fox fur stole from a red chenille stick, cutting an outline of a woman, to give her a 3D effect, from an A3 sheet of yellow quill board, and painting her and the background with instant coffee. Details in red Sharpie and black Stained Sharpie, and the wording is cut from a print-out of the ad. Fox stole's eyes are some polished blue glass beads from a pot in the garden. Face of the model is probably inspired by all those "Redhead Matches" ladies of the 70s. She's propped out from the card by the width of the chenille stick.

Week 48: Fox IV

52-Week Illustration Challenge, Week 28

Again live from Michigan, USA! Sitting here in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on a drizzly Tuesday morning, patiently(?) waiting for it to be Wednesday in Australia, so that I can share my "Week 28: Feather" before I'm out of Internet range for a whole week! Here is some assemblage art, which uses sequins, plastic jewels, chenille sticks, stickered lettering, a touch of gold glitter, a wiggly eye - and real feathers - on a wooden blank of a rather plain bird who now feels Very Pretty.

Week 28: Feather

The original blank (right) and an outdoors shot (left and below) of the complete work.

Update:

When my brother's then girlfriend planned on wearing a Scarlet O'Hara crinoline for a fancy dress party in the late 70s, she ordered him the Rhett Butler outfit at the hire store. He examined it, baulked at the price and, instead, asked me to help him make a crepe paper chicken costume. Girlfriend was appalled - and my brother the chook was startled to meet a butcher at the party, who chased him all night with a giant plastic meat cleaver. Not easy to run in swimming flippers! Based on a Polaroid photo taken by me, the sketch is done in oil pastels on Ingres paper.

Week 28: Feather II

Week 28: Feather III

As in Arnold Feather (Jeff Kevin) of "Number 96", inspired by Andy Warhol's infamous Marilyn Monroe artwork. Freehand sketch with black Sharpie on transparent plastic film. Six coloured papers were placed on top, to colour areas with pencils, then placed underneath for individual photography. Six digital thumbnail tiles were then sorted in iPhoto and a final "screenshot" taken.

Trash Santa

Seen today in Penriff, outside the bottle shop.

"OMG, they trashed Santa!" (He found a Claus in his contract.)



Look familiar?

30-Day Photo Challenge: finale

DAY 30

I spotted a cute little dragon at our Pedlars' Fair today! A great finale to my 30-Day Photo Challenge. The slideshow of all 30 images is HERE.


Leftover Pedlars' Pennies go into the prize draw.


The library snowman finds a friend!

Winter Magic Festival 2011

Steam Train at Katoomba Railway Station


A dragon leads a group from Katoomba Public School (pic courtesy of Maxine)


Bad bunny in the street parade


A busker with his two puppets


Wolf in Grandma's clothes


Shop window white spiders


And my souvenir of the day:


Argon the dragon, bought from Rod and Eryn
of www.weefolkgardenart.com

A taste of Jam Sandwich

In 1983, I renewed my acquaintance with ABC-TV director, Virginia Lumsden, who had overseen an episode of "Mr Squiggle and Friends" I did in January 1980.

"Jam Sandwich" was a children's afternoon magazine show, quite similar to "Simon Townsend's Wonder World". The night they featured science fiction media fan clubs: including Astrex (the NSW Star Trek Fan Club) and the Australasian Doctor Who Club. Young reporter Rachel Enright was making her "Jam Sandwich" debut. Her more experienced host, Tim Grogan, who'd been with the show since its first episode in October 1982, even forgot her name at the end!

We were invited to gather, in costume, one evening at the original 106a Bathurst Street location of Galaxy Bookshop.


The show's opening credits resembled a "Space Invaders" computer game.


Rachel Enright and Tim Grogan presenting; Rachel discovers Galaxy Bookshop - and K-9.




Assistant Manager Ron Serduik morphs into "Doctor Who" fan, Karsten John.


Therin of Andor (Ian McLean) and the Empress of Traken (Carol Bott) beam down.


Rachel and Karsten witness a beam-down!




A non-commercial network helps to promote my fanzine!


Aliens from "USS Hood Orientation Manual: Races of the Federation".








Gary Armstrong explains how he built his K-9 robot.


K-9's control box (80s-style miniaturisation); Therin goes browsing.


Chrissy Amphlett and the Divinyls accompany the episode's closing credits (above right).