Return of the 52-Week Illustration Challenge, Week 4

Week 4: Insects

Mixed media collage, with potato printing and sponging in acrylic paints on brown paper bag and black card, decorated with white Signo pigment ink and black, green, silver and gold Sharpies.

Update:

Watercolour cartoon on damp watercolour paper with mixed media and black Sharpie.

Week 4: Insects II

Black "Stained" Sharpie ink on dampened watercolour paper, painted in watercolours with white pigment Signo highlights.

Week 4: Insects III

52-Week Illustration Challenge, Week 42

Crayon resist jellyfish and sand, acrylic blue wash and collaged fish (using junk mail pamphlets and paper patty pans).

Week 42: Under the sea

I knew I was going to use patty pan cases as scales/fins several weeks ago, and I knew i had several packets and leftovers in the pantry. But most of them turned out to be plain white and a few were silver on the outside and white on the inside. White-spotted red and green cases wouldn't have been my first choice, but who can argue at 11.30 pm? The glossy junk mail pamphlet that became the school of silvery fish was for a set of free chromed boules (if I bought a case of wine). I love the randomness of the lines and reflections!

Update:

Black Artline finepoint ink, watercolour, silver-coated chocolate balls and ground pepper for a little extra texture.

Week 42: Under the sea II

I have memories of a breakfast cereal toy (Plonky Piano in the Neptune's Seaweeders band) who looked a little bit like this, but I also caught an interview with comedienne Jenny Slate, on Letterman the other night, talking about her original character, Marcel the Shell with shoes on, and that got my brain ticking over. Plus there's signage, which seems to be an ongoing theme for me recently.

52-Week Illustration Challenge, Week 38

Oil pastel giraffe wearing a bilby mask - and a bilby wearing a giraffe mask. Signage created in Word, torn edges and painted with coffee.

Week 38: Giraffe

Update:

Two-part paper finger puppet - one finger forms the neck. Outlined in black Sharpie, coloured with watercolours.

Week 38: Giraffe II

Week 38: Giraffe III

Freehand silhouette in black card collaged to a safari print gift bag. 3D eyelashes cut from white paper, with curls rolled over the end of a paintbrush. I was creating this at lunchtime today when a Facebook message came in announcing the passing of my actor friend, Elaine Lee (Vera in TV's Number 96) and I suddenly realised that my new giraffe needed to have - instead of white cartoon eyes - big white eyelashes. (Many happy memories having drinkies in Elaine's dressing room, after a stage performance, and watching her peel off her huge false eyelashes.)

Week 38: Giraffe IV

Mixed media collage with chenille sticks (poking through random holes made with a hole punch), torn paper and self-adhesive faux fur safari skin on a quill board background.

Jack in Nowra

Speed limit = walking pace only, Shared roadway, Don't forget your hat. ;)

Rapture replay?

Who woulda thought I'd be able to reuse this pic (first posted: 21st May, 2011).


Post-Rapture poster

Should I pre-empt myself and repost this one as well?

Platypus crossing

DAY 28

Warning! Platypus crossing. If toll owing, put it on his bill.

Seen in Penriff

DAY 8

Ah, good ol' Penrith: an old church on the horizon, completely overshadowed by a cyclist with no helmet, riding on the wrong side of the road, and the newly renamed hairdressers, now specialising in... head-lice control.

Post-Rapture signage

Post-Rapture poster

Bats, bats, bats!

Bats, bats, bats! The sign says "Two way", but they were all going one direction, and didn't care less about the hump.

Ian in Wonderland - in 3D!

Oh frabjous day! I thoroughly enjoyed this evening's little excursion to the cinema to see the new "Alice in Wonderland" 3D movie! I'd heard rather mixed reviews, but this was a most satisfying 3D experience.

And how curiouser and curiouser to notice Joel Swetow in the credits as Man With Big Belly - I own the Andorian ambassador's robes he wore in "Star Trek: Enterprise". Always love a neat Star Trek connection! And yay Michael ("Alfred Pennyworth") Gough as the voice of the dodo!

I wished I gone with someone now, even it it was to get a photo standing in the middle of this huge cardboard display (above). Woulda looked a bit like this:


Me, attending the Mad Hatter's Tea Party in Central Park, New York (January 1992).



Today's pic of the day: a signwriting plane going home at sunset, after a hard day's signwriting?

Wet weekend photo roundup

My Andorian boots purchased via the "It's a Wrap!" eBay auctions.
Originally worn by screen extra Chase Bandy in "Star Trek: Enterprise",
and customized from GBX boots. 6 February 2010.


A bend in The Road. 7 February 2010.

Signage in Sydney

Today's pic: a wacky road sign. Those same people really get around town!

Signing off... my shoestring library makeover?

And so, with a Kevin Rudd BER new school library to be built on the site of my school's existing, antiquated, portable library, further plans for renovating the current building went on permanent hiatus. I am very glad I only lightly nailed my internal signage to the walls, rather than gluing them, because almost everything I created in the last twelve months will be able to find a home in the new building. At the time of the announcement, I had already had a visit from Phyl Williamson, of Syba Signs, to give me quotations on perspex outdoor signage, an internal sign, a selection of poster hangers and mobiles, and vinyl lettering for the windows, etc. These ideas (and funding) have now had to await the new building, of course.

I've been asked to do a presentation on my shoestring makeovers for an upcoming ASLA professional development day, at my school (Saturday 31st October) and, during the last school holidays, I suddenly found myself really regretting not being able to finish off my plan to get a large outdoor sign made. Something that identifies the building as a "Library"!

My temporary external sign has turned out to be so successful, I wanted to share it.

Kevin Hennah's course on library renovations reminded us about how commercial stores have huge signs featuring their identity, and yet so many public buildings - and especially libraries - seem to keep their identity a secret to passersby. The day I started snapping photographs of the library, pre-renovation (this time last year), the very first shot was of our extremely dull, uninformative, external library wall - yes, that all-important wall, seen by every visitor through our main gate. The wall that gives people their first impression of our school:

"No smoking, no smoking"!, it says.

How would anyone even realise this was the school library?

So, after several fruitless, forlorn visits to both Bunnings' Hardware, and Spotlight, I went off to a local computerised signage supplier for a quote on a speedy-but-weatherproof sign that might impress people coming to my seminar session. The results were a little disappointing: only slightly less than a perspex sign and - no matter what - I'd be spending between $206 and $250 and still only ending up with one external sign.

I did take one source of inspiration from my Bunnings trip: they had some long, pre-primed, stretched canvases for artists @ $35.00. Maybe I could pull off a miracle with a similar stretched canvas, if I could locate one the right size at a local bargain store? Bingo! "Cheaper Than Chips" at Penrith only had one, but it was a 31 x 102 cm "Paintwell" brand stretched canvas @ $15.95, plus $2.00 for a tube of "Ultra Blue" acrylic paint.

Last night, I enlarged some lettering (upper and lower case, for legibility) from Word on the photocopier, transferred the design to the canvas, taped up the straight lines with packaging tape, and started painting - and suddenly there was a completed sign.

This morning, my clerical assistant helped me cover the canvas with book-covering polythene, which we affixed with a staple gun. I went outside and peeled off the better-quality version of our two "No Smoking" signs, and transferred it to the other end of the wall with fresh double-sided tape. I then used more of the tape to attach my $18 masterpiece to the wall! I've been admiring it every chance I could get today. Please allow me to share:


Today's "photo of the day".

The complete wall, with the "No Smoking" sign at the other end:

No go zone

Alas, my old shortcut, I knew you well -
and saved ten minutes per day each way.

Renovation is now an event

Here's the George Street Cinema Complex, with marquee totally obscured by scaffolding during a renovation, but the show must go on! (It actually says, "Going to the movies is now an event" - see pic below.) Taken during my weekly Thursday night venture into Sydney CBD to buy comics and books!

Mmmmmmmmm!

Closeup on the "M" of "CINEMAXX" sign at the
Penrith Plaza Hoyts' cinema complex.

Just back from seeing "District 9", a new science fiction movie! Apartheid meets "Alien Nation" meets "Cloverfield", minus the shaky-cam. Riveting performances and SPFX! Highly recommended!

Catch up pics

Just back from Armidale, with my quota of images for my 365 Pictures project. We passed Tamworth's "Big Golden Guitar" on the way up to Armidale on the Thursday, but there wasn't time to stroll back to it and get a photo, hence the solitary, yellow bloom I found swaying in the breeze in the main street of Armidale in the afternoon.



Friday's pic features some bizarre signage at the host school of the teacher-librarians' conference I travelled up to attend. I realised, while lining up the shot, that the two circles seemed kinda reminiscent of female breasts. Or have I just heard too many lectures on visual literacy at this conference?



Finally, here's Alex the lion, a souvenir of Armidale. Alex the lion (voiced by Ben Stiller in the animated features, "Madagascar" and "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa") will grace the school library in time for the current Book Week theme, "Book Safari".

Caution: Bowler hats crossing!

Caution: Bowler hats crossing!

So, was Twon naughty or nice?

Blame Twon. We all do.



Sunday's not so magic number: 95.5 - Oh dear.