Year 4 of the 52-Week Illustration Challenge, Week 1

Week 1: Whimsy.

"Ready for a night out." Sketch in black Sharpie, watercolour pencils and white opaque Signo pigment ink on watercolour paper.

Update:

Week 1: Whimsy II.

"Working for peanuts." Watercolour and brown, black and white markers.

Return of the 52-Week Illustration Challenge, Week 9

Week 9: Texture

Freehand-cut rabbits as negative spaces, using handmade, textured paper with splotches of watercolour. Shapes are backed with fake fur fabric scraps and white nylon wadding, plus tiny pompon tails and black paper burrows.

Update:

Collage using contrasting textured art materials found in a bargain store. Squirrels were torn freehand (no pencil lines!). Forgot to bring glue to Perth, so I will have to reassemble it when I get home.

Week 9: Texture II

52-Week Illustration Challenge, Week 39

3D papier mache squirrel, decoupaged with orange paper printed with the words "squirrel", "paw", "ear", "tail" and "acorn", plus eyes made with "i"s - and an "n" for a nose.

Week 39: Words

Update:

Black Stained by Sharpie ink (a brushlike tip, supposedly for drawing on fabric, but nice to use on paper, too) on La Carta Weave textured paper.

Week 39: Words II

Week 39: Words III

Words and Pictures: Watercolour over cardboard templates, painted onto the page of movie reviews from Mx newspaper. (Ha! I was cleaning up the work area the next morning. The "audience" template, which I cut like a set of paper dollies from some card and used to mask off sections, looks too pretty to throw away. Into the Odds 'n' Ends box it goes. We may see it again some day.)

52-Week Illustration Challenge, Week 27

Live from Michigan, USA! I've only ever been here in the snow before, but it's summer, of course! The snowman on the right with the "Star Trek" phaser is based on the one made by my penpal, Olivia, and I during out first meeting in January 1984. The little one is based on the one outside our restaurant window in December 2012. The squirrel victim is depicted because - squirrel! Drawn with oil pastels on two backgrounds.

Week 26: Snow

I was thrilled to unite these two long-gone snowpeople, separated by decades, but definitely kindred spirits. Just noticing that the photo of this piece loses some subtlety in the hand phaser, and yet improves the tones on the squirrel. I'm fascinated how oil pastels work, and how they scan/photograph, when the colours are layered - and loving the unpredictability.

Update:
Prismatic origami paper snowflakes on a black card background.

Week 27: Snow II

A White Boxing Day

And the snow kept falling! I really should give a plug for the lightweight New Zealand Merino long underwear, which was perfect for lumbering around in the snow of the streets of Ann Arbor, while staying comfortably warm.

Day 4 photos:

Ian and Olivia: in the snow!

We were satisfied to wander the paths of County Farm Park, and to ignore the Straddle jump.

Squirrel nest!

Nature trail squirrel

Remember the wings of Day 3's homemade Christmas angels? Milkweed pods, growing wild!

Snowfall in Ann Arbor's CBD.

Reed and Olivia in the Vault of Midnight!

Squirrel attempts to enter Jeffrey Pickell's amazing Kaleidoscope Books & Collectibles!

Kaleidoscope Books - and my haul! Thanks so much Jeffrey! What a great shop!

Either the vats through the glass are a microbrewery, or I found JJ Abrams' Engineering set
for the new "Star Trek" sequel. Enjoying Arbor Brewing Company's Milestone Cask Porter beer.

Snowfall in Olivia's street.