Return of the 52-Week Illustration Challenge, Week 31

Week 31: Shakespeare

Charcoal sketch of Wil'yam Sheq'spir (and yorIq) on orange La Carta Weave textured paper. Detail in black and metallic gold finepoint Sharpie and opaque white Signo, using two Shakespeare images (found in a Google Image search), and enhanced by me with Klingon features. Klingon Chancellor Gorkon once stated, "You have not experienced Shakespeare until you have read him in the original Klingon..." ["Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country".]

Update:

Week 31: Shakespeare II

"Shakespeare's Globe, London." Watercolour and brown and black Sharpies, with white Puffy Paint and opaque Signo ink highlights. Based on my own photograph.

Return of the 52-Week Illustration Challenge, Week 30

Week 30: Portrait

"Mr Minotaur's Portrait Gallery". A3 collage using Quill "marbletone" cream paper, with details in black finepoint Sharpie, watercolours and white opaque Signo.

And in closeup:

Return of the 52-Week Illustration Challenge, Week 29

Week 29: Love

"African lovebirds". Watercolours, black Sharpie, opaque white Signo and satin leaves in a circular border of salted watercolour. Based on a photograph found in a Google Image search. No pencil lines, no eraser!

Update:

Week 29: Love II

"Thumbody loves you." Quick thumbprint cartoons with stamp pad ink over tiny hand templates. Detail in various markers.

Return of the 52-Week Illustration Challenge, Week 28

Week 28: Winter

Cartoon in black Sharpie on watercolour paper, with highlights in watercolour, white opaque Signo ink and white Puffy paint, collaged onto crushed white cartridge paper.

Update:

Week 28: Winter II

Salted watercolour collage with black ballpoint and Sharpie detailing.

Return of the 52-Week Illustration Challenge, Week 27

Week 27: Style

"Steampunk style." Self-portrait sketch in red, black, silver and gold Sharpie markers, with watercolour highlights. No pencil, no eraser!

Update:

Week 27: Style II

Freehand cut silhouette and lettering collaged to an Origami paper circle and A3 black card. Gold foil highlight. No guidelines, some silhouette inspiration from a Google Image search.

Number 96 proves lucky for librarian

Thanks to photographer Gary Warrick, and journalist Elisha Pearce, of the Penrith City Gazette (Click the hyperlink to see the online version).

Return of the 52-Week Illustration Challenge, Week 26

Week 26: Land

"Tetraptych of Uluru". Based on photographs found in a Google Image search. Watercolours on watercolour paper, with some detailing in white Signo opaque marker and black Sharpie.

Update:

Week 26: Land II

"The Eagle has landed." Collage of salted watercolours on watercolour paper and gold foil on black card, with highlights of white Signo opaque marker and black Sharpie.

Week 26: Land III

"When land runs out..." Cartoon in black Sharpie, painted in watercolours on watercolour paper, with highlights of white opaque 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 24

Week 24: Calendar

This is "Calendar Man", one of the lesser-known Batman villains. Sketched (without pencil or eraser) in black and red Sharpie and white opaque Uni Paint marker on red car, mounted on black card. Based on several panels from DC Comics.

I had a Batman board game in the 60s, a tie-in to the 60s TV series, but which drew heavily from the comics of an earlier decade. The villains were the usual Joker, Penguin, Riddler and Catwoman, but also Mr Zero (who had became Mr Freeze before the TV series), Blockbuster and the Calendar Man, whom I'd never heard of! Poor Calendar Man is ridiculed by the other villains for his fascination with calendars.

Update:

Week 24: Calendar II

Freehand-cut symmetrical heart in red card, with watercolour highlights on a sketch in black Sharpie.

Return of the 52-Week Illustration Challenge, Week 23

Week 23: Rain

With inspiration from Bert's pavement drawings in chalk of a merry-go-round (in the feature film, Mary Poppins), this pavement drawing is replicated across several sheets of "scratch paper" (with the supplied tool) and glued onto grey card. Rain drops and puddles created from black card, and decorated with blurred white opaque Uni Posca ink and coloured crayons.

Update:

Week 23: Rain II

"Raining cats and dogs - or hailing buses?" Black ballpoint pen on blue paper, umbrella shape freehand-cut to create a silhouette, highlighter pens, signage in Word on yellow paper, mounted onto black and beige card.

Week 23: Rain III

A solitary raindrop takes The Big Plunge. Originally, he was going to have little black shoes but - suddenly! - gum boots were more appropriate. Watercolour with black and blue Sharpie inks and white opaque Signo.

Return of the 52-Week Illustration Challenge, Week 22

Week 22: Childhood

Watercolour with black and gold Sharpie markers and white opaque Signo. Some beloved items from my childhood in the 1960s, all still with me into adulthood: a Grandma Macreak "Kooky Spooky" glow-in-the-dark finger puppet (with paper cocktail umbrella, from my grandmother, when the original umbrella accessory broke); a "Yukk" from a favourite souvenir and giftware shop in the former Imperial Arcade, Sydney; and my "Sunday Mirror Minors Club" badge, featuring the editor, Mimi.

My PhotoPeach slideshow about Kooky Spookys is HERE!

Update:

Week 22: Childhood II

My mother would have loved this one. Inspired by my first words at the beach ("Big bath!"), and my first words in a cinema ("Big TV!"). Black ballpoint pen, coloured pencils, cotton wool and white opaque Signo on mauve A4 card.

Return of the 52-Week Illustration Challenge, Week 21

Week 21: Stripes

"Pinguins". Pinstripe tuxedo penguins, freehand-cut from photocopied pinstriped material, collaged onto a salted watercolour background, with handmade paper ice mounds, white Puffy paint eyes, and black finepoint Sharpie details. Adjusted to grey tones in Photo.

It actually felt like one of my simpler collages. Glad I went with photocopied fabric and not actual fabric, as I think the edges would have frayed. The sky was my second attempt at salting (didn't realise it had to be rock salt, but this time I raided my salt cellar and it worked quit well!) Turning the blue section to monochrome was actually an accident in my new Photo app, but I liked the effect. The original sky is a gentle blue.

Update:

Very excited that my "pinguins" (above) were reposted by the TOFOP gang, the Facebook page for Wil Anderson and Charlie Clausen's hilarious "Thirty-Odd Foot of Podcast"! (Charlie once revealed, in an early episode, that he couldn't say "pinguins", and it became a running gag.)

Week 21: Stripes II

Here's "The leopard who changed his spots". Freehand-cut tiger (from the patterned paper cover of an old sketch pad), decorated in black Sharpie and white UniPaint opaque markers, watercolours, and then collaged onto red handmade paper with some fur fabric remnants.

I finally glued down all the elements. I was so scared I'd wreck something! Sometimes collage has a mind of its own. I must say, S. John Ross, the late Silhouette Man of Luna Park Sydney, is my inspiration when I'm freehand cutting shapes out of paper. It's very empowering to create with only scissors - and no pencil guidelines or erasers!

Week 21: Stripes III

"Barber shop, Ann Arbor, Michigan". Watercolour with black and red Sharpie markers and white opaque Signo. I photographed this traditional, rotating, striped barber pole in winter, during a vacation to my penpal's home town in USA. Loved the row of outdoor chairs for waiting customers - rain, hail, sleet or snow.

Return of the 52-Week Illustration Challenge, Week 20

Week 20: Melancholy

"Why the long face, Melan-collie?" Sketch using red Sharpie, white UniPaint and black fineline markers and coloured pencils on goldenrod paper. Based on a Google Images photo and childhood memories.

Update:

Week 20: Melancholy II

Morticia's perpetually sad Cousin Melancholia, "The Addams Family". Black and blue Sharpie and Signo white inks, and watercolours on corrugated cardboard. Based on a publicity photo of actress Hazel Shermet. (The hat looks great on my iPhone. Looks like I collaged it from straw, but just tan watercolour over black and white ink lines! I was a little disappointed, when researching Cousin Melancholia's likeness, that she was the least bizarre of all the Addams and Frumps! But I'd never forgotten her name. I really love how the purple wash worked out. The moon had been too-stark white until I added the purple.)

Return of the 52-Week Illustration Challenge, Week 19

Week 19: Eat

Symmetrical whale and fish templates freehand-cut and fringed from folded watercolour paper, mounted onto textured black card. Decorated in watercolours, black Sharpie ink and white Puffy paint.

Update:

Week 19: Eat II

Luna Park - Just for Indigestion. I know people who refuse to walk through the Luna Park Sydney entrance because they imagine this might happen! Outlined in thick black Sharpie, coloured with watercolour, silver Sharpie and white opaque Signo ink, and collaged onto word-processed card.

Return of the 52-Week Illustration Challenge, Week 18

Week 18: Art Deco

"RT-Deco". It seemed appropriate for Star Wars Day ("May the 4th be with you") this week. Art Deco-inspired droid, sketched in blue and black Sharpie inks on textured white card, with watercolour highlights.

Update:

Week 18: Art Deco II

Diana Lamp base in silver and black Sharpie and white Signo pigment ink on textured black card.

Return of the 52-Week Illustration Challenge, Week 17

Week 17: Fluffy

"The Trouble With Tribbles". Sketched in black Sharpie, with metallic gold highlights, on watercolour paper. Based on the famous publicity still from "Star Trek". Coloured in watercolours.

Update:

Week 17: Fluffy II

"Gossamer". Character from the Warner Bros' "Looney Tunes" cartoons. Finepoint black Sharpie and watercolour, mounted on flint paper background.

Week 17: Fluffy III

Based on two photos, taken by me, of a poodle being readied for Best in Show. White UniPaint marker on black card, with black, blue and red finepoint Sharpies and white Signo pigment ink.

Return of the 52-Week Illustration Challenge, Week 16

Week 16: Structure

Each time I did a Google Image search on this week's theme, there were always a few sets of robotic diagrams. Collage of the most structured materials in my grab bag of remnants: corrugated, metallic cardboard, recycled US Post envelope (complete with cancellation marks and automated zipcode markings), toothpicks, random robot instructions and labels in Pages, plus mini-headphones.

Update:

Great Court of the British Museum. Sketched (from a personal photograph) in green and black Sharpie inks on watercolour paper, with watercolour highlights.

Week 16: Structure II

Return of the 52-Week Illustration Challenge, Week 15

Week 15: Vietnam

Sketch in black Sharpie on art canvas sheet, coloured with crayons. Original photo found via Google Images.

Update:

Thanh the moonbear. Paper collage, watercolour and black Sharpie on "calm" blue flint paper. Photo located on Google images.

Week 15: Vietnam II

Originally, the moonbear looked like this, but the image was deemed too 3D for the Challenge:

Week 15: Vietnam IIa

Thanh the moonbear has calmly caught her lunch. Assemblage art using chopsticks, long grain rice, sultana pieces, cashews and plastic "fish" soy sauce dispensers placed upon "calm" blue flint paper. (Of course, with further research, I discovered that the only fish moonbears might eat are ones they find dead and spent after spawning season.)

Return of the 52-Week Illustration Challenge, Week 14

Week 14: Whimsy

"Only ten hares left on his head." Green handmade paper rabbits collaged onto a watercolour, mounted onto red flint paper. Tails added in white, three-dimensional, Tulip "Puffy" paint. Shading on the rabbits in graphite pencil. (I've been dying to make use of the little freehand-cut rabbits - from Week 9's Texture - and yesterday I suddenly realised how whimsical they might be, especially being green.)

Update:

Freehand-cut, whimsical giraffe collage using handmade papers, plus a chenille stick mane and a necklace of "Jila" mints.

Week 14: Whimsy II

Return of the 52-Week Illustration Challenge, Week 13

Week 13: Transport

"Taxee! Er, taxi!" Sketch in pencil over a light wash of pink and blue. Inked in black Sharpie and coloured with watercolours. What I enjoyed about doing this is that I splashed the diluted pink and blue paint onto the wet paper first, as a wash (then accidentally left it in the rain), so the dried background ended up being rather like a Mr Squiggle "squiggle" that I allowed to inform me just where the various elements would fall: ie. the placement of the box, the wheels, the girl's feet, the signpost, and even the teddy. It felt like the paper was telling me where to put everything.

Update:

"Transporter Room to Landing Party, one to beam down." A four-part piece of an Andorian from "Star Trek" beaming down to a planet. Drawn in black Sharpie onto watercolour paper, coloured with watercolours, two collaged paper templates, and silver glitter.

Week 13: Transport II