No matter how busy your day is, always stop to say hello to ladybirds

Thanks to everyone that turned out for my Bridgetown book launch of Captain Sneer.

It was a fantastic evening chatting to friends and meeting new people from around the South West.

What really impressed me was the astonishing amount of food my Mum and sister were able to produce towards the night. It took me half a day to make one batch of cheese straws while they produce copious amounts of delicious finger foods on the morning of the launch. Wow guys!

Two families of pirates turned up that I had to snaffle photos with. The youngest pirate
had the best ‘pirate sneer’ expression but unfortunately we didn’t capture it on camera.

I had an original pirate artwork as a door prize that was won by the Donnybrook-Bridgetown Mail journalist, Lee, who does such an amazing job covering these events.

After the piratey presentation that covered the progress of creating Captain Sneer the evening drew to a close.

A special thanks goes to my Dad, for being official photographer for the night, my brother, Jacob, for being the swanky barman and to my sister, Esther, for making some after launch goodies.

Also, a special thanks to the library staff and to Karen from the Manjimup-Bridgetown Times for writing up a super-duper article prior to the book launch.

Next launch, the State Library of WA, October 27th!

 

 

 

 

 

I’m in the middle of painting a limited number of life-sized (and slightly smaller) Captain Sneer cutouts to be showcased in bookshops and libraries from Albany to Perth.

The first Sneer is already on his way to Albany where his final destination will be the display window at Paperbark Bookshop.

Before he left my dog, Lacie, and I had a quick photoshoot with the ol’ fella.

 

Nothing beats the sketchbook for recording all those funny little ideas that flit nonchalantly through the head. These are a few favourites from my 2016 sketchbook .

 

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending the Asian Festival of Children’s Content in

Singapore, courtesy of writingWA who sponsored my trip.

This was an opportunity to not only present and share my beliefs in illustrating but absorb a slice of book culture in Asia.

I also managed to catch up on some sketching during my flights including this cliff sketch.

My first session was a rigorous round of Duelling Illustrators with the talented Soefara Jafney. This game sees two artists simultaneously
illustrating a book read by – in this instance – author, Julia Lawrence. It was extremely fast paced and I may have broken a sweat…

 

Following the session I enjoyed signing and giving away the drawings to children that had watched the bloodthirsty battle.

 

I was privileged to review portfolios to several illustrators during the conference. It was a fascinating process to see how each illustrator gets their inspiration and issues they have to deal with, everything from cultural barriers to mould growing on their artwork due to the climate.

My main presentation was on a topic I find fascinating, stealing from masters. Learning and adapting methods and systems from other artists to potentially use

them in your own work. This classic quote sums it up; ‘standing on the shoulders of giants‘.

I presented this to a full room with standing space only.

 

Overall, the conference was an enjoyable success and I enjoyed hanging out with some WA talent including illustrator/authors Kyle Hugh Hodson, Chris Nixon, Kylie Howarth, Julia Lawrence, Jen Barnyard, Perth Writer’s Festival‘s Maria Alessandrino and Fremantle Press‘ Claire Miller.