Gus Gordon

I'm still around. Just a bit busy

2012-01-30T06:27:00.000+11:00

Click to embiggen

Hi guys. Sorry about the lack of postage on here. I have been pretty busy trying to finish Herman and Rosie and I'm almost there so I haven't had the time to think about much else. I have though, posted the odd thing or two over on my Facebook page (including this illustration) - sorry, I'm not abreast of all the social mediums at the same time!

Anyway, I had better keep this short. This illustration is of a bunch of trees I am drawing for Central Park on my Manhattan map illustration. It's a heap of fun drawing a map. Especially a map of New York. See you in a bit - maybe over on my Facebook page!

On the subway

2012-01-06T12:27:00.001+11:00

Man, this makes me happy! This is one of the many reasons why I will always love New York. I can't imagine this happening anywhere else.

Ho Ho Hee

2011-12-15T12:21:00.002+11:00

click to embiggen

This is a ridiculous time of year isn't it! Why does xmas have to go for the whole of December do you think? I actually do enjoy the xmas period - people are generally much happier and I love the summer time (here in Australia!) and the sound of cicadas drowning out every other sound, but geez it's a busy time of year. There never seems to be enough time to get everything done. It's been very busy for me for different reasons as I have been working some (ill advised) hours in the studio on my book. It's going well (I say while I'm in a positive frame of mind) but, again, I wish I had more time.

Anyway, this is just a quick post to say that I wish everyone a really happy xmas and hope that you all travel safely to all your xmasy destinations. I'm going to be out of the studio for a bit (I'm really looking forward to going outside - I heard a bird yesterday and it sounded so nice) and will be back in the new year. I'll leave you with another little peek from a larger illustration of Rosie riding the Brooklyn Bridge. See you soon. GG x

PS. And check out my new Facebook site (http://www.facebook.com/GusGordonbooks) as I have experimenting with social media - it's crazy!

Penguin playing at The Mangy Hound

2011-11-23T21:40:00.001+11:00

Remember a while back when I posted a rough illustration of a Penguin playing a double bass? Of course you do! Anyway, I have just (right now at a quarter to ten at night) finished that illustration in the book and I thought you may want to see how it turned out - well part of it. This is a scene where Rosie is singing with her band at her only gig in town which just happens to be at the very dilapidated and not so popular anymore establishment, 'The Mangy Hound Jazz Club'. A large bear plays the drums, Rosie sings and this Penguin plays his double bass. There is only one animal in the audience and that is a duck who is reading a newspaper. See you soon.

click to embiggen

I am now on Facebook. I'm not sure why.

2011-11-18T09:19:00.001+11:00

Yeah, I got myself a Facebook page. I can't adequately explain the reasoning behind it, suffice to say that I guess I sort of felt that I should get with the current 'this is progress isn't it grand!' program before I was really out of the loop. So if you want to check out (and frankly why would you?) a Facebook page with some of my illustrations (old & new), links to things I find inspirational and music recommendations, come over and check it out. Maybe you may even want to 'like' me which seems thoroughly strange.

Will still be posting here. This is where I feel most comfortable.

My new book (is coming along...)

2011-10-25T16:01:00.001+11:00

Click to embiggen

Hi all! By that I mean Jen. Sorry for the lack of posting lately. I have been in hibernation, shut away in my studio working on the finals for my new book, 'Herman & Rosie' which comes out next year with Penguin (Australia). The text is pretty much down (but you can bet I'll be tweeking it until it goes to print) so I have been trying desperately not to get behind on my deadline (mid December - crap!) - I can hear it coming but can't see it yet, thankfully.

I thought it might be nice to show you a little bit of what I'm doing. The book is set in New York (hopefully that's going to be obvious) and centres around two lonely characters called Herman (a crocodile) and Rosie (a deer). I don't want to give too much away just yet but it's a dual narrative story about music, the city, connectedness and it has a horribly tragic ending. Actually I just made that last bit up. Wouldn't that be different! Anyway, in this scene above the two are watching the world whiz by. This is actually a cafe/restaurant I frequented in New York last November. It's a long way from finished (I have a bunch of animals to draw yet and some collage will replace line work) but it might give you an idea about how I work. This book is very much a mixed media book - specifically collage. I'm using all sorts of things; old papers, graph papers, photos and vintage engravings. Also a lot of crayon because I just love crayon. Especially my new Sennelier oil pastels. They are beautiful! I am having the most fun I have ever had with a book.

And here's a couple of finished illustrations - one from the start of the book and one much later.

Click to embiggen

I'll keep you posted with some updates and illustration sneak peaks soon, but for now I had better keep going. See you soon.

Vale REM

2011-09-22T09:48:00.000+10:00

Just found out that REM has finally called it a day. This the band and this is the song that started everything for me. From 'Life's Rich Pageant', Fall on Me was a revelation and it made me realise, as a young guy who loved music, that there was a whole other world of quality music behind the 'Top of The Pops' facade of lazy, mainstream, over-produced rubbish. It was not only better music but more importantly, it was mine. Goodbye and thanks.

Prints

2011-09-13T18:17:00.002+10:00

'Wendy felt like a star'

It's been a while coming but finally I have had the time to organise some prints of my work from 'Wendy'. Recently I was contacted by the lovely 'Anns' - (Ann James & Ann Haddon) from Books Illustrated down in Melbourne and asked to consider some possible images. They are massive supporters of the Australian children's book industry, in particular illustrators (Ann James is a highly regarded book illustrator herself), and they specialise in exhibitions and sales of original book illustrations, limited edition prints and signed picture books - lots of good stuff. Apart from their enthusiasm, they are just so very nice!

So I ended up choosing the first image above (click to embiggen), and it was exhibited with other illustrators on the Books Illustrated site who were invited to speak at the Ipswich Children's Literature Festival. Mick Smith of Splitting Image printing has done a fantastic job assuring that the image is as close to the original as possible. They do all Penguin's scanning and really know what they're doing. All editions are Giclée prints (fade-resistant, archival inks) and all are signed. For further details go over here. This first print will soon be followed by some other images of varying size and pricing. I will put a more permanent link to the prints up soon.

Make sure you check out the work of some of the other illustrators' work available on Books Illustrated. They have some beautiful stuff there. Will no doubt be grabbing something for my own wall. Back soon!

Speaking tours that never end

2011-09-12T12:36:00.000+10:00

Just got back to my studio. It's been a crazy four weeks of speaking at schools, libraries and festivals all over the country side. I really enjoy it but I do get a little tired of hearing my own voice. There are moments when I can hear the next line in my head as it moves, reel to reel like, between my ears.

The Ipswich Children's Literature Festival was a definite highlight. Jenny Stubbs did an incredible job coordinating the festival program and bringing twenty one authors and illustrators from around Australia together. Here's the official list:

Andy Griffiths, Aleesah Darlison, Angela Sunde, Anne Spudvilas, Brian Falkner, Chris Cheng, Christine Bongers, Clare McFadden, Deb Abela, Freya Blackwood, Gabrielle Wang, Greg Holfeld, James Moloney, John Heffernan, Kerry Brown, Leigh Hobbs, Lisa Hollier, Tracey Roper, Lucia Masciullo, Lynelle Westlake, Mark Wilson, Meredith Costain, Michael Bauer, Michael Salmon, Michelle Pike, Narelle Oliver, Oliver Phommavanh, Richard Newsome, Sally Rippin, Sarah Davis, Sheryl Gwyther, Sue Whiting, Susanne Gervay, Tanya Batt, Tristan Bancks

Woodlands of Marburg where the Ipswich Festival was held - there's ghosts in there! Pretty cool, hey.

It's a hell of an organisational feat. Bloody astounding actually. It's a really great opportunity for the kids attending to hear all about their favorite books and how they came to be, learn how to write good stories, draw and hopefully they go away feeling inspired (maybe exhausted but surely inspired). Plus it's a good chance to get together with your kind, drink a bunch of wine, set fire to the furniture and talk about how we all hate children. Kidding (we hardly ever set fire to anything).

Me, author Sue Whiting and author/illustrator Sally Rippin before the wine and fire. © Susanne Gervay

Anyway, it is always great to hang out with a whole bunch of talented people. It is also nice to be back though and with voice amazingly intact. Time to get busy with paint. I'll post up some Herman and Rosie progress reports along the way. Ahhh... I missed my studio.

August chill post

2011-08-09T15:54:00.002+10:00

This album is doing it for me. Release The Sunbird is basically Zach Rogue from Rogue Wave. They have released four albums and a great EP but for whatever reason Zach wanted to work on a side project and write music that pretty much harked back to the simple splendor that was Rogue Wave's first two albums. Release The Sunbird's 'Come Back To Us' is nothing but sweetness - one that strangely reminds me of my childhood growing up on a farm. Maybe it's something to do with the lovely harmonies, or the shimmery acoustic guitars, I don't know. Whatever it is, it's working.

Back into the groove

2011-07-28T16:26:00.004+10:00

Well, I'm back from our holiday break and feeling pretty damn relaxed. My mind is as uncluttered as it gets really. It was so great to be out of contact and out of range. I had no idea what was happening in the world and it felt good. Just sort of real. Like the old days when I was a kid. I even had the chance to read three great books. Nice to have that kind of time again.

So I'm ready. Ready to pick up a paintbrush and my pencil and get back into the swing of things. I don't normally take time off halfway through a book but maybe I should do so more often. Having just taken my first look at my roughs in 5 weeks, it's weird how much clearer I see it all. And having spoken to my editor (the lovely Katrina Lehman at Penguin), there were several glaring structural issues that I hadn't seen or realised, that now seem so annoyingly obvious. It's often hard to step back when you're in the thick of a book with a deadline cloud overhead and see your work with any real perspective. When I say perspective I mean with a fresh unbiased vision. In many ways, only when you are able to walk away totally from a project are you then able to see it with any proper perspective - almost like it's someone else's work. It would be nice if I could just push a button during the process and a new pair of eyes rolled into place - an unjaded, impartial, clear and shiny back-up pair. That would be really cool! I suppose that's why we have editors. And why we should listen to them. Crap. I'm getting all wordy. Sorry.

Anyway, I'm back and will see you soon. Hope you are all well.

A Herman & Rosie teaser

2011-06-20T13:40:00.004+10:00

On the way home the city seemed darker and louder and busier than usual.

Herman didn't feel like playing his oboe that night.

I am working away madly on my new picture book, 'Herman and Rosie' at the moment, which is due for release through Penguin next year. We are about to go away for a northern holiday (chasing the sun) so am working around the clock trying to do as much as possible before we leave - why is it always like this? Will no doubt fall in a heap on the plane and catch some disease that no one's heard of since the fall of Rome. Anyway, I thought I might post up an illustration before I left just to keep you in the loop. I'm going to blog about the whole process as I go - if you would like me to! Especially when I have more time.

This is a scene in the book where Herman loses his job and has lost his way. It's probably the 'blueist' part of the story in many ways. It's definitely bleak. I guess that's fairly obvious. I kept the city out of it mostly - just a New York lamp post and a mail box. I didn't think I needed much else. There are plenty of other city spreads along the way. My dark cloud kind of shocked me a little at first but I've grown used to it. Hopefully it isn't too scary. I had fun with my fonts and even got out my oft-neglected rubber stamps. There's something very satisfying about using a rubber stamp isn't there? Then again, maybe that's just my 'home-craft' geek talking. Get out your crochet hooks we have oven mitts to make!

Looking forward to immersing myself in it all when I get back but for now I must find the sun. See you when I get back.

A small something...

2011-05-30T13:38:00.004+10:00

From my new picture book I'm working on. Just a sideline character. I like the sideline guys almost as much.

Sketchbooking

2011-05-02T11:44:00.007+10:00

I am working on my picture book at present so don't have a lot to post so I thought I might jump into the sketchbook. Here are a few odd sketches that have nothing what-so-ever to do with each other. Sketching is a great way to let yourself go and kind of see what happens with a pencil in hand. All my book ideas start this way - a random sketch of something that somehow resonates with me to the point that I want to explore that idea or character and figure out if it's worth pursuing. Wendy started out this way when I drew a chicken playing a double bass. The best characters often seem fully formed in that their personality leaps from the page almost demanding for attention, begging for a story. For me, this is often the most exciting part of the whole process.

On the flip side, most of the sketches don't end up going anywhere and for good reason. Some are just plain embarrassing or don't make any sense. Some ideas may evolve from an amalgamation of several sketches - you just never know. It's all useful in the end even if the sketchbook is just a place to blow out the cobwebs. I just sketch in the hope of finding something shiny.

Bart Constant

2011-04-15T12:24:00.001+10:00

Bart Constant - "Do Better" (with Dustin O'Halloran) from Kimmo Films on Vimeo.

I just can't get this song, or clip, out of my head. This is a beautiful track called Do Better from a guy who calls himself 'Bart Constant'. This is a brilliant example of music and pictures working together seamlessly. Just perfect and so very moving. I love the understatedness of it with the bleak, communist country repressive undertones and the dull winter colours. It's like a mini-movie where you know how it's going to end but you still can't look away. And geez, it's sad!

I don't know anything about this guy but will have to look out for his upcoming album. If the rest of it is anything like this then I'll be grabbing a copy for sure.

More Randomness

2011-03-28T11:45:00.004+11:00

I am about to have a brief hiatus with my School Magazine illustration work while I hop into my new picture book so I thought I'd post a couple of random illustrations I did recently for them for a Emma Heyde story called Fair's Fair about two brothers in Bangladesh a long time ago. Had fun with this one.

As usual, click to embiggen.

See you soon.

GG x

'Tis Grand I Tell Ya!

2011-03-23T17:25:00.009+11:00

Just found out this morning (last to know it seems - then again I'm out of the social media loop) that Jen Storer and I have had our book Haggis McGregor and the Night of the Skull Moon shortlisted for the Aurealis Awards! A very nice surprise. I really enjoyed illustrating this - it's a brilliant little story. It's filled with so many great characters and well researched details (it's the little things that matter) that it doesn't really need my illustrations to bring it to life. It's also fantastically silly, which is very typical of Jen's work and why I loved working on it. One of those jobs that come along that you'd do even if no one paid you for it (as opposed to what a friend calls a 'books for white goods' job. Terrible isn't it! I don't do those.*) Anyway, it's nice for our Haggis to be noticed. I think it was the blood orange wig.

* Okay, there was that one time but we had a rabbit to feed and our fridge died.

It's All Official Now

2011-03-16T16:46:00.004+11:00

Irregular Needless Randomness

2011-03-06T15:56:00.008+11:00

This bird will become an even bigger bird if you click it!

Hey peoples - 20 now, I see! Been a while I know but I just wanted to touch base with the blogging world and post up some stuff that I have been working on. Had my head down in my studio lately and haven't spent much time on the interweb - especially since I let Facebook go. Abandoned Twitter some time ago too. Thought I would miss it all but... nah. I am quite prone (horribly so) to a distraction (pointless lists are are problem) so it feels good not to have another thing feeding off my poor defenceless brain. Anyway, ah yes... I've been fairly busy. In between books I have my regular School Magazine work. Above (click for bigger pic) is a School Magazine illustration for a story that involves, amongst other things, a giant sparrow. I don't get to draw giant sparrows that regularly (never) so it was a fun one.

Below are a couple of other School mag illos. It's a great magazine and I really enjoy the opportunity to try some different approaches, mediums and ideas that may transfer nicely to my book illustration work.

As I mentioned previously, I have been working on Tristan Bancks' fantastic new book 'My Life & Other Stuff I Made Up' published by Random House. Here's the cover I designed.

It's a very funny read about a boy called Tom Weekly. I spent a good deal of time in Tom's head, drawing (and list writing - good at those!) the odd things that sprout from his over-imaginative brain. Basically I channeled my 12 year old self. The one that spent days looking out classroom windows, writing lists about girls and doodling on pretty much anything that was in front of me. Good awkward memories. Here's a sample.

Good, squeamish, random fun. Well, that's my bit for the moment. Back soon with some other things...

Music to Draw to

2011-02-14T11:21:00.003+11:00

Listening a lot to this track lately, Becoming a Jackal, by the Irish group Villagers. The whole album is great but this is the stand out track. Conor O'Brien has a real heartache in his voice. I have no idea what the song is about and it doesn't really matter as it's just a great tune. Then again, maybe it's this line that draws me in - 'I was a dreamer, staring out windows.' I can relate to that.

2011, where did you come from?

2011-02-02T10:41:00.005+11:00

Wow, it's already February and I'm still working on my January books.

Geez, so much has happened in the last few months. It's been a busy summer so far and it started with an awesome trip to New York. Any excuse to get to New York is a good one and since my new book is set there (oh how convenient) I thought I had better get over there to get the drum. It was a ton of fun - when I say fun, I mean in a sweat-on-my-brow-tax-deductible kind of way. Yes. Anyway, I visited some publishers, hooked up with an agent, caught up with some friends, did a lot of sketching and drank a good deal of beer (after work that is). I did find time to do some touristy things (like visit the Met - that's work related, right?) when Ali came over as she had never been before. Holy smoke, I could spend days in there. Love that place.

Now that I'm back, I have just (officially) signed on to illustrate a very funny picture book called 'I Am Cow, Hear Me Moo!' by Jill Esbaum for Penguin US and have finally begun work on my NY picture book, tentatively titled 'Herman & Rosie', for Penguin Australia. Also illustrating a squeamishly clever book by my good friend Tristan Bancks called 'My Life & Other Stuff I Made Up' (this is one of those January books.) Meanwhile I'm still doing the School Magazine stuff (see above). So I'm well and truly back into the swing of the year and hoping the up coming months leave me some room to breath a little.

Will be back soon to tell you about some other book projects and share a little music. Hope everyone's year has started with a bang.*

* Not a loud annoying bang. More of a happy bang or maybe a pleasant sort of 'pop!' that is neither startling nor harmful to the ears in any way where they might ring unpleasantly or even bleed. That would be a bad way to start the year.

Elbow

2011-01-10T19:56:00.005+11:00

This is so wonderful. Elbow does nostalgia better than anyone.

Back soon peoples.

From Somewhere in New York

2010-11-29T04:16:00.022+11:00

Well, the East Village actually. 'The Bean Cafe' on the corner of 1st Avenue and East 3rd to be totally exact. This cafe is open from 7 in the morning till 2 the next morning - that's a lot of coffee. It's also very dog friendly. You only have to sit in here for half an hour before you can tick off all the breeds. Lots of little doggy coats. Funny.

It's been a great week. I have had a bunch of fun walking (so much bloody walking!), sketching, taking photos, taking in the night life (which only stops when, well... when it's not light anymore), catching up with old friends and meeting some new folk. It is such a vibrant city. So full of zest, so eager to please if only just to draw you in before you realise you're hooked. Then again maybe that's just me. I do, and have for some time, been happily mesmerised by this city and all it's charming big city quirks.

The East Village, where I'm staying, is a really cool part of town. It's full of lively little bars, music venues and eateries. It's not as stylish or quaint as it's neighbors Soho and Greenwich Village but is so much more real and representative of the ambitious New Yorker carving out a career (so many in creative industries) or of the carefree New Yorker (mostly of the younger variety) living in the moment.

It's the ideal place for my new book's characters Herman and Rosie.

I can picture them both in their tiny little downtown apartments doing their best to get by in the chaotic city. I can visualise Herman playing his Oboe (which I think I'm changing to a sax based on some extensive time in the field) on his apartment rooftop at night.

Maybe a little like this rooftop which is the rooftop of my apartment's building.

Had a really nice catch up with Irish Illustrator/Author Kevin Waldron who lives in Brooklyn along with fellow Irishman Oliver Jeffers. The Irish are everywhere in New York and Brooklyn seems to be the new place for artists and musicians to live or have studios. Kevin actually lives in the East Village and cycles across the Brooklyn bridge everyday despite the unAustralian temperatures. Man, it is cold here!

Geez, what else? Oh yeah, had a really nice Thanksgiving with some friends up in Bronxville. So pretty up there. Saw some art exhibitions, hooked up with a NY literary agent, had far too many beers and late nights, caught a basketball game and some NY comedy (didn't finish until 3:30 in the morning!) Have some publisher meetings this week. Doing a picture book for Penguin US so that should be fun.

Looking forward to my Ali joining me this afternoon. It feels like it's been more than a week here. Anyway this post has been far too long and far too self indulgent (I apologise for this - I realise blog's are self indulgent by default but it's nice sometimes to pretend otherwise). And now a sketch or two. Forgive the quality - I had to photograph them and the morning light's not great. Catch you later.

Bright Buttons

2010-11-19T17:52:00.002+11:00

This is a long overdue post. I have been meaning to post about this for quite some time and well...well, I guess I just haven't for many reasons that remain unclear.

My wife Ali, is an enormously clever person (I can boast about her because this is my blog and I hold the official bragging rights - a tremendous honor.) One day, some time ago, she invented a board game called 'Bright Buttons'. Pretty much, just like that. Actually, the story goes a little more like this:

One morning one of our boys (Ollie) came into the kitchen to see a well known board game still on the table from the previous night. He asked Ali if he could play it with her and she naturally said 'yes', changing the questions so that they were appropriate for his age (Ollie was three at the time). He loved that he was able to play a board game with his mum and Ali could see that, done right, a game like this could be a great educational tool as well. It wasn't long before she had a 'cardboard and sticky tape' version that included fun physical and spacial awareness challenges along with questions that encouraged kids to be inquisitive and engaged. Although Ali was vaguely aware that there wasn't anything like this on the market for pre-schoolers (really little people), at this stage it was just a fun game that we enjoyed playing with our kids. Then a friend who just happened to work in the toy industry suggested that she thought it was the sort of thing that a board game company might be looking for.

So Ali teamed up with a graphic designer friend (Kerry Jones) with similar aged kids and they put together a much more flash (sticky tape-less) version and sent it to an International board game company called UGames. They loved it and well, it is now sold in Australia, Germany, the Netherlands (where it was nominated for 'toy of the year') Belgium, France and Luxembourg. Luxembourg people!!

Ali and Kerry also have another two games on the way as part of the series.

Can't tell you how proud I am. And I thought I was the creative one!

PS. Forgot to tell you where you can buy 'Bright Buttons' (if you want!) It can be found at Border's Books, Myer, Toys R Us and a whole bunch of good independent/educational toy stores. Also, it's out there online too.

PSS. I'm off to New York on Sunday and will be posting (sketches, photos and useless thoughts) from over there. No doubt it will be rather New Yorkish.

Boy with Octopus

2010-11-04T11:02:00.001+11:00

Well I posted the front cover so I might as well show you the back cover, yeah? On a technical note, I have changed my watercolours from my standard 'Winsor & Newton' paints to 'Lukas' inks on a recommendation from a friend (the talented Anna Walker) and I'm really happy with the results. The colours seem to be much more vibrant and not so flat and muddy (sorry to get all nerdy on you). I think I'm not imagining things.

And now a book cover...

2010-10-21T21:07:00.004+11:00

Remember when I was telling you all (I say optimistically) about an Octopus with anger issues. Well, here he is in glorious colour. This is the cover for 'Mr Eight' by Sharyn Eastaugh - without all the wordy bits. I think (I'm never really sure) that I'm happy with how it turned out. Now, I will try my hardest not to ever sight it again.

Mr Eight

2010-10-19T10:50:00.010+11:00

It looks like I'll be working on finishing other author's books before I get a chance to work on my own - until I leave for New York anyway. Just finished the roughs for a Penguin Aussie Bite by Sharyn Eastaugh called 'Mr Eight.' It's a really funny little book about an Octopus with some serious anger issues (a Swordfish poked out one of his eyes in a fight) and a boy who wants a different sort of pet. I have always wanted to illustrate a book about an Octopus so was very happy when this one came along. These roughs are pretty much how they'll look when they're finished, only ink-washed up. See you soon!

New York and something about research

2010-10-01T17:00:00.005+10:00

There are times when what I do feels like work - at least what I imagine work to feel like, but mostly I feel almost embarrassed to admit out loud to the fact (out of a weird respect to those who loath their week days) that I love my job. Even that word 'job' feels an inappropriate word to describe what is essentially a hobby that I get paid to do. I get paid to do something that I have done voluntarily since I realised that lipstick could pass as a frightfully convincing crayon alternative. Jobs, are things that people who add-up stuff have. People who tell other people what to do have jobs. People who wear different clothes on week days have jobs - especially people who wear ties - would they really wear a tie if they didn't have to? Geez, where am I going with this....oh yeah, I'm going to New York.

Yep, I've got my flights and accommodation (in East Village) all booked. Heading over in late November/early December for two and a bit weeks to do some 'research' for my new picture book which is set in New York (boy am I glad the characters just happened to live there!) Basically this research will involve a big fat sketchbook, some pencils, a camera and a bunch of beer. Beer will probably come after the sketching bit. Also going to visit some other people who don't have jobs - writer and illustrator types like me. I'm so excited, I decided to put an exclamation mark at the end of this sentence!

All kinds of Awesome

2010-09-13T15:34:00.003+10:00

I just keep coming back to this beautiful Foxes in Fiction track - 'Flashing Lights Have Ended Now.' It's so dreamy, so luscious, so hard to listen to just the once. Shame about the filmclip or lack thereof. Doesn't matter. Just put it on and wrap yourself up in it's glorious honeyed tones.

Update

Only recently realised that Foxes in Fiction are a one man show. Warren Hildebrand (who unexpectedly dropped by to comment) does it all! He's from Toronto, Ontario and records everything in his apartment - so much good music seems to come from apartments these days. For those of you who enjoyed the track and want to explore some more, you can check out his Myspace page, blog or grab the album from Amazon. Worth the time.

Book Month

2010-09-07T16:46:00.002+10:00

Well, what a crazy book month. I've travelled all over the place speaking at schools and festivals. It's been a fun and somewhat dizzying (that's a real word yeah?) time. And it's not quite over yet. A CBCA book function today, two more schools this week, a book function the following week and then I'm away speaking in the Scone region for a week visiting local schools. Meanwhile all the boring admin stuff just piles up - boy, does it pile up! So do the book deadlines. Anyway, at least I'm getting out. Thankfully the kids make it all worthwhile. Even the smelly ones.

Above is one of my deadlines I had to honour. A School Magazine illustration for a poem by George Anderson. Love a bit of backyard cricket.

Something I'm working on...

2010-08-18T17:08:00.002+10:00

Hello good people. Yes indeed, the images above are from something I'm working on at present. My next picture book. Like 'Wendy,' Penguin have this one too. Having a good deal of fun getting my head back into one of my own projects. Loving it in fact.

Not sure I'll be posting much in the next week or two as it's a pretty crazy time of year. They call it 'book week' but everyone knows it's book month. Apart from working on my book, I'm away speaking at schools and book functions all over the place - twenty schools and three book gigs in the space of six or seven weeks. Madness I know, but it's nice to get out of the studio, flick the switch and connect with the real world again - see some real people. People who don't have switches.

Why I've been busy & why you should care (or not)

2010-07-29T16:50:00.004+10:00

Hello procrastinators! Yes, I've been pretty busy here as I've been finishing off a book and illustrating some School Magazine work so I haven't had time to post anything significant. Anyway, instead of crapping on about how busy I've been, I decided to share some randomly selected illustrations (my three year old daughter helped me out here) that I've been working on - see above.

Finally, I have some time to work on my new picture book which I am a little behind on. Yeah! I'll post some early previews regarding this soon. Stay well.

Oh, you can move on now.

Dog driving car

2010-07-26T17:21:00.006+10:00

Just 'cause.

* Click image for bigger red car. Dog will also be larger.

Two Poems

2010-06-30T10:18:00.006+10:00

Had a lot of fun illustrating these two poems in the past week for School Magazine. Both are quite clever in different ways. 'The Quarrel' by Eleanor Farjeon is a poem about two stubborn brothers who have a really good argument over something that is long forgotten. The line that stood out for me was, 'the afternoon turned black' and I used this as the central idea for the illustration.

The other poem was very different. So many nonsensical elements which is generally the case in a Spike Milligan poem. I'm a huge fan of his brand of wackiness so illustrating 'On The Ning Nang Nong' was a nice challenge for me. I did my best to be as equally silly but it's a tough act to follow. Spike's just too damn crazy. At the very least I captured some of the poem's pervading madness. Hopefully.

Both illustrations were done primarily with collage. It's such a fantastically diverse medium. Over the years I have amassed a large collection of painted tissue papers, pattered art papers, interesting washes, old books, postcards & ads that I can use. It's a lot of fun working out what should go where.

Anyhoo, better get back to it I guess. Stay well peoples.

Random offerings

2010-06-11T10:07:00.008+10:00

Hello people. Sorry about the lack of posts lately. Just been busy illustrating stuff, finishing off books and starting new ones. The normal kind of thing. Working on a book for Penguin at present that requires about sixty odd black and white illustrations. Very silly illustrations. Like this one.

And this too.

I've been listening to a lot of good music as well. Like this brilliant kiwi band, The Phoenix Foundation. Great music to draw to. Hope all's well in your world.

The Phoenix Foundation - Buffalo

Wild Nothing

2010-06-02T10:55:00.003+10:00

Loving this band from the US. They are really pushing my buttons - particularly those on my eighties jacket.

Wild Nothing - Chinatown

Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

2010-05-16T17:30:00.000+10:00

There is a fantastic picture book blog (specifically about Illustrators) that I have been reading for some time called 'Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.' It's run by the lovely Jules and was co-founded by her friend Eisha. They are hugely fanatical (in a good way) about children's book illustration and picture books and, over the years, have interviewed, featured, dissected just about anyone who's anyone or is going to be, so I am thrilled to be the illustrator featured at the moment. If you have a spare moment, go and check it out. Also check out their archives - they've interviewed some amazing illustrators. Have a good week peoples.

Look what arrived in the post

2010-05-13T11:41:00.007+10:00

Okay, it's a bad photo but it was a nice surprise. While I did know that Wendy had been sold to South Korea, I didn't realise how different it was going to look. Not just the front cover either. The end papers for instance are now rows of apple cores! Cool. There are translations for every little sign, magazine cover, advertising billboards etc. Some of it is very small. Looks like they've done a good job of it. I'm assuming the translations are correct but buggered if I'll ever know. Actually, is there anyone out there that can tell me if that does indeed say 'Wendy' on the front cover or does it say something odd like, 'Chicken motorbike jumper of fame?' Or maybe, 'Wendy chicken incredible!' Mmmmm...

Exciting none the less.

UPDATE!

Just found out (thanks Ji-young) that the translated title reads, 'Wendy, the flying chicken.' This was actually the working title so that's a relief.

Invites & Lion Tamers

2010-04-13T09:20:00.006+10:00

We have three little people. This means they are often having birthdays and whilst we don't always have parties for them (this would almost certainly send us broke) we do occasionally hold a party for them. We kind of take turns. One of them has a big party then next time it's a small one.

Over the years I have drawn many an invite - for birthdays, weddings, engagements, anything and everything for all sorts of folks. Including us. This is an 'us' one. Our middle person, Harry, recently turned five and he is an animal nut. He loves them all. Zoo animals, circus animals, garden animals (even slimy ones), sea animals, weird accidental unidentifiable animals with no name. So when I asked him what animal he wanted me to draw on his birthday party invite I was a little surprised to hear him say, 'a Lion.' So here is Harry and a large Lion (without the writing underneath.)

The whole idea of Lion Tamers is kind of crazy don't you think? Bravado with a whip and chair. It all goes well for a bunch of shows, then 'WHAM!' he loses an arm. A precarious profession at the best of times. There's no way I'd do it. Besides I couldn't grow the required mustache.

BTW, the party went well. No one lost an arm anyway.

2010 CBCA Awards

2010-03-31T09:38:00.002+11:00

Well Wendy made a list . Yesterday, I was very happy to find out that Wendy had made the Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Notable Books list in the picture book category. This is a list of thirty odd picture books that were released in 2009. I had one eye slightly open (I hate these sort of things) when the list was announced, not really expecting much so it was a nice surprise. There are a ton of good books on the list so it felt good to be included. Mind you, now that the buggers had me reeled in (in an emotional hostage kind of way - it's bloody cruel), I found it nigh on impossible to get much work done in the interim until the short list (down to six books) was announced a few hours later at noon. Alas, Wendy didn't make the cut. Still, I'm just happy she was on a list.

Thanks again for all the nice emails kind people.

UPDATE!
I just found out that the notables get a sticker - a sticker I tells you!! I like stickers.

Somerset Writer's Festival

2010-03-23T11:27:00.000+11:00

Last week I was lucky enough to attend the Somerset Writer's Festival up at the Gold Coast. This was my first Somerset, and whilst I've enjoyed other festivals, this was hands down the most fun I have ever had at a book festival. We all stayed at Jupiter's Casino in town which, at first, I thought was a strange place to accommodate a bunch of authors (especially since I can't stand gambling and all it entails) but it worked out to be a good venue (especially the pool!) albeit a bit surreal. The author/illustrator group were a really nice mix of rockstar authors, the well published and the up and coming folk. And we all seemed to get along very well indeed. There were no big egos roaming around with their publicists and entourage nibbling at their side while we bottom feeders swum aside enviously looking up at their shiny undersides. None of that - which was refreshing. In between sessions and book signings we headed back to the green room (the library) for some down time. This was a great place to have a chat, compare notes and to just chill out (it can get bloody tiring.) Here's some of us kicking back in the green room (in a school photo like way.)

From back L to R: Brian Caswell, James Roy, Nette Hilton, Tony Eaton, Kate Constable, Belinda Murrell, Me, Chris Bongers and John Danalis

The whole thing was so well organised and it's a credit to Karen Mackie, the programme director, that it was such a success. There were a lot of kids. 15,000 tickets were sold - 15,000!! The place was buzzing. I had five sessions over the three days in total, two with James Roy and three by myself. Jim and I did a session based around our book 'The S Word' which is a boys guide to sex and puberty. Jim talked about sex and growing up (basically a stand up routine) and I drew cartoons as quickly as I could. They were fun gigs - also a little challenging trying to find the right line. I was constantly asking myself, 'Do I draw a boob gag here or not?' Our biggest group was 250 odd kids. Here's an iphone photo (a bit blurry) of one of many cartoons. Taken by Belinda Jeffery (Thanks Belinda.)

One of the biggest highlights was the last night at the literary dinner. Markus Zusak gave a typically inspiring speech about writing and his book 'The Book Thief' and then we hit the dance floor for a bop. The organisers had made the mistake of seating most of us on the same table so by the time the band had plugged in, our inhibitions had evaporated. Well, mine had anyway.

Overall, it was an inspirational, exhausting and thoroughly enjoyable four days. Great to catch up with old mates and make a bunch of new ones. Having a wee bit of trouble settling back into my normal routine.

Book signing thing

2010-02-24T09:17:00.010+11:00

Man, I'm on a blogging roll here. Anyhoo, for those folks who live in Sydney town or just happen to be in Sydney town or live not far away from Sydney town or have enough money to fly to Sydney town just for the event (wouldn't that be something!) AND are even interested; I am doing a 'Wendy' storytelling/book signing/chatting/drawing thing this Saturday at Borders bookstore in Chatswood. For those who can't open the jpg above; the details are:

Saturday February 27th, 2010

11am

Borders Books

Level 5, Shops 521-526

Westfield Chatswood

Anderston Street

Chatswood, NSW 2067

Phone: 02 9415 4800

Come and say hello, listen to me read 'Wendy' and watch me draw a piccy or two.

BTW, check out the poster the lovely folks at Penguin did for the event. Apart from the photo part, I reckon it's pretty darn flash!

The drawing of cars

2010-02-22T14:15:00.015+11:00

The illustration above is from a picture book I recently completed called 'My Aussie Dad' by Yvonne Morrison. It's due out soon with Scholastic Australia.

When I was a kid, I used to draw an awful lot. The subject matter at first (several years) was fairly narrow in scope. Anything with wheels. This annoyed my mother, a handy fine artist herself, because she believed that I was capable of drawing other things that were wildly more interesting. Also, she felt slightly annoyed that I would seek my father out for drawing advice. Generally speaking he was a hopeless drawer, but he did have a knack for drawing vehicles. Very simple vehicles. His machines were fairly normal looking except that they always had these cool little, weeny wheels. The wheels looked ridiculously small in comparison to the load they were carrying. I thought they were bloody fantastic. Eventually, of course, I got tired of drawing cars, trucks and motorbikes jumping things and moved on to landscapes and girls.

Every now and then, these days, I have an opportunity to draw a car or truck or row of trucks ('Wendy' below).

And not a whole lot has changed. Aside from a bit of perspective, I still draw them fundamentally the same way that I used to as a kid. It's just the way I see them in my head. They have the normal shape (although somewhat bubble-like) with the tiny (abnormally strong!) wheels. I only noticed this quite recently. It must be a subconscious thing.

Haggis McGregor

2010-02-16T11:15:00.007+11:00

Illustrating a lovely little book at the moment called 'Haggis McGregor & The Night of The Skull Moon' by the fabulous Jen Storer. I have illustrated a previous book of hers, another Aussie Bite, called 'Sing, Pepi Sing' about a guitar playing Mexican walking fish called Pepi. This one is very different. Haggis is an ancient skeleton who, together with his trusty skeletal horse, awake from their crypt every 'skull moon' to terrify the local village folk of Dunroamin; a weather-beaten sea side village in Scotland. Haggis is looking for a wife and he has his hollow eyes on someone who is understandably not interested.

It's a very funny book. Just my sort of book. Jen really knows how to tell a good story ('Pepi' is still hands-down the funniest book I've ever illustrated) and has a particular knack for good strong characters. They're always very rounded and evoke vivid mental impressions. This makes things much easier for me.

You can see in these rough illos that Haggis wears a kilt (thank god!) He also dons a blood orange wig and carries with him a hefty claymore which he uses to helpfully trim people's hedgerows. It was a challenge drawing Haggis (and his horse) in such a way that, not only were they quite obviously skeletal in appearance, but more importantly, that we could still see their character's personality shining through. I was less concerned with the anatomical aspects of their bodies (as long as they look roughly like skeletons, I don't care) but found that the real challenge was capturing the expressions needed to tell the story. In the end I found it all came down to the shape of their black eyes and the shape and placement of their jaws. The rest is body language. The finals illustrations will be done in ink-wash and this will hopefully help give everything some depth and form.

This last illustration is for the back cover. It's of Gordon Cobb, a lonely little spirit who floats around town looking for a family. A solemn illustration but a very funny book. BTW, 'Haggis' (Penguin Books) is out in June.

An Unlikely Couple

2010-02-05T16:00:00.005+11:00

Been awhile huh. Sorry about that. I had a really nice break over the xmas period only to jump straight into a whole bunch of stuff. Deadlines everywhere. Some of the little buggers were living on the backs of other, scarier looking deadlines. Very uncomfortable. I had real trouble shaking those suckers loose. I had a picture book to finish, roughs for a black & white chapter book to complete and my monthly School Mag deadlines. Unfortunately the blog is low on the priority list during these times (I'll try and post a bit more regularly now.) Also looking forward to some time spent working on my own projects.

Anyway people, (I say people like there's more than one of you who's actually reading this rubbish), the above illo is a school mag illustration I did for a story about the first cat on earth. It's an old Somali folk tale.

Also, it seems that while I've been gone, every pill, porn and 'get rich quick' spammer has been posting tremendously informative 'comments' on my posts. Does anyone know how to stop this happening? They've been terribly helpful but I'm a little bored of it all. Besides, it's going to take forever to delete them.

See you round.

Dragons and such

2009-11-24T09:19:00.006+11:00

Okay, I'm back - it's been a while. I have been so busy lately. Still am and will be until xmas (the very site of that word terrifies me.) This time of year is often crazy. Why the hell should xmas be a deadline? Anyway, I'm working on a picture book for Scholastic, an Aussie Bite for Penguin (Jen Storer's new one) and a bunch of School Magazine stuff including this dragon for a poem titled 'Dragon's Lament.' It's about a dragon who's tired of scaring people and has lost the energy to instill fear. I don't have the opportunity to draw dragons very often so I was pleasantly surprised how easily this little dragon came to me. I guess it was already there, plucked from my boyhood subconscious - the swirling, unfocused cavity between my long-gone youthful ears. My whole world was fantasy then - yes, even more than now. Only, these days I don't have the same amount of time to spend staring out windows.

Website

2009-11-05T08:53:00.007+11:00

Well, it's taken a little while but I finally got my website started yesterday (http://www.gusgordon.com/). It's not much yet but it's something. It's at least a sign of things to come and the general kind of feel that I'm looking for. There's something quite exciting about a postcard isn't there. Like a photo, it's a moment - a snapshot of a place or time, real or not. Old ones especially evoke a certain kind of magic; like all this time has passed since and that little moment, words on a card, were just what was happening at that particular time - happy or otherwise. Mostly happy stuff though. Postcards were never really reserved for sad times. Mostly for pretending that everything was good.

Anyway, it's a start. Take a wee look. More to come soon.

Knights & Castles

2009-10-07T10:22:00.006+11:00

Following up on my 'Nay!' post a while back; above is how the final 'Knights & Castles' cover illustration turned out - before the title and accompanying text was added. This is pretty low res but it will give you the general idea.

I enjoyed this one. There was an amazing amount of historical research that went into it - even if it doesn't look that way! The brief was as thick as I've ever received. The knights had to have particular colours, tunics, swords, helmets, armor. The castle had to be a Welsh 12th century castle. The horses couldn't have funny bendy legs (as previously mentioned). I even had historical illos of the boats in the distance. Not a waterskier in sight! There was a good deal to consider. As a consequence, my linework was quite a bit more laboured than usual - not as free and lose as I would have preferred but in the end it was a fun job. Apparently, this will be at Frankfurt bookfair next week. Maybe a book to come...

Random lazy posting of 'Wendy' illo

2009-09-22T13:22:00.006+10:00

Nay!

2009-08-20T14:44:00.003+10:00

Drawing some cover roughs for a knights and castles type book for a UK publisher at the moment and having fun with horses. All my horses seem to have very bendy legs. Rubbery ones that bend like ours do. I know it's not anatomically correct but I think they look better this way!

Our place is a mess!

2009-08-18T14:14:00.007+10:00

We are renovating at the moment so it's just madness here. I am out of my studio (mostly) and we are living elsewhere - our third house since we've been on the run. We are gypsies. Still, I try to meet my deadlines in the dark (apart from my computer, our power is off) and also try to keep on top of my normal emailing and bookwork which, for those who know me, is a fruitless exercise anyway. I have also found time to do some writing which has been nice.

Wendy is due to be released at the end of this month so am excited and nervous at the same time. I'm having a book launch in early September which will be a fun way to thank all those folk who have invested some time in Wendy. As a friend said recently, 'this chicken has had the gestation period of an elephant!'

The illo is a new one for School Magazine. Just about to start a cover for a UK publisher. The world is small. See you soon.

The Good Life

2009-07-20T10:34:00.013+10:00

Sorry for the lull in blog posts. Haven't been tweeting much lately either, sorry. We've been renovating. Chaos all round. Dusty as crap and noisy as hell. You'd reckon someone would've invented a silencer for a nail gun by now.

I've been out of my studio mostly. Not long finished illustrating Michael Wagner's last 'Undys' book - 'On The Move' (book number six). Sad to finally wind up what has been a thoroughly enjoyable series of books. So long Josh and Fillmore Undy!

I've been writing here and there whenever I can and doing other odd jobs. Received my advance copies of 'Wendy' and am really happy with the results. It can be a nerve racking process waiting for the real thing to turn up in the mail. So nice to have the final product in your hands - all hardbacky and spot-glossy. Sweet. Looking forward to the end of August for the release. Still nervous...

Another sneak peek of Wendy. Here she is at the top of her game, living the high life a chicken of her stature would naturally embrace. Vintage poster moment.

Blur's 'Good Song'

2009-06-10T18:10:00.009+10:00

I just love this. So beautiful and sweet, yet so sad and strange and even a little violent - has it all! Cool animation too.

A Bear

2009-06-05T15:39:00.010+10:00

This fella arrived some time today. I was just illustrating (something completely unbear like) and he sort of turned up unannounced. Funny how that happens. Not very often. Most characters take some scratching around and reworking until something clicks. Probably won't go anywhere but you never know. God knows there's enough books about bears!

Discovering something cool in grandpa's shed

2009-06-02T09:42:00.003+10:00

Soccer training and little people

2009-05-15T09:50:00.009+10:00

I enjoy drawing little people. Especially running about the place, little legs moving rapidly like wind up toys until they can't move any more. One of the stories I illustrated recently in School Magazine was about a year four schoolboy called Barry who coached a Soccer (Football in the rest of the world) team of kindergarten kids. This illustration is for the cover of one of the magazines. You can imagine how hard it would be training a bunch of small people who for the best part know nothing about organised sport, are barely bigger than the ball and have weeny little attention spans. There's hardly anything funnier than watching a group of small children in a park chasing one ball around all bunched up together like a school of fish.

BTW, if the uniforms look like pyjamas it's because they are (at least I hope they look like pyjamas.) One of the mothers made them for the team out of pyjama material. They have little rockets on them. Cute!

Wendy snippet...

2009-05-06T08:48:00.007+10:00

This little illustration is one that appears in 'Wendy' toward the end of her feathered adventure. Throughout the book I illustrated 'photos' interspersed with the colour illustrations. I did this partly to help the reader get a feel for the time the book is set in (1920's - early 1960's travelling circus era) and partly as a way to show Wendy's nostalgic recollections of moments past. The sepia 'photo' look worked fairly well (I think, though am still too close to be sure) and just added that extra element. I don't know about you guys, but all my memories are in sepia. I'm also almost always wearing a bow tie and bowler hat.

Ahhh, happy times...

Stomach Bug

2009-04-17T11:54:00.003+10:00

I have a nasty stomach bug. I'm quite certain he looks like this.

Checking the view

2009-04-08T15:33:00.009+10:00

Hello avid readers of this mosquito invested, semi stagnant, blog. I'm going to attempt to revive this old swamp so stay with me while I get my gumboots on.

This is one many sketches I did prior to beginning the initial roughs for 'Wendy'. I always had a fairly graphic landscape in mind when I began to imagine the world in which Wendy lived in. There is a place I know that actually looks a bit like this - lots of wobbly hills and orange trees of various sizes growing at strange angles. Houses precariously perched on the side of steep hills. It seemed to fit very neatly into Wendy's story and as Wendy is a chicken who has the bigger world in her sights I have her here staring out over the rolling hills in front of her. One small chicken checking out the big world in front of her.

Happy Easter people.

Wendy has flown the coop

2009-03-31T16:57:00.012+11:00

I feel like I've just got off a very long bus ride. Finally finished illustrating 'Wendy' last week. It's been the busiest 4 or so months of my life! Just as I finished my picture book I jumped straight into another book, an 'Aussie Bite' ('The Baked Bean Bandit') which, thankfully, was a much smaller book that only required 22 ink-wash illustrations and 2 cover illos. My arm was horribly close to falling off at the end.

'Wendy' is now flying around somewhere in Bologna apparently and is due for release in September by Penguin.

I now have some of my life back and plan to blog a little more frequently. Back soon...

Kids' Night In

2009-02-02T15:44:00.011+11:00

Gee it's been awhile. I've been in the midst of my picture book ('Wendy') drawing and painting around the clock as fast as my hand (and brain) will allow. Deadlines will be the end of me one day.

In other news, I was recently asked by Penguin to contribute to 'Kids Night In '. This will be the third in the series. The royalties of these books are donated to War Child, an aid agency that works to help children throughout the world affected by war. Writers and illustrators are asked to contribute stories, poems and illustrations. As you can see above, I chose to do something not quite so serious - surprised? These books are well put together and are lots of fun. Plus, it's a darn good cause. The third instalment will be out in October so check it out.

A Northern Beaches Studio

2008-11-07T09:25:00.009+11:00

I thought I'd post some photos of my studio as I'm madly working on my picture book at present and can't really show any of the illustrations until it's published - something like that anyway. This is by far the best studio I have ever had. Like most illustrators I spent many years drawing on kitchen tables. This was an old garage when we moved in. We pulled the old horse hair ceiling down to expose these fantastic old beams. They seemed very appropriate. Some french doors helped to get some nice light in and the carpet is great in winter for warmth and for catching paint. Add a splash of Mediterranean blue and bang some cupboards and bookshelves in and viola! Almost too good to work in!

Click the photos for a bigger pic.

Wendy

2008-10-23T09:34:00.004+11:00

Finally finishing up my other book work, namely Michael Wagner's 'The Undys - One Wacky Week'. There are a lot of illustrations in Michael's books. He likes to keep me busy! I think there was around 140 - 150 in the latest. Luckily they are all in black and white pen otherwise I'd still be going.

I have now started on the finals of my picture book. This little spot illo is a rough from the book where Wendy spends some time in hospital. I like this illo of Wendy. It sort of sums up her whole personality. I need to get everything to Penguin by the end of January which sounds like a long way away but is not when you factor in the xmas period and because I'm doing a mixed media thing I'm sending all my illos down to the printers in Melbourne to be scanned then get them back again to work on the computer so it's all a bit of a drawn out process. Just knocked back a bunch of School Magazine work too so I now have a free run ahead which is highly unusual.

Will keep you posted...

Jan Svankmajer

2008-10-21T08:38:00.004+11:00

Came across this brilliant bit of stop animation recently. Jan Svankmajer has a fantastic imagination. It's a little creepy in some ways but the overall idea is inspirational. He has this ability to engage the viewer in such a way that you almost end up watching out of the corner of your eye not really knowing whether you want to watch the whole thing. Talk about a good story arc.

Zap!

2008-10-06T09:00:00.009+11:00

This is a cover I illustrated for School Magazine recently. It was for a story on static electricity. That is all.

Summer in Spring

2008-10-03T16:10:00.006+10:00

Boy, it's hot today - 36 degrees Celsius! It's supposed to be Spring here! My pens are being all weird and fuzzy. Same as my head...

Book festivals, School Magazine and other things...

2008-06-04T14:03:00.028+10:00

Gee, it's been awhile. Somehow, somewhere, there has been a major stuff up. The organisers have accidently compressed the last 6 months into a standard week - you heard it here first. It explains everything right? That's my excuse anyway. That, and something to do with being incredibly busy and incredibly lazy at the same time.

Just back from the Sunshine Coast (which was anything but - the word 'monsoon' springs to mind) where I was speaking, along with many other authors and illustrators, at the Voices on the Coast youth literature festival. I had a fantastic time. These kind of festivals are so valuable in terms of getting kids interested in books and for those who already are and want to learn more about writing, illustrating and the industry. There were about 25 speakers (Wendy Orr, James Roy, Craig Smith, Roland Harvey, Michael Wagner, Jeni Mawter and Suzanne Gervay to name a few) from all over Australia and apparently about 10,000 kids attending all the various talks and events. 10 friggin' thousand!! I can't tell you how impressed I was with how well it was organised - amazing. Military style precision all round. Kelly Dunham did an unbelievable job and somehow always had a big smile on her face even when the rain was coming in sideways and fire alarms were going off! Apart from speaking and holding workshops I had the honour of launching James Roy's latest book 'Queasy Rider'. Slightly nerve racking I must say after Simon Higgins' Japanese sword routine! The whole festival was thoroughly enjoyable. Half the fun was just hanging out with industry folk and talking shop over pizza and a few beers. It can be a lonely occupation sometimes so it's always good to get together and compare notes, bitch and moan etc.

In not so recent news, I have started contributing illustrations to The School Magazine, a literary magazine for students that is distributed around the country to a significant number of schools. It has been around for nearly 100 years (seriously!) and employs a pretty decent bunch of authors and illustrators. So far I've done 3 jobs for them, illustrating humorous poems mostly, but yesterday I was asked to illustrate a cover which is very cool. Above are some of the illos that I have done for them. I'm having some fun with a black pencil - great for loosening up your linework. The top illustrations were done for a poem called 'The Bully'. You can guess the outcome of the story. The pig illo was for a poem called 'Animal Dreams'. Both were very funny. I like funny.

Soon to start work on Wendy. Yay!

See you in a week or two....depending on what the organisers are planning.

Merry Xmas, Happy New Year and other similiar cliched greetings that mean nothing

2008-01-09T16:01:00.000+11:00

Well, I'm back from holidays and back in the saddle (there is a Welsh pony in my studio). It always takes me a good week in the new year to get into the swing of things. There's a million and one odd jobs to do - things I couldn't be stuffed doing before I went away but always wish I had when I've gotten back. Filing mostly. And cleaning up my desk - 'ah, I knew you were there!' Then I begin the mental process of remembering what I do exactly. This can take a day or too. Once this has been established (one year I accidently started off as a butcher. Some animals suffered but boy was I chirpy!) and I have convinced myself that I know what I'm doing (kind of), I pick up a pencil and start drawing - or writing - whatever feels right at the time. This year it's writing. I'm working on something new at the moment. Hopefully it will come to something. It probably won't but as long as I'm doing something (creative at least) I'm heading in the right direction.

Just received a copy of a book that I spent months working on in the latter half of last year. The book is called Sing 2008! and it's a music book published by ABC Books. It's become somewhat of an institution and has been published every year for over 40 years. That's more than 20! I ended up drawing over 200 full colour illustrations. It nearly killed me as I was working on several other books at the same time. I was pretty happy to be asked to illustrate it as I remember reading and pouring over it when I was a kid. I used to copy Allan Stomann's great black and white cartoon style illustrations. He was the illustrator for years. These days they ask a different illustrator to do them every year which is a good thing as I'm sure the illustrator would go mad and have to be put down and that would be sad.

Anyhoo, above are a few illos from the book. Not great scans but you get the idea. As always, click for a bigger image.

Sing 2008! Nice to do but also nice to have done and dusted.

Writing about Chickens

2007-12-13T09:08:00.000+11:00

Chickens have always fascinated me. Not really sure why. Maybe because they seem perfectly happy wandering around pecking things for no apparent reason fully knowing that they will never realise the wonder that is soaring above the clouds like most feathered animals. Maybe it's their all-knowing head bob in that 'yep, I know what you mean' kind of way. They're just funny birds. They crack me up. I could go on but this is not a blog about chickens. Maybe I should start one...

So naturally at some point, one who likes chickens would want to write about them (logical right?) and that I did. I first wrote a story about a chicken called Wendy with a picture book in mind about 10 years ago but due to having to pay the bills (this is very annoying) and keeping the lights on I never had the time to see my story through to possible submission stage. I was always working on illustrating other people's books - which, of course is my job, but this can get quite frustrating when you want to work on your own projects. Anyway, my Wendy story changed considerably over the years until it eventually evolved in to something I felt I could show some publishers. I got a dummy book together and illustrated some finished pieces then sent 'Wendy' to Harper Collins. They seemed to like it and it went without any changes (much to my surprise) straight to an acquisitions meeting (sounds scary huh!) Unfortunately the sales peoples decided that it wasn't for them. I never found out why - just that this is what happens at these important meetings. So then I sent it to someone I knew at Penguin. They also liked Wendy - so much so that they didn't even bother to take it to an acquisition meeting - phew! I signed a contract and I was away! It's taken a lot of work and her story has changed a good deal but it's finally getting there. I've learnt a bunch too - masses. Mainly that picture books are very hard to write. Every word is SO crucial and the marriage of the text to the illustrations are the key to everything. Coming from the illustrator's path it has been very interesting and challenging. For some reason (apparently this is common for new author/illustrators) I have tended to be overly descriptive with my text where I should be leaving more to the visual narrative. Illustrator gets carried away with the writing - who would have thought? It's been tricky but hell it's fun working on my own stuff.

Anyway, I thought it was about time I introduce Wendy. Even though she's scheduled to come out well after Noodles I thought it would be a good way to keep all my many blog readers (both of you) informed of Wendy's progress. Feather by feather.

Bok bok.

More Noodles

2007-11-21T15:09:00.000+11:00

Just received my advance copies of 'A Day With Noodles' in the post even though it doesn't come out until March next year. It's always exciting to see how your books turn out in the flesh ready for the shelf. This time though, I was more excited/anxious than normal. I suppose because it's your baby so to speak - the first book that I have written as well as illustrated. Waiting for the advance copies to arrive can be kind of stressful as well. Even though I have signed off on everything doesn't mean things can't go wrong. Has the designer played with it too much? Has the printer forgotten to add magenta into the mix? Will there be spelling mistakes?! (heard of this happening before). Thankfully it looks great. Very happy. I have a really good editor at Penguin in Katrina Webb and the designer, Karen Trump, did an amazing job pulling it all together.

I get so close to my books during their conception that by the time they're finished I really can't see the wood for the trees. I can't see it objectively at all. Normally at this stage I'm well and truly over it and quite pessimistic (namely about the quality of my work.) I need someone else to look at it. I have read it to the kids and got a good response but hey...their our kids so generally speaking they're pretty happy with most things I do! So I'm looking forward to taking it out there to schools with me to see if it floats (I speak to around 30 schools a year). Hopefully this will be a fruitful exercise. I'll be speaking at a school on Friday so wish me luck.

I've posted a page spread above from the early stages of the book and I'll post some more over the next few months. Ciao.

Urbano Astuyauri

2007-11-12T19:45:00.000+11:00

Recently I purchased a painting from a local gallery. This doesn't happen very often for a number of reasons - one being that the type of art found in our local galleries tends to be very average. We live in a beaches area (which is very nice thanks) but as you might imagine the artwork is....well, insular - quite often very stereotypical and definitely unimaginative (Frangipani flowers, row boats on the beach, stormy seas (oooh), sunsets (ahhh), little boys fishing, pelicans on the jetty - you know; chocolate box stuff.) All rather blah. The other reason I don't purchase paintings on a regular basis is because I am a struggling artist myself (a tear is coming) and I just can't afford it! Of course, I still can't help myself from checking them out anyway just to confirm my unshakable belief that I know best.

Recently though I discovered, very unexpectedly, some paintings in a local gallery by a Peruvian artist called Urbano Astuyauri. Never heard of him but apparently he has exhibited around the world. They were great, really different and very intriguing. He paints birds mostly. Odd birds, inspired by the wooden toys he owned and made as a child growing up in the Peruvian Andes. One in particular grabbed me. A disproportionate bird with long stripy legs. Well, I couldn't get the painting out of my head. I just had to have it. So in the end I bought it (with some help!) Very selfish of me I know but I knew that I would regret it if I didn't have it. Now I am very happy.

The photos don't really do his colours justice but will give you the general idea. As always, click on the pic for a bigger image. Gotta love his stripy legs!

Sneak Preview

2007-11-09T08:53:00.000+11:00

Okay...I'm finally back. It's only been two years! Geez, where has that gone? Looking to get some stuff up here on a more regular basis now. I actually forgot that I had started a blog - that's kind of hard to believe I know, but somehow the whole idea of it sort of fell behind the couch. Anyway, I'll just pretend that I have been blogging all along and that people are flocking here to see what I'm up to.

Here's a little sneak preview of a book I have coming out in March next year with Penguin called 'A Day With Noodles'. It's my first book out that I have written as well as illustrated. I enjoy writing just as much as illustrating so hopefully this is not just a phase! (Click the image for a bigger pic.)

See you soon. Really!