Kookaburra Illustration Drawing

I have just finished this drawing of a Kookaburra.

Again it is drawn using light washed of watercolour and many many dots made with a fine nib rotring pen.

It is a drawing I started last year and is part of my mission to complete unfinished projects.

I am still carving one of the unfinished projects in my linocut work but am still keeping it low profile until it is completed. But it is exciting and I am hoping to get it completed in the next couple of weeks.

I am also designing a few new things. I have to take regular breaks from carving lino and so am mixing it up a bit with the illustration work, new designs for linocuts, some extension design work in relation to more commercial projects like cards  and drawing. It sort of suits me to work this way in many respects I just need to be careful to aim to complete work as well as look at all the new possibilities!!

Waratah Illustration – just finished!

I have just finished this illustration of a Waratah – Telopia speciosissima. I know back to waratahs again! But the two local plants have put on a real show again this spring and I just couldn’t resist.

In this particular illustration I have used a very light wash of watercolour and use fine dots (many many many fine dots) with a Rotring pen to build up the image.

For those that may be interested in papers I have used an antique white rag based acid free watercolour paper. I like this paper with its slightly rough texture – it is cold pressed watercolour paper and so has a ‘bite’ on its surface. The hot pressed papers I mainly use for the linocuts has a smooth surface.

On the RSI/arm/shoulder/neck pain front – I am carving lino again but the advice from the physio is ‘pace yourself’ which is incredibly frustrating but I guess not as frustrating as 2 months without carving and not doing much else. Just need to keep up the exercises, pilates, anti-inflammatory meds, posture correction and warm wheat bags!! But still some progress forward is something to be grateful for.

Now onto a bit of carving this afternoon I think….can’t say what yet…but it is getting there albeit slowly….

Sydney and Botanica 2009

I have been away in Sydney for the past week and managed to spend a morning wandering around the Royal Botanic Gardens and Art Gallery of NSW. It has been over 2 years since my last visit and I was grateful the rain held off so I could just wander around.

It was an added bonus that the annual Friends of the Botanic Gardens Botanica 2009 exhibition is currently on! Some absolutely exquisite work on display and for sale and you can even get a cuppa and scones!
Very inspiring day!

Baldy or White-headed pigeons

A few days ago I photographed these Baldy Pigeons (they are also known as White-Headed pigeons) over on the Clarence River near Grafton in northern NSW. These three had come in close to a birdbath to have their afternoon drink and were lined up on a trellis. They usually are only seen around this area at this time of year feeding on figs which had fallen on the ground from the large Moreton Bay Fig tree.

This is the gorgeous fig tree they were feeding under – and a close-up of the fruit. Earlier this year I completed a botanical illustration of Moreton Bay Fig stem.

These native pigeons were hard to photograph on this day – there was a large group of them feeding under the fig tree until I went and got the camera! The click of the camera shutter was enough to send them up high to hide in the trees. Apparently they are amongst the most secretive of all the native pigeons. They have a deep “coo” call.

I do hear from some ‘old-timers’ that in times past they made good eating especially in soups!

New Zealand Falcon Illustration – Framed

New Zealand Falcon

Just got the latest New Zealand Falcon Illustration (Pen & Ink with Watercolour) back from the framer.

A simple dark brown timber frame and double paper coloured matt.

New Zealand Falcon – Wildlife Illustration

New Zealand Falcon 2 Illustration

I have recently completed another small wildlife (fauna) illustration of the New Zealand Falcon. This is another ‘head-shot’. Beautiful birds – we saw them up close at Wingspan outside Rotorua in New Zealand last year.

New Zealand Falcon 1 Illustration

Ellis Rowan – The Flower Hunter

I was so disappointed at not being able to get to the exhibition of Ellis Rowan artwork a few years back – Canberra was the closest the exhibition came to Northern NSW. However I did manage to pick up the beautiful catalogue from the exhibition.

They have just released a biography – The Flower Hunter – The Remarkable Life of Ellis Rowan by Christine & Michael Morton-Evans. It seems a little difficult to find – even Amazon books did not have a front page image. A good friend of mine sought it out as a gift for me.

I missed the Sunday Arts programs on ABC the last couple of weeks (I usually have it running in the background whilst working) but fortunately the Betty Churcher series ‘Hidden Treasures’ can be downloaded – they had an episode about Ellis Rowan. I think it is well worth a download.

Ellis Rowan – as the title of the book implies was remarkable. I would describe her as ‘fearsome’ – exploring even the wilds of New Guinea in full immaculate dress of her times! She searched out and found many species of flowers and plants throughout the world - painting them as botanical works. Her later works are vibrant and bring the flowers alive to many Australians who were still coming to terms with this wild region in comparison to genteel England. She said “I would travel the world in search of flowers rare and wonderful, travel countries inaccessible, as well as those which offered difficulties only imaginary”. She also managed to trump the male ’star artists’ of the time – Tom Roberts and Frederick McCubbin, to win the Centennial Art Prize in 1888 creating quite a stir with a formal complaint being made by the Victorian Arts Society! Fancy giving the prize to a female flower painter!! It seems that although things change in some respects the nose thumbing towards ‘flower painters’ in the arts community still echoes. Ellis Rowan was truly both a remarkable person and artist.
The National Library of Australia has an online collection which was bought by the government for 5,000 pounds after a quite interesting debate in parliament as the original asking price was 20,000 as part of her estate. It seems such a small amount for such a large amount of work. I suppose little changes in the ‘art market’ for many artists.

Illustration…Current and Past

In elaborating on the previous comments about developing arts practice and learning from mistakes and past work…there are these 2 works.

Today I have just completed this Tawny Frogmouth Pen and Ink with Watercolour Illustration - or drawing – the second is probably one of the least successful illustrations/drawings from 21 years ago – a Seal in pen, ink & watercolour pencil….

I must say the seal makes me cringe these days but it does, I hope, clearly show the progression!

HSC Major Works from long ago…Drawings…Illustration

A  blast from the past – whilst cleaning up today I came across all my old HSC Drawing Major Works from *cough* years ago…(1981). They are a mixture of watercolour pencils, coloured pencil and (rotring) pen and ink. I must say looking back some were more successful than others…

Currently working on…Tawny Frogmouth Illustration & New Zealand Wildflowers Linocut…

I am currently working on 2 projects. The first is a continuation of some fauna illustration work – it is a Tawny Frogmouth. After drawing it up lightly on watercolour paper I added some light underwashes of colour with watercolour. I have then been slowly working using a rotring pen with black ink with tiny (and sometimes what seems endless!) dots to create the detail…it’s getting there…slowly…

The second project is finally carving the NZ Wildflowers Design linoblock.

Again getting there slowly…