phone user

I am going to try to play with some of my little sketchbook drawings, turn them into something else, maybe try actually painting them with real paint! This one used some of those pavement textures I had saved.

dog and tree

My response to the Illustration Friday topic of "tree". "Hmm, I think it comes from a great dane !"

the inland sea

Water, or the lack of it.
Way back, in 1844, August 10th, Captain Charles Sturt led the Central Australian Expedition from Adelaide, along the Murray and the Darling Rivers before heading where no European had been before. The quest was to find the sea which Sturt and his sponsors believed occupied the heart of Australia.
The expedition's outfit consisted of: 16 men,11 horses, 30 bullocks.1 boat and boat carriage. 1 horse dray.1 spring cart.3 drays, 200 sheep for food, two sheep dogs, and four kangaroo dogs. The journey failed to find the mythical inland sea.
I made this sketch for the Illustration Friday topic of "water".

Red's big backside

For the topic in Illustration Friday of "mirror".
Big Red was wondering, do I really look like this, wow!!
This is like one of the roos in the upcoming book , Big Red Kangaroo, to be published next year, done in charcoal with digital colour, and distortions using the puppet warp feature in CS5.

book sketch

I thought it time I started doing a bit of blogging. I have been working on the book " Big Red Kangaroo" to be published next year by Walker Books.  I will post some images soon on that topic, and this one is a doodle for the Illustration Friday topic of "book", which is nothing like the style of the roo book, it being done in charcoal with digital collaging and colouring.

Cow secrets

This is last weeks Illustration Friday topic of "shiny", inspired by braces on the teeth of someone I know. No, they are not cow-like . either!! It will do  for this weeks topic of "secret", as Kara had to keep the braces hidden form the others in the herd.
I did this one about A4 size with pastel on watercolour paper, just to see and play with other media than digital, although it does have  a bit of digital enhancing.

hurry up

Little kids, they just enjoy a good sit , nothing else to do , not in a hurry, like Granpa outside, waiting...

hitting the fan

Earlier this week I was out at the Western PlainsZoo,at Dubbo 400k north west of Sydney, doingsome drawing, came across the old hippoenclosure. He is sound asleep. Come back later.
Later, he is up and on land, I get close, about 10m away, he lets loose, and it is like the proverbial shit hits the fan! Wags his stumpy tail, dung flies everywhere, marking his territory. Staggers off for a wash in the pond.
What a sight!!
I thought I would put up a line drawing as well,  I prefer it actually.

Big Red thought he was pretty cluey, picking up a ride  on his way to greener pastures! But little did he realise....

They cull millions of these roos each year in Australia, plus many more die as road kill, so you had better get over here fast if you want to see some! The IF topic of "hitched" was the basis for this illustration.

the flying roo

More roos, they will be hopping into everything from now on.
This one illustrating the Illustration Friday topic of "heights".
It was a card for one of my granddaughters, but suited this well

over the moon

In response to the IF topic of "vocal".
There was dingo in the last post, and it popped in on this drawing with a howl to the heavens, causing the extraordinary jump of a roo over the moon, a sight sometimes seen in the Australian outback after a late night around the camp fire.

pouch return

For the Illustration Friday topic of "return",
here is a rather large joey trying to get back into the pouch, I am not sure he will fit anymore. They are kicked out at about 8 months old, for the red kangaroos.
I have a children's book to do about red kangaroos so I guess there will be a few hopping themes coming up.

bath dangers

Illustration Friday "Swamp".

Susan was dozing in the tub, and did not realise the power of her bad dreams.

day at the beach

A rare sunny day on a Sydney beach, this summer at least, the big reds from out west visiting the locals.
Some interesting distortions using the puppet warp in Photoshop, never even knew it was there.

trunk vs sax

"Yield" was the word used for this Illustration Friday topic.
Maybe the sax will blow the elephant away, or more likely vice_versa!!
We shall see.

ape hanger

I had this idea for the Illustration Friday topic of "intention", that 100 monkeys , if given long enough, would probably solve Rubik's cube.
This one did.

fluidity

for the Illustration Friday topic of "fluid".
The boxer's fluid right hook ended in some pain, and I do hope the dog does not sneezing while a teasing.

floater

This is a rough idea of something I will pursue to see what comes. I wanted last week to illustrate the Illustration Friday topic of "twirl", but building work got in the way, and I thought I would combine it with this week's topic,"forward".

disappointed dog

Some things are just beyond us!