Underpass, oil on board, 20 x 15cm

Home-made wombat, pencil, A4

Rail line, North Coburg, oil on board, 20 x 15cm

Grimm Fandango

'A witch taken to the gallows on the back of a wildcat', clay, paint, string, 15cm tall

One of several new sculptures inspired by Grimm's Fairy Tales, this one for a the story 'The Blue Light', about a solider taking revenge against those who have wronged him (including the witch above). I began this series as a set of illustrations for the German edition of Philip Pullman's Grimm Tales published last year, and have since continued to create additional works for other stories that I found particularly intriguing outside of that collection. By 1850, the Grimm Brothers included over 200 tales in Children's and Household Tales, so there's certainly no shortage of inspiration; as Margaret Atwood notes, 'no emotion is unrepresented'.

Rules of Summer App Commentary

High-res canvas: a detail from the Rules of Summer App

With the recent release of the Rules of Summer App in the US and many parts of Europe, I've updated my website to include a profile of this version of the book, which you can find here. Many people might think the app is just an ebook, but it's actually a lot more than that, and a unique work which took months of development. Among other things, it introduces a novel way of presenting  paintings at extremely high resolution through very clever image compression, something that could be of interest to many other artists, particularly those who (like me) prefer the mess of traditional materials, but also keep one foot in the digital realm.

3RRR Interview - on books and animals

I recently chatted with friend and fellow author and illustrator Sally Rippin about the use of animal characters in fiction and other things, together with presenter Kulja Coulston of RRR, a local Melbourne radio station. You can listen to the on demand segment here:
http://ondemand.rrr.org.au/grid/20140526112225

Flemington Road, oil on board, 15 x 20cm

'Melbourne tram on a wet evening', oil on board, 20 x 15cm

I was stuck behind this tram on a rainy evening in heavy local traffic and realised it was a very nice arrangement of colours: greens, greys, pinks and blues. I frequently paint small scenes or 'memories' like this as practise, and very ordinary subjects are the most useful. Sometimes I paint directly from observation where it's convenient (ie. I can sit down with a small painting kit for 30-60 minutes); more often I refer to a photo (as above, from my phone), reinterpreted according to memory since photos alone rarely capture the right feeling. The small size also encourages a certain looseness and experimentation, I'm less concerned about whether it is a good picture or not and more interested in closely studying those things I'd normally ignore. For me, this is basically what painting and drawing is all about: learning to look and pay attention.

Academic Nest Egg

A resident peacock inspects work on a big gold egg at the University of Western Australia

This egg, completed recently as one of several sculptural elements occupying a small courtyard at the University of Western Australia, clearly arouses the interest of birds as much as passing students and academics (very appropriate given the name of this blog!). It's a fixed concrete form overlaid with gold mosaic tiles, occupying a previously empty space beneath the large sun-dial mural completed last year; perfectly realised thanks to the meticulous handiwork of Iain Middleton and his team, working to interpret my notes and designs. You can find out a little more about both the sun dial and courtyard here, including more pictures and a short video profiling construction, or visit the University of Western Australia if you happen to be in Perth, and have a strong urge to eat your lunch while sitting on a big gold egg - and really, who doesn't?

landscape-portrait / portrait-landscape

A personal project I've been revisiting on and off over recent years is a series of drawings using a kind of generic portrait form as the basis for landscape imagery. On reflection, a lot of my work as an illustrator has been a mingling of landscapes and portraits; The Red Tree for instance beginning as an idea of representing inner emotional states as vast outer landscapes, also true of Rules of Summer as a way of articulating childhood experience. These 'heads' are quite similar I think, but the other way around, impressing the landscape into a figure: probably not so much an original idea as part of a long tradition (related also to body adornment, tattoos and so on). The distinction between a landscape and a portrait in painting is perhaps relatively a recent one. Our ancient ancestors might not have seen the point in such a separation.

'Head with weather', pastel on paper, 40 x 60cm

'Head with cypress and path', pastel on paper, 40 x 60cm

'Head with goldseam', pastel on paper, 40 x 60cm

'Head with cave and tree', pastel on paper, 40 x 60cm

'The New Year', pastel on paper, 2013

I'm trying to get into the habit of posting regular new sketches and other interesting things on this blog, particularly those that are unlikely to be published, not being part of any project - at least not originally. This one is a pastel drawing which I has since proved useful as a poster illustration for a young artists award (for school-age artists), based in my home city of Perth, Western Australia. Many such drawings start out as a jumble of shapes that eventually resolve into something, either successfully or not! The most interesting detail of this one may not be immediately obvious. This and a handful of other works will be exhibited at the Illustration Cupboard in London later this year, a very nice gallery to visit if you haven't already.

RULES OF SUMMER Commentary

Preliminary sketch for the painting 'Never give your keys to a stranger', pastel on paper

I've recently added a written commentary on my book Rules of Summer to my website, you can find it here, also as a PDF. Of course, such comments may not make much sense without seeing the book or app first (for readers in the US, a nice edition is coming out in May), but for those already familiar with it, or having a special interest in illustration, I've tried to explain the inspiration behind each painting... if not necessarily the paintings themselves! I hope you find it interesting.

Retrospective Exhibition in Sweden, April 1 - June 1, 2014

This is an exhibition of original book illustrations from the past 20 years, at Bror Hjorths Hus in Uppsala, Sweden. It includes works from The Arrival, The Lost Thing book and film, Tales from Outer Suburbia and others, including a few larger paintings from Rules of Summer, previously unexhibited. It will be opened by Gerald Thomson, the Australian Ambassador to Sweden on April 5, and looks set to later travel to a couple of other museums in Sweden (other expressions of interest are welcome too). Many thanks to Maria Malmberg-Wallin at Bror Hjorths Hus for curating this one.

NEWCASTLE, UK

April 5 also sees the opening of Moving Stories: Children's Books from Page to Screen, which runs until April 27 at Seven Stories in Newcastle, UK (always a great place to visit). Included among the large variety of book/film adaptations on display is a profile of a scene in The Lost Thing, including original production sketches and paintings. For more info, visit Seven Stories, National Centre for Children's Books

... and NEWCASTLE, Australia

Coincidentally, in the other Newcastle – the city in NSW, Australia – there is an exhibition of The Lost Thing: Book to Film, on at the same time as part of the Newcastle Writers festival, April 2 - June 3. This is a small but fairly comprehensive exhibition of original book illustrations, the final film, and lots of developmental drawing for both projects executed over a 12 year period. It's on display at the Lovett Gallery; find out more about the festival here.

Oopsatoreum Exhibition, Sydney, from December 7

One of many Mintox inventions, both imaginary and real

This exhibition is my second collaboration with Sydney's Powerhouse Museum, following the successful weirdness of 2009's Odditoreum, with which I was invited to write fake histories for various strange objects found in the vast museum basement. This project takes a different tack, being a more cohesive survey of the work of one Henry Archibald Mintox – an inventor so ahead of his time he could only be fictional and, by his own account, grossly unrecognised.
The exhibition will feature actual mechanical inventions from the Powerhouse archive, re-imagined as creations by Henry A. Mintox, and with accompanying text from the previously published book, The Oopsatoreum: inventions of Henry A Mintox.

Aside from being fun, a deeper concept behind the project involves the importance of play in creativity and technical advancement, raising the important question: is success necessarily a measure of true originality? 

Tales from Outer Suburbia in Mandurah

After a whirlwind premiere season at Fremantle's Spare Parts Puppet Theatre, Tales From Outer Suburbia will be heading to the Mandurah Performing Arts Centre for an encore season in November (see earlier post for more about this stage production). Performances will run on Tuesday 5 November at 6pm and Wednesday 6 November at 10am & 1pm; suitable for all ages and perfect for ages 5 - 12. To book tickets visit the Mandurah Performing Arts Centre

RULES OF SUMMER App goes live (Australia)

 The Rules of Summer app, developed concurrently with the publication of the picture book of the same title, is launched today and will be available for Australian readers, with other territories to follow as the book is subsequently published overseas. What kind of app is this, and how is it different from the book? Both are adaptations of a series of large, unscripted paintings that form a visual narrative about two boys, but each form represents quite different reading experience. While I think there will never be a substitute for the charm and appeal of a physical picture book (especially a large format one like Rules of Summer), the app offers an extra depth of detail as users are able to zoom in and out of a canvas, courtesy of high-resolution photography and clever image compression and design by the Melbourne-based studio behind the app, Wheelbarrow. I also worked closely with an experimental sound artist and composer from New York, Sxip Shirey, whose surrealist soundtrack perfectly suits the intimate browsing of these mysterious pictures. The executive producer on the project, Sophie Byrne, was also the producer behind The Lost Thing; Tim Kentley of XYZ Studios (of which Wheelbarrow is a part) is the artistic director.

The app also includes a  sketch mode where you can see some of my concept and developmental drawings, which may be of particular interest to anyone with an interest in illustration (I'm a big fan of these kinds of features myself).

For more info, reviews and appstore link, go here.

RULES OF SUMMER out and about in Australia

Never be late for a parade.

My latest picture book Rules of Summer is now in bookstores. To find out more about it, visit my wesbite or www.rulesofsummer.com.au

Pictura - colouring in for everyone!

The March of Industry, a detail from Metropolis

UK publisher Templar is launching a series of colouring-in books for all ages this October under the collective title Pictura. Each book, created by a different illustrator, folds out as a single long black & white panorama that can be collected as they are or coloured in at whim. My own contribution is 'Metropolis', about the rise and fall of city over eight connected episodes. Find out more about Pictura here, and watch the launch on Vimeo

Tales from Outer Suburbia: Spare Parts Puppet Theatre, Fremantle WA, September 28 to October 12

A lost deep sea diver with an undelivered gift - photo by Jessica Wyld courtesy of Spare Parts

Spare Parts is an established theatre in Fremantle, Western Australia, with whom I've had a long association having collaborated on the street theatre project Aquasapiens in 2005 and a more recent adaptation of The Arrival which was very successful. Tales from Outer Suburbia is another book adaptation, with the particular challenge of creating an flowing narrative based on my very fragmentary reflections on childhood in suburban Perth (and appropriate that the performance venue is not far from where I was born). Directed by Philip Mitchell, designed by Sohan Ariel Hayes and adapted by writer Michael Barlow, Tales from Outer Suburbia is presented as "a lively and imaginative mix of real-time animation, projection, miniature marionettes, gigantic rod puppets and playful performers; suitable for all ages, but perfect for ages 5 -12yrs"

For more information and bookings, visit Spare Parts, and you can also read reviews from ArtsHub, The West and The Australian.

GRIMM TALES by Philip Pullman (Germany)

'Cat and Mouse' paper, clay, paint, 20cm tall

One of my most recent projects has been the creation of 50 small sculptures to illustrate a selection of Grimm's fairy tales re-written by Philip Pullman, the well-known British author of the His Dark Materials trilogy.  Published this month by Aladin Verlag, Grimms Märchen is only available as a German language edition for the moment (the original English language editions of Grimm Tales by Philip Pullman remain unillustrated). You can find out a little more about this project on my website.