I’ve just started on a new painting for our living room from a photo we took in Mumbai, India three years ago (below.) I’m working with acrylic as they are safer to work with around my toddler than oils. And we can share so setup isn’t a big deal – a squirt of paint for Hera, and a squirt of paint for Mommy! The only challenge is keeping Hera from helping me paint my painting, hee hee. The lovely thing about working in acrylic is it dries so quickly, so I’m able to hang it right back up on the wall and be able to consider my next “moves” between paint sittings.

As you can see, after about 40 minutes Hera was tuckered out, so was a very short & sweet painting time!

Tip : Something I learned from Kiff Holland while in college, painting your canvas a bold colour to prime it gives you a fun surface to work on. As you paint over top, leave little flecks of the original bright colour peeking through here and there to give some zing to your painting!

Artybuzz is a new artist community… check ‘em out, you can post your artwork online, sell canvas & giclee prints and other merchandise. Being a new community, there aren’t many in the illustrator category (only 52 illustrators,) which is a bonus as your work could easily get more exposure than some of the crowded established websites. Let me know if you sign up and how you find the process!

I really love Elly MacKay’s mini-theatre scenes… the warm lighting, the colours, the linework, the way she captures a storybook feel in her scenes. You really have to check out her website, her scenes of children have a beautiful old-but-new feel to them.

P.S. My new Chickadee painting by Elly is lovingly in Hera’s room.

Reading books with my toddler is one of the most satisfying things as a mum… and she quite eagerly hops off my lap after each book to grab another, asking “read a boop?” There are five books on my bookshelf that make me cry every time I read them they are so touching.

Love You Forever, Written by Robert Munsch and Illustrated by Sheila McGraw. This one’s a classic, and I’ve actually yet to make it through reading it to my daughter without getting choked up. My grandmother bought it for Hera, who thinks it’s funny seeing the “mama” in the story peeking at the baby over the edge of the bed. It’s the story of a baby from when he’s born to when he’s an adult, and shows the change of the mother caring for the baby son, to the son caring for the elderly mother. It makes me cry because it’s just so beautiful seeing the relationship change, and seeing how that cycle of life continues from one generation to the next.

Mutt Dog, by Stephen Michael King. I first loaned a board book copy of this one from the library, and Hera loved it, and I loved it so much I went out and bought a copy. It’s a heart warming story of a stray dog in the city, and how he finds a new place to belong. The parallels between the stray dog and the homeless are really touching, and it makes you conscious of the charity of halfway homes and very generous individuals. The illustrations are just beautiful… and another book by Stephen Michael King, “Leaf,” is well worth a read. And also makes me cry, but not every time I read it :)

The Leaf Men, by William Joyce. This is a book I fell in love with at college, both for the beautiful illustrations and the way it’s written. The story is about an older woman who has a beautiful garden that she loves… when the woman falls sick, the Leaf Men in her garden go searching for a way to make her well again. It makes me cry because that act of kindness rekindles hope in the older woman.

Santa Calls by William Joyce. It must be something about William Joyce’s work, but again it’s the beautiful illustrations and the wonderful way the story is written that makes it so beautiful. The story is about a brother and sister who go on an adventure to the North Pole. It makes me cry because (spoiler alert!) at the very end of the story, you discover the little girl has forfeited her Christmas present wish for the sincere desire for her brother to be her friend.

The Velveteen Rabbit, by Margery Williams, Illustrations by Donna Green. This is a timeless classic story of a little stuffed bunny who believes he is real, and no matter which version I read I end up in tears. It is about a little boy who falls sick with scarlet fever, and all his soft toys have to be burned to avoid spreading the disease… the little velveteen rabbit manages to escape and with some magic, becomes a real rabbit.

It’s Hera’s 2nd birthday today, and we celebrated with a Mad Hatter style Tea Party this past weekend. During the week Hera & I had fun getting ready for her party by making the decorations and games together. You forget how much fun it is being a kid, and preparing for the party together made for a fun week of baking and crafting!

(P.S. For parents out there looking for gift ideas for 2-year-old girls, tea sets are a hit!)
There are some amazing ideas out there for Alice in Wonderland themed parties… Lenny’s Alice in Wonderland site is where I got most of my ideas from, and has soooo many more ideas for Mad Tea Parties and games, it’s well worth a look through for any Alice fan! And The Long Thread has some more beautiful tea party ideas, and has downloads of old-school Alice in Wonderland graphics made into party hats, invitations and garlands.

To share the love of Mad Tea Parties, here are the games we played and how we made them…

Deck of cards party hats : Decorate party hats by taping on cards from an old deck to the fronts. Green Tip : Save the party hats and cards and use them again!

How to make tissue paper roses : This was surprisingly easy. Simply cut out from tissue paper small hearts (about 2.5 inches tall) and larger hearts (about 4 inches tall.) Take 3 small hearts and twist them together, fluffing a little. Repeat. Then add 3 large hearts, twist together, and shape with your fingers. Repeat. When they are large enough, hold the rose and use a pipe cleaner to twist around the base of the heart. Crepe paper also works well, though the tissue paper is a little translucent so it makes them look more real. Green Tips : This is a great way to use up ripped or leftover tissue paper from gifts. And save the little trimmings for stuffing gift bags.

Pin the Grin on the Cheshire cat : The silly grin of the cheshire cat floating around in the air is captured aptly with this blindfold game! Draw the cat on craft paper that has been taped down to a board, and let your kids colour it in before the party (or even during the party!) Then draw some silly grins on printer paper and cut them out. Make sure to make any adults at the party play a round!

Painting the Roses Red : This game is based on the story where the Spades accidentally planted the wrong coloured roses, and the Queen likes them red… so they’re painting the roses red, or it’s off with their heads! This is a messier game, but a lot of fun. To set up and play : Draw the roses on craft paper and tape them down to a board. Then let your kids colour them in before the party. At the party, divide the kids & adults into teams, give them each a can with a little watered down red paint in the bottom, and a few paint brushes… and have fun! You can even send the finished masterpieces home with your guests. Green Tips : Wash the paintbrushes well and reuse the paintbrushes and cans again and again.

Some impressive digital illustration inspiration by 15 amazing artists over at WebUrbanist, check ‘em out here : Dazzling Digital Illustration

I really enjoyed this blogpost by mommy-illustrator, Crystal Driedger… she puts into words just how I feel balancing being a mother and illustrator. She shares some great tips for multi-tasking and time management. Love her last point, it’s true to my heart, too :

“My son is the most important thing and always will be. This means that I will never again take on more work than I can handle… I will not answer a client’s phone call or email if my son is crying… I will lower my expectations on the type of work I can get done… have rearranged my priorities… And, when I see that it’s 10pm and I’m still writing on my silly blog, knowing that my son will most likely wake up a couple of times tonight crying then be up for the day at 5:30am tomorrow I call it a day.” – Crystal Driedger

Crystal’s blog post got me thinking of what I’ve done differently since becoming a full-time mum and part-time illustrator…
• Let clients know my priority is being a mum : Being honest with clients up front that I’m a full-time mum helps then know what they can expect from me. I let them know how much time a week I’m available, and communicate right away if I’m unable to work on their project that week. I’ve had some amazingly understanding clients when occasionally deadlines have had to be pushed.
• Quote generously for projects : I’ve found it takes me twice as long to do anything as I expect, so I quote twice as much time as I did before I was a mum. Not because I’m slower at painting, I just need to accommodate those unexpected interruptions, lost nap times, colds, bumped heads, and even days where I just need a nap.

• Taken my time to enjoy each project : Where before I would churn out illustration after illustration, I’m savoring each project. Because of this, the quality of my work is improving drastically, and I’m more and more happy with the books I’ve been illustrating.
• Post date blog writeups : I really enjoy blogging, but don’t have the time to keep up with it like I used to… so if I am inspired to blog, I post date my entries (like this one!) and space them a few days apart, so that I have several weeks of posts written in advance. That way I can enjoy blogging, but not feel driven to keep up with it every couple days.

• Make the most of nap time : I use my daughter’s naptime for projects / chores that are too tricky to do while she’s awake.

• Share the computer : For those times I have to email my clients, or do some paperwork, my daughter is fascinated by the computer so I put a cartoon on the screen so she can sit on my lap and watch something in the corner of the screen while I reply to emails.

• Work together : Now that my daughter is a toddler and curious about whatever I’m doing, I can involve her by setting up her own paints and crayons while I do small doodles… I spend more time telling her to not paint on mommy’s painting than I spend being productive, but I like involving her in what I’m doing. And at times I have to give up what I’m working on and just sit and draw “baa”’s and “bears” with Hera because it’s just fun.

Will leave this here…  and once again I’m so glad I wrote this article two weeks in advance so I can enjoy taking the day off tomorrow to decorate and bake a cake for my daughter’s second birthday.

I’m putting up for auction on eBay my drafting chair, as well as several illustration books. They are beautiful books, I’m just realizing I’m not using them since pulling back to part-time, and I’d rather see them in the hands of other artists who could use them! Here’s what I’ve got up there in case you’re looking for a bargain! :
• Black drafting chair. It raises and lowers like it should, has a step for resting your feet, wheels glide nicely, spins well! The fabric is in good condition. I’m just downsizing to one art table so don’t need the extra chair. Local pickup in Adelaide only.

• International Designer’s Network IDN magazine “Crime & Ornament.” +DVD It’s a beautiful magazine celebrating modern patterns (can see examples in the photo). RRP AU$15. There is an interactive DVD that comes with this magazine.

• “Artist’s Manual | A Complete Guide to Painting and Drawing Materials and Techniques”. Condition is excellent, with no marks in or out, pages are pristine. I LOVE this book, I just haven’t been using it and could use the extra space. It’s full of gorgeous illustration examples, beautiful photographs of artist materials, example after example of artist techniques. A must have for any artist!

• “The Designer’s Guide to Color Combinations” by Leslie Cabarga. Condition is excellent, with no marks in or out, pages are pristine. This is an excellent resource… 500+ Historic and Modern Color Formulas in CMYK. A real gem of a tool for designers, and inspirational for illustrators!

• Communication Arts Illustration Annual 47. I would say this one is as good as new, with only mild wear on the spine, no bent pages or marks inside. RRP $16. The annual full of beautiful illustrations, I found it to be a wonderful resource seeing what other illustrators are doing with their techniques and styles.

• A retro Grumbacher Colour Compass. It comes with the original paper sleeve. There is a little paint splashed on the compass, but doesn’t take away from the retro feel. Printed in 1977. This is a fun collectable for illustrators, and still very useful to new artists keen on an old-school colour wheel.

• “Norman Rockwell | A Classic Treasury”. This is full of full page illustration after illustration of Norman Rockwell’s classic The Saturday Evening Post paintings… very inspirational for illustrators learning to paint portraits. The jacket is a little worn, but the interior is in very good condition.

I just finished this illustration for my diary of Hera’s stuff, and thought I’d share the simple technique I use for colouring pen illustrations in Photoshop. Clicking on the images below will bring up a close-up image.

Step 1 | Open the scan of your drawing in Photoshop, and create two new layers below it. One will be your background colour (I’ve used white here), and the other will be for painting in the colours of your drawing.

Step 2 | Adjust the brightness and contrast until the paper is as white as possible.

Step 3 | Select the background of the sketch with the magic wand tool, and delete it. Make sure all little bits of paper speckle are removed so the colour comes out nice and clean.

Step 4 | Set the drawing layer to Multiply. This will allow the colours below to show through your drawing, and make the pen work come out nice and dark as it multiplies over the colours below.

Step 5 | Use the magic wand tool to select the background of the sketch. Then invert the selection so that you have only the drawing selected. Feather the edges of the selection (Menu Bar > Select > Feather.) Click on the blank layer below the sketch (multiply) layer and fill the entire sketch with a predominant colour.

Step 6 | From here in, apply colour to this colouring layer whichever way you feel comfortable. Applying colour on its own layer(s) makes it easy to adjust the colours later while keeping your drawing in its original condition.I use a combination of the paintbrush and the magic wand / lassoo tools to select areas from the sketch and fill with colour. You can experiment and go as elaborate as you want with colour, shade and textures.

Here’s another illustration of a cute dress that sadly Hera’s grown too tall to wear, now part of my diary of Hera’s stuff. Ink with digital colour.