Its been a super busy two weeks! I celebrated my birthday on the 16th, but it was a fairly small event due to everyone being so busy with preparations for my brother's wedding on the 20th. I didn't mind the quiet evening though, as I had been battling a nasty cold for a while and lost my voice for a few days. However, that didn't stop me enjoying my birthday presents! Have a look at this one:

This book is incredibly thick and pretty heavy. My copy has a slightly different cover, a green background instead of red, but the inside is what matters! There are reviews on yes, 1001 different children's books, ranging from board books right up to Young Adult fiction. As I scanned through the index pages, I realised that I've read just over 100 of the titles so far. Still a long way to go!


And now here are some photos of Jonathan and Simone's wedding which we attended last weekend on the West Coast. Unfortunately the weather was wet and cold, but that didn't stop the ceremony going ahead! Although I wasn't in the wedding party, I got to follow them around as they had their photos taken and supply them with food.
These are shots taken at the beginning of the ceremony.

 

I think this is my favourite photo from the day. I love the look between the couple - very special.

And lastly, here I am with my cousin Lillie. She had just informed me that someone was taking our photograph and we're both pretending to ignore the photographer.

Well, its taken long enough but I've finally finished that pencil sketch. Its a wonderful feeling to complete the piece - even though it was simply for my own satisfaction not because I was working on a commission or to a deadline. This peice was only a quarter of the size of my other portraits. I drew it in my small sketch book, which gave me the flexibility to take it with me on camp instead of being constrained to the drawing table in my room.

I was contemplating this afternoon why it is that the majority of my portraits are of men. Looking back through my old drawings most of the faces that I've drawn are males. Why? I enjoy the challenge of drawing weathered, wrinkled, aged faces and women (generally) do all they can to avoid appearing any of those things. So, to put it bluntly, female faces are boring to sketch. I find that a face wtih contours and shadows is a much more interesting piece to draw than a smooth surface of skin.

Here are a couple of old drawings that I've fished out of my folder. I must have done these eight to ten years ago, when I was just beginning to explore portrait sketching. As you can see from this one, there are a whole heap of mistakes - the proportions are all over the place (the nose is way too big!) Can you tell who it was meant to be?

Then this one was probably done a year or so later.

 The quality of the pictures isn't that great, sorry, but hopefully you can see the style and technique changing over the years.

Although my main project at the moment is completing the illustrations for my second picture book, I have also been working on a pencil sketch portrait. While I do enjoy the flexibility and vibrant colours that are possible with pastels, I am especially fond of the texture that drawing in pencil creates. The portrait is not from one of my own photographs - I came across it on the internet - so I'm just using it for practice. Every time I sit down to work on it, I think 'There's only a little bit more to do, surely I can finish it today.' but as I progress I realise that it will take more time than I first thought.  That's one of the problems of being a perfectionist.

Anyway, pencils are probably my favourite medium for artwork -take a look at the ways other people have explored alternative uses for this humble tool.

 Check out the incredible pencil carving that Dalton Ghetti creates. It will blow your mind!

 This amazing artwort is by Jennifer Maestre.

 These pencils are carved by Mizuta Tasogare and Kato Jado.

The amazing possibilities of the creative mind!

Next week I start part time work at a nearby primary school as a Teacher Aide, and this morning I spent a couple of hours at the school getting used to the role. I have worked there before, two years ago, when I was doing the teacher aide training and have also been in other schools around the country working in a similar role.

Well, in the class today, the teacher told the students that I did something very exciting and interesting when I wasn't helping at the school. All the kids turned around to stare at me, waiting for an explanation. Sitting on one of the tiny wooden chairs with my knees up almost to my chest and with the eyes of the children glued to me, I felt a little intimidated. What if they didn't think my job was exciting or interesting at all? What if they all just yawned and rolled their eyes?

I needed have worried - the children expressed a gratifying level of surprize and wonder when I told then them that I wrote and illustrated my very own picture books. A myriad of small hands shot up in the air, ready to ask questions and a dozen voices began to chatter animatedly. For a few minutes as I answered them all, I felt like a celebritiy.

A little later in the morning, while the kids were practising their handwriting, I was sitting beside one young boy and helping him with his work. Suddenly he stopped and looked thoughtful. His pencil dangled above the paper as he turned to me and said quite seriously, "One day I might be an author like you." That is why I love working with kids!