The month of June 2018 was a tough one because it contained the last three weeks of life of my paternal grandmother, and her funeral. During that month, life was anything but normal. You can read about her life here, which contains footage from an interview I did with her a few weeks before her health really declined, which I edited later.

Things went very quiet on the creative front, but I was able to catch up to the 52 weekly illustration timetable earlier this week.

​The theme for Week 21 was Haunted House, for which I deliberately wanted a limited colour palette. Yes, it does have a bit of an 'Adams Family' vibe.

For Week 22 the theme was Spectacles, which this teddy bear is wearing in a haphazard way.

Cottage was the theme for Week 23, and if you look carefully you will find that a small creature has made a cottage-home on top of the much larger swamp creature.

With the Week 24 theme of Anatomy I decided to have some fun. This well dressed frog was off to a very exclusive soiree when his plans were interrupted by some students of animal anatomy, and he very much wants them to get it over with so that he can resume his evening plans.

Because Week 25's theme was Nursery Rhyme, trying to choose one out of the many was proving to be difficult, so I combined three of them. Thus we have the mouse up the clock from Hickory Dickory Dock: Little Bo Peep with some of her sheep stopping to have a look at this sight; and Humpty Dumpty also surprised by this unusual view.

If you don't want to wait for the next blog-post to see Weeks 26 and 27, Facebook and Twitter are where you should look. 

Before the month of May ends I should share with you what happened in Weeks 16 to 20 of the 52 Week Illustration Challenge for 2018.

The theme for Week 16 was Splash. For this one we have a bird bath with one bird a splishing and a splashing all over the place, and another bird trying to join in the watery party.

Origami was the theme for Week 16, the Japanese art of paper-folding. Some people find it easy and therapeutic, others not so much!

Week 18's theme turned homeward bound with 'Blanket', reflecting on all the love that goes to make up a hand-sewn patchwork blanket. 

Week 19's theme was 'Creek', and for this one I borrowed an idea from our friends from the Hundred Acre Wood and their game of pooh-sticks. In this one our little bear is looking for a friend to play the game with. 

Would you believe that the theme for week 20 was 'Up Side Down'?
​When things are up-side-down rather than the right-way-up, confusion can be expected.

Just in case you are another creative waiting for the appointed moment when everything will have been worthwhile, you might find what Alex Mathers from the Red Lemon Club wrote a source of encouragement:
www.redlemonclub.com/300rule/

This continues to be a lonely road, but each step is hopefully getting me closer to something worthwhile. If others are doing the 2018 weekly challenges, they don't appear to be using the #52WIC hashtag.

​The theme for Week 11 was Stamp, so I included both the stamps you put on envelopes and the a stamp that requires ink.

For Week 12 the theme was Zoom. Sometimes when you zoom, everything goes right. Other times when you go zoom, you end up like this:

Do you remember Igerrom? Well, when he heard that the theme for Week 12 was Tea Party, he just had to invite himself. He's always trying to start a tea party and get people interested in his favourite beverage.

Week 14's theme was Geometric. So let's make some lovely circular arcs together with this waltzing compass.

Letterboxes was the theme for Week 15. With this one I went digital and enlisted the help of a robo-postman - who seems to be in a hurry.

My family are all engineers, computer geeks, teachers, number crunchers or fascinated by personal medical histories, (there is an aunt with a creative gene but her work is offline and hand-crafted - pottery, folk-art, dolls and teddy-bears).
This means I have none of the regular pathways to connections with art directors and creative studios. So if you know of anyone like that seeking the work of someone like me, please invite them to contact me. 

Sometimes time gets away, and now I realise that I haven't updated the 2018 Weekly Illustration Challenges #52WIC for a while. (I'm almost about to start work on Week 15's challenge).

For Week 6 the theme was Map, and I chose a limited colour palette for it.

The theme for Week 7 was Eerie, although maybe this one verges on spooky as well.

With Week 8 the theme was Ice Age, and I really tried to come up with something that didn't reference the movies, but failed. However it does include asteroid showers. 

The theme for Week 9 was Escape, and yes there is some inspiration from Alcatraz in this image.

Hide and Seek was the theme for Week 10. For this one I went with the classic 'Hide and Seek' story of detective and perpetrator that fuels so many books. movies and TV shows.

And on the good news front....
My book has finally got to proof copy stage. Yay!
The next step is finding as many of the errors as possible that somehow made it through, correcting them, and then getting another proof copy.

Up until now these files were available on LinkedIn, but it is time I migrated them here where they are more easily searchable and might help others doing similar courses.
I know how helpful it was for me to see online how others had tacked the same project briefs.
I spent 2 years at Hornsby TAFE, 2014 and 2015, obtaining Certficate III in Design Fundamentals, Certificate IV in Graphic Design and the Graphic Design Diploma. After each semester I put together a PDF of work from that semester.

Certificate III, Design Fundamentals, 1st Semester 2014 

Certificate IV, Graphic Design, 2nd Semester 2014

Diploma, Graphic Design, 1st Semester 2015

Diploma Graphic Design, 2nd Semester 2015

Portfolio end-of-year project from Graphic Design Diploma 2015

There they are, the good, the great, and the ordinary, all together as it happened.
I learned a lot from those 2 years, and I am grateful for them and for all the teachers who helped me along the way.

I should post more of my Cinema4D work. I spend a lot of time experimenting with that software, and watching online tutorials about it. 
​
So here's my Whirly Gig Glider  

And some other views of it because a single view didn't do it justice.

With a few special motion effects as well

And further detail

Most recently I took one of my early paintings from a Central Coast Art Society workshop in 2011 with Fran Melrose called 'Tugboat'

And worked on transforming it from 2D to 3D with Cinema4D.
​Here's one of the renders:

And now for the S.O.S.
I've been using the student version of Maxon Cinema 4D, and that licence runs out soon after Easter. To get a full licence costs around $4,000 which would be easy if I had paid employment, but that hasn't happened yet. Without the licence I won't be able to continue with this 3D illustration, and I won't be able to access and use the last 3-4 years of work. The closer it gets the more worried I am.
​So should you have some small 3D projects that need doing and for which you are happy to pay, please contact me.

Even though the 52 Week Illustration Challenge community is now disbanded, at least we were given a list of themes to work through 2018 with, and a hashtag to use #52WIC.
So I have been working through them:
​
​The theme for Week 1 was Me.
At the time I was feeling miserable, as you can see. That was me for a good 2-3 weeks starting just before New Year. 

The theme for Week 2 was Sweet, and this is something that would definitely cause a sugar rush: 

For Week 3 on the official website the theme was 'Hybrid', but on the Facebook group somehow it became Meadow. Hybrid wasn't easy, but I eventually came up with this solution:

I filled a page with sketch scribbles for the theme of Circles, and this robot was chosen to fulfill the theme. He doesn't look particularly happy, but few sentient beings are happy when they are going around and around in circles.
'Would you just go and keep Junior content for a while?' was probably the command that initiated this response. 

Then along came the theme of Flight for Week 5, the first one after the Facebook group got archived. 
Different robot, but a similar command, 'Keep Junior occupied for a while, show him a few asteroids'.
This image took a lot longer because it was coloured digitally, the ink work was still hand drawn.

Should you know anyone who is looking for artwork like this, please contact me.

The good news is that I made it, completing an image every week according to the #illo52weeks themes for 2017 as well as the bonus Christmas image - and each one was done within the weekly time frame.

The not so good news is that there's lots of doubt over whether the Challenge will take place in 2018 - although a list of themes for 2018 has been released.

So here's my work for weekly themes 48 through to 52...

Week 48 was Africa. For this one I used ink only and a photographic reference of an animal from Southern African called a gemsbok, which is a type of antelope.

The theme for Week 49 was Purple, and as it was Advent, an Advent wreath seemed appropriate.

Week 50's theme was Window, and this one has echoes from a long running ABC-TV children's show that used windows to introduce adventures.

Shopping was the theme for Week 51, and I needed an idea that would make me smile. Maybe some of you will relate to one or other of the protagonists.

And for the lucky last for 2017, the theme was Celebration. Nothing quite beats the elation of welcoming a new member into the family.

And that's a wrap for 2017.
2018 has begun, may it provide all of the open doors and opportunities that 2017 sadly lacked. 

These are my images from Weeks 42 to 47 of the 52 Week Illustration Challenge #illo52weeks

The theme for Week 42 was Door. For this one I revisited a hand-drawn imaged and gave it the digital treatment. The original image was an illustration of Baptism as 'the gateway to life in the Spirit, and the door which gives access to the other sacraments' CCC 1213. 

Week 43's theme was Friend. For this one I went with man's best animal friend.

Week 44's theme was Delicious. Meet Igerrom. He's a character from Book 2 who thinks that a cup of tea is absolutely delicious and offers a cup to everyone he comes across.

It took a while to settle on what to do for Week 45's theme of Homage to a Favourite Artist. In the end I went for architect Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926) who designed the Sagrada Familia (Holy Family) cathedral in Madrid.

Week 46's theme was Pencil. What do you think coloured pencils would say to each other if they could talk?

Reptile was the theme for Week 47. I decided to go non realistic and smile inducing for this one.

I enjoy the variety that the Illustration Challenge offers me.
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Earlier this week I picked up copies of my 2018 Calendar from the printers, send me a message if you would like to purchase a copy.

It is nice to have good news to share. The Facebook community for those doing the 52 week illustration challenge #illo52weeks has been so popular that they stopped admitting new members during the year and asked new entrants to wait until November. Thankfully they admitted me as a member as soon as the doors were open.

Week 38's theme was Jump, and I liked how this one turned out. I tried a much looser style with both line-work and digital colour.

Week 39's theme was Grandkids, and this one was fun to do.

Week 40's theme was Rope. At the time I needed another image that said 'family', so putting rope and family together resulted in this:

For week 41 the theme was Bookshop, and after the many hours spent on Rope in front of the computer, something simpler was needed:

Currently I'm in the middle of work on Week 47, so hopefully I'll get the others uploaded soon. If you are unable to wait that long, visit my Twitter and Facebook pages :))