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.

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:
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​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 :))

​These are from Week 34 to Week 37 #illo52weeks.
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The theme for Week 34 was Deep, and because I felt a need to mix things up a bit I scanned a sketch into the computer and then used Photoshop to build the image. This intelligent deep sea creature is the result:​

For week 35 the theme was Bucket List. I don't have one of those yet, so I thought about others who might have trouble choosing. Again I sketched first, and spent even more hours on Photoshop. Here he is. His bags are packed, and the taxi is waiting outside for him. But where of all the places to go on his bucket list, should he go? His solution is a blindfold and a 'pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey' type pin. 

Week 36's theme was Printing. There were several ways to go with this one, but I decided to go with the blocks of type-set letters that were used before printing text became electronic. For this one I went back to ink and watercolour. 

Week 37's theme of Queen could have gone in many different directions too. But my inspiration was drawn to build on Lewis Carroll's character, mine being a bit more regal and less likely to yell 'off with his head'.

This is the kind of stuff that I like to do, bringing ideas and images to life in a variety of ways. What I don't know how to do is make a living by doing it. I have gone down many paths that have proved to be dead ends. If you can see an untried new path for me to explore, please get in contact.

These are from Week 30 to Week 33 #illo52weeks.
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The theme for Week 30 was Home, and for a change I did this one 100% digitally.  Yes, there is an influence from Martin Crane's beloved chair in the TV sit-com 'Frasier'.  

Week 31's theme was Tools. I decided against a garage wall scene, and although a Wile E. Coyote with ACME products was tempting, I finally went with this....since Father's Day is approaching.

Week 32's theme was Secret. A well fortified box is where many of us would like to keep our secrets safe.

The theme for Week 33 was Sadness. I decided to experiment with some wet wash effects for this one. Here is the first version, which is cropped. 

For this second version I adjusted the colour brightness to get the image closer to the original idea I wanted to achieve.

I know I haven't posted anything yet about the First Flight course with Oatley Academy. I've done plenty of sketches and mood boards, and I'll get around to sharing some of them soon.

Here's the #illo52weeks report from Week's 26 to 29:

​The theme for Week 26 was San Francisco, so I decided to go for the holy man himself and not the city.

Week 27's theme was Bush Countryside and came straight from my imagination. For this one I decided to keep it Black & White and use some ink wash.

Week 28's theme was Growth, something that every child knows about:

Week 29's theme was Swing. For this one I went for ink and ink wash again, with just a smidgen of colour:

I am now a Facebook newbie, having had a page for just on 2 weeks.
It was necessary for taking part in a short course with The Oatley Academy called 'First Flight'. Gradually I am getting through the hours and hours of podcasts and hopefully will get to the drawing part soon.