goodbye Madiba

You've probably heard by now, Nelson Mandela has passed away…

Spent today just reflecting and doodling this based on the lovely photo from this article, one of the things I'll always remember about Madiba is that great smile.

And here's another article I thought was nice testament to the man :)

For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.
                                               -Nelson Mandela

Shark tail

Here's a question for ya, if a shark were big enough to swallow the sun… how long would it's tail be?

desert shark

Deep in the sands of the Sahara lurk great beasts, prehistoric monsters that move through sand as though it were water.
Swimming this way, under the desert, has made them almost impossible to study. However, they have at times been spotted by the occasional wary Bedouin traveler as they breach, but why they do so is still a mystery.

entangled deep-sea ananzi

An amazing spectacle to behold, the migration of newly hatched marine ananzi on their buoyant threads, has baffled experts for years.
Recent studies suggest that their phosphorescence is to lure curious prey within reach of the adult ananzi that follow the tangle* from the shadows.

*tangle - collective noun, a group of young marine ananzi

together

That's right, another collage!

I did mention that there was a time I was doing lots of these for Nasou, right?
It's nice looking back at these now with fresh eyes… this particular piece was about leadership and building one's country together.

It really is an interesting and fun technique to use, a bit like film editing, y'know?

hidden

Joggers of the world, beware!
In the darkest, most lush parts of your neighbourhood park could lurk the dreaded Loreleon.

So stay clear of any low hanging branches that lie across your path. Look up and you might just see one, maybe two smoldering eyes watching you intently from between the leaves, and be thankful for this advice.

balance

In life, as in all things, one needs to find balance…

This is a collage illustration I did for Nasou Via Afrika's Life Orientation schoolbooks. It's been a great medium to explore. At times frustrating but when things click into place the results are, more often than not, very rewarding!

Best of all is how subtle it can be, symbols and meaning can be found which is both engineered and serendipitous :)

Seasonal hybrid

Posted this already but it just suits the IF theme-of-the-week so well that… well here it again :)

The trheenoceros, or just "trheeno", is a tree/rhinoceros hybrid.

While nobody knows for sure exactly how they're born, it's entirely possible that they germinate from seed. Expert opinions vary…

panda love

Who doesn't love pandas? Nobody, that's who!
Made this little ditty for the lovely folks at Watercolour Wednesdays for the March banner for that blog.

liquid elephant

Sailors whisper tales of choppy nights on the open ocean when occasionally a lonely little fishing vessel might encounter the fabled jellyphant…
These moments are brief, the liquid beast shimmers in the moonlight for an instant, tentacled trunk probing the air, before drifting back into the surf like a dream.

trekking along tracks

Here's the cover to an eBook written by Hermien Van Den Bergh that I completed not long ago - Trackeroo and the Crew!

It's a lovely story for young readers that will leave you breathless with excitement and innovation. Set in the African tableau, it features a colourful cast on an epic secret quest.

But of course inky, evil nightmares are never far behind behind….

The book is currently on promotion, check it out on Amazon and get your free copy!

wild wild veld

In the sun-baked  veld, many wild things lurk behind the long grass….

….mostly in search of a nice refreshing pool of water.

snotty monster

Slime monsters...
You haven't lived until you've drawn a slimey, snotty, pus-riddled blob of gross!

Aah, good times :)

Incidentally, this was another piece I did for Nasou Via Afrika's grade 12 Life Orientation schoolbook.

to Spear or not to Spear

Another illustration I did for Nasou's Grd12 Life Orientation textbook, the intent here I'm certain was to  evoke responses from the students about the controversial painting "The Spear" which was based on this famous Soviet propaganda poster.

It's a pretty crazy story but all the same, it's good to know that a painting can still rattle people as much as this one did…

Toko's back...

It's been a while since I've posted about this little gecko fella! Here's a quick look at the 5th installment of the activity book which features Toko, the intrepid gecko... 

cover illustration

Some of the interior pages, and I must say that designing these games is a 12 year old's dream come true :)

going shopping?

Big news!

My fabulously awesome fiancé has started an online shop on etsy where you can buy some of my illustrations as high quality art prints.

We'll be updating it continuously but there's plenty to see already, just click on the "Drawsome" link in the right-hand menu -----> 

(or the pic below)

Whacky November

It's wednesday! What better day than this one to post about Watercolor Wednesdays?

WaWe is a community blog dedicated to illustrations for kids, every month features a new banner rendered by one of it's members, this was the one I did for Nov 2012.

And recently I stepped in to do the March 2013, it'll be up all month so check it by clicking the button in the right side menu  --->

I'm sometimes asked what steps I take when illustrating, this particular one is a good one to use since it was done in my 'standard' method...

1&2) Once I've sketched out the idea (which I couldn't find to post here) I ink it, sometimes right over the original pencils, but mostly on a clean sheet of paper using a lightbox.

3) Then, on another clean sheet I watercolour the bits I consider 'positive space'.

4) After scanning and aligning the bits, an overall texture is added and any missing details are filled in.

5) The background is then filled in using more textures, sometimes adding some last minute details.

The last step is to add the lettering and some spin-n-shine finishing touches (top image)

Olympic heroes

The big story at the moment is the one involving our very own Oscar Pistorius, aka the "blade runner", olympic sweetheart and national hero...

While he is mired in controversy and his innocence is up for debate, I'm not here to flaunt my opinion, instead I'd like to remind all of us that we have many other heroes worthy of our attentions.

   

These were commissioned by Nasou Via Afrika and feature Semanya Caster and Cameron van der Burgh, some of last year's medal takers at the London Olympics.

Due to time constraints, I've had to work more and more digitally. These didn't even have rough drafts, the briefs were very clear and I was able to go straight to the final piece, sometimes the results surprised even me... it's nice when that happens :)

wearing Blake's shoes

Here are a couple more illustrations for Cambridge University Press based on Quentin Blake's style.

I call the top one "iClean" :)

wearing Blake's hat

As an illustration gun-for-hire, or more accurately: pencil-box-for-hire, I am at times asked to emulate iconic styles. There are few illustrators as iconic as the legendary Quentin Blake, who famously drew Roald Dahl's classic masterpieces, too numerous to single out here.

His site is full of wonderful things, I highly recomend having a look at it,  my favourite being this gem - the master at work. I also found this lovely blog article about him and his landscapes.

I was commissioned by Cambridge University Press to adopt Mr Blake's style because they had used an extract of "Danny, champion of the world" in their Grade 7, English language schoolbooks.
I enjoyed the style so much that I used it throughout the Grd7 material I was assigned!

This last panel comes from Danny, I drew on Roald Dahl's own gipsy caravan for inspiration...

Imagine owning your very own gipsy caravan!

nomnomnom...

Like every other human, I like food. It makes me happy when I'm sad and full when I'm hungry.

I recently illustrated a series of plates for House&Leisure magazine, the "Food Issue" which you'll find on magazine racks across SA.

You can download the full large format versions from their site.

Bon Appétit!

splishy splashing!

Let's dive into the new year!

New friends to be made, new adventures to be found and more fun to be had!