Hello!

I was in a big hurry for Colour Collective's 'Coamaru' prompt, so I did a quick colour job on a sketch I did during the week. It went down well, this has the distinction of being the Colour Collective that has garnered the most likes on both Twitter and Instagram in the several years I've been taking part (good heavens, is it nearly two and a half years already?!)

Here's the original quick digital sketch. As you can see, I added more leaves.

Really very fond of this one!

Adobe Photoshop CC2017 on a Wacom Cintiq Companion 2.

About 1 to 2 hours, tops.

Illustration: Pygmy Possum Christmas Cards

Some friends asked me to design some Christmas cards that were reminiscent of May Gibbs, and featured Australian wildlife. The design they decided on was a western pygmy possum among eucalyptus flowers and leaves:

For those wondering, May Gibbs was an Australian children's author/illustrator in the first half of the 20th century, who wrote and illustrated the classic Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, as well as many other titles. 

I originally came up with three concepts, two featuring western pygmy possums, and one featuring a scarlet robin. 

Once the design had been decided upon, I inked it traditionally using sepia Faber-Castel PITT artist's pens and then added colour in Adobe Photoshop CS6:

We got them printed at Moo, who always do a lovely job. Since they allow multiple designs in one order, I made up a number of colourways, and three were decided upon – red flowers, pink flowers and yellow flowers. Here's a snap of the pink and yellow (with 'Merry Christmas' in 'leaf writing' in the top left). The satin finish of the printed cards works really well with the illustration, I think. =)

Sneak Peek: Possum

A look at a pen and ink drawing I'm currently working on – here you see a small bit of a western (Australian) pygmy possum. They are adorable, although the banksia flower this one is sitting on is less so. =P Quite meditative, though, once you get in the rhythm.

Sketch: Charlie the Possum

This is Charles Percival Possum. I saw this photo in the paper today, and just had to draw it, it was so sweet. The original photo is by Nic Ellis.

Charlie was orphaned in the big storm we had a month or so back, and raised by a kind lady who used to be a veterinary technician. He's lost his right eye, and will have to live in a wildlife centre, since he won't be able to survive in the wild. But he's awfully cute, and awfully fun to draw. I suppose he's only about 6 weeks old, which is why he's so small here.