Halloween is probably my favourite time of year. It used to be Christmas - now it's a close tie. That's because in Australia, we don't wear funny outfits and roam the streets. Come on. Dress ups, parties, creepy artwork found across Instagram - what's there not to love. Here's me. Here's a collection of wonderful Halloween posts I found while scouring across my Explore feed. From . . .
If They Could Talk…
Berlin-based greeting card designer and freelance illustrator Charly Clements creates the most adorable series titled 'Real Life Lines'. She puts personality into a whole range of inanimate objects, imagining the things they said if they had a voice. The simplest of doodles breathes life into each of them and certainly puts a smile on one's face. Other than the awesome . . .
Reflections on Art
Brainpickings asked artist extraordinaire Wendy MacNaughton to illustrate Susan Sontag’s reflections on art and the results are truly wonderful. The quotes used were carefully culled by Brainpickings from more than 1,000 pages of diary entries from both the same volume and the one preceding it, Reborn: Journals and Notebooks, 1947-1963. Here they are... All aesthetic judgment is really . . .
The Shoe Girl
Here's my latest hitRECORD challenge entry - The Shoe Girl. Based on a line from this poem, I created my little girl. "Sally who only just turned two, pulls a rabbit from her shoe." Magic Town - REmix, CMather She is confused. On one hand, she's (literally) holding a bunny she has just miraculously pulled out of her shoe. A trick she's learnt since a she was a year and a half. On the . . .
A Flower For You?
I went to the Tim Burton exhibition in Shanghai and for those of you who are based in this city, please go and visit it. It's one of my top three all-time favourite exhibitions together with Yayoi Kusama and Cai Guo Qiang. The amount of work that he's created throughout his years is incredible and so inspirational. A smorgasbord of whimsy, creepy and magnificent - all in one place. One of . . .
A Colourful World
I love everything about these maps by Brooklyn based illustrator Libby VanderPloeg. Colour, illustration and hand lettering with a touch of whimsy! Her work comes out of her deep affinity for storytelling, music, letterforms, printed ephemera, and wildlife. The illustrations she has created have been featured in Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Time Out, Condé Nast Traveler & Harper . . .
Shanghai Welcomes
What do you do when you have an hour to burn before some of your favourite people touchdown in Shanghai? #myhandsneedmorespeed #drawingliketheflash I always heard that according to psychologists, if your friendship lasts past 7 years, it will last forever. I just tried to find scientific proof of this online and in all honesty, the most credible source for this was either Pinterest or . . .
A Prince-Worthy Tribute
On April 21, 2016, people around the world mourned the loss of the much-loved American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and actor – Prince. There were tributes made, live music played, and even some public grieving amongst fans of the legendary musician who has released 40 studio albums to date. That is quite the achievement in one's life. “I’d never seen anything like . . .
A New Discovery – HITRECORD
I've discovered a new obsession: HITRECORD. Basically, it's an open-collaborative production company established by Joseph Gordon-Levitt - this innovative community includes over 100,000 artists of all disciplines (writers, filmmakers, musicians, etc.) adding 250 new members and 2,500+ new pieces of art every day. I have yet to explore it more but my two favourite parts about HITRECORD is . . .
Before & After
It's easy to see amazing work done by others and brush it off saying that they've always been talented in some way or another. That it's not possible to be as good as they are. Drawing and illustration take a whole lot of hard work. I'm learning that now. After seeing the before and afters of these illustrations really shows you the importance of practice. Pick up your pen and start . . .