Quokka- Christmas (shepherds)

The lighting in this one was a lot of fun. I’m not sure how quokkas would go being shepherds, seeing as how they’re a little bit smaller than sheep…

Merry Christmas everyone, thanks for reading the Quokka this year… thanks for all your comments. Have a safe holiday break.

James

Quokka, issue 698, December 17 2009- Christmas (shepherds)

Quokka- toy shopping

It’s a big cover this week, for the bumper Christmas edition.

Quokka, issue 697, December 10 2009- toy shopping

Quokka- Movies (Where the Wild Things Are)

The outdoor movie season has started again in Perth. I love it, it’s a brilliant part of Perth’s summer culture. One of the cinemas is called Movies By Burswood- it’s entirely volunteer-run and has raised over a million dollars for children’s charities over the years.

I’m really looking forward to the film Where the Wild Things Are. Coincidentally, the film also comes out today. So I decided to put it on the screen- or at least an homage to the original picture book that the movie is based on.

Quokka, issue 696, December 3 2009- movies (Where the Wild Things Are)

Quokka- wedding

Quokka, issue 695, November 26 2009- wedding

Quokka- hedge maze

A friend asked what the relevance of the hedge maze was in this cover. I wanted to say it was international hedge maze day, but really there was no particular reason at all- it was just a hedge maze. It was a fun cover to do… I got to think up lots of weird little situations, almost like a ‘Where’s Wally‘ illustration (but nowhere near as complicated).

Quokka, issue 694, November 19 2009- hedge maze

Quokka- supermarket

 

Quokka, issue 693, November 12 2009- supermarket

Quokka- camping

They’ve certainly earned their badges.

Quokka, issue 692, November 5 2009- camping

Narrogin library visit

I went to Narrogin library yesterday for a workshop with year seven students. Narrogin is about 2 hours south-east of Perth. I must thank the librarians, Belynda and Rachel, for inviting me- I had a brilliant time.

I gave a talk about the projects I’m working on and showed some examples of sketches and finished samples. Then the students got to do some drawing. Seeing as my visit was part of the ‘Finding MY Place’ program, where students are encouraged to think positively about their own futures, I asked the year 7s to draw a four panel comic about their dream job.

It was amazing to see the ideas that they came up with- one boy wanted to be a professional BASE jumper, another a sheep farmer, another an army officer; several girls wanted to become vets, another an Olympic horse-rider, another a police officer in the traffic division. With minimal instruction the students produced some really great comics. This proved to me that comics are an incredibly useful art form, one that people understand intuitively and can create instinctively. (at least, I imagine, in a culture where they are familiar with the art form already).

Here’a a quick demonstration comic I did for the class on my graphics tablet. Clearly my subconscious (in the form of a chicken) was telling me to get on with being a creative person. When I mentioned that I would like to be an illlustrator full-time, one girl in the class asked, “why aren’t you doing this full-time?” It was a great question and had me stumped.

Oct 29 2009- demonstration comic for students in Narrogin

Quokka- Melbourne Cup

Quokka, issue 691, October 29 2009- the Melbourne Cup

Sculpture- ancient Greek dude

I haven’t posted anything but Quokka covers for a while now, so thought I would show some other bits and pieces… here’s an ancient-Greek inspired character. I reckon he’ll be in a story some day.