When toddlers go Walking Dead

I asked a few of my students to make all sorts of faces, and took a bunch of pictures to play around with on the weekend.  I found 2 amazing little art shops tucked away on a small street while biking around and of course decided to blow a bunch of money on art supplies I definitely did not need more of....anyhow. Trying out some watercolour paper I got I started off with this cutesy cotton-candy-funfair sort of feel....

...and then I remembered how much Walking Dead I have to catch up on. My lineart was still in the same style as the one above. I just went nuts on the shadows. Amazing how easy it is to change the mood with one colour...

 

Walking Dead, the Toddler Edition - Coming soon to an IMAX near you!

Some Watercolour Studies

Line Wash - Bouxwiller, France. Nothing new in this style, my usual sketching watercolor go-to

I had an amazing vacation around Europe with my better half and some of my family this summer, and even though I have a rubbish little camera, the scenery itself made for some amazing pictures. (most of which I took with the intentions of drawing and using as art reference anyways of course!) My new watercolour set arrived a few weeks ago and I finally had time this week to play around and make a few study paintings.

This one was fun and something completely different for me, "negative painting". I basically started with a very primitive sketch of what will happen on the page and with every layer of paint kept painting the background and omitting the new shapes. My trees need a lot of work but as a new project this was fun.

And a quickie of one of my students and our ridiculously fun giant rubber animals which they can bounce around on.

Long Time No See!

好久不见！Hao jiu bu jian！A phrase we actually took from China more or less.
So...it has been quite a long while! I was expecting not to post during the summer but this was just getting plain lazy.  It's not that I haven't been doing art, just....life sort of throws moe and more things at you and you end up neglecting your beloved art blog.
So..I am officially back in China! And this time for a farily long 2 year haul. : ) I'm in a new city, Shunde, which is home to Bruce Lee, one of the best cuisines of China and an amazing proximity to just about everything. It's bigger and much richer than my previous city, so I will have plenty of new experiences and contrasts over here. (for example I have not seen buttless pants or tuk tuks, which to be honest I sort of miss) I've been here now for over 2 months and am in love. I can see myself spending a lot longer than 2 years to be honest. My job is fantastic and inspiring. I am teaching wonderful little 3 year olds not just english, but everything from manners, to cooking to sports and art. Expect to see a lot of toddler art in upcoming posts...
I'll be diligent with uploading new stuff every week, even if it's just a few sketches. Enjoy my life from the Middle Kingdom once again!
Oh, and I still don't have a scanner so....bear with the quality while it ships its slow way to me from Canada....

No Dramas

I was taken to a sheep farm where I noticed a single llama. I asked what his business there was. They said llamas are very aggressive and protective and are used to keep the foxes away. Obviously they'd be brilliant bartenders as well. : )

Real First Names Are for Pooftahs (pardon the language)

 

The Whole Population of Carrabin

I'm back in the land of internet! Nah, just kidding, I'm still in Australia (where you can actually buy airspace as well as land), but managed to get my hands on a little signal, so decided it's time for a nice big update. Proud to say my sketchbook is nearly full (it's been a while since I've successfully gotten to the last page before smearing everything with food and coffee stains) though I've been more focusing on specific projects, rather than random sketches (so its not so fun to look through).

The Regulars of Westonia

Morning Coffee

Farmer Boys

Truckies

My Mining Boys

First off, I had the not so brilliant idea of drawing everyone I met in Australia (since January) who's had some sort of contact with me whether good or bad. It's turned out to be a rather sour endeavour after the first few drawings...quite amazing just HOW many people you meet when on the road! But those involved seem to love looking at themselves and their friends, and as I promised, I'm posting them now. No, I still have no scanner, hence the over exposed pap smear quality. I do have plenthy more where those came from...but I figured one location would suffice. Only 20 zillion to go!

Finally a cover image for my comic, Septembuary!

 

Also, I hope those of you following my work have been checking up on my other blog "Septembuary", as I do regularly post new comic strips there. And here's a bit of news that may come as a surprise, I'm going back to China! I've gotten a pretty good job this time round (helps when you know what you're looking for) with heaps of perks, paid holidays and all that, so I can manage a life between Asia and Europe. : ) Partly I'm going back because the money is much better than back home at the moment, partly because I felt horribly guilty for not devoting time to learn the language, and mostly because I want to continue compiling my comic book, for reasons I will disclose in a future post.

Yes, Australian News seem to breeze through any actual IMPORTANT events while spending countless hours on exaggerating useless things, and adding a whole soap opera thing to almost ANY story.  No, I have nothing against the little prince. Yes, I have major beef with certain news stations. 

And now back to Aussie land. Having worked in remote areas for the last few months (as in no tourists) I've been getting a really neat and different feel for the country this time around, and my partner suggested I should write down my ideas or do something with them. I've been wanting to explore different styles and such and this little side venture (cause I definitely don't have enough of those) gives me that chance. Plus, the inknig takes waaaay less time than Septembuary! Here's a little teaser for ya.

A few more weeks left in this beautiful and incomprehensible place and then I'm back to the Northern hemisphere where seasons and temperatures make sense, and the internet is free, plenty and functional. See you then!
 

Some tidbits and life

One of the bikies from the biker gang Deroes, who spent a lovely night at out roadhouse. My technically "illegal" party experience with outlaws.

People having a good time at the local school's 100th celebration. Lots of country and Jonny Cash, and a fun atmosphere all around!

I'm quite surprised at how fulfilling and busy life can be in such a remote place. Currently reading "The World Before Yesterday", which is an amazing book about the few tribes and bands of people still living traditionally and how their culture functions, and it's amazing to see how so many of the facts relate to a small community here in Australia. Things and business is based on mutual growth, on personal relationships and basically looking out for each other, not just getting the biggest piece of cake.

And the kinds of people we have passing through the roadhouse are amazing. It's not tourists at all, which is a bit of a breath of fresh air. I'm just seeing raw, untempered Australians whose lives vary from incredibly successful to incredibly tragic. The stories I hear every day are just so inspiring, comic or bizzare. I think I have a new project idea to add to my to-do list. : p

A little bit of stuff from a little bit of nowhere..

Man I need a scanner...crappy camera quality really knows how to wreck just about anything..
A few sketchbook pages from recent moving around. After 4 flights and 3 jobs, I finally got somewhere I like and doing something I like with people I like. It's amazing how much difference a place makes when you like spending time with the people in that place. It can be even the biggest hole in the wall. Maybe have a permanent population of 3.

Busking and Whatnots

So I'm back down under after a lovely month and a half in..once again rainy Europe. It was a weird transition going from less than pleasant to beach weather, though that might be ending next week. Work took a while to find (took a few rather expensive mistakes and plane rides in fact) but I'm finally feeling settled and am looking forward again! The sketches here are some caricatures (5ish minutes) I did while busking one day in Fremantle, the artsy fartsy place of Perth. The vibe there is good, and for my first time out, it felt like pretty good bussiness. Sadly, one day gettin gmotivated nad making 80 bucks, and the next barely making enough to cover transport was a bit of a letdown, so I couldn't quite become my own boss.....shame. It was fun deciding when to go to work, how to work and all that jazz.

    And these badboys are a bit old...sometime in Denmark. One was from church..being not really religious, and not really speaking danish was quite boring for me, so I decided to still make my hours productive by observing what happens around me, and there was actually quite a bit! I must scan my sketchbook one of these days...have so much to post but no way to post it. : /

And as for my current upcoming projects? I'm full steam ahead with Septembuary, even more motivated this time around I'd say. My free time I'm working on new strips, an animation introduction for the comic and heaps of other things. My heart has gone right back to China, so next year I'm heading right back to all that chaos and excitement to document new oddities of life and have a full book ready to launch in mid 2015. If all goes well, I hope to launch a kickstarter campaign by then for it as well, so keep your ears and eyes peeled! I hope everyone is working hard at their own craft and happy valentine's day/singles awareness day!