Scribbly Pete

Illustration Friday: Packed

2008-09-28T20:44:00.002+10:00

My first post since March. I love scenes like this, with narrative gaps to be filled by the viewer.

Illustration Friday: Leap

2008-03-01T21:31:00.002+10:00

I'm happy with the picture itself but not so much with the way the colours were scanned. Oh well.
Ink and watercolour.

There's more to me...

2008-02-20T19:16:00.003+10:00

If only people could see what we can see in ourselves - but how to communicate it? Based on an idea from Alain de Botton's Status Anxiety (and his reference to Zadie Smith's White Teeth).
2B pencil

Teacher

2008-02-20T19:14:00.003+10:00

2B pencil

Illustration Friday: Theory

2008-02-16T15:38:00.001+10:00

Illustration Friday: Choose

2008-02-10T14:32:00.000+10:00

A choice we've all had to make at some stage. If I could choose to change anything in this picture, I would choose not to have the heads so close to each other.
Ink.

Man in Thought

2008-01-22T12:13:00.001+10:00

Ink and watercolour. I wouldn't mind being this fellow one day.

Four new pictures

2008-01-19T16:38:00.000+10:00

Bicycle in pencil and watercolour. I wanted to draw one of those old dragster bikes we used to ride as kids. I like this picture but I was very close to giving it a pen outline. Not sure if I should have.

Fisherman in pencil and watercolour. I was trying to recapture the style of a previous picture ("A Change in Style"), with a rough pencil sketch and light watercolour, with lots of water.

Sophie in ink. I've just bought a nib and holder and am having a go at illustration using this method, dipping into ink. It's tricky but I'm starting to get the hang of it. I like the look of it much more than a pen.

Boy in ink and watercolour. I did this using the nib and thought it came out pretty well. I tried not to overdo the painting, to keep it simple.

A change in style

2007-08-26T12:23:00.000+10:00

Whenever I do a picture, I do a messy sort of pencil sketch, then go over in ink, rub out the pencil lines and paint it. However, I've been looking at some beautiful illustrations by Armin Greder and Freya Blackwood and notice that you can still see the pencil lines (Armin Greder mostly works in pastels, I think). So I had a quick go at just leaving the rough pencil sketch without the ink, then painting it. I really like the look of it. There seems to be more expression or something.

More pictures for the book

2007-08-25T13:00:00.000+10:00

Teaching a grandson and arriving at the farm - not chronological, of course.

Holiday

2007-08-17T20:28:00.000+10:00

They don't really look like us but these ones are based on photos from our Daintree holiday.

Grandchildren

2007-08-07T18:07:00.000+10:00

I finally painted another picture for the grandparents' book. Most of the pictures are drawn, I just need to paint them.

2007-07-23T18:32:00.000+10:00

Finally bought some new paper so I can get back into this.

Illustration Friday: Rejection

2007-06-17T19:58:00.000+10:00

So many possibilities for this theme. I was going to draw a dog looking sadly on as its owners fussed over their new baby but it hit a little too close to home, so I changed to this idea.

2007-06-04T17:41:00.000+10:00

It's a bit hard to explain but this is how I feel sometimes. I'll do a proper painted version sometime soon.

Another birthday

2007-06-03T13:02:00.001+10:00

Happy Birthday, Michael. This is the image I have of you in Melbourne, for some reason.

Happy Birthday, Cath

2007-06-01T22:30:00.000+10:00

A picture for your birthday, Cath. I didn't mean it to really have any relevance to your birthday, to the passing of time, the drifting of days. It just worked out that way. I know I shouldn't blame my tools and materials but the paper I used wasn't my favourite, didn't hold the colour as well, so the result probably isn't as good as it could have been. Just imagine what it could have been!

Illustration Friday: SIGNS

2007-05-21T18:53:00.000+10:00

This is my 5oth post, which is an average of about one a week since I started this thing. I guess that's a healthy figure.

The Pursuit

2007-05-19T11:51:00.001+10:00

Illustration Friday: NEIGHBOUR

2007-05-06T08:58:00.000+10:00

I haven't painted for a while but I finally dusted off the watercolours and had a go. I like this one. I'm trying to make my pictures just a little more vibrant I guess, stronger colours, not too washed out.

Illustration Friday (Saturday for me - I'm in the southern hemisphere): REMEMBER

2007-04-28T12:55:00.000+10:00

Other ideas I had: somebody sitting by a gravestone or a cross, like a small boy or a dog; somebody looking into a glass of wine, smiling; somebody digging out an old mandolin from a dusty box. Come to think of it, I like those ideas better than the one I ended up with, especially the mandolin one.

2007-04-27T16:31:00.000+10:00

This is a picture of my mate Lex. I don't know whether to call it "Lex" or "The Groundsman". The latter sounds a bit more like a portrait name, like "The Sicilian" by that fellow, can't remember, it's in the Queensland Art Gallery I think. This one's graphite pencil on paper. I'm entering it into the art section of the local show. The prize money for first place is three dollars, though you'll probably get run out of town if you try to claim it.

You'll just have to wait

2007-04-14T12:14:00.000+10:00

Heartbeat

2007-03-21T19:45:00.000+10:00

Another hero in pencil

2007-03-14T12:38:00.000+10:00

I think this is one of those portraits that just doesn't quite make sense. Some of it is right but there only needs to be a few things amiss for the whole thing to look odd. I don't despise it as much as I did when I drew it.

Illustration Friday: WIRED

2007-03-12T12:23:00.000+10:00

Thanks very much for all the comments on the last few posts. Keeps me motivated.

Illustration Friday: HIDE

2007-03-05T19:46:00.000+10:00

IF: Communication

2007-02-24T15:53:00.000+10:00

The lost art of letter writing.

IF gravity

2007-02-18T18:27:00.000+10:00

A pair of hearts

2007-02-08T19:10:00.000+10:00

Some heroes in pencil

2007-01-23T21:55:00.000+10:00

George Harrison

Tom Waits

Joan Baez

Bob Dylan

Napkin?

2007-01-10T12:21:00.000+10:00

I wrote "Box of tissues" below this picture but it's actually a box of serviettes. Fascinating, hey?

Pepper, anyone?

2007-01-09T13:02:00.000+10:00

I've been away from my computer and scanner for weeks now so not much has happened on Scribbly Pete, though I bought a sketchbook and pencil today and found myself a scanner.

Working Hard, version two

2006-11-15T10:48:00.000+10:00

Homeland

2006-11-14T09:09:00.000+10:00

Brisbane, 1945

2006-11-12T11:58:00.000+10:00

Arriving and Working Hard

2006-11-11T15:20:00.000+10:00

Illustration Friday: Ghost

2006-10-23T15:18:00.000+10:00

Not all ghosts are spooky.

Leaving

2006-10-21T14:56:00.000+10:00

Another picture for the grandparents' book.

Illustration Friday: Smitten

2006-10-14T19:42:00.000+10:00

Self-portrait

2006-10-13T18:05:00.000+10:00

Illustration Friday: Trouble

2006-10-13T17:42:00.000+10:00

This is kind of a sequel to my other picture with the planet in it. I'll come up with some new ideas one of these days.

a book I'm making

2006-10-05T18:52:00.000+10:00

I'll let you in on something. I'm making a book about my grandparents for Christmas. If you know them, or if they're your grandparents too, don't tell them. It's supposed to be a surprise. Most of my pictures from here on in will be ideas and pages for the book. Here are some of them.

As best you can

2006-10-02T18:22:00.000+10:00

I've been thinking about this picture for a while, since I watched some documentaries about Earth, then my father-in-law told me he was officially handing me and my generation the duty of worrying about the world, as he'd done his bit, so I thought I'd better at least document the idea.

Illustration Friday: Quiet

2006-09-30T21:39:00.000+10:00

A tribute and a tree

2006-09-25T19:02:00.000+10:00

I'll miss you, Floydie.

IF Change

2006-09-17T14:55:00.000+10:00

This week's entry in illustrationfriday's theme of change. I initially had an old fellow looking disappointedly in the mirror but settled on change at a younger age.

IF Farm

2006-09-15T18:38:00.000+10:00

I like the sky but again I'm not sure about the grass. It's supposed to be a picture of the drought and somehow the young fellow is standing is lush(ish) grass. I'm attempting to put this picture on the website illustrationfriday.com for the theme of "Farm".

Girl with a wheelbarrow

2006-09-03T12:37:00.000+10:00

This is probably my favourite picture I've done, not for what it looks like but for what I learnt while doing it. It was heavily influenced by Bruce Whatley's illustrations in a beautiful book I just bought called "The Smallest Bilby and the Midnight Star".

2006-09-01T21:15:00.000+10:00

Have you ever tried to remember the angles of a wheelbarrow without looking at one? It's been swirling in my head for days but I finally spotted one leaning against my neighbour's fence. I'm thinking of painting this one too but I need to put something interesting in the wheelbarrow. For some reason I can only imagine a dead body.

a boy and his bike

2006-08-31T19:04:00.000+10:00

Stay tuned - I think I'm going to paint this little fellow.

A room without books...

2006-08-27T09:48:00.000+10:00

The Drought

2006-08-23T13:13:00.000+10:00

On the run

2006-08-19T16:14:00.000+10:00

Which way does the wind blow?

2006-08-17T16:44:00.000+10:00

I like the water, the sky's okay but I need to work on the grass. The lines of grass should be blowing in the same direction as the girl's hair. And the colour...

I'm Back!

2006-08-16T12:40:00.000+10:00

After weeks of changing nappies and being spewed upon, I'm ready to paint and scan then paint and scan again. These were done a while ago. The bit I'm most proud of is the orange sky behind the girl.

Preparing the nursery

2006-07-05T16:36:00.000+10:00

Some pictures for the impending child.

2006-06-27T17:07:00.000+10:00

This sort of matches a story I'm writing at the moment, about a nasty principal.

a picture and a poem

2006-06-24T20:06:00.000+10:00

I hope you can read this. If not, fill the gaps.

Love on the street

2006-06-13T18:57:00.000+10:00

VICTORY!

2006-06-13T09:47:00.000+10:00

A taste of monochrome

2006-06-11T22:31:00.000+10:00

I had this picture in my head, so I put it on the page. I don't really know where it came from.

A different kind of art?

2006-06-11T16:20:00.000+10:00

I know it's a photo - not a drawing - but I love the look of this. It's a toy left out in the rain.

2006-06-09T21:48:00.000+10:00

A picture for my dog. I tried to give the picture a nice golden feel.

2006-06-08T21:08:00.000+10:00

Some bedtime drawing last night.

2006-06-05T17:38:00.000+10:00

Some pictures I drew while eating a sandwich and drinking coffee today.

2006-06-04T19:12:00.000+10:00

I did this picture last week after playing my mandolin all day. It's a little too much in the style of Stephen Michael King, one of my heroes, though I still like it. The colours worked out well, I think.