The process of creation....

All the images I create are sourced from my own sketches and photographs gathered during my travels.
When painting animals and scientific illustrations many sketches are made and exact measurements and other details such as feather counts are taken.
After playing around with shetches and compostions, the final image is drawn onto the final surface - usually paper or board.
The image is then built up in successive layers, starting from the background. I usually try to leave white or light areas unpainted, to let the paper sing through and somtimes mask these areas out initially.
Applying colour in multiple layers enables me to obtain a special depth of colour and texture for fur, feathers and foliage.
Each layer must be allowed adequeate drying and setting time before the next can be sucessfully applied.
The final steps involve adding hair and feather detail with increasingly fine brushes and then ultimately the highlights. This too may requre several layers, with drying time in between.
I aim to make the end image something of detail and beauty that can be looked at for a long time, without becoming boring. I also endeavor to capture something of the place and atmosphere in my landscapes and something of the character and beauty of the animals in the portraits.
Well, it's something to work towards ( : ....

२००९ update

It's been a busy few months getting cards and limited edition prints to many distribution points up the East Coast of Tasmania and
discovering weekend markets are at lot more fun and less scarey than I thought.
I've become a member with the Peppercorn Gallery in Richmond - a co-op gallery run by the artists. It's lovely to have some feedback and input from other practising artists. But I've been kept busy creating and framing or mounting works for the wall space as well as creating small works for markets and the last couple of weeks a range of Bookmarks! Lots of fun ( :

Now, with the season winding down it's time to start working on a new and exciting body of work for 2009 - There's so much on this year it's mind boggling, so I'm just going to try to focus on creating the images for a new card range in the next couple of months. And looking forward to working BIG again...