Burning

This week's Illustration Friday topic is burning. What with packing up a house to move to the UK, a sick 3-year old for the last week, a husband overseas for 3 weeks and wrapping up the final days of my job...burn out came to mind initially, however that wasn't terribly inspiring. Frankly, I can't hear the word burning without thinking of the horrific fires here in Australia in 2009. The media was filled with shocking images. So, here is my take on burning.

Nautilus Races

This week's Illustration Friday theme is transportation. What better way to get around than on a marine creature that has been transporting itself for 450 million years. Nautilus are incredibly resilient animals that don't usually get much attention. Of course, the catch is that they propel themselves backwards, so they may hit the odd thing and they may not take the most direct route! This painting is another in a series of underwater children's illustrations I've done for my son's bedroom.

Acrobat

This week's Illustration Friday theme....ACROBAT. Not sure whether I got the point across or whether it just looks like some lady wrestling with the linen?!

A rolling stone gathers no moss

A very quick watercolour for Illustration Friday's word of the week PROVERB. I chose the proverb A rolling stone gathers no moss because it is something my grandmother always used to say to me. Of course, these days my interpretation is much different. I figure, moss grows quickly, so why not roll while you can!

Monarch

This is my latest endeavour. I was looking through an art book and came across a beautiful butterfly on canvas. It was incredibly life-like, with the veins of the wings raised and even slight imperfections at the edges. Of course, when I read the text I soon realized that it was, in fact, life...glued to the canvas. So, I was inspired to give it a go but without using a real butterfly. I used texture paste to lift the butterfly off the canvas and literally squeezed it out of a bag like icing to create the veins in the wing. This photo sadly doesn't capture this third dimension, but I was pretty pleased with how it turned out.

Azure kingfisher

We saw at least four breeding pairs of azure kingfisher along the Noosa River. It was low light conditions, I had a frustrated two year old hanging off my arm and we were in a canoe. Not ideal conditions and the picture is a little soft as a result. However, it does illustrate the incredible colour of these little beauties.

Drifting Dreams

This was taken at the end of our four day paddle up the Noosa River. Morgan was napping and lighting was high contrast; I couldn't resist.

Foliage

Can't explain why this shot grabbed me really. Obviously it was nice light, but it was the two leaf types that I wanted to capture.

Sunset paddle

This photo was taken on a recent trip to the Noosa River, about two hours drive north of Brisbane, Australia. After we had pitched the tent, we climbed back into the canoe looking for the perfect picture. The water was glass and the sun was low. We came around the bend and here it was.

Cuddle Fish

Another ocean-themed kids painting for Morgan's wall. Who can resist a cuttlefish?

Cardinalfish

Just finished this piece last night and I'm really happy with it. These are Banggai Cardinalfish (Pterapogon kauderni), a small tropical fish found in Indonesia. They are very popular in the aquarium industry. So much so, that they are now a threatened species. They can be bred in captivity, so if you are purchasing, be sure to ask whether they have been sourced from the wild or bred in captivity. There is no need for them to be harvested from the wild.