They called her name ...

“They called her name until it didn’t sound like a real word anymore, but she never returned.”

When the team over at the Monday Project put up their latest theme I was a bit intimidated by the specificity of the title. But having read the back story I found myself sitting on the couch with the sketch pad out pondering a few projects at once. At the same time our dog Milly was sitting on the floor ignoring instructions to go outside – all of a sudden I totally got it!

Agent of change

Special agent of change

I couldn't work out where to go with the latest Monday Project so after a few false starts I've ended up with a this well hatted character as my 'agent of change'.

under the lamp post

One last puff

Another theme from the Monday Project. I've gone reasonably literal on this one for a change, but added in some copy for context. I'm finding that using the wacom I'm less precious about the line and prepared to command z, where as on paper I'm very reluctant to pull out the eraser.

canberra in autumn

Canberra in Autumn

 

I'm playing along again with the Monday Project. This is one of my ideas which combines typography and illustration. It has been a little too subtle for my test audience so I hope you can see it.

beach baths

Toes in the sand

Once again the Monday Project has added creativity to my month. This time with the theme 'beach baths'. I have referenced the style of David Hockney which I found because of Forgers Masterclass, which has become my sunday evening addiction of late.

It was great to apply paint to a canvas with a roller, it seems as though you achieve a lot in a small amount of time.

re:ducks

re:ducks

With open arms i welcome back the Monday Project to my list of monthly inspiration. Having been inactive for a while they aptly chose redux as the theme of the month. But being that I'm still slow I've mangled together a homophone and gone back to my early artist days to make a potato stamp.

Perhaps I will revive the theme later in the month to have another go!

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Also,  BenZen is heading off on a new adventure under the guise of Larsen. 

Marriage leaves a maiden name unused

Another month on and the monday project strikes again. October's theme of  'Marrying left your maiden name disused' really had me stumped, and still sort of does. None the less below is my submission for the month. Enjoy.

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Together with the doubled up cutlery, toasters, kettles and tvs another maiden name sits unused, gathering dust as a happy marriage continues.

and there followed a moments silence

Another month down, though it seems much shorter. With more creative endeavors and weekend filling activities time seems to fly by. Hence my rather rushed submission for the Monday Project's theme of 'and there followed a moments silence' developed into two ideas. One close to home, the other a much larger scale.

Along with running short on time, having a mid 20's designer/illustrator identity crisis doesn't help. As a designer I have been loosely advised to not have a style of my own, but to work to what is best for the purpose. Whereas illustrators are know for their style, it's what makes them salable. Hmm, now I need two mindsets to toggle between.

So to help solve my dilemma (or at least tide me over until I find a less time consuming solution), I am going to put up one illustration in 'my style' (though I am still not entirely sure what that is) and another in which I have tried something different.

In response to a response

Ever get so into a story that it forms an image in your mind, well that was the case with Amanda's (Pocketful of courage) submission to the Monday Project's 'box of sun' challenge. Make sure you read Amanda's great short story to see find out what's happening in the sketch.

Click on image for larger version

my box of sun

After starting again and again on this project I kept getting stuck on the descriptive title of this months challenge provided by the Monday Project. 'A box of sun' told the whole story to me and no matter how I tried to bend my head around to something new I decided to develop on the very basic image in my head. Make sure you click on the image to see it larger and read the text on the box.

Thanks again to Kate and Sophie for getting me to finish at least one creative project each month :)

another monday ... put on a brave face

Another monday project down. this months theme was brave (courage, not American Indian like my half month sketch), and up until tonight I was working on the idea that the bravest thing you can do is admit defeat. But hey, I'm just not that brave. So here's my submission.

A little bit of magic (courage) can bring out the hero in all of us.

More scratchings from the couch

I have been a bit slack on the sketching lately though some nice weather and spare time I have managed to put pencil to paper and get something out.

the first is an early response to the Monday projects theme of brave.

second is due to watching a lot of the tour de france – i think this bloke is a bit Lance Armstrong'ish.

third is a scratching that i did on a nice day in the park. just a mother and daughter enjoying the day. shame i had started another sketch then worked over it.

Jumping in puddles

After a long day trapped inside because of the rain little Carly went out to play adorned with wings and halo. Poor old mum was blissfully unaware until her little angel proclaimed her greatness in the centre of the living room.

Thanks to the Monday Project for another great challenge :)

Jumping in puddles - a challenge

With a little reminding from the girls at the Monday Project I have been re-united with my desire to jump in puddles. The want to break contact with the earth only to plunge feet first into a shallow pool of water causing it to explode and onto the surrounding people is almost impossible to deny. Unfortunately the restrictions of being a grownup and the need to not be dripping on the carpet at work seem to keep me in line. Not to mention that in Sydney puddles only seem to form in the most un-fun places. I can't wait to get back to the country where puddles form on the lawn where it is acceptable to have fun, whereas if i was to jump in a puddle on the lawn of the University of Sydney's quad building I'm quite sure I would be marched to a quiet place and disposed of. I'm sure cadavers used to be sourced from the greenskeepers after a downpour – the suspicious slashes of a whipper snipper wire on the achilles tendon gives it away. Because of my fear of the lawnmower men I won't indulge this passion any time soon, but hopefully I can embrace the thought of letting go of inhibitions and create something fun for the project.

sadly, no

a first timer to the Monday Project, here's my submission for the theme of  'sadly, no'. 

thanks to BenZen for putting me onto this great little project.

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Old Mother Hubbard went to the cupboard to get her poor doggy a bone. But when she got there the cupboard was bare, so the poor little doggy got none.

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