illustration of bicycles outside the Union Hotel, Brunswick

Bicycles at the hotel is available as poster or card art via my Redbubble store

Around where I live a lot of people like to ride their bicycles, and we are blessed with many excellent local pubs. These things combine very nicely.

Though I do recommend some moderation if riding home from the pub... and a helmet.

Drawn and coloured in response to Illustration Friday theme 'bicycle'.

R :)

Uisge beatha! We call it whisky.

Praise to the Celtic monks of old,

Who first the water of life bottled.

Distilled of grain mash frothing frisky,

Uisge beatha! We call it whisky.

'Uisge Beatha' is Scottish Gaelic for 'water of life', the name monks of the time gave to distilled spirit. Over time 'Uisge' became the word 'whisky'.

Is it too much suggesting 'old' and 'bottled' rhyme? Hope not.

I made up the verse and created the image in response to the Illustration Friday theme 'bottled'.

Here's some pics of the illustration process and materials.

weekend pen and ink sketches

I spent some time on the weekend sketching random items from around the house. For a bit of fun I thought I might colour them and post them here.

 

Old mugshots provide great character reference

A couple of weeks ago, over my morning expresso, I idly read a tweeted recommendation to check out a site featuring police mug shots from Sydney in the 1920's. Well I was utterly gobsmacked when the collection of 90 year old photos loaded. They were packed with more character, pathos and culture than you could poke a stick at.

The police photographer of the time had far exceeded the needs of photography for identification, transforming the mug shots into stunning works of portraiture and valuable cultural time pieces. They also happen to make great reference for some play with ink and a brush! A few of the painting efforts I thought I'd post here. I am happy with the results so far (I have to do more), but they are not a patch on the magnificence of the original photos.

Anyway, thought I'd share the reference resource around as it's such a beaut. Oh, and since finding the website I have also found out there has been a book printed with the mug shot photographs - City of Shadows: Sydney Police Photographs 1912 - 1928, by a chap called Peter Doyle. I must keep an eye out for a copy.

 

spoonbill stirring tea

A spoon shaped face should never be 
socially deterring. 
It is ideal at tea parties 
for doing all the stirring.