May the Art Flow

As of this week, in the midst of May, I have almost completed the illustrations for Pat Clarke's latest book, which is a companion volume to 'Tales from the Magic Forest'. I have only the end pages to finish. Hence a little moment of exploration into my own projects, with development of my dragons, particularly Little Red, above.

In the meantime, 'Tales' is making its way out into the world, with an enthusiastic response from anyone who sets eyes on it. This is very encouraging and heart-warming. Everyone loves the cover and the interior art, which fills me with a glow of achievement. I love to share a sense of joy in my art.

An especially significant and emotional component of 'Tales' is the end pages, which feature a feisty and gentle-natured little brumby named LegAcey, who my beautiful wife Donna adopted as part of the Save the Brumbies program, back in 2010. We knew this sweet creature for exactly six years, before he died of a sudden illness. I took these sketches of him (made in the field and from a short video I took) from my sketch pad and joined them with the imaginary playful Goonoobee. It is one of my favourite sequences of illustrations and a legacy to our equine friend.