So then it was on to the Jurassic, Triassic, Quaternary eras. Had fun with the backgrounds and the colours. Who knows what the hell the colors were of these beasts anyway. I don't think carbon dating and archeology can track that kind of ephemeral phenomena. I'm posting my personal favourite, the Plateosaurus. I went back to traditional paint for this. The dinos themselves are painted in watercolour on hot pressed Arches paper, after printing directly the line work via my Canon Pixma 3000 inkjet. The backgrounds were painted in watercolour on rough Arches 300 gsm so they have that grainy look...works for the mossy trees in this one. Stay tuned for a new book on the foltkales of Kerala. I'll be working most of that on Arches 300 gsm cold-pressed, my favourite surface of all time.
Man do I want to change the above into a fiction piece, with a warrior child riding on the back of the Plateosaurus and two huge eyes of a Tyrannosaurus peering through those trees on the horizon. Stay tuned in I may do it yet.

I know it has been a while since I posted. What is it about blogs that make you feel guilty? Perhaps it is the informal nature of the relationship, sort of like not bothering to call a buddy to see how his day went or how his sick mother is feeling. But let's be realistic, this blog is as much for me as it is for you. It's a diary of sorts, a creative history, a series of musings, reflections, hopes and aspirations. It's a chance to speculate, to ruminate, to exacerbate...OK I see where this is going.
It IS fascinating to see the evolution of the art over the past few years. Since the Christian Hans Andersen Tinderbox tale I completed illustrations for The Tortoise and the Hare of which I am posting one of my favourites. Somehow it reminds me of myself...though I rarely lie down in the daytime. This book was done entirely digital on the Wacom tablet, in oils.