Weekly drawing 44: Wise old forest Red Gum - Sydney's oldest citizen

Wise old forest Red Gum

This weeks drawing is the start of children's book idea about the massive Forest Red Gum living in the Sydney Botanic Gardens. As the oldest living Sydney citizen the tree has seen many changes from Aboriginal corroborees, arrival of Governer Phillip, First fleets farming attempts, the building Harbour bridge, the building of the Opera house and the growth of the city. The story will follow the tree from young impressionable seedling to wise old Forest Red Gum.

The original seed of this idea began after reading Tim Low's insightful book 'The New Nature'

"Inner Sydney's oldest citizen is surely the massive Forest Red Gum (Eucalyptus tereticornis) in the botanic gardes near Lion Gate Lodge. She is a stand-out example of Sydney's original architecture, with no plaque to tell her story and no rail to guard her dignity. Australians can't see the past for the trees"... Tim Low  The New Nature

Weekly Drawing 43: Fruit Bat umbrella design

I love creating a design which plays on the shape of an object. To me a Fruit bat already looks a bit like an umbrella.  When it's open it looks like the bat is flying and closed it's alseep.  Plus imagine if this design took off. The next time it rained it would look like a flocks of bats flying out of every pedestrain tunnel in the city. Pretty cool!

Weekly drawing week 42: The Surly Water Dragon

The Surly Water Dragon sits by the river.

This weeks drawing is a tribute to all the surly Water Dragons I've recently seen sun baking by Toongabbie creek. As I would walk up to the creek bank they would scurry as fast as they could and splosh!! into the water. I think the term "Chicken would be in order for the these fearsome looking scardey cats"

Weekly drawing 41: Little Bear

I saw this boy at Westmead Children's Hospital happily rolling around wearing his favorite bear hat.

Weekly drawing 40 second drawing: Storm Boy and Fingerbone

This drawn directly from a scene in the movie were Fingerbone and Storm boy are runing through the marsh land to stop the hunters. They both blend into the land as though they are a personification of natures protectors.

The actors Greg Rowe and David Gulpilil are brilliant in this movie they have a wonderful on screen chemistry.

As a child growing up in a small coastal fishing village near Wallaga
Lake this movie always struck a chord and felt very close to home.

Weekly drawing 40: Storm Boy and Mr Percival

Another story I would love to illustrate 'Storm Boy' by Colin Thiele. I wish I'd read it earlier. As a kid I loved the movie and would dream of rafting along watercourses with a friendly Pelican.

It is truly a beautiful tale of father and son living among the elements on the fringes of society.
.. "between the Coorong and Murray Mouth..." ..."Their home a rough little humpy made of wood and brush and flattened sheets of iron from old tins..."

In the movie the father seems cold and distant to his son. Which is unfortunate because he is warm and caring in the book. Thiele cleverly depicts a hard man of the land who has removed himself from society but would do anything for his son.
The movie adds it's own spin on the story which is typical of movies based on books. I just don't know why directors or scriptwriters feel the need to chop and change a story which already works.