Weekly drawing: Friday night at Prahran ramp

Prahran skate park, Melbourne was such a popular skate spot it would often get overcrowed which I would negotiate with a skate or die attitude. However I discovered that on Friday evenings (maybe it was dinner time) the park was mostly empty, so this became my favourite time to skate.

I also discovered this was when some of the best skaters would skate. I'd often see local hero Chris Paine riding the big 12 ft steel ramp. I'd imagine when I get the confidence to drop-in "one day I would skate like him". He would do amazing tricks with the greatest of ease, my favourite Chris Paine skate trick was called an eggplant.

We never actually spoke to each other but he would point to me from the top of the ramp to have another go. I would start at the bottom of the ramp and work my way up. Soon all my practicing paid off and I could backside kick turn grind on a 12ft ramp and was considering attempting to drop-in. But unfortunately we moved to Sydney and skate parks were far and few between. So I became a Sydney street skater instead which I also loved.

The thing I loved about these nightly skate sessions was that it was purely about enjoying skating and not really caring about anything else in the world. I'd spent the last few years in three different schools because of my Dad's work and I was in my first year of high school in a new school again and I felt like an outsider especially at this school.

Luckily for me Melbourne is an amazing city for anyone into skating. The Alva team visited my local sports shop in Elsternwick, The Bones Brigade toured with Christian Hosoi doing a skate demonstration at Prahran ramp, I attended the premier of the fourth Bones Brigade movie Public Domain and I was happily in the middle of it all.

Tommy Guerrero deck, Bullet 66 wheels, Thunder trucks, Cockroach riser pads and Borgy copers

There's not much online about Chris Paine but I did find this which I thought was interesting.

Author	budgee ®
Date/Time	28 Oct 2008 10:13:43pm
Subject	Re: Band Called Killing Time

"...CHRIS PAINE
Before Killing Time Paine was actually a very successful skateboarder, featuring in magazines and publications across the country. Word is the three original Killing Time Melbournites were your regular skater punk kids. Paine was somewhat of a mascot for the Prahran skate shop of the time known as "Cheap Skates". The shop was just a stone's throw from the local skate bowl and many of the skater kids from the area congregated there to watch their local hero Paine do his thing. Music came along to this crew when iconic Melbourne store Fretted Instruments turned the Cheap Skates building into their Prahran store. This became the store from which Killing Time/Mantissa bought most all of their equipment throughout their career. "

http://www2b.abc.net.au/tmb/Client/Message.aspx?b=3&m=334984

Weekly drawing: The Broadhurst's great tree swing

Kate Broadhurst and me play on the swing

The Broadhurst's had the best tree swing in the world. As kids we were amazed by it's design "How could someone throw and tie the rope at such a height?" Well, I never really worked that out. So instead, I visited as much as possible and concentrated on enjoying it and pretending be Tarzan.

Weekly drawing: Wind and rain monsters

As a kid some monsters seemed more honest and friendly then some of the adults who pretended they weren't monsters. This is a drawing and poem too the honest monsters who would walk through the bush on stormy night. I enjoyed their Muppet appearance and Wild Things ways.

The wind and rain monsters

I can't sleep.

The wind is wild,

The rain is insane

The trees are alive

like never before

I want to see more.

But I have school 

in the morning.

                         by Joel Tarling

Weekly Drawing 69: Malcolm

Malcolm riding his tram built from spare parts

Malcolm is a 1986 movie directed by Nadia Tass and written by David Parker. At the time we were living in Melbourne and I was used to seeing American or English movies, which I loved but they never felt as wonderful and familiar as this movie.

Malcolm quickly became one of my favourite childhood heros. A tram entusiast with an amazing imagination. I love his talent for repurposing common objects to make life a little less mundane.

Weekly drawing 62: Resting Tiger

My daughter and I worked on this one together...

A hand drawn wedding card for my sister and her fiancés' wedding this weekend. 

I really like handmade cards. They're fun to make, and we would never find a font on the computer like this one.

Weekly Drawing 61: Sugar Ants sailing an outrigger built from floating rubbish

Book illustration for a book I'm writing:
Sugar Ants sailing to New Zealand in search of the yummy honey.
On a Micronesian outrigger built from floating rubbish.

Weekly drawing 58: Harold the crow's nest crow

Harold's favourite saying "alert but not alarmed"

Up in the crow's nest by Libby and Joel

Libby in the moment

Being a creative parent can be hard to find time to create while caring for a baby. 

But lately I've had some really golden moments drawing with children. 

Which is a great way for us all to have fun and I get still get to create. 

The next two photos are of chalk drawings I did with Libby and other play friends at Jarvie Park in Marrickville.

Chickenpox Chicken on a skateboard. 

 Libby and a friend added the details such as spots and the thing that looks like a 

choker necklace, I was told this is actually a trampoline. Which I find oddly amusing.

Weekly Drawing 57: Sea goat the resourceful sailor

Sea goat's favourite saying " Any port in a storm"

Drawn in my daughters sketch book, she drew the red and green lines.

She is now 18 months old and loves drawing.

Weekly drawing 53: My big sister

This weekly drawing is a tribute to my wonderful big sister and is based on a Bermagui primary school photo of us. My childhood was definitely more fun because of her.

We lived 5km out of town along the coast and my sister and I were the only kids at our school bus stop. However this didn't seem to bother us. While we waited we made a hand ball court by sweeping the clay, so there was a smooth area to play. And the property over the fence was dairy farm, I would sometimes amuse my sister by singing to the cows "Da do ron-ron- ron". To our amazement they would all huddle over to listen. These were magical days.

Weekly Drawing 52: Sketching on the train

I have finally reached my personal goal. Draw a picture every week for 12 months. It's been a good challenge and I feel inspired by the process. I have drawn everywhere from trains, playgrounds, pubs and hospitals.

It has been one hell of a crazy year for me:

• We moved house, packing up a large share house of 5 years discovering things we didn't even know we owed such as 5 garden rakes.
• I become a stay home Dad and so my wife could return to work after 12 months maternity leave. Being a stay home parent is a massive change, goodbye 7.5 hour working day. As I write this our little girl is sleeping in the next room.
• I thought my baby daughter could die when she diagnosed with a heart condition and spent 2 months in intensive care and 1 month in the ward. 
• My computer died.  

Despite all this, I have managed to achieve what I set out to do. Draw faster ideas, jot down silly ideas and do what I love. The great thing is my sketch books is full of ideas and drawings. My Children's book portfolio is filled with new material. Unexpectedly, I discovered the process helped me deal with some really big emotional challenges with my daughters condition. I think it has kept me sane during this turbulent year. 

Thanks for all the support it's really appreciated.

Joel Tarling

P.S 

I will have a small holiday and return for another Weekly drawing in 4 weeks time

Weekly drawing 46: Liberty watching Singin' in the Rain

Liberty watching Singin' in the Rain

Weekly drawing 44: A Blue Lion

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 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.