They gather around, grateful, sending prayers up just to thank.
(Directed at the man selected to be in the tank.)
Who knows why that man is bare in there, and to be frank-
They're thankful that it's him, not them. You can take that to the bank!
"At 6 o'clock the window squeaks and mum calls time" from Graham's Up the Tree. It must have been strange for mbpardy to see his his story interpreted through my illustrations... but page by page these characters came to life, with both of our contributions somehow adding up to something bigger.
Australian author mbpardy & I have a children's book coming out soon called "Graham's Up the Tree." This illustration from the book makes a good countdown to release.
For these Grahams Up the Tree drawings I used a Pilot Custom 823 with FA nib. This pen is legendary. It has a very soft nib and a giant vacuum filled tank of ink so you can write and draw for days.
"Her cricket kids traipse in to wash their hands." Cricket is a popular bat-and-ball game in Australia where the winning team gets to eat crickets at the end of a match.
Graham's Up the Tree! ("and there's nowhere else he can go!") - my 4 year old ran around the house for weeks misquoting the story with his own interpretation of an Australian accent. Calling it out over, and over, and over again.
It's cool how the internet can bring people together from far away places to make things. "Graham's Up the Tree" is based on a true story from the life of author mbpardy ... He's in Australia - I'm in Seattle area. When he posts these images at his page I see comments from people who grew up with real life versions of these characters I drew -- People that actually looked out the window and saw this little guy high up at the top of a tree... where no one else could go.
Every day in 2017 I drew in a Moleskine Japanese (Accordion Fold) Album (pocket size) with the goal of completing one continuous drawing all year. I filled up nearly six complete sketchbooks, completing a drawing that is 5.5 inches high and more than 600 inches wide. Now, what do I do with it?
These patterns are all made from drawings pulled from my 2017 sketchbook project. I studied fiber arts in grad school and learned how to do repeat patterns - the old fashioned way by cutting and taping paper together... I haven't done any in 25 years - until this month!
