Yes, that’s right folks- boat tattooing. A new advertiser in the Quokka is painting tattoo designs on boats. This has got to be the weirdest request for a cover I ever received.
I tried to make up some sort of tribal-inspired anchor. Bit random, but a huge flaming skull probably wouldn’t have gone down too well.
I wanted Josh to be ‘real’ to readers. I can draw cartoony people pretty easily:
…but I wanted to have a character that was a bit more realistic than my usual style- still a simple drawing, but with more accurate body language, proportions, and the little quirks that real people have.
I needed to practice drawing kids, so I figured- why don’t I ask a boy about Josh’s age to help me out? I knew there was a blond-haired boy living opposite my parents, who seemed about the right age. His name was Nick (and it still is, I don’t think he’s changed it).
I reckon George looks good as a quokka. Had to cut off his ears to make him look bald, but hey, it seems to work.
While Norman was in the Shetlands researching, I was at home in Perth, doing some research for the pictures.
I made a few initial sketches of Viking things- costumes, houses, the bows of ships, rune stones, helmets… Norman has a huge collection of books on Vikings, so I wasn’t short of material. These sketches gave me lots of ideas for how the pictures and characters might look. (I haven’t shown all the sketches here, because don’t want to give away too much of the story).
The Margaret River Cow Parade is finishing up- we got this cover illustration in just in time.
The cows are being auctioned on July 10. Get down to the South West and see them while you still can.
In the back right, I’ve included a cow painted by myself and other members of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, WA chapter. Check out this post for more info.
To make things different, edition 723 had two versions of the cover- an extra large wrap-around, set in daylight, and the usual cover, set at nighttime.
I’m behind quite a bit in these covers- here’s one about a Bridal Expo that happened recently.
The new Robin Hood film is out, featuring a Gladiator-like Russell Crowe.
This Quokka Robin Hood is more like the Douglas Fairbanks or Errol Flynn version…
I hope this doesn’t mean my Quokka covers have jumped the shark…
