Category: artwork

The World’s Funniest Christmas Tradition

(Photo by Wikipedia contributor ‘Ekasha’)

Catalonians have some unique Christmas traditions. Their nativity sets are often elaborate, and each set must include a peasant figure called the ‘Caganer‘. This figure sits in the corner of the stable doing a poo. Seriously. Last Christmas I made some caganer figures for friends.

El caganer means “the pooper” (that’s the kid-friendly translation, at least). The traditional caganer is shown in the photograph above. From the front he looks innocent enough. From behind it’s a completely different story. Click through to see what he looks like.

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Drawing on body language

dead-bunny-body-language

Body language is very important in my books. While a facial expression can easily hint at the emotional state and thought processes of the characters, body language gives the reader extra clues about how the characters are feeling and thinking. This makes it easier for the reader to understand the images and the story. I would argue that accurate and expressive body language also makes the characters feel more real, more human – which helps the reader to engage with the story.

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1 simple tip for drawing hands

screengrab-drawing-hands

I’ve always found that hands are the hardest thing to draw. Here’s a simple technique I used to make things easier when I was illustrating my new book My Dead Bunny.

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Meet the Cast of ‘My Dead Bunny’ (part 3)

20140501-cast-sheet-bunny-only

My new book is about a zombie rabbit. It’s written by Sigi Cohen and it’s called My Dead Bunny.

Last week I showed some reference sketches for the secondary characters (Mum, Dad and the sister) and the three main human characters (Sigi, Billy and Stan).

Today I’m showing some reference sketches for the eponymous character: the dead bunny.

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Meet the Cast of ‘My Dead Bunny’ (part 2)

20140501-cast-sheet-boys-only

My new book is about a zombie rabbit. It’s written by Sigi Cohen and it’s called My Dead Bunny.

Earlier this week I showed some reference sketches for the secondary characters: Mum, Dad and the sister.

Today I’m focusing on the three main (human) characters: the unnamed narrator (who I named Sigi after the author), and his friends Billy and Stan.

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Meet the Cast of ‘My Dead Bunny’ (part 1)

My new book is about a zombie rabbit. It’s written by Sigi Cohen and it’s called My Dead Bunny.

This week and next, I’m writing three posts to introduce you to the cast of the book.

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An upcycled kindergarten

Header-IMG_4882 I’ve been working on a great community project since April; I was hired by Yanchep Community Centre to redesign their playgroup outdoor area. It needed to be suitable for the 2-4 year olds from the weekly playgroups, and it needed to include a water play area and a music play area. it also needed to use as many upcycled materials as possible. Here’s what we did.

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Attack of the Zombie Animals

moo-brains-20150515-headerSubscribers of my email newsletter The James Foley-O will know that I have a new book coming out in October. It’s about a pet rabbit that dies and comes back from the dead as a zombie; it’s called My Dead Bunny. It’s written by Sigi Cohen and published by Walker Books Australia. I’m busting to show you the cover! I’ll reveal more in the next couple of months. In the meantime, here’s some pictures of other zombie animals …

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