September 8, 2026

No shortcuts

You may be able to find a tool or technique to make a process or drawing more efficient. A digital camera show the photographer the result of their work quicker than a film camera, but it doesn’t make the photo better or the photographer more competent. One still needs to understand tone, colour and composition to take better photos. The speed of the digital results may help us learn more quickly, but to learn anything from the process we have to be aware of the fundamentals first. There are just no shortcuts.

Other observations

September 22, 2026

Other people are infectious

You can catch the flu from another human, but can you also catch their mood?

September 15, 2026

If I can’t draw a circle

If I can’t draw a circle how can I draw the sun?

September 1, 2026

Caring when no one else does

If no one else gives a hoot about your art, why should you?

August 25, 2026

The purpose of a purpose

Why do we do anything? What’s the point of it all? Why bother making art or sharing it with the world?

August 18, 2026

Batteries not included

Do I really need a fancy new brush holder, water pot, & palette to express an idea? Or will a stick and some dirt do just fine?

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My deep gratitude to our traditional custodians

I have lived and worked my whole life in Gadigal and Boon Wurrung Country in what we now call Australia. I acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which I do my work and I pay my respects to elders past and present. I acknowledge the sorrow of the stolen generations and the impacts of colonisation on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. I also recognise the resilience, strength and pride of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and through my work, aim to help as much as I can to empower and help them thrive.

About the author

Matt Shanks is an internationally-published and critically-acclaimed author/illustrator of over twenty picture books. Eric the Postie (2018) and Queen Celine (2019) were both awarded Notables by the CBCA for Picture Book of The Year. Rosie the Rhinoceros, written by Australian rock legend Jimmy Barnes, and Herman Crab, written by one of Australia’s favourite comedians, Peter Helliar, is available now. Matt is a two-time fellow of the May Gibbs’ Children’s Literature Trust, an Australian Literary and Numeracy Foundation ambassador, co-editor of Words Like This, and works primarily in watercolour. He lives in Melbourne, Victoria, with his partner and cat.

Learn more at www.mattshanks.com.au