I’ve been working hard to understand language since I started writing for children. And while I ‘studied English’ in school, the focus was teaching you to communicate, not on how language can make you feel.

I was browsing a bookshop in Alice Springs on a recent trip to Central Australia when I came across this book – Lines for Birds by Barry Hill and John Wolseley. I picked it up in-store to have a browse, and there was something inside me that wouldn’t let me walk away without purchasing it. Here’s just sample of one of the poems that made my heart dance a little when I read it.

Painted Finch

Yes, and the painter did this –
touching the throat up crimson
blood-spotting the tail.

That dusty khaki coat
protecting its quivering back
ever ready for bivouac.

In the bunker of spinifex –
chunky-beak stamina
a salt and pepper attack.

Its breast, its belly
is porous with white dots
speckled with fragility.

Pecking life, pecking death.

It’s a gorgeous book in every sense. Two accomplished artists set off on a journey from the Victorian Mallee to the forest of South East Asia. They spent time with one another and captured birds in their chosen art form. Hill uses words and Wolseley uses pictures. Both are masters of their craft.

Like most poetry books, this isn’t one to read from cover to cover in a sitting or two. It occupies a convenient place in our home so when the mood strikes, I can leaf through to a random page and simply enjoy feeling language.

Geese on the wing

Never quite ready to take off: too heavy.
Their masks too thick, or plastic wrapped.

And then, even when aloft
the yellow feet hang out of a cooking pot.

The effort to climb up, above
their cloddy sounds, is mammoth.

Their flight paths break apart
are silhouettes in a wreckage – no music

to speak of: it’s so slow
disorder akin to flood.

The book has 6 sections, each is a unique habitat. In Scrub Land we see and hear Zebra Finch and Bush Curlew. In Forest, we witness a stunning Olive-backed Oriole Eating Pawpaw. This painting by Wolseley was the catalyst for the book. It began when Hill responded to the painting in Wolseley’s 2001 exhibition, Tracing the Wallace Line.

As I’m new to poetry, it’s odd for me to pick up a poetry book in-store and simply know that it’s for me. But maybe that’s sort of the point, especially with poetry. It’s beyond reason, like when you hear a song that ‘just grabs you’.

I’ve got a keen interest in birds which, given the subject matter, probably helped my decision. I’m still dipping in and out of this book almost a year later. I feel like I’ve only just begun to sense the depth that these two artists are able to reach as they collaborate with each other in this way. I’ll be posting some favourite snippets here and sending out some updates to new finds in my newsletter in the coming year. But don’t let that stop you picking up a copy for yourself. If you or someone you know likes language, birds, or visual art, I’m not sure they couldn’t enjoy this at some level.

I spend a lot of time studying fine art watercolour artists who are doing some of the most incredible work you’re ever likely to see. When I was just starting out, my wife bought me a ‘Masterclass’ with this lady I have never heard of. I had no idea who she was or what she did. But after a quick Google, I was smitten with Amanda Hyatt.

Why do I like her work? If you watch the video above, you’ll see how loose she is with applying the paint. Her touch is exquisite, her ability to capture the impression and light in a place is something akin to a magician for me. I took away a couple of really key points from her workshop that has stuck with me ever since, and you’ll probably see them in my work if you know what to look for.

1. Never clean your palette, it’s a recipe for disaster. Now, from a fine art perspective, I agree. Being able to shift colours to warm or cool while keeping them unsaturated is incredibly useful if you’re trying to capture realism. But for illustration, especially in kids books, sometimes you need that pop of a pure, clean colour. So whilst this advice is incredibly useful and insightful, something that would take years to learn, sometimes it’s OK to ignore it, as long as you’ve got a good reason.
2. Glazing is magical and a perfect way to tie elements of a painting together. I learned so much from watching Amanda glaze paintings. Her deep understanding of the transparency of the paints she’s using is evident in every stroke. The way she slaps on Ultramarine over completely dry passages of work is shocking to witness but she knows exactly what she’s doing.

The results are stunning. Watch the video below to see how she does it.

I think attending art workshops is a great way to witness different painting techniques. In the end, it’s not about copying these masters, trying to mimic everything that they do so you can ‘paint like them’. It’s really about getting a flash of inspiration and learning just a couple of things that have a deep influence on the way you continue your own art practice.

Competition has a lot of benefit. History is littered with examples of how rivalry pushed humans to achieve more in a shorter time. This is great if faster and ‘more’ are your goals. But not everyone needs to be faster, or make more.

I scroll through my algorithmically-driven Instagram feed maybe once every few days. Most of it is art – Artists posting their work. I find Instagram useful for exposing myself to new materials, tools and techniques that I would otherwise not see. It’s like an online art gallery where I can walk around and just take it all in for a while.

Like in an art gallery, many of these artists are FAR more experienced than me. I mean, like, 20 years or more. They’ve got better technique and a life time supply of content. This means they post a new item pretty much every day. And so, every few days, when I walk through this gallery, the effect it has on me will depend on how I’m feeling. If I’m feeling as though I’ve been ‘productive’ for the day, I’ll ooh and ahh over their feeds. But, if I haven’t, the opposite is true (and it’s much worse), I get overloaded with guilt. I should work harder, paint more, sketch everyday, try a new medium, experiment more, write more, try poetry, and on and on it goes.

Instead of these incredible artists fuelling a fire of inspiration, it piles on overwhelm. And overwhelm breeds stagnation. I feel stuck. What am I supposed to prioritise? Should I post looser sketches so I can post more often? Should I have a more targeted marketing strategy? Should I just go deep on an idea and ignore it all? What am I supposed to do next?

And then I close Instagram.

It takes a day or two of sitting with my own thoughts before I begin to do something. And it always happens to be something that makes me feel good at the time. Sometimes I have a few days of poetry where I write about people I see on public transport. Other days, I’m so immersed in a novel I read. Sometimes I’ll take a pen out and sketch a tree that I find particularly interesting for some reason. I walk a lot. And, inevitably, new things arise. Perhaps I hit on a new story idea, or a new character. Perhaps I stumble across a new colour combination I’ve never tried before. No matter how ‘pointless’ these whims feel at the time, it turns out that every single bit of of creative effort isn’t wasted. It’s contributing to a bigger picture. In 20 years time, it’ll be called a life’s work.

Every single bit of of creative effort isn’t wasted. It’s contributing to a bigger picture. In 20 years time, it’ll be called a life’s work.

But, this happens SO slowly. Frustratingly so. And it’s only frustratingly slow because I sit in my little Instagram bubble and compare myself with everyone else who seems to be going much faster than me. Instagram is FULL of people producing stuff, constantly, across mediums and styles that are too diverse for my poor little brain to cope with. When I look at this collection of work in the largest art exhibition on the planet, it feels like I’m slow, too deliberate, lagging behind.

But the reality is I’m working really hard. Like many artists, I have a day job that goes from 9-5. When you factor in commutes to and from the office, meals and sleep, that leaves a couple hours a day for ‘something’. And so I use that time, ferociously.

See, what I know to be true now is that there’s no competition in art. Yes, there are awards, and exhibitions, and how much money pieces are selling for, but that’s not art. That’s business.

A while ago, I started the following practice. Every few months, let’s call it 6, I look back at MY old work. I look to see how far, if any, I’ve come. If I’m NOT seeing flaws and mistakes in it, it’s a problem, but that hasn’t happened yet. Life happens, time changes you. Yes, there’s the rote practice of wielding a brush, but time makes some things more important than others. It changes priorities. What’s interesting today isn’t so tomorrow. And that’s not a bad thing.

If creative work is a lifelong pursuit and your expectations of what you will produce are always ahead of your technical ability to produce them, you don’t need external competition to drive you. Your only comparison is yourself.

So keep old work, don’t throw it in the bin, maybe lay off Instagram for a while. Focus on your own unique interpretation of the world. In the end, it’s the world that moves you to create, and we all deserve to see how you interpret it.

I’m delighted to announce that my first picture book, and my first collaboration with Jackie French have both been given a shiny notable sticker by the industry’s premier body, the CBCA.

While the last you thing any one should ever illustrate for, it’s recognition, it’s still a lovely feeling to know that someone else other than me saw something in Eric’s story, something unique and special, worth sharing with the wider world.

View all 2018 notable books

When you’re deep in the midst of creating picture books it’s easy to lose sight of the impact that your personal journey with your characters will have in the world. So, imagine my complete surprise when I found out that my first picture book, Row Row Row Your Boat, has been included in a pilot program for children in Western Australia!

Find out more about the program

The trailer is decorated, the sun is shining, there’s ice in the esky and enough ice-cream for everyone… Giddy up and come along on a fun summer sleigh ride!

For most people, the idea of ever illustrating a children’s picture book for Christmas is a dream come true. I’ve been walking around in a daze in Melbourne lately because I’m seeing a thing that I created in window displays throughout the city. Some of my favourite, most adored bookshops have *my* book front and centre! Christmas is my absolute favourite time of year and seeing Sleigh Ride in-stores feels like the most unreal Christmas present I could ever have had.

And whilst it’s still more than 2 weeks before the big day, my life feels like a dream within a dream because I just found out that the artwork for Sleigh Ride will be featuring as Scholastic Australia’s 2016 Christmas e-card!

Yep, I know, WHAT?! I can’t believe it myself.

So, as it turns out, this e-card is distributed to Scholastic Australia’s creators and their agents, their overseas customers, Australian book retailers, key accounts and reviewers – the list goes on. Just when I thought I couldn’t be more excited about Christmas!

And yes, I’m aware that this post has been all about me taking the credit for this so far but anyone who knows anything about what it takes to get a children’s book out in to the world knows it’s a team effort. Sure, I put watercolour to paper, but it’s more than me. It’s the consideration of the editor, the design team, the marketing team and everyone else who I’ve never even met who have contributed to this book that even make it remotely possible for something like this to happen. So, sure, I’ll take some credit, but I won’t take all of it.

I’m thrilled to bits that my work will reach even more people this Christmas than I would have ever thought possible so grab a candy cane, or a glass of egg nog, some ice for your esky and an ice-cream from your local Mr. Whippy and celebrate with me!

In September this year, I travelled to Greece for a gorgeous 5 weeks in the sun and sea. And, instead of putting down the pencil and paper and brushes, I packed them all up and used them to capture the sights and sounds of this stunning place.

This was my 3rd trip to Greece and I could easily spend more time there. The combination of glorious weather, beautiful beaches, stunning countryside, bustling cities and the most deliciously simple food on the planet makes this one of my favourite holiday spots (as you can probably tell by now).

The people of Greece are one of my favourite parts. They have what some people would call a ‘laissez faire’ attitude to life but it’s absolutely infectious. Days begin at 10am with a 2 hour breakfast. We have a siesta between 3-6, and then the world comes alive again at sunset and nightcaps at 1am. Rinse and Repeat.

If eating, drinking and basking in the sun isn’t enough, Greece is one of those places where you go for a short stroll and serendipitously bump in to a 2000 year old structure. They’re everywhere! And dare I say, completely invisible to the greeks. Their historical sites are somewhat sparse in content.

Will we go back to Greece?

We’ve been to Greece for our holiday 2 years in a row now and to be honest, we could easily go back. I feel we’ve only scraped the surface of this amazing place. For sketching alone, it’s an incredibly inspiring and varied place. The other advantage of course is that watercolour dries so quickly when it’s 30 degrees celsius every. single. day. So yes, we’ll go back, but probably not soon enough.

I’m completely thrilled to be able to announce that I’ll be May Gibbs Creative Time Residential Fellow (or MGCTRF) in 2017!

What this means is that I get to luxuriate in 4 weeks alone time in the Trust’s illustrator’s studio in Adelaide. The whole purpose is to immerse in writing and illustrating picture books.

It almost sounds too good to be true.

Ever since I started writing and illustrating picture books, I’ve had so many ideas for books burning holes in my notebook. But, given my schedule (including still working full-time as a software designer), I’ve found it virtually impossible to progress these ideas beyond one or two sentences. This creative time provided by the Trust gives me a whole month (!) to focus on progressing these ideas that would otherwise probably never see the light of day.

I have a passion for telling Australian stories. My aim in this time will be to walk away with at least 4 picture book storyboards that tell some unique contemporary Australian stories. If I can get more than 4 out, even better. I’ve never had the opportunity to spend so much uninterrupted time on this picture book art form so I’m not even sure how productive I can or will be.

In order to track how I go during this time, I’ll be aiming to keep (and update) a daily diary for myself. I’ll no doubt be posting to social media along the way too so if you’d like to follow along. You can do that on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.

I’m not sure when this will happen yet except for that it will be after April 2017 and probably before September 2017.

My sincerest thanks goes to the May Gibbs Children’s Literature Trust for giving me this opportunity. To find out more about the fellowship and the other participants, see the Trust’s announcement on their website.

I have just started working with HarperCollins Publishing. In fact, I only signed a contract with them a few weeks ago. So I was surprised when an invitation to their Annual Author Day landed in my inbox just moments after putting pen to paper. It was a lovely looking invitation and I felt very special having received it. But, what on earth was an “Author Day”?

I attend events very selectively. Sometimes what seems so great on paper turns out to be a waste of time because I either learn stuff I already know or meet people I’ve already met. That’s not to say that catching up with people I know and refreshing on topics I’m familiar with is not valuable; it’s just a fine balance when you have limited time.

When trying to decide whether I’ll attend, I typically try to answer 4 questions:

1. What happens at this event?
2. Is it worth attending? What will I get out of it?
3. Will I know anyone there? I hate networking and let’s be honest, I’m not very good at it.
4. If I go, would I go again?

Given my unfamiliarity with anything like this before, the only way for me to answer these questions was to attend. So I did. Here’s my wrap up of the event and why I think it’s one of the most useful events for a HarperCollins author/illustrator.

What happens at this event?

HarperCollins puts this event on so that their authors and illustrators remain informed about the broader ecosystem of publishing. It no doubt positions them well in the eyes of their creators because the day proved to be very helpful. In just over 3 hours, attendees received:

1. A ‘state-of-publishing’ wrap-up from HarperCollins CEO James Kellow. He presented some statistics about global publishing trends and insights. He also spent some time informing us about the industry’s actions around the complex subject of legislative changes to book selling in Australia (Parallel Importation and Copyright changes)
2. Q+A with bookseller Natasha Boyd from Book Bonding: She gave a wonderful insight in to what it’s like to start and grow a small bookselling business.
3. A publishing panel session with the 3 divisions of HarperCollins. A lovely warm panel discussion that gave creators some valuable information about the trends and insights across general adult fiction and children’s divisions as well as ABC Books, now an imprint of HarperCollins.
4. A chat with bookseller and owner of Readings, Mark Rubbo: Another amazing insight in to the journey of one of Melbourne’s longest running independent bookseller.
5. An incredible bag of goodies! Sooo good! Think books, toys and sweets.

Is it worth attending?

The short answer is yes, this event was definitely worth attending. In a short few hours I gained an exponentially in-depth understanding of HarperCollins’ view of publishing and the challenges that publishers face. Everything from market forces that are affecting the publishing space right now to the challenges and opportunities that present themselves in the day-to-day job of selecting and curating content for books, the marketing of those books and, when it comes down to it, selling copies of them.

Whenever I attend an event like this, I like to remind myself of the key things I took away. I’ve assembled these thoughts below but this list is not everything. In a wrap-up like this, I’ll only skim the surface of some of these ideas. In fact, a few of them deserve their own post. But I don’t want anyone to fall asleep so, without further ado, here’s a very brief insight in to what I got out of it.

1. Publishing is first and foremost about people. This is a no-brainer really but it’s nice to hear it articulated. Getting a book to market and selling books is about people. Strong relationships between creators, publishers, sales/marketing and booksellers are ultimately at the core of what makes and sells great stories.
2. It’s difficult to predict anything in publishing. Trying to predict what’s ‘going to sell’ and what sort of content should be published in the first place is really hard. It uses a combination of quantitative and qualitative research and, for the most part, it’s difficult to get the qualitative stuff.
3. Digital media is playing an important role in connecting readers that were once isolated from eachother. The day of the ‘book nerd’ is over. Social media is playing a big role in helping readers discuss, debate and share books which, in turn, helps the sales of books.
4. People are still reading, they’re just reading more slowly. Our time is being split infinitely as we use new platforms and technologies. Reading is now competing with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, News sites and other lifestyle sources. The time people spend reading books is taking up a smaller chunk of each day. People are taking longer to read books and so, in a given year, they’re reading less. This doesn’t mean that they’re not reading at all though, and that’s a very important distinction. In fact, when you take point 3 in to account, you could assume that although we’re reading less, we’re reading ‘better’.
5. Other readers and bloggers are becoming influential in this space. Just as blogs became popular for fashion, a similar trend is beginning to emerge for books, particularly in the teen market. Readers now have a platform to share their views and reviews on books and these opinions are now accessible to a global audience. It means that readers can become their own content curators. They can create their own following and dare I say, make some money for their troubles. It’s remarkably similar to what happened to fashion blogging in the last 3-5 years.
6. Production values in children’s books continues to be important to audiences. This one really hit home with me. It’s my personal opinion that we’re saturated by glass-based digital technology interfaces. Just like a candle’s place in a world powered by electric light, books are becoming that ‘special’ object that we gift, that we care for, that we associate with warm and fuzzy feelings.
7. The key challenge with children’s books is that they need to appeal to several audiences all at once: kids, teachers and parents. As a children’s author/illustrator, this one was pretty obvious to me. I can only imagine the challenge that publishers face in the selection, curation, editing and marketing of a book when they need to consider all these different audiences for each and every book that they release.
8. The rise of the independent bookseller is more evidence about Australia’s push back from globalisation. Globalisation has been a hot topic in Australia over the past year or so. We’ve had some pretty rocky times in politics and I find it profoundly fascinating that a force like globalisation can influence so much, including how we like to buy our books – from local people who care about local creators.
9. People will be more likely to buy a book if they know the person/people/story behind it. Again, this is a no-brainer for me but I understand that creators can struggle to give people a bit more of themselves. Especially as most of us possess many of the traits that are typically associated with introverts. There’s no doubt  (even with my own purchasing habits) that knowing a bit about the person who created the thing I’m buying makes the purchase extra special.
10. Authors and illustrators are all working at their craft part-time. For most creators, book sales are not nearly enough money to be able to live from. Additional income streams are still needed. Not a day goes by where I don’t have someone say to me, “So, when are you quitting work?” Before this event, I didn’t know any other person who wrote or illustrated books, so it was a burning question for me too. Can an author/illustrator make enough money to survive from books alone? At the moment, the answer is probably not. When you learn that the average annual income of an author is $13,000 it suggests that no one is really in the author/illustrator game for the money.
11. Parallel Importation and Copyright protection laws are front and centre of the Australian publishing world at the moment. I’ll be very brief with this one without getting in to the detail. Essentially, there’s some legal changes that are being proposed in Australia that could have some very detrimental effects to this flourishing industry. It’s likely to raise the price of books, and make it harder for Australian retailers to sell them. This is an incredibly complex issue, far too complex to explain in this bullet point but for more information, head on over to here and if you love books, don’t ask questions, just just sign this petition.

Will I know anyone there?

The truth is, I didn’t know a single person when I arrived at this event. I got that usual stomach churning feeling when I walked in to the space where everyone was having pre-event chats and drinks. I was surrounded by strangers that I assumed knew much more about publishing than I did. But, after a few deep breaths, I was able to muster up the courage to start talking to people. To be honest, it was probably the most valuable part of the whole day. I met so many interesting, unusual, smart and driven people. It was my first ever event with a crowd like this and it’s left me craving more.

I had great chats with (in no particular order):

1. James Kellow, CEO of HarperCollins
2. David Day, President of the Australian Society of Authors
3. Lisa Berryman, my main contact for my upcoming book with HarperCollins
4. Cristina Cappelluto, Publishing Director of Children’s books for HarperCollins
5. Mark Rubbo, Owner of Readings books – a Melbourne institution
6. Super awesome illustrators Lucinda Gifford & Sonia Kretschmar
7. Angela Goode, Farmer, Writer and totally awesome.

So yes, even though I’ve always loathed the idea of ‘networking’ (my skin crawls with sleeze even as I type that word), it helps when you’re surrounded by such lovely people. Throughout the day, I discovered that what I really find most difficult about networking is “starting” the conversation. Once it starts, I seem to find common ground with people quickly (especially because we all have a mad passion for books) because we all have such interesting stories.

Would I attend again?

This is always the definitive question for me. Would I spend another 3.5 hours at this event next year? If you’ve read this far, you’ll know the answer. It’s a resounding yes from me. The information we received was relevant, educational, enlightening and, most importantly, heart-warming. I met some lovely people who I’ll be working with soon and, chances are, I’ll be seeing around (or at least at next year’s event). In the end, as this day has taught me, publishing is about the people.

Thanks to HarperCollins for putting on such a great afternoon and for your support of Australian creators. When big companies get behind locals it’s about as warm and fuzzy as you can get. It also provides the perfect motivation to do a great job with each and every book, together.

In July 2016 I released my first ever picture book. I learned a lot through this process and as a way to remember it, I thought I’d document it here, as much for myself as for aspiring or professional illustrators who are keen to learn from one another.

Step 1: starting with the text

It makes sense of course but the text is the cornerstone of any picture book. Without the text there’s unlikely to be any images. I find that my first reading of a text is probably the most important. It has to be done on paper and I have to have a pencil in hand. As soon as I begin to read, images may flow and I haven’t got long before they flow in one side of my head and out the other so the most important job at this stage is to capture whatever comes.

Step 2: Walk away and let it marinate

After an initial reading, it’s easy to get excited by the first idea that comes in to your head. You start to feel as if you can piece together a movie and, well, because it’s the only idea you’ve had, it feels so right! But often, my best ideas happen when I’m least expecting them and because I know this I let it play to my advantage. I take a few days or even up to a week to let the ideas of the book sit in the back of my mind. You can find inspiration in the weirdest of places so I just wait. I do repetitive, mindless activities like walking, showering, sleeping or yoga and sure enough, at some point, a few sparks ignite and more ideas begin to flow.

Again, the trick here is to capture them. I carry around a trusty little notebook where I simply make sure I write down all the things the book could be. It might be the whole book or just a scene, a spread, a page, a tiny image. Once it’s captured, I’ve done the hard bit. Then I move on to trying to put a jigsaw puzzle of ideas together.

Step 3: Fleshing out the idea

By this stage I have a lot of little bits. I have my sketches and ideas from my first reading as well as bits and bobs I’ve noted down over the week or few days after the first reading. It’s time to put these all together.

Some illustrators call this a storyboarding stage but that feels a little too linear and formal for me. I find that there are certain ideas I like more than others. Maybe they’re a bit funnier, or perhaps they relate to the text a little better than others. I usually start with these and try to link them all together in some logical way. Often, a story begins to emerge. Certain characters take on a personality of their own and I know it sounds silly, but they often tell me what they should be doing, rather than the other way around.

Step 4: Pulling it all together

After much time and iteration in the jigsaw phase, it’s time to get my hands dirty and prepare the drawings to show someone else. Often by this stage I can see the images I want to create very clearly but that doesn’t mean they’re any good for an editor to see. How do I tidy things up? I redraw the sketches with them in mind. I ask myself questions like, “What do I need to communicate with this image? What do I want the editor to feel? Do I want them to laugh or cry?” With this in mind, I then go about setting it out in a much more logical fashion than what my brain is used to.

Often, images alone don’t do a good enough job so where appropriate, I add notes to each image. I talk about things like colour and try to describe the mood of the image. Does it have a background? Is it full-bleed? What sort of clothes are the characters wearing? Like with any picture, words and images go together at this stage but it’s not about the book itself, it’s about trying to make sure I can reproduce what I see in my head in an editor’s head.

Step 5: The real work (and fun) begins

Once my initial ideas are shared with an editor, the project gets real. An editor will supercharge things by adding their years of expert experience in to the mix. When you’ve got a great publisher behind you, like I did with this book, it really does feel like you can’t fail. The team get together and discuss your ideas. Good ideas breed great ones and so often what happens (in the best case) is that a publisher comes back to you brimming with different things you can add, subtract or alter in the original idea. These ideas often make the narrative stronger, the pictures more appealing and overall, they make a much more beautiful picture book than would be possible if a person worked on their own.
A few redos of some artwork is all part of making the best picture book possible for everyone.