Melbourne to Geelong Zine Day

 Last Saturday I travelled to Geelong library for a zine day. I sketched on the trains and also on the day as well as selling a few of my zines. My Chloe the cat zine is the most popular.

 BELOW: My gel pens had run out of ink so I drew in pencil until I got to the Geelong branch of Office Works and bought some new drawing implements. This picture I did on the train with red and blue pencils and added more pencil colors later. After I scanned it I intensified the colors and digitally added the white lines on the yellow hair. For the record, the girl was Asian and had dyed her black hair.

My Sketchbook From Age Five? Spiky Dinosaur

 I found, in my garage, a very old, childhood sketch book.  It is not dated but I guess I was between four and six. The pages are buckled so I am going to try to flatten them so I can scan them better. Things I liked drawing included dinosaurs and monsters. This one seems to have overdone it a bit with the spikes!

  

    

Stratford Portrait Group Ticklish Turtle Cafe June, 2026

                                                                              The sketchers

                                                                    Frank, the model

This is my favorite and it was a five minute sketch between posing sessions. Rod was bending over his work making a few last minute additions.

'Show Us Your Sketch Book!'

                     People are always asking to see my actual sketch books so here they are.

I am currently filling Number 9 but have made a cover for Number 10 ready. I have gone from filling one book a year to two. I am using the books more as I like to flick through them and have even taken to making indexes and contents pages. I also have added a scrap book and journal element so I have added stickers to my own covers and art  pages. The Charlie Chaplain figure with guitar is a drawing I made based on a joke I made when about 14 when referring to a band called Super Tramp. The joke did not go down well with my fellow students who let loose a collective groan. (Showing  a knowledge of the current super cool pop or rock group was considered somehow vital but referencing a timeless movie tramp was not but I actually had never heard of Super Tramp, the group).

  I like the A4 hard cover sketch books for the size and also the support when sketching. The spine gets a battering though, as the book gets carried around in backpacks. I have been reinforcing it with tape.

Here is a new style cover based on that shown in 'Bill Making Stuff'. It is 3D with stuff actually glued to the cover.

Below are some of the contents of my first 2026 sketchbook. Most of these I have already posted with better resolution.

  I even include book reviews now. That right hand drawing is copied from the cover of Barry Dickins illustrated book about his grandmother.

Fezians Versus Dinosaur

 This is another illustration based o my fantasy wargame campaign. The models for the illustration are toy soldiers and dinosaur.

Camping by the Creek

 

Mick and Hoppa 'Reading material'

 

                           Can you get the subtle 'in joke' referencing a supposed author?