Lunch at Coral Lee

Today I had lunch with Coral Lee. "Who's Coral Lee? Is it your grandma?" I hear you ask... Well, to be honest, I have no idea who Coral Lee is, but its the name of pretty funky little cafe in the sleepy alpine town of Bright in North East Victoria. And while Coral Lee isn't my grandma, I certainly felt like I was dining at my grandma's place. The little cafe is decked out with retro kitchenware, wallpaper taken straight from the 50's (I think), and some very chilled vinyl tunes. Yep, that's right, real vinyl records. Oh, and there's also some really cool vintage advertising (think old Women's Weekly style stuff) framed on the walls to polish off the aesthetic. The cafe is a little like stepping inside an issue of Frankie mag, only better, because its real.

If you haven't seen your gran' for while, stop by Coral Lee for some homestyle charm... Only the coffee at Coral Lee's place is way better than a cup of International Roast from your nan, and the mint salad is truly delicious. It's dressed with a super-secret dressing recipe made at the cafe. People go to Coral Lee just to buy a jar. While I'm no cravat-wearing restaurant critic, I know a good salad, and their salad is bliss. After each spoonful, I'm sure it was giving my digestive system a lovely warm nanna hug.

Anyway, I've adopted Coral Lee as my surrogate nan. I have no idea who she is, but I'll make sure I visit again soon... I promise nan.

Here are the details: Coral Lee - food made by hand 8 Barnard St Bright 3741 Ph: 03 5755 5113

Soaring and Flying

At last I think I'm over the creative block that has been plaguing me for what has felt like AGES. I'm about five 'spreads' away from finishing off the illustrations to complete a picture book project. Here's one of four illustrations I made today, on my day off from my day job.

CD Cover Concept

This week I commenced a short online course through Skillshare, where I'll be able to learn and apply some new skills in Photoshop. The course is based on CD illustration and I'll be posting my progress here over the next 3-4 weeks.

Research/Mood Board

The first step for this project was to choose a real or imaginary band or artist to base an illustration concept on. I was stuck for ideas about what band or artist to go with for this, but I was listenining to Kate Miller-Heidke's 'Nightflight' the other night, so I decided to run with that.

The original CD cover from Kate Miller-Heidke's Nightflight is pictured in my mood board above. The songs throughout 'Nightflight' meditate 'on homesickness, mortality, love and surrender.' So the album itself sounds a little melancholic, but really beautiful at the same time.

While most designers create slick mood boards digitally, my mood board is a little bit old school... Yes, I cut and pasted into a visual diary like a college student, but it allowed me to splash a little watercolour around to explore some colours that may suit the tone of my illustrated concept art for the album cover.

Sketches

These are some initial sketches. The album explores melancholic themes, but sounds really beautiful. As its titled 'Nightflight', I'd like to weave that into the visual. To capture the theme of loneliness / long flights / being in transit etc, expressed in the album, I thought an illustration of a single hot air balloon travelling through a beautiful and vast night sky might effectively capture those elements. I think a hot air balloon also looks kind of whimsical, a little like Kate Miller-Heidke's music.

Cover Art

Below: Developing the digital work - Using scanned paper textures, playing with colour etc.

Below: A little more development, playing with colour and texture. I'm feeling a bit happier with the blue colour here. It's starting to look a little more magical.

Anzac Day sketch

This is a small Anzac Day sketch I drew in memory of those Australians and New Zealanders who faught, to enable us to live freely in our country today. Lest we forget.

I drew the sketch with charcoal from a photo at the Australian War Memorial website.

Illustrating for The Balloon Cloud

In addition to my day job as a publicist and teacher, I've been busy with several freelance projects over the past few weeks and have also commenced work on the illustrations for a new picture book (written by another author). A completed sample from the book is displayed below. I'm creating the illustrations with watercolour, pencil and am piecing everything together digitally.