Ben Wood's blog

WEBSITE UPDATE

2010-07-11T04:50:00.001-07:00

My website has now got my blog on it.

You will be redirected now...

A new book & a new look

2010-05-31T03:26:00.000-07:00

Happy day!

Today 'Louie the Pirate Chef', has arrived in bookstores! YAY! Such a wonderfully fun story written by Melbourne author, Simon Mitchell!

Also, my website has been given a facelift! Now you can find my blog and gallery in one convenient place! A huge huge thank you to the wonderful team at Studio Ink for all their wonderful work on this site. Thanks guys!

Tinman

2010-05-30T04:49:00.001-07:00

I cleaned my studio...and then got messy with pastels!
While cleaning I found this random sketch:

which I then built up into this:

Just a bit of fun.

Ship Ahoy!

2010-05-18T05:49:00.000-07:00

The pirates are coming....

By Simon Mitchell, me, and Working Title Press.

Louie the Pirate Chef

2010-04-21T03:41:00.000-07:00

A big box of Louie the Pirate Chef advance copies arrived yesterday! Heres a photo of the book. I'm really happy with how my silly pirates turned out! Yay!

Published by Working Title Press, this is a fun book about learning to be who you want to be, while amongst some zany and kooky pirates!

In bookstores May 31st.

The New Bears

2010-04-13T03:27:00.000-07:00

HERE THEY ARE! Over one and a half years of posing in front of mirrors making bear noises, The Bears have arrived!

"Ben Wood is the talented illustrator behind our NEW EDITION Bear Cards...
...For nearly 20 years The Bears have been used in countless situations to help explore and articulate feelings.

Innovative Resources is proud to announce the release of a brand new edition of this iconic card set that has already found a home in the tool kits of thousands of human service workers.

Our new Bears have even more charm, express a greater range of emotions and look…even more human!

The Bears actually started their life in the early 1990’s as The Bear Family which we thought might be a different way of creating ‘family sculptures’, a well known family therapy technique. Little did we know that The Bears would go on to become one of our best selling conversation-building tools. One reason for this was their versatility.

They could be adapted to a huge range of conversations. But the other reason is their ability to give a voice to those whose voice is often not heard or whose voices have been silenced. It is easy for linguistically gifted people (as most human service workers are) to assume that it is easy to express one’s feelings. But for many of the folk we work with describing their smorgasbord of emotions can be confusing and at times unattainable. People with intellectual disabilities, learning disabilities and physical disabilities can all struggle to put the words together to express their feelings. Consequently many can feel silenced. We can also assume that children readily build a vocabulary to express their emotions but again this is simply not so.

It was when we began to hear stories about how The Bears were used to allow sufferers of cerebral palsy to evaluate their services, how they were used with inmates in New Zealand prisons or how they were used with non-English speaking refugees, that we realised that The Bears could indeed play a vital role in insuring that those without a powerful voice in society could still be heard. In more recent years The Bears have become pivotal in methods to obtain clear and genuine feedback from both children and parents who use a variety of family services." - Innovative Resources 2010

48 cards in a set, they also include is an awesome sticker sheet and booklet. Here is a small thumbnail of all the cards.

You can buy them here.

ChillOut Festival

2010-04-11T02:10:00.000-07:00

All that needs to be said is SPACE COW!

I'm not sure how I missed posting about this, but on the 5-8th of March, Daylesford (in Victoria) celebrated the annual ChillOut Festival.
This year I was lucky enough to create the illustration for the event. It was used for the website, booklet, and the promotional poster.

A very very fun project. Moo.

Coming Soon...

2010-04-06T04:19:00.000-07:00

Here is a little sneak peak of a book I worked on in 2009 with Working Title Press.

Extremely fun project with tones of pirates! Argh me hearties!

Portrait of Oz

2010-03-30T01:00:00.000-07:00

For the past few years I have tried to find time to draw one Wizard of Oz picture a year. I use this subject matter because I know it so well, and this enables me to concentrate fully on furthering my abilities ( and because they are just so fun to draw!).

At the end of 2009 I was going through one of my folders full of primary school drawings, and came across this:

Last year I didn't find the time to create something "Ozzie", but after finding this drawing I was inspired to return to Oz, and see what I could come up with now in 2010.

I'm most happy with the texture on the Wogglebug's pants, the Scarecrow and Sawhorse. Yippeee.

Big Freak

2010-02-15T03:22:00.000-08:00

My poor blog- I miss you!

Finished a picture book in mid December, and am about to finish another!

Breath.

I'm off on holidays at the end of the week (YAY!), but wanted to post a VERY QUICK picture I have done in response to a challenge by Erin Hunting, to draw the bird. The big one.

Its the quickest of quick pics- but I love it.

Monkey Business

2009-12-26T12:57:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a great christmas! Thought I'd share a couple of illos I created for xmas presents.
SUCH FUN! Enjoy!

Feeling of Christmas

2009-12-16T17:44:00.000-08:00

Here is the final illustration created for my 2009 Christmas cards.
I wish I could be there right now, singing (or roaring) along with them!

Happy Christmas everyone!

Christmas!

2009-12-03T12:56:00.000-08:00

Well, I feel like a little birdie trying outrun a plane! The quicker I fly, the faster the roaring plane approaches.

This is how I feel about Christmas. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE CHRISTMAS- its my favorite time of year- but with it comes a crazy business, that we seem to want to endure year after year.

So to calm myself every Christmas season, I create a xmas card for friends and family. Usually relating to either my family or an 'Australian themed Christmas'. This year however, I wanted to do something a little different. Above is only a sneak preview of what is on the final card, and closer to Christmas I will post the completed illustration. Its all fun!

Maybe instead of trying to outrun the Christmas plane, that little birdie should strap some jet packs to his back, and zoom zoom zoom! and have some FUN!

Nikki's shaving tips

2009-10-18T03:30:00.000-07:00

A while back I was commissioned by Goodone Graphic Design to illustrate some ads for BIC products that would run in teen girl magazines.

Here are a few examples of the character I designed (Nikki) teaching girls how to shave for the first time. The bottom iscan is an example of how they appeared in Dolly Magazine over several issues.

little tiger

2009-10-16T21:11:00.000-07:00

Wowza! My poor blog has been quite neglected lately!

I am currently finishing a picture book with Working Title Press, and I just have to say that I'm really happy with how its turning out. Its been a really enjoyable project, and has given me some interesting challenges along the way. Should be out sometime next year.

For the past few months my work schedule has been hectic. While having a break, or waiting for inspiration to kick in, I have taken to drawing in journals for my own benefit. I haven't had a visual journal for myself for years, and am finding it extremely beneficial thus far. From little random sketches, squiggles and watercolour paintings, I have found that it opens doorways to untapped ideas and worlds.

Here is a little tiger I drew on one such occasion.

Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort

2009-09-22T03:41:00.000-07:00

I recently reread the Harry Potter series for the first time, and found it just as enjoyable this time around. The amount of detail that is tied into this tale of good versus evil is amazing. From Quick-Quotes Quills, butter beer, Time-turners, house elves, to even the Pensieve, Rowling created a very realistic world for the us all to enjoy and disappear within.

Above is a photo of two portraits I created to put within these cute little frames.

2009 Book Week

2009-09-06T05:18:00.000-07:00

Another Book Week has come and gone so fast! I visited a few schools this year, and we looked at ways to design characters for stories, learnt to draw Big Bad Bushranger, and sang Give Me a Home Among the Gumtrees opera style!

Here are some pictures done by students during the workshops.

If you wish to find out more about author and illustrator visits, you can do so here.

Astro boy cake

2009-09-06T05:11:00.000-07:00

Here is a creation of a different kind. For a birthday recently a friend and I created this yummy cake.

Terrible Yellow Eyes

2009-06-10T15:43:00.001-07:00

My wild thing illustration has made it onto an awesome blog. Go to : http://www.terribleyelloweyes.com

The wonderful Cory Godbey has invited many artists to contribute their own little wild goodness! There are wonderful illustrations and paintings to be found, from creative super brains such as Peter deSeve and Jake Parker.

My little fella is amongst them :-D

A wild thing!

2009-06-09T05:03:00.001-07:00

I've emerged briefly from my studio to wish a happy birthday to Maurice Sendak!
Here is my little fan illo.

Mornington Peninsula Festival

2009-05-31T04:55:00.000-07:00

As part of the Mornington Peninsula Festival, I was invited to do some illustration workshops at Hastings Library.
We looked at ways to design characters, and illustrating a page in a picture book. We had a lot of fun!

I would love to thank the organizers of BookFest, and the lovely ladies at Hasting Library who made me very welcome.
It was a fantastic day filled with many creative ideas!

Here is a gallery of some wonderful illustrations:

By Bailey

By Angus

By Courtney

By Taneesha

By Tahlia

By Kiera

By Emily

By Eliza

By Tom

By Teagan

By Skye

By Shania

By Luke

By Liam

By Jemma

By Emily

By Sam

By Zoeh

KPOW! - a family portrait

2009-04-10T16:29:00.001-07:00

This was a gift for a friends parents 30th wedding anniversary. I was asked to create a super hero family portrait that conveyed each members special powers and personality in relation to their nicknames...and it gave me a chance to flex my photoshop muscles yippee!

Happy wedding anniversary guys!

Big Bad Bushranger is coming ...watch out!

2009-03-17T03:41:00.000-07:00

I am so so very excited to introduce you all to the Big Bad Bushranger, by Bob Brown! I grew up singing this song, so I jumped at the chance to work on another of Bob Brown's wonderful Australian songs. Published by imprint Omnibus Books, at Scholastic, this fun and humorous picture book hits stores in April. I CAN'T WAIT!

Having created many different and bizarre characters over the years, I have to say that I really fell for this daring little rascal. I had such fun time drawing him! Below is an image of how far his design evolved from the start of the project.

While on the run, stealing money from banks, and robbing from the rich, the bush police are hot on his trail. Below is a concept illustration of Big Bad Bushranger's arch enemy.

Theres so much to see in this book, from meeting up with Big Bad Bushranger's numbat girlfriend, a Cobb & Co coach robbery, and exploring Big Bad Bushranger's secret hide out!

Once again, thank you so much Scholastic Australia for all the fun shared in creating this book!

Stinky Whaleman

2009-01-31T03:30:00.000-08:00

Very busy at the moment with many fun and exciting projects...and the hot hot weather isn't really helping. I am starting to go a little nutty! The picture above is a result of my nutty nutty melting brain.

I drew this little fella in homage to all those fish-looking businessmen who travel on the stinking hot trams and trains.
He seems to have lost his briefcase though...

Sparkle sparkle!

2009-01-21T00:22:00.002-08:00

In between my many fun creative projects, I drew this.
Don't ask me what it is-for I have no clue! *insert evil laugh here*

Sara's Entourage

2009-01-14T21:34:00.002-08:00

This illustration is dedicated to a lovely dog named Sara. It is her 7th birthday tomorrow.
The guy on the her back who is sleeping, and the little funky gal walking the dog, are her slaves.
I'm the one drawing a picture ha ha. Have a great day X

2008

2008-12-11T03:35:00.002-08:00

In 2008, there have been plenty of books and films that have inspired me. Today, I feel compelled to share my thoughts on a few...

Horton Hears a Who- I named this my "movie of the year" earlier in the year when it came out. I still stand by it. Its a fresh new direction for children's animation.

The Dark Knight- This has redefined the superhero genre. If it doesnt win an Oscar I will be amazed!!

BONE- Jeff Smith's graphic novel series. I have discussed this far too much already in this blog. Baha!

Black and White- the film version of Taiyo Matsumoto's Tekkon Kinkreet. The opening sequence was a surprise. SO INTENSE!

Billy Elliott (the film)- W.O.W.

The Triplets of Belleville- an odd animation that made me interested in the Tour de France for the first time.

Donnie Darko- the subtle themes of perfection in this film are amazing. The juxtaposition of image and music are quite interesting too.

Little Cat and the Big Red Bus- by Jane Goodwin and illustrated by Anna Walker. Anna Walker's colour use is incredible. A MUST SEE for picture book lovers.

Speed Racer (the film adaption) -The Wachowski brothers took a graphic novel and turned it into a logical film storyline. Ever wanted to see three storylines going at the same time, some past memories, some present moments, and still have it make sense- watch this film then!<

Silence is golden...

2008-10-07T04:04:00.002-07:00

...and a little crazy at times!
I am currently busily working on many creative creations- and I am having a blast! I thought however, I would once again RAVE about BONE, by Jeff Smith.

Original published independantly in black and white in the 90's, this graphic novel series is back (but in colour this time) thanks to Scholastic republishing them within their Graphix series.

It is the first graphic novel I have ever read where I can truelly HEAR the world. Smith has a way of pulling you into the pages by his wicked fun text, and its relationship with the type. When it was stormy- I heard the storm! I heard the thunder! The pages became alive.

I've already had the joy of watching a couple of my family and friends discover BONE while one of the graphic novels is with me. I find it exciting to watch them start out by skepticly flicking over the first pages, and maybe they'll chuckle at a joke or two, then maybe they'll mumble something about maybe putting it away...before WHAM! the graphic novel has eaten them up!

He he

Mr Nourish AKA Mr Monster

2008-09-10T04:26:00.002-07:00

Storm Design & Brand DNA Studio kindly invited me to submit a painting for this year's annual Art with Heart exhibition. All money raised will go to the St Vincent de Paul Society Soup Van Service, which operates on the streets of Melbourne offering soup, food and friendship to homeless men, woman and children.

Above is a rough thumbnail I did for my idea, and underneath is the final painting that went on sale tonight. Thanks again to the staff at Storm Design for inviting me to take part.

"Looking Up"

2008-08-13T22:15:00.002-07:00

I've been eating a lot of Caramello Koalas the last few days, and while sucking out Caramello's brains or eating his feet I was looking at the illustration on the wrapping...and I dont like it. It seems somewhere between me becoming a grown up they changed the character design. AGAIN for the third time!

Where is the flat colour use? Where is his charm? It seems using Adobe Photoshop effects is more important now, because he looks like a sunburnt sugar-high "cool koala" in his baggy clothes. Weird. This was exactly what I was thinking when I had the urge to finally get around to redesigning some characters that I L.O.V.E to draw.

The Wizard of Oz theme has become a good testing ground for me. I can use a subject matter that I know intimately, and concentrate more on the technique. In this illustration I wanted to show Dorothy, Tinman, Scarecrow, The Cowardly Lion, and Toto's personal reactions to first sighting the Emerald City. Its colourful, its bright. And no Photoshop effects for me thankyou.

But who knows- some of you may feel my treatment of these classic characters mirrors what Cadbury has done with Caramello Koala?

Drawing workshops

2008-07-24T23:04:00.002-07:00

I’ve just arrived back in the busy city, after spending a few wonderful days visiting primary schools in the Wellington Shire district. Promoting my book ‘Give Me A Home Among the Gumtrees’, I was invited to organize drawing workshops with some of the junior primary school classes from Maffra, Stratford, Sale, and Yarram.

I had such a wonderful time! Thankyou to all the lovely teachers and librarians for letting me come along and draw koalas, and thankyou to all the students (who were all very creative!) Below are some drawings that I was lucky enough to be given!

A huge thankyou to the rock and roll dancer Amanda Bailey, for driving me around everywhere, and for being wonderful company! Thanks also to the Wellington Shire Council, Sale Collins Booksellers, the Sale Library, and to my Aunty Viv, for all their hard work in the organization.

WICKED of OZ

2008-07-20T03:55:00.002-07:00

Oh my gumdrops! It has been a while since I posted!

Since completing my second book I have found my creativity a little diminished. This is always a tad annoying, and I usually try to refill my brain with good fantasy/science fiction reading, or a good picture book or graphic novel.

Two weeks ago I saw WICKED at the Regent Theatre, and I was blown away with the colours, costumes and set designs.

WICKED tells that tale of the two witches of Oz before Dorothy's arrival. It is incredibly well written and this show changes your view on everything you thought you knew about the characters in the 1939 movie!

For someone who was feeling a little empty of creative juices this show will blast emerald green goodness back into your brain!

People who know me well enough are aware I'm a bit of an Oz nut- but not because of the MGM movie. Dont get me wrong- I love the movie. But I am a fan of The Wizard of Oz because of the wonderful characters and tales found in L.Frank Baum's books. Yes I did say BOOKS- there is more than one. And the illustrations found in them all are wonderous. I'm a huge fan of artist John R. Neill, and love his style and treatment of all things Oz

As he illustrated 14 out of the 15 books in the Oz series ( The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz being illustrated by W.W. Denslow) his style was able to grow and change over the years alongside the characters. Neill's take on the Oz was slightly more colourful and fanastical than Denslows (below is an example of Denslow's style), and he gave the stories greater substance and depth within his illustrations.

Now, thanks to WICKED, a new generation of people can fall in love with the characters from the land of Oz. Hopefully they will then go back and watch the MGM movie. Then maybe (if they are lucky) they might discover that the movie was based on a book. And a series of books! A series of books that have alot of magical characters, colourful worlds...and alot of adventures to tell.

Bone-afide brilliance!

2008-07-02T04:35:00.002-07:00

I have just discovered 'Bone' by Jeff Smith, and I'm freaking out at how wonderful it is!

How have I not KNOWN about this!?!?

A quite random idea really, but it somehow all makes sense! His characters are diverse and all retain such unique life and personality....geez! Im in awe! AWE!!!

Big Bad Bushranger...FINISHED!

2008-06-19T05:44:00.002-07:00

Today I finished my illustrations for Bob Brown's 'Big Bad Bushranger', which will be coming out next year in all wonderful book stores. It was a very intense and very exciting project to work on with Omnibus Books. I am very happy with how the illustrations turned out, but it is also a relief to finally finish the project.

To celebrate, here is a random illustration I did recently.

Blairholme fun!

2008-06-17T16:32:00.002-07:00

Last Friday I took a break from working on my second book, and visited Lauriston Girls School in Armadale. I was invited along to talk to the Prep & Grade 1 students about making books, and drawing.

I was given an artwork created by talented Chloe Yada, which is truly inspirational (such talent!) and have hung it in my studio.

A huge thankyou to Diane Di Gemma for organizing the event, and to all the teaching staff at Blairholme for making me feel very welcome! I had so much fun!

Home with a view

2008-06-09T19:12:00.002-07:00

Recently I saw 'I Am Legend' (starring Will Smith) for the first time. I really enjoyed it as I love post apocalyptic themes in literature and film. The opening sequence in Times Square is beautiful. Check it out if you have not seen it!

Also recently puchased Shaun Tan's new beautiful book ' Tales from Outer Suburbia'. If you have not been lucky enough to see this little treasure yet please go to a book store NOW and have a lookie. Full of short stories that are thought provocking and fun. The illustrations are wonderful as always.

Where's Ernie?

2008-05-28T08:28:00.002-07:00

It is 1:30am and I'm working hard on book #2. Just waiting for my watercolour work to dry...
..and had this sudden need to draw Bert. A very quick little sketch.

purple monkey dishwasher

2008-05-07T21:43:00.002-07:00

The Simpsons is so embedded in todays culture, this illustration should need no explaination.
If you have no idea what this is... ha ha!

Little Wild Wombat

2008-04-20T22:39:00.002-07:00

Books Illustrated has put together an exhibition of miniature artworks in support of All the Wild Wonders, the 9th National Children’s Book Council of Australia’s Conference to be held here in Melbourne from May 2nd-4th.

They invited 100 illustrators across Australia to to create a work inspired by the theme 'wild wonders'.
I decided to put a little wombat in the frame I was provided! Yay.

The works will be exhibited at the conference where they'll be for sale too. They're exhibited on the website:
http://www.booksillustrated.com.au

My first book launch!

2008-04-17T04:24:00.002-07:00

It was held yesterday afternoon at Malvern Library during the launch of the 2008 Writers and Illustrators Maurice Saxby Mentorship Program. A huge thank you to everyone who attended my big day! A big thanks also to the May Gibbs Children's Literature Trust for all their support.

GIVE ME A HOME AMONG THE GUMTREES is in stores now, so look out for it!
Here is a photo of me with lecturer Paul Morris and illustrator Roland Harvey.

run run as fast as you can!

2008-04-17T04:09:00.002-07:00

Heres a fun little pic I did recently. I think its quite cute.

IN STORE NOW!

2008-04-09T23:53:00.002-07:00

I was in Borders today and was looking in the childrens section...when I came across MY BOOK!

Its already out! YEAH!

Thankyou Lyndsay!

2008-04-07T03:22:00.000-07:00

Hi I am Ben and welcome to my site! I am an illustrator based in Melbourne, currently creating some little gems for Scholastic. Hooray!

Firstly I want to say a huge mega massive THANKYOU to Lyndsay Meager for her wonderful work on designing and creating my site. You are indeed a treasure! Please check out her sites (they are on my links page), as her work is FANTASTIC!

In here you'll find all updates for my site and portfolio. There will be finished illustrations and unfinished scribbles galore! And please feel free to leave comments too.

So stayed tuned...