Lotsa folks

Sydney based illustrator with a wide range of of advertising, publishing and editorial clients from around the world. Some of them include: TIME Magazine, Seed Magazine, ABC, Yalumba Wine, The Sydney Morning Herald, LA Times, The Financial Review, and Waitrose Food Illustrated. Work has been acknowledged by The Society of Illustrators NY, Communication Arts, The Australian & NZ Illustration Awards and Luerzers Archive.

iMac Graphite.

Canvas, illo board, wood, steel wool, sand paper, japan gold size, acrylic, gouache, pencils, letra-tone, the photocopier etc. Whatever I can get my grubby little hands into and feels right for the job.

I think if you can enjoy what you're doing and somehow make it personal and relevant to you and what you're interested in then that will come through in the finished art. Find an angle in the job that gets you going. If you have enough lead-time read a brief and don't think about it for half a day. Let your subconscious do some of the hard work, it's more creative than you are.

I get pretty excited about old signage and weathered images. Advertising characters. Lots of packaging and design from the first half of the 20th century. Asian and South American artforms and Outsider Art. Lots of musical influences seep through as well. I play and write a bit of music and I tend to think of painting and playing in the same way. When I play a guitar I'm not so concerned about technique (bear in mind this might be because I'm crap) as I am about feel and I think the same way when I'm making an image. It's the Crazy Horse approach. The more you think, the more you stink.

The pathway is littered with disasters! Quoting and copyright issues are always difficult when you're starting out. How many roughs to send etc... I'm untrained as an illustrator so I asked a lot of questions to people I admired when I was starting out and avoided a lot of the pitfalls.

The job that springs to mind is a full-pager for the 1996 Australian Rolling Stone Yearbook. It gave me the confidence to keep taking my portfolio out and to keep plugging away and ditch that day job.

I had to wrangle $200 bucks of a local soccer club for a mascot I drew for them when I was a teenager. That was a good lesson.

I have a big greedy list. Would love to do a wine label. Worldwide Apple campaign? Children's book (I have it ready just need a publisher...anyone?) Would love to have the time to sit and just make some Artist Books. I think American Illustration should call me for their next cover.

Not really no. It's never that black and white though is it? I'm not taking off my clothes....

Stuff that requires work that doesn't look like mine.

Mother nature's not bad is she? I don't know, I see stuff that gets me going everywhere, rust, badly painted walls, it's all interesting if you're looking. My wife is an artist and I recently spent a month in NZ with her on a photo shoot. That was inspirational.

That next big job. I love it when the phone rings. I love it when you and an art director find yourselves on the same page.

I don't think designers today are actively thinking about illustration as a first option. If left on autopilot with a short deadline they'll use a photo or stock. If they need an illustration they'll consider doing it themselves. Call an illustrator to solve your problem! They'll make you look good.

My cat smells like a koala souvenir.

Not much.