Leanne Barrett: October 2017

Tuesday 31 October 2017

Choosing and Mixing Colours for Illustrations

How do you choose the colours for your illustrations?
Do you make choices at random or from photos?
Where does your inspiration come from?

In September 2017 I attended the SCBWI ACT - Level Up Conference where author and illustrator, Tania McCartney, revealed that she liked the colours in the TV show 'Bewitched' and these colours are featured in one of her books.

Tania also spoke about colour sequence in picture books, choosing colours from reference images and paint swatches. She suggested that we use a limited palette for each book, creating a combination of mixed colours to give the illustrations in the book a consistent look.

Monday 23 October 2017

Writing, Book Lists and The Life to Come

It is always exciting to go to author talks but even better when you discover a 'new' author.

Why?
  1. A new reading list. Upon attending a 'new' author talk you leave with  not only their latest book but also a back-list of novels to read.
  2. You discover new worlds that this author creates.
  3. You learn how this author writes their books - a mini master class.
  4. With a  'new' author to follow you get a new book to add to your bedside table reading pile every one to two years.
A 'new' author.
The National Library of Australia (NLA) has given me a 'new' author to explore,
Michelle de Kretser, a Miles Franklin Literary Award winner.

A New Reading List

Michelle de Kretser's new release book featured in the NLA author talk
The Life to Come

My new reading list will also include the following books;
The Rose Grower
The Hamilton Case
The Lost Dog
Questions of Travel
Springtime

Friday 20 October 2017

Canberra 52-Week Illustration Challenge Members Meet


Kelly, Amie, Sam, Irene,
Leanne, Genevieve, Tania
(Missing from photo - Delene)
This morning eight members from the 52-Week Illustration Challenge met in Canberra for the final time in 2017.

Everyone's artwork has progressed so much since the last meeting.

One of Canberra member's, aka Goldie Chemsford, has featured as pick of the week around seven times and we loved looking at the originals selected by the 52-Week Illo' Challenge Team.

We had a few new people join us and we enjoyed seeing their illustrations and how unique their style is. It is just so invigorating to meet with like minded people.

Our next meeting?

This one we thought we might try a Saturday arvo.

We plan to spend a little bit of time creating illustrations together.
Please bring equipment that is will not create a mess for our host cafe.

When: Saturday, 20 January 2018
(Please note new date! There is now a SCBWI ACT event on 13 January 2018)
Time: 2pm to 3.30pm
Where:  Cafe Twenty One, 21 Marcus Clarke Street, New Acton
RSVP: For numbers please leave a message below or contact me.
What to Bring: Please be brave and bring an illustration to share and something non-messy to create with.
Children are welcome.

Tuesday 17 October 2017

Diverse Landscapes That Feed Us: Call of the Reed Warbler

What's your interest the rural landscape and farming?

Everyone has a connection to farming via the food that we eat. It is important to be informed about what happens in our landscape and how our food is grown.     

The Reed Warbler called and the National Library of Australia (NLA) theatre filled with people who are interested in their role within the landscape. We gathered to listen to Charles Massy talk about his new book, Call of the Reed Warbler.

We have experienced dust storms in summer. We have heard about the need to plant trees and preserve our wildlife and wilderness. We have heard about how traditional methods of farming have contributed to the degradation of our landscape. We hear about genetically modified food but could our farming practices be impacting our health?

Degradation of Landscapes.
In the early 1980s my family bought land in the Cooma region as a weekend get away. We inherited a degraded landscape. Our hobby farm was a landscape of steep hills, mostly treeless plus some flatter 'farming' land. Walking across the landscape there were noxious weeds growing, introduced pasture grasses, erosion gullies deeper than four metres in some places and a few rabbit warrens.

Monday 16 October 2017

Friday 6 October 2017