Avant Card Arts Project

Rainy-Day BoyThis is rather belated news, but late last year I submitted some illustrations to Avant Card’s Arts Project, and was thrilled when they chose one to be printed as a postcard. It will be distributed at participating venues around Australia, and is of course great self-promotion. The only catch is that the postcard won’t be in the stands for another 4–5 months.

The illustrations started as a concept for a series of greeting cards, and the first one I did – ‘Rainy-Day Boy’ – is my favourite. It was also the favourite of the people at Avant Card!

Initially I had wanted to experiment with the gradient mesh tool in Illustrator, and my first random shapes turned into the beret Rainy-Day Boy is wearing. I had already designed the retro fruity surface patterns, inspired by something cherry-themed that I saw online somewhere, and decided to use them as backgrounds. They are a cheerful counterpoint to the doleful Rainy-Day Boy and Broken-Legged Girl. I suspect Balloon Boy is a less successful illustration though because he is too happy! I couldn’t decide between the banana pattern and the grapes for him. (Scroll down to see these.)

It amuses me that something that started as an experiment evolved into a postcard that will be seen around the country. However, I do feel lucky, and very grateful to Avant Card for giving the opportunity to people like myself to have their artwork seen far and wide. Thanks, Avant Card!

The call to artists is still open if you’d like to participate.

Broken-Legged Girl

Balloon Boy