Happy New Year Everyone!

Well, the sun has set on my second year of a blog outlining my illustration journey. As this time of year is one of reflection I have given much thought to  where I have come from and where I want to go.
I know i don't spend as much time blogging as I possibly should but I have to say I am happy plodding along as I do and I am so happy every time I open my blog and see a comment to one of my posts, Ive said it before but it makes me feel connected and a part of something much larger and very special.
In terms of my illustration I am am happy with where I am going with that too, I feel improvement and best of all I feel a confidence that has grown over the year and a 1/2 I have been at this. I know I will get to where I want to be and I'm happy to enjoy the journey.
I hope Dibbydabby will be bigger and better in 2012 but i also hope I continue to enjoy every minute of what I do and just have fun along the way as well.
I thank everyone who has liked and continues to enjoy my art and my blog, especially the regular people who come back time and again, I really do consider you friends even though we have never met.


Happy New Year Everyone! May 2012 bring happiness, peace and joy.
 

My art room will be organised for once.... Yah!

I am very fortunate to have a very loving and for the most part patient husband who supports my art and me 100%. This afternoon into this evening he has been fixing my studio with more shelving space for all my art supplies and tools. This in turn frees up more of my work space for actual artwork and I have no excuse now for trying to work around piles of things I want close at hand on my painting table. They can all be in easy reach and easy to find spaces. This shelving set is an addition and modification of some he set up for me last year which I ‘outgrew’ art supply wise. I’ll stick up an0ther photo once I get my gear back in there. 

Just for fun, a little illo on something I mailed today.

Illustration Friday _ Messenger

I thought I would hire a spruiker to pass on my New Years message this year.
Hear Ye hear Ye! dibbydabby decrees that she hopes everyone has a lovely New year!

Boxing day evening on the beach

Boxing day evening on the beach

A confused pidgeon? I think he thinks he is a sea gull

Illustration Friday - Sink

I have an illustration from an art course I have completed that is absolutely perfect for this weeks word 'sink'. Well my illustration shows what happens under the sink when the doors are closed and no one is around.
Hope you enjoy it. It was a lot of fun to do.

Find me on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dibbydabby.art

dibbydabby has a new facebook shop!

Hello everyone, I just wanted to share the exciting news that I have today launched my Facebook shop (imagine the sound of champagne corks popping, balloons rustling in the gentle breeze and  people cheeringJ).

It has a selection of my printed and hand painted cards and Aceos with more coming soon including my hand made glass tile pendants and magnets.

There are special offers for those who like my page, as my way of showing my appreciation I have taken 10% off prices for you.

Please consider my shop for your greeting card needs and also pass my information on to your friends and family who enjoy unique and special greetings and products for occasions and events.

As a special treat I thought I would give away two hand painted cards (postage free) to one of my old or new page likes. To enter simply visit dibbydabby illustrations on fb and comment on the post about my new shop saying what you like about my cards or illustrations. I look forward to hearing from you. The draw will start once I reach 25 comments or the 28^th of December 2011, whichever comes first.  

Dibbydabby Illustrations - Hand painted greeting cards

I have updated my page layout and my hand painted greeting cards have gone up on my website, well some of them, there are a few more to upload but its a time consuming process. I have to leave off now and do some special commission cards for an event tomorrow. Anyway, feel free to browse and of course if you are interested please feel free to purchase :-)

This is a direct link to the site.

http://www.dibbydabby.com.au/website/hand-painted_cards_home.html

Soon I will start on doing the same for my printed cards.

Sunshine award

A while ago I was very happy to receive an award from someone who I admire as an artist and who’s blog I thoroughly enjoy visiting.  It was an honour to receive and I felt very chuffed. As life has been busy with a new job and lots of other things, I haven’t had an opportunity to acknowledge the award on my blog but I often think if it and of the wonderful blogs I know that should also enjoy being recipients of the wonderful “Sunshine award”. So… finally… here I am… Thank you so much Michelle from Mushroom Tender blog for the award!  

There are some “rules” for receiving the award:

- Thank the person who gave you the award.
- Write a post about it.
- Answer the questions below.
- Pass it on to 10 bloggers who you think really deserve it and send them a message to let them know.

10 questions.

My favorite color: Purple
My favorite animal: Dog
My favorite number: I have three, they crop up everywhere 3,4 & 7
My favorite non-alcoholic drink: Coke zero
Facebook or Twitter? Facebbok
My passion: Just 1? Family
Getting or giving presents? Giving
My favorite pattern: repeating spirals
My favorite day of the week: Friday - TGIF
My favorite flower: Deep red fragrant rose – not sure of their official name

My 10 Favourite Bloggers:
Mushroom tender – not because she gave me one, I love Michelle’s work
Crotchety Comics – Ted’s pages always give me a real belly laugh and I really appreciate his talent and his funny and at times informative comments on my blog.
Images by Cassandra – Cassandras photos are something to be seen to be believed, they are exceptional! Cassandra and I have known each other through Blogging for a while now and it’s lovely to have such connections
JA has also been a long term blogging friend and is always so encouraging and supportive.
From Jens pen – Jens work is so lovely and I love to see and read of her accomplishments as it makes me feel like maybe one day I will be there myself. I love Jens style.
ElizabethRoseStantons / Penspaper studio – Elizabeth’s work is brilliant, so technically and aesthetically perfect and clever and witty as well
Tea Time Beth Anne’s work is so lovely and soft and gentle, I enjoy visiting her sweet characters
Kind Dog Jane has a fantastic Facebook page which is where I first found her work, she has gorgeous characters and a lovely style. I think I was first drawn to her work as I see a bit of similarity now and then in some of the way we work maybe that’s why her art appeals so much.
Stacey Curtis – Stacey is amazingly talented and I love to drop by and see what he has whipped up lately.
Melissa T Liban Missy is so generous with the things she learns on her illustration journey and her art is fun too.

Wow mammoth post here I know but I want everyone to know why I think the above blogs deserve an award and there others I would have put on the list as well but its sometimes imortant to have limits - or i would be here all day..

Thanks again Michelle!

Illustration Friday - Brigade

The cats had gone too far this time! The D Battalion joined the brigade and set out to make things right!

I wouldn't want to be one of those smart alec cats now!

D battalion led by "Aussie Bob Basset" join the brigade 3-12-11

Illustration Friday Round

I'd like you to meet Butch, he really is quite a sweet fellow, a very well rounded character too. Just don't get between him and his lunch!

Creative Tuesdays Three

I recently did some little black and white illustrations for my daughters school for the children to colour and use for their Christmas cards, this is one and I thought it might fit the bill for the CT word three.

if you have any young children who might like to use the image for colouring feel free to print it out. if you would like to, send me a scan / picc of the finished product and I will display it on my blog or face book page.

Sorry everyone, I cant view or comment on posts etc until later tonight, I'm at work at the moment and even with a lunch break thrown in, just wont get time. xo

Opps sorry i forgot to link to the Creative tuesday page - click here to see what others have done.

Illustration Friday - Vanity

The reflection of Narcissus

I only have time for fleeting sketches just at the moment I am afraid but at least I still get to post something :-)

Creative Tuesday_ Thank you

Something a little different for me tonight, for Creative Tuesdays word / s "thanksgiving or thank you".

We don't traditionally have a thanks giving here but I have many things to be thankful for and despite life's downs which must come with the ups, I have had (and continue to have) many wonderful lives touch my own in varying degrees. Each has a special place, no matter how small and I appreciate each and every one.

Yikes that is sounding a bit mushy now.... better go!

See the other amazing entries once it opens up on http://creativetuesdays.blogspot.com/

Illustration Friday - Stripes

Stripes ? What could be better than a nice pinstripe suit, more suited perhaps to a business man but aristocrats (or dogs) can wear them too!

Lord Chauncey Baskerville

Illustration_Friday_Scary

Dawn dearly wanted to be taken seriously as a scary witch

but she just couldn't help herself and was better known for doing good deeds for people.

(Her two little spider pets on the other hand were another matter!)

Happy Halloween

Well hello friends, I'm sorry I have been a baaaaaaddddd blogger! I seem to be saying that far too often these days and coming up with all sorts of what must seem like excuses but I kid you not, life has been that hectic!
Most recently - getting ready for my families first real Halloween party. You may or may not know I am Australian and we don't officially'celbrate' Halloween over here but it is becoming more prevalent and I have been a fan all my life, being that growing up I loved all things spooky and most things American. It always sounded like so much fun in the comics (graphic novels I guess we call them now) and in the movies.
Anyway, we had it and it was a great night, so much fun for the kids!

 Fun games

 Friends

 Competitions

Fun food (witches toes)

Decorations (my girl and I worked hard on making our decorations and had such fun doing it)! I hope you all had as much fun as my family did if you celebrate Halloween!

Illustration Friday_scattered

Wow, I didn’t realise how long it had been since i had been into my blog... its been a really busy week or two. Lots of people I speak to say the same. Does it ever feel like that for you, that some weeks fly by quicker than others...

Anyway, scattered - I can’t think of that word without thinking of confetti! I remember a time where you could go to a wedding and throw confetti and for me that was the best part of it. I was pretty young at the time so that is probably why, but I have such fond memories of it and I found it so sad when they stopped allowing people to use it.

I know we have to protect our planet as well so I was quite happy to see a reference to ecofetti – an environmentally friendly confetti that “dissolves in 24 – 48 hours”! Yah! Next time I go to a wedding, I am packing myself some ecofetti and I can relive one of the spenders of my childhood!

Ill be by to visit my wonderful blog buddies beaut blogs soon!

Creative Tuesday_cupcake

Well, so many ideas and so little time. Unfortunately my first creative foray for this topic just didn't work out, I'm not sure what it is with me and cupcakes but I am just not that good at representing them artistically. I can make them and they taste good... but..
Here is my Creative Tuesday post and a picture of some cupcakes I made some time ago, I love making the fun ones but don't always take pics! These ones are a bit messy, my little girl and I do them together so sometimes they go a little awry
Please pop along to http://creativetuesdays.blogspot.com/ for the other cupcake works

Okay, I have just realised I have done this a week early and here I was thinking I was running late.... Oh well, I will file this way for next week now.
12/10/11 Ta -Dah - here is a post I prepared earlier - all ready to pop on my blog. xx

Illustration Friday - Hibernate

In her new bear hat on her way home from a fun day at her grandparents

and in the warm car which felt like a big cosy cave

she couldn't help getting sleepy,

maybe she was hibernating like a real bear...

Another quick one, not the drawing per say but the finishing, I am becoming quite used to 'quick art', it might not necessarily be good art all the time but it lets me get something up on here, which I enjoy.

Illustration Friday _ Ferrocious

Have you ever had much to do with Alpacas? They look all docile and sweet but they can be quite mean when they get their dander up!
We first learnt this when we went on a holiday with our pooch and stayed at an Alpaca farm. "Make sure your dog doesn't go near the Alpacas" he said, "they will rip it apart" (might have been nice to include that in the brochure....)
Alpacas are used quite successfully on some farms in Australia (and worldwide) to protect the animal herds like sheep or cattle. I've placed a little info and some links below if you are interested.

Meet Al "Paccino" Pacca

This was my first one until I realised I was wrong... but I still like it! Sorry Mr Paccino, Sorry Mr De Niro...

Alpacas -
Apparently they have an aversion to canines and foxes, coyotes etc. Can rear up on their hind legs and stomp them
"Screaming and neck wrestling are behaviors alpaca males display when trying to establish dominance. They try to bite testicles and run at break-neck speeds around the pastures." - Reference article here: http://www.owning-alpaca.com/alpaca-males.html
"Alpacas are very alert, with excellent eyesight. A loud distress or warning call quickly sees the adults in a herd encircle the young to protect them from approaching danger. Much to the
intruder’s surprise, the assertive leaders then approach with great speed, stomping, kicking,
spitting or biting which soon gets the message across and sees the aggressor fleeing for cover." Reference article here: http://www.pir.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/37800/Australian_Alpacas.pdf
Another article: http://www.alpaca.asn.au/docs/about/info/6herdprotectors.pdf

Creative Tuesday - Morning

Well Mortimer Mouse has trouble getting up early and so do I! I love mornings but find getting out of bed on work days to be quite difficult some times.

What a day I have had with computers today. I did my initial sketch this morning during three consecutive waiting periods for my work PC to reboot after three major crashes (resulting in that awful blue screen that has such a bad reputation!) Then tonight I was colouring it at home earlier and - you guessed it - crash! I hadn't saved so lost it all. This is a really quick colouring I have done before I take myself off to bed. If I stay up much longer it will be even harder to get up in the morning than usual!

Please 'do yourself a favour' and check out all the toasty treats for the theme of "morning" at http://goodteatoo.blogspot.com/

Moving forward

Well I am going to soon move into a new stage with my work, I will attend my first market within the next few months... I haven't narrowed it down to which one yet :-) - perhaps that had better come first, but I haven't been completely without preparation or research, I have been scoping the best place for me to start for a while now. I just want something small and intimate as I just want to see how my work is received out there, plus that is more my style. My ultimate path is to do children's book illustration but this might be a nice entry point. I would love to get a little money from what I do to fund more of what I want to do. It would be great if my art paid for my equipment, some new art goodies - there are so many things I want to try  in terms of products and do in terms of techniques-  and even get me some of the reference books I have been craving but haven't gotten to yet and some online courses I like.
Wow ... I don't want much do I?
Anyway, Ill keep you posted.
This is a little card front I have developed today, a reworking of one of my sketch book illustrations I liked. 

Illustration Friday _ Mesmerizing

Puss had been taking some online night classes on hypnotism,

he couldn't wait to see if they worked!

Only trouble was - he hadn't thought about the fact he

hadn't learnt how to undo the process yet...

Illustration Friday - Boundaries

Well hello everyone! Sorry I haven’t been on here for ages, we have had a busy week with family celebrations, work, normal routine and house guests... I’m being a little rude tonight I guess by setting myself up in the computer room and getting this little image done for illustration Friday but I didn’t want to miss a week if I could help it, I enjoy the challenge and I’m sure our visitors understand, they are very supportive of my art.


The boundaries I am depicting here are the ones that come purely from the wonderful colours in the country side, from the different shades and shapes and spaces that are defined by the crops or landscape that fills them. You don’t need fences, the divisions are drawn by the essence of that for which each area is being farmed. I was inspired for this image by my trips ‘home’ through the NSW country side; I love to travel the country roads, flanked by the rich tapestries of colour that always seem to beckon and welcome me back .

Feeling blue... or should that be green

Well I have the flu - again- but this time marked with a really nasty insistent and tiring cough.
I tried to do some painting yesterday and everything I set out to do kind of worked out wrong, it was like my artistic eye was off. that set me to thinking, I wonder if just as we are physically off when we are sick, we may also be artistically impacted as well?
I don't know but it was disconcerting. Ive had days like that before of course but now I wonder if I might have felt under the weather then too... ah I'll have to ponder it a bit more...

Illustration Friday - Mysterious

Alana had heard the stories of the mysterious big black cats that had been terrorising towns and taking cattle but when this little fella rocked up on her doorstep she was sure he was just an ordinary kitty... wasn't he?

There have long been tales of mysterious big cats roaming Australian bushland with stories of escaped zoo animals or freed mascots that had gone out and bred with the feral cats in the wild. There is even talk of the big cats being ferrals and that have genetically engineered themselves over time to be bigger and stronger to deal with a life in the wild.

Whatever they are, I've seen one, years ago, out with my brother and cousins and a friend on a farm, we all saw it and all were stunned and amazed at the size and speed of the animal we saw. All we do know is that it wasn't a domestic cat.

Seems lots of people have seen them. Here are a few links about the mysterious big cats. Fact or fiction, you decide!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHWhC9tO3dM (fast forward past the football)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_cat

my entry in the London Art College 2011 art competition

Well its that time of year again and the Art College I study with are having their annual art competition. I have chosen to use this piece for my entry, inspired by an early morning walk through the botanical garden next to my workplace when the lovely water lily pond was in full bloom. It truly was sight to behold and imprinted on my memory so I wanted to capture that in this little piece. You need to be a student of the college to enter and entries have now closed, I only got in by the skin of my teeth as I have been away from my course work for a little while.

I love this college as I have done a prior course, straight into my current and have plans for more, for me its like getting my BA but being able to pick and chose exactly what I want to study and work on my personal limitations and strengths. The true learner centred adult learning environment! Of course I won't hold a BA but for me its more about the knowledge and skill I achieve and once I finish I hope to hold a few Diplomas and Advanced Diplomas.  The other great thing about it are the wonderfully helpful staff and supportive learning environment. Being an adult educator myself I value what they provide.

London Art College: http://www.londonartcollege.co.uk/

Water lily

All images on appear on this blog are copyright Janet Trotta

I'm bonkers for bunnies!

I told you I had a thing for bunnies at the moment! Expect to see more!

I also have a thing for experimenting but that's not new, maybe I am just more confident about putting my artistic musings on my blog now :-)

Sunny day bunnies in love!

I find a lot of my work is quick, but that's often so I can get some done as I don't have a lot of time to paint and draw, it has to fit around the rest of my world but it is such an important part i need to maximise what time I do have. Maybe I will work these up into a "proper" illustration one day

I actually have several projects I need to start working on so better start focusing on them.

xx Janet