And what better way to take a trip down Memory Lane than to revisit some of the classic TV shows of those eras?

So my first find, and I was very excited about this one, is a lovely kids show from the ABC, called My Secret Valley…if you remember it, enjoy, if you are new to it….enjoy! It goes right back to those innocent childhood days, where goodies were good and baddies were bad and you rode a BMX or a horse in your spare time.

I approached Helen recently, hoping she might respond to a few burning questions I had about her wonderful illustrations, and how she works, and I was honored with a response to all my questions…

WH: I know you mentioned in your interview for Lilla Rogers that you work mostly in Illustrator…do you use a tablet to draw, or a mouse, or something else?

HD: Everything is really simple. I use Adobe illustrator. I use a mouse and a pencil tool (within program) to draw.

WH: Do you ever scan hand-drawn images, or do you mostly generate them with vectors in the first place?

What tools do you use to create your vector lines in Illustrator? Do you tend to use brushes, or pencils, or pens (within Illustrator)? Or a mix? Do you keep a visual diary/moleskin or simililar? Or do you tend to doodle right into Illustrator?

HD: I almost never sketch, scan and follow the existing image. It’s mostly spontaneous, and free-flowing. I find that illustrator is a wonderful tool and vector format is very user friendly.

WH: Your lines look so beautiful and clean, even for vectors, so I’m wondering, do you have to go back and fix them up and tweak them much, or are they pretty clean from when you draw them?

HD: Clean lines come with a lot of practice. I’ve been working in illustrator for 11 years now. After a while, it comes naturally…. like pencil lines.

WH: Did you find it easy to transition to Adobe Illustrator from hand-drawn works, or was it a struggle to ‘find your style’ and get comfortable with your methods of working?

HD: Style sort of forms on it’s own through the years and reflects who you are and what you like.

WH: How did you go about finding an agent, or did Lilla Rogers find you? Did having an agent make a big difference in your career?

HD: Finding an agent was the best thing for me. I have no selling talent and it’s very time consuming to look for clients.

Plus, agent is also a sort of ‘lawyer’. They not only find you work…they negotiate the price and look out for your best interests in every way.

Years ago I got a good web portfolio together and e-mailed to a few of agencies asking them for representation.

I went to Boston for an interview at Lilla Rogers Studio. They came back to me with an answer 2 weeks later. I was very happy to be one of their chosen artists.

WH: And…do you have any words of advice or encouragement for someone starting out and dreaming of being an illustrator?

HD: Unless you are good at self promotion and have a lot of connections… agent is a good idea.

Thank you Helen

Trying to rack things over in my brain

Remember every word you’ve said,

Little clues, tiny hints

That lead in a scattered trail

To the home of your heart.

If other desperate creatures

Gobble these morsels

Before I can taste them

Where shall I be?

(A lost child crying in the woods?)

Perhaps you have hidden yourself

Along the trail

Watching my every move,

Waiting ‘til I falter

So you can pick me up?

But I think you are only testing me.

I must take the bait

And open up to you.

Your trail is indirect

Because you are seeking cover,

Afraid of open secrets,

Honest lies.

Just playing around and adding a few more bits in there to pretty it up…

…to you? Not to me!
This is a concept card I’m playing with. I keep stubbornly coming back to vector art, and the convenience of it (okay, I’m lazy!). And I do love working in vectors, but I think I really need to throw my mouse away and get a tablet…I am very inspired when I look at the work of Helen Dardik (Orange You Lucky), I would love to be able to transfer my ideas into vectors the way she does…it looks so easy, somehow.  I find it a struggle to have my ‘wee hen-ness’ come across in my work, in a consistent way…I don’t think I’ve quite found my visual ‘voice’ yet, so to speak!

I had so much fun at Halloween, doing arts and crafts with my 3 year old daughter, and I got all carried away and made some fun prints…played around and nothing serious

I’ve been going through some of my old writing, since having fun writing my little bear in the woods tale, and found a poem to share, written back in my uni days…  (I have to add, no moths were harmed in the making of this poem!)

Moth (1993)

I smeared it with my thumb

A powder trail on a pane

With the edge of a wing

Uncrushed.

It’s death path

Shimmered when I blinked,

Hair in my eyes.

Kissed it goodbye with my hand,

The little corpse of dust.

Anyway, I actually just wanted to post a link to a lovely illustrator’s agent who represents many artists and illustrators that I admire, so this is my virtual post-it note more than anything else.

http://www.lillarogers.com/

Three of the posters will win her lovely creative goodies, so I have my fingers and toes crossed today.  But I really enjoyed writing this little bit of silliness…

Once upon a time, deep in a dark forest of furry trees, there lived a beautiful bear. He had such a sense of belongingness, living in those woods, and never wanted to leave. One day a hunter came, crisscrossing and traipsing through the woodland paths, passing over the fallen crunchinesses of leaves, and he found the bear sleeping in his den. He halfheartedly raised his gun to the muzzle of the sleeping bear, but then, in a moment of impulsiveness and jitterinesses, he lowered his gun and pulled out the small sketchbook he kept in his backpack instead. He rapidly formed the shape of the sleeping bear’s head, the form of his brow, the way his fur grew…the intertwisting leaves and fronds that grew about him in his den. Just as he was completing his sketch, he turned to go, glancing back one last time, trying to preserve the memorableness of the moment in his mind’s eye, and the wind changed, blowing his scent to the bear’s nose. The black shiny nose twitched, as the bear’s superpowerful olfactory system went into overdrive. There was a sense of synchronicity, as the hunter froze completely, and the bear opened his eyes, unblinkingly staring straight into those of the hunter. In that moment, bear and hunter were both thinking the same thought. They each pondered the unknowability of another being, the voicelessness of another’s thoughts. Bear and hunter, sharing that thought, each felt isolated from the other, yet were joined in the exact same uncanninesses of that sensation. Then the wind changed again, and the spell was broken. The hunter turned and was gone, the bear shifted his muzzle and closed his eyes, and the moment was forgotten.

I am doing creative things, but have been very naughty about blogging them or capturing them…

So instead, I’ll share my 3 year olds drawing of her first ever Halloween experience. We went trick or treating in a lovely town on the east side of Oahu, called Kailua, with friends.  The house they are about to visit is in blue, her friend Miss A is in green (she is taller, because she is 5), and Miss C is wearing the very special hat.