'Decade' exhibition work in progress

The Decade exhibition opening at the new Geoff Wilson Gallery was fantastic - a big thank you to all who attended! Here are some shots my sister took while I was busy drawing... took me the whole of the Saturday, but I was very happy to get it all done in one day.

More photos of the opening night to come soon. Some amazing artwork! It was truly an honour to be a part of this exhibition.

'Button Thief' for sale

The children's book that I have spent the past year illustrating has finally been published, and is now available for purchase for NZ$19.99 each.

Latesha Randall, ill. Esther Griffiths, Button Thief, Button Books Ltd., Dargaville, 2009.

Button Thief is a book about friendship, forgiveness.... and buttons! It is aimed at 3-7 year-old girls - and with some trickier words it is one that is intended to be read aloud to kids.

If you would like to purchase a book, either...

- Contact me directly

- Email our newly established publishing company, Button Books Ltd., at buybuttonthief@gmail.com.

For more information, visit our website.

I will be uploading more images onto my blog over the next little while. The original drypoint prints are now for sale, for between $30 and $120 each. WATCH THIS SPACE!!!

Triumphant explorer

Esther Griffiths, Triumphant Explorer, 2009

Acrylic, graphite, and coloured pencil on MDF board, 19.5 x 19.5 cm

Mischief!

Esther Griffiths, Mischief, 2009

Acrylic and pencil on MDF board, 50 cm x 122.5 cm

Working on a larger scale is great fun (and for some reason seems to make it feel more important!). This latest series of works will be exhibited in November at APT, Whangarei. Details to follow.

Finding wonder in small things again

Esther Griffiths, Small Things, 2009

Acrylic and pencil on MDF board, 60 cm x 60 cm

Esther Griffiths, What IS That?, 2009

Acrylic and pencil on MDF board, 60 cm x 42.5 cm

...What could be more delightful than drawing young children totally absorbed in something small??

Playing with paisley

These two images are among my first experiments with the use of pattern. Recently I have been fascinated with the combination of fantasy and reality in artwork. These are not quite where I want to be yet, but I am having a lot of fun...!

Esther Griffiths, Doing Nothing, 2009

Acrylic and pencil on MDF board, 40.8 cm x 46.8 cm

Esther Griffiths, Wonderment, 2009

Acrylic and pencil on MDF board, 40.8 cm x 75 cm

More prints for the book

The following images are unfinished illustrations for the children's book I've been working on over the past few months. (I'm finally getting back into the swing of drypoint printing! New inks, new paper, new mull cloth - ahhhhh.... pure bliss!)

The next step is to add some colour... Experiments coming soon.

Work in Progress: Book Illustrations

Over the past several months I have been (slowly!) illustrating a children's book for a friend. The final illustrations will be hand-coloured drypoint prints - a favourite medium of mine. The story is written in rhyme, and is about two young girls and their button collection... A lot of fun to illustrate! We will be self-publishing the book before the end of this year.

This is my first full-length book illustration project, and I'm absolutely loving it. I must admit that I've had to learn a lot on the job... And I still have a lot to learn yet! Below I describe the process so far, and include some images of works in progress.


The very first thing that I did was draw up little thumbnails of each page. This helped me to decide how the verses and illustrations would fit together and flow from one page to the next. This is a very important step and I'm grateful that I put the time into it right at the beginning.

For each illustration...

1. I start of by developing each thumbnail further, experimenting with different compositions until I come up with something that looks good.

2. In return for chocolate (okay, only sometimes do they get chocolate!), I then get my younger sisters to pose for me and take reference photographs. My sisters have been very useful, and always so cheerful and willing to help. Thanks girls!

3. Using the photographs as a reference, I then sketch out how the illustration will look (using a page template to make sure it is the correct size). These "sketches" started off as beautifully rendered drawings for the first several illustrations, but as time marches on I've been spending less and less time on this stage of the process...!


4. Then I scan the drawing, email it to the author for feedback, and print it in reverse to the correct size.

5. Having cut a piece of clear drypoint plastic to the correct size (either to fit the border within the page or leaving enough room to bleed it out), I then tape it over the top of the reversed drawing and start scratching the image into the plastic. This is the step that takes the most time. A lot of fun but rather tiresome...

6. Once I have a few drypoint plates ready, I take them down to the press at polytech and print them. At the moment I'm experimenting with different papers and inks, so have had to deal with quite a number of bad prints... But there's always at least one good one in each batch.


7. After sorting through my prints and choosing the best, I then colour them with watercolour washes. This step is the most exciting! The images come alive, and feel ready to be part of a book.



Once I have finished all of the illustrations, I will scan them into the computer and arrange them with the text before (finally!) taking the whole thing to the printers.

ANY FEEDBACK on my illustrations thus far would be greatly appreciated! Please leave your comments.

More to come... Keep an eye out!

'Once' exhibition photos

Esther Griffiths, wall drawings from Once exhibition, 2009.

My recent exhibition, 'Once', was required to take place at an alternative space. 'Once' was examining the transient nature of childhood, and took place at night at our place. Guests were given torches, and crawled through sheet tents to search for hidden pencil sketches on the walls and inside a cupboard. At the end of the evening, I scrubbed off three sketches, but left the ones in the cupboard for my family to cherish (after my tutor had left the premises!).

To view more images, see my Picasa web album.

Esther Griffiths, wall drawings from Once exhibition, 2009.

Esther Griffiths, wall drawings from Once exhibition, 2009.

Esther Griffiths, Snail, 2009, pencil on painted wall.

Esther Griffiths, Goose, 2009, pencil on painted wall.

Esther Griffiths, showing hut from Once exhibition, 2009.

I would love to hear comments anyone has on this work... You don't need an account to comment! Good or bad, I'd like to hear it all.

ONCE: alternative space exhibition

This exhibition - which will take place on the 21st of June 2009 and will be up for only two hours - will include my most recent work: a series of sketches based on childhood memories and photographs.

As I observe today's children, I am bewildered at how often they are simply ignored or taken for granted, and how swiftly their beautiful innocence is snatched from them. My new body of work seeks not only to celebrate childhood, but also to act as a beseeching reminder that it does not, and cannot, last. By drawing with pencil directly onto the walls of my house, I want to emphasize the idea that some good things are only visible for a short time before they disappear forever.

Although the message may be a bit sombre, I hope that it will be a lot of fun for everyone.

This exhibition is by invite only... if you are keen, leave a comment and I might add you to my list. :)

Images to come after the exhibition.