07 Feb 2013 Leave a comment
in 1 My books, All my drawings Tags: fantasy, Illustration, The Broken Path
Yesterday I started (at last) the illustrations for my book The Broken Path. Just rough pencil sketches so far. This is a scene where Rebecca tells a story to her sister Pippa:
And a whole lot of crabs:
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13 Jan 2013 Leave a comment
in Colour
Spent some time on the beach at Gordons Bay. The rocks are incredible. Like landscapes.
09 Jan 2013 Leave a comment
in 1 My books, 2 Work in progress
I’ve almost finished the second draft of my book, The Broken Path. I’ve got to re-write the ending. The final scene is set at Broken Path Beach. I have a really bad memory for places, so yesterday we went there at sundown to get some inspiration:
And some days ago, when it was cloudy:
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10 Dec 2012 3 Comments
in 1 My books, 2 Work in progress
Last week Friday I finished the first draft of the book I’m writing at the moment, the sequel to The Story Trap which has the working title : “The Broken Path”.
Over the months I’ve been writing about it I’ve been collecting images to inspire myself, and articles too. One of the things I though up for this book is a container ship nick-named “The Garbage Queen” that is filled with trash, and that nobody really wants to take responsibility for. But apparently, there are ships like that: Here is one I came across today:
A quote from the article: “A few weeks ago we reported that dozens of containers of trash were shipped from Britain to Brazil under the pretense that they were filled with plastics for recycling. They weren’t. They were filled with trash. Brazil got pretty peeved and now we’ve caught wind that they’ve finally shipped the waste back to the UK where it’ll be disposed of properly.”
Here are some images I found here and there online, that I found inspiring:
An image from The Selby that I thought approached what one of my character’s (a witch called Helen) living space might look like:
Homelessness is an important part of The Broken Path, and I found many haunting images such as this one by Lee Jeffries:
Here is another evocative image, that helped me understand what another of my characters might be feeling when she experiences a trance. This one was created by Moonywolf:
As in The Story Trap, African folk tales are important and of course, there is Eland. This image is, I believe, from a rock painting in Namibia.
The theme of plastic pollution is continued in The Broken Path. This striking image was taken by 16 year old Mary Ann Tablante in the Philippines.
![childrens-eyes-on-earth-4[6]](https://mashadutoit.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/childrens-eyes-on-earth-46.jpg?w=535&h=354)
And to balance the pollution images, is this magical image by Sandara:
So — to work! Now I’ve got to work my way through the story again and make sure that it all makes sense.
28 Nov 2012 Leave a comment
in Inspiration Tags: coral reef project, hyperbolic plane
Okay, so the answer to my previous post, what is that dubious object: It’s a hyperbolic plane croché done for the Woodstock Art Reef Project.
It’s quite a cool idea, actually. Hyperbolic Plane Croché means you increase the stitches in a particular way which makes the surface of the object buckle. Which also, by chance, creates shapes very similar to that of coral reefs. Seems corals increase in quite similar ways. You can see more coral reef croché here at the Worldwide Hyperbolic Croché Coral Reef Project.
26 Nov 2012 3 Comments
in Inspiration
So – who can guess what this is?
Maybe you need to see the other side?
22 Nov 2012 Leave a comment
in 2 Work in progress Tags: doll, mermaid
Emma suggested mother of pearl buttons for the Mermaid, and luckily I had some. They used to belong to my grandmother and I’ve been saving them.
And then of course I had to find a use for the cowrie shells:
She’s very nearly done now.
20 Nov 2012 1 Comment
in 2 Work in progress Tags: doll, mermaid
Mermaid now has a velvet jacket (swallow tail!) with a silk lining. It needs buttons. Maybe cowrie shells will do?
06 Nov 2012 Leave a comment
in 2 Work in progress, Inspiration Tags: doll, mermaid
Slowly but surely, the mermaid’s tail is gaining scales.
28 Oct 2012 2 Comments
in 1 My books
** Both my books are part of the Halloween Witchy ebook promotion, from October 30th to November 1. There are many discounted and free books listed there – check out Witchy Ebooks.**
Earlier this week I got a box full of books in the mail – copies of the print edition of my book “The Story Trap”. I’m so please with the way they came out:
The paper is a lovely cream colour, and the illustrations printed very nicely too:
This book is available from Amazon as a print and e-book, and the print version can be bought from The Book Depository, where you don’t have to pay for international shipping.
24 Oct 2012 Leave a comment
in 2 Work in progress Tags: doll, mermaid
I was able to take the afternoon off from work-for-pay, enough to start the Mermaid’s body. It’s an “under-body” as it were, I doubt much of this will be visible in the final doll:
22 Oct 2012 Leave a comment
in 2 Work in progress Tags: doll, mermaid
I took the day off today, despite having a fair amount of work for pay to do. Instead, I had a wonderful time attaching hair to my Mermaid doll. Here she is early in the process with about a third of the hair attached.
A rather strange photo of the back of her head. I’m pleased with the method as it looks good once all the hair is on, and the hair is attached quite firmly.
I could not get any clear shots showing the full effect of all her hair, but in this one you can see the silver threads I added, since she is not a young mermaid:
If I get time tomorrow, I’m starting on her body.
21 Oct 2012 Leave a comment
in 2 Work in progress Tags: doll, mermaid
I added a bit more colour to the mermaid doll today. Her skin went from pink to brown, and she got some eye-liner too. For a while she had painted irises in her eyes, but I think I prefer that fremen look.
And here is the bit I’ve been relishing: preparing her hair.
21 Oct 2012 Leave a comment
in 2 Work in progress Tags: DIY, doll, mermaid
I started painting the mermaid doll yesterday. Had a long break from her, (she’s been lying on the shelf, looking at me sadly) but hopefully she will get finished now.
01 Oct 2012 Leave a comment
in Inspiration
Today, I kept noticing patterns. Unsubtle patterns, like the floor at Gordon’s hardware, and Schwe-schwe cloth:
Masha du Toit 
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