Ringed Xenica Butterfly, a book and framed works at Coastal Artisans

 Ringed Xenica Geitoneura acantha, walnut ink and handmade watercolours on Fabriano paper, 15 x 15 cm, © Matteo Grilli

 American-Australian writer Geraldine M. North recently published her book Butcher Bird, a collection of short stories from rural Australia. The book is a pleasure to read and features some illustrations of mine. It is available on Amazon 

At Coastal Artisans in Peregian Beach, there are some newly framed works and some Giclee prints of mine among the stunning showcase of other artists and artisans:

Here is a photo of the beautiful beach at Peregian:

Saltwater Crocodile

Saltwater Crocodile - Crocodylus porosus, handmade ink, handmade watercolour, white gouache on toned paper, 23 x 37 cm, © Matteo Grilli 2015

For this watercolour of a Saltwater Crocodile I used a different technique which was great fun. I laid a light wash of Burnt Umber to give an off-white tone to the paper, then I sketched a light pencil drawing of the Crocodile. Then, I decided to draw a more detailed sketch using Chinese black ink obtained from a traditional ink stick ground with some water on an ink stone (see materials on the top right hand corner of the image), the ink was then loaded on to the dipping pen's nib with a brush.

After I finished with the ink drawing, I started applying washes and glazes of watercolour.

At last I used some white gouache to highlight the colour of the teeth.