A Piece From My Recollection…

I remember my Uncle Harry's car was like a lounge room. It had wide bench seats and you would move around inside it like you were in the Apollo Command Module on the way to the moon (no seat belts required). In the hot sun the vinyl seats would be ferociously hot and dangerous, so Uncle Harry and Aunt Agnes had a couple of scratchy beach towels in the back to lie over the seats to save the back of our legs. My Uncle always wore his collar buttoned, without a tie, even on the world's hottest day. We'd keep the windows down all the time and Uncle Harry didn't mind if you put your arms out in the slipstream. He was that kind of fellow.

I recollect david mackintosh
Chauffeuring Uncle Harry in his 1966 Holden HR station wagon.

Chauffeuring Uncle Harry in his 1966 Holden HR station wagon.

The under-one-tonne Dream Home…

After speaking with my friend's son, this is his idea of his Dream Home. It has to be on wheels, with a sofa with cushions and a wooden door. A round window would be ideal. I added the curtains for privacy, something he didn't think was that necessary. I also added the table because eating on one's lap is a bit messy plus he might want to work on something or other. He isn't that bothered about that. There's also a big screen TV that is visible from any point in the caravan: even the shower. When he's old enough to drive he can attach a car to the Dream Home and take it anywhere he wants to live. So long as he has a permit and registration. He said "that's fine with me". I told him that the Dream Home can't be any more than about 750kgs because towing it could be a problem. He suggested we take the cushions and curtains out. 

The unregistered Dream Home.

The unregistered Dream Home.

Waiting for Chicken Smith picture book trailer…

A short film trailer of my NEW picture book Waiting for Chicken Smith (Little Hare Books, 2018) is only a click away. Why wait?

Music by profuselyillustrated.com
with unsolicited musical direction by D. Franklyn Crane.

For your information…

Notes to Self are drawn in this book. And sometimes drawn off-site and transported by hand and fixed into the book under strong glue. Some are just loose inside the book and may never be affixed and may get lost in my flat. Sometimes a lot of thought is put into the drawing, and other times virtually none. Just like real thoughts. Looking through them, I can't tell which are which.

Coming soon to Notes to Self.

Coming soon to Notes to Self.

Waste Paper view…

I have made four dummies of my picture book Waiting for Chicken Smith, all with the cheapest paper I could find in the drawer. The cover is based on a drawing made on a piece of scrap paper. The illustrations are made using cheap brown wrapping paper and a lot of it was pasted onto cartridge paper I got for half price at a chain store. I used a half finished oil pencil to draw most of the pictures and now it's gone. I used gouache from 30-year-old tubes made by a company that no longer exists. The text is written on a typewriter with a faded ribbon and a bent G key.

I wouldn't do it any other way. 

A beautiful reproduction of what is described above can be yours in July this year.

chicken smith david mackintosh
I left my keys in a shoe and now they're gone.

I left my keys in a shoe and now they're gone.