The original Australian Bush Babies coin series began back in 2009 and Australia Post enjoyed the illustrations so much that they wanted to make a stamp series. I was delighted to hear that they were again interested in producing stamps for 2013 when it was evident I had illustrated a second series of baby Australian animals for the Australian Bush Babies II series of coins.

The recent stamp release features five more Australian baby animals including the kookaburra, possum, platypus, echidna and wombat. The stamps come packaged in a variety of forms including the first day cover, stamp packs, leaflets and gutter strips. There is also a stamp and coin pack containing a stamp and matching base metal coin from The Perth Mint, which will be released at intervals throughout the year. This time all of the stamps are international stamps ranging in value from $1.70 – $6.45 which means they will be a little bit more expensive for collectors.

Australia Post’s designer Simone Sakinofsky has done a wonderful job of translating the first and second series into stamps. I particularly love the motif you can see clearly on the PNC. I haven’t been able to find the stamps in the Australia Post outlets yet, so I’m eager to see them in person!

Australian Bush Babies II stamp issue
Image courtesy Australia Post

Australian Bush Babies II stamp pack
Image courtesy Australia Post

Australian Bush Babies II stamp sheetlet
Image courtesy Australia Post

Australian Bush Babies II first day cover
Image courtesy Australia Post

Australian Bush Babies II PNC
Image courtesy The Perth Mint

Australian Bush Babies II Base Metal Coin
Image courtesy The Perth Mint

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Australia Post also adapted these illustrations to fit postage stamps, which they have also just recently released. The Perth Mint and Australia Post also collaborated on a set of coin and stamp sets to be released in stages throughout the year. I will do a more detailed blog post on these with images within the next day or two.

Below are some images of the new silver platypus coin.

Below is the coin description from the Perth Mint’s Website:

AUSTRALIAN BUSH BABIES II – PLATYPUS 2013 1/2oz SILVER PROOF COIN

The coin’s reverse depicts the uniqueness and charm of a beautiful baby platypus in vibrant colour.  As well as The Perth Mint’s ‘P’ mintmark, the design features a friendly Australian insect and delicately frosted representations of Australian bush flowers.

The platypus is unique to Australia and lives beside freshwater rivers and lakes, where it creates burrows for shelter and protection.

It has webbed feet for swimming, which it does with its eyes closed and returns regularly to the water’s surface for oxygen. The platypus is one of the few mammals who possess an electroception sense, being the ability to detect biological electric fields.

Struck by The Perth Mint from 1/2oz of 99.9% pure silver in proof quality, with a large 36mm diameter, the coin is issued as legal tender under the Australian Currency Act 1965.

SPECIFICATIONS:

You can see my blog posts on the first, second and third releases by clicking the hyperlinks.

Follow my work on:
Facebook
My illustration newsletter
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Or get in touch via the contact page with any illustration or general enquiries.

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Since becoming part time Production Manager for Coin Club Australia in addition to designing the coins and packaging, I am now also overseeing the production and wholesale of all Coin Club projects. I’m still freelancing as well, so these are exciting (and busy) times indeed.

In a previous post about the griffin I mentioned the possibility of a small number of signed edition coins. These are now available through the Coin Club website and through Coin Club distributors. Only 50 of each release of the Mythical Creatures series will ever be signed, if you are interested you can purchase them here and here.

 Below is some more information on this design from the Coin Club website:

DESIGN
The coin’s reverse portrays a coloured unicorn, against the backdrop of a forest scene and castle. A medieval style banner displays a silhouette of a unicorn and the monetary denomination, with the inscription ‘unicorn’ featured on a scroll at the base of the design.
The coin’s obverse depicts the Ian Rank-Broadley effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the 2013 year-date.

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A rough plan of the process is as follows: The first hangout will be about building the wire skeleton and bulking up the basic shapes of the sculpture. The second session will be about adding details to the sculpture, troubleshooting problems and baking instructions. The third session will be about painting and finishing your sculpture.

Below is the dragon sculpture I will be completing, at my nephews request, complete with removable citrine crystal heart!

Now on to the shopping list. These are your essential items:

1. Thick wire (roughly 1mm thickness) available at Bunnings/ hardware stores.
2. Thinner wire (roughly 0.6mm thickness) available at Bunnings/ hardware stores.
3. Aluminium foil, available at your nearest kitchen drawer/ supermarket.
4. An actual size drawing of your subject, I also recommend doing a front view drawing at the same scale if you are not experienced at turning drawings into 3-Dimensional shapes. MAKE SURE YOUR DRAWING DOES NOT EXCEED THE SIZE OF THE INTERIOR OF YOUR OVEN. I’ve had some close calls with making my sculptures too big! You’ll need to bake it later, so it’s a good idea to measure your oven and your sculpture and leave some space to fit it in there.
5. Items 5-8 can be bought as tools from an art store but I chose to make 5-7 from the wire (shopping list items 1 and 2). Below are instructions for making each tool. Alternatively you can buy these tools from an art store, but I have had difficulty finding smaller tools for sculpey projects (as most are large for pottery projects in earthen clays) so that’s another reason I just make them. You might be able to find the tools at Barnes. Number 8 can be substituted with a piece of wire, I only use the long pointy end for tiny details.
   SAFETY TIP: If you are making your own tools and would prefer not to be stabbed repeatedly in the hands with wire be sure to get some electrical tape or masking tape, to tape around the sharp ends of the wires (making a handle) and save your hands from injury.
   
6. See point 5.
7. See point 5.
8. See point 5.
9. Permanent marker, which you can get from pretty much any stationery store/ supermarket.
10. Pliers – a cheap decent pair could likely be found at Kmart, Big W or a hardware store (Bunnings etc) MAKE SURE YOU GET ONES THAT ALSO HAVE THE BLADES FOR CUTTING WIRE (if not you will also need to buy wire cutters).
11. Super Sculpey. Available at Barnes, Spotlight, Dalchem and many art stores. Always call ahead as I’ve been to each of these stores on at least one occasion and they haven’t had any stock. Sculpey can be a bit tough to find here in Australia. Normal white Original Sculpey will work fine too but Super Sculpey is a good middle range clay. Just avoid those tiny little coloured cubes of Sculpey, it’s not the same!_____The second list is non-essential stuff but if you can find some items around the house or you are serous about sculpting and don’t mind the additional bit of investment, these will help you out:
    
12. Masking tape – available at pretty much anywhere that sells stationery or hardware.
13. Super Sculpey Firm – I think I’ve only seen this at Barnes and Dalchem. It’s more pricey than Super Sculpey but is excellent for extremely fine detail and is stronger once baked. You can also kneed it together with Super Sculpey to create a clay that has properties somewhere in the middle.
14. Araldite – Sold at hardware stores (eg Bunnings) and some supermarkets. Great for holding wire skeletons together and fixing broken sculptures!
15. A tough old paintbrush: Used for scraping clay crumbs off the sculpture and also for raking the clay surface.
16. Softer old paintbrushes (that you never want to use for painting again): used for brushing/ polishing the clay in the final stages
17. See 16.
18. Apoxie Sculpt - Is a 2-part clay that sets in about 4 hours (no drying or baking as it is a chemical reaction) into an extremely tough material that bonds to just about anything. It’s paintable and bake-able. You can use it to give strength to your wire skeleton, fix broken parts or sculpt on new parts to an already baked sculpture. I have only seen it at Barnes and Dalchem. It’s also good to have gloves for mixing this stuff and also for the isopropyl alcohol.
19. Isopropyl alcohol is basically a medium strength solvent when used on sculpey clay. You can use it for smoothing the surface of the sculpture or cleaning up smudges left behind by sculpey clay. You can find it at most hardware stores (eg Bunnings). Gloves are good when working with this stuff as it dries out your hands.

So that’s it! Let me know if you have any questions/ suggestions or are interested in joining via the contact form. I may consider pushing the date back a week if too many people have trouble finding the items in time.

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This design is an entry to the Amp it Up challenge. The challenge was to create a design inspired by music with 25% of the net sales of the chosen design going to VH1 Save the Music Foundation. VH1 works with administrators to encourage music programs in schools and provide children with their own instruments.

My design “Child Prodigy” shows a boy ascending to new heights on wings made of musical instruments. I thought the concept was appropriate given that VH1 gives kids a better chance at reaching their potential by the provision of musical programs and instruments.

The design and preview on a shirt.

Close-up

As Threadless designs are considered in part by how well they do in voting, I would really appreciate your highest vote! You can vote by clicking here but please note you will need a Threadless account.

More Tee designs to come soon!

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The entries are still open for voting so if you can spare the time and place a vote on the following designs I would be really grateful!

Vote for Gleam

Vote for Spangle

Vote for Flare

The post Holden Designer Spark entries appeared first on www.elisemartinson.com.

Gold Stackers has initiated the production of silver rounds featuring the currency denomination XAG which is the currency code for silver. One ounce of silver is equal to one XAG, which is valued at the current monetary value of silver per ounce (I hope that made sense).

Below is a description from the Gold Stackers website:

“Gold Stackers is proud to announce the release of the Silver Buffalo XAG silver round for 2013.

These are one troy ounce silver rounds made from .999 silver.Designed by Elise Martinson, an acclaimed Melbourne designer with several Perth Mint legal tender bullion issues to her credit, the Silver Buffalo features original artwork inspired by the 1913 Buffalo nickel designed by James Earle Fraser.

Non-encapsulated in tubes, these US-made rounds are sourced from one of the largest private minting facilities in the US. These rounds are struck with a premium mirror finish at bullion pricing.The reverse features the currency denomination 1.00 XAG, with XAG being the currency code for silver under the ISO 4217 international standard. XAG is not the official currency of any nation, however the precious metals gold (XAU), silver (XAG), platinum (XPT) and palladium (XPD) all feature on this internationally accepted list of currencies.

In conjunction with the XAG currency code, the legend Instrinsic Tender has been selected for the reverse. This enforces the concept of the fungibility of silver facilitating its use as an acceptable tender for barter situations. These rounds are not coins, and are not legal tender.”

Be sure to check out the rounds on the Gold Stackers website! www.goldstackers.com

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Below is the coin description from the Perth Mint’s Website:

AUSTRALIAN BUSH BABIES II – ECHIDNA 2013 1/2oz SILVER PROOF COIN

The coin’s reverse depicts an irresistible coloured image capturing the uniqueness and charm of a beautiful baby echidna. As well as The Perth Mint’s ‘P’ mintmark, the design features a friendly Australian insect and delicately frosted representations of Australian bush flowers.

The echidna is native to Australia, and can be recognised by its spiky coat and rambling walk. This endearing mammal has a long snout which functions as both a mouth and a nose, and feeds by using its long, sticky tongue to collect food.

The echidna has very short, strong limbs with large claws, making them powerful diggers, and is also one of only four species of mammal that lay eggs.

SPECIFICATIONS:

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Below is some more information on the series from the Coin Club website:

DESIGN
The coin’s reverse portrays a coloured griffin against the backdrop of a mountain peak and sky. Included in the design is the inscription ‘griffin’ and the monetary denomination. The coin’s obverse depicts the Ian Rank-Broadley effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the 2013 year-date.

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Commissioning an illustrator is new territory for a lot of people, which has inspired illustrator Randy Gallegos to put together this fantastic PDF (click the link to download) Learning How to Commission Illustration, now making its way around the illustrator networks as a source of valuable information for would-be clients.

If you haven’t worked with an illustrator before and you are planning to, or you’re a new illustrator looking for some tips, check it out!

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