Beginning at 5am in Byron Bay, New South Wales, this book takes the reader on a journey around Australia. You will discover landmarks, animals, birds and plants. Here are a couple of text quotes:
"7.45am, Sydney NSW, Gadigal Country. A swamp wallaby hops through coastal scrub for a tasty berry breakfast while rainbow lorikeets tear through flowering gum canopies above."
"1.45pm, Whitsundays, Qld Ngaro Country. Green turtles cruise ancient ocean currents as the waters of the Great Barrier Reef explode with colour, life and energy."
"8pm, Rottnest Island, WA Whadjuk Noongar Country. It's dusk on Rottnest Island and curious quokkas are waking up, ready for the night as the last rays of sunshine kiss goodbye to another perfect day in Australia."
The soft colour palette, bold illustration outlines, and eye placement giving each animal a distinct personality are all the things that combine to make a visually very appealing book. I love the way the first page is purple as the sun rises and the last page is a darker shade of purple as the sun sets. The end papers are subtle and clever. The landscapes are done so well making them easy to recognise. I have mentioned previously that I am a huge fan of lighthouses and so you will find one in this book at Byron Bay. The tiny surfer koala on each page also adds a layer of extra delight.
Australia from Dawn to Dusk was shortlisted for the CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia) New Illustrator award. I was a judge for this 2021-23 round, and we certainly were sent some amazing work. This book Australia from Dawn to Dusk should be in every Australian school library and it would be a terrific gift to send to your friends in other countries as a showcase of our landscapes, flora and fauna.
Who is Brentos? He is a Northern Beaches artist who grew up in the Sydney suburb of Terry Hills. His work can be seen all over this part of Sydney on murals and at bus stops. His work has also been used three times for the cover of a local magazine called Tawny Frogmouth. This is the cover of the September 2023 edition.
His actual name is Brent Turner. You can see more of his art here.
Here are the notes Brentos submitted to the CBCA:
As a millennial I’ve grown up with technology and have a background in graphic design. So when Apple released the iPad, I naturally took a liking to this new creative innovation and quickly fell in love with the process of creating digital art. The iPad and broad selection of drawing apps have come a very long way and it’s now possible to emulate any style of illustration or painting in any medium – from watercolour, acrylics, oil even to aerosol, the iPad allows digital illustrators the power to push their creativity beyond traditional limitations. For my particular style of illustration, I use simple linework and flat colours in pastel tones, and I can create my illustrations as digital ‘vector’ artwork – This means the artwork can be sized up indefinitely without losing any image quality, so if we wanted to wrap something as big as Sydney Opera House, it would be possible.
My illustrations always start out as a quick composition sketch to decide where elements should be placed, where the source of light is and how the elements will interact with each other. This usually involves sketching up the initial composition in a lighter blue colour on the iPad surface in one layer, and then once happy with a sketch, I’ll begin drawing each individual element in the illustration to form the final composition. If an illustration requires a lot of detail, such as an underwater reef scene or a tropical rainforest scene, this process can take some time, but the end result is really special.
The illustrations for Australia From Dawn to Dusk were digitally hand-drawn onto an iPad surface using an app called ‘Adobe Fresco’. This medium allows me to get a very accurate illustration as close to a pen and paper sketch as possible, but it allows for incredible flexibility, allowing me to resize elements, easily erase sections I’m not happy with, re-arrange elements to create beautiful compositions and choose a brush, pen or pencil stroke that best pairs with my illustrations without having to need physical tools on hand. On top of the initial sketch, working with the iPad allows me to easily work with my colour palette and colour my illustrations with efficiency and speed, making it the perfect medium for the illustrations in Australia From Dawn to Dusk. CBCA Awards judges database.
Brentos will publish a new book in November called Australian Animals: from Beach to Bush. It will be an exploration of habitats around Australian along with the conservation status of each animal.
Companion books to read with Australia from Dawn to Dusk:
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