The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy

I've just started working on a great project for New Frontier - they have a new series of books called The Music Box, which I think is a fabulous idea. They take famous pieces of classical music and get well-known Australian authors to write stories inspired by the music. I think The Flight of The Bumblebee (written by Hazel Edwards and illustrated by Mini Goss) is already in production, and I'll be illustrating The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy by Sue Whiting. Hopefully later in the year I'll also be working on The Sorceror's Apprentice. The books come with a CD of the music and the story narrated by Antonia Kidman

It's going to be a lot of fun, because Sue's text is very light-hearted and funny, and has kid appeal - and I get to draw candymakers, fairies and a greedy King! What more could I ask for, I ask you? I'm also thinking it's be a good chance to experiment a bit with technique and getting my layouts and compositions a bit groovier and energy-packed. I'll try and post some sketches as it all starts to take shape....

Hmmm...now I have to work out what a sugarplum looks like. Which reminds me - check out these incredible photos of traditional japanese sweets... amazing what you can find on flickr.com