Illustrators in Dunedin (NZ)

This blog post is WAY overdue, but nevertheless, it must be done.
A few months ago when we came back from the states, I met up with 2 very talented Dunedin based illustrators: Jessica Newton and Mark Leggett.

Jessica offers the romantic, feminine style that is wildly popular, while Mark uses simple illustrations and works with programers to produce iOS games.

Please check out the links above to view more of their works.

Alphabet - A

Find as many words that start with the letter 'A'!

The answers can be found here

Spot The Difference!

This was a fun little collaboration with my hubby. We are hoping to do a series of these this year - we say that about a lot of our collaborations. You can print them out and see if you can find all 12 differences!

The answers can be found here

Three Little Pigs - BW

I have recently discovered that in the original Three Little Pigs story, the first and the second pigs get eaten! I read the original stories of The Little Mermaid, Hansel and Gretel, The Matchstick Girl, The Red Shoes,...etc where the stories were a little gruesome. But I was never exposed to the dying pigs.

Anyway, here is a black and white illustration I did for the story.

MCK Caricatures Printed

This is a bit of a delayed post, but these large prints of my illustrations looked so good, I thought it deserved to be blogged about.

Here is a photograph, courtesy of MCK Design & Print - who also printed these illustrations.

Portable Digital Sketchbook, Anyone?

As a freelance illustrator, I have to move around a lot with my digital gear. That includes the laptop, tablet, pen, battery charger, sketchbook, and a pencil.

And occasionally, it's better to share a few sketches to show your client exactly what the hell you're talking about too.

Sadly, small pencil doodles on a piece of paper are no longer impressive and easily lost! So I've started to look for a portable digital sketchbook.

1. It has to be portable to be more convenient than a heavy bag full of things that need to be assembled to work. 
2. It has to be digital so you can save time - scanning, cleaning up can take a lot of time. And TIME equals MONEY.
3. I don't want to spend too much money on a "sketchbook". No iPads (those things are not even designed for anything in particular, and I can't stand touchscreen).

Something that's cheap, durable, portable, compatible with a tablet, can run some kind of art software, and can handle a few knocks here and there. Did I find one? Not really.

Strangely, nobody has designed a product that can actually be useful. What a surprise.

BUT I did find a youtube clip that introduced me to a new form of computer. Meet Motion Computing. LatinVixen was kind enough to do a comparison of 2 products. Here is the video:

I just checked out the price of Motion Tablet PCs on eBay, and they are cheap. You can buy extra RAM and HD at a pretty reasonable price too. Keep in mind that most of these computers are used, but if you're like me, and are just looking for something that can handle a few punches in a bag, I think one of these babies are a good buy.

If you are also not willing to pay a fortune for another legal copy of Photoshop, there are open source art apps you can easily download for free - like GIMP (doesn't hurt to make a small donation if you can). Who wants to pay over $1000 for software just for sketching? We all know that artists aren't made of money. Right, Adobe?

Simon

Meet Simon (Simon can be seen in these illustrations). This character was inspired by my husband, the wildlife biologist. He's from Oregon, USA. But he knows more about the New Zealand wildlife than I ever will. And is constantly fascinated by small living organisms.
Simon is just a smaller, two-dimensional version of him. A loveable, energetic science enthusiast.

Dan is currently working with velvet worms (peripatus) in the Dunedin area.

Girly girls

For those of you who are familiar with my work and well, ME, you'd be quite surprised to see these. I grew up with ninja turtle toys and I despise the person who made pink a global colour for all women. BUT that doesn't mean I can't illustrate for the girly girls out there. After all, I do know how to dress like a woman.

Self-Promo Package

I was very excited to pick these up this week from MCK Design & Print. And they look fantastic! A whole lot of them are being sent off to my clients as I type. This has been a surprisingly busy year, but it is very important to have my clients remember me AT ALL TIMES.

Here is a close up of my business card design.

My Studio in Dunedin NZ

This is only for temporary as we will be moving away from Dunedin, NZ once Dan completes his Masters. But I know I get curious about how other artists work, so I thought I'd post a photo of my current studio.

I get a nice view of our front garden, and a lot of light coming in through our gigantic windows. So it's a perfect spot to draw, paint, and ponder.

And this is what my lineart pieces look like before being scanned in and coloured. I enjoy the organic quality of watercolours and ink, so if I'm not using traditional mediums for the whole illustration, I try to use them for the lines at least.