I live in Auckland, New Zealand with my husband, my two sons and my beautiful cat Esta. I became interested in illustrating children’s books while studying graphic design.
I have illustrated over 50 Sunshine Books but I also work in house at Sunshine and so get to do all sorts of other illustrative and design work that is required for the great books we publish. My style can be described as bold and bright.
At the beginning of a project I do pencil drawings, called roughs, to develop characters and settings. I love this part of the process and always carry a visual diary to record ideas that inspire me. I then have sketches to refer to when I am planning the illustrations for the next book.
I enjoy the process of bringing a story to life with my illustrations and I particularly like developing characters that are humorous in some way. The restrictions of an illustration brief can sometimes be a challenge but it does provide a clear focus of what I need to convey.
When I first started illustrating, I used pencil, pen, ink and paint on a variety of papers, but now most of my work is done on computer, drawing with a stylus on a tablet.
At first it seemed restrictive but now it is just as versatile as working the traditional way. The good part is that I can correct work more easily and save on paper… so that’s good for the environment.
