Patti Argoff – Sunshine Books New Zealand

Hi! My name is Patti. I’m an illustrator.

I grew up in New York City. Growing up in a city I couldn’t have a dog, and I was (and still am) crazy about dogs. In fact, I love animals of all kinds. My favourite things to draw or paint are still animals!

Presently, I live in Connecticut, on the northeast coast of the United States. I live in a small town without a lot of hustle or bustle. Mostly there’s farmland, rivers and lakes, and woodlands around where I live. I currently have a dog (Aldo), a cat (Debbie), several unnamed goldfish in a water garden, and four hens: Ann-Margret, Chicken Patty (she spells her name differently than I do!), Mary Porter, and Shirley Chisholm.

I really love to draw, so I’m very lucky and happy to have become an illustrator. As a little girl, long before I ever thought of making a career out of it, I was drawing on everything! I loved to draw almost as much as I loved animals. I used to draw on the blank backs of junk mail and on envelopes. No piece of paper – blank or printed – was beyond me drawing upon it! At age 7 or 8, my favourite birthday gift was a WHOLE ream of paper!

By the time I was old enough to think about college, there was no doubt that I’d be attending an art school. Happily, that became a reality and I was accepted at The School of Visual Arts, in New York City. I enjoyed working on assignments in my art classes, saw lots of art made by other people, and enjoyed learning about art history. I have always enjoyed looking at the work of famous illustrators. Norman Rockwell, J.C Leyendecker, Howard Pyle, N.C. Wyeth, Maxfield Parrish, and Rien Poortvliet are amongst my favourites! I encourage you to search the internet for these artists if you enjoy looking at beautiful artwork. Their work is wonderful and inspiring! After I graduated from art school, I worked at several jobs, all in the field of art. First, I worked in an art supply store. Then, for several years, I worked in New York City’s garment centre, where I designed art that was silk-screened onto children’s wear and sold in stores all over the world. Then I started illustrating children’s magazines, which led to illustrating games and workbooks, and then to illustrating children’s books. I work in watercolour paint on paper as well as digital illustration.
https://pattiargoff.myportfolio.com/

To date, I’ve illustrated 39 books for several publishers in the U.S.A., Canada, England, and now New Zealand!