I started drawing not long after I was born, in Dunedin, New Zealand in 1961.
My mother tells me I decided to be a cartoonist about five years later. A combination of Asterix books, Mad and Viz magazines focused my mind as I grew up. I first drew my Monsta character at high school, where I was deciding between art and business degrees. I graduated from Waikato University with a Bachelor of Management Studies, followed by two (very) short careers in economics and then marketing. Having learned all I needed to know about 9-5 jobs, in 1984 I started working for myself - selling Monsta cartoons on t-shirts at Victoria Park Market in Auckland.
I sold a lot more Monsta merchandise through Monsta mail marketing in the late 1980's. In the early nineties, I drew a daily Monsta strip that appeared in the Auckland Star for a couple of years and cartooned live on on TV3's Early Bird Show. Part of my Auckland Star strip was a series of cartoons of the yachts from the Whitbread Round the World Race as they sailed into Auckland in 1990.
In 1993 I was appointed as the official race cartoonist for the Whitbread Race. I followed the fleet around the world, drawing a series of race cartoons for Whitbread and TVNZ . For the 1997/98 race, I joined the Swedish Match team as their team cartoonist.
In 1999, back home in Auckland the America's Cup arrived in town and I watched the teams sail by as I drew commissions for the teams, sponsors, newspapers and magazines. Around this time I switched from drawing with pen and paper to the screens of tablet computers. I now use a Wacom mobliestudio pro, to go with my trusty Cintiq 24HD.
In 2003, I drew another America's Cup series in Auckland, got married and moved cities. In 2007 I was Luna Rossa's team cartoonist, based in Valencia, Spain, then drew for Alinghi from 2008 - 2010 as they battled Oracle in the courts and on the water. In San Francisco in 2013 I drew a daily cartoon of that fun filled series of races. I await with keen interest to see what happens next...
I've drawn for other events including Formula 1 cartoons for Ferrari, the Volvo Ocean Race, and Hamilton Island Race Week. I've been commissioned to draw boats by ISAF, Maersk and Wild Oats, and a wide range of cartoons, characters and caricatures by a long list of local and international clients.
My other specialty is live drawing, where I work on a tablet computer creating caricatures or other images that are projected live so everyone can watch as the picture comes to life. I also offer 'graphic facilitation' for businesses. This service creates a visual image of training or workshop seminars which can be a powerful way to help participants to absorb and retain verbal content. If you can make someone laugh, you know you've made them think.
These days, in between travel, I am based in Wellington, New Zealand on our beautiful southern coast. Here I am playing with the neighbours...
My mother tells me I decided to be a cartoonist about five years later. A combination of Asterix books, Mad and Viz magazines focused my mind as I grew up. I first drew my Monsta character at high school, where I was deciding between art and business degrees. I graduated from Waikato University with a Bachelor of Management Studies, followed by two (very) short careers in economics and then marketing. Having learned all I needed to know about 9-5 jobs, in 1984 I started working for myself - selling Monsta cartoons on t-shirts at Victoria Park Market in Auckland.
I sold a lot more Monsta merchandise through Monsta mail marketing in the late 1980's. In the early nineties, I drew a daily Monsta strip that appeared in the Auckland Star for a couple of years and cartooned live on on TV3's Early Bird Show. Part of my Auckland Star strip was a series of cartoons of the yachts from the Whitbread Round the World Race as they sailed into Auckland in 1990.
In 1993 I was appointed as the official race cartoonist for the Whitbread Race. I followed the fleet around the world, drawing a series of race cartoons for Whitbread and TVNZ . For the 1997/98 race, I joined the Swedish Match team as their team cartoonist.
In 1999, back home in Auckland the America's Cup arrived in town and I watched the teams sail by as I drew commissions for the teams, sponsors, newspapers and magazines. Around this time I switched from drawing with pen and paper to the screens of tablet computers. I now use a Wacom mobliestudio pro, to go with my trusty Cintiq 24HD.
In 2003, I drew another America's Cup series in Auckland, got married and moved cities. In 2007 I was Luna Rossa's team cartoonist, based in Valencia, Spain, then drew for Alinghi from 2008 - 2010 as they battled Oracle in the courts and on the water. In San Francisco in 2013 I drew a daily cartoon of that fun filled series of races. I await with keen interest to see what happens next...
I've drawn for other events including Formula 1 cartoons for Ferrari, the Volvo Ocean Race, and Hamilton Island Race Week. I've been commissioned to draw boats by ISAF, Maersk and Wild Oats, and a wide range of cartoons, characters and caricatures by a long list of local and international clients.
My other specialty is live drawing, where I work on a tablet computer creating caricatures or other images that are projected live so everyone can watch as the picture comes to life. I also offer 'graphic facilitation' for businesses. This service creates a visual image of training or workshop seminars which can be a powerful way to help participants to absorb and retain verbal content. If you can make someone laugh, you know you've made them think.
These days, in between travel, I am based in Wellington, New Zealand on our beautiful southern coast. Here I am playing with the neighbours...
