Giselle Clarkson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Giselle Clarkson |
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Clarkson in 2019
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| Born | New Zealand |
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Notable works
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Biscuits and Slices of New Zealand |
| Awards | Arts Foundation of New Zealand Laureate Award (2023) |
| http://giselledraws.com | |
Giselle Clarkson is a talented artist from New Zealand. She is well-known for her amazing cartoons and illustrations. Giselle is especially famous for her non-fiction comics that teach people about protecting nature and the environment.
Contents
Giselle's Early Life and Career
Giselle Clarkson went to the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. She studied art there, planning to become a painter. However, she ended up focusing on photography during her studies.
After university, Giselle worked in a shop that sold outdoor equipment. She also spent time volunteering for projects that helped protect nature. She really loved both art and conservation. It was hard for her to choose between becoming an artist or working for the Department of Conservation.
How Giselle Became an Illustrator
Giselle started her journey into illustration in 2013. She created a poster that showed different types of New Zealand fish. Later, she drew pictures of New Zealand's native birds. These bird illustrations were shared on RNZ's Morning Report and became very popular on Twitter.
Because her bird drawings were so well-liked, Giselle started getting requests for more work. She received commissions from places like the Forest and Bird children's magazine and the New Zealand School Journal. She also drew for newspapers, websites, and other magazines. This is how her career as an illustrator began!
Giselle's Creative Work
Giselle Clarkson's first comic ever published was called "The Flood." It appeared in a collection of comics by women artists from Aotearoa (New Zealand) in 2016. The book was titled Three Words.
Famous Baking Comics
One of Giselle's most famous works is "Biscuits and Slices of New Zealand." This comic is a fun visual list of popular New Zealand baked goods. Each treat is given a funny, made-up Latin name. For example, the Anzac biscuit is called "Lestwee forgetum".
This comic was shared widely on social media and became very popular. It was first published in a book called Annual 2 in 2017. Later, it was even turned into a poster and a tea towel! Giselle was interviewed about the comic's success on the TV show The Project on TV3. She also created a follow-up illustration that appeared in Annual 3 in 2022.
Exploring Nature Through Art
Giselle draws a comic every two months for The Sapling, a New Zealand website about children's books. In these comics, she shares how children's books have inspired her as an illustrator.
As part of her work, Giselle often goes on exciting trips to different places. She has visited the Kermadecs and Milford Sound to draw penguins. She even went on a 19-day sea trip to the Subantarctic Islands! This long journey inspired an 8-page comic for the School Journal.
Giselle regularly creates illustrations and T-shirts for the Radio New Zealand show Critter of the Week. In 2018, she made a comic that explained a scientific paper about how the Fiordland penguin, also known as tawaki (Eudyptes pachyrhynchus), travels. This comic was very popular and was shared by many people, including the famous author Diana Gabaldon. Giselle has also illustrated several children's books published by Gecko Press.
In 2022, Giselle started drawing for a regular science column in New Zealand Geographic magazine. This column, written by Kate Evans, is about how living things change over time (evolutionary biology). Because of her amazing work on this column, Giselle was nominated for Best Artist in the 2023 Voyager Media Awards.
Awards and Recognition
In 2023, Giselle Clarkson received a special honour called the Arts Foundation of New Zealand Laureate Award. The judges who gave her the award said that her work is "always technically impressive and incredibly imaginative." They also noted that her art shows "huge sensitivity" while still having her unique "energy and vibrance."
