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Giselle Clarkson

Giselle Clarkson is a New Zealand cartoonist and illustrator, best known for her non-fiction comics on conservation and environmental issues.

Giselle Clarkson
Clarkson in 2019
BornNew Zealand
Area(s)
  • Cartoonist
  • illustrator
Notable works
Biscuits and Slices of New Zealand
AwardsArts Foundation of New Zealand Laureate Award (2023)
http://giselledraws.com

Life

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Clarkson studied for Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury, intending to become a painter but majoring in photography.[1][2] She works as a freelance illustrator and comics artist, and lives in South Wairarapa, New Zealand.[3][4]

After graduation she worked in an outdoor equipment shop and volunteered with conservation projects; she was torn between becoming an artist and working for the Department of Conservation.[1] Her entry into illustration was a 2013 poster depicting New Zealand fish.[2] Later illustrations of New Zealand native birds featured on RNZ's Morning Report were distributed through Twitter,[3] which led to commissions from Forest and Bird's children's magazine, the New Zealand School Journal, newspapers, websites, and magazines, and a career in illustration.[1][2]

Work

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Clarkson's first published comic, "The Flood", appeared in the 2016 collection of Aotearoa women's comics Three Words.[5] Her best known work, "Biscuits and Slices of New Zealand", is a visual catalogue of New Zealand baking, with each object given a fanciful Latin name: for example, Anzac biscuit is "Lestwee forgetum". Widely shared in social media, this was published in Annual 2 (2017) and subsequently became a poster and tea towel; Clarkson was interviewed about the success of the comic on TV3's The Project.[6][7] A follow-up illustration appeared in Annual 3 (2022).[3]

Critter of the Week illustrations
 
 

Clarkson has a bimonthly comic in New Zealand children's literature website The Sapling, on children's books and how they influenced her as an illustrator.[8] She frequently undertakes field expeditions as part of her work to places such as the Kermadecs, Milford Sound (to draw penguins) or the Subantarctic Islands (a 19-day sea voyage which led to an 8-page comic in the School Journal).[1] She regularly creates illustration and T-shirts for the Radio New Zealand show Critter of the Week.[9] In 2018 she produced a comics summary of a scientific paper on the migration of the Fiordland penguin or tawaki (Eudyptes pachyrhynchus),[10] which was enthusiastically retweeted by Diana Gabaldon.[2] She has also illustrated a number of children's books published by Gecko Press.

In 2022 Clarkson began illustrating a regular evolutionary-biology column by Kate Evans in New Zealand Geographic magazine. This led to a nomination as Best Artist in the 2023 Voyager Media Awards.[3]

Honours and awards

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In 2023, Clarkson received an Arts Foundation of New Zealand Laureate Award.[11] The panel described her work as "always technically impressive and incredibly imaginative; demonstrating huge sensitivity whilst retaining her trademark energy and vibrance."[3]

Publications

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Nonfiction writing

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  • —— (2023). The Observologist: A Handbook for Mounting Very Small Scientific Expeditions. Author and illustrator. Gecko Press.

Book contributions as illustrator

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  • Blanchard, Nan, ed. (2019). Hazel and the Snails. Illustrated by Giselle Clarkson. Annual Ink. ISBN 9780995113589.
  • Cowley, Joy, ed. (2019). The Gobbledegook Book: A Joy Cowley Anthology. Illustrated by Giselle Clarkson. Gecko Press. ISBN 9781776572588.
  • Tylee, Alexandra, ed. (2020). Egg and Spoon: An Illustrated Cookbook. Illustrated by Giselle Clarkson. Gecko Press. ISBN 9781776572984.
  • Cowley, Joy, ed. (2021). The Tiny Woman's Coat. Illustrated by Giselle Clarkson. Gecko Press. ISBN 9781776573424.

Other illustration works

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Lopesi, Lana (2 July 2018). "5 Minutes with Giselle Clarkson". Design Assembly. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d Bruce, Greg (15 December 2018). "Kiwi cartoonists on what mattered in 2018". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Giselle Clarkson". The Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi. 1 September 2023. Archived from the original on 11 September 2023. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  4. ^ "Giselle Clarkson". Annual Annual | NZ. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  5. ^ Joyce, Rae; Laing, Sarah; Neville, Indira, eds. (2016). Three words: an anthology of Aotearoa/NZ women's comics. Auckland, New Zealand: Beatnik. ISBN 9780994120502. OCLC 948291321.
  6. ^ "Biscuit of the Year?". The Project. 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  7. ^ "Nine to Noon: Giselle Clarkson, The Secret Life of Butterflies". RNZ. 6 June 2018. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  8. ^ Lynch, Rachel (5 May 2017). "5 minutes with Giselle Clarkson: Comicfest feature". Wellington City Libraries: Library News. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  9. ^ "Critter of the Week T-shirts!". Radio New Zealand. 6 July 2018. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  10. ^ Seddon, Philip J.; Lüthi, Benno; Long, Robin; Houston, David M.; Ellenberg, Ursula; Garcia-Borboroglu, Pablo; Pütz, Klemens; Mattern, Thomas (2018). "Marathon penguins – Reasons and consequences of long-range dispersal in Fiordland penguins / Tawaki during the pre-moult period". PLOS ONE. 13 (8): e0198688. Bibcode:2018PLoSO..1398688M. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0198688. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 6114282. PMID 30157174.
  11. ^ Chumko, André (1 September 2023). "Nine outstanding NZ artists honoured at Arts Foundation Laureate Awards". Stuff. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
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