Donovan Bixley
Illustrator | Writer , Designer
Biography
Truth be known, no one leapt to employ me when I graduated from AUT School of Art and Design. I resolved this problem by setting up my own company. Initially working in design and advertising, I quickly fell back on my natural drawing skills doing storyboards and visuals.
A large dose of perseverance and luck, as well as natural aptitude, are involved in becoming established as an illustrator. I happened to be at the offices of the Listener showing my (then) pretty thin portfolio when an art director raced in, wanting an illustration of author Patricia Cornwell by that afternoon. So began a five-year stint doing editorial illustrations for the Listener, during which time I was nominated for two Qantas Media Awards. Since I’ve never won anything, I maintain my view that I don’t believe in awards.
Meanwhile, I became frustrated with the transient nature of advertising work. I decided that I wanted to become a book illustrator – to use my talents to create something lasting and meaningful that would be loved by children 50 years after it was made.
I set to task writing and illustrating several children’s books. I was ridiculously naive about the fact that most publishers aren’t looking for unsolicited manuscripts, let alone finished books. My first two attempts were rejected by every publisher in the country. By taking my ideas through to completion, however, I learnt a tremendous amount and gained fantastic portfolio pieces. These helped me win commissions from Learning Media and Hodder Moa Beckett.
Since making the move to book illustrator, I’ve had the pleasure of working on over 70 stories and books – a great many of them for Learning Media. All contributing illustrators will be familiar with having to come up with imaginative compositions to fit into the crazy shapes that the School Journal designers come up with!
My most significant personal project has been Faithfully Mozart. I wrote, illustrated, and meticulously researched the book over five years as a deliberate attempt to break into the global market. I was passionately convinced that the life of this great man would make a great illustrated book, and in stubborn style, I just went ahead and did it without any publisher’s backing. My biggest challenge was convincing people to accept an illustrated book aimed at an adult audience about a dead Austrian. Thanks to a chance meeting with the wonderful guys at PQ Blackwell, it is now published in eight countries. It was a finalist in the Montana Book Awards in 2006, and I’ve been able to get more interesting work as both an illustrator and author having proved what I can do.
The Internet means I no longer have to work in a big city, and I live in my old home town of Taupo with my wife and our three lovely daughters, who all stand in as models (and critics) for almost everything I work on. My wife and I run our business, Magma Design, doing design and illustration work for clients all over New Zealand. My next personal project is the Alfred Noyes poem The Highwayman, which I’ve wanted to illustrate since I was seven.