Storytime
A longheld wish to create a storybook has come true for Dunedin student Pippi Miller.
Miller has loved drawing and art since intermediate, but it was her love of acting she pursued at university.
‘‘I had different dreams then.’’
When she discovered it was not her thing, she changed direction and studied English.
However, in the back of her mind she always wanted to make a storybook.
‘‘I’ve always liked art and books, so I wanted to combine them both. I really like picture books and illustration.’’
When she finished her English degree, she decided to make her wish come true and enrolled in Dunedin Art School’s graduate diploma course.
‘‘I’ve been thinking about it for five years.’’
Her aim was to create a oneoff children’s storybook called Headland, featuring a boy’s journey through darkened landscapes — both physical and mental — as he searches for a fallen star, finds it and brings it home.
‘‘I wanted to incorporate mental health, different states of dislocation and anxiety, but putting it in a child’s context.’’
She created the detailed drawings on watercolour paper in the book using a dip pen and ink for the line drawing combined with watercolours for the coloured features.
It took four months to make the drawings themselves but longer when the planning and developing of the images is taken into consideration.
‘‘The figure drawing took a long time as it’s harder.’’
Miller covered and bound the book herself in the traditional way, using found materials.
It is a process she really enjoys and hopes to do again.
‘‘I learnt a lot and figured out a lot, so I’d like to take what I’ve learnt and apply it to a different book.’’
She also created three other larger works, using imagery from the book for the exhibition. One took four weeks, of drawing all day, to create.
‘‘I wanted to experiment with creating art separate from the book.’’