BEHIND THE SCENES
Our sister magazine Weg has just published a special travel diary in collaboration with illustrator Anja Stoeckigt, who nearly ended up as a beach babe in Sodwana teaching scuba-diving…
How did you become an illustrator? I married my husband Mark in 2011 and made almost everything for the wedding myself. I folded hundreds of paper stars for confetti, made paper flowers, illustrated our wedding invites and made fun crafts as gifts for our guests to take home. I loved it!
Soon afterwards, Mark booked a table at the Oude Libertas market in Stellenbosch and a lot of my stuff sold really well. Over time, people contacted me for custom portraits and merchandise for their own stores, and I got my first book deal in 2016 – doing the illustrations for Refiloe Moahloli’s children’s book, How Many Ways Can You Say Hello? I’ve just finished my fourth children’s book. What did you enjoy most about illustrating the travel diary? While working on the Africa and world maps, I was amazed at how many places there are that I’d never heard of. Russia and Chile are now on my bucket list. Any challenges? Illustrating something massive, like the Taj Mahal or St Basil’s Cathedral in Russia, so that the detail is still visible once it’s been scaled down to about 1,5 cm on the page… Favourite holiday pastime? Mark is a chef so we eat our way everywhere. He finds the best bakeries and patisseries whenever we travel.
I also love seeking out street art in the cities we visit: Paris, Prague, London, Budapest… And here at home in Cape Town. In Woodstock and Salt River, you can see some spectacular work by our very own Faith XLVII ( faith47.com), one of the most famous street artists in the world. Favourite local holiday destination? As a student, I scubadived a lot at Sodwana in KZN. I was plagued by ear issues, but if that had not been the case, I would definitely have become a divemaster. I just love the lifestyle. You dive with tourists in the mornings, go home, take a nap and then braai and kuier for the rest of the day. What’s always in your travel bag? A camera and a notebook, so I can photograph or draw the places I visit. Also, some Zam-Buk or Blistex – for blisters, mosquito bites and chapped lips. – Esma Marnewick
To see more of Anja’s illustrations, visit papertales.co.za
The Weg travel diary is only available in Afrikaans (R150 at major retailers and online at winkel.weg.co.za). Want an English version? Let us know by writing to editor@gomag.co.za