Welcome to another interview in my Meet a Food Lover series. Today we’re talking to Melbourne illustrator, artist and teacher, Dawn Tan.
I can’t remember exactly how I first came across Dawn’s work but it was during one of my late night trawls around the internet. [UPDATE: I remembered today that my good friend Kerina West actually sent me a link to Dawn’s site some months ago. Sorry Kerina! I must remember to take my ginkgo biloba more regularly. ]
When I hopped onto Dawn’s site I was immediately charmed by her whimsical and charming food illustrations and paintings. How could I not love a pillowcase with a selection of cold cuts on it, or a melamine plate and cup set displaying a hamburger and french fries respectively?
Dawn is a woman who clearly enjoys her life and loves food, which makes her a great person to know in my book. So I was thrilled when she agreed to share some of her work with us today, explain how she came to make food her muse, and take us through the steps in a typical design commission.
Everybody, meet Dawn!
Christina: Dawn, tell us about yourself.
Dawn: I’ve been drawing and painting since I was a child. I come from a family of creatives. So naturally, there was always some arty material, a brush, a shiny marker, some crayons lying around. I must have first gotten hold of a paintbrush when I was about 2. Haven’t put it down since!
C: Where did your passions for food and art come from?
D: Well..I love food. I just do! Truly, wholeheartedly, love it with every bit of my heart. (I mean how can one NOT love food?!) So yes, I suppose because I can’t stop thinking about food, subconsciously it must have started sneaking into my work about 3 years ago and I’ve not stopped painting and drawing food since!
C: What do you love most about what you do?
D: I just feel so free when I’m painting. I love what I do and it makes me so happy.
C: You’ve worked with so many great Australian companies. What have been some of your favourite projects?
D: Hmm… I really could go on and on about this one. But I think the most fun project was one which I completed just last week! I was given the wonderful opportunity by Melbourne store Third Drawer Down, to design a fun and crazy item. Something one would find at a supermarket. Third Drawer Down was opening a minimart which would stock special artist-edition packaged items. I was given total freedom to design whatever I wanted. And for the project, I decided to come up with a funny pasta packaging (see below). I could make my product crazier, call it a funny name, make up a silly story, change up the nutritional values, etc. It was lots of fun. I felt like I was in a creative writing class back in primary school! Too much fun!
C: You receive commission from both corporate and private clients. Is the design process the same? Can you talk us through the usual steps?
D: The process is pretty much the same. Though some clients can be more ‘serious’ than the others. But here’s what usually happens:
- Client sends me the ‘brief’.
- I get back to client, have a chat and make sure we’re on the same page and that I understand what is required.
- I work on a few roughs, send them images.
- Client either makes some changes or approve of my roughs.
- I work on finals, I keep my clients up to date as to what’s happening.
- I send through final artworks, wait for revisions (if there’s any)
- Work gets approved and viola! Smiley faces all day long! : )
C: If you were creating a painting of a celebratory feast, what dishes would you include?
D: Roast chicken. One can never go wrong with a good roast! I would also include a big bowl of peas, just because it’s my favourite thing to eat. There would also be lots of nice Asian desserts like sago pudding, honeydew sago… ( I love sago!), nice chocolate tarts. Okay. I should stop typing. This is seriously making me hungry! Not good!
C: Are you a sweet or savoury girl?
D: I would say 50-50. It depends on my mood. Sometimes I crave for a really good crispy chicken, other days, I just want a silky smooth panna cotta. I’m too indecisive to decide on one. Hah!
C: What’s next for you?
D: I’ve just started working as an art teacher part-time in a lovely school. So for now, I’m still learning and slowly adjusting to juggling both my freelance artist career along with my teaching career. But yes, I’m in the midst of releasing a new pasta print! It will be out sometime in late April/May. The print will be handprinted on a big letterpress machine and it’ll come in nice and fun colour ways. Think neon pink, bright yellow and navy!
Check out more of Dawn’s work here. If you’re in Melbourne, Dawn hosts private watercolour painting classes for adults and kids, and arts-themed birthday parties for kids.
