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:
