Olly and Val: a commission

The brief: Olly and Val live in Vancouver and have ties to NZ. Val wrote to me and said 'I'm loving your illustrations! Do you think I could commission you to do something? I don't like to give you too much direction but let's say animals and nature'.

Some background: Olly is actually my brother and Val is his wife. So the ties they have to NZ are pretty strong and involve me, so it didn't take me long to come up with a list of animals and nature that would remind them of NZ and memories of things that have happened on their trips home over the years.  

The reaction: Entirely by coincidence the drawing arrived in Vancouver on Valentines day, so there was a bit of a buzz about the timing. Val: 'Look what turned up for Valentines day! ... you even put cilantro in there, you must really love me ... it's amazing' Olly: 'Thank you so much, it's so cool. Absolutely love all the creatures and details. Val appreciates the goat dealing with the cilantro'.