# Giselle Clarkson

Giselle Clarkson is a New Zealand cartoonist and illustrator, best known for her non-fiction comics on conservation and environmental issues.

## Life

Clarkson studied for Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury, intending to become a painter but majoring in photography. She works as a freelance illustrator and comics artist, and lives in South Wairarapa, New Zealand.
After graduation she worked in an outdoor equipment shop and volunteered with conservation projects; she was torn between becoming an artist and working for the Department of Conservation. Her entry into illustration was a 2013 poster depicting New Zealand fish. Later illustrations of New Zealand native birds featured on RNZ's Morning Report were distributed through Twitter, which led to commissions from Forest and Bird's children's magazine, the New Zealand School Journal, newspapers, websites, and magazines, and a career in illustration.

## Work

Clarkson's first published comic, "The Flood", appeared in the 2016 collection of Aotearoa women's comics Three Words. Her best known work, "Biscuits and Slices of New Zealand", is a visual catalogue of New Zealand baking, with each object given a fanciful Latin name: for example, Anzac biscuit is "Lestwee forgetum". Widely shared in social media, this was published in Annual 2 (2017) and subsequently became a poster and tea towel; Clarkson was interviewed about the success of the comic on TV3's The Project. A follow-up illustration appeared in Annual 3 (2022).
Clarkson has a bimonthly comic in New Zealand children's literature website The Sapling, on children's books and how they influenced her as an illustrator. She frequently undertakes field expeditions as part of her work to places such as the Kermadecs, Milford Sound (to draw penguins) or the Subantarctic Islands (a 19-day sea voyage which led to an 8-page comic in the School Journal). She regularly creates illustration and T-shirts for the Radio New Zealand show Critter of the Week. In 2018 she produced a comics summary of a scientific paper on the migration of the Fiordland penguin or tawaki (Eudyptes pachyrhynchus), which was enthusiastically retweeted by Diana Gabaldon. She has also illustrated a number of children's books published by Gecko Press.
In 2022 Clarkson began illustrating a regular evolutionary-biology column by Kate Evans in New Zealand Geographic magazine. This led to a nomination as Best Artist in the 2023 Voyager Media Awards.

## Honours and awards

In 2023, Clarkson received an Arts Foundation of New Zealand Laureate Award. The panel described her work as "always technically impressive and incredibly imaginative; demonstrating huge sensitivity whilst retaining her trademark energy and vibrance."

## Publications
### Nonfiction writing

* —— (2023). The Observologist: A Handbook for Mounting Very Small Scientific Expeditions. Author and illustrator. Gecko Press.

### Book contributions as illustrator

* Joyce, Rae; Laing, Sarah; Neville, Indira, eds. (2016). Three Words. Illustrations by Giselle Clarkson. Beatnik. ISBN 9780994120502.
* de Goldi, Kate, ed. (2016). Annual. Illustrated by Giselle Clarkson. Gecko Press. ISBN 9781776570775.
* de Goldi, Kate, ed. (2017). Annual 2. Illustrated by Giselle Clarkson. Gecko Press. ISBN 9780473395230.
* Meredith, Courtney Sina (2018). The Secret World of Butterflies. Illustrations by Giselle Clarkson. Auckland: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 9781760633608.
* Blanchard, Nan, ed. (2019). Hazel and the Snails. Illustrated by Giselle Clarkson. Annual Ink. ISBN 9780995113589.
* Cowley, Joy, ed. (2019). The Gobbledegook Book: A Joy Cowley Anthology. Illustrated by Giselle Clarkson. Gecko Press. ISBN 9781776572588.
* Tylee, Alexandra, ed. (2020). Egg and Spoon: An Illustrated Cookbook. Illustrated by Giselle Clarkson. Gecko Press. ISBN 9781776572984.
* Cowley, Joy, ed. (2021). The Tiny Woman's Coat. Illustrated by Giselle Clarkson. Gecko Press. ISBN 9781776573424.

### Other illustration works

* —— (2017). "The Subantarctic Islands" (PDF). The New Zealand School Journal. Illustrated by Giselle Clarkson.
* —— (2018). "Tawaki, Marathon Penguins". Giselle Draws. Archived from the original on 27 January 2019.