Arrowtown illustrator has Whanganui exhibition

Dougal MacPherson's work is the subject of a new exhibition at Lockett Gallery. Photo / Paul Brooks

Lockett Gallery, next to Paige's Book Gallery in Guyton St, is New Zealand's only gallery for illustrators. On Sunday was the launch of a new exhibition with work by illustrator Dougal MacPherson.

A lot of the work exhibited comes from his book, Introducing Teddy, written by Jessica Walton and illustrated by Dougal, published by Bloomsbury and now around the world, translated into 12 languages. The book is described as a gentle story about gender and friendship. Other work in the gallery shows his range of styles and use of colours to create vivid, exciting art. Dougal lives in Arrowtown with his wife, Amanda, their two children and two cats, one of which is called Monster. All the family except for the cats were there to celebrate the exhibition launch.

"It all started one rainy Sunday afternoon when I was trying to keep my 2-year-old off an i-pad," says Dougal. "I drew a digger in front of him. All 2-year-old boys seem to love earth-moving equipment. Then I drew a bulldozer and an aeroplane and tried to fill it up with as much stuff going on ... trying to keep him captivated — and it did."
His son was just as excited about the drawings the next day. Dougal's wife, Amanda, commented that she could see her husband doing more of this. Their son is now 10 and the artistic journey is well underway, much of it documenting the children's childhood in drawings. He says they have been his inspiration.

"This is my first ever solo show in a gallery, and I had wondered what it would be like to have all the pictures up on a wall." Those displayed are a fraction of Dougal's output and there is lots more to go up to replace drawings that are sold.
Dougal often documents his family's antics through 15-minute drawings in his popular Instagram account: @15mindrawings

Dougal MacPherson's images are on display at Lockett Gallery for two months.