Illustrator Desmond Bovey’s first book, Tongariro National Park: An artist’s field guide, was inspired by a profound encounter with a kārearea (New Zealand falcon) after a three-decade absence from New Zealand. The resulting collection of 400 paintings depicts the park in a uniquely personal way.
Was illustration always going to be your career path?
I have always enjoyed drawing. As a kid I used to draw in the dirt around our house, and never stopped. I eventually got into advertising due to this, so I think I’ve been lucky in many ways, because the ability to draw is a gift.
Why were you overseas for so long?
When I first went to France I fell in love with it. I also entered into a long-term relationship that lasted most of those 30 years. Eventually I became art director at an advertising agency and then formed my own. But finally, arriving at near retirement, I decided New Zealand was a kinder place to grow old in.
What sparked the highly specialised field of nature illustration?
In France we worked a lot with municipal, departmental and regional authorities. One of these, a special department for fish and rivers, commissioned me to illustrate all the fish of eastern France for a book and poster. It was successful and I got more work in that field. Eventually, I was having more fun drawing wildlife than advertising, so went full-time and did quite well.
Describe your creative process, the techniques you use.
I usually go into the location and choose my site, make some field sketches and list the species I see. I start the painting with a pencil sketch, watercolour it quite loosely, then touch up with colour pencils or felt-nibbed pens and pastels. Sometimes I find I get too precious and get grumpy with myself, because I prefer the looseness and freshness that can only be achieved when it’s done quite fast.
What inspired you to create Tongariro National Park: An artist’s field guide?
Sketching a kārearea I had encountered on a visit to the park felt like an important moment – that I had been right to come home to New Zealand. I revisited the national park repeatedly, compulsively sketching a growing pile of drawings. I started to wonder what I was even doing it for, before realising it could be a book.
The book is a collection of paintings, but there’s a lot of information there.
Every page spread has been designed like an information panel that can be read at several different levels: you can look at the pictures, read the captions and then plunge into the denser text. And this makes it different to all the other nature books around.
What do you hope readers will gain from this book?
That it will lead them to their own love of nature. One of the things I talk a lot about in the book is the importance of looking. It seems an easy thing to do – we do it all our lives – but for me it’s been a constant apprenticeship. I’ve been all around that park but still feel that I haven’t seen everything.
