As a young child I would be mesmerised by my Grand Father (Val Blomfield) oil painting on the veranda in Pt Chev. I remember sitting with him at Western Springs for hours on end watching him sketch the ducks, trees and water. I always had a fascination with his skill.
Pop would always draw a cartoon on Birthday cards, Christmas cards, envelopes which he would send out to family and friends and this is where my interest in cartooning started. I remember growing up at my fathers signwriting shop (Colin Blomfield - Blomfield Signs) and I would spend as much time as I could watching my Father and Grand Father signwriting and in essence creating unique pieces of art with every skillful brushstroke. True artisan craftsmen experts in their own right. Some people laugh, some people at events ask me to add their dear old deceased dog – it is so much fun that I forget that this is now a job for me. The best job in the world really. To date the highlights have been illustrating new Sunglass range at a Dulce & Gabanna event, cartooning for a Sky City Breakers event, cartooning for Hospice West Auckland and helping such a great organisation and now, cartooning the awesome publishing crew for the cover of The New Zealand Artist Magazine. Commissioned pieces for Australia and South Africa were also great highlights as well as private functions and weddings around New Zealand and the many commissioned pieces I have done for people from all walks of life. I am humbled to be blessed with this skill and have no idea where this will go but it always comes back to creating in an artisan way. Something that can be so easily lost in this technological age.
See more about Darren here.
