Words Jo Barnes
Photo Sarah Hartley Photography
Costume trick or treaters at your door. Jack-o’-lanterns in the window. Halloween brings magic and mystery on one special day of the year. However, local Saanich illustrator and animator, Tegan Thomas, likes to find this magic in her art every day of the year.
“I’m really passionate about art, it’s about storytelling and the human experience,” shares Tegan. “I love magic in the everyday and try to infuse recognizable life in my art. For instance, I might create a cluttered house with special magical items to discover.”
A graduate of Emily Carr University of Art and Design, located in Vancouver, Tegan has worked for 10 years with numerous animation companies and worked on various projects such as Star Trek Lower Decks, Netflix’s The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, Carmen Sandiego, and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
In 2019, Tegan began to create artwork with book illustration as her new objective. Her children’s picture book The Book Witch, the Wee White Dog, and the Little Free Library published in 2024 is receiving positive reviews with adjectives such as “eye-catching”, “attractive” and “lively.” Written by author Lana Shupe, the beautifully-illustrated story is about an aging witch who has a deep love of reading, and feeling overwhelmed with her overabundance of books, decides to build a little free book library and share them with others. Tegan’s illustrations are detailed, playful and engaging, reflecting her interest in whimsical elements.
“I love seeing things with childlike imagination and a step removed from logical reality,” she shares. “I love adding a little something like an unexpected colour palette. In the book, the witch’s fireplace is shaped like a fish, and there is a window in the floor of her houseboat through which you can peek and see the ocean and jellyfish.”
This recent book is the culmination of many hours of work, planning and collaboration with the publisher. For Tegan, it enabled her to further hone her illustration skills and offered an opportunity to also return to her love of fine art. “I had sent along a portfolio of my illustration work to Nimbus Publishing Atlantic Canada. I got a reply one day saying ‘We have a project that might fit you well’,” she relates. “I did a double-take when I saw the message and read it a few times. It was exciting! There is so much rejection or even no replies when you are cold emailing.”
After an initial meeting with the editor, Tegan provided preliminary sketches for consideration and then began a process of collaborating both with the editor and the art director. Even with the use of digital tools and software applications, the process took a year to complete. “I provided thumbnail sketches which are roughed-in indications of how the page would be laid out. This way you get the most feedback, and it is easy to change at this stage,” says Tegan. “The rough sketches become more digital drawings with cleaner lines and flat colours.”
These digital drawings, once adjusted on the computer, became Tegan’s artistic blueprint. “I think of it as a digital paint-by-number plan from which I can put paint on the paper and know where the colours and the shadows and light will go. I like to use watercolour, gouache and coloured pencils.”
Each creation takes work and commitment, and the results are sometimes surprising but always satisfying. “The idea exists in your brain, but there is a gap between what you think it will look like and how it actually turns out. I trust the process,” she comments, adding with a smile: “It’s a dopamine rush when it does work out!”
As well as book illustration, Tegan’s work also includes art prints or reproductions of her painted works and a variety of attractive stickers. Her themes feature animal scenes, West Coast scenes, and fairy creatures. The Book Witch is available through Bolen’s and Munro Books, and Tegan markets her other creations through Warm Gift Shop, Makers Victoria, and online at www.teganthomas.com.
Regardless of the medium, Tegan really enjoys connecting to others through her art. “I love and appreciate art and enjoy knowing that someone, like a reader, is with me in that connection,” she says.
Key for this talented artist in building that connection is embracing the whimsical, the twist or a turn from the ordinary. “Make the thing you wish existed,” she shares. “Look for the idea, and if it doesn’t exist, then learn how to make it.”
It’s a reminder to all of us about the power of imagination to enrich our lives. Halloween quickly approaches, and a sense of magic will soon be in the air. There will be trick or treaters of all kinds, including maybe even a witch who has swapped her broom for a book!
