about

BA (Hons) Illustration, University of Hertfordshire

Foundation Studies in Art & Design, Barnet College

I’m Michael Haynes, a British illustrator now based in Wellington, New Zealand who's passionate about art and graphic design. Along with my deep rooted creative interests, I have a real obsession for music and film, which often influences the work I produce. I pride myself on my linework, stylized comic book aesthetic and a bold use of colour. Although I'm classically taught, my current creative approach could best be described as ‘tradigital’. I enjoy fusing both traditional and digital techniques with my imagery and all my new work has been produced on an iPad Pro using Apple Pencil. I finalise and tidy work up on my Mac before sending it to print. I hope to move into writing and illustrating children's books one day as I work on developing my visual style for a far younger audience.

I've been freelancing in my spare time as an artist/illustrator for the past 10 years, selling and exhibiting my work in galleries, art markets and shops. To date, I've had 2 successful solo shows and participated in many more group exhibitions across the UK's capital. I also assisted in managing a community art gallery in East London, helping emerging artists from the local area set up and get their work shown. I've donated artwork and raised funds for various charitable causes over the years. I ran a popular drawing programme for children called 'Let's Draw!' at a community hub/library in the Wellington region of NZ and now run 3 drawing programmes a week at libraries in NZ's capital called 'Sketch Club' and 'Sketch Club Social'. These are both for children and more recently, adults too!


Creative heroes/influences: Quentin Blake, Tony Ross, Raymond Briggs, Donovan Bixley, Pete McKee, Drew Struzan, Jim Lee, Neal Adams & Tom Paterson.