Camilla d'Errico

Camilla d'Errico is a Canadian comic book illustrator, painter and visual artist.

Early life

D'Errico is a first generation Canadian, born in Ottawa, Ontario. Her Italian parents immigrated to Canada before she was born. From a young age her early interests included Saturday morning cartoons, comics, manga and doodling fantasy elements in her textbooks. She went to Capilano college and learned how to use digital art programs such as Adobe Photoshop. However, drawing skills, storytelling ability, comic drawing, painting skills are all self-taught.

Career

Comics

Camilla d’Errico eschewed a 9-to-5 job for a career in comics upon attending her first San Diego Comic Con in 1998. She has been drawing comic books since 2001, while attaining her Illustration and Design diploma at Capilano College in North Vancouver. Her first professional comic book project was with Seattle and New York based Committed Comics, for the series Threads. She then took on the role of lead penciler for the four-part mini series Zevon-7. When Zevon-7 creator Quenton Shaw launched QEW Publishing in 2004, Camilla’s creator-owned manga series, Burn, was added to the studio’s project base and was subsequently published by Arcana Studios in May 2008.

In 2006 she was asked to work on the graphic novel for singer Avril Lavigne. Together with Joshua Dysart, d’Errico co-created the two-part graphic novel, entitled Make 5 Wishes, which was published in 2007 by Del Rey Manga and Random House in North America and by Tokyopop in Asia. In 2007, d’Errico became the artist for Serena Valentino’s series, Nightmares & Fairy Tales, published by Slave Labor Graphics, from issue 19 to issue 23.

Image Comics published a five issue mini series and graphic novel drawn by d’Errico. The mini series is a spin-off story of the video game Sky Pirates of Neo Terra, which is based on d'Errico's artwork. She is also slated to work with writer, Grant Morrison on his creator-owned project The New Bible (previously named Warcop).

In addition to working for client projects, d'Errico is self-publishing her own series Tanpopo, based on Goethe's Faust. The story revolves around Tanpopo, a superhumanly intelligent and inhumanly emotionless girl who inadvertently makes a deal with the devil in exchange for a chance at feeling emotions, especially love and happiness. The second volume is inspired by the Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the third is inspired by Strange Stories From a Chinese Studio.

Painting

Camilla d’Errico’s career as a painter began in 2006, when she participated in shows at Vancouver’s Ayden Gallery in Gastown. Since early 2007, d’Errico began showing her work in galleries across the US and Canada, in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Chicago and Vancouver in what is known as the Lowbrow (art movement). She is among the group of female artists including Audrey Kawasaki, and Amy Sol who paint beautiful young girls in the Pop Surrealism category.

With her work on Helmetgirls, d'Errico expanded upon the concept of headgear to include animals of all kinds, intertwining and juxtaposing her stylized, fantasy girls with lifelike animals. Her girls are unusually stunning, doe-eyed and magnificently colourful female characters. Based on her experience in comic, she focuses on the expressions of figures to give more sense of storytelling.

Commercial work

In parallel to comics and manga, d’Errico has done illustration and design work for The Walt Disney Company, Ride Snowboards, Hasbro Toys, Wizkids, Microsoft Zune for the Zune Hut at Whistler's Telus World Ski & Snowboard Championship, OSO Design House and Ginch Gonch.

Dark Horse Comics has licensed her art for a Journal and Stationery Set, and Punchbrand has used her as their flagship artist for their artists' series Crazyhats and Panda Hoodies. Her work is licensed onto various merchandise, including a line of handbags and accessories, stationery, clothing, computer and phone 'skins', cushions, postcard sets and sketchbooks. She has a collection of tshirts at Hot Topic in addition to producing her own clothing.

In June 2009, Neverwear.net released a collaborative print by d'Errico and Neil Gaiman based on Gaiman's short story, How to Talk to Girls at Parties. In August 2009, Dark Horse released its popular collected trade, Myspace Dark Horse Presents Volume 3, containing the short webcomic Vampy Cat Play Friend as well as new cover art by d'Errico.

She started making illustrated merchandise as partnering companies like Nuvango, Modify Watches, Haut Totes, Wallpaper Republic By Milton & King, Eyes on Walls, iCanvas, Gold Bubble, and coastal.com. She has been interested in merchandise for a long time and that is a part of motivation for her to work. The main consumers are the people who knew her artwork before she started making merchandise. She also attends some conventions or art fairs to grow her customer.

Designer toys

D'Errico has worked in vinyl toys, having customized blanks for Ad Funture, Osaka Popstar, the DCTO Jibun Project, Mindstyle & Disney's Stitch Experiment and Hasbro's Mighty Mugg for Lucasfilm's "The Empire Muggs Back" series. She was one of the artists chosen to customize and create a toy for the first Canadian vinyl toy series called Bax Bear.

D'Errico has also released her own designer toy, a plush based on the devil character, "Kuro" from her series, Tanpopo. In 2011 a line of vinyl and resin collectibles will be released.

Techniques and materials

D'Errico uses Holbein Aqua Duo paints, which are water-soluble oil paints. She uses these on wooden panels for her color pieces, and acrylics and inking pens when working on canvas. In some cases, D'Errico will draw a piece by hand, and then color it digitally on her computer.