Amy Gardner
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amygardnerartist.bsky.social
Amy Gardner
@amygardnerartist.bsky.social
70 followers 150 following 140 posts
✍️ Illustrator and writer of comics and picture books
📚Creating stories of wonder that connect and inspire

Web: https://www.amygardner.com.au

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/amygardner.art
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amygardnerartist.bsky.social
To plot or not?

In my November Substack, find out what happened to me when this question hit me in the face while starting my current fantasy writing project, aptly named, ‘Project Wander’.

amygardnerartist.substack.com/p/to-plot-or...

#comics #illustration #pantser
A cartoon joke about my pantsing journey paraphrasing the classic line Samwise Gamgee utters in the Lord of the Rings films as he is about to travel further from home than ever before. In my version, Frodo, also a representation of me, is not putting up with his shit. A cartoon version of myself sitting in an armchair saying, “Let’s indulge in a little needless exposition”. This is the first panel of this month’s Substack comic. Three talking heads on a blank background, each with a speech bubble. The first, who looks thoughtful and happy, says, “When I was a small child.” The very next head, who looks a little pensive, says, “no, no, that’s way too early!” The fire and final talking head says, “When I was a beleaguered 30-something riddles with equal [arts self-doubt and optimism… Ah Yes! This is the one… I started ‘Project Wander’. This image is an invitation to read the full comic on the artist’s Substack, Monthly Letters from Amy. The link is in the post.
December 1, 2025 at 9:46 PM
amygardnerartist.bsky.social
Continuing the story.

Please increase the number of images in your posts @bsky.app

#comics #kidlit #thewizardandthegirl #CreatedWithoutAI
“Listening” replies the girl and the fae asks, “To what?”. The fae is now climbing onto the girl’s shoulder. A wide shot of the field. The girl has her arm outstretched and her speech bubble reads, “Everything.” Full comic page showing my characters talking, set in a windswept field on a sunny summers day. A photo of the original artwork on my desk with all the materials used to create it.
December 1, 2025 at 1:02 AM
amygardnerartist.bsky.social
Listening [2 - part 1]

Page two of my new short stories set in the world of ‘The wizard and the girl’ comic has arrived! 

#comics #kidlit #thewizardandthegirl
The girl is holding the little fae in her hands. She asks, “Are you alright?” The fae replies, “Yes.” Crop in on the fae as they say, “ Thanks for catching me. I was in the trees playing but the wind had other plans.” The fae is now standing in the girl’s hand, stretching their back and saying, “Sooo…” A medium shot of the girl and the fae. The fae asks, “…What are you doing out here?”
December 1, 2025 at 12:56 AM
amygardnerartist.bsky.social
Some beach people sketching made at Totoralillo, Coquimbo on a recent adventure in the little north of Chile.

#sketchbook #drawnfromlife #lifedrawing #sketching
A photo of a notebook with two little figures drawn in ink pen. One is a boy playing in sand and another is a small child with long hair walking away from the artist. A small sketchbook with a series of figure drawings, one is of an older woman walking with arms clasped behind her back snd the other is a couple sitting in the sun on the beach chatting. Both are simple line drawings in black ink pen. A small notebook with sketches of people. This has a drawing of a boy digging in sand with little mounds of excavated sand next to him. The other is a woman standing and looking at her phone. Both are simple line drawings in black ink pen.
November 12, 2025 at 12:20 PM
amygardnerartist.bsky.social
This morning’s plein air of a view from our cabaña in Panul, south of Coquimbo.

This artwork was finished in watercolour, gouache and prismacolor pencils in a moleskin sketchbook.

🌼 Have a swipe through to see the painting process 🌼

#pleinair #pleinairpainting #landscapepainting
Close up photo of the plein air painting now with finishing touches of coloured pencil. The plein air painting before the finishing touches are added. You can admire my brush stand and the mess of things I have in the table as I paint, including paint palettes and a dirty water jar. First part of the painting process with the sky, building and mid tones added to the artwork. On the table is my gouache paint palette, some dishes for mixing and my water container (an old mayonnaise jar, because I am fancy). A blank page ready for a new artwork, showing the overall view where I am painting on the patio of our cabaña.
November 5, 2025 at 7:14 PM
amygardnerartist.bsky.social
October almost got away with me but your latest Monthly Letter from Amy is now waiting patiently to be read.


It’s a holiday edition, as I am currently visiting the little north of
Chile!

amygardnerartist.substack.com/p/on-vacatio...

#comics #illustration #visualstorytelling
A cartoon character of the artist wearing an oversized shirt that reads, “ I have so much to tell you and all I got is this lousy t-shirt”. A cropped version of the illustration from the first image, now overlayed with text reading “On vacation, plus updates on new work, comics and community. What’s been happening lately.” Below is the link to my Substack, https://amygardnerartist.substack.com/ A screenshot from my October Substack post where I introduce you to my latest illustrations, ‘Cute meet’ part 1 and 2. This image is an invitation to read the full comic on the artist’s Substack, Monthly Letters from Amy. The link is in the post.
October 29, 2025 at 10:39 PM
amygardnerartist.bsky.social
I love this shot of my desk after I finished the final artworks from my two part story, Cute meet.

You can see more of the final artworks and the process on my website here: www.amygardner.com.au/

#picturebooks #illustration #CreatedWithoutAI
Photo of my desk with the two finished artworks for my short sequential story, Cute meet. Around the artworks, the desk is covered in coloured pencils and above them is an iPad open on Pinterest with references for costumes.
October 28, 2025 at 2:20 PM
amygardnerartist.bsky.social
Panel linework for another page of my mini comic, “Listening”.

It’s set in the world of The wizard and the girl comic because I don’t want to stop drawing these characters and telling their stories.

#comics #comicartist
October 17, 2025 at 8:02 PM
amygardnerartist.bsky.social
Hi #portfolioday!

I’m Amy, I illustrate/ write comics and picture books for kids and adults in traditional media!

Originally from Australia, I am now making the magic happen here in southern Chile.

🎨 linktr.ee/amygardner.art
✉️ amygardner.artist@gmail.com


#comics #childrensbooks #illustration
A watercolour and coloured pencil illustration by artist Amy Gardner, depicting two women walking dogs outside if an empty cafe. The two dogs have stopped because they are about to play and the women are turning back surprised, the dog leads stopping them from walking forward. The women are looking at each other with slightly shocked expressions. This illustration is part one of two. A watercolour and coloured pencil illustration by artist Amy Gardner. The two women from the previous illustration are now sitting together at a table at the cafe, both drinking a hot beverage. In front of them, the two dogs which are now off the leads and are playing. On the left is the a British bulldog and on the right is the dachshund. This illustration is part two of two. A watercolour and ink comic page from the comic ‘The wizard and the girl’ by artist and writer Amy Gardner. Here we see a sequence of 7 panels where a little girl is secretly watching at an old white haired wizard using magic. She thinks he cannot see her but he spots her and then drives away in his horse drawn cart. A watercolour and ink comic page from the comic ‘The wizard and the girl’ by artist and writer Amy Gardner. Here we have the next page in the comic, where the girl is running along the road following the wizard in his cart. She follows him all the way home and then shows him that she can also do magic, by levitating a daisy chain she had made.
October 15, 2025 at 5:22 PM
amygardnerartist.bsky.social
In my September Substack we are time travelling back to 90’s rural Australia.

What’s a young artist to do when art supplies are thin on the ground?

Find out on Substack: open.substack.com/pub/amygardn...


#comics #picturebooks #kidlit #creativepractice
The first comic panel starts with hand written text that reads, “I remember a time when I had no fear of the blank page. Unlike in my early 20s when I was all about that drama” Below this there is a cartoon character version of the artist standing dramatically with their hand on their forehead. A little arrow points at the character and the text reads, the drama. Next to the character is a simply drawing of a table and the character appears about to draw something. A little around points to a flat rectangle on the table and the text reads, the blank page. The second comic panel starts with hand written text that reads, “ As a small child, I had a longing for a simple blank piece of paper. We lived in a small rural township and we only had lined notepads and books, which were for my Dad’s plumbing business.” Below this, there are piles of paper drawn as scribbly lines with an around pointing to one saying, “endless lined paper”. In the middle of these is a little cartoon character of the artist as a Chile sitting cross legged and clutching a lined piece of paper until it crumples in their hand. An arrow points to them and reads, “The dramatic eye twitch of a frustrated young artist." The third comic panel starts with hand written text that reads, “I was at the peak of my realism obsession and all I wanted was blank paper to realise all of my lofty artistic ambitions.” Below this, we see the artist again drawn as a child, hand on a blank page and a thought bubble at her side that she is gazing at happily, imagining herself as a fancy artist, dressed all in black with a beret and a framed painting of a human eye that she is gesturing to with great pride. This image is an invitation to read the full comic on the artist’s Substack, Monthly Letters from Amy. The link is in the post.
September 25, 2025 at 6:55 PM
amygardnerartist.bsky.social
Listening [1 - part 2]

Some new short stories coming your way from the world and characters of “The wizard and the girl”.

#comics #thewizardandthegirl #CreatedWithoutAI
A comic panel, watercolour illustration depicting a fairy being blown across the waving green grass by a strong wind. By artist, illustrator and writer Amy Gardner. A comic panel, watercolour illustration depicting a fairy grabbing onto the person’s outstretched hands after being blown away by a strong wind. By artist, illustrator and writer Amy Gardner. A full comic page by artist, illustrator and writer Amy Gardner. The page is made of 5 panels telling the start of a story where a person is laying in long grass on a sunny windy day and a fairy, after being blown out of some trees by the wind, is thrown across the field and grabs onto the person’s hand. A photo of the original comic page by artist, illustrator and writer Amy Gardner which shows the artwork on paper next to a selection of the art materials used to mask the page. These include coloured pencils, a nib pen and black acrylic ink.
September 5, 2025 at 4:40 PM
amygardnerartist.bsky.social
Listening [1 - part 1]

Some new short stories coming your way from the world and characters of “The wizard and the girl”.

#comics #thewizardandthegirl
A comic panel, watercolour illustration depicting a grassy field and distant trees with a blue sky overhead. By artist, illustrator and writer Amy Gardner. A comic panel, watercolour illustration depicting someone holding their arms up to feel the wind while laying the long grass. By artist, illustrator and writer Amy Gardner. A comic panel, watercolour illustration depicting a view of vibrant green trees being blown in the wind. By artist, illustrator and writer Amy Gardner. A comic panel, watercolour illustration depicting a fairy being blown out of the trees because of a strong wind. By artist, illustrator and writer Amy Gardner.
September 5, 2025 at 4:38 PM
amygardnerartist.bsky.social
Listening [1 - part 2]

Some new short stories coming your way from the world and characters of “The wizard and the girl”.

#comics #thewizardandthegirl
September 5, 2025 at 4:36 PM
amygardnerartist.bsky.social
Does anyone else have someone in their life that always wants to steal the first bite of your food?

In our house, it’s me.

This is my sequential illustration for the theme “Nice to meet you” which I created a recent Picture Hooks prompt.

#kidlit #picturebooks #childrensbooks #CreatedWithoutAI
A view of the artists desk with two finished illustrations placed in sequence of a big red bear trying to eat their sandwich and a little blue perched on their shoulder, looking them in the eyes expectantly. There are coloured pencils on the desk, both in a roll case and loose on the desk. Above the finished illustrations are pieces of paper with coloured blogs of watercolour and coloured pencil linework, showing where the artists experimented with colour and line making before starting the illustrations. The first finished sequential illustration which shows a bear painted on red with blue coloured pencil lines about to eat a nice big sandwich. On their right arm, a blue bird is perched, exchanging eye contact with the bear, clearly asking for a taste of the sandwich. The second finished sequential illustration. Now the red bear is sitting down, legs in front of them and leaning backwards. A big paw is on their belly and they are relaxed. They are holding out their right hand in which they hold the sandwich. The bird is sitting on top of the sandwich, with big puffy cheeks and a smile as it eats some of the sandwich. They are looking each other in the eyes and smiling. A view of the desk, bow with the second illustration, currently unfinished, in the front. There is a paint brush to the right of the paper and the artist is clearly in the process of painting before starting the coloured pencil linework.
August 27, 2025 at 2:49 PM
amygardnerartist.bsky.social
Here’s a nice photo of the finished illustration with the accompanying tools of the trade to really drum home that this was #CreatedWithoutAI

#comics #comicartist #comicwriter #watercolourillustration
A photo of a finished, hand paired and inked spot illustration of the protagonist from the recent comic, The wizard and the girl, by illustrator/ writer Amy Gardner. Around the illustration there is a watercolour box set that has each well in the palette with coloured blobs of paint. To the right of the paper there are several paintbrushes, a dip pen and a mechanical pencil, all of which were used to hand draw, paint and ink this illustration.
August 26, 2025 at 2:27 AM
amygardnerartist.bsky.social
A quick finish for one of the spot illustrations that didn’t make it into the first edition of my comic, The wizard and the girl.

Not sure about this angle for process videos. What do you think?

#comics #kidlit #childrensbooks #watercolourillustration #dippen #watercolourcomic #CreatedWithoutAI
August 26, 2025 at 2:22 AM
amygardnerartist.bsky.social
Take a little peak at what’s happening in my August Substack.


This month, I’m diving into what happened when burn out and grief hit all at once.

Read the full post here: amygardnerartist.substack.com/p/when-the-b...

#comics #creativecareer #burnout
A digital illustration of the illustrator's character self drawn as Wile E. Coyote running off a cliff, with a massive anvil poised to fall on top of them. An image containing only text that reads, "When the bottom falls out: What I did when burn out and grief hit all at once. How facing loss of a loved one and the passing of time reaquainted me with the essential purpose of resilience, patience and perspective in my creative process and career. amygardnerartist.substack.com" An image with a mix of illustrated elements and words. The text reads "Read more on my Substack. Link in my post." There is an illustration of a little character sitting amongst scattered scrunched up paper, next to a squiggly arrow that points to the Substack newsletter title, "Monthly Letters from Amy". Under this there is a subtitle that reads, "Monthly (news)letters from an Australian artist and illustrator, navigating the realities of moving to Latin America and growing her creative career."
August 18, 2025 at 4:12 PM
amygardnerartist.bsky.social
After a nice rummage in my photo reel, here are the photos from my residency in May of me literally painting the cover illustration of my comic by hand. Taken in Ancud, Chiloé, Chile.

#CreatedWithoutAI #traditionalart #traditionalillustration #comics #kidlit #watercolourartist #illustrator
Top down view photo of the Amy Gardner illustrating the wrap around cover for ‘The wizard and the girl’ the silent comic she wrote and illustrated. The desk is covered in traditional art supplies including a holder for paint brushes, a well used watercolour palette of 12 colours and much more. The artist is brushing the paper she will paint on with a hand and looking at her iPad screen which had a reference image of a green landscape under a cloudy sky with a some blue poking through. A photo showing Amy Gardner hand painting the wrap around cover for her comic ‘The wizard and the girl’. Amy is wearing big over ear wireless headphones, an orange beanie and a green jumper. The painting is about 90%painted and the watercolour palette has green and blue paints in the wash dishes as she is painting the sky and grass in this photo. Her face has a look of concentration as she is painting. A view through a window, looking in at artist/ illustrator/ writer Amy Gardner who is putting the finishing touches of watercolours on her wrap around cover illustration for her comic, ‘The wizard and the girl’. We see Amy standing at a desk, bent over her painting with a brush in hand. She is wearing over ear headphones, an organise beanie, green jumper and long black leggings. We see the reflection of the photographer, Alison Ortiz, in the reflection of the windows. Above Amy we also see the reflection of the trees in front of the window reflected in the glass.
August 17, 2025 at 6:42 PM
amygardnerartist.bsky.social
My comic ‘The wizard and the girl’ was made entirely by hand in traditional media using acrylic ink and watercolours.

Here is the hand painted wrap around cover I made during an art residency in Chiloé, where I also made the first hand bound print edition.

#comics #kidlit #CreatedWithoutAI
A photo of a finished hand made comic titled ‘The wizard and the girl’ by author and illustrator Amy Gardner. The comic is resting on top of the hand painted ink and watercolour illustration of the wrap around cover, which features the protagonist, a young girl with dark hair standing next to an old wizard which while hair and beard on a cloudy day, with blue sky showing through. Around these are the art materials the comic was made with, a set of watercolours and paint brushes, plus a black ink bottle and dip pen.
August 17, 2025 at 5:57 PM
amygardnerartist.bsky.social
Testing out some costume colours with watercolour and prismacolor premiers.

#characterdesign #comics #kidlit #originalcharacter
Hand painted colour studies for the first two sections of an original character turn around.
August 10, 2025 at 12:49 AM
amygardnerartist.bsky.social
Character turn arounds….. but do it entirely freehand in traditional media

#characterdesign #comics #kidlit #originalcharacter
Hand drawn sketch of the first two parts of a character turn around.
August 9, 2025 at 11:36 PM
amygardnerartist.bsky.social
Joining the chorus this #kidlitpostcard day!

I'm Amy Gardner, an Australian illustrator and writer of comics and picture books living in Chile.

Currently seeking representation.

Portfolio: www.amygardner.com.au

#kidlit #comics #graphicnovelart #childrensbooks #picturebooks
Illustration of a young child with dark hair crouching beside a bird on a boulder. The bird and the child are whistling together. The text in the top right of the image reads, "Amy Gardner. Illustrator & writer. www.amygardner.com.au. amygardner.artist@gmail.com"
August 7, 2025 at 9:30 PM
amygardnerartist.bsky.social
Finished my #picturehooks entry in time for the competition deadline tomorrow. These are submitted now and I can relax !

#kidlit #picturebooks #childrensbooks
August 6, 2025 at 12:20 AM
amygardnerartist.bsky.social
Cooking up some cute new pages

#kidlit #childrenbooks #picturebooks
August 5, 2025 at 1:35 AM
amygardnerartist.bsky.social
Yesterday I read a book in English to some Chilean kids at Piuke Librería, a local bookstore run by some lovely friends of mine.

Here are some sweet things I rediscovered:

I should not trust my face. It had a mind of its own.
July 27, 2025 at 2:03 PM