This interview is continued from the previous page, after I found myself blathering. Heather ‘Teaceratops’ Shepherd draws ridiculously happy dinosaurs when she is relaxing on her private yacht in the Seychelles.

So Heather, apologies for breaking up this interview.

No problem. Wait, did you make up this paragraph completely, and it’s not by me at all?

No, no. I just edited what I thought you’d like to say. Liberally. Our audience is interested in you, and so am I, so without further ado, let’s get on. Perhaps a jarring question for the restart, but it’s about the illustration side of things: Do you work with an agent?

I don’t work with an agent at the moment and haven’t done so before. Partly because I’ve been busy enough with the work I’ve found myself! I know there may be times when that’s not always true though, so I’d not dismiss the idea.

Oh wow. Speaking as a person who flails for work in a related area, I am
impressed.

A LOT of it is from contacts I made while working in games studios. Without those contacts, I don’t think I’d be in the same situation!

I’d envy you, but I know you worked hard to make those contacts, so well done. I hope to follow that example. How do you manage being busy? What is your work flow like?

Generally, I tend to get really busy months followed by a couple of quiet months. I’m perfectly happy with that though! It means I get a couple of solid months to work on my personal work for comic conventions and my online shops, instead of having to cram it all in on an evening or weekend. My busiest month was last december – I ended up juggling 5 projects at once! It was far too much though, especially on the run up to christmas!

You have multiple personal projects? Show! Links!
Currently, I have my comic/storybook SUNRISE which is available as a limited edition paperback on my Etsy Page and digitally from Comixology. I’m currently working on chapter 2 of that for release at Thought Bubble Festival’s comic convention in November. It’s a silent story about a monster searching for the sunrise. It’s a simple story, but it’s getting great reviews

My other project is my DINORAWRS stuff – it started off with my Cake-o-saurus T-shirt on Redbubble and expanded from there. I’ve got T-shirts, jumpers, cards and stickers, all adorned with overly happy dinosaurs on – they’re my best sellers!

I’ve also got another 3-panel comic series in the works that’s heavily influenced by table top RPGs. A lot of the story comes from the mishaps of my gaming group, and proceeds will probably go towards our biscuit fund. The style I’ll be using is the same style I’m currently selling commissions in.

When did you learn to make those [T-shirts]? I know some people screen print a lot. Is there a simple process that covers most of it, or do you hand weave each one?

Pff! If I hand-weaved anything, it wouldn’t sell! No, I use a website called Redbubble. You make your own design using their size guide, upload it to the website where it will be displayed in your own portfolio, and when someone buys an item, redbubble keep the manufacturing costs (base price) and you keep the rest. It can take a while to start making money on there, and it’s not going to be enough to quit your day job, but it’s an extra little supplement every month, and I’d miss it if it wasn’t there!

What is the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow?

An African or European Swallow?

A very small fluffy raptor disguised as a modern bird.

As long as it’s not a very large fluffy raptor disguised as a modern bird – ostriches are vicious!

Favourite Dinosaur?

Herbivore/omnivore – Triceratops Carnivore – Deinonychus!

Thank you, and good luck.
—
Heather’s work is online at Dinobot Illustration with an about.me account here. Her twitter name is @DinobotTwit. Her smiley count for this interview was seven, making her a happy person but leaving her well behind our current champion Melissa Gay