Grok Magazine sits down with Nina Dakin, an Animation and Game Design student who’s in her final year of study, as we begin to learn more about her role as the President of Curtin Illustration Club, accompanied by the many artistic opportunities she’s received through both her committee position and outside of Curtin University.

For starters, we ask Nina if art was something she always perceived to be her dream career. “No, not at all.” After surprising us with an unexpected answer, she then delivers an explanation as to why she originally struggled with pursuing her passion.

“I was actually doing drama back in high school, and was very good academically. However, I didn’t get accepted into an art school back in Year 7. I was really upset about it at the time, especially since both my sisters are artists too. ” After not getting into a specialist art school, Nina began to harbour frustration to which she channelled towards the concept of art itself.

“So, I decided to focus on my studies and drama classes up until Year 10, and it was then I realised that I truly do love art. After that, I started to post artwork on my Instagram – which really got me hooked – and then in Year 12, I came to understand that if I didn’t give it a shot now, I’d never give it a shot anytime soon.”

Feeling curious about the inspirations behind her current art style, we inquire Nina if there were any particular influences which helped develop her illustrations to how they look now. “I have been influenced by many webcomics that I’ve read, as well as comic artists such as Tillie Walden.” Although she tries to keep her works as whimsical, nostalgic and child-like as possible, Nina also mentions that it’s important not to restrict oneself from experimenting with different styles.

“I try not to box myself into a corner when it comes to style. With comics, I can do whatever I want since no one will commission me a comic. But for storyboarding and illustration, I’ll create a lot of mood-boards and separate folders for each illustration, including images which inspire me to draw something.”

As we yearn to find out more about her interests, we question Nina about whether she has any other hobbies besides illustrating. “I often do a lot of writing – a lot of poetry, actually.” With this being affirmed, she continues to explain how she once met another artist through the Perth Comic Arts Festival – one who enjoyed turning her dreams into illustrations. Having felt inspired by her, Nina decided to gift her own poems with a more physical form. “Since I didn’t feel comfortable sharing poetry with others, I figured that illustrating my poems would be much nicer to work with.”

Due to the fact that she’s currently in her final semester, we ask Nina how her experience with Curtin Illustration Club has benefitted her while studying at Curtin University. “I didn’t get involved with the club until COVID hit, so I was pretty much just skimming the surface for a while – and since I didn’t know anyone in the weekly Discord meetings, I was scared out of my mind!”

Although originally nervous about engaging with the club, Nina gradually became more comfortable with contributing to their online events. “Participating in the weekly meetings encouraged me to get to know people, and after the COVID restrictions settled down, I decided to attend the in-person events and meet-ups. As for committee duties, I first offered to become Secretary, eventually started handling more tasks, and then everything just snowballed from there.” She says.

“Working on CIC’s “Myth” publication, while also seeing my work physically published, really increased my confidence with illustrating. Another thing which improved my confidence were the weekly meet-ups, where the club allows students to illustrate and show their work afterwards if they’re comfortable. These events also help a lot with setting and meeting deadlines.”

Remaining on the topic of Curtin Illustration Club, we question Nina about what sort of responsibilities she’s expected to take on as the club’s President, followed by whether there is anything she enjoys or dislikes about her role. “I feel very fortunate to have been handed the role of President, and it makes me really happy knowing that I’m setting the foundation for something which will be continuing for a long time – especially in Perth, where it’s a very small community.” Expressing her gratitude for being given such an amazing opportunity, she then proceeds to note down a variety of tasks she’s required to handle.

“I want to make it easier for the next lot of students by organising things, such as putting in infrastructure, creating Google forms, calling up printing companies, managing events, setting up drives and creating handover documents. Through doing this, I hope that I can make a positive impact on the club, as I truly want it to go on forever – even if it means that I have to carry a large amount of books, money-boxes and potentially break my back while on public transport.”

Besides her contributions to Curtin Illustration Club, Nina has also provided illustrations for Grok Magazine and Curtin Writers Club in previous years. As a result, we inquire Nina if studying at Curtin University has earned her any similar opportunities. “Through one of my tutors, I was able to take on a commission for one article of editorial illustration work for Paper Bird, which is the Children’s Books & Arts place in Fremantle, so I was super happy about that!” She expresses.

“I’ve also illustrated for Curtin Commons, which is Curtin’s alumni magazine. Both of them were paid gigs too, so it was great to be rewarded for my artwork. Aside from that, I’ve received a few more illustration gigs through callouts on the CIC Facebook page, with one of them requesting me to illustrate a page for St John WA’s “Land of Legends”, and another one asking me to create comic pages for the “West Coast Comic Anthology” for both Volume 1 and 2. In addition, my comic “As You Drive” – which was published in Myth 6 – received a bronze award at the Comic Arts Awards Australia.”

After informing us of the many opportunities she’s received through Curtin University, Nina gives us some notable advice when it comes down to both approaching and handling them.

“I found that saying “yes” to opportunities will earn you even more opportunities in the future. For example, saying “yes” to becoming a part of the CIC committee eventually led to me having a table at the Perth Comic Arts Festival last year, which then allowed me to network with businesses and people who were looking for artists to collaborate with them.”

Reaching the conclusion of our interview, Grok Magazine asks Nina about what she plans on doing with her degree after she graduates. “Well, as opportunities come as they come, it’s not like I’ll be able to land a 9 to 5 job with art straight away.” Remaining completely realistic about the pros and cons of working in the art industry, Nina describes how crucial it is to value one’s patience and time.

“For the meantime, my plan is to apply for as many gigs as possible – build up my portfolio and really put my name out there. I’d also love to take some online classes for storyboarding, as Curtin doesn’t offer any units which centre around it. At the end of the day however, I am not too fussed on whether or not I get a full-time job in the art industry, as I’m already happy and satisfied with how much I’ve achieved in the last three to four years.”

If you’re interested in seeing some of Nina Dakin’s work, feel free to check out her Instagram (@ninadakin), her Tapas webcomic “Bird Girl”, her Webtoon profile (Mandarins and lemons), as well as her Wix portfolio (ninadakin).

As this year also marks the 10-Year Anniversary of Curtin Illustration Club, the club plans to hold a celebration on the 19th of August at the Tav starting from 6:00pm, and highly encourages both club members and Curtin University students to attend.