Between Pixel and Pencil  

Meet the new wave of South African illustrators blending tech and tradition with serious style.

WORDS Dumisani Mnisi PHOTOS Supplied 

That eye-catching label on your favourite wine? An illustrator made that. The giant billboard you zoomed past on your way home? Yep, that too. Illustrators are everywhere, quietly (or not so quietly) shaping what we see, love and buy. Their art sneaks into our lives, and lingers. We caught up with six local artists to dive into their colourful, quirky digital worlds. 

NDUMISO NYONI is an illustrator and animator focused on African identity, culture and expression. A fan of comic books and cartoons, his latest work includes reimagining the classic The Powerpuff Girls in his own Ndebele style for Cartoon Network. “My illustrative style combines clean geometry, bold patterns and vibrant, rich colours,” he says. “My creative process starts with research: I’m addicted to Pinterest, so I create reference boards with visuals that catch my eye. Then I sketch, before refining the designs in Adobe Illustrator, where I use clean vector lines and geometric shapes. From there, it’s all about adding colour. In the future, I’m excited to share projects from my new creative studio, All Caps Creative: Creativity with Emphasis.” @ndumiso_nyoni

JAY HAND is a Cape Town-based painter and illustrator, exploring themes of the abject, gender roles and everything in between. As a music lover, they often create album art and posters for events, collaborating with musicians. “If I had to describe my illustrative style, I’d say it’s creepy, whimsical and subconscious,” says Jay. “My themes often dive into folklore and modern mythology. I’m fascinated by how people perceive themselves, especially in terms of gender, and I explore the contrast between internal thoughts and external reality. My favourite artwork is The Frog Woman – it’s the most honest piece I’ve ever created of myself, capturing the essence of what it feels like to be a woman when it doesn’t align with delicate, feminine or beautiful ideals.” @jayhashands

For ZINHLE SITHEBE, the name of the game is “go bold or go home”. This illustrator and pattern artist’s work is rooted in geometry and bold colours, attracting the attention of brands such as Mr Price, L’Occitane, Douwe Egberts and Coca-Cola. “My work celebrates the uniqueness of people, emphasising self-love, self-care and mental health,” she says. “I’m inspired by my Zulu heritage, blackness, love, fashion and themes related to women, creating playful worlds that capture the essence of modern South Africa. One of the challenges we face as creators is understanding our value when working with brands, especially at the start – it can be quite intimidating. And the impact of AI on my fi eld results in a bit of a love-hate relationship. While it offers creatives new ways of exploring beyond traditional methods, I’m concerned about its potential to undermine human creativity.” @zee_feels 

MOGAU KEKANA’s artistry is deeply rooted in storytelling. The Johannesburg-based animator, film director and illustrator explores both still life and motion graphics, with his work focusing on characters woven into larger narratives. “My favourite project so far has to be creating the storyboards for the Netflix animation series Supa Team 4,” he says. “I worked closely with the directors, visualising the script and creating frames for the narrative. It was a challenging and rewarding experience. But the biggest challenge as an illustrator is to find a visual identity and style that resonates, and wondering whether it will appeal to others. There’s nothing scarier than pouring your heart into something only for it not to land well. I’m currently working on securing funding for my animation film, Chico, and a horror animation.” @mogau_k 

MARLIZE ECKARD, a character designer and illustrator in Cape Town, describes her style as a “visual mix-tape of everything I love”, moving between mediums and working on projects such as the award-winning film Belly Flop. “My inspiration started with my dad, who introduced me to Art Nouveau and fantasy at a young age,” she says. “Growing up, I also developed an appreciation for nature, folklore and mythology. Art, for me, is a way of keeping old stories alive while telling them in my own vibrant South African way. My process begins with gathering references – colours, textures, inspiring styles. I sketch a rough thumbnail, scan it into my computer, then refine the line work digitally. From there, I layer the piece with flat colour, shading and texture, and finish it with lighting. One project that has really stuck with me is Lung Animation Studio, where we brought handmade sculptures created by schoolchildren to life in an interactive VR experience for the Woolworths x MySchool x Shine Literacy programme. It was a chance to work on something both educational and fun, and it felt great to be part of it.” @voilent_vi

Cape Town-based illustrator and multidisciplinary artist MICHAEL BECKURTS likes to offer a fresh perspective on the everyday through rapid mark-making and a focus on texture. With four solo exhibitions to his name, Michael enjoys challenging himself across different aspects of art creation. “The dominant themes in my work are nature, architecture and human connection,” he says. “My creative process starts with visiting a site, and making miniature sketches of the experience – I always keep an A6 sketchbook in my pocket. From there, I move to my iPad, where I can experiment with scale and composition. One of my favourite projects to date has been creating large-scale drawings for Marble restaurant at the V&A Waterfront. The brief was to craft three unique artworks that captured the story of Marble and its setting – the views, the mountains, the inner city and the harbour.” @michaelbeckurts

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