The journey began long before I realised my dream. As a child, drawing, art, imagining and creating were all activities that I was naturally drawn to, that when I came to the crossroads of choosing a career path for myself it became clear to me that to become an illustrator was where my heart had always been leading me.

So at the age of 19 I headed off to the beautiful city of Cape Town, South Africa, where I studied animation at City Varsity. Here I discovered the value and the magic of story - telling! Straight after Varsity I was employed by one of the only animation companies in South Africa at the time, Clockwork Zoo. Here, I had the opportunity to work on an animation for the Disney channel called “Florrie’s dragons”. In 2011 I got married and my husband and I shortly thereafter moved to China where we are currently living.

Today I am a freelance illustrator and my passion, my happy place, is creating images that encompass light, life, warmth and colour. This is my dream that is unfolding into my reality.

Monique Dong is represented by James Burns — to work with Monique please email James