Barney Walker | Published NZ-based illustrator and cartoonist including creator of Spot the Difference puzzles.
My story
Fish have intrigued me all my life. My earliest memory of them was after school as a six-year-old, borrowing a goldfish from the classroom tank to show the family at home. I learned two things that day. One, walking home with a goldfish in cupped hands wasn’t that smart and two, Mrs. Habersham could run surprisingly fast for a teacher of her age.
How it evolved
As I grew up, I learned that fish are amazing. We have so much yet to learn about them; the group of animals that alone contains more species than all of the other vertebrates combined. It is likely there are thousands of undiscovered fish species deep in the seas around Earth. Indeed: more people have walked on the moon than have been to the bottom of our deepest ocean.
I kept various fish including a saltwater aquarium with live, sustainable corals. I studied zoology, genetics, and molecular biology at university and volunteered at a local, public aquarium. I always wanted a career in something fishy, but life didn’t happen that way.
Funny that.
The ‘Aha’ moment
I realised I loved fish and light. This is what inspired me to imagine, create and illustrate new “species”, combined with a humorous twist. In the oceans, anything is possible, free from the problems and constraints of life on land.
Now, my creations morph off the paper and into three dimensional sculptures, created from copper and recycled materials where possible, with illumination inspired by deep ocean bioluminescence. It is awesome to be able to give recyclable waste a second or third life, be it an old car part, a redundant laptop power supply, or a plastic shower wash bottle.
It’s not all about fish
I’ve branched out beyond just fish to illustration, puzzles, and cartoons in general, along with design, sculpture and writing.
I love sharing my designs and watching how people interpret them, which ones they love, and which ones make them scratch their heads.
Imagination is light in a deep, dark sea.
My Services | Design, illustration and shop
- Custom illustration work - I provide custom illustration work, such as editorial cartoons.
- Spot the Difference puzzles and other illustrations for various media.
- OneKickDuck merchandise - I provide an online shopping experience where you can purchase my designs on a variety of products.
- Browse the portfolios section to see samples of various illustrations and sculptures.
The OneKickDuck
So there you are, this is OneKickDuck. It’s my quirky world where fish, illustration, design, copper and light are fused together in an interesting oft-aquatic space.
There are two final questions that should be answered. One is “Why OneKickDuck?” – the name comes from a disgruntled duck I witnessed one day. It tripped, stopped, then kicked a pebble, in general annoyance. It was comical and stuck with me. Literally, a one-kick duck.
The second question: “Who dobbed me in to Mrs. Habersham?”
