Hi My name is Elyse Whittaker-Paek, Ex pat Aussie.
I’m currently a freelance Illustrator and mum of 2 lovely little looney lads.
Some of the crazier jobs I’ve had? Â Well I was a Dental assistant at the tender age of 14, my dad would have me help him out after school in Sydney Australia. Â He very much wanted me to get into the drill fill and bill biz.
I was very good with x-rays and filing but I often fainted during extractions. That must have been quite unnerving for his poor patients???
Completely put me off dentistry! Much steadier wages I guess, if I had steadier nerves.
I started off in Animation after getting a BFA in Illustration at CSULB.
Some of my first jobs was inbetweening for Play house pictures. Â I got to draw Fred and Barney for Fruity pebbles ads and Becks Beer commercials. Â Thought it was brilliant to be drawing for a living.
From there I worked at Warner Bros Classics on a few commercials loved drawing the WB characters wow, then was lucky to be hired on “Space Jam”. I even got to meet Chuck Jones, wow, very gracious fellow.
then went on to the Quest for Camelot.
My next gig was at Nick toons for 7 years where I got to work on “Hey Arnold” where I learned how to do Props, Models and BG’s  and Dora the Explorer where I did Story board revision.  Had a great time on those crews, great people.
I threw in the towel to raise my little lads and do quite a bit of freelance through Elance and other web sites, it’s quite fun… and there you have it.
