PAULA LUCAS
ART LEAD & GAMES ARTIST
Hi there! I'm applying to TAGS Festival for 2026 for the first time, and would love to be considered for the event!
I am a Kiwi based in Edinburgh and usually a games artist by trade. However, due to redundancies throughout the industry, it has allowed me to dedicate more time to making zines and sequential art, so perhaps a blessing in disguise!
My preferred method is Risograph printing, previously working with Risotto and Out of The Blueprint to get the main sheets done, then hand assembling the zines, but more recently I have explored more standard full-colour printing methods. Currently I am in progress stepping up from "just" zines, and have started creating a 20-22 page comic (more details at the bottom of the page), which I would love to get finished in time for TAGS.
Previous work includes "Fetch Quests", my game zine pictured below, where I incorporate my games background in to sequential art. And my two most recently completed zines are called "Cool Animals of Aussie" show casing the funky animals that live in Australia to follow on from my New Zealand and Scotland versions, as well as "Les Mains Divines", an illustrated representation of the invisible forces that guide us in life (also pictured below).
Thank you for taking the time to read my application!
PREVIOUS ZINE EXAMPLES
FETCH QUESTS
Risograph 2 Colour / Puzzle Zine
"Fetch Quests" is my Riso-printed puzzle zine! Using the map that each zine has, you work out which dog wants which item - follow them in order and you get the location of the King Bone that you have been sent to fetch!
LES MAIN DIVINES
Printed / Illustrative Zine
Les Mains Divines is an exploration of the invisible forces that guide, shape and drive us through life. A series of hand illustration without text.
ANIMALS OF SERIES
Risograph 2 Colour Zine / Series
This series initially began with the Cool Birds Of NZ as I'm from New Zealand, and I wanted to share funny facts, illustrations and share the love for my countries weird ass birds! Following on from that, I did the Cool Animals of Scotland zine after living her for many years - I'm so enamoured by the cool animals that exist here that I knew I wanted to share! And my most recent zine is the Cool Animals of Aussie that I finished a few months ago, sharing the wickedly awesome animals that my cousins across the ditch have just milling about!
"Cool Birds Of NZ" RISO printed zine - funny facts, comments and illustrations about NZ's weird ass birds!
"Cool Animals Of Scotland" another RISO printed and hand assembled zine made as a sister piece to the Birds of NZ zine!
"Cool Animals Of Aussie" sheets before assembly! 16 page two-colour risograph Zine.
Example and previous tabling setup at Thought Bubble 2025.
COMIC IN PROGRESS
Dog Town / Following in the world of Fetch Quest, my Dog Town (working title) is my short comic in progress, exploring rebellion against parental expectations set in the world of Dog Town.
It follows one young Doberman dog who runs away from their old life as they think that all their problems will be fixed by running away, only to realise that you can't outrun yourself. Story beats have been roughed out and have started blocking out some pages! This is my longest and most ambitious comic project that I have done, but having worked up to it with various smaller projects and taking some time off to finish it is really exciting!
Location explorations for Dog Town
World building + early look dev for Dog Town