About & FAQs

About Me

Hello! My name is Josh Drummond. I'm a writer and artist based in the Waikato, New Zealand. I've always wanted to turn my art from a hobby into a viable income, and I've had a online shop for a couple of years now, but this year I'm giving it a real good go. So the best thing you can do to help me is buy stuff, subscribe to my newsletter, or best of all, share my work!

I'm currently making an art show for YouTube. Lick and Scrubside. You can also find me via my blog (occasionally updated) and my webcomic (very occasionally updated.) I'm also on Twitter where my New Year's Resolution is to post nothing unless I actually have something to add. We'll see how that goes. [update: this did not work.] Two Ruru has its own Facebook page and I'd be chuffed if you could give that a Like and share it around. 

FAQs

I've ordered a print and it's taking a really long time to arrive. What's up? 

Covid-19 is what's up, unfortunately. If you've ordered a print in the last 30 days, it will take longer than usual to arrive. The expected wait time is up to 6 weeks. I'm really sorry about this, but because of the global pandemic, there's not much I can do. I'm hoping to change my shipping model (read on for more about this) to one where all merchandise is made and sent locally, but this too will likely have to wait until the pandemic is done. 

I still want to buy something / support you, but I don't want to wait for a print to arrive. 

Totally understandable, and like many tiny businesses, I appreciate any and all support at this time. Please consider buying a Digital Download instead of a physical print: it's cheaper than a print, it will arrive instantly, and you can print it anywhere, and on anything, that you like. (This doesn't mean you can print off multiple copies, or sell it as your own work, but you already know that, right?) Accessibility is the guiding principle of all my art, and I want anyone to be able to enjoy it for a fair price. 

What's the story with shipping?

In an effort to provide top-quality products plus reliable printing, warehousing and shipping, I've gone with a printer that ships from Europe, the US, and Australia. This means that most of my products are printed and shipped from one of these locations. (Tea-towels are currently the only exception.) The shipping prices are still super reasonable (in fact, the least expensive are actually better rates than I can get through New Zealand Post!) but if you're in NZ, it can take a while to arrive if you're using a cheaper shipping option. I think the trade-off is worth it for quality, but if you're short on time, you can always purchase a digital download of any of my art and print it yourself :)

You say the prints might take "a while" to arrive. What does that mean? 

Covid-19 update: The below applies in normal times when there's no global pandemic. Currently, expected shipping times are at minimum 4 weeks. I'm working to change this, but please don't order a physical product right now unless you don't mind waiting. The only exception to this is New Zealand-based teatowel orders. Because these print in NZ, the shipping shouldn't take more than two weeks to a New Zealand address.  

It depends on the shipping option you've chosen. If you've picked the cheapest, which is International Economy (with tracking) the expected delivery time is within 10 - 15 business days after fulfilment. This means the turnaround time on the cheapest delivery option is between 10 days up to almost a month. 

This is a long time to wait for prints, and I'm very aware of this. I don't want people to be waiting longer than necessary. Currently your best option is to choose a faster (or tracked) shipping method. International tracked shipping options can be quite speedy. I have experienced turnaround times for sample products of just over one working week. 

However, I'm actively looking at ways to make shipping faster for my New Zealand-based customers. 

Why's it called Two Ruru?

Two Ruru is named after my favourite New Zealand bird, the ruru (or Morepork.) The ruru is a small native owl with a very distinctive call. I've always loved the sound of them at night; there's something special about it. I have a distinctive memory of walking under the trees near a beach at night as two ruru flew silently from branch to branch and stopped to call to each other. They sounded haunting and wonderful, and I remembered it when I was deciding on a name. 

Can I commission you to paint something? 

Currently yes, although that can change pretty quickly. You can purchase a commission upfront here: Custom Commission - Large Painting

How much do you charge for commissions?

It depends! But, for traditional pieces, expect to pay $500 USD (about $1000 NZD) Digital art can be a different story. If I'm able to use your commission to practice on, the price can sometimes also be less. The best thing to do is contact me and find out. 

When will my commissioned piece arrive? 

When it comes to physical art, thanks to the whole global pandemic thing, shipping is a bit iffy and I can't guarantee when I'll be able to send stuff. (I will still send it, obviously, I just can't say when.) 

OTOH, if you've commissioned a digital piece, no worries. I'll just email you a file :) 

Prices change when I hit checkout / I'm not in New Zealand, yet the only checkout option is NZ Dollars. What's up with that? 

I've got a plugin that displays prices in multiple currencies, but checkout is only available in $NZD. This is because my store is based in New Zealand, and New Zealand dollars are it's my only currency option for check out. If you're not from New Zealand can cause prices to appear to change when you hit checkout. Don't worry! It will almost certainly work out in your favour. Especially you are from Europe or the United States. These currencies are worth a lot more than New Zealand dollars, so the currency conversion should actually save you a bunch of money from what the goods would cost in your home currency. Let me know if you have any problems. 

How close are these prints to the original paintings?

As close as I can get them, with the important caveat that no reproduction is perfect. The Birds in Hats originals are all acrylic on canvas, which is scanned or photographed at a super-high resolution. Scanning and photography, even under the best possible conditions, will result in incorrect colours and noise/warping in the reproduction. I use Photoshop to remove the white-painted canvas pattern plus any dust or dirt, as well as fixing lens warping or other issues when I'm setting up the prints, as that stuff doesn't look good when it's printed out. However, I take special care to get the colours on the prints themselves as close to the original painting colours as possible. 

One of your prints looks wrong / one of my prints arrived wrong, now what?

Please let me know if this happens. I want everyone to be happy with my products, as much as humanly possible, and I'll do whatever I can to fix it if you're not happy with it. 

If you aren't happy with a print, I'll ask you to send it to me so I can check out what went wrong. From there I'll do whatever I can to sort it out.

If you don't feel something warrants a return or replacement, but it still isn't quite "right", please do let me know. Your feedback is helpful, I genuinely appreciate it, and I'll use it to make my products better for other customers. 

The product arrived and I love it! How can I show my appreciation? 

If you're super stoked with something you've bought from me, please let me know, or post it on social media! One of the things I like to see the most is my art prints hanging up in people's homes, so feel free to send photos! If you reckon other people will enjoy my work, please let them know as well. Social media is great for that sort of thing. Tag me in it, if you want, so I know you liked it. 

Where's your other stuff? 

Good spotting! Not all my work is up here yet. I am adding more over time. Birds first, more later.

Why birds in hats? 

I like birds. I like them even more when they're wearing hats. I like painting. That's about it. 

How do you get the birds to sit still?  

You'd be surprised how many people ask me this.