Describe your illustration style in ten words or less.
A hand-drawn celebration of warmth, texture, and imperfection.
What items are an essential part of your creative space?
Books, pencils, paper and a comfy chair.
Do you have a favourite artistic medium?
Graphite of all kinds and coloured pencils. I like buttery, soft leads like Prismacolour Premier, Derwant Drawing and Caran d’Ache Luminance.
Name three artists whose work inspires you.
Just three! So hard. I love so many artists so I’m choosing three picture book illustrators whose distinct styles and characters always inspire me to do better – Freda Chiu, Emma Adbage and Joohee Yoon.
Maybe, Fauvism – to play with colour in big expressive brushstrokes. Yeah, I think that’d be fun.
Who or what inspired you to become an illustrator?
A love for drawing and books. Specifically picture book illustration because I love the way pictures and words combine in a neat hardcover package.
A love for drawing and books. Specifically picture book illustration because I love the way pictures and words combine in a neat hardcover package.
Can you share a photo of your creative work space or part of the area where you work most often? Talk us through it.
My current studio is the spare room on our third-floor, two-bedroom apartment. We moved into this apartment in Prague, Czechia, last October after leaving Melbourne in August. I love the natural light in here, something my previous studio lacked. High up, I see the birds visiting and playing in the trees. This winter I watched snowfall!! My desk is facing the window to take advantage of this. Most of the furniture here now was bought since we moved. I shipped a suitcase of well-packed art supplies, my scanner, art drawers and a selection of my favourite artworks and books.
What is your favourite part of the illustration process?
Beyond developing characters and choosing colour palettes, I really enjoy the problem solving and research side. Making it all fit together in a way that makes sense – like a big puzzle.
What advice would you give to an aspiring illustrator?
Draw lots. Draw what you love. Make lots of bad drawings, it’s the only way to get to the good drawings. Stay curious and be kind to yourself, inner-critics can be real jerks.
Evie is an award-winning, character-driven illustrator specialising in picture books. Currently living in Prague, she started illustrating in 2018 after years in graphic design in Melbourne, Australia. Since then, she has collaborated on 13 titles, the most recent being My Mum is a Bird with UQP, published in April 2025.
For more information, please visit Evie's website or follow her on instagram.
