Astound US Agency

Astound US Agency We aim to astound with the best children's illustrators and commercial artists from around the world. All these things make for an Astounding outcome.

Astound Artist Agency Manhattan is a new kind of artist representation based in New York City and UK. We aim high – to Astound – by being the illustration agency with the best contemporary children’s book illustrators and greeting card designers that the industry has to offer. We connect publishers and artists from around the globe, with our Astound Illustration Agency London offices now open in t

he UK. We Astound by being great at what we do with a snappy, can-do, enthusiastic, talented, and creative attitude - all at no great expense.

I’ve gotten a couple of questions about the process! And so I wanted to take you on the journey of one page - from Sampl...
05/15/2025

I’ve gotten a couple of questions about the process! And so I wanted to take you on the journey of one page - from Sample to Final product, along with the timeline! I’m so excited to share this last part with you before my takeover ends, I hope you enjoy!

Let’s talk about one of the most important, and often most intimidating part of an artist’s career. The Portfolio. I kno...
03/15/2025

Let’s talk about one of the most important, and often most intimidating part of an artist’s career. The Portfolio. I know everyone who has ever had a conversation with me is probably laughing as it is the only thing I seem to talk about, but it’s true! Your folio is your visual resume, your chance to show what you can do and what you are passionate about. Whether you are aiming to land an agent, book projects, or simply get your art out there, how can you make it stand out?
While I can’t promise you an agent or project just by following this advice, I am happy to share some tips that have helped me while I develop artists. (⅓)

Bye Bye everybody! I’m gonna miss you here. Thank you I’m looking forward to many more projects, love, and work in the ...
03/08/2025

Bye Bye everybody! I’m gonna miss you here. Thank you I’m looking forward to many more projects, love, and work in the future. Cheers to what’s ahead! 🥂
I hope you’ve enjoyed this week of getting to know more about the work I do and love. 💖
Me:
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Last day of this intense week!! 🎉 Here’s my top 10 favorite books I’ve created with Astound. Thank you for these incredi...
03/08/2025

Last day of this intense week!! 🎉 Here’s my top 10 favorite books I’ve created with Astound. Thank you for these incredible years of collaboration.
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Today I’m proud to mark this meaningful occasion by starting my first book with the agency ‘Emmeline Pankhurst’ for the Little Stories, Big Dreams collection. A tribute to the ongoing fight for equal rights and opportunities.
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Emmeline Pankhurt
Marie Curie
Build me a home
Friends and .ediciones
I want that
Rafa and the wrong legs
Sunny Side up
Sen Superpower collection
Abuelito
I can do it - Old dungaree Press
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Me:
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Un Color, published by .ediciones, is the other title I’m excited to share today. ✨
Celina, my editor, is simply the bes...
03/07/2025

Un Color, published by .ediciones, is the other title I’m excited to share today. ✨
Celina, my editor, is simply the best! She truly believes in her authors and gave me the freedom to explore so much with this simple yet heartwarming story. 💖
Ramón, our main character, loves the color pink, and he wants to convince his friend that colors don’t belong to anyone! 🌸✨
The illustrations were also selected for , an exhibition and book fair here in Valencia. This was incredibly meaningful to me because it’s right here where I live, and it feels amazing to receive a warm hug from my colleagues and the local community. 🤗📚
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Me:
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Hi there! Today, I’m excited to share two books that are really special to me. They were recently published in Argentina...
03/07/2025

Hi there! Today, I’m excited to share two books that are really special to me. They were recently published in Argentina, and I’m also the author of the stories

Today is the turn of Light ✨☀️, a book I’m truly excited to be a part of. It will be published next month, on April 3rd,...
03/06/2025

Today is the turn of Light ✨☀️, a book I’m truly excited to be a part of. It will be published next month, on April 3rd, by
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I’ve been excited about this project since the beginning, especially because ’s previous title, Nano, was illustrated by .castrillon , someone I deeply admire.
I hope I’ve done an amazing job like she did with that book, and I’m thrilled to be part of this new nonfiction project.
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Light is a vibrant introduction to the science of light – the extraordinary energy that illuminates our world. From the complexities of the night sky to the inner workings of rainbows, readers will learn all about the mind-bending science of light.
Me:
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✨Second day of this lovely adventure week! ✨I’m excited to share some great news about a book that will soon be publishe...
03/05/2025

✨Second day of this lovely adventure week! ✨
I’m excited to share some great news about a book that will soon be published by :)
Last year, we worked hard on this wonderful project about diversity. It was a long yet incredibly enjoyable process.
I’ve learned so much throughout this journey, and I’m so grateful for that.
Just to clarify, you know everything was made by hand, right? Everything was created with gouache, pencils, and markers. 🎨
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From editors: A positive, life-affirming celebration of human diversity, from how we look, to how we think and how we celebrate

A charming look at diversity for younger readers, A Billion Ways to Be explains and celebrates the beauty and variety of humankind, showing that there are billions of different ways to look, be a family and have fun, and all are equal. It also reveals how much we all have in common. Featuring simple text and bright, inclusive illustrations, this book is a great, child-friendly introduction to important concepts and values, such as respecting difference, valuing yourself and practicing kindness and tolerance.
On sale
8th May 2025
Me:
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Artist takeover with ✨ day 5!For my last takeover day, I thought I’d post a little about studies~ the first slide inclu...
03/01/2025

Artist takeover with ✨ day 5!

For my last takeover day, I thought I’d post a little about studies~ the first slide includes some photos and a study from a hiking day back in 2023 — it was such a beautiful and relaxing site and I took so many photos that I just had to do a study based off of one of them! It helped me a lot with handling light in my paintings ☀️ the second slide is some old hand studies. I would seriously love to dedicate time again to do more traditional studies especially since I always work digitally 😅

Once again you can find more of my work and keep up with me over at ! A huge thank you to my incredible agents at Astound for having me here this week (and for having my back in general 💕), and thank you so much to everyone for following along! 🦋🫶🏼

artstudy

Artist takeover with ✨ day 4!When it comes to my personal art, I love drawing scenes with a sense of warmth, and immers...
02/28/2025

Artist takeover with ✨ day 4!

When it comes to my personal art, I love drawing scenes with a sense of warmth, and immersive backgrounds with characters that interact with the environment. Here are just some pieces I’ve done throughout the years outside of my client work! I really enjoy illustrating nature, especially flowers — super fun to include them in my drawings! 🌸

What sources have been influencing your artwork lately — any art books you love, or other artists, or specific media? Maybe things from life/the natural world?

Artist takeover with ✨ day 3!Back in 2023 I worked on a fun mock middle grade cover with the agency — illustrated typog...
02/27/2025

Artist takeover with ✨ day 3!

Back in 2023 I worked on a fun mock middle grade cover with the agency — illustrated typography was a big focus of the cover prompt! Here, I’ve put together a little bit of that process.

☀️I always start out with a super messy thumbnail to map out my idea, and then I proceeded to sketching it out in a lot more detail after collecting references. (Here I’ve shown a few refs that I still happened to have saved, but at the time I used a handful more.) This mock cover had a pretty quick turnaround so I only went with one sketch, but usually for clients I would turn in around 2-3 cover sketch options. I thought it would be cute to revolve this cover around a trio of friends running a bake sale during their summer break (the thinking was that the summer theme would allow for some bright, pretty colors!)

🍪Since typography was to be emphasized for this, I decide to integrate the title into the illustration by placing it on their bake sale poster! For the second title style option I tried out more brush-like lettering, but we ultimately decided on the bolder option that stands out more as a title. Additional sketch notes I received were to shift everything up a bit on the page, and add floral bunting and potted plants (I chose sunflowers!) to decorate the table and fill extra space.

🌻Next was rough color! I knew I wanted to use teals, oranges, and yellows for a lot of poppy contrast in the color palette. Plus it would just scream summer! After initial flats, I went in and planned out the lighting to really achieve the look I wanted. The few notes I received back were to add soft clouds, change the cookie sticker to a cake, and to make sure to shade underneath the table objects.

I had then proceeded to final color while keeping the suggested tweaks in mind, and the mock cover was complete! I’m still super proud of this illustration and had a blast working on it 🧡

Artist takeover with ✨ day 2!For today I wanted to share the published titles I’ve worked on so far (including an upcom...
02/26/2025

Artist takeover with ✨ day 2!

For today I wanted to share the published titles I’ve worked on so far (including an upcoming release)! I’ve also included slides sorting each book by publication year 🥰

Throughout the years, it’s been such an honor to contribute visually to these amazing stories written by such incredible authors. Most of the work I’ve done so far has been cover art for middle grade titles, though as I shared on yesterday’s stories, I’ve also done black and white interior art for a handful of MG books as well! Brown Kids Rule was my first published picture book series, and I’m super excited about future picture book titles in progress.

The process of creating illustrations for books is a very cool journey — from initial briefing, to sketches, to rough colors, to final art, with a number of revisions along the way — and I learn SO much during each project while working with the loveliest art directors. Being able to finally hold the published title in my hands is always such a satisfying experience!

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