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astound.us We aim to astound with the best contemporary children's illustrators and commercial artists from around the world. Drawn to better.
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09/23/2020

We see Bao Luu's "Earth Hour" book at the Westhampton, MA library! Always good to see all the places our books end up. Thanks to the wonderful publisher, Charlesbridge Publishing

09/18/2020

Introducing New #AstoundingArtist Kamala Nair! We love these pieces featuring strong defiant girls as they interact with nature. ⁠⠀
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Get in touch with us if you think Kamala could be the perfect artist for your next project.

09/14/2020

Me and My Book Monday! Today we're featuring #AstoundingArtist Kyle Reed with his book Superheroes Don't Babysit, by author Amber Hendricks. Published in June 2020, you can read the full synopsis below! 📚⁠⠀
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Superheroes leap buildings, chase bad guys, and save the city from the evil Emperor Zog. Superheroes DON'T babysit. Except when their dad asks them to. In an epic battle of sibling rivalry, will this superhero finally meet her match? Or will she find exactly what she's been missing all along?In Superheroes Don't Babysit, author Amber Hendricks tells a story full of humor and heart, and illustrator Kyle Reed's superpowered illustrations pack a punch with their bold colors and sharp lines. This book is fun to look at and to read with siblings who consider themselves rivals or friends, or maybe something in between.⁠⠀
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Link in bio for more from Kyle!

08/29/2020

In times like these, I think we can use a little fantasy, an escape to a more magical world! I loved seeing the process of these enchanting illustrations as the illustrators sent me each step of their visions! ⁠⠀
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Artwork in order by:⁠⠀
Forrest Burdett (@forrestbdoodles)⁠⠀
Markia Jenai (@Mjenai.art)⁠⠀
Francesca Ficorilli

08/16/2020

It’s Sunday evening, and it would be remiss of me to leave my weekend takeover without a #toptip! As agents there are themes we see come up time and time again, and key subjects that are always going to be popular in children’s publishing. So for our #AstoundingArtists we always suggest to make sure you put yourself in as good a position as possible by having as many of these ‘key themes’ as possible. You can see the list below along with the #AstoundingArtist illustrations that are great examples of each!

Also, couldn’t resist one last sign off pic from me and Reg (swipe through to see). Its been a fun weekend. Thank you for joining me!

Underwater/sea (bonus with mermaids) scene by Monica Garofalo 🧜🏻‍♀️
Jungle scene by Samantha Marando 🐒
Dinosaur scene by Vera Popova 🦕
Farm scene by Ana Zurita 🐓
Space scene by Teresa Martinez 🚀
Classic Fairytale (Snow White here) by Lindsay Dale Scott 🧚‍♀️
Woodland scene by Hannah Marks 🌳
Your classic Princess by Chiara Fiorentino👸

Dog love by Reg and Rhiannon 👋 @ London, United Kingdom

08/15/2020

Sunflowers have been popular in our household this summer! And as a longtime lover of Van Gogh, they always transport me to the South of France. And with this year’s events I think we could all do with a bit of transporting. 🌻

I’ve chosen some of my favourite sunflower pics from our #astoundingartists carefully curated by myself and Reg. You can see he likes sunflowers as much as me. (Would just like to point out he was such a good boy for this ostentatious glamour shot).
🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻

Artwork in order by:
Rosie Conheady
Wendy Tan
Alejandro Mesa
Millie Liu
Katie Crumpton
Sara Luna
Emily Paik
Cinzia Battistel @ London, United Kingdom

08/14/2020

Oh hi there, Astound agent Rhiannon here! You caught me reading The Big Trip by #AstoundingArtist Alex Willmore to Reggie, Astound’s new intern. He loves this book because it’s orange like him!

I’m going to be taking over the Astound Instagram this weekend bringing you some of my favourite pieces of art! And who knows, Reg might do a post if he can manage the keyboard. 🐾

The Big Trip recently published by @tatepublishing @alexander_willmore @ London, United Kingdom

07/20/2020

Me and My Book Monday! Today's #AstoundingArtist is Chris Saunders with his latest book in the Fluffy Bunny series - 'What the Fluffy Bunny said to the Lazy Llama'. ⁠⠀
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Written by P. Crumble, Fluffy Bunny is trying to motivate his animal friends into stretching, lifting and bouncing in preparation for the big sports carnival!⁠⠀
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Published by @scholastic_au⁠⠀
@thecurioustreehouse⁠⠀
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Link in bio for more from Chris

07/13/2020

Me and My Book Monday! Today we take a look at the #AstoundingArtist behind Dinosaurs Can't Roar - Mariano Epelbaum! - published by @sourcebookskids⁠⠀
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Written by Layla Beason, Dinosaurs Can't Roar is a fun, silly story about what we really know about dinosaurs! What's truth and what's fiction?⁠⠀
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"A wonderfully entertaining reminder to young readers that science is ever evolving and that there's always more to learn." -Booklist⁠⠀
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Link in bio for Mariano's full folio. ⁠⠀
@mariano.epelbaum

05/18/2020

Me and My Book! Today we take a look at the artist behind 'Earth Hour: A Lights-Out Event for Our Planet' - Bao Luu! Written by Nanette Heffernan and published by Charlesbridge earlier this year, Bao's illustrations bring to life the importance of electricity and the impact it has on our lives by switching of our lights for one Earth Hour. ⁠⠀
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Link in bio for Bao's full folio!

05/11/2020

Monday is Me and My Book Day! Today we're featuring Khoa Le and her beautiful illustrations for 'Miriam by the River' written by Jane Yolen, published by Kar-Ben Publishing earlier this year. It's a fresh take on the story of Moses through the eyes of his 7-year-old sister Miriam.⁠⠀
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Link in bio for more work from Khoa

05/09/2020

Inside the Artist's Studio with Samantha Marando⁠⠀
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If you could add anything to your studio, what would it be? ⁠⠀
🌸More cats & more vintage items. I have always loved collecting old books, photos, ornaments & generally anything that has been abandoned by someone. They find a way into my studio & it becomes their new home. If the vintage item is shaped like a cat, then it gets bonus points.⁠⠀
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Describe your studio in one word. ⁠⠀
🌸Relaxing.

05/04/2020

Monday! And we’re here with another Me and My Book. And today’s #astoundingartist behind the book is Alexandra Bye! Her book ‘The Only Woman in the Photo’ was published earlier this year by Atheneum Books and written by Kathleen Krull.

You can see more from Alexandra by following the link in bio!

05/03/2020

NEW SIGNING - Ema Maliauka⁠⠀
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We welcome Ema to the Astound team with her sweet folky scenes featuring adorable animals! ⁠⠀
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Ema was born and raised in Belarus. Thanks to her mom, she fell in love with children’s books when she was a kid, and this love grew into her profession. She finished college, specializing in fine art at preschool. Then she graduated University as an art critic.Now she lives in a cozy town called Alkmaar, in the Netherlands.⁠⠀
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Over the past few years, she has created many bright characters, illustrated several books for kids, and worked on various commercial projects. She works with both traditional materials and Photoshop. Often sheI starts on paper and then does post-production in Photoshop. But in many cases she goes fully digital as well. She loves both approaches and she chooses the most suitable one based on a particular project. She loves creating cute characters and illustrations that are simple, but at the same time are full of interesting details. Children's books are her real passion.⁠⠀
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Link in bio for Ema's full portfolio!

05/02/2020

NEW SIGNING - Margherita Ende⁠⠀
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We're excited to have Margherita join Astound with quirky characters and atmospheric moods!⁠⠀
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Margherita Ende is a freelance illustrator and storyboard artist from Italy. She was born near Venice, where she attended the Istituto Statale d'Arte. After graduating she moved to Turin, where she developed her passion for comics, illustration and animated films. Later she relocated to Berlin, where she managed an art studio with a couple of artist friends. After returning to Italy she graduated from the International School of Comics of Padua.⁠⠀
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She loves working on different projects, from illustration for children, to environment concept art, storyboards to character design – here she admits that she loves to draw the bad guys, even if in the end she secretly cheers for the good guys!⁠⠀
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Link in bio for Margherita's full portfolio

05/01/2020

NEW SIGNING - Diana Renjina⁠⠀
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Joining Astound is Diana, whose work is filled with glowing light, transporting us away to magical places. ⁠⠀
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Diana was born in 1989 in Riga, Latvia, where she grew up and lives at the moment. Her hometown is a nice mix of cobbled streets, pine forests, cold sea, Art Nouveau architecture, and many other beautiful things, and it has always been a great inspiration for her.⁠⠀
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She is mostly a self-taught artist, but she has been studying digital design in a local university and that helped her to understand how to make projects, not just random pictures.She has worked in a couple of creative agencies as a full-time illustrator as well. Her two main sources of inspiration are folklore and nature. A lot of works in her portfolio are based on Latvian mythology and traditional celebrations, as well as on seasonal changes in a world around her, like blooming magnolias in spring and a first snow in a forest.⁠⠀
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Outside of drawing, she enjoys taking photos (a lot!), being in nature, dancing tango, listening to music and reading books (both fiction and nonfiction).⁠⠀
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Link in bio for more from Diana!

04/30/2020

NEW ARTIST - Delphine Meier⁠⠀
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Delphine joins Astound with a bold and graphic style that sets her work apart. ⁠⠀
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Delphine was born and raised in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, where she studied the art of illustration and graphic design. Quickly after graduating in graphic design, she combined he passion for design and illustration and specialised herself in vector art. Her illustration style is distinguished by simple geometric shapes and a punchy and harmonious color palette. Thanks to her studies in graphic design, she easily combines illustration and design to offer her clients a global and unique visual experience.⁠⠀
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She has lived in different cities such as Paris and Los Angeles, but then fell in love with Montreal where she now lives and works. She works in studio with different freelance artists, or sometimes at home with her two cats:⁠⠀
Schaffouze and Grisha.⁠⠀
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Link in bio to see Delphine's full portfolio

04/29/2020

NEW ARTIST - Paran Kim⁠⠀
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Introducing Paran as the latest artist to join Astound! Her colourful scenes glow with a soft use of twinkly light. ⁠⠀
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Paran was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea. She remembers being very little, and seeing airplanes fly over her house. It made her long to travel all over the world. So she travelled to India alone at the age of 18. This was the biggest adventure of her life! She was attracted to the vivid colors and warm atmosphere there and drew a lot. In her early twenties she moved to Japan, where she studied fine art at Tama Art University in Tokyo.⁠⠀
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After graduation, she did a variety of jobs in Japan, South Korea, and Germany. She has always been interested in picture books and illustration, and in 2017 she decided to take the plunge and become a full-time illustrator. She currently lives in a lovely german city, Dresden, with her soulmate. When she is not painting, she loves singing and playing guitar.⁠⠀
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Link in bio to see Paran's full portfolio

04/28/2020

NEW ARTIST - Pauliina Hannuniemi⁠⠀
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Welcoming Pauliina to the Astound team. We love her epic, magical scenes!⁠⠀
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Pauliina was born in a small town in Northern Ostrobothnia, Finland, where she now lives again after 10 years spent studying and working in Helsinki. As a child, with paintbrush and paper in hand, she asked her mother if artists painted landscapes or flowers. “Landscapes I guess”, she answered, but since then Pauliina realised there are plenty more options than this. Even though she has tried different paths in life, she has always known that she would be an artist, and recently decided to become full time freelancer. Over the years she has fallen in love with medieval fantasy, and loves to illustrate stories with magic, mysterious creatures, knights and princesses.

04/27/2020

NEW SIGNING - Taylor Barron ⁠⠀
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We're excited to welcome Taylor to Astound with her quirky illustrations filled with neon colour! ⁠⠀
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Taylor Barron is a freelance illustrator and concept artist from Seattle, Washington. She graduated with a Bachelor's of Fine Art in Digital Art and Animation from DigiPen Institute of Technology in 2017. Her focus is in illustration, character design, and concept art. She loves playing with bright colors, both in her art and her wardrobe. She is currently traveling and is always looking for new fun projects to collaborate on.

04/25/2020

Inside the Artist's Studio with Judith Loske⁠⠀
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What is your favorite or signature medium to work in?⁠⠀
-- I fell in love with digital painting on the iPad but often I use a combination of digital painting and traditional media (pencils, acrylic textures, gouache and watercolours).⁠⠀
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What is your favourite thing in your studio? ⁠⠀
--My iPad. Not so long ago I discovered painting on it and I really do not like to do without it.

04/23/2020

The last of our Top 10 Earth and Environment illustrations comes from #AstoundingArtist Bao Luu. We love the underwater light he’s managed to capture in this piece.

Link in bio for more from Bao.

04/22/2020

🌍🍃Happy Earth Day!🍃🌍⁠⠀
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We've been preparing for the day by putting together a paper booklet of our top Earth & Environment images to our clients from our #AstoundingArtists. In light of the current situation though, we thought it better to send a PDF version and wet your appetite ready for the real deal later in the year!⁠⠀
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You can see a sneak peek now by swiping through!

04/20/2020

It’s Monday! And time for another Me and My Book. Today from #astoundingartist Pedro Rodriguez with his Book ‘Around the World in 80 days’ with Spanish publisher RBA recently published in March!

04/16/2020

Pottering about in the garden. #Astoundingartist Millie Liu provides us with some marvellous light in this beautiful garden scene.

Link in bio for more from Millie.

04/15/2020

Who doesn’t love bees?! Today’s #TopTen comes from #AstoundingArtist Udayana Lugo. She shows us how beekeeping can be a fun family activity.

Check the Link in bio for more from Udayana!

04/14/2020

astound.us's cover photo

03/26/2020

We're ALL OVER this piece by Astounding Artist Monica Garofalo! Pretty sure we've spotted something new every time...Do you have a favourite animal here?

03/23/2020

'Uncle Bobby's Wedding' by Sarah S. Brannen and illustrated by Astounding Artist Lucia Soto has only gone and gotten a starred review from Kirkus Reviews!

It's been described as 'a joyous, heartwarming, sweet—and essential—update' and is coming out with little bee books on May 5th - don't miss it!

You can read the full review here: t.ly/gJmz9

03/18/2020

We are still here! Astound US continues to work remotely - around the world - helping artists and clients stay afloat!

Get in touch, we're only a phone call or an email away 😊

Illustration by Astounding Artist Elena Resko, check out more of her work here: http://astound.us/publishing/artists/elena-resko

03/06/2020

We LOVE this awesome Henri Rousseau inspired piece by Astounding Artist Katie Wood! You can almost hear the rain hitting the leaves...

03/06/2020

Look out for a lingering smell coming from Astounding Artist Jesus Lopez's latest title! Written by Rory H. Mather and published by Larrikin House, 'Vlad's Bad Breath' is sure to take you on a journey!

Coming Soon in 2020!

03/03/2020

Here at Astound, not all of our work goes into Children's Books. Our artists are diverse in their skills and many choose to create beautiful card designs. Maybe you've seen some in stores near you?

For our latest Sympathy card designs, you can visit our blog:
http://astound.us/about-us/2020-sympathy-cards/

Design by Nina de Polonia, check out more of her designs here: http://astound.us/licensing/artists/nina-de-polonia-nill

03/02/2020

We are thrilled to announce that The Runaway Pea: Washed Away illustrated by our astounding artist Alex Willmore is due to publish 23rd July 2020!

This is the fall-over-yourself-funny sequel to the bestselling THE RUNAWAY PEA which came out in Summer 2019. This week, THE RUNAWAY PEA was shortlisted for FCBG Children’s Book Award 2020 in the Younger Children category.

Check out more of Alex's art here: http://astound.us/publishing/artists/alex-willmore

02/27/2020

Get a first look at the new cover of Wonder Woman book Diana and the Island of No Return, illustrated by our astounding artist Alessia Trunfio

Check it out here!: https://ew.com/books/2020/02/25/wonder-woman-diana-and-the-island-of-no-return-cover-reveal-excerpt/

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Videos

Tessa Rath

During her #Instagram #Takeover, #AstoundingArtist Tessa Rath- Illustration shared with us a #screen #capture of her #illustration #process! See more of her work here: http://astound.us/publishing/artists/tessa-rath . . . . #Astound #AstoundAgency #NewYorkIllustrationAgency #FreelanceArtist #FreelanceIllustrator #Freelance #ChildrensBookIllustrator #Illustrator

We are thrilled to rep #AstoundingArtist Marcin Piwowarski, as he brings light and magic to his illustrations, which look traditional, but are indeed #digital. Watch this timelapse to see the #wip #artistprocess http://astound.us/publishing/artists/marcin-piwowarski

Srimalie Bassani shares her artist process, and how she creates characters digitally! Watch her time lapse here, and then check out her online portfolio: http://astound.us/publishing/artists/srimalie-bassani

Today's timelapse is by #AstoundingArtist Chiara Fedele. Note: This video has sound! See their full folio here: http://bit.ly/2deeWuK #wip #processvideo #artistsprocess

Today's timelapse is by #AstoundingArtist Nina de Polonia. See their full folio here: https://bitly.com/ #wip #processvideo #artistsprocess

Today's timelapse video is by #AstoundingArtist Andrea Alemanno. See his full folio here: http://bit.ly/2cGXeAn #wip #processvideo #artistsprocess

Today's timelapse is by #AstoundingArtist Chiara Pasqualotto. See their full folio here: bit.ly/2cYYf69 #traditionalart #wip #artistprocess #processvideo

Laura Horton presents a digital #timelapse to share her #wip #artistprocess with all of you! Enjoy the show!

Next #wip #AstoundingArtist #artistprocess #timelapse stars the watercoloring talents of Traci Bixby! See her full folio here: http://astound.us/licensing/artists/traci-bixby Designs are available now!

Skipped a couple days, so making it up with 2 time lapses today! 1st up, Santy Gutierrez! See more of his work here: http://astound.us/publishing/artists/santy-gutierrez

A behind-the-scenes glimpse of #AstoundingArtist Chelen Ecija's fun typography and teen illustrations for our #timelapse feature #artprocess #digitalillustration (see more by Chelen here: http://astound.us/publishing/artists/chelen-ecija)

A behind-the-scenes glimpse of #AstoundingArtist Eleonora De Pieri's delicate illustrations for our #timelapse feature #artprocess #handdrawn (see more by Eleonora here: http://astound.us/publishing/artists/eleonora-de-pieri)

Check out some #AstoundingArtist #timelapse videos! Today features Angela Rizza's bird illustrations in action -- See her full folio here: http://astound.us/publishing/artists/angela-rizza

Check out some #AstoundingArtist #timelapse videos! Today features Katya Longhi See her full folio here: http://astound.us/publishing/artists/katya-longhi

We are kicking off 1 month of #AstoundingArtist #timelapse videos! The first time lapse illustration is a work in progress by Jordan Wray! See his full folio here: http://astound.us/publishing/artists/jordan-wray