
Hi! My name is Minke and I am a children’s book illustrator. I live in a small village surrounded by forests. I love wandering through the forest, trying to commit everything I see to memory so I can use it in my paintings.
My art journey began with a wish to capture the beautiful nature around me. I started with detailed pencil drawings of animals. Shortly afterwards I bought my first paints and a little sketchbook and took them out into nature to attempt capturing what I saw. Slowly, as my skills grew, I wanted to move towards a different way of making art. I wanted to add stories and creatures to my paintings.
Ever since I was a little child I loved stories. Every week I would go to the library and borrow the maximum amount of books allowed (five). By the time Wednesday was coming around again I had finished them all and was excited to get new books.
As I got further into my art journey, I started to realize that this was what I wanted to do for a living: bring the stories I enjoyed so much as a child to life through painting. I practiced a lot, took courses, improved and eventually started working on my portfolio.
My coloured illustrations are done in gouache with a bit of pencil on top. My grayscale paintings are done in ink and watercolour. I then scan the paintings and make whatever alterations needed digitally. I love working with traditional paint. It adds a certain spontaneity to my artwork, as the paint usually has a bit of a mind of its own.