Animal Characters in Watercolor for Children’s Books

Julie Mellan is a French illustrator and self-confessed watercolor addict who specializes in illustrations for children’s books. She spent her childhood reading Beatrix Potter’s books and drawing animal characters from Disney movies, before going on to study classic drawing, painting, illustration, and animation at the French art school École Émile Cohl. After graduating, she continued to combine sketching and watercolors to create expressive animal characters, and eventually published her first book in 2013.

Julie uses traditional mediums to tell stories through her illustrations and create connections between characters. Her work has appeared in children’s books published by the likes of Penguin Random House, Clavis, and Fleurus.