Hello! My name is Alison, I'm 23, and I illustrate from my home in Perth, Western Australia. I have a BA with Honours in Design from Curtin University of Technology. I majored in Illustration, but I also dabble in design work. I specialise in fairytale-style fantasy and historically-inspired illustration, especially that aimed at children.

My clients include Burswood Health Professionals, The Kelmscott Agricultural Society and Futuretrack Australia, as well as private clients. I like to work. Contact me if you have a query or a job for me to do. But remember, I like to be paid too!

Too short and sharp? Read on for

The Long Bio

I was born in Perth, Western Australia on an auspicious Black Friday in 1987, and named Alison Elizabeth for no apparent reason other than my parents liked the sound of it. From the moment I could focus, I was fascinated by pictures, and as soon as I could hold a pencil I was drawing. Even before that, my mother read books to me every day (even before I was born) so needless to say I’ve been interested in stories all my life as well. These interests have continued to this day, and I do my best to combine all three on a daily basis.

My favourite class in primary school was art, and I expanded upon this with an after-school art class for several years. Once in high school, I continued with art; at one point I managed to study not only art, but 'art and design' and photography as well. Once I finished school I studied Design. I majored in Illustration at Curtin University of Technology, where I worked hard to develop my visual arts skills; I also discovered how to make better use of the computer in my illustrations. After attaining my Bachelor of Arts, I returned to Curtin to study honours, where I focussed on the Golden Age of Illustration and wrote and illustrated my own children’s book.

Of course, devoting so much of my time to art leaves me very open to setbacks. The first of these occurred very early in my life, when I was only seven: I was disqualified from a colouring competition because 'my older sister obviously coloured it in for me'. As I possess no siblings at all, and had, in fact, coloured the page all myself, it would not have been surprising if I had lost heart – but that is hardly the way an illustrator behaves. I decided to take it as a compliment instead.

Of course, when I was seven I wanted to be a doll-fixer. Eventually, however, once I decided that I just wasn't arty enough to be an artist, I determined that what I really wanted to do was illustrate, preferably children's books. Cue myriad grown-ups telling me that I was insane: Illustrating is not a proper job!

I am inspired by many things: stories (any stories, but especially ones with fairytale elements), books, other illustrators such as Edmund Dulac, the fantastic, historical costume, history in general, other cultures, classic movies and technicolor musicals. I love playing with colour in my illustrations, and adding in lots of detail to draw people in. I always want my illustrations to tell stories; my love of image and story has obviously only grown stronger over time.

When I'm not drawing, I can usually be found reading, playing the piano, watching old movies and tv shows, or looking at other people's art on the internet. I can do most of this while sitting in a corner of our sunny office, surrounded by Oscar, our dog, Freddy, my quiet canary, and the many wild birds outside in our garden, who try to distract me with their singing. Also living in the house are my two parents, who are lovely enough to support my illustrating dreams, one nameless goldfish, and Horatio the weiro. They all remind me that there is a world outside my desk, and provide the laughter and happiness to speed my imagination on its way.