I'm Damjana (da-mee-a-nuh), a Slovene picture book author and illustrator, based in France where I live with my husband, two teenagers and my nap assistant Lisa, a jack russell mix.
I grew up in the 70's, listening to children's radio plays on cassette tapes and drawing from imagination - these audio stories were my favourite birthday present besides picture books. I studied fashion and textile design at the University of Ljubljana and worked as a designer and a journalist for many years before landing in children's illustration. I had some of my early illustrations published in Slovene children's magazines Cicido and Ciciban, illustrated a picture book Mr Puddlebrush (published by Puddlebrush Books), done individual illustrations for different clients, wrote a couple of author/illustrator picture books and completed My Year Of Art School with art agents Lilla Rogers and Zoë Tucker and toy and game agent Riley Wilkinson at Make Art That Sells (MATS).
I'm a member of SCBWI and Illoguild, an international group of picture book authors and illustrators.
My style is influenced by my love of lush fabrics and embroidery; I enjoy using rich colour palettes and getting lost in intricate details. I mostly draw in Procreate but equally love to experiment with messy pastels and watercolours, coming up with interesting textures and shapes I can then use in my illustrations. My favourite thing to draw are animal characters, getting in some kind of trouble when they think nobody's looking.
When I'm not drawing I will pick up a half finished craft project, try out a new pasta recipe or take my dog for a long walk among the high altitude pastures of French Jura mountains.
My dream project would be writing a series of picture books with fun and heartwarming adventures featuring quirky animal characters, books that come with matching toys and play sets that children could use to invent their own stories with.
I'm open to all kinds of illustration projects, from board books and picture books to covers and chapter books -please contact my agent Erzsi Deàk of Hen&ink Literary Studio.
My tiny desk (and my non-assistant Lisa), set up in the bedrom, where there's the best morning light for drawing.
I inherited my love of sewing from my mother (she made that bunny costume and so many others) and a desire to draw from my father.
Thank you
for stopping by,
Damjana
