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Leonie Creates illustrated wordmark logo with a badge featuring a graphic of a pencil wrapped around a computer mouse.
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Hiya!..

It's me! Leonie!

I’m an a Illustrator & multi-disciplinary Graphic Designer based in Surrey, UK.
Illustrative self-portrait of Leonie Creates with a bendy pencil wrapped around her head.
Two Polaroid photos: one showing a portrait of Leonie Creates, the other showing her hand drawing a stippled barn owl.
Icon-style illustration of a slate grey fineliner pen on a yellow background, with two dots above it forming a smiley face.
Icon-style illustration of a slanted slate-coloured computer mouse with a yellow pencil wrapped around it, set against a blue background.
Icon-style illustration of a white Apple Pencil in a rounded zigzag shape, set against a slate grey background.
Icon-style illustration of a yellow spiral-shaped pencil on a blue background.

I have always loved drawing...

I was the kid who secretly looked forward to wet break times at school as it meant I could stay inside and draw - though I’m pretty sure I detected panic in my teacher’s eyes every time I asked for yet another piece of paper! I’d also be up at 7 AM on family holidays just to make sure I had time to fit drawing into my day!

However, a shoulder injury as a teenager, meant a prolonged break and during that time I turned to graphic design - partly because using a mouse was easier than holding a pencil, but mostly because I had a fascination with how to create art & design on a computer, inspired by album covers & pop magazines. I taught myself Photoshop and Illustrator for around 9 years before going to university and completing a degree in graphic design in 2017. It was actually university that got me back into illustration, helping me see how seamlessly it could integrate with design. That’s when I found a love of combining the two.

I now work with the team at Haywood Sener, where I put my skills and keen eye for detail into designing websites & motion graphics for a variety of clients within the corporate, commercial & educational sectors.

Beyond that, I’ve taken on freelance projects for musicians, designers, sports therapists, and hair salons.

In my own personal work, I am happiest with a fineliner or Apple Pencil in hand; drawing animals, hand-lettering lyrics that resonate with me (or that I’ve written myself), and more recently, exploring conceptual ideas that express feeling & emotion.

Things about me

I love
music!

Whenever I’m doing anything creative – design or illustration – it will always be soundtracked by music and more often than not, I’m singing along!  The bands which rack up the most minutes in my library? Coldplay, Kodaline & Boyzone (What can I say? I grew up in the 90s!)

The picture shows an old stringless guitar I painted, inspired by Coldplay - who decorate their instruments differently for every album they release. For me, it became more of an art piece, combining my love for music and nature, with a little nod to graphic design through the use of geometric shapes.

I’m Inspired by album artwork

As I mentioned earlier, album covers were what drew me to graphic design in the first place. They were the first things I tried to design as a child - long before I could afford photoshop - When Microsoft Word & Powerpoint were all I had (Let’s not talk about that!)

My all-time favourite album cover is Ghost Stories by Coldplay, which features a beautifully intricate etching by Mila Furstova. I even have a large poster print of it hanging on the wall in my office.

Disney & Pixar are my happy place!

I’m a big fan of Disney and Pixar films – I’ve always adored the imagination, heart, and cleverness behind their stories, and I have huge admiration for the incredible animation skills that bring them to life. They’ve been a major source of inspiration for me and helped spark my love for working in motion design.

The illustration of Sadness from Inside Out was my first time experimenting with stippling in colour, and it ended up becoming the starting point for my Disney Dots series. I’ve created a few more since then and I’ve got a growing list of characters I want to add next!

Favourite Tools!

Sakura Pigma Micron Liners

Pentel Graphgear Pencil

Apple Pencil & iPad

Procreate

Photoshop

Illustrator

After Effects

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Homepage

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Illustration Page

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Digital Illustration Page

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Graphic Design Page

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I have mixed references to all areas I work in, with subject matters that often feature in my personal work - nature & wildlife, including my unofficial mascot; the sea turtle!
Flowing abstract illustration of sky, sea, turtle, and bird, with traditional and digital art tools.

2.

The sloth has drawn the tree and climbed it! And the reason for the sloth? - It feels like my spirit animal… No, not because my ability to hang onto trees is legendary! But because I’m better suited to a slower pace of life!
Illustration of an isometric sketchbook with an abstract tree growing out of it. A sloth hangs onto one of the branches, holding a large pencil, as if it drew the tree and then climbed it.

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Just because I thought a dolphin leaping out of an iPad would look cool!  And the little duck? It sneaks in there because we’re taught to love them when we’re small, then they sort of get sidelined for more mainstream or exotic animals but I’ve not abandoned them - they’re still my faves to this day. It’s also a little reminder to myself that I need to add one to my inky Animal Collection!
Illustration of a dolphin emerging from an iPad, with flowing shapes on the screen representing the sea. The dolphin has created a splash and jumped high among some clouds. An Apple Pencil sits alongside the iPad, with a flowing blue shape coming from its tip.

4.

The giraffe is designed to look as if it were built from geometric shapes using the Illustrator pen tool, has come out of a computer screen & is now checking how tall it is!
Isometric illustration of a giraffe made of geometric shapes, emerging from a computer screen, looking at a ruler beside the screen. An illustrator pen tool icon appears on the screen, with clouds and a computer mouse outside.
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