With more than 200k followers on Instagram, Amsterdam-based illustrator Bodil Jane clearly packs a punch. Her illustrations, focusing mainly on women, offer detailed and colorful windows into the worlds of women everywhere.
“Colors are very important in my work,” she stressed in an interview with the &Klevering blog. “I’m always looking for new and exciting color combinations. I love full illustrations with a lot of different objects and patterns.”
Playful, colorful and feminine, her illustrations mix handmade elements with digital techniques; a handmade, homely, and warm aesthetic that has caught the attention of a range of clients from The New Yorker to Unicef. “I think they have a very handmade feel, because I use a lot of textures and elements painted in watercolors,” she says. “I like illustration styles that are non-digital or appear to be, and that are a little clumsy and charming. I don’t like perfect things in general.”
Coming from a creative background, both her parents are freelance artists. “My dad is an animation and sketch artist for businesses while my mum is more of a decorative illustrator and paints ceramics,” she says. “They both had a studio space at home. Growing up, I was always making things. When we went on vacation I always brought scrapbooks, journals and drawing books with me. I have one sister. She also went to art school and is now a graphics and print designer for fashion.”
Check out some of her colorful illustrations in the gallery below.
