Netherlands-based illustrator Marijke Buurlage works her way around color. Her illustrations, a hybrid of analog and digital work, are bold and vibrant – not something you’d likely miss, even within your busy Instagram feed. Spanning from editorial illustrations for magazines and children’s books to apps and e-books, Buurlage’s versatility is proof of her endless ingenuity.
As color is key to any one of her pieces, she admits to collecting color inspiration beforehand. “I take lots of pictures of cool color combinations (my last one was of a red onion with a baby blue potato peeler while cooking dinner), and I experiment with the use colors a lot,” she told The Monster Project. “I think that actually takes up most of my time while working on something new – determining what colors I should use to make the artwork look perfect!”
But when it comes to the actual work, it all starts with a brush and some ink. “I first draw everything by hand with a brush and black ink, and then I arrange all elements in Photoshop and color everything digitally,” she explained. “This works perfectly for me because I like both the roughness of hand-drawn details and the comfort of digital working and being able to make changes easily.”
Her two most favorite things to draw? Animals and botanicals. Follow her Instagram for more color:
