My first name ‘Marloes’ is pronounced as: Mahr-Loose.

I work as an illustrator, author, visual artist and designer.
What I do and make:
– Illustrations for picture books, chapter books, and non-fiction books (both for kids and adults)
– Designs for book covers, including illustrations and (hand)lettering
– Editiorial illustrations for magazines and newspapers
– Illustrations for branding (with humour if you like)
– Making comics and cartoons for magazines, like King Features (reboot of Popeye), Flow Magazine, Tina (girls’ magazine) and more
– Creating stories and illustrations to create engagement with audiences, for companies and brands on social media writing opinion pieces, picturebooks and non-fiction (book released in Summer 2022)

I did! I have a Bdes-degree in Visual Communication, which is a combination of graphic design, photography and video. After graduating I did several courses and masterclasses in (picture book) illustration including at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge. I took several courses in psychology and am studying social psychology at the moment.

– Dutch (native language)
– English (fluent)
– German (reading and speaking, writing a bit less)
– French (reading)

If you’re not a client or someone I know, the answer is probably ‘no’. I unfortunately lack time to see friends and family, so my priority is to spend my free time to them. Thanks for understanding!

Via e-mail. You can do so at hello@marloesdevries.com or via the contact form.
To work efficiently, I do not use social media inboxes to discuss work. Therefore I don’t respond to DMs in most cases. I can be reached by phone for clients I first spoke to via email.

So that I can work very concentrated while I’m working on projects for clients. I get quite distracted by unexpected phone calls. Emails works better for me. If we’ve had contact and you’d like to chat about the project we’re working on together, then of course phone calls are possible (and handy).

When it’s a charity where every staff member works for free (artists shouldn’t be the only one volunteering) and it’s a cause I support: I would love consider to work for free. Do get in touch and let’s see what we can do.
In other cases: paying someone for their work shows you understand their time is valuable and that you respect it. If you feel my work, expertise and time is not worth paying for, we’re unfortunately not a match.

Most often I work through publishers on books but do contact me if you have a book that fits me. You can find more information on books and illustrations here.
For self-publishing: I don’t work for free or only for royalties. If you have a publisher, please suggest my work to them and ask them if they see my work as a good fit.

At the moment I don’t. I’m focusing on working with publishers, magazines, companies and my personal projects.

I offer licenses for this. Please get in touch with me and let me know what you are going to use it for, what the purpose is and what your budget is. If you use my work without my permission, the fee will be much higher because you used my work illegally. It is not allowed to use any of my illustrations without my permission.

I do! You can find them in my shop.

Most of my books are available to order in any book shop in the Netherlands and Belgium. Here you can order them online. Self published zines, signed books and limited edition prints are available in my shop.

I offer my paintings in series, and when a series is finished I offer them in my shop. Subscribers to my newsletter get first access to new paintings, so do subscribe if you’re interested.

As my partner Bram always says: “it’s ready when it’s ready” 🙂 I don’t work with strict schedules for my personal work, to keep the process enjoyable for myself and it also results in better work. With artwork I don’t work well when I’m put under pressure.
If you want to receive updates on the process and know first when new work is available, feel free to subscribe to my newsletter.

If I have the time, I’d be more than happy to do so. You can find more information here, and do feel free to send me an email with a bit more detail about the interview.

My monthly newsletter (subscribe here) is the best way. I carefully curate all my favourite things (books, films, articles, etc.), share personal thoughts on my creative practice and share what I’m working on. Newsletter subscribers also get first dibs on new (online) workshops and when I have new art for sale.

For personal use: sure. Please credit me properly, and it’s not allowed to edit my work, or cut off my signature. If you want to share it on Instagram, you can find a re-posting guide in my highlights.
If you want to share on Facebook, please only share from my own Facebook-page directly, or if you must upload again: please link to my Facebook-page. It’s @MarloesDeVries.
If you’re a business wanting to promote your services with my work: a hard no. Please follow the guidelines my Instagram highlights to see how it works, or contact me for a license or hire.

I can’t keep up with all the social media inboxes and DM’s. I appreciate lovely messages and try to read them all but replying to all is not possible. If it’s a work inquiry, please email me. If you just want to say ‘hi’ please feel free to comment to a recent Instagram-post. I genuinely appreciate it!

I’m open to business collaborations when your product/service fits me and my work, and is something I’d actually use or have used. Please note I don’t work/advertise for free as I feel my hours and expertise are worth paying for. If you feel it’s not worth paying for, we’re not the right match.

If you feel your product matches me, do get in touch and let us know what you have in mind, your deadline and your budget. Bram will handle emails regarding promotion. He will not respond to emails that have no personalisation and clearly have been bulk-sent.

Thank you, but no 🙂 See above.

Nope.

No. I get a dozen of these requests every week and they go straight into my bin.

No.

I have written several articles about this on my blog. Feel free to grab a cup of tea and dive into it.

You can find more information on workshops and talks here. Feel free to sign up for my newsletter to receive information on new workshops and courses. I can also be hired by organisations and schools to teach workshops. More info can be found here.

Due to time restraints I don’t answer all 1-to-1 questions I get through email or DM’s.

I have a blog filled with tips to help with freelancing and illustration, which will get your on your way. But if you want personal guidance or questions answered, you can book 1-to-1 sessions with me.

If it’s for practice and you keep it private in your sketchbook for your eyes only, then yes. But if you want to publish it in any way, including on social media, post it on your website or to sell: then no. That is copyright infringement.

I’d like to know why someone wants to meet with me, so I’d love to hear what your idea is so that I can decide whether it would be suitable for me too.
If you want to ask me all about freelancing or illustrating, you can book a 1-on-1 session.

I wish I could but as a one-person-business working from my home studio, my space and time is too limited to offer an experience that will help interns further. I believe proper time should be invested and I cannot offer that at the moment unfortunately. I also can’t offer guidance in finding places to get an internship elsewhere.

Probably not: I receive too many requests for study assignments to respond to them all.
General advice if you’re approaching artists: address them personally instead of sending a mass email in the hopes someone will reply.

I have a lot of favourite tools I enjoy working with, which you can all find on this page.

I recommend buying at your local shop to support their business, or buy from my favourite online small business Splendith. Also because you can often try out colours and materials in the shop, or ask for professional advice. If you want to find a shop near you try Google: search for ‘art supply shop’ in your language and add your city, or a nearby bigger city.

It’s a bit of a mixed bag, here we go: Helen Frankenthaler, Quentin Blake, Mary Fedden, Nora Efron, Frida Kahlo, Oprah Winfrey, Mary Blair, 80’s children’s animations, Fiep Westendorp, Sempé, Carson Ellis, Miranda Hart, Annie M.G. Schmidt, Chris Haughton, Monty Python, Maira Kalman, Pénélope Bagieu, Maaike Hartjes, Rebecca Green, Posy Simmonds, Philip Glass, Fairfield Porter, David Hockney, Gemma Correll, Oliver Jeffers, Sarah Millican… amongst others.

I regularly promote work of other artists because I genuinely love their work, not because I’ve been asked to. So, only out of free will 🙂

You can find a big list of tools I use on this page. If I don’t know you personally, I’m less likely to disclose which companies or partners I work with.