Leonie Bos • Handsome Frank • Home to the world's greatest illustrators

Illustration showcasing this artists portfolio

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Leonie Bos

Get to know Leonie.

Leonie Bos is a Dutch artist who creates beautiful imagery by combining pattern, texture, shadow, grids and geometry. Her portfolio focuses on the built world, exploring how architecture impacts our lives and how the spaces around us make us feel. Interiors, exteriors, inanimate objects, Leonie breathes life into her subject matter, bringing heart and warmth to cold steel, metal and brick.

Despite their analogue appearance, Leonie uses Procreate, Photoshop and SketchUp to create her images. Combing a limited colour palette of subtle shades and tones, with the layering of texture, the digital illustrations resemble screen prints, complete with the ‘happy accidents’ which that medium brings.

When she steps away from the computer, Leonie seeks inspiration in her home city Amsterdam. Filling countless sketchbooks with drawings of her urban surroundings. As she explains though “I'm not particularly interested in charming canals and historic houses, it's the overall atmosphere I find inspiring. I love how this city never stops to amaze me, just the things I see on my daily commute.”

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Leonie's Process

Initial sketch

As soon as an image comes to mind, Leonie will quickly sketch a rough composition, using 3D software to arrange the essential elements. Doing this, she can see pretty quickly how every element relates to each other. She will then use this as a ground layer and start the actual drawing.

Leonie's Process

Coloured visual

Choosing the right set of colours is essential, as they are all interrelated. The colour of the paper is a key feature and is determined by the particular part of the drawing. In this example, the pergola and its shadow seem to have been cut out. This choice affects all of the other colours. The palette is always limited as much as possible, with dark and light shades of one colour suggesting light and shade.

Leonie's Process

Final!

Adding organic shapes, solid colour blocks and a grainy texture makes the image come alive. Specific details are added to further illustrate the story and to give a certain atmosphere to the final artwork. Similar to the colour palette, the level of detail will be as limited as possible.

Want to commission Leonie?

Interested in working with Leonie Bos? If you've got a project in mind, drop us an email with some additional information. Generally it's helpful to see some of your initial sketches if you have them, plus some info about the brand and how you intend to use the illustrations. Also, what timings you're working to.

tom@handsomefrank.com

+44 (0)7740 334423

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Podcast.

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