I used to draw a lot growing up and often got into trouble for drawing on walls and furniture. I knew when I finished school that I wanted to go into an artistic field, so I studied Graphic Design at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (then Cape Technikon), majoring in illustration. I graduated in 1995 and worked freelance illustrating textbooks for Maskew Miller, OUP and Juta.

I illustrated the cover and several inside pictures for Madiba Magic published by Tafelberg in 2002. Tell the Moon was published in 2005 and won the Vivian Wilkes award. It was also selected by IBBY as a white raven for that year.

Through my agent in the UK I illustrated Hush Little Lion, a lift-the-flap board book for DK Publishing, a series of Mother Goose board books for Igloo Books and Usborne’s Beginner’s Rainforests, a non-fiction book for young readers.

I like to use gouache for its flat, bright colours, and watercolours when I need a lighter style.

Natalie Hinrichsen - 2008