Mariaan Du PlooyMariaan du Plooy was born in 1973 and grew up in Cape Town, South Africa. Drawing has always been part of her life and as a child she remembers that she would always seek out books at the library based on the cover art especially the work of F. Lategn whose work she greatly admired. Although she did not follow her dream to become a book illustrator after school, she continued to draw and paint for family and friends. It was not until she started a learning to paint course by South African artist Leonie e Brown in 2012 that she realised that through hard work she can still accomplish some of her childhood dreams. She is now a part time fine artist who mainly paints in oils using a pallet knife to build up layers. However, doing a book illustration was still on her bucket list. So, when Natalie Knox asked her to do the illustrations for her book she could not pass on this opportunity. Although I have done a commission here and there, this is my first book illustration, which brought me as much joy as I thought it would. She illustrates with water colour pencils and paint on water colour paper giving her work a traditional feel. Read More Read Less