Hungarian illustrator Susan Batori fills her artwork with humor and personality that make even the simplest scene feel like a story waiting to unfold. Her expressive animal characters are charmingly imperfect, endlessly curious, and often caught in wonderfully ridiculous situations. Based in Budapest, Susan studied graphic design at the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts before working as an art director at DDB Advertising Agency. Eventually, she realized that drawing hilarious characters was far more enjoyable and shifted her attention to children’s books. She has worked as a freelance illustrator since the early 2010s and has contributed to numerous publications, including Dan Brown’s Wild Symphony, a New York Times bestselling picture book that she describes as one of the most memorable and meaningful projects of her career.
Although her finished illustrations are rich in color, texture, and playful details, Susan’s process begins with something much simpler. She gathers inspiration and sketches her characters as loose blobs, circles, and lines, gradually developing them into funny squirrels, dogs, and other expressive creatures. She works digitally in Photoshop and considers the sketching stage the most important part of the process because it establishes the characters’ personalities and the book’s atmosphere. Her artistic influences include Gustav Klimt, Alphonse Mucha, character designer Carter Goodrich, and the humorous illustrations of Hungarian artist Ferenc Sajdik.
Below, we’ve gathered a collection of Susan’s delightful animal illustrations, so scroll down to explore her colorful world, vote for your favorite creations, and tell us in the comments which charming character captured your heart.
More info: Instagram
Image credits: susanbatori
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