Colour Portfolio
I love to work with bright and carefully chosen colour. I like to use colour with purpose and meaning. I normally create my linework first with lots of texture and detail. I enjoy the contrast of then applying loose washes of colour.
Black and White Portfolio
I adore linework. I use a dip pen and ink to build up texture and tone.
Hedge Lion
By Robyn Wilson-Owen
2023 Bologna Illustrators Exhibition Finalist.
“Wilson-Owen offers a sensitive take on the idea of expressing and managing big emotions. Skilled use of fine-lined drawings is further enhanced by judicious use of color…Roaring good naptime fare.” - Kirkus Reviews
“The intricately detailed pen-and-ink drawings highlight the gentle story and call for study.” - Booklist
“A really lovely story with a unique and engaging illustration style. Introduces the concepts of patience, exploring our differences and helping a friend to grow, but more than any of this it is just a whimsical story offering welcome escapism.” - Peters Books
Discover your inner-roar with Ida, and your inner kindness with Hedge Lion! Ida sees Hedge Lion every day on her walk around town. Hedge Lion wants everyone to think he's a hedge. Nobody's scared of hedges. But Ida is brave, she notices things that other people don't, and she's not fooled. She knows Hedge Lion is a lion, she just needs to help him find his roar... Along the way, Ida learns to be patient and kind, and Hedge Lion learns to be brave and confident.
Published Feb ‘23 in the UK and March ‘23 in the US.
Close Your Eyes
By Robyn Wilson-Owen
Sweet dreams with this beautifully illustrated bedtime book that explores what we see when we shut our eyes to sleep.
It's time for bed. It's time to close your eyes. What do you see if you close them tight? Do you see colours, bright and light?
It's time for bed, and a group of adorable toddlers are getting ready to settle down for the night. But what happens when they close their eyes? What do they see - pictures flickering by? Maybe a cuddly bear, or stars in the sky? And will they drift back home in their dreams to their warm bed?
Newcomer Robyn Wilson-Owen has created a lovely, lyrical picture book to lull little ones to sleep.
Bloom
By Anne Booth and Robyn Wilson-Owen
Featured in The Guardian as one of the best picture books, and in The Sunday Times as children's book of the week. Longlisted for the SPARK book awards 2021.
”Wilson-Owen’s delicate illustrations are the perfect accompaniment to Booth’s poetic text” - Imogen Russell-Williams, The Guardian
”The artwork is just beautiful and uses colour very cleverly to help tell the story” - Just Imagine Story Centre Blog
”Robyn Wilson-Owen’s illustrations are a treat” - mamafilz.com
There was once a beautiful flower and a little girl who loved it. She talked to it every morning on her way to school. The owner of the flower shouted at her. The next day, the flower did not open. The angry man didn't understand. He tried watering it. He tried giving it shade and he tried talking to it. He told it how wonderful he was, how important his job was and how lonely he felt. But it still refused to open. So, he asked the little girl. "Why don't you tell it how wonderful it is and how much you love it?" she said. As he did so, his own heart filled with love. And the flower bloomed.
No Longer Alone
By Joseph Coelho and Robyn Wilson-Owen
Longlisted for the UKLA awards 2020. Selected as a 2020 ‘Read for Empathy’ book.
“Robyn Wilson-Owen captures the inherent turmoil and tenderness in the tale with her beautifully textured illustrations of a family whose loss is palpable.” - Red Reading Hub
”Crosshatching is used to such emotional effect” - Book Wagon
“Robyn Wilson-Owen’s gentle, diverse, adorable illustrations follow the journey of the young girl’s illustrations so well.” - Mammafilz.com
”Gorgeous artwork” - Whispering Stories
This touching picture book subtly deals with big emotions such as loss, with an uplifting and hopeful message about being yourself and the importance of family and talking about worries.
Told through the voice of a little girl who is labelled as quiet and shy, No Longer Alone follows her tumult of emotions as she navigates the world around her. But when she finally shares her feelings and tells her Dad all the things that are worrying her, she no longer feels so alone.
Joseph's warm, authentic voice offers an insightful take on the way children feel and how they perceive the world and it's perfectly complimented by gorgeous artwork from talented new illustrator, Robyn Wilson-Owen.
Sketchbook
All my work starts in my sketchbook. I draw from life, I search for characters in old paintings and on tv, I try to capture my children as they move wildly, I record story ideas and shopping lists.
My sketchbook is the most important part of the process.