Once Upon a Line by Pauline Visser

Drawings waiting to be coloured in.

I draw by hand, in ink, on paper. Mostly inspiration from life. Nothing is finished until somebody else picks up a pencil or a crayon.

A hand-drawn line illustration of flowers, vines, and butterflies, by Pauline Visser
Colour it in
Pauline Visser at her drawing table

Who is drawing these

I have been drawing for as long as I can remember.

I've always loved drawing and painting, and I've tried every medium going. Ink line drawings are the one that's finally stuck. I tried illustrating children's books for a while too, and loved it. That's still something I'd like to do more of one day.

I sketch everything in pencil first, one page at a time, on plain white paper. Once I've finalised the picture, I go over it in black fine liner and rub out the pencil underneath. Then I add all sorts of details ad lib on the final picture. Most of what I draw comes from nature, the plants and scenery I find on my walks, though sometimes I just let my imagination go and see what turns up.

Pauline

The first book

Forty-eight drawings, and the first of them are being made into a book.

Forty-eight drawings exist so far. The first book will be a small, focused set of them, not all forty-eight at once, chosen once Pauline's had a chance to sit with the finished pieces and see what belongs together. A second, simpler book follows for younger hands.