I want the passion and commitment of Sarah Watts. She has an obsession with illustration and swears that she'll do it forever or at least "until a shark eats her." It's obvious in her work how much she's done, on her website you'll find tons of illustrations created for posters, books and patterns (with and without drawn type). It's just endless really.



A former graduate of Ringling College of Art and Design, she spent years creating children images for a living, and then finally left the corporate world to pursue a full-time career as an independent illustrator. She illustrated her first book at the age of 23 for The Tilting House written by Tom Llewelyn (above).

While plenty of her commissioned work is in beautiful, vivid color, she'll mostly begin each one with a black and white drawing. Here's a glimpse into her sketchbook.