SCBWI Israel Illustrator of the Month

Avi Blyer is an animator, illustrator, character designer, storyboard artist and an animation lecturer. Born in 1975, he began his career in 1995 at Israel's largest animation studio, progressing from trainee to Lead Animator. Over the years, he has held roles such as Supervising Animator and Art Director for various TV productions, advertising agencies, and internet companies. Since 2017, Avi has been working as an illustrator and a comic book artist, contributing to bestselling books such as ‘When Grandpa Elijah was Just a Kid’ , ‘Princess Avigail and the Emotions Factory’, and others."

Miri Leshem-Pelly is an author-illustrator of 17 children’s books, most of them about nature. Her book Chloe’s Nature Journal (2023, Creston Books) won the Blueberry Honor Award for nature books. Her books have been published in Israel and in the USA and translated to many languages. Miri is SCBWI Regional Advisor Emerita. She is represented by Olswanger literary agency in the USA.

I am an illustrator and a science teacher. I find that in both my passions I can show people the wonder that I see in world around me, either real or imagined. I love to experiment with traditional techniques, mixing material such as pencils, pastels, gouache and graphite. This exploration informs my illustrations, where I mostly combine pencil drawings with digital color. I had an opportunity to illustrate for a historical museum, where my work is used for public outreach and education.

Maya Gonen is an illustrator, graphic designer, and multi-disciplinary artist. She studied photography, co-founded an artists' collective, established a shop for handmade products, and is always eager to embark on new creative adventures. She lives with her partner, who is a photographer and artist. Together, they raise a dog, chickens, and two children who are her greatest inspiration.

Hello, I'm Raz Shomrat Aviram, an illustrator and graphic designer. I also teach yoga, and I find a strong connection between these two fields. Both express the essence of movement in space, and together, they are essential to my creative journey.

A children's book illustrator and Bezalel graduate, El-Ad says his deafness shapes his visual world, letting him communicate through his illustrations. He explores the human experience through art, telling his story as a person, a partner, a father, and a creator. He is the creator of the documentary film How to Sign Love (Docaviv 2017) and the graphic novel Between and Between. He's 47 years old, lives in Tel Aviv in a relationship with a hearing man with whom he has two children. El-Ad believes in the importance of recognizing human diversity and educating for tolerance. He invites you to join him on the journey through his illustrations, discovering the world from a new and unique perspective.

Ever since Meirav was a child, she has loved painting and drawing, exploring art all around her. Now, she has finally gained the confidence to share her illustrations with the world. With her handmade illustrations, Meirav believes in walking gently in the world of colors and pretty things like flowers and using her art to depict the good in the world. Meirav lives in Shilo, Israel (just like her last name!), surrounded by a beautiful landscape, her husband, and their seven children, whom she’s raising with a deep appreciation for color and art. In her free time, she loves to read, learn new things, visit museums - and most of all breathe in nature and feel gratitude for all she has.

Shirley is a freelance illustrator with over 90 published picture books. With a BA in Art and Education from Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design and an MA in Education, she currently serves as the Illustrator Coordinator for SCBWI Israel. Early in her career, she was honored with a two-year research scholarship from Kyushu University to explore Japanese children's book illustration. She is currently developing my own stories as a writer-illustrator, and hopes to find a home for them in the publishing world soon.

Meytal Ofer has been making paper cuts since 2002, when she created a silhouette installation in which she illustrated her grandmother's memories of Germany from the 1930s and 1940s. Since then, her art has often addressed the subject of personal and collective memory, as do her workshops. ​ Working in paper cuts requires great precision and breathability. This takes planning, but also allows space for improvisation and surprise. In her workshops, participants are always amazed at the beauty they can create in such simple ways.

Niyati Froind is an award-winning picture-book illustrator, a graduate of Shenkar College of Design (Summa Cum Laude) and Liora Grossman's Meayrimim illustration school. She's passionate about emotional storytelling, using color to bring characters and narratives to life. Her illustrations stand out for their vivid colors, attention to detail, and whimsical style, bringing a touch of magic to the children's books she illustrates.

Galia Luz is a a freelance Illustrator and a graphic designer from Tel Aviv. She has over a decade's experience in graphic design, specializing in branding and in marketing. As an iIlustrator, she focuses mostly on greeting cards and illustrations for children's toys, books, and anything else to do with kids :) Past design and illustration clients include: Perion-smilebox, Liveperson, Wellb, Skechit, IDC-Israel ,Batsheva dance company-Israel, Jerusalem Cinematheque - Israel

Rani Bar-Segev is a writer and illustrator based in Miami. While primarily a digital artist, she occasionally incorporates traditional methods into her work. Her art has been featured in exhibitions and studios in Miami and children's books. Rani's true passion lies in writing and illustrating her own ideas, aimed at both children and adults. Contact her at [email protected].

Sari Eran-Herskovitz is an artist and art therapist. She paints using watercolor, ink and digital media, and says she's inspired by people around her, animals, music and dance. She hopes her art will leave viewers with the space to dive into, imagine, and create their own stories. She believes in the ability of art to connect people, and loves creative collaborations between different art forms. Besides illustrating, she enjoys improvising in music and dance. Get in touch with her at: [email protected]

Shalhevetya Zis illustrates children's books, cards and games, magazines, textbooks; she also creates classic animation, designs household items, teaches drawing and more. Shalhevetya says, "I create from the heart and soul, and adapt each project to the perfect style for the type of content." She uses a range of techniques including digital painting, water colors, ink, acrylic, and colored pencils and is always looking to expand her repertoire of media and techniques. With a bachelor's degree in multidisciplinary art and graphic design and a background in classical animation studies at the Israel College of Animation, she's constantly looking to learn and expand her skills. Visit Shalhevetya at https://www.shalhevetya-illustration.com/

Sophia Vincent Guy is a published illustrator and a pattern designer with a background in architecture. Since 2015 she has drawn a series of holiday guides for PJ Library including A PJ Library Family Haggadah. She developed all the initial patterns for the designer playmat company House of Noa, and worked on a number of self published books. Her illustrations have been published by Ten Speed Press in 2021, Busy Hands Books in 2022 and Candlewick Press due in Spring 2024. Sophia works both digitally and traditionally drawing details in watercolour, pencil and ink. She is represented by Danielle Svetcov from Levine, Greenberg, Rostan Literary Agency. Come visit her on Instagram @sophia_vincent_guy and on her website www.sophiavincentguy.com.

Varda Livney grew up in the United States and now lives with her family on Kibbutz Gezer, between the baseball field and the dairy barn. She can hear the crack of the bat and smell the cows while she draws. She has illustrated and authored a number of children's books.

Libi Axelrod is an illustrator in mixed media, combining watercolor pencils and digital art.