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Leonie Bos is an Amsterdam-based artist and illustrator who has forged her creative path by following instinct rather than rules. It all began when, self-taught, she learned HTML and entered the world of web design. After a few years spent creating graphics and a stint as art director at Sonoma Magazines, she understood that her true passion was illustration.
For a long time, architecture was her creative center. Influenced by her father, an architectural draftsman, Leonie found her foundation in the precision of lines and the solidity of structures, something that emerges in her early illustrations, filled with strict geometries and perfect perspectives.
Around 2022, something within her shifted. A period of intense emotion, tied to difficult personal experiences, led her to move from the rigid lines of buildings to the soft curves of bodies and feelings.
The first work from this new phase depicts a girl lying on a bed, holding a phone that seems about to slip from her hand: it represents the sweetness of falling asleep while listening to the voice of your loved one. The illustration, created for Filosofie Magazine, marks the beginning of a more intimate journey, where the artist begins to explore different themes, methods, and artistic approaches.
The creative process
Leonie’s illustrations appear to be painted with real pigments, but in reality they are born digitally. She uses Procreate, Photoshop, and SketchUp, the latter being essential for transforming ideas that previously remained only in her mind into images. Despite the digital technique, Leonie wants her works to retain the warmth and imperfections of manual labor: irregular brushstrokes, porous textures, vivid marks.
In recent years, she has returned to the materials she used during her time at the Maastricht Academy, particularly acrylic markers, and has rediscovered the pleasure of getting her hands dirty, In fact, “actually hearing and smelling my instruments immediately re-energized me!”. Thanks also to the support of her partner Joseph Jessen, she has rediscovered her love for painting and the freedom to experiment. The process always begins with a quick sketch, an idea captured instinctively that then evolves into a complete composition. Her palette is essential: a few colors, chosen to create plays of light and shadow.
Her works
In her bright studio, which she calls her “refuge,” Leonie draws scenes of everyday life: people reading, kissing, walking down the street.
Her illustrations have been featured in major international publications such as The New Yorker and The Guardian, for which she has created images related to themes such as cinema and middle age. She has also made covers for magazines such as Wallpaper* and Elle Decoration, where the dialogue between light, design, and aesthetic sensibility is central.
In 2025, the house of Hermès entrusted her with the creation of an illustration depicting the brand’s iconic accessories, a commission that consolidated her reputation as a versatile artist with an instantly recognizable style.
