illustration of a girl dancing with maracas, standing on one leg and smiling

Margit van der Zwan

Hello! I’m an artist specialising in portraiture and children’s book illustration. I studied at Central Saint Martins College of Art (London, UK) & Arte Sotto un Tetto (Florence, Italy) and now work with art directors, editors and creatives, as well as conjuring up solo projects. My studio is in the North West of England, where I live in a house filled with paintbrushes and musical instruments.

My Work

Music and animals play a huge part in my life and are often a prominent theme in my work. I love incorporating rhythm and paws into my children’s picture books.  I’m the creator of QUARTET the composer card game. When I have spare time I really enjoy diving head-first into new creative avenues, such as my recent exhibition “All Made Up” (below). It was even on the TV!

Quartet: composer card game
Front cover of children's book I love my maracas with a red-haired girl in a yellow t-shirt and white trousers hanging upside down holding maracas on a blue background
children's book cover of a laughing cow dressed as a woman, an angry piano and a hedgehog. There is a pink hula hoop falling from the sky around text that reads Gordon and the flying piano Margit van der Zwan
illustration of kohlrabi on a pink background for food art
magazine cover shows Anna Meredith the composer on a blue background for JESTA smiling with artwork by Margit van der Zwan
concert programme for an opera by mozart called Cosi fan tutte, in bright colours with a peacock logo, illustration and design by Margit van der Zwan
Programme design for Mozart Requiem with illustration of the composer on an orange background
colour pencil drawing of toys watching a teddy dressed up as a conductor of an orchestra drawing by Margit van der Zwan

Shop

My newest book

I Love My Maracas Book

I Love My Maracas

My new book “I Love My Maracas” is available to buy now.

My Card Game

Exciting News!

my card game QUARTET was rated TOP PICK by The Telegraph!

poster to advertise art exhibition by Margit van der Zwan

For this exhibition I explored notions of identity and Curating the Self in the modern age. The exhibition comprised of portraits painted with the sitter’s own make-up. Coinciding with Art Walk Festival ’25, this was a perfect opportunity to do a live drawing event, where I made portraits of people who brought along their make-up for me to use as a painting medium to make their portraits. And it’s on TV! Click here for a link to a documentary about the exhibition.

 

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