Violet handwritten text logo in a playful font reading "Jo Hawkey Illustration".

From academic neuroscientist to writer-illustrator of quirky stories for children!

Have a look at some of my whimsical characters and creations here and feel free to get in touch! I’m currently looking for a publisher for my debut children’s book.

A pen and watercolour children's book style illustration of two foxes with glowing eyes and sharp teeth watching a tiny mouse stroll past holding a lantern and carrying a large sack of letters.
A hand-drawn young girl with braided hair and a determined expression holding a protest sign that reads "Protect the Moles!" with a graphic of a foot kicking a molehill crossed out.
An illustrated children's picture book pigeon character. She is jumping in the air flapping her wings excitedly with a silly expression on her face.
A children's book style illustration of an indigo starry night sky, with a large crescent moon with a soft yellow glow. Below, a violet-indigo elephant sits on a hill above the clouds, gazing up at the sky in wonder.
A young witch with green skin and curly black hair, wearing an oversized black hat and cloak. She holds a small oak branch with green leaves. Drawn in a children's book style with watercolour, pen and pencil, against a watercolour red background.
A whimsical watercolour children's book illustration of a pigeon with emerald and violet feathers around its neck, pink legs, and a pink beak, hopping against a white background.\
A purple, fluffy bird with small eyes and a yellow beak sitting inside a cracked yellow eggshell with broken pieces around it. Hand-drawn with watercolour and coloured pencils.
A children's book style illustration of a little pig in a very muddy blue raincoat and wellington boots is coming in from the garden, closing a door.
A children's book style illustration of a parent pig discovering muddy footprints in the entrance to the house. The little pig is in the other room in the background, watching with a guilty look from afar.

Personal Projects

  • A children's book style illustration of a mouse in a yellow raincoat with red glasses walking along a rainy street with an umbrella, reading a book as she walks. There are buildings in the background and people passing by in the street.

    Aunty Cecil

  • A children's book style illustration of two children dancing in a dark forest wearing masks, one in a witch costume, the other in a frilly shirt. Below them a rabbit peeks out from a hole and above ghosts in masks swirl in the air.

    Samhain masquerade

  • A children's book style illustration of a large mosquito-like creature with a human face and hands, emerging from a smoky violet background, looking down at a small child, who stands up bravely showing the monster her toy donkey as protection.

    "Who Are You?!"

  • A fantasy illustration of a small fairy with oak leaf wings and a mushroom hat standing in a forest clearing surrounded by a fairy ring of yellow mushrooms, holding a mushroom walking sticks, with tall trees and dense green foliage in the background.

    Mushroom Fairy

  • Watercolor illustration of Beatrix Potter as a child, surrounded by pets, sketching and watercolour painting in her room, with a window showing trees outside, and a separate scene of her in the woods observing mushrooms.

    Page from Beatrix Potter biography

  • A children's book style illustration of a toad dressed as a magical astrologer, sitting on a rock near a pond at night. The toad is teaching the tadpoles in the water, by opening a magical window to the sky, revealing a shiny moon and stars.

    The Toad Astrologer

  • A watercolour comic strip about a man swimming in a lake. He notices a bug struggling in the water, tries to help it by carrying it to the edge on his hand. This is too awkward so he places it on his head instead and swims the bug safely to the edge.

    Marlon and the Bug

  • Watercolour illustration of a cosy bedroom with two hedgehogs in bed. One sketches and the other reads, lit up by their bedside lamps; there are lots of irregularly placed frames with nature art on the wall above them.

    Cosy Hedgehogs

An illustrated children's picture book pigeon character jumping up in the air flapping her wings excitedly. She has a silly expression on her face.
Yellow text on black background reading "Pidgey-Doo!"

Pidgey-Doo is the story of a pigeon who loves to flap and skip and hop and coo, and sing her special song! But… only when she is alone in secret where no-one can hear. She’s too afraid to be herself around other pigeons. What happens when her secret place is discovered?

Pidgey-Doo is seeking a lovely publisher who can give her a home.

A children's book illustration of a pigeon character jumping in the air above dancing wildflowers. A watercolour rainbow flows behind her and a feather and a leaf float above her head. Sunbeams shine down on her through trees.
A children's book illustration of a pigeon meeting a child at sunset. The pigeon looks hopefully up at the child, who has scruffy hair and is wearing a red t-shirt and violet skirt, and is looking back down at the pigeon on the ground.
A whimsical watercolour children's book illustration of a pigeon with emerald and violet feathers around its neck, pink legs, and a pink beak, hopping against a white background.

Here are some pages from my sketchbook! I love drawing from life out and about, from memories, or just creating silly little characters from my head.

Sketchbook!

A watercolor illustration of a young child with large eyes and big blue hat, crouching on the ground, wearing purple overalls a yellow shirt and red shoes, looking at worms in the mud.
A pencil sketch of five children carrying very large backpacks and school supplies, walking in different directions. The drawing is titled 'La Rentrée!' and dated 01/09/2025.
A watercolour sketch depicts a peaceful lush green riverside area. In the foreground a young girl runs around her dad while her grandpa chases her playfully. In the background, a person with a pink hat sits reading, and a rower passes on the river.
A pen sketch of three child characters: one sitting on a flying leaf with a scared expression, another stands with a happy expression, with large glasses and stripy shirt. The last has her hair in two buns and blows dandelion seeds.
Pen and crayon sketch of two children captivated by a water fountain with pink lights on the ground. One has curly hair and is crouching reaching for the water, the other is wearing a helmet and is bent over the fountain staring at it intensely.
A gouache children's book style illustration of a yellow seahorse. It has orange spots and a large eye, and its tail is wrapped around some strands of seaweed growing from the seabed.
A watercolour sketch of a child climbing on a pile of large rocks, with their grandma searching a crevice underneath the rocks. There are two green lizards one the rocks seemingly hiding from them.
A colourful pencil cartoon of a beaver. The first panels shows the beaver making tea, looking deeply into the cup and smelling the aromas. The final illustration is the beaver amazed by the entire universe within the cup - stars, planets, oceans etc.

Who is Jo? What do they want?

After gaining a PhD and working as a neuroscientist, I decided to switch it up and follow my heart, chasing my childhood dream of becoming an illustrator. Now, I bring my scientific curiosity and attention to detail into crafting whimsical, heartfelt visuals with a focus on children’s books.

My work is inspired by the wonder of childhood, the natural world, and the power of imagination. I love exploring scale, how we can feel simultaneously very big and very small within our world; how we can stand up to those who are big and stand up for those who are small. As a queer trans artist, I love to work towards empowering children to be themselves and know they are perfect with all their differences, weirdnesses and quirks.

I really enjoy working the old-fashioned way, with watercolours, pencils and ink on paper. But I also make use of digital methods when required. Last year I completed the Good Ship Illustration picture book course to improve my knowledge of the industry.

I’m currently seeking representation and publishing opportunities as I build my debut children's book project. Outside of children’s illustration, I’m also open to collaborations in other areas, from science communication to book cover design, as my practice evolves.

A person with curly hair wearing a pink jacket and graphic t-shirt, smiling and looking to the left, with an outdoor gathering and string lights in the background during sunset.
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jo.hawkey.illustration@gmail.com

Elo wakes up in the night sometimes feeling a terrifying loneliness... but she has a solution! 🐘💜✨ I made this little one a while ago, starting with the last page, then I constructed a little story for her, and now I thought I’d add a coupl
Because you’re never too old for a good old-fashioned Easter egg hunt! 🥚 🐣 We woke up on Easter Sunday morning to find all of the Armenian red eggs that @charleedatos had prepared had been stolen! Luckily a riddling fairy had seen the whole
One day pig and rabbit decided they didn’t want to stay on the ground anymore; they wanted to soar! 🏳️‍⚧️ There was simply too much nonsense down there. Too many people telling them they had to be a certain way, to look normal, and givin
The other day I was thinking about how sloths only poo once a month. 🦥 💩 And how when they do, they climb all the way down to the ground (which is very rare and energetically costly for a sloth), risking being caught by predators. Why not just dr
It’s spring! It’s been feeling very springy here. Lots of spring vibes in the air, can you feel them? 🌷 🌸🌻🌼 Here are some spring-related things, you know, plants and baby animals and such, things you might see at springtime. That&rsq
If you have ever been to Rennes, you may have been welcomed by this weird wobbly mangled aluminium horse statue. It’s 4 metres tall and stands right next to the main entrance to the train station. Apparently it was inspired by Morvarc’h,
Some weird little quirky creatures and peoples saying things. I just drew them kind of randomly and thought about what they might be saying. Enjoying this colour palette and being more free with my watercolours! Who is your favourite? Do you relate
Your World Is Not As It Seems. These are a couple of pages of an idea I have been developing, which I hope will eventually be a graphic novel. I think I need to do some serious writing at some point because I have a lot of ideas for this but for now
Haven’t posted anything this week as I’ve mainly been focusing on my book project, “Pidgey-Doo” as well as some other projects and things and such. So I haven’t been on Instagram much, which I kind of love but also got t
A little story of a piglet and her muddy boots. 🐷 Paisley’s dads always tell her “when you come in from the garden, please remove your muddy boots on the doorstep, *before* entering the house”, as they are very house-proud and li
First time entering the World Illustration Awards! 🥳 The first slide was my favourite portfolio-building illustration I’ve made over the past year, of a little mouse on a mission to deliver a big sack of letters before the night is done and n

Let’s chat!

Reach out about a project, collaboration or just to say hello!