Melanie de Jong My love for drawing started on an early age. Drawing and painting is in my DNA, from fatherʼs side they are all very talented. Love art, patterns, architecture, crafts and fashion trough the ages. In this digital era, i remain true to my pencil and paint, my thougt is that i can put more emotion into my work this way. I am always looking for an image that touches me, tells a story. My illustrations are diverse, my own style can be called quirky, i like to exaggerate and make the neck narrower and longer than reality. The eyes are often bigger and like to add a bit of drama and a melancholic feeling to it. Maybe because i love painters like Carlo Crivelli, Hans Holbein and Cuzco School, the way they portray women with these beautiful garments, jewelery and religious symbols. When i draw and paint i am the happiest. My world of imagination, color, images and fantasy ensures that i can create something that makes others happy. A priest once said to me: “you make something so beautiful, you are a storyteller”. I knew from the age of seven i wanted to be a Fashion Illustrator, and i have become one. So dreams do come true. Education Higher professional education: Fashion, Artemis Academy in Amsterdam, 2009-2011 Visual arts and design, Gerrit Rietveld academie in Amsterdam, 2005-2006 Notable Exhibitions Melanie de Jong at Acid-Gallery, “Fashion Illustration”, 11 Rue de la Collégiale 59000 Lille France, June 27- Oktober 2020 Media Publications Fida world wide/Dundas world, submitted an illustration for a Dundas illustration contest in collaboration with Fida World Online. And was selected among the last 12 candidates out of 700 plus submissions, April 2020 FWO (Fashion week online), appearance on their website with 5 illustrations and an article, January 2019