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Mehar Creative Studio

Illustration for small humans and great big characters.

Mehar Creative Studio turns manuscripts into books children ask for again the next night.

See the booksStart a project
  • Award winning illustrator
  • Reedsy vetted
  • Twelve books illustrated

Hello there!

We are a children’s book illustration studio making warm, hand drawn worlds for authors and publishers around the world.

Published books

Children’s book illustration, from first sketch to print ready files.

A sneak peek

Cover of A Princess in Muddy Boots, a picture book about a farm girl who finds her kingdom outdoors.
Cover of The Boy With Many Hats, a rhyming picture book about imagination and pretend play.
Cover of Miri At The Farm, a picture book about a girl visiting her grandmother’s farm.
Cover of Trouble in Space, a Jim and Tom adventure about a flying garden seat and space junk.
Cover of Soft as a butterfly, a picture book about a boy living with Epidermolysis Bullosa.
Cover of Ezra the Emu: Feathered Dreams. A smiling emu in a red football jersey runs across a sunlit paddock with a ball under its wing.
Cover of Azlan Eats Like A Big Boy, a picture book about mealtimes and manners.
Cover of Little Star Luna. A smiling yellow star with rosy cheeks glows against a deep blue night sky.
Cover of Echoes From the Ice. A girl in a pink hat and orange parka stands among penguins on the Antarctic ice.
Cover of Please Don’t Feed the Animals. A girl and her mother crouch on a beach beside a sea lion pup.
Cover of Azlan Goes to Dreamland, a magical bedtime story.
Cover of Zahava Gets New Shoes. A delighted girl in a yellow polka dot dress twirls in new purple trainers, surrounded by sparkles.
Cover of A Princess in Muddy Boots, a picture book about a farm girl who finds her kingdom outdoors.
Cover of The Boy With Many Hats, a rhyming picture book about imagination and pretend play.
Cover of Miri At The Farm, a picture book about a girl visiting her grandmother’s farm.
Cover of Trouble in Space, a Jim and Tom adventure about a flying garden seat and space junk.
Cover of Soft as a butterfly, a picture book about a boy living with Epidermolysis Bullosa.
Cover of Ezra the Emu: Feathered Dreams. A smiling emu in a red football jersey runs across a sunlit paddock with a ball under its wing.
Cover of Azlan Eats Like A Big Boy, a picture book about mealtimes and manners.
Cover of Little Star Luna. A smiling yellow star with rosy cheeks glows against a deep blue night sky.
Cover of Echoes From the Ice. A girl in a pink hat and orange parka stands among penguins on the Antarctic ice.
Cover of Please Don’t Feed the Animals. A girl and her mother crouch on a beach beside a sea lion pup.
Cover of Azlan Goes to Dreamland, a magical bedtime story.
Cover of Zahava Gets New Shoes. A delighted girl in a yellow polka dot dress twirls in new purple trainers, surrounded by sparkles.

What we make

  • Children’s Books

    Covers, full interiors, endpapers and character sheets. We work to publisher schedules and print specifications, and we are comfortable with a proper sign off process.

  • Character Design

    Casts, mascots and expression sheets, built to survive being scaled, animated and handed to somebody else.

  • Caricatures

    Affectionate portraits for gifts, events and editorial, drawn from photographs. One face or a whole department.

  • Editorial

    Illustration for magazines, campaigns and packaging, including the jobs where the deadline is tomorrow.

How it works

Four steps, no surprises.

  1. 01

    Brief

    A call, then a written brief we both sign off. Scope, schedule and usage agreed before a pencil moves.

  2. 02

    Roughs

    Loose thumbnails for composition and pacing. This is where changes are cheap, so this is where we make them.

  3. 03

    Colour

    Clean linework, colour and detailed rendering, with author reviews as it progresses. You see everything before it is finished.

  4. 04

    Delivery

    Print ready and web ready files, layered sources on request, and a licence that says exactly what you can do with them.

How long it takes →What to send with your manuscript →

The person behind the work

Mehar Afroz

About the studio

Mehar Creative Studio is the practice of Mehar Afroz, a published children’s book illustrator and visual storyteller. We work with authors and publishers around the world, turning manuscripts into immersive visual stories. Our illustration is warm, expressive and hand drawn, taking its cues from childhood wonder, the natural world and the small emotional beats that carry a story. With a background in visual communication design, the studio takes a book the whole way, from the first character sketches through to print ready files.

Worked with

  • Hadleigh Burch
  • Tom Ramey
  • Kirsten Stratton
  • Chantelle G.
  • Josiah Alchin
  • Nicole Hayes
  • Emma Everhart
  • Korin O’Hara
  • Wendi Pillars
  • Sanja Juric
  • Little Wild Press
  • Mackleberry Press
  • Fly Up High Adventures
  • Bridge Publisher
Currently taking bookings

Questions

Your questions, answered plainly.

  • Around three months from signed brief to print ready files: one month on character design and roughs, one on final artwork, one on finalisation and print files. There is a month by month breakdown at /timeline. Single illustrations and caricatures are normally one to two weeks.

  • A 24 page picture book is usually $1,500 to $2,000, and a 32 page picture book $2,500 to $3,000, covering the cover, full interior illustration, character design and print ready files. Everything else is quoted individually on scope and usage rather than an hourly rate. There is no charge for a quote.

  • We can work within an established brand palette and art direction, and we will happily adapt line and colour to sit alongside artwork you already have. We do not imitate another living illustrator’s style.

  • The studio retains copyright and licences the artwork to you for the uses agreed in writing. Full buy outs are available and priced separately. Working files can be included on request.

  • Yes, regularly. We will be honest with you early about what a book actually costs to illustrate properly, and the work can be staged across a schedule that suits your budget.

  • Email us with roughly what you have in mind, the deadline and the budget range. There is a full checklist of what to send at /what-to-send. If it is a fit we will send a written brief to agree before any work begins.

Have a project in mind? Let’s bring it to life.

Tell us what you need, when you need it and roughly what the budget is. We reply to every enquiry, usually within two working days.

hello@meharafroze.com

Or hire the studio through

Available to hire on Reedsy