Illustrator Caroline Keys

Caroline Keys is an illustrator based in Ballarat, Australia. She grew up in South Africa and wanted to be an artist from the time she could hold a crayon. After studying graphic design, she cut her teeth as an illustrator working on readers and textbooks for children in rural African schools. Currently, her work is a lot easier compared to in those days when she used old house paint (because she couldn’t afford to buy acrylics) that would dry in the African heat before she’d even finished painting. She would have to pay her brother to pose for her and would head to the library constantly to use the town’s coin-operated internet for resources. Now, after close to 20 years of living in Australia, she sits in the comfort of her studio with a high-speed internet connection, all the watercolours, inks and gouache she could have ever dreamed of and 3 children available to bribe with chocolate at a moment’s notice.