Savannah, Georgia · Children's book illustrator
Nia Calhoun illustrates picture books and designs characters in deep, luminous colour — lamplight amber, twilight purple, the green-dark of a Southern evening.
Selected work
Interiors, covers, characters and wall-sized pieces — all drawn and painted by hand, then finished for print.
Interior art for a night-time story: a lamplit kitchen, two wide-awake children, and a jar of fireflies on the table.
A young explorer and her stubborn dog, drawn from every angle until they feel like someone you know.
Repeat pattern work for licensing — magnolias, moths and lamplight, built to tile across stationery and textiles.
A wall-sized study of a Savannah evening, scaled so children can walk right up to the water line.
The studio
Nia Calhoun is a children's book illustrator and character designer working from Savannah, Georgia. Her work starts with the moment a character decides something — and ends in deep, luminous colour: twilight purples, lamplight amber, the green-dark of a Southern summer evening.
She works directly with authors, publishers, art directors and licensing partners, from first thumbnail to print-ready files.
We talk through the manuscript, the age range, and the feeling you want on the final spread.
Tiny thumbnails first, to find the rhythm of the page turns before anything is painted.
Expression sheets and turnarounds, so your character holds up on every page.
Full-colour artwork in watercolour and gouache, delivered print-ready with layered files for your designer.
— Nia
How we can work together
Every project begins with a conversation about the story. Tell me who it is for and what you want a reader to feel, and we will find the right shape for it.
Interior spreads and cover art for picture books, from thumbnail sketches through to print-ready, hand-painted finals.
Character sheets, expression studies and turnarounds for books, licensed properties and animation pitches.
Wall-sized illustration for children's rooms, clinics, schools and reading spaces, designed on site here in Savannah.
Repeat patterns and standalone artwork for stationery, textiles and gift goods, licensed for retail.
Studio workshops and classroom visits on picture book making — story structure, character, and how a spread is built. Come with a manuscript or a blank sketchbook and leave with pages.
Start a project
Send a short note with the age range, roughly when you need the art, and what the story is really about. That is enough to begin.
[email protected] · Savannah, Georgia