About

Ellie Middleton Illustrator painting in the mountains on location. She holds a paintbrush in one hand and has her sketchbook on her lap. Surrounded by the Italian Dolomites mountains

I Take my sketchbook everywhere I go

recording places as I experience them

Ellie is sat with a pencil and sketchbook in hand, looking at the camera

Artist & Illustrator

I’m an Amsterdam-based multimedia artist and illustrator specialising in travel, landscape, and visual storytelling.

My work captures the essence of places, architecture, people, and remote natural landscapes through many different mediums. I’m not shy of using many layers, textures and lots of scribbles in my work!

My practice includes private illustration commissions and professionally commissioned projects, alongside my independent travel-based illustration work. I also love to share my joy of making; you’ll find a series of creative workshops run by me on my workshop page.

I’ve been drawing and painting since childhood, but after a long gap I picked up my practice in adult life whilst recovering from a brain injury. Since then creativity has played a huge role in my life, not only for the joy of making but also for the sense of calm and equilibrium it brings.

In 2021 I studied Visual Communication at Kingston University, London. Along side illustration I am a behavioural researcher for global brands.

When I’m not in Amsterdam you’ll find me camping in quieter parts of the Netherlands (believe it or not, there are some!) or hiking in the mountains in remote places in the world with my sketchbook in hand.

Get in touch

Follow my journey on Instagram

I spent this afternoon catching up on @emmacarlisle_ patreon drawing session where everyone painted/ drew the light changing as dusk falls on this beautiful landscape (this gorgeous film was made by @_helengriffiths ) Each painting took 17 minutes.
Raiding the kitchen and bathroom cupboards for creative inspriation! I love the bright bold colour combos of packaging around the house. They make wonderful painting subjects and somehow slicing them into parts makes them even more satisfying 😁 #
I don't want this challenge to end! Day 7 of 7 #3materialsdrawingchallenge organised this week by @naomitippingillustrator @charlotte.durance and @kathryn_boyt Thank you so much for organising such a brilliant challenge Charlotte, Naomi and Kat
Day 6 out of 7 I've joined the #3materialsdrawingchallenge organised by @kathryn_boyt @charlotte.durance and @naomitippingillustrator Each day draw from life using only 3 materials. I initially painted the plant behind Thom's head (where it act
Day 4 of the #3materialsdrawingchallenge Organised by @naomitippingillustrator @kathryn_boyt and @charlotte.durance Each day you must select no more than 3 materials and draw for 30 mins I've enjoyed the time pressure as it forces you to create
Day 3 of the #3materialsdrawingchallenge I'm feeling pushed out of my comfort zone now! I never use this pink ink or this light unison pastel. I grabbed them as I left the house and didn't think about how they'd work together. My Pith sketchbook so
Day 2 of #3materialsdrawingchallenge Yesterday was World Gay Pride in Amsterdam 🌈 A perfect place to soak up the amazing energy of the city and record it! I was gutted to miss a lot of the day because I had to work until late, but the time I d
Day 1 of the #3materialsdrawingchallenge has begun! If you've not heard about it, @naomitippingillustrator charlotte.durance and @kathryn_boyt have for many years organised this yearly challenge! Running over the next 7 days, many artists over the
More Italy...This time Florence! In prep for the #3materialsdrawingchallenge I have been playing with materials! Do you ever go backwards when you try making a painting more than once? Maybe its too familiar (I made it from a photo I took in Italy
More Italy! This was a beautiful street in Parma I didnt get a chance to paint on location so I made it later that night. I adore the reds and all the colours of the buildings in this area of Italy. A mix of gouache, pen, neo colour 2. The scale i
How do you capture the deep shadows of Italian streets? There is such contrast in light and when I made my first few paintings away I didn't get it right. They were too washed out and the contrast wasn't high enough. Cue Art Graf! My new fave materi