Illustration

Amealia Wharmby

A small person stands before a massive, mythical bird with outstretched wings, creating a surreal and dramatic scene.

Illustration to accompany the poem “Vultures” by Mary Oliver

Hi! I’m Amealia, an illustrator from the Peak District. Growing up in the countryside, the natural world has had a large impact on my visual language. My work often plays with concepts of folklore, memory and human identity.

Colour and texture are an important part in my work as I find it shapes the atmosphere found in my drawings.


Throughout the course I have found myself coming back to narrative storytelling. I have a strong interest in depicting stories and people that may have been left behind in history.

In the last year I feel I have established myself as a painter, although at the beginning of projects my ideas always start out of sketchbooks and through observational work.

An open book titled "Birds" featuring an illustration of a white bird with a long beak on a dark background, resting on a white surface.
Open book on a white surface, featuring a poem on the left and an illustration of a person flying among birds on the right.
Colorful illustrations of camping scenes: tents in a field, people dining outside a tent, and hikers walking with backpacks and a dog.
A person holds a vibrant, floral-patterned scarf with green, pink, and purple designs in front of a wooden wall and greenery.
Intricate illustration of magpies perched on intertwined branches, surrounding nests with eggs, showcasing detailed natural elements.
Two horses with flowing manes trot through a snowy landscape, their backs turned, as snowflakes fall gently around them.
Illustration of a cloaked figure with an owl face, extending a hand. The cloak has intricate patterns, and the scene appears mystical and eerie.
Book cover for a speculative poetry collection of bird poems by Mary Oliver Illustration to accompany the poem “Wild Geese” by Mary Oliver Graphic novel page about the memories I have from an annual family camping trip Peak district wildflower pattern design, shown here on a scarf Leporello of the magpie rhyme “One for sorrow, Two for mirth, Three for a funeral, Four for a birth, Five for heaven, Six for hell, Seven for the devil himself.” Graphic novel page based on “The Snow Child” by Angela Carter Aquatint etching, part of a series of sequential images depicting the myth of “Arachne” from Ovid’s “Metamorphoses”