Anil Tortop

Anil Tortop was born and raised in Turkiye. She moved to Australia in early 2011 and has been trying to get used to the local eight-legged house intruders and slithering visitors to her garden ever since.

Anil studied fine arts in high school and animation at university. She started illustrating children’s books in 2008 after being encouraged by an art director friend to give it a try. That “try” resulted in a quick career change, and she has since been drawn away from her passion for animation as her relationship with children’s books has become more serious. Since then, she has illustrated more than 70 books, mainly in Australia, followed by Turkiye.

With a background in animation, her work often features many moving characters. Body language and facial expressions are at the centre of her art. She enjoys adopting slightly different styles to convey the mood of each book. With a fondness for the “undo” button, she primarily works digitally to create professional work.

Some of the publishers she has illustrated for include Albert Street Publishing (Allen & Unwin), Scholastic Australia, Lothian (Hachette), Little Hare (Hardie Grant), and Affirm Press. Some of the books she has illustrated are:

Rock Dogs by Sally Barns, Affirm Press

Pigasus by Zanni Louise, Little Hare

Bat vs Poss by Alexa Moses, Hachette (CBCA Book of the Year Awards 2020 – shortlisted)

Leaping Lola by Tracey Hawkins, New Frontier Publishing (CBCA Book of the Year Awards 2020 – nominated)

Tippy and Jellybean by Sophie Cunningham, Albert Street Publishing

Flipper and Finnegan by Sophie Cunningham, Albert Street Publishing

A First Time for Everything by Tiffiny Hall and Ed Kavalee, Albert Street Publishing

Anil also provides illustrations, including covers, for a bimonthly Turkish children’s magazine called Young Researchers (Araştırmacı Çocuk) since its first issue in 2013. In addition, she enjoys creating books for self-published authors. In their small home studio at Springfield Lakes Queensland, Anil and her husband play  “Children’s Booksmithing” at Tadaa Book — at least when they are not playing hide and seek with their little daughters.