About

Hello! I’m Gillian, a Northern Irish illustrator, character designer and life drawing professor based in Ontario, Canada.

I have been illustrating picture books since 2017 after working in the animation industry as a character designer for a decade. My style is driven by gestural, dynamic characters with humour but also emotion.

I have been fortunate enough to work with several authors and publishers, including:

• Nellie Nutgraf , Epic! Creations (2018-2019)

• Kitty and Dragon, Epic! Creations (2018 - 2022)

• Peanut Goes For The Gold, Harper Collins (2020)

• Astronaut Girl, Penguin Workshop (2021)

• Ali and the Sea Stars, Harper Collins (2022)

• You’re My Little Legend, Hazy Dell Press (2022)

• Molly’s Tuxedo, Little Bee Books (2023)

My work has also been featured three time in Highlights Magazine.

I am represented by Christy Ewers at The Cat Agency. For illustration work please contact her: christy@catagencyinc.com

For Character Design Projects, please email me directly at gillianalexreid@gmail.com

I’m currently looking for new projects. I love to draw:

• Action

• Humour

• Sports

• Strong Girls

• Animals

In addition to illustrating children’s books, I was the Character Design Supervisor on Netflix series Hilda and I teach Life Drawing to animation students. You can see my life drawing work on instagram @gilliangestures

When I'm not drawing, you will find me at the movies, at the library, practising yoga or cuddling my cats, Frank ‘n’ Stein.

My favourite movies are Titanic, Interstellar, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Kung Fu Panda!