Laura Diehl was born in 1983 in Norman, Oklahoma. The first decade of her life was a time of magic: hedge forts, rolley-polley wars, and fairies. As a young child she loved to draw and papered the dining room walls with her crayon drawings many times over.

She discovered digital art in 1998, when she got her first art tablet and PC. By her junior year in high school, she spent the majority of her free time creating digital paintings and studying art on her own, dreaming of a career in illustration.

In May 2006, she graduated from James Madison University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Painting (Magna Cum Laude) and was unleashed upon the world.

She has since worked with numerous clients around the globe as a freelance illustrator, creating everything from book covers to concept art. Throughout all of her work runs her distinctive style: magical color, glowing light sources, and a touch (or perhaps a fat dollop) of the fantastical.

She creates her artwork with a Wacom Intuos (12x18) digital art tablet and a combination of Photoshop, Painter, and ArtRage. Allowing for a hand painted look married with the unlimited potential of digital paint and canvas.

Laura now lives in a small town in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. When she's not illustrating, she likes to devour the public library, watch Miyazaki films, bake ultimate-double chocolate cookies, and play old-school RPGs. She is also in the process of planning, writing, and illustrating her own children’s fantasy picture books.

Laura's is always looking for new and interesting projects. See her Résumé for a list of previous clients and Hire Me page for further information on commissioning artwork. Get in touch via her Contact page or e-mail.

She is a member of SCBWI, The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.

Assorted Likes and Influences:

Illustrators: Keith Parkinson, Michael Whelan, Todd Lockwood, Donato Giancola, John Howe, Chris Van Allsburg, Barbara Berger, Mary Grandpre, Graeme Base

Music: Casey Stratton, Savage Garden, Within Temptation, Sarah McLachlan, Enigma, Era, Sarah Brightman, They Might Be Giants, Tori Amos, Gregorian Masters of Chant, Lisbeth Scott, Yasunori Mitsuda, Nobuo Uematsu, Vertical Horizon, David Hodges, Third Day, Se7en, Amanda Marshall, Vanilla Ninja, The Calling, Shawn Colvin, Paula Cole

Games: Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger, Xenogears, Secret of Mana, Ico, Kingdom Hearts, Vagrant Story, Earthbound, Tetris Attack, 1080 Snowboarding

Authors: Dan Simmons, Terry Goodkind, Douglas Adams, Julian May, Philip Pullman, Tad Williams, C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Frank Herbert, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Madeleine L'Engle, Anne McCaffrey, Mercedes Lackey, Tamora Pierce, Andre Norton

Movies: The Snowman, Spirited Away, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Howl’s Moving Castle, Grave of the Fireflies, Lord of the Rings, Narnia, Harry Potter, Phantom of the Opera, Surf Ninjas, Monty Python, Ted and Bill’s Excellent Adventure, Goodburger, The Stupids

Portfolio | Resume | Hire Me | Shop | Biography | News | Contact | Links