We're excited to share a special Earth Day studio tour with the illustrator of Loop de Loop, Roozeboos! Loop de Loop is a vibrant nonfiction picture book about how circular systems can transform our planet. Meet the artist who helped bring this picture book to life! 

What are your ideal working conditions? Do you listen to music, or do you need silence to work? Do you work in daylight, or are you a night owl? 

I’m a total morning person, that’s when I feel most productive. Walking to my studio in the sunshine with my dog is honestly one of my favorite parts of the day! I have my own workspace in a big shared building called De Keilewerf in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. It’s home to all kinds of creatives, from ceramicists to woodworkers. It’s such a warm, supportive community—people are always helping each other out, and we often have lunch together in the garden outside. I feel incredibly lucky to have a space like this outside my home.

Two things I absolutely need to create: coffee and music! I usually listen to indie pop, folk or poetic Dutch songs. And if a tune is especially catchy, I might even squeeze in a little dance during a coffee break.

Describe your creative process. How do you begin? What tools do you use? 

I usually start by experimenting in my sketchbook to explore which colors and materials might suit the project. I love this stage, there’s still so much to discover! For example, when I made a small collage of a sunflower in my sketchbook, I immediately knew it would become a key visual element in the book.

Next, I move on to sketching the characters and other important elements. When I’m figuring out the layout of a page, I like to work on tiny pieces of loose paper that I can cut up and rearrange easily to test different compositions.

For the final artwork in Loop de Loop, I used a mix of gouache, crayons, markers, colored pencils and a touch of digital editing. I like working on large sheets of paper so I can add lots of lush, little details.

What are your favorite things about your studio?

My number one favorite studio companion is our rescue dog Mila. She’s been with my boyfriend and me for two years now, and we’ve loved every second of it! She grew up on the streets in Serbia and was adopted by a Dutch family, but when they could no longer care for her, she came to live with us. She’s very chill and loves sleeping, cuddling and eating carrots.

Some of my most treasured possessions are my travel sketchbooks, filled with memories from around the world. Last year, my boyfriend and I traveled through Southeast Asia to Indonesia, Singapore and Vietnam. This drawing was made in Ubud, Bali.

Another favorite is my collection of little trinkets scattered around the studio. They don’t serve any purpose other than to make me smile. This tiny taxi cab, for instance, came from New York, where I installed a window display at a wonderful children’s bookstore in Manhattan two years ago.