Jesse White
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jessewhiteillustration.com
Jesse White
@jessewhiteillustration.com
250 followers 120 following 96 posts
🌙 Illustrator, author, & muralist in Durham, NC
🌿 Brave Like Fireweed (UNSQ)
🐚 Rep’d by Paige Terlip at Andrea Brown Literary Agency
bio.site/jessewhiteillustration
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jessewhiteillustration.com
It’s #bannedbooksweek 📚 Kids are people and all people deserve to learn from a rich, diverse range of reading material. If you’re interested in joining Authors Against Book Bans, please feel free to DM me! #kidlit #kidlitart
A black and white illustration of a young girl in a big chair, reading a book in front of an open window. A logo for Authors Against Book Bans is in the right bottom corner, beside bold text that says “Books open windows.”
September 26, 2024 at 2:07 PM
jessewhiteillustration.com
A recent #illustration for PineStraw & O'Henry Mag, to accompany Katherine Min's The Music Lover. I wanted to give this piece a kind of star-crossed lovers vibe, with a sprinkle of angst and mystery. Lots of fun to work on and an honor to illustrate one of Min's pieces. #editorialillustration #art
An illustration of two profiles - a woman on the left and a man on the right - with a violin and bow in between them. They are looking directly into each other's eyes. Several different objects are arranged around them, including some Monopoly pieces, a satsuma mandarin, and a spilled bottle of vitamins. A border of oak leaves surrounds them. The limited color palette used is dark plum, mint, peach, bright red, bright pink, and a light olive green.
August 13, 2024 at 2:37 PM
jessewhiteillustration.com
August #sketchbook prompt drop! I’ve been enjoying a bit of a pace change recently (as in, slowing downnn!) so haven’t been as present on social media but am looking forward to digging into these for sure ✏️💕 #art
August 6, 2024 at 2:00 PM
jessewhiteillustration.com
⭐ Brave Like Fireweed received a SLJ Starred Review! Hooray!

They state that BLF is "a thoughtful offering for SEL units as well as an upbeat lesson on resiliency in nature; this is also a great choice for sharing one-on-one".

You can pre-order now at the link in my bio 🌿🎒✨

#kidlit #picturebook
An illustration of a little girl kneeling on a beach, holding a big shell up to her ear. She has blue pajamas on and is wearing a bright red backpack and boots. An excerpt from the School Library Journal review is added to the bottom left of the illustration: "A lyrical exploration of resilience, finding examples, and inspiration in the natural world."
July 24, 2024 at 2:27 PM
jessewhiteillustration.com
If you see this, post your moon art 🌕🌖🌗

*Posts one of my seventeen thousand illustrations that has a moon in it 🙃
#kidlitart #kidlit #art
A black and white illustration of a girl reading a book in a big chair. She’s sitting in front of a big window, showing the night sky outside. There’s a moon and lots of stars. A fox is curled on the top of the chair.
July 20, 2024 at 3:34 PM
jessewhiteillustration.com
This week’s #sketchbook spread for FOLLOW. The colors didn’t come out exactly like I had imagined but I had lots of fun making it. I love when sketchbook work gives me a little reminder to focus on the process rather than the product 🌿🪶🎒
#kidlitart #art
An open sketchbook on a wooden table showing a drawing of a girl walking through grass and trees. She is wearing a bright red backpack and looking over her shoulder. A big bird flies across the foreground while smaller bird shapes are visible in the distance.
July 19, 2024 at 2:04 PM
jessewhiteillustration.com
Any excuse to post a cat 😊 One of my fave spots from last year, for Kazoo Magazine 💕
#kidlitart #kidlit #cat
An illustration of a fluffy cat sitting on a yellow tile floor, looking up at someone’s hand holding a fish. The cat is a little grumpy looking.
July 19, 2024 at 1:26 AM
jessewhiteillustration.com
Maeve recently 💕
#cats #toebeans
A photo of my brown tabby lying on my lap in bed. The photo is focused on one back paw, with pink toe beans visible. Her front paw is curled over her face. A photo of my brown tabby sitting in the sun on top of a folded beige blanket. The blanket is on a cushioned window seat and a magnolia tree is visible through the window behind her.
July 18, 2024 at 9:48 PM
jessewhiteillustration.com
Monday morning #sketchbook! I think this one is finished 😊 On to FOLLOW tomorrow 🖍️
#art #kidlitart
An open sketchbook is on a wooden table, with four wax pastel crayons and a mug of coffee beside it. The sketchbook drawing shows large, bright abstract florals with a red fox underneath. The fox has its nose pointed up to a moon. An illustrated list of sketchbook prompts, with the hand lettered title Along a Path of Layered Leaves, Sketchbook Prompts for July. The prompts are BURIED (July 1-5), ST (July 8-12), FOLLOW (July 15-19), WHOOSH (July 22-26), and SUMMER (July 29-August 2).
July 15, 2024 at 2:04 PM
jessewhiteillustration.com
Hi #kidlitartpostcard day! I'm an illustrator, author, and muralist specializing in #kidlit. Stories about fierce, independent girls and nature are at the top of my wishlist. I draw way too many owls! 🦉

Excited about #pb and #mg projects. Rep'd by @pterlip.bsky.social @andreabrownlit.bsky.social 💕
An illustration of a young girl reading at night, under a canopy of trees. A brown bunny is sleeping beside her and an owl perches above. Contact information for Jesse White is hand lettered in the margins: Jesse White - Represented by Paige Terlip of Andrea Brown Literary Agency - jessewhiteillustration.com
July 11, 2024 at 2:25 PM
jessewhiteillustration.com
The swallowtail butterfly chrysalises in our fennel have opened and I like to think this butterfly I saw today in the beebalm came from one! 🦋🌱✨
#gardening
A photograph of a brown, open butterfly chrysalis attached to a fennel plant A photograph of a brown, open butterfly chrysalis attached to a fennel plant A photograph of a swallowtail butterfly on pink beebalm A photograph of a swallowtail butterfly on pink beebalm
July 10, 2024 at 8:02 PM
jessewhiteillustration.com
Today’s #sketchbook progress 🫡 I was looking through old sketchbook photos yesterday and realized this little fox shows up quite frequently! She just works her way into a design without me even thinking about it. Do you have characters that have become friends like that? 💕
#art #kidlitart
A sketchbook spread of a design featuring large florals and plants, with a little red fox standing underneath them. The fox has its nose pointed at a moon.
July 10, 2024 at 1:36 PM
jessewhiteillustration.com
Happy #portfolioday y’all! My name is Jesse. I’m an illustrator, author, and muralist in NC. I love blending themes of imagination, adventure, and nature in my work. Owls, moons, and moths but make them magical!

Rep’d by @pterlip.bsky.social @andreabrownlit.bsky.social

💕jessewhiteillustration.com
An illustration of a little girl standing on a bright green stool, pouring water from a watering can into a huge blue pitcher with cloud patterns on it. The pitcher is full of colorful flowers and reaches high Andover her head. Her small dog looks up in interest! A black and white spot illustration of a young girl standing next to a large group of sunflowers. She is shielding her eyes and looking into the distance. Her backpack is by her feet. The illustration has a border made of different garden-related objects, with the hand lettered word LOST at the bottom. An illustration of an io moth, surrounded by wild blackberries. “IO MOTH” is hand lettered at the bottom right. A colorful mural in a studio space. The mural is made up of different animals and symbols, like a large owl, a sleeping fox, a cicada, and some animal bones. The owl has a speech bubble next to it, with the words ONWARD in bright pink.
July 9, 2024 at 3:50 PM
jessewhiteillustration.com
Today’s #sketchbook spread progress. I always forget but love rediscovering - wax pastels are so good for your soul ✨
#art #kidlitart
A sketchbook spread showing a wax pastel drawing of big florals with a small fox standing below them. The fox has its eyes closed and its nose is pointed up toward a round moon shape. Most of the lines are in pink, with some blue, olive green, and bright red texture and patterns filled in. The drawing is half finished. The sketchbook is open flat on a wooden table, with several wax pastels and a coffee mug next to it.
July 9, 2024 at 1:49 PM
jessewhiteillustration.com
It was a magic leaf day today. It was also sooo hot out. Only one of these things was fun 😅
A photo of a bright red leaf with green spots above the asphalt. My watch band and tattoo are visible on my arm. Shadows from a power line are visible at the top of the photo.
July 8, 2024 at 7:50 PM
jessewhiteillustration.com
The beginnings of this week’s sketchbook spread for STEM 🌷🌿🦊✨ Happy Monday, y’all!
A rough sketch of abstracted flower stems, leaves, and blooms in pink wax pastel. An outline of a fox is on the right page, among the florals. The sketchbook is spread out on a wooden table with the pink wax pastel, an X-Acto knife, a little box of pastel shavings, and an almost empty coffee mug. An illustrated list of sketchbook prompts for the month of July: BURIED (July 1-5), STEM (July 8-12), FOLLOW (July 15-19), WHOOSH (July 22-26), SUMMER (July 29-August 2).
July 8, 2024 at 2:08 PM
jessewhiteillustration.com
I went on a lovely vacation last week with my college besties and am mentally still in Mexico. So I'm a little late sharing July's sketchbook prompts BUT here they are! This is my first time posting my prompts here rather than on Instagram and it feels GREAT. (More info about these in the comments!)
An illustrated image of a list of sketchbook prompts for July. The hand lettered title says "Along a Path of Layered Leaves", with "Sketchbook Prompts for July" underneath that. The prompts are: BURIED for July 1-5, STEM for July 8-12, FOLLOW for July 15-19, WHOOSH for July 22-26, and SUMMER for July 29-August 2.
July 3, 2024 at 3:42 PM
jessewhiteillustration.com
Maeve earlier today. She’s such a vibe ☀️
A photo of my cat, a brown tabby, laying on her back on a mustard couch. All of her paws are stretched out and her pink tummy is showing!
July 2, 2024 at 10:15 PM
jessewhiteillustration.com
If you see this, quote reply with something summery from your portfolio! ☀️

#KidLitArt #art
A black and white illustration of a little girl with long braids pulling a huge, magical beet out of the ground. There are insects and bugs in the soil around the vegetables and the girl has a determined frown on her face.
June 22, 2024 at 2:42 AM
jessewhiteillustration.com
I think maybe these are swallowtail butterfly caterpillars?! I found quite a few in our fennel. So excited to watch them over the next couple weeks 😀 This is the first year I’ve seen them here!
June 21, 2024 at 7:01 PM
jessewhiteillustration.com
Hi! My name is Jesse - I'm an illustrator, author, and muralist creating whimsical, wonder-filled work that explores imagination and adventure. Heavily influenced by my experience growing up in rural NC, my art is often connected to the natural world in some way. Excited to build a community here ✨
June 18, 2024 at 1:54 PM