ABOUT JESSICHENLIU
Art By @jessichenliu on Instagram
Jessica Liu (she/her) is a freelance illustrator based in San Francisco, US. Throughout middle and high school, she spent all her free time reading and drawing. She enjoyed drawing fan art of the fantasy books she grew up reading, and this fed her obsession with her favorite characters and worlds.
Illustration is her second career (computer science being her first), and she worked in software engineering for ten years before making the switch to illustration. She mainly uses Photoshop to create her vibrant art.
“I find a lot of similarities between engineering and illustration. Both require creativity and problem-solving. Drawing is harder, though.”
Do you have a favorite piece of art you've created to date? What makes it special to you?
In 2023, I started a personal series inspired by the Chinese zodiac, with each artwork illustrating a different family member with their zodiac animal. These illustrations were a big stylistic milestone for me. They helped me develop my current process and directly led to my first OwlCrate gig. I didn’t realize how special it would feel to see my brother and my cousins in these pieces, but now that’s my favorite thing about them.
JESSICHENLIU X OWLCRATE
Jessica Liu (@jessichenliu) is the artist behind:
- The exclusive end pages in the OwlCrate edition of Song of the Six Realms by Judy I. Lin, which was featured in the May 2024 ‘Traverse the Realms’ Young Adult Fantasy box.
- The exclusive end pages in the OwlCrate edition of A Forgery of Fate by Elizabeth Lim, which was featured in the June 2024 ‘A Brush With Destiny’ Young Adult Fantasy box.
- The exclusive end pages in the OwlCrate edition of The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong, which was featured in the December 2024 ‘Fortune’s Favor’ Adult Fantasy box.
- The bound-in character art pages (3 per book - along with @yewberries and @yasu.art.studio) in the OwlCrate Limited Editions of A Darker Shade of Magic, A Gathering of Shadows, and A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab.
- The exclusive foiled end pages in the OwlCrate edition of A Fate So Cold by Amanda Foody and C.L. Herma n, which was featured in the December 2025 ‘Change The Prophecy’ Young Adult Fantasy box.
“VE Schwab’s Shades of Magic interiors! I hadn’t read the series before, but the timing worked out so I could read the trilogy while I worked on the illustrations. Even if I’m only commissioned to draw one scene, it’s so much more fun for me if I can read the whole book first. I’m such a fanartist at heart. I love that feeling of recognition when you get the character design just right, and it finally matches who you’ve been picturing in your head.”
What are some of your favorite
books or authors?
The Realm of the Elderlings by Robin Hobb. My dream job would be to work on an illustrated edition of this series someday. Fitz, my boyy!! <3
