Ulla Saar is an illustrator and the director of foreign relations for Estonian Children's Literature Centre. She graduated from the Estonian Academy of Arts in product design, and is currently working as a designer. Her first illustrated book, Lift, immediately received widespread recognition, and was listed in the 2014 White Ravens catalogue. Since then, every one of her books has gained international attention. Saar practices a contemporary, design-like approach to book illustration: her spirited and playful art is often more a part of the book’s overall design than free-standing pictures.

I started illustrating books from about the age of three, when many of my children’s books at home acquired new designs, mostly in a rather abstract form. A short break happened in the meantime, during which I dreamed about becoming a geologist, instead. Back then, one of my favorite books was Anatoly Chlenov’s Geology in Pictures – inspired by it, I started putting together my own personal rock collection. Over time, it became clear that field didn’t suit me, and I turned back to art.

I try to proceed more from context in my works – whether it is some fragment of text that has been haunting me, a text I am presently illustrating, or else something that eludes me at first and demands more concentration from the viewer, hopefully resulting in questions and motivating me to seek answers.

Pencils and I have a long history together that may contain blood, sweat, and tears, but we’ve come a long way and we know each other through and through. By now, we get along swimmingly. When I work on a book, I try to proceed from the text and catch the tone of it in my drawings; to support and elevate it rather than compete with it. That’s why all the books I’ve illustrated look different – to me, a technique is just a tool that I execute to create a good book.

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulla_Saar