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An illustration of tiny people playing on giant, pale body parts against a pink background. Figures climb and lounge on a large head, a hand and a forearm that serve as playground equipment.
An illustration of tiny people playing on giant, pale body parts against a pink background. Figures climb and lounge on a large head, a hand and a forearm that serve as playground equipment.

Lily Snowden-Fine's lovingly layered illustrations

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Date
28 November 2016

Lily Snowden-Fine’s surname mirrors her fine, fine illustration work. A second year student at OCAD university in Toronto, the illustrator has developed a charming portfolio of heart-warming and pleasant drawings. As an artist, Lily also “moves between paintings, jewellery, animation and reheating tea several times before remembering to drink it all”.

Lily’s style is honest; each of the illustrations on her website are refined but still appear as if they could have been scanned straight from her sketchbook. A consistent medium used throughout Lily’s work is colourful sketches, with pencil marks layered on top of one another to add texture to her pieces.

This is a technique best demonstrated in Parasite an illustration that intermixes monochrome pencil sketches against a saturated pink background that the illustrator balances delicately with tiny characters exploring a playground. Another, The Painter pushes Lily’s capabilities further, using a mix of mediums painting on top of an image to add context and hilarity. Lily is an illustrator who creates sweet work with thoughtful tendencies that ultimately make for a clever portfolio.

A person sits in a studio, painting a portrait of a figure on a canvas. The painting is a stylised illustration with a pale, rounded figure and pink cheeks.
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Lily Snowden-Fine

An illustration of a person in a cowboy hat and orange textured shirt standing over a fallen animal. A large, red, translucent shape is laid over the scene, mirroring the form of the animal. In the background, a small house and a bare tree sit under a dark night sky with a full moon.
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Lily Snowden-Fine

An illustration of a classroom where children sit at desks, focused on their writing. In the foreground, a person in a blue shirt leans over their paper while a person in a red and white striped shirt looks on.
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Lily Snowden-Fine

A painting of a person wearing a blue skirt, their chest bare and their face replaced by a postage stamp. They hold a pair of blue knickers in one hand. The scene is framed by a red curtain and a grey patterned background, overlaid with a white “Via Air Mail - Par Avion” border.
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Lily Snowden-Fine

An illustration of a tall, orange figure standing before an open fridge in a red kitchen. The fridge is filled with neatly arranged, stylised food, casting a bright white light across the floor.
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Lily Snowden-Fine

An abstract illustration of interlocking orange and peach shapes on a pale blue background. The forms are filled with fine, hand-drawn lines and punctuated by white semi-circles.
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Lily Snowden-Fine

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About the Author

Lucy Bourton

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Lucy (she/her) was part of the It’s Nice That team from 2016–2025, first joining as a staff writer after graduating from Chelsea College of Art with a degree in Graphic Design Communication, eventually becoming a senior editor on our editorial team, and most recently at Insights, a research-driven department with It’s Nice That.

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