Elys grew up in a part of Sussex that consists almost entirely of trees and cows and she was named after a department store in Wimbledon. She's never let either of these things hold her back and Elys recently graduated with distinction from the MA in Children's Book Illustration at the Cambridge School of Art. Elys has been awarded second place in the Macmillan Prize and was also shortlisted for the Waterstone's 'Picture This'prize. Elys works predominately with ink, newfangled digital witchcraft and coloured pencils of which she is the proud owner of 178 but can never seem to find a sharpener. Based in Cambridge, when Elys is not drawing she grows cacti, collects pocket watches and spends altogether too much time in the company of other illustrators.