Hello! I'm Erzsi, a self-taught illustrator from Hungary based in Vienna, Austria with my German partner and our two kids.
I have always had a strong urge to create with my hands, but being also an avid reader and thoroughly fascinated by literature and stories in all forms, I went on to study philology at university and ended up with two MA's in contemporary Latin American and English literature. For several years during university and after graduation I was teaching English and Spanish in language schools, as well as working first as an assistant at the Museum of Applied Arts in Budapest, then as project coordinator for different education NGOs.
I kept doing evening classes in life drawing, linocut printing, as well as tapestry weaving, then in 2018, after the birth of our second child I started a small business called böje, making prints, tapestry and handwoven jewelry (you can find it here: www.boejestudio.com)- and this was also the time when I started drawing again in sketchbooks on an almost daily basis. Having discovered that it is actually the narrative that I enjoy most in illustration, in 2025 I took the Picture Book Illustration course by the Good Ship Illustration which gave me a push to finally channel my drawing practice and put together a portfolio for my illustrations.
I work primarily with traditional media including linocut printing, stamps, watercolour, gouache and coloured pencils, combined with digital editing. I enjoy drawing the world around me, particularly people, with all their quirks and peculiarities- the sketchbooks I keep filling with life drawing and drawing on location are a constant source of inspiration for my illustrations.
Being a beginner at publishing, my portfolio contains mostly personal work. My prints appeared several times in the print challenge gallery of the Pressing Matters magazine (Issues 22, 32 and 34) and I illustrated the book cover for the edited volume Collective Memory of Economic Crises and Transformations, published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2026.
Thank you for visiting my website, and feel free to contact me with any questions at erzsiraczillo@gmail.com