Jessica Lanan | Author and Illustrator

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Color Illustrations

For individual galleries and more information about each book, please visit the books page.

Watercolor illustration by Jessica Lanan from 'Jumper: A Day in the Life of a Backyard Jumping Spider' Showing a tiny jumping spider looking nervous as it walks on the dirt beneath large garden leaves. In the foreground are two mushrooms and decaying leaves with ants crawling on them. A flying insect is visible in the distance.

Watercolor illustration by Jessica Lanan from 'Jumper: A Day in the Life of a Backyard Jumping Spider' Showing a girl in a sun dress jumping off a fence in four frames. In the distance a man in a hat waves at her. Below is part of an illustration showing two stop-motion frames of a jumping spider jumping off a leaf.

Watercolor illustration by Jessica Lanan from 'Jumper: A Day in the Life of a Backyard Jumping Spider' showing a closeup of the face of a jumping spider. Four large eyes are visible.

Watercolor illustration by Jessica Lanan from 'The Lost Package' Showing a little girl sitting on her bed in a pink bedroom drawing on a cardboard box with a red marker.

Watercolor illustration by Jessica Lanan from 'The Lost Package' Showing a truck driving down a road in pre-dawn light with one door open and a package flying out of the back.

Watercolor illustration by Jessica Lanan from 'The Lost Package' Showing a cross-section of a post office with customers waiting to send packages, a mailroom where packages are sorted, and a loading area with mail trucks.

Brown-skinned girl wearing yellow skirt and green tank top standing on tip-toes to put a letter in a black mailbox

Watercolor llustration from the title page of 'The Fisherman and the Whale' showing a small fishing boat on a rough sea of blue and gray.

Vertical spread from 'The Fisherman and the Whale' showing a cross-section of water with the whale trapped in fishing lines while the fisherman dives to cut the ropes loose.

Watercolor illustration from 'The Fisherman and the Whale' showing a happy whale swimming and diving while a man tumbles in the water and a boat bobs above the surface.

Watercolor illustration from 'The Fisherman and the Whale' showing a father and son standing at the end of a small dock looking out at water and islands and mountains partially hidden by mist.

Photograph of interior spread in the picture book 'The Fisherman and the Whale' showing a watercolor closeup image of a human eye on one side and a whale's eye on the facing page.

Watercolor illustration from the picture book 'The Fisherman and the Whale' showing a large humpback whale breaching out of the ocean in front of a gold and orange sunset shy with a man and boy waving from their boat in the foreground.

Detail of a watercolor illustration from 'Finding Narnia' of young C.S. Lewis (Jack) reading in a chair while an imagiary viking stands behind him.

Watercolor illustration of Narnia from 'Finding Narnia' of a snowy forest with a faun standing under an umbrella next to a lamp-post.

Photograph detail of watercolor map illustration from the interior of 'Finding Narnia' showing the lands of Narnia and a detail of the lion, Aslan's face.

Watercolor illustration from 'Finding Narnia' of a lion standing on a rocky precipice with a distant valley and dawn clouds behind.

Watercolor illustration from 'Finding Narnia' showing two boys in a dusty, cluttered attic opening the door to an old wooden wardrobe.

Watercolor illustration from interior of 'Finding Narnia' showing the White Witch riding through a snowy forest in a sleigh drawn by two reindeer, while two beavers look on from the foreground.

Watercolor illustration of the front entryway of the Boulder Bookstore

Watercolor illustration from the picture book 'Just Right' of the milky way galaxy.

Detail from watercolor illustration 'Just Right' showing a girl standing at the edge of an opening in the museum floor with molten lava inside.

Photogrraph of watercolor illustration form picture book 'Just Right' showing a family looking up at a large model of the Kepler space telescope. Labels indicate different parts of the telescope.

Watercolor detail from picture book 'Just Right' showing an African-American family of four walking toward a space exhibit inside a museum.

Watercolor illustration from 'Just Right' showing a hot sun with a planet orbiting very close by. In the foreground stands a girl who is indicating that she is very, very hot.

Watercolor Illustration from 'Just Right' showing a family sitting together a bench on a hill at night, while a young girl stands beside a telescope. In the background, we see a night vista with a sky filled by the stars of the milky way.

Copyright © Jessica Lanan
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Watercolor illustration by Jessica Lanan from 'Jumper: A Day in the Life of a Backyard Jumping Spider' Showing a tiny jumping spider looking nervous as it walks on the dirt beneath large garden leaves. In the foreground are two mushrooms and decaying leaves with ants crawling on them. A flying insect is visible in the distance.

The Understory
From Jumper: A Day in the Life of a Backyard Jumping Spider
Roaring Brook, 2023

Watercolor illustration by Jessica Lanan from 'Jumper: A Day in the Life of a Backyard Jumping Spider' Showing a girl in a sun dress jumping off a fence in four frames. In the distance a man in a hat waves at her. Below is part of an illustration showing two stop-motion frames of a jumping spider jumping off a leaf.

How Jumper Jumps
From Jumper: A Day in the Life of a Backyard Jumping Spider
Roaring Brook, 2023

As Small as a Bean
From Jumper: A Day in the Life of a Backyard Jumping Spider
Roaring Brook, 2023

Watercolor illustration by Jessica Lanan from 'Jumper: A Day in the Life of a Backyard Jumping Spider' showing a closeup of the face of a jumping spider. Four large eyes are visible.

Jumper
From Jumper: A Day in the Life of a Backyard Jumping Spider
Roaring Brook, 2023

Watercolor illustration by Jessica Lanan from 'The Lost Package' Showing a little girl sitting on her bed in a pink bedroom drawing on a cardboard box with a red marker.

Packing the Box
From The Lost Package
Roaring Brook, 2021

Watercolor illustration by Jessica Lanan from 'The Lost Package' Showing a truck driving down a road in pre-dawn light with one door open and a package flying out of the back.

"It flew"
From The Lost Package
Roaring Brook, 2021

Watercolor illustration by Jessica Lanan from 'The Lost Package' Showing a cross-section of a post office with customers waiting to send packages, a mailroom where packages are sorted, and a loading area with mail trucks.

At the Post Office
From The Lost Package
Roaring Brook, 2021

Brown-skinned girl wearing yellow skirt and green tank top standing on tip-toes to put a letter in a black mailbox

Mailbox #5
Made for the #KidlitArtSurprise campaign to support independent bookstores.
Personal work, 2020

Watercolor llustration from the title page of 'The Fisherman and the Whale' showing a small fishing boat on a rough sea of blue and gray.

The Pastora
From The Fisherman and the Whale
Simon & Schuster, 2019

Vertical spread from 'The Fisherman and the Whale' showing a cross-section of water with the whale trapped in fishing lines while the fisherman dives to cut the ropes loose.

Cutting the Ropes
From The Fisherman and the Whale
Simon & Schuster, 2019

Watercolor illustration from 'The Fisherman and the Whale' showing a happy whale swimming and diving while a man tumbles in the water and a boat bobs above the surface.

Freedom
From The Fisherman and the Whale
Simon & Schuster, 2019

Watercolor illustration from 'The Fisherman and the Whale' showing a father and son standing at the end of a small dock looking out at water and islands and mountains partially hidden by mist.

Morning on the Dock
From The Fisherman and the Whale
Simon & Schuster, 2019

Photograph of interior spread in the picture book 'The Fisherman and the Whale' showing a watercolor closeup image of a human eye on one side and a whale's eye on the facing page.

Reflections
From The Fisherman and the Whale
Simon & Schuster, 2019

Watercolor illustration from the picture book 'The Fisherman and the Whale' showing a large humpback whale breaching out of the ocean in front of a gold and orange sunset shy with a man and boy waving from their boat in the foreground.

The Breach
From The Fisherman and the Whale
Simon & Schuster, 2019

Detail of a watercolor illustration from 'Finding Narnia' of young C.S. Lewis (Jack) reading in a chair while an imagiary viking stands behind him.

Jack Reading
From Finding Narnia: The Story of C.S. Lewis and his Brother
Roaring Brook Press, 2019

Watercolor illustration of Narnia from 'Finding Narnia' of a snowy forest with a faun standing under an umbrella next to a lamp-post.

The Lamp-post
From Finding Narnia: The Story of C.S. Lewis and his Brother
Roaring Brook Press, 2019

Photograph detail of watercolor map illustration from the interior of 'Finding Narnia' showing the lands of Narnia and a detail of the lion, Aslan's face.

Map of Narnia
From Finding Narnia: The Story of C.S. Lewis and his Brother
Roaring Brook Press, 2019

Watercolor illustration from 'Finding Narnia' of a lion standing on a rocky precipice with a distant valley and dawn clouds behind.

Aslan
From Finding Narnia: The Story of C.S. Lewis and his Brother
Roaring Brook Press, 2019

Watercolor illustration from 'Finding Narnia' showing two boys in a dusty, cluttered attic opening the door to an old wooden wardrobe.

Finding the Wardrobe
From Finding Narnia: The Story of C.S. Lewis and his Brother
Roaring Brook Press, 2019

Watercolor illustration from interior of 'Finding Narnia' showing the White Witch riding through a snowy forest in a sleigh drawn by two reindeer, while two beavers look on from the foreground.

The White Witch
From Finding Narnia: The Story of C.S. Lewis and his Brother
Roaring Brook Press, 2019

Watercolor illustration of the front entryway of the Boulder Bookstore

Boulder Bookstoree
Promotion to support independent bookstores
Personal work, 2020

Watercolor illustration from the picture book 'Just Right' of the milky way galaxy.

The Milky Way Galaxy
From Just Right: Searching for the Goldilocks Planet
Roaring Brook Press, 2019

Detail from watercolor illustration 'Just Right' showing a girl standing at the edge of an opening in the museum floor with molten lava inside.

Earth's Molten Core
From Just Right: Searching for the Goldilocks Planet
Roaring Brook Press, 2019

Photogrraph of watercolor illustration form picture book 'Just Right' showing a family looking up at a large model of the Kepler space telescope. Labels indicate different parts of the telescope.

Earth and Space Telescopes
From Just Right: Searching for the Goldilocks Planet
Roaring Brook Press, 2019

Watercolor detail from picture book 'Just Right' showing an African-American family of four walking toward a space exhibit inside a museum.

Exploring The Museum
From Just Right: Searching for the Goldilocks Planet
Roaring Brook Press, 2019

Watercolor illustration from 'Just Right' showing a hot sun with a planet orbiting very close by. In the foreground stands a girl who is indicating that she is very, very hot.

Hot Jupiter (WASP 12b)
From Just Right: Searching for the Goldilocks Planet
Roaring Brook Press, 2019

Watercolor Illustration from 'Just Right' showing a family sitting together a bench on a hill at night, while a young girl stands beside a telescope. In the background, we see a night vista with a sky filled by the stars of the milky way.

Night Sky
From Just Right: Searching for the Goldilocks Planet
Roaring Brook Press, 2019

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