My name is Sam Weerawardane and I’m a picture book, editorial and comic illustrator.

I love illustrating character-filled, uplifting narratives for both children and those who are young at heart. I currently use a mix of traditional media like watercolour and ink for my picture book work, and switch to digital brushes on a tablet when working on more graphic, editorial pieces.

I have illustrated two picture books: ‘Reha to the Rescue’ (2016) by Deshan Tennekoon and ‘The Ant Who Walked to The Edge of The World’ (2025) by Booker Prize-winning author Shehan Karunatilaka. I am also a World Illustration Awards 2024 Longlisted Artist for the book cover of my MA Project, Jungle of the Jungle. Read more about that on the AOI website here.

My favourite things to draw are plants, people and animals - especially dogs. During 2025 I raised over £400 for local animal shelters and rescues through an independent pet portraits initiative, and went on to raise another £430+ in an emergency fund for Cyclone Ditwah relief for both people and animals - you can read about it here.

I hold a BA (Hons) Graphic Design from Northumbria University, and an MA in Illustration at Falmouth University with Distinction (PG-D). Feel free to reach out to me or follow my work at any of the links below:

Sketchbook: Instagram.com/3mongrels
Writing: Substack
Email: samweerawardane@gmail.com