Judy Watson
Judy Watson is an artist, writer and illustrator of picture books and junior fiction, living and working on Bunurong Land in a studio overlooking the Upper Sweetwater Creek.
Judy grew up in an outdoorsy veterinary family, passionate about animals, art and books. She worked as a veterinary nurse while studying literature and art history at Melbourne University before travelling overseas. There she worked in a London theatre and painted in a garret in Brixton. After returning to Australia in 1995 she worked in revegetation and Landcare, whilst developing a graphic design business and found her way into children’s book illustration.
Judy’s work often features animals, and people’s close relationship with them, along with a touch of the theatre. She takes an experimental approach to new book projects, allowing ideas to cross-pollinate with her fine art practice, and often incorporates mixed media techniques, using both computer and analogue elements in her finished work.
Judy’s illustration work has received awards including the Prime Minister’s Literary award in 2012 for her picture book Goodnight, Mice! with Frances Watts, a CBCA Eve Pownall Award short-listing for her non-fiction picture book Searching for Cicadas with Lesley Gibbes, and several CBCA notables. Leonard Doesn’t Dancewas selected by the International Youth Library for inclusion in the White Ravens Catalogue 2020. Judy was awarded the inaugural Mary Wilson Fellowship by the May Gibbs Children’s Literature Trust and undertook her Fellowship in Adelaide in July, 2024.
Judy’s latest books as illustrator are Hazel’s Treehouse with author Zanni Louise (Walker Books, 2024), and Jo the NO with author Kyle Mewburn (Dirt Lane Press, 2025). She is currently writing a middle grade verse novel and illustrating her own picture book text.