Neale Osborne

A freelance illustrator since 1992, I’m best known for my expressive pen-and-ink drawings ~ although I have also worked in a variety of graphic styles.

Over the past three decades, my pictures have appeared in publications such as the Times, Gramophone, the Daily Mail, TLS and Mojo, as well as in concert programmes for the BBC Proms, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the Mariinsky Opera.

There are also many years’ worth of work to be found in my various book projects, most notably my children’s novel ‘Lydia’s Tin Lid Drum’, published by Oxford University Press.

My portfolio often reflects a love of early cinema and classical music, and most recently I’ve written and illustrated articles for online quarterly Liner Notes (see my website for a selection of the page layouts).

A range of my images can also be licensed from Bridgeman Images picture library.

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Neale Osborne ‘Dies Irae, Dies Illa’Neale Osborne‘Dies Irae, Dies Illa’Illustration for ‘Le Grand Macabre’, the 1978 comic opera by György Ligeti, depicting the figure of death Nekrotzar with his lackey, town drunkard Piet the Pot; set in Brueghelland, I based my image on a painting by Flemish Renaissance artist Pieter Bruegel.
Published in 'BBC Music' magazine, 2011
View FolioCharacterHistoricalHorrorNaturePeopleHand DrawnInkPen and InkFantasyFigurativeFine ArtHand DrawnPainterlyPastichePen and Ink on PaperTraditional
Neale Osborne Evelyn WaughNeale OsborneEvelyn Waughcaricature of the English writer.
Published in the 'Daily Mail', 2016
View FolioHumourPortraitsPublishingHand DrawnInkPen and InkCaricatureEditorial IllustrationHand DrawnPen and Ink on Paper
Neale Osborne Sir Edward ElgarNeale OsborneSir Edward Elgarcaricature of the English composer.
Published in 'The Times', 2004
View FolioMusicPortraitsPublishingHand DrawnInkPen and InkCaricatureLikenessPen and Ink on PaperPortraitTraditional
Neale Osborne Henri DutilleuxNeale OsborneHenri DutilleuxCD cover caricature of the modern French composer for Chandos Records, 2022 View FolioMusicPackagingPortraitsHand DrawnInkPen and InkCaricatureHand DrawnPen and Ink on Paper
Neale Osborne Danilo KisNeale OsborneDanilo Kiscaricature of the Yugoslav-Serbian novelist.
This 2013 TLS commission was also later used by 'The New Statesman'
View FolioPortraitsPublishingInkPen and InkCaricatureEditorial IllustrationHand DrawnPainterlyPen and Ink on PaperPortrait
Neale Osborne Charles DickensNeale OsborneCharles Dickenscaricature of the English writer for his bicentenary.
'Times Literary Supplement' cover, 2012
View FolioCartoonPeoplePortraitsPublishingHand DrawnInkPen and InkCaricatureEditorialHand DrawnPainterlyPen and Ink on PaperPortrait
Neale Osborne ‘Painting the Roses red’Neale Osborne‘Painting the Roses red’Alice in the Queen of Hearts’ rose garden.
One of many 'Alice in Wonderland' designs for Whittard of Chelsea, for their 2006 ‘Mad Hatter’s Tea Party’ range
View FolioCartoonCharacterchildrenChildren's BookHumourPackagingbright coloursHand DrawnHand PaintedInkWatercolourChildren's IllustrationHand DrawnTraditionalwatercolour hand drawn.
Neale Osborne Virginia WoolfNeale OsborneVirginia Woolfcaricature of the British author for 'The Mail on Sunday', 2017 View FolioHistoricalHumourPeoplePortraitsInkPen and InkCaricatureEditorialEditorial IllustrationFigurativeHand DrawnLikenessPen and Ink on PaperPortraitTraditional
Neale Osborne vogue_pg-2013Neale Osbornevogue_pg-2013pair of models, for a 2013 'Italian Vogue' website article on the changing face of fashion illustration View FolioBeautyCartoonFashionHumourHand DrawnInkLinePen and InkCaricatureEditorialFigurativeHand DrawnPen and Ink on Paper
Neale Osborne operatic ValkyrieNeale Osborneoperatic ValkyrieWagnerian opera character Brünnhilde
‘singing’ on a storm-swept mountaintop.
BBC Proms programme, 2020
View FolioCartoonCharacterHistoricalHumourLandscapesMusicHand DrawnHand PaintedInkPen and InkWatercolourCaricatureEditorialEditorial IllustrationFantasyFigurativeHand DrawnPainterlyPen and Ink on PaperTraditionalwatercolour hand drawn.
Neale Osborne Sylvia Townsend WarnerNeale OsborneSylvia Townsend Warner2012 caricature commissioned by the ‘Times Literary Supplement’ View FolioPortraitsPublishingHand DrawnInkPen and InkCaricatureEditorialHand DrawnPen and Ink on PaperPortrait
Neale Osborne Robert HughesNeale OsborneRobert Hughesdrawing of the Australian art critic, 2010 View FolioFilm and TVPortraitsHand DrawnInkLinePen and InkCaricaturePortrait
Neale Osborne Primo LeviNeale OsbornePrimo Levithe Italian author of the Auschwitz concentration
camp memoir ‘Se questo è un Uomo.
For the 'Lebrecht Music + Arts' picture library, 2015
View FolioPortraitsHand DrawnInkLinePen and InkEditorial IllustrationHand DrawnPortrait
Neale Osborne Italo CalvinoNeale OsborneItalo Calvinopicture of the Italian author, for the 'Times Literary Supplement' to accompany a 2012 article about Calvino’s wartime memoirs and his time as a guard in the Italian army. View FolioHistoricalPortraitsPublishingHand DrawnHand PaintedInkPen and InkCaricatureEditorialEditorial IllustrationHand DrawnPainterlyPen and Ink on Paper
Neale Osborne Edward LearNeale OsborneEdward Learthis caricature of nonsense poet and illustrator Lear was drawn in a pastiche of his own style.
I added my own little limerick which was published in ‘Country Life’ magazine, 2012
View FolioAnimalCartoonHistoricalHumourPublishingHand DrawnInkLinePen and InkCaricatureChildren's bookEditorial IllustrationHand DrawnPen and Ink on Paper
Neale Osborne Marcel ProustNeale OsborneMarcel Proustvignette of the French novelist for ‘Le Scienze’ magazine, 2013 View FolioPortraitsHand DrawnInkPen and InkCaricatureEditorial IllustrationHand DrawnLikenessPen and Ink on PaperPortrait
Neale Osborne Nick CaveNeale OsborneNick Cavecaricature of the Australian rock musician.
Commissioned for the very first issue of 'Mojo - the Rock n Roll magazine’ in 1993
View FolioCartoonMusicBlack and whiteHand DrawnInkPen and InkBlack and WhiteCaricatureEditorialEditorial IllustrationHand DrawnPen and Ink on Paper
Neale Osborne Nikolai Gogol, 2006Neale OsborneNikolai Gogol, 2006 View FolioPortraitsHand DrawnHand PaintedInkPen and InkWatercolourCaricatureHand DrawnLikenessPainterlyPen and Ink on PaperPortrait
Neale Osborne Peter CookNeale OsbornePeter Cookcaricature of the English satirist and comedian, 2018 View FolioCartoonCharacterFilm and TVHumourPortraitsHand DrawnInkLinePen and InkCaricatureHand Drawn
Neale Osborne Charles IvesNeale OsborneCharles Ivesportrait of the maverick American composer, commissioned by 'The Gramophone' magazine in 2005 View FolioCartoonMusicPortraitsbright coloursCollageInkMixed MediaPen and InkWatercolourBook CoversCaricatureEditorialEditorial IllustrationFigurativeHand DrawnPen and Ink on PaperPortraitwatercolour hand drawn.