Illustrations for Children's books, Greeting Cards, Licensing, teaching, and more.

Latest/Upcoming Book Releases

Welcome to the WOOFMORE

Written by Donna Gephart and Lori Haskins Houran.

Published by Abrams Kids
Release date: May 21, 2024

The WOOFMORE is Not Haunted

Written by Donna Gephart and Lori Haskins Houran.

Published by Abrams Kids
Release date: September 24, 2024

The WOOFMORE on Thin Ice

Written by Donna Gephart and Lori Haskins Houran.

Published by Abrams Kids
Release date: February 18, 2025

Banana Hunt

Written by Suzy Senior.

Published by Templar Books
Release date: June 6, 2024

Available in the UK

Join the waiting list

Course: Character Design for Children's Books

Join the waiting list for my course: Character Design for Children’s Books. We cover the basics of how I approach designing characters that captivate and delight an audience.

Portfolio

All
Art for kids
Books
Commercial
Prints

Christmas Snowman Greeting Card for Trader Joe’s

Hiking Bear

I Am Money

Flossing T-Rex

Rhino skating at Christmas

Christmas Skating Rhino

We Love Daddy-O-Saurus custom book

High Five covers

Banana Hunt cover

Banana Hunt

Fridge-Opolis

Chomp Chomp Dino illustrated by Josh Cleland

CHOMP CHOMP DINO Book

I’m A Name-o-saurus Customizable Book

#BringTheJoyCards

Trick-Or-Treat Songs

The Elf Who Saved Christmas

Usborne Big Drum Book Josh Cleland

Drum Kit Book

Zoom! Beep! Vroom! Busy Cities! Board Book

Poster for Travel Portland and Wieden + Kennedy

I Want a Real Bike in Oregon

Go, New York, Go! Baby board book

Portland Baby board book

TAD Children’s Book

The Budgie Likes to Boogie magazine illustration

Gnome In My Garden Book Illustrations

Credit Union Member Impact Study illustration

Portland Oregon Aerial Tram print

Random Character Sketches

What’s Wrong: Highlights Back Cover October 2016

Art for licensing

Below is a sample of artwork available for art licensing, flat-fee licenses, and outright sales. To view more collections click here.

Find me on Instagram

joshcleland

1,927 41,942

Children’s book illustrator / educator
Rep’d by @advocateart01
Email for inquiries. Josh@clelandillustration.com

Mar 20

Soon, by popular demand I’ll be re-opening enrollment for my course: “Character Design for Kid’s Books”. Join the waiting list now!

What you get:
* An understanding of character design principles for children’s books
* Step-by-step exercises, PDFs, and visual examples
* Support and feedback from me!
* Lifetime access to the course.

Sign up for the waiting list now to receive an EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNT and be the first to know when the course launches!

Link in my bio.

#kidlitart #kidlitartist #childrensbooks #picturebooks

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Mar 20

3 tips to help troubleshoot your drawings and sketches. Obviously this isn’t an exhaustive list. What are some of the things you do to fix your drawings?

#illustration #kidlitart #kidlitartist #characterdesign #joshcleland #joshclelandart

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Mar 16

Tomorrow, March 17, I will be hosting another FREE character design workshop at 1pm PDT/4pm EDT. I will be walking everyone through a simple yet powerful way to conceptualize a lot of different characters in a short amount of time. It’s really fun! Did I mention it’s free? Register link is in my bio. Hope to see you there!

#kidlitart #kidlitartist #characterdesign #drawing #education #joshcleland #joshclelandart

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Mar 13

A piece I did for the March issue of @highlightsforchildren ’s High Five Magazine. It’s always fun working with the fun people at Highlights. Who’s in the mood for cheese?

#kidlitart #kidlitartist #kidlit #illustration #drawing #joshcleland #joshclelandart

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Mar 4

Some characters I’m working on for a personal project. More details soon.

#kidlitart #kidlitartist #childrensbooks #kidsbooks #booksforkids #illustration #characterdesign #hippo #drawing #procreate #joshcleland #joshclelandart

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Feb 24

Heads up. In case you missed it the first time I’m running another free character design webinar this Wednesday at 1pm PST/4pm EST. Link is in my bio to register. I hope to see you there!

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Feb 21

The work is mysterious and important.

The tablet is a @wacom Cintiq 27qhd.

The hat is @wonderbly

#illustration #kidlitart #kidlitartist #workspace #wacomworkspace #childrensbooks #kidsbooks #kidlit #joshcleland #joshclelandart #behindthescenes #severance

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Feb 18

Woof Woof!! Book 3 of the Woofmore series: “The Woofmore on Thin Ice” is out today!!!

Written by @lorihaskinshouran and @dgephartwrites , and published by @abramskids / Amulet Books (and illustrated by me :) ). Available now. Order link in my bio.

(This illustration was done in @procreate using mostly the 6B pencil. The book was illustrated in Photoshop on my Mac using my @wacom Cintiq).

#kidlitart #kidlit #welcometothewoofmore #woofmore #thewoodmoreonthinice #childrensbooks #picturebooks #booksforkids #kidlitartist #joshcleland #joshclelandart

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Feb 10

I’ve been illustrating children’s books for several years now, and it has been a fantastic experience. However, lately I’ve been looking for ways to grow my illustration business and offerings. So, last year I decided to hire a business coach to help with these endeavors. In March of 2024 I started working with Logan ( @flammable_entrepreneur ) and his team, and the results have been fantastic. We took a hard look at my core business strategies, target markets, goals, mindset, and more.

In fact, because of the coaching I received I finally hit a huge milestone late 2024 and launched my very first course!! This has been something I’ve been wanting to do for a very long time, and it feels so good to have finally accomplished it.

On Wednesday, February 12 Logan, Vera ( @vera.drmanovski ), and I will host a workshop where we discuss marketing for book illustrators. RSVP link is in my bio. If you can’t make it, no worries. We’ll send you a recording if you’ve RSVP.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering about my setup in this photo, here are the details:
Computer: Mac Mini M1 16 gigs of ram 1Tb HD
Tablet: @wacom Cintiq27qhd
Monitor: @benQ 3220U

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Feb 9

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Feb 1

It’s now February. That means book 3 of the Woofmore series, The Woofmore on Thin Ice, comes out this month!! Feb 18. Preorder your copy using the Linktree link in my bio.

The Woofmore book series is written by @lorihaskinshouran and @dgephartwrites , and published by @abramskids / Amulet Books.

#kidlitart #kidlit #kidlitartist #childrensbooks #kidsbooks #booksforkids #woofmore #welcometowoofmore #joshcleland #joshclelandart

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Jan 22

I just learned that Banana Hunt has been included in the long list of titles for 2025 @childrenslitfests #cflbookawards ! Happy dance! Fellow congrats to @suzysenior and @templarbooks

#childrensbookaward #kidlitart #kidlit #kidsbooks #childrensbooks #kidlitartist #joshcleland #joshclelandart #bananahunt

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Jan 14

One of the really fun things about illustrating the Woofmore series is getting to draw the opening scenes in different seasons.

Book 3 of the Woofmore series: “The Woofmore on Thin Ice” is available for pre-order! This snowy installment releases in just over a month (Feb 18). Pre-order link is in my bio.

The Woofmore book series is written by @lorihaskinshouran and @dgephartwrites , and published by @abramskids / Amulet Books.

#kidlitart #kidlit #childrensbooks #kidsbooks #chapterbooksforkids #illustration #drawing #welcometowoofmore #woofmore #joshcleland #joshclelandart

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Jan 10

Drawing a parasaurolophus (spelling that Dino took longer than the actual drawing 🤣). Illustrated in @procreate

#illustration #kidlitart #kidlitartist #dinosaur #characterdesign #behindthescenes #process #joshcleland #joshclelandart

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Jan 8

I found these old sketches from a couple years ago while going through my @procreate library. Maybe I should do something with them? It’s funny how time gives you a different perspective on your work.

#illustration #sketch #kidlitart #kidlitartist #drawing #joshcleland #joshclelandart #monsters #artlicensing

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Jan 6

Book 3 of the Woofmore series: “The Woofmore on Thin Ice” is available for pre-order! This snowy installment releases in just over a month (Feb 18). Pre-order link is in my bio.

The Woofmore book series is written by @lorihaskinshouran and @dgephartwrites , and published by @abramskids / Amulet Books.

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Jan 2

Happy New Year!!! Kicking off 2025 here with a quick share of some recent @procreate doodles. This character isn’t for anything in particular—just for fun. What are you looking forward to the most this year?

#kidlitart #kidlitartist #drawing #sketch #dinosaur #characterdesign #joshclelandart #joshclelandart

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Dec 24

I haven’t had a lot of time recently to create new artwork (that I can share anyways) so I’m reposting this from last year. I hope you all have a fantastic Christmas and holiday season. 🌲❄️☃️ Thank you for all the love and support this past year. Looking forward to a fun 2025! Lots of great things planned 😀.

#kidlitart #kidlitartist #illustration #christmas #christmasdog #drawing #holidays #winter #joshclelandart #joshcleland

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Dec 17

Some Christmas birdie doodles in @procreate

#illustration #sketch #kidlitart #christmas #holidays #doodle #joshcleland #joshclelandart

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Dec 13

I posted the process reel for this the other day. I figured I’d post the actual artwork. Merry Christmas 🎁 🎄 😊

#illustration #greetingcarddesign #greetingcards #christmas #artlicensing #holidays #catplayingsaxophone #joshcleland #joshclelandart

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Copyright 2025 © by Josh Cleland or respective clients. All rights reserved.