“I have been drawing and painting animals for as long as I can remember. My parents had to push me to start learning to walk, as I would just sit around and draw animals all day. There have never been other subjects of more interest to me…it has always been animals, both living and extinct.
There is just something magical about wildlife. not only the sheer diversity in sizes, colors, appearances, but also in characters. I like to get up close and personal, who is this animal? Is it shy, bold, curious, nasty, caring? I want to capture the essence of it on a personal level, tell its story through my art.”
Esther van Hulsen´s award-winning work has appeared in a broad range of exhibitionas and publications worldwide, from Nature Magazine and National Geographic, to the Prehistoric Times, American Falconry Magazine, and Popular Science. Her originals are featured in numerous museum collections in both Europe and the United States, including the Smithsonian Museum, the Fossil State Park in Nevada, Naturhistorisk Museum in Oslo, and Natuurmuseum Fryslan in the Netherlands.
She has illustrated over 30 books, which have been published worldwide. In 2024 Esther was commissioned to do a series of large format water color portraits of endangered animals, representing keystone species in each of San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s eight global conservation hubs, which were sold on a large fundraiser auction. Van Hulsen is a passionate conservationist, and has donated numerous works in support of international programs to prevent extinctions.
An unusual opportunity came her way in 2016, when she was commissioned to illustrate an extinct octopus with 95 million year old ink extracted from the original fossil, re-creating a long lost technique pioneered by paleontologist Mary Anning and her colleagues in 1826. https://www.demilked.com/octopus-painting-using-ancient-ink-from-fossil-esther-van-hulsen/
Current projects include numerous private and public commissions.
Born in the Netherlands in 1981, Esther completed a Bachelors in Communicative Design and Scientific Illustration at the historic Dutch Art Academy Minerva. Ever since she has been working as a professional wildlife artist. She moved to Norway in 2006, where she and her husband Stian live surrounded by beautiful forests and fjords and abundant wildlife. The Internet and frequent travel to far away places keep her connected with global wildlife and her many followers.