Julie Pegan is an illustrator from Boise, Idaho. Born and raised in the City of Trees, she grew up watching the local art scene grow and explode, finding her way into the field in unexpected ways, such as her first public art works in Freak Alley Gallery, which helped kickstart her freelance career. Art has always been an essential part of her life. There wasn’t any kind of a stumble into a hidden talent that might make for an exciting origin story, but there was an absolute persistence to “do art” that carried her work from the fridge into freelance.

An artist with a need to create, her studio is constantly aflutter with drawings on odd little bits of flimsy paper that float around until she layers them together to scan, digitize, and then colorize on her computer. Although illustration is her primary discipline, she has a thirst to try a little bit of anything. Science, fantasy, super heroes—all of these things keep her excited about creating more art, it all feeds into a pool of images that her mind just can’t help but conjure up.

Pegan earned Bachelor's Degrees in Fine Art (Illustration & Graphic Design) from Boise State University and has the expertise and innovation to produce a wide variety of projects. Some of her best-loved projects include the 410 square foot mural in Eureka’s downtown Boise restaurant, a special traveling exhibit for the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights, the friendly anthropomorphic characters for the Western Idaho Fair’s 2018 and 2019 branding packages, and the custom hand-painted leather jacket that was featured in the Wedding Chicks photo shoot for dress designer Maggie Sottero. With experience in kids book illustration, large-scale mural painting, character design, poster, book, and advertising material design, Pegan can be hired for just about any kind of creative work.