Photo by: Randal Alan Smith

I'm Amanda Le (they/them), an Asian American artist and illustrator. I am non-binary and bisexual, and proud to represent the LGBTQ+ community in children's books.
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Whimsical and fantastical art featuring animals with a strong focus on elegant linework, appealing shapely designs, and color harmony. Cute creatures, encouraging messages, and only a little bit haunting.
I specialize in ink art, digital art, and monochrome design work. My art style mixes Eastern and Western animation for cartoonishly expressive characters. Poetry, animation, and typography are strong influences on my art. Beyond that, I love a good DnD reference, adore anime art styles, and absolutely love bunnies.
As a teacher, I lead the digital art techniques and animation classes with my studio. I teach basic and structural fine art fundamentals, provide analysis and critique, and work hard to foster a welcoming creative community.
Everything I do is made with the human hand, and the human experience is embedded deeply into everything I create. I will never use AI in any part of my process, as art is a form of human expression. 
Every struggle, every breakthrough, and every person who's ever helped me grow are visible in every line I pen. Please enjoy with your human heart all that I have to share.
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Educational Background:
✦ Bachelor of Arts in Art, from Claire Trevor School of the Arts at UCI
✦Bachelor of Arts in Educational Sciences,  from the University of California, Irvine
✦Master of Arts in Teaching from the University of California, Irvine
✦Single Subject Teaching Credential in Art, valid for K-12

Awards
"Braveheart" - 2nd Place Winner for Art Contest: "Resilience" at Cartoon-A-Paloozah 2026
"In a Day or Two" - 3rd Place Winner via Audience Votes for Poetry at Spoken Nuggets: A Spoken Word Storytelling event - August 2024
Best Children's Illustration for Wings to Fly, Issued by Best Indie Book Awards = Nov 2024
Best Indie Book Cover Design Award for A Burning Lake of Paper Suns, Issued by Best Indie Book Awards - Jan 2023
Making Friends 2018 (4:37)- Honorable Mention at UCI's ZotFest 2018 film festival at UCI, as the first animated film ever to be shown in the history ZotFest Director, Animator, Editor and Producer
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