Rop van Mierlo

Amsterdam-based designer and illustrator Rop van Mierlo (1980) graduated from the Design Academy Eindhoven in 2008.

His playful and idiosyncratic works take many forms—ranging from paintings to mohair tapestries, hand-tufted wool carpets and trippy animations—but the process usually begins with drawing or painting. Control—or the lack thereof—is an important and intriguing part of his work.

The artist often makes animals his muse, but his work is less about the creatures than about the process of making them. Rop’s signature technique is wet-on-wet painting, using liquid watercolors on moistened paper, resulting in an unpredictable end product. This uncontrollable process gives the artwork its own personality.

In 2020, he launched Wild Animals (W.A.), a product label based on his freeform series. He has collaborated with big names in fashion, culture and music including Marni, Hermès, H&M, Moncler, Young Marco and the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam.