Hand-painted visual worlds for brands, objects, and experiences

A woman with long brown hair, smiling, wearing a blue shirt and a patterned jacket, posing against a red background with decorative floral and star accents.
Colorful garden with yellow, purple, and orange flowers; text overlay says 'some of my garden'.
A fluffy dog lying on the floor next to a large, decorative butterfly wing.
Two people hiking in a lush jungle, one woman and one man standing close together, smiling, with surrounding green foliage and trees.

About
Lee Gruber

Becka Lee Gruber is an illustrator based in the Appalachian Mountains, creating story-driven visual worlds by hand in gouache.

With a background in entertainment, branding, and creative direction, she co-founded Get Em Tiger in 2012, developing visual storytelling across publishing, hospitality, entertainment, and consumer brands.

Her work blends illustration, typography, and narrative into immersive visual worlds rooted in story, texture, and emotional clarity.

Lee Gruber’s work spans emerging brands through Fortune 50 organizations, including projects supporting Disney, Lucasfilm, Warner Bros., and Nickelodeon.

Illustration-led brand worlds where story, typography, packaging, and identity work together.

Outside the studio, she plays jazz piano and spends time in the garden, usually with her husband and wire fox terrier close by.

Every project begins with the story it needs to tell. From there, I develop a visual language through illustration, composition, typography, symbolism, and material choices. Whether the outcome is a book, a collectible object, packaging, or a brand experience, my goal is to create work that feels like it belongs to a larger world.

“

How the Work Comes Together

Phase One: Direction. I begin with sketches—digital or traditional—to establish composition, shape hierarchy, and the visual structure of the idea.

Phase One: Direction. I begin with sketches—digital or traditional—to establish composition, shape hierarchy, and the visual structure of the idea.

Phase Two: Color. Palette, contrast, and atmosphere are explored while the direction is still flexible, allowing the visual language to be refined collaboratively before final painting begins.

Phase Two: Color. Palette, contrast, and atmosphere are explored while the direction is still flexible, allowing the visual language to be refined collaboratively before final painting begins.

Phase Three: Final Painting. Once the direction is approved, I move into the final gouache painting, either as a cohesive composition or in layers when the project requires additional flexibility.

Phase Three: Final Painting. Once the direction is approved, I move into the final gouache painting, either as a cohesive composition or in layers when the project requires additional flexibility.

Final Phase: The finished artwork is scanned at high resolution and carefully prepared for its final application while preserving the texture and character of the original painting.

Final Phase: The finished artwork is scanned at high resolution and carefully prepared for its final application while preserving the texture and character of the original painting.

  • "Becka is unusually commercially fluent. She understands branding, typography, packaging, publishing, and marketing, and she paints traditionally. That's a relatively uncommon combination."

    Jodie Vaughn, Founder of FORT

  • "Working with Becka felt like having a true partner in the process. She listens deeply, pushes where it matters, and delivers work that feels considered from every angle."

    Aaron Peacock, Creative Director

  • "She has a way of turning loose ideas into something fully formed—clear, cohesive, that lands. It changes how you see your own work."

    Art Director, Cult-Favorite Apparel Brand

  • "She won't just illustrate it. She'll imagine the entire world it belongs in."

    Art Director at an international agency in NYC