“Embrace your weirdness, take calculated risks, and interact with as many people as possible,” urges two-time NY Times bestselling illustrator Marissa Valdez.
Marissa has been drawing for as long as she can remember and loves illustrating everything, especially when she gets to convey expression and emotion. She grew up in Los Fresnos, a small town near Brownsville, TX, then got a degree in animation from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. She had simply followed other’s advice, though, and didn’t enjoy animation.
After college graduation, she moved to the Houston area and got a job teaching preschool at a fine arts school in Fulshear. She loved this, especially reading picture books to the kids, but there was no opportunity for advancement, so she took a job as a graphic designer, where she worked for three years while pursuing her art after hours. Marissa enjoyed her coworkers and using her art skills, but other than that was miserable there, especially after she found herself working at home alone due to Covid.
Before Covid, she had joined Houston’s SCBWI and a critique group and was spurred by other members, who told her to put her work out there and also said, “All illustrators should write.” After she won an SCBWI illustration contest and placed with honor in another, she found the courage to participate in a Twitter pitch event. This led to much agent interest and to signing with Kelly Sonnack at Andrea Brown Literary Agency.
Almost immediately, offers started coming in. One offer, illustrating the picture book AMBITIOUS GIRL by Meena Harris (niece of Kamala Harris), needed the artwork completed in one month. This opportunity was too good to pass up, so Marissa quit her full-time job and never looked back. Her freelance hours and pay varies greatly, but she has more than replaced her previous income as a graphic designer. And she now earns money doing what she loves.
That book came out in Jan. 2021, becoming her first NY Times bestseller. She earned another spot on the list for the 2022 book HATTIE HARMONY; WORRY DETECTIVE, written by married couple Elizabeth Olsen (actor, and sister to Mary-Kate and Ashley) and Robbie Arnett (musician).
Marissa met her husband by online dating and at first didn’t realize he lived in the UK. When they hit it off, it didn’t matter where he lived. After six years of very-long-distance dating, they married and Marissa moved to Birmingham, England. She misses Texans but not the Texas heat.
She has now illustrated many books and even published one as author/illustrator. She’s currently working on a board book series and a graphic novel, and loves experimenting with different styles and genres. Though this makes for slower work progress and nervous art directors/editors, it has helped her make each book unique.
She feels her best work emerges when she doesn’t focus on perfection but on being herself and finding the magic in each project. Check out her terrific website at marissavaldez.com. And DO NOT miss out on her blog!
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