Raquel Russo

Raquel Russo is a Portuguese illustrator, storyteller, and designer. She has been drawing and painting ever since she could hold a crayon and has worked with watercolor, color pencils, gouache, and digital mediums. These days, her materials of choice are a mixture of gouache and color pencils with digital edits that allow her to create images rich with emotion and meaning.

She enjoyed her childhood in a small town outside Lisbon and always had books, crayons, and blank paper at hand. Growing up, her love of art and books grew with her, and she studied Communication Design at the University of Lisbon’s Faculty of Fine Arts, where she not only learned Graphic Design but also Classical Drawing.

She currently works as an illustrator, specializing in children’s literature. She loves to play with rich colors, textures, and lines to illustrate warm, heartfelt stories full of emotion and movement. As an enthusiastic researcher, she also really loves bringing nonfiction picture books to life.

When she’s not working, she spends her time reading or sketching (for fun!) or walking around the city or countryside while enjoying the beautiful Portuguese sun.

Her clients include Portuguese publishers Jacarandá, Manuscrito, Porto Editora, and Climepsi. To see more of Raquel’s work, you can visit raquelrusso.com and follow her on Instagram and Twitter @raquelrussoo.