Vanessa Morales

Vanessa Morales is a Mexican illustrator and character designer/concept artist with a deep love for nature and fantasy, as well as all things whimsical and authentic representation of cultures. Vanessa paints in traditional techniques like gouache and watercolor and trying new tools on her sketchbooks. She has illustrated several fun picture books: Monster Baker written by Laura Lavoie (Roaring Brook Press) and Diego Fuego: The Firefighting Dragon by Allison and Rafael Rozo (Penguin, coming July 2025). More picture books to be announced soon!

Vanessa also enjoys illustrating middle grade book covers, including The Girl and the Robot by Oz Rodriguez & Claribel Ortega, the Legendarios chapter book series by Karla Arenas Valenti, the Paola Santiago middle grade series by Tehlor Kay Mejia, and the Omega Morales series by Laekan Zea Kemp. 

A graduate in graphic design with  Illustration specialization, Vanessa is now a freelance illustrator. In addition to working with publishers, she also works in Animation creating concept art and costume design for companies including Nickelodeon, Nick Jr, Cartoon Network, Kodansha VR Lab Japan, Plaidhat Games, Huevocartoon, Exile Content Studio, AOA,Storytime Magazine, Larousse, Clip Studio Paint, and 3D Total.

Download Vanessa Morales Illustrator Showcase

To see more of Vanessa’s colorful work, visit her website phonemova.com and follow her on Instagram @phonemova