Turning Serendipity into a Prolific Career

Episode #298 | Art by Lee White

Award-winning illustrator Raissa Figeuroa joins Sam Cotterill and Lee White to share her path from making art part-time to becoming the illustrator of over 25 books in 5 years.

SHOW LINKS

Raissa Figueroa: rizzyfig.com
Instagram @rizzyfig

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Visual storytelling is often a hard-won skill. Don’t give up if it doesn’t come naturally; you can develop it over time.

• Consistent practice builds skill more reliably than anything else.

• Let the joy of the craft spur you on, even when the path ahead seems overwhelming.

BIO

Raissa Figueroa didn’t plan on being a children’s book illustrator. In college, she studied nursing before realizing the field of medicine was not her happy place. Switching to art, she graduated from CSU Monterey Bay with a B.S. in Communication Design. She worked in graphic design while building her illustration skills, quitting her day job during COVID to become a full-time illustrator after a series of serendipitous events encouraged her to do so.

Today, she is a prolific illustrator, having completed twenty-six children’s books in her five-year career. Her art is pulsing with life, texture, and color, blending traditional and digital media. Her book, We Wait for the Sun, won the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor, and her work has been featured in the Society of Illustrators Original Art Show.

Raissa lives and works in Southern California with her cat, Phoebe.