Maryam Seraji - Cute Characters & KidsBooks Illustrator

Based in Italy, Maryam Seraji is an illustrator whose mission is to show children that life is something to enjoy. While it often seems that we are surrounded by problems, illustration is a way to remind people that the world is beautiful, and life is sweet. Maryam does this through the skilled layering of colourful forms and adept brushwork that creates inviting real-media textures.

Originally from Persia, Maryam is an experienced mural artist, art teacher and illustrator – always driven by her imagination and a desire to create. Arriving in Italy has brought new inspirations and diverse cultures into her work, reshaping her creative style. Clients love her use of colour and her professionalism. Wherever Maryam explores, she finds new looks and ideas that feed her creative muse. She finds city streets, cafes and the individual traits of people young and old fascinating – details to capture and bring to the characters she creates in her children’s books. Her influences include Henri Matisse, Catarina Sobral and Joohee Yoon. Maryam has a master’s in Fashion Studies from Sapienza University in Rome and a bachelor’s in Graphic Design from Isfahan University of Art in Iran.

Approach

While most of Maryam’s work is created digitally using Photoshop brushes, she also enjoys working with media as varied as fabric prints and marker pens. Layering of semi-transparent colours is a key part of her creative process, which makes her style unique. Sometimes, she uses a subtractive process, erasing areas of a coloured field to create images reminiscent of linocut printing.

Key software

Photoshop

Style

There’s a childlike innocence to Maryam’s work that makes it instantly relatable, with bold use of colour, strong forms that overlap, brushstrokes and textures, plus details such as subtle shadows which make her worlds look lived in.