Angela Salerno is an award-winning children’s book illustrator and author whose beautiful hand-drawn illustrations and storytelling captivate kids around the world. But her talent doesn’t stop there – Angela uses her meticulous drawing skills and imagination to bring projects to life across a wide variety of fields including editorial and publishing, packaging, illustrated maps, garment graphics and patterns, stationery and more.
Based in Valencia, Spain, Angela is originally from Azul in Argentina, where she grew up painting and drawing with her parents and grandfather. She studied Graphic Design at the University of Buenos Aires but went on to focus on illustration as a means to express herself creatively. Her background in design gives her a strong appreciation for the importance of composition and a good understanding of the creative processes followed in studios and agencies.
Clients say Angela is reliable to work with, sets the highest standard and is detail oriented. Her inspiration comes from travel and experiencing new cultures and she observes the landscapes, architecture, food, clothing and daily life wherever she goes. Her favourite illustrators include Katie Scott, Elizabeth Builes and Dinara Mirtalipova.
Approach
When a project begins, Angela often uses photographs as reference, sketching her ideas and finding the best way to depict the subjects. She uses technical pens or pencils for the line work before adding colour digitally in Procreate. “I like keeping part of the process on paper because it makes me more conscious of scale, line quality and the level of detail I can achieve,” she explains.Key software
Procreate and Adobe PhotoshopStyle
Angela’s imagery is clear and immediately approachable to any audience, with graphical forms, clean line work and limited colour palettes that exude warmth and personality. Her strong visual storytelling is backed up with a layer of finer detail that invites the viewer to look more closely to discover something new in just about every image.Languages
Spanish and EnglishAwards
2026 – Américas Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature – Commended
2025 – Chicago Public Library – Best Books of 2025
2025 – Bologna Children’s Book Fair – BRAW Amazing Bookshelf – Sustainability
2022 – New York Public Library – Best Spanish Children’s BooksClient list
Angela’s clients include Amanuta Editorial, Ideestortepaper Editorial, Las Provincias newspaper and more.