About Maral

Hi, my name is Maral Sassouni—

I'm an illustrator and artist living and working in Paris, France.  I grew up in Playa del Rey, a small beach town in Southern California.  My studies were at the University of California at Los Angeles — art and design as an undergraduate, and film and animation in graduate school. I've also had art courses at the Sarmede workshops, and art history at l'Ecole du Louvre.

For over 20 years, I've created illustrations for a wide variety of clients* in all fields:  from magazines to publishers to ad agencies and what-have-you. I have lived in New York, Amsterdam, a Greek Island (heaven!!) and a tiny tiny English village.  And now Paris, for the last 17 years...

I'm new to children's books, but my work has been well received: selected in Society of Illustrators (Illustrators 56, annual and exhibit), 2014; winner of the SCBWI Portfolio Grand Prize, 2013; selected in the 3x3 Picture Book Show in 2012, 2013 and 2014 (with Distinguished Merit); exhibited at Le immagini della fantasia in Sàrmede, Italy (a group show of children's illustrations) in 2011 and 2012.  And in 2013 Nami Island International Concours selected my book project "Crocodile Shoes" (both text and images) for their exhibit/ illustration annual.



For children's book inquiries, contact my agent Jennifer Rofe of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency
You can email her at:  jennifer@andreabrownlit.com


For more, click here:

My website Go here to see my most recent work  especially children's illustration: my portfolio, my sketchbook, and a brief sample of my archive. 
My flickr latest artwork and photos from daily life.  And kittens! 
My tumblr |  Illustrations, sketches, works-in-progress, and (sometimes) slices of life.

Just a few places on internet where I've been noticed— from brief blurbs to full interviews:

Miss Marple: an in-depth interview on this great kidlit blog.
Make Do & Mend: a four-part interview—1 (intro); 2 (continued); 3 (other artists); and 4 (conclusion).
The Design Files : whirlwind visual tour on the excellent Australian blog
Pica + Pixel:  a little heads-up from graphic designer duo.  
22:Blog wonderful blog cataloguing visual inspiration from around the globe
Design Sponge: included illustration on Paris round-up on this outstanding blog on all things visual.
And who knows what else google will turn up...?

Welcome to my little corner of the universe!


*Clients include: 
Microsoft, Wall Street Journal (Europe),  Bayard Books (France),  Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Washington Post, Business Week, Adweek, Harper Collins/Zondervan, The Hollywood Reporter, Black Mouton (Japan), and on and on and on and on....