Marieke Nelissen was born in Naucalpan De Juárez in Mexico in 1975. She graduated from the Royal Academy of Art and Design in Den Bosch in 1997. Since then she has worked as a graphic designer and illustrator. In 2015 she made her breakthrough as a children’s book illustrator. She works non-digitally because she likes to experiment with materials: watercolour, gouache, ink, pencil, oil pastel, whatever is needed to get the right atmosphere on paper.