Jessica is an illustrator from Italy, based in London.
She graduated in 2022 with Distinction from the 
MA in Children's Book Illustration at the Cambridge School of Art. Since then, she aspires to write and illustrate stories for children and for adults. in 2022 she won the Sebastian Walker Prize for Illustration

Before diving into the book world, she worked as a
graphic designer for mobile apps and websites for about 8 years. Her clients include Memrise, Zenly, Mush and Docomo Digital. Luckily those clients needed illustrations too. From time to time she was creating vector illustrations, mascots and emojis.
In 2018 she became a freelancer to focus just on illustration (hooray!) and she illustrated her first children's books with Caramel Publishing, Sassi Junior and Gruppo Editoriale Raffaello.
While studying at the MA in Children's Book Illustration, in late 2020 she started Jess Was Here, a small business of illustrated merchandise.
She works from her tiny home studio in London where she lives with her partner and two gerbils. And a lot of raccoon merchandise.
She loves to create a direct connection with people through her stories, images and products. And above all, she loves penguins, raccoons (of course), chilling in a coffee shop, visiting a museum and going wild at a concert.
Her dream is to see penguins in Antarctica. 

For any illustration or book enquiries please contact my agent Claire Cartey at claire@holroydecartey.
Awards
- Sebastian Walker Prize 2022 - Winner
- V&A Illustration Awards 2022 
- Highly Commended
- The Unpublished Picturebook Showcase 4 2022 - Five Puffins in Antarctica
- The Unpublished Picturebook Showcase 4 2022- The Raccoon
- Macmillan Prize for Illustrations 2022 - Highly Commended
- Bologna Children's Book Fair Illustrator Exhibition 2023 - Longlisted- Bologna Children's Book Fair Illustrator Exhibition 2021 - Longlisted
Email: jessicaciccolone@gmail.com
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