Mara Cespon is a New York based freelance illustrator. Originally from the Philippines, she moved to the United States in 2002. Since then, she earned an Associate’s degree in Graphic Design at Rockland Community College (2009), a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Illustration (2013), and an MFA in Illustration (2020) at the Fashion Institute of Technology.

Mara was trained in Fashion Illustration at FIT. She has created live sketches during events for clients such as Lord & Taylor, Bloomingdale’s, Marriott Hotel, FOSSIL, Iris Apfel, and Hanro from Switzerland. Most of her work is created with vibrant watercolor inks. She was featured at the W Hotel in Times Square and the Society of Illustrators. Mara was commissioned by Winsor and Newton to create works for the Colour Your City campaign. 

Mara loves seeing people’s reactions when they get their portraits sketched in real-time. It’s a mix of curiosity and delight, a reflection of what she tries to get on paper with vibrant watercolors or simple black wash in a matter of minutes. Through her portraits, she hopes she can inspire a chain of good vibes and maybe even bring a bit of an enchanting spark in those quick moments.