Manda Comisari
Artist · Illustrator · Author
About Manda
Manda Comisari is an Argentine American artist, writer, and creative director whose work spans painting, brand campaigns, publishing, and film.
She earned a BFA in Studio Art from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and an MFA in Illustration from the University of Edinburgh, graduating with distinction. Her commercial work includes award-winning packaging illustration for Petcurean’s Spike treat line, a limited-edition cup design for Vegware, and editorial illustration for Fortune. Her illustrated oracle deck, Unusual Animal Messages, was published by CICO Books in 2022.
Her work has been recognized by the Pentawards, the AOI World Illustration Awards, 3x3 Magazine of Contemporary Illustration, the Society of Animal Artists, and the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation and featured in Homiens, The Inspiration Grid, Hireillo and Modern Dog magazine.
In 2023, a medical misdiagnosis left her functionally blind for eight months. When she regained her sight, she began painting her houseplants and became interested in their hidden root systems. That series became We All Have Weird Roots, her most personal body of work to date.
Alongside her visual work, Manda has worked as a script editor in film and television and as a story editor for middle-grade and early-reader children’s books. She is the co-founder of Liminal Works Media, an independent development and production company. Her debut feature screenplay, Final Girls, co-written with Simon Nagel, scored 7/10 on The Black List, and she attended the Marché du Film at Cannes in 2026.
She is currently based in the United States. Her original works are available through Saatchi Art and she writes about her creative life on her Substack, Welp. Subscribe here.
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I’ve always been drawn to stories with a strong emotional core: ones that send us inward, inspire unlikely connections, or that simply open up space for curiosity and wonder. That same sensibility runs throughout my work, which invites viewers to look closer and discover meaning in the unexpected.
One of my favorite examples is the Unusual Animal Messages oracle deck, where I intentionally included odd or much-maligned creatures (like the cockroach) as messengers. To me, if someone can recognize a small part of themselves in an insect they’d normally dismiss, then I’ve succeeded in making my larger point: empathy doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It turns out we’re all far more alike than we realize.
I draw inspiration from nature, my own lived experiences, and a quiet understanding that everything around us exists in layers. The natural world offers endless metaphors for the human condition, and I’ve come to believe the universe is as funny as it is profound.
Gouache captivates me for the same reasons I love a great story: it keeps me curious. The medium doesn’t quite fit any category. It’s neither watercolor nor acrylic: too opaque for one and too matte for the other. And that liminality draws me in. Painting with gouache feels like a quiet rebellion against the notion that fine art must be large, glossy, or rendered in more “serious” materials like oil. For me, gouache offers something else entirely: intimacy, immediacy, and honesty.
It has taught me to embrace imperfections, roll with curveballs, and trust the process even when the outcome is unclear. Some of my most meaningful pieces began as happy accidents, revealing ways of working I couldn’t have planned. Gouache is the ultimate wild card that brings me back to the table again and again.
Every piece I make is painted by hand, and my ideas and books are entirely my own. I don’t use AI in my creative work.
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ALIVE | The French Institute | Edinburgh, UK | 2020
ANNUAL EXHIBITION | John Byrne Awards | Edinburgh, UK | 2020
SUMMER EXHIBITION | Gradcurate | Edinburgh, UK | 2020
HOUSE STYLE | Edinburgh International Book Festival | Edinburgh, UK | 2019
WORLD ILLUSTRATION AWARDS, SHORTLIST EXHIBITION | Association of Illustrators | London, UK | 2017
Animals (With Problems)ART AND THE ANIMAL | Society of Animal Artists | Bennington, Vermont, US | 2013
WILDLIFE ARTIST OF THE YEAR | David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation, Mall Galleries | London, UK | 2013
28TH ANNUAL MADE IN CALIFORNIA | Brea Art Gallery | Brea, California, US | 2013
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FEATURED ARTIST | Homiens, Meet the Artists | 2026
We All Have Weird RootsMERIT, STUDENT ILLUSTRATION | 3x3 Student Show | 2022
My Favorite ToySCHOLAR | Leopold Schepp Foundation | 2018–2020
SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT | Clan Donald Educational Trust | 2019
SCHOLAR | Hispanic Scholarship Fund | 2018
SHORTLIST, SELF-INITIATED | World Illustration Awards, Association of Illustrators | 2017
Animals (With Problems)SILVER, OTHER MARKETS | Pentawards | 2016
BRONZE, PACKAGING | Creativity Awards | 2016
Both for Petcurean SPIKE packaging
