Elisabeth Alba was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but most of her 'growing up' took place in Orlando, Florida, where she wallowed in all things Disney. Traveling much with her family led to an obsession with history and an interest in other cultures throughout the ages. She always loved children's literature and film, especially fantasy and historical fiction. One book in particular (that she still owns),The Baby Unicorn by Jean and Claude Marzollo, illustrated by R. J. Blake, kept her coming back for a re-read, not just for the story but for the lovely illustrations, which inspired her to want to create fairy tale illustrations of her own—illustrations that she hoped would someday inspire some other child to want to create art.

Elisabeth earned a dual degree BA from the University of Florida in English and visual art studies, and her master's degree in illustration at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Clients include Scholastic, Llewellyn Worldwide, Simon & Schuster, Fantasy Flight Games, Oxford University Press, Small Beer Press, and Henry Holt Books for Young Readers.

Elisabeth lives and work in Western Massachusetts with her husband, artist Scott Murphy. She is currently deep into illustrating a tarot deck (78 paintings!) for Llewellyn Worldwide with author Deborah Blake.