Tatiana Gardel is a Brazilian author-illustrator and a teaching artist based in New York City. She graduated with both degrees in Fine Arts and Art Education in Rio de Janeiro. She started her career as a fine artist, and while exploring other ways to express her creativity, she found a passion for storytelling and illustration.
Tatiana works both digitally and traditionally. Her whimsical pieces are inspired by her culture, love for nature, mythology, and childhood memories. She loves to create magical scenes that transport the audience to an imaginary world. It’s essential for her to portray characters who represent her multicultural heritage. She believes everyone, especially children, deserves to see their reality reflected in the books they read and in the art they see.
Her artwork has been recognized by the Society of Illustrators in New York and American Illustration. She was a recipient of the Kweli Children’s Literature Conference Scholarship. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), the Children’s Book Illustrators Group in NY (CBIG), and the Black Creators in KidLit (BCinKidLit). She is also the co-founder of #LatinxPitch, a Twitter pitch event that highlights Latinx voices in children’s literature. She currently teaches animation to young artists at the Harlem School of the Arts.
When Tatiana is not creating art or reading picture books, she likes to spend quality time with her family and friends, be surrounded by nature, and have in-depth conversations with her husband about the universe.