Hi there! I’m Juana and I’m a children’s illustrator.
Do you have a new and exciting project? Let’s talk!

I am currently based in Scottsdale, Arizona but I was born in Lima, the capital of Peru. I started in the illustration industry at the age 16 and after 5 years, I went to art school to get the education I’d always wanted, at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru – School of Fine Arts.

Three years later, it was time for a change and I decided to give LA a try – I have lived in the US ever since. Read More…

Featured From The Blog

MY WEEK of Interviews and Giveaway

If you have been following my posts the last few weeks, you know the Mini-Interviews are entering their 4th week tomorrow. If you didn’t know about them, you may want to go back and read Molly’s, Mikela’s and Laura’s posts. They are filled with great information and they are at times extremely funny.

Now, Juana, what’s the purpose of this post? Really! Getting quickly to the point: My Week is FINALLY here! Well, tomorrow but still… it’s here! Woop! Woop! So in my excitement I may double, triple or quadruple post this week. Or I may not. You shall came back and see.

I also know that MY week falls on the American Turkey Holiday week. So I thought I’d let everyone know that if you are in the US, there’s a safe place to escape from crowds, turkey and stuffing. I’ll be here as planned.

My week of Mini-Interviews come with a Giveaway. I debated for weeks: books, prints, original illustrations. It was really hard to decide so Saturday I painted something for this week. And she is right below here thinking, “Really?!”

What I learned from Dan Santat’s Workshop

Jul, 12 2011
By juana
Featured, workshops
27 comments

Things take time for me to sink in so it makes sense that after a month of attending Dan Santat’s workshop here in Phoenix I finally can sort out what I’ve learned from it. So here is my recap of what I got out of the experience.
Warning: Results may vary depending on locations and illustrators.

1 Know Who You Admire In Order to Understand What You Need To Do As An Artist
Dan asked us to find a piece that we love. So as diligent as I am, I immediately created a Dropbox folder and dragged and dropped pieces that I felt were gorgeous for one reason or another. It didn’t take long until I realized I had over 30 jpeg files. So I had to narrow it down over and over again. Until I was left with 1 piece. The process confirmed my love for Rebecca Dautremer‘s work. In the process I clearly outlined what I love about her work and I know what I need to achieve on my work: her use of light, her portray of different cultures, and her incredible compositions. Now I have a clear direction.

2 Learn From The “Masters”
Part of the assignment was to copy the 1 piece that you loved. So I did my copy. What did I learn? My eyes see colors a lot brighter than they need to be. Rebecca’s work has all these colors yet when I was copying her piece I had to force myself to mute my palette – a lot. I also learned how to use gouache by looking at her illustration. So next time that you love a piece even if you are too busy, I dare you to copy it. You have no idea all that you can learn.

Draw Me An Elephant or How to Hire An Illustrator

I often receive emails from writers who are interested in hiring me as an illustrator for their picture books. I tend to reply with the same questions and answers so I decided to create this post so it’s easily accessible for future interested people.

DO I NEED ILLUSTRATIONS TO SUBMIT MY MANUSCRIPT TO A PUBLISHER?
No, you do not need illustrations to submit your manuscript. Manuscripts are submitted to the publishing houses. Once your manuscript is acquired, the publisher will pick a professional children’s illustrator for the book.

HOW DO I SUBMIT MY MANUSCRIPT?
Submit your work to well-known and respected publishers. Do your homework by researching the publishing houses and their previous publications.