About Luciana Navarro Powell
say hi!: lucianapowell@gmail.com
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INSTAGRAM: @lucianaillustration
BLUE SKY: @lucianaillustra
I am originally from Brazil and moved to the US in 2002. Drawing was a favorite pastime in my childhood. My father would bring stacks of printed sheets from work and I would draw on the back side – my parents say there wasn’t a stack of paper high enough for my drawing appetite!
I graduated with a degree in Product Design and worked as a product and graphic designer for a few years, but I never stopped pursuing my love of illustration. I did freelance illustration work for a small publisher that created educational children's magazines for rural schools in my state of Parana. Those materials have reached over 1 million readers over the years. I took the plunge and became a full-time illustrator in 2001, right before moving to the United States - because why take only ONE leap of faith if you can take TWO? Watercolor and acrylic paints were the media I used at the beginning of my career, but I eventually settled with the digital brush – I love the freedom that comes with digital art, and all the possibilities of experimentation with different textures. Nowadays my style can be described as mixed media: I still use analog methods, but they are now mixed with photographs and scanned objects, all together in a melting digital pot. I believe that the colors, vibrancy and warmth of my home country still inform my work today. A sunny optimism, humor and warm human interactions permeate my depiction of characters, animals and landscape. Representation in children’s books is finally at the forefront when we talk about children’s literature today. As an immigrant myself, making sure that kids see themselves in the art I produce is of utmost importance.
I have lived in Illinois, California, and now I call the beautiful Pacific Northwest home in Washington state, where I live with my husband and 2 sons just south of the border with Canada, after living just north of the border with Mexico for 11 years. I am also a citizen of Luxembourg - which makes me a tri-citizen of Brazil, USA and the European Union.
When I’m not illustrating children’s books you can find me spending time outdoors with my family. Hiking, skiing, finding wild ice to skate in the winter and open water swimming in the summer are my favorite activities. I always bring my travel watercolor kit with me and document my adventures in plein-air painting! That has led to occasional collaborations with my local art museum, the Whatcom Museum of Art, which hires me to demonstrate plein-air as part of their offerings to the community.
- Forthcoming in 2026
“Squirrel’s Big Picture” by Erin Dealey illustrated by Luciana Navarro Powell for Beaming Books
“A Speedy Little Cheetah on the Big Blue Earth” by Tory Christie illustrated by Luciana Navarro Powell for Amicus Ink
Other clients include Chronicle Books, Matell, Fisher Price, Highlights Magazine, Ladybug Magazine, Spider Magazine, Crocodile Creek, Scholastic, Pearson, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, McGraw-Hill, Hasbro Toys, National Geographic School Publishing, A-Z Learning, Oxford University Press, Kane Miller, Lerner Publishing, Random House, Amicus Ink.
SCBWI member since 2002, represented in the trade book market by Deborah Warren at East West Literary Agency.
