Claudia Gadotti – Designer

Hello, I’m Claudia, a traditional children’s book illustrator with over 20 years of experience creating hand-painted watercolor and gouache artwork in a warm, semi-realistic style. I’ve illustrated more than 30 published titles and bring a strong background in visual storytelling, realistic character illustration, and expressive narrative art.

My work is rooted in traditional media: all illustrations are painted by hand using watercolor, gouache, pencil, and ink. I specialize in semi-realistic watercolor scenes, richly detailed settings, expressive children, and realistic animal characters. Every illustration is scanned and prepared digitally at high resolution for print-ready files.

I frequently collaborate with self-publishing authors and independent presses, assisting with storyboarding, page layout design, and the full pre-press process, including files for KDP, IngramSpark, and offset printing. I aim to make the publishing workflow clear and supportive, especially for first-time authors.

I love illustrating stories with expressive characters, historical moments, gentle fantasy, nature themes, and emotional family scenes. Whether you need full-color picture book spreads, black-and-white chapter book illustrations, or realistic cover art, I’m here to help bring your story to life.

If you’re looking for a professional children’s illustrator who provides semi-realistic, hand-crafted artwork and reliable guidance from first sketch to final files, I would be delighted to collaborate with you.