Hi! I’m Niloufer Wadia

I’m an illustrator, painter, and urban sketcher based in Pune, India. I spent over two decades in advertising, but eventually, the pull of art became too strong to ignore and I left the corporate world to focus on what I truly love: drawing, painting, and telling stories through visuals.

My life as a freelance illustrator began slowly, – creating vector micro stock, digital illustration for websites, editorial artwork and a few book covers. Then I serendipitously came across a competition by a respected children’s publisher to illustrate a story in six illustrations. I was one of their finalists, and suddenly I was a children’s storybook illustrator! Today, children’s books just happen to be the largest part of my art practice. I work digitally and traditionally – in watercolour (which is what I’m better known for) and colour pencil. Opening up a new story, collaborating with editors, and having pictures just appear in my head; the fun never gets old. I’ve worked with several well-known publishers in India, and a few abroad. To date, I have illustrated about 30 children’s books.

I do of course do other illustration; novel book covers, poetry books for adults, and even the odd medical book. I’ve also done some illustration for the advertising industry.

When it comes to my personal art and painting, I’m drawn to portraying exotic women—always have been. Even as a child, my notebooks were filled with sketches of women with big, expressive eyes. Over time, this evolved into a signature style, large eyes, long necks… – a little art, a lot of traces from my career in graphic design – combining bold colours, graphic shapes, a touch of pop-art flair and a lot of maximalism in terms of details and pattern. I use acrylic paints on canvas to bring these figures to life and occasionally watercolour and gouache on paper.

Sketching is another passion of mine. I’ve always doodled and sketched and scribbled, but I discovered it ‘formally’ around 2015 – first in the form of Art Journaling, and then as an Urban Sketcher. I was thrilled to find a vibrant community right here in Pune that sketches on location – India’s largest chapter of the international body Urban Sketchers. Since then, I’ve been an active participant in our Sunday morning sketching sessions. There’s something magical about capturing the city’s energy—be it a bustling market, a quiet temple, people-watching, or meditatively food sketching in a cafe.

One project close to my heart is a Reportage Grant I won from Urban Sketchers International. In “To Save a River,” I documented activists and their efforts to revive Pune’s Mula River through sketches and stories.

I genuinely believe that anyone can draw, and everyone should draw. And I can’t imagine life without art and color!

If there are any other questions you want answered or if I can help give life to your project, hit me up at hello@niloufer.com