What do I do?!

I specialize in Children’s Book, Editorial and Food illustrations and work both traditionally and digitally. See samples below of works I’ve created for each category.

See something you like? Let’s make something special for your next project!

Character Sheet illustration in pen and ink and watercolor of of a young girl with black hair wearing a pink shirt and blue shorts, playing with ginger, eating snacks and in other action poses.

Children’s Book Illustration

Cover Illustration for "Pinang the First Pineapple" with a little girl, Pinang at the bottom, with elements swirling around her that are seen in the story, including a pineapple, dog, mouse, her mom, laundry, spiders, and tomatoes. Blue background.
A colorful illustrated page titled 'A Day in the Life' featuring a girl wearing a green beanie, a shirt, and plaid pants, surrounded by drawings of books, a scooter, a dog, an American flag, a gavel, and a stethoscope. The page contains text sharing personal stories about her interests, family, school, and cultural background.
A character study in watercolor and pen and ink of a young child with messy hair, sitting on a booster seat, eating spaghetti messily with two dogs nearby, all set against a yellow background.
A character study in watercolor and pen and ink of a young child with brown hair, rosy cheeks, wearing a pink sweater and blue shorts, holding a small horse toy.
A comic strip depicting a young girl missing the bus, arriving late to school, receiving a C on her paper, losing her bus pass, and walking home in the rain. The comic also shows her being comforted by her mother at home.
A comic strip titled 'Just Pray' featuring a family at a dinner table having a conversation. The daughter is talking about her sadness over her friend Maria moving away, and the father tells his daughter to "just pray".
Comic strip showing a family at a family gathering with food, with two mothers judging Marcos's eating habits with his mom, and Marcos overhears the conversation and leaves the room crying.

Let’s get started on a KidLit project!

Editorial digital illustration of a woman with dark hair, and colorful clothing stands and holds a film strip. A man with dark hair, glasses, and colorful clothing sits at a desk, cutting a strip of film, amid stacks of film reels in a dark room.

Editorial Illustration

A pair of hands holding a broken photograph of a woman with three children and a man, behind prison bars.
Colorful illustration of a diverse crowd holding up large blue letters spelling "WE SHOW UP" with some people sitting or standing on the letters, cheering and celebrating.
Colorful cartoon scene of a lively protest or demonstration with diverse people holding signs and banners, inside a building with large windows and a view of a cityscape with hills, bridges, and buildings outside.
A hand-drawn illustration of a jar labeled 'coconut' with a coconut half on the front, surrounded by a yellow starburst.
ACLU of NorCal Cover art for Annual Report art - Crowd of diverse protesters holding signs, including one that says 'My skin color is not a crime,' demonstrating for racial justice and equality, with NorCal cityscape and mountains in the background.

Let’s collaborate on an Editorial piece!

Colorful sketch of various personal care and beauty items, including a comb, lemon slices, a jar, lipstick, a tube, a brush, and other toiletries, illustrated in a pastel, crayon-like style.
Colorful editorial illustration for Eater Magazine of a colorful abstract artwork featuring various slices of root vegetables like kobocha squash, turnip, kohlrabi, parsnips, beets, on a grill with fire, tongs and glaze.

Food Illustration

A colorful collage of a cherry pie, surrounded by green leaves and red cherries on a brown textured background.
A cartoon illustration of a fried pickle wearing a football helmet running with a football.

Let’s work on a food illustration together!

Colorful collage food illustration of a Filipino meal in clay pot containing sinigang na hipon. Table scape has rice and mangosteen.
People laughing and enjoying coffee at a lively cafe, with some holding cups and talking.
Cartoon loaded potato skins sitting at a bar watching a television. The characters are drinking beer. The background features a pink bar.
A colorful digital illustration depicting various vegetables including purple eggplant, red onion, tomatoes, garlic, Spam and garlic rice, arranged on a vibrant yellow background.
Illustration of a tater tot maraca dancer, with a headdress made of beans, sour cream, nacho cheese and other nacho toppings, holding and shaking marraccas.
A colorful, abstract illustration of a "gross sandwich" containing items such as eyeballs, pig snouts, tongue, a boot, and octopus tentacles.

Kind words from clients:

“Niki’s artistic vision, collaborative spirit, activist soul made her a joy to work with on illustrations to engage our donors.”

— Gigi Harney
Communications Department, ACLU NorCal

“Niki took a methodic approach to create detailed, thoughtful, and timely content that not only achieved our project goals but resonated with thousands in our community. With her diligence and heart in all her artistry, I would be happy to collaborate with her again.”

— Stephanie Badua-Smail

Creative Marketing Coordinator, Mare Island Brewing Company

“Niki is a talented comic book artist and a wonderful collaborator. She brought our ideas to life with creativity, skill, and a strong understanding of visual storytelling. We loved working with her and would happily do so again.”

— Lissa Johnson

CEO, Mosa Mack Science