I'm Saskia, a German-raised, LA-based illustrator and graphic artist specializing in drawing and exploration for branding, editorial, advertising, and motion.

Clients include                                    
Amazon Studios
AngelList
Buzzfeed
Clarins
Cosmopolitan
Disney’s Frozen                               
Divvy Homes
HarvardX
Hulu
Jeff Schroeder (Smashing Pumpkins)
The Los Angeles Times
Hulu
Hyperobject Industries                  
The Handmaid’s Tale
The New York Times Magazine
Origin Water
Penguin Random House
Policygenius
Popsugar
Sony Music
The New Yorker
Thought Catalog
Vans
Tumblr
Warby Parker
Working Not Working

My story
I started sharing my drawings on Tumblr in 2012 while studying Communication Design in Düsseldorf, Germany. My first illo gig was for a Japanese magazine called GINZA, drawing 42 business women with ink (2012). My Tumblr presence led me to become a Tumblr CREATRS, making gifs, content pieces and comics for brands like Vans, Capital One, Giphy, GAP, The Handmaid’s Tale, the EMAs, and many more. I naturally transitioned into doing illustration full-time!
I moved from Berlin to NYC to work for the NYC gaming studio Dots. Then dove into branding and editorial work, including illustrating the bestseller Feminist Fight Club. I made comics strips and had two lines of greeting cards with the brand Ustudio, and they were sold all over the world in shops like Urban Outfitters and ASOS (under the name Saskia Wariner). I had a coffee product with La Colombe, my work adorns the Warby Parker Flatbush Avenue store in  Brooklyn, and the Amazon Studios headquarters in Seattle.

Over the past decade, I have worked on books, covers, murals, packaging, products, editorials, campaigns, and refreshes with brands and agencies, both full-time and freelance, on-site and remote. I love bouncing ideas with other creatives, but I’m also pretty confident in coming up with my own!

I’m living and working in the heart of Los Feliz in Los Angeles, which feels like home to me.

Q&A: 

Three things you love?
Coffee, dark ink spaces, and idioms.

What’s your favorite subject matter?
I enjoy exploring all kinds of subject matter, but feel particularly drawn to clouds, people, hands, eyes, books, universal subjects and celestial bodies.

What inspires you?
Processing my life and memories, ideas, improvisation, thoughts, feelings, relationships, coincidences, flaws, 30s New Yorker spots, expressions, shadow and light, street signs, song lyrics, and books.

Themes you love exploring?
Identity, mental health, self-care, love and beauty.

What’s your go-to mediums?
Pencil, pen, and ink on paper, or digital lines with a handmade feel. I love bringing expressive linework into the vector space, keeping its soul while making it flexible for modern applications.

What do you do when you’re not drawing?
I write music, read, go on hikes, or cook a nice meal for myself and the people I love

Where can I read your drawing guides?
• How to loose the fear of drawing
• What to put in a sketchbook for beginners

Do you have a shop?
Not currently, but I have t-shirts for sale at Heavy Manners Library !

Peek into my sketchbook



Animation Credits
Sammi Arman
Nail Providence
Unreasonable Studios
Ceilidh Smith