Zina Saunders has been a writer-illustrator for more than 15 years. In addition to contributions in a variety of periodicals (including The Wall Street Journal, The Progressive, ESPN magazine,Time Out New York, and D magazine), her client list includes Simon & Schuster, Random House, Scholastic, Oxford University Press, Nickelodeon, and Fisher Price.

In June 2005, her focus shifted from general illustration to reportage illustration, when she wrote a story for Time Out New York magazine about the Puerto Rico Schwinn Club, an outgrowth of the Overlooked New York website. She wrote and illustrated another feature in the August 4th issue of Time Out New York magazine, profiling Central Park portrait artists. Her Overlooked New York series has been selected to be featured in the 3x3 ProShow Illustration Annual No. 4.

Excerpts from Art Talks, her series of portraits and interviews with illustrators and art directors, is featured in every issue of Illo magazine, and her portrait of Steve Brodner has been selected for inclusion in the American Illustration 26 Annual. She is also on the Board of Directors of the Society of Illustrators.

Zina is the daughter of pulp magazine artist Norman Saunders, who painted some of the most popular bubblegum cards from the 60's and 70's, including Mars Attacks, Batman, and Wacky Packages. As a child, she got her first taste of being a professional illustrator when she would "correct" her father's paintings, when he was away from his drawing board. Many an eyelash on Norm Saunders' damsels in distress was painted by a nine-year-old Zina.

Zina lives and works in New York City, where she grew up and attended Music and Art High School and The Cooper Union. She left Manhattan in her 20’s to be a levitating lady with a traveling circus in upstate New York, but eventually returned to her senses and her beloved city.

If you're interested in knowing more, she maintains a blog on the illustrator blogsite, Drawger, that features her works-in-progress and outside projects. You can also read more in the Wikipedia article about Zina and she maintains a portfolio on illoz.com as well as on her site, ZinaSaunders.com

email: zina (AT) zinasaunders (DOT) com