Maria Patiño is an illustrator and artist based in Miami, Florida. A Colombian American multimedia artist, her work moves fluidly between techniques, often integrating collage within illustration and mixed media processes.
Her practice spans narrative illustration, artist’s books, and abstract painting, using layered materials and collage to explore visual storytelling across different forms.
Her process combines traditional and digital approaches, beginning with hand-drawn sketches and layered materials, then refining the work digitally. She works with gouache, oil sticks, colored pencils, ink, acrylic, oil paint, printmaking techniques, and collage and uses Adobe Photoshop for final composition and adjustments.
She grew up in the mountains of El Cairo, Valle, Colombia, where families tended vibrant flower gardens, lived in brightly painted homes, and kept animals such as horses, while children played freely outdoors. This close connection to land, color, and everyday rural life continues to shape her visual sensibility and approach to material exploration across media and form.
Her work moves between structured narrative illustration and intuitive visual languages, focusing on layered mark-making, texture, form, and composition to create expressive, story-driven imagery.
She is available for freelance commissions, including editorial illustration, book cover design, and children’s book illustration.
BFA Graphic Design | School of Visual Arts | 2002
MFA Illustration | SCAD | 2026
e: mariapatinoart@gmail.com