Die Schule der magischen Tiere

Die Schule der magischen Tiere
Illustrations for the German children's book series "Die Schule der magischen Tiere", written by Margit Auer and published by Carlsen. The team behind the redesign is called "die Farbfüchse" and consists of Celia Kaspar, the team leader and character designer, Lucy-Sophie Witthoff and me. I joined the team in February of 2025 and the project is ongoing as of today.
Books 1-4 & 16
I started by only doing the lineart on small vignettes and gradually moved to more complex and fully rendered illustrations.
Books 5-10 & "Eingeschneit"
I started taking on more responsibilities. I was now in charge of the fully colored double-page spread on the pastedown, in addition to some illustrations in the text.

Tender is the Knight

Tender is the Knight
"Tender is the Knight" is the title of my Bachelor film, directed and produced by Martine Samdal and me, during our final year at Volda University College. It's a short film about the lonely knight Angus, looking for love on the dating app "Tender" and it's available on YouTube:)
We worked with Procreate for the pre-production, animated in Toon Boom Harmony and composited in Adobe After Effects.
Character design
Character sheets and development. I focused mostly on the side characters.
Prop design
I designed a couple props for the film, notably almost all the "Tender" profiles.
Storyboards
Some early storyboard development in Procreate. I quickly switched to Storyboard Pro for efficiency.

Character design

Character design
Here is a selection of some character designs. None of these were commissioned, they're all personal work.
Dungeons & Dragons
Here are all my characters from my DnD campaigns. I always make sheets for them, I find it to be good practice.

Personal art

Personal art
Miscellaneous selection from my sketchbook, iPad and croquis.
Character design
Character sheets and development. I focused mostly on the side characters.
Prop design
I designed a couple props for the film, notably almost all the "Tender" profiles.
Storyboards
Some early storyboard development in Procreate. I quickly switched to Storyboard Pro for efficiency.

Daniela Pardiñas

About me Short biography
CV Download my CV
Contact me E-mail & socials
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About me

About me
Hi! I'm Dani (she/her).
I'm a 25 year-old freelancing artist based in Bratislava, Slovakia.
I have a Bachelor in Animation from Volda University College in Norway and I've worked on different animated short films and TV series and I'm currently illustrating a children's book series.
Always nagged by teachers for doodling and not paying attention, my passion for art turned serious when I chose an art high school and extracurricular drawing classes where I could flourish. I briefly studied art history ate the University of Vienna, Austria, but interrupted my boring academic studies to regain my passion by pursuing animation in my hometown. After a very convincing Erasmus semester, I finished my degree in Norway.
In my spare time I enjoy working on my own creative projects, tinkering on my website, playing videogames and going on adventures with my dog. I also speak eight languages and I'm learning FIVE more (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Japanese and Dog).

CV

Curriculum
Name / Daniela Pardiñas
Date of Birth / 6th September 2000

Experience
Die Schule der magischen Tiere / Trickstudio Lutterbeck GmbH
February 2024 - present / Remote
Illustration / Procreate
PAINTS / Pirogy Studios
June 2025 - October 2025 / Remote
2D Clean-up Artist / Blender
BFF / Blue Faces s. r. o.
August 2024 - June 2025 / Bratislava (SK)
2D Animator, Layout Artist / Toon Boom Harmony
Tender is the Knight / dir. Daniela Pardiñas & Martine Samdal
August 2023 - June 2024 / Volda (NO)
Direction, Lead Animation, Character Design
Garden of Heart / dir. Olivér Hegyi
February 2022 - May 2022 / Bratislava (SK)
2D Animator / TV Paint

Education
Volda University College / Bc. in Animation
August 2022 - June 2024 / Volda (NO)
Academy of Performing Arts Bratislava / Animation
September 2021 - June 2022 / Bratislava (SK)
Universität Wien / Art History
September 2019 - May 2021 / Vienna (AT)
Lycée des Arts et Métiers / High School Diploma
September 2014 - June 2019, Luxembourg (LU)

Software
Adobe Photoshop / Advanced
Adobe After Effects / Intermediate
Adobe Premiere Pro / Intermediate
Toon Boom Harmony / Advanced
Krita / Advanced
Clip Studio Paint / Advanced
TV Paint / Intermediate
Procreate / Advanced
HTML / Advanced
CSS / Advanced
JavaScript / Beginner

Languages
Slovak / Native
Spanish / Native
English / C2
German / C2
Czech / C2
French / B2
Norwegian / B2
Luxembourgish / B2

Hobbies & Likes
animals, 2000s media, Horror, Sci-Fi/Fantasy books, DnD, Pokémon, coding, going to the gym, sketching people, collages, coding, music, visual novels/comics, videogames, winter,
Contact me

Contact me

My work on the book series is scheduled until Christmas 2027, so I won't be able to undertake any full-time jobs until then. But if you'd like to have a commission done, or you need part-time help on your project, please don't hesitate to reach out!
You can reach me during working hours at...
...or DM me on Discord
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