Ninakupenda Gaillard

Ninakupenda Gaillard, known professionally as Nina Gaillard, is a Black freelance illustrator and colorist born and raised in Georgia. She earned a BFA in Sequential Art with a minor in Storyboarding from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in 2017, where she discovered her passion for digitally coloring comics. She also founded Moxie Print, a branded merchandise and print solutions company based in Somerset, New Jersey.

Gaillard has colored comics for multiple publishers and series, including Powers Squared (three story arcs), Ghost Book by Remy Lai, and most recently Chickenpox (Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, 2025) — also written by Remy Lai — a middle-grade graphic novel about a young girl navigating sibling rivalry, friendship, and a bout of chickenpox. Her color work on Chickenpox contributed to the book's warm, expressive visual tone and earned her an Eisner Award nomination.

In 2026, the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards celebrated its most diverse nominee class in the 38-year history of the awards, with a historic number of Black creators nominated across categories. Gaillard received a 2026 Eisner nomination for Best Coloring for Chickenpox (Henry Holt Books for Young Readers), written and illustrated by Remy Lai.