Judith Vanistendael was born in Leuven, Belgium in 1974. After graduating from high school, she attended art school in Ghent and lived in Berlin for a year and took courses at the Hochschule der Kunsten. After returning to Belgium, she studied art sciences for four years, after which she did a postgraduate in Sevilla, Spain. She illustrated the children's book 'Vlaamse Sprookjes', that was written by her father Geert Vanistendael.