She attended the University of Arizona and the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles.
[2][3] Although she would be recognized as a pioneer of digital illustration, Stahl began her illustration career in 1971 working in gouache, and developing a bold "poster style" which she credits as being influenced by Ludwig Hohlwein, and more generally by the English railway and underground posters of Edward McKnight Kauffer[1][4][5] In the late 1980s, Stahl was invited by Charlex (also known as CHRLX since 1998) to come in after hours to learn how to create digital art on their mainframe computers.
[1] Digital image manipulation was in its infancy at the time and the artist recalled that "you'd go back to this hazmat type of room—you know, those computer rooms where the guys would wear white and it was freezing cold—one huge room, full of tapes, and you'd load your tape".
[4] Stahl has designed postage stamps for the United States Postal Service[6][7] and in addition to her stamp illustrations, she has been featured by print publications such as Time Magazine, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal and many others.
[6] Wacom used Stahl as a spokesperson for their professional pen tablet and recorded videos of her demonstrating the most advanced techniques of their recent product.