Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Kim Rosen illustrates for OnEarth magazine

Here is a great illustration by Kim Rosen for the current issue of OnEarth magazine. The article is about the "gear guilt" that some people feel when buying new gear. New and improved gear is ultra light, but the guilt of getting rid of all the old, heavy gear causes the writer some turmoil when thinking about how all that old stuff can wreak havoc on the environment:

Kim Rosen - illustration of "Gear Guilt"

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

19th Century Ladies Fashion illustrated by Mariya Paskovsky

Mariya Paskovsky has recently been working on some illustrations that explore the theme of 19th century ladies fashion. After reading Alexandre Dumas's Le Comte de Monte-Cristo, Mariya decided to try her hand at some ultra-vintage fashion looks:

Mariya Paskovsky - Fashion for Women, 1832

Mariya Paskovsky - Fashion for Women, 1864

In Mariya's own words,
"Greatly inspired by old 19th century fashion magazine engravings, I decided to create those dresses respecting patterns, decorations, silhouettes, lines, styles and techniques of that time. I think it is just a beginning of my very new collection of historic fashion illustrations, for I find great pleasure in studying and sketching these sometimes rather funny looking but still extremely beautiful skirts, gloves, hats, fans, corsets, umbrellas, shoes …. "

Mariya Paskovsky - Fashion for Women, 1811

Mariya Paskovsky - Fashion for Women, 19th century hats



Friday, February 24, 2012

Calef Brown Illustrations

Calef Brown is well known for his colorful and funky artwork, and also for the children's books he writes and illustrates; however, there is a much wider range to the style and use of his art than you might realize.  We thought we would share some of the interesting projects he's done that show other sides of Calef. 


This is one he worked on a few years ago for the NCAA Hall of Champions.  The campaign was called "Stay in Bounds", and the purpose of it was to promote sportsmanship in kid's athletics.  Here are some of the final posters, as well as some of the characters Calef developed for the project:



The client asked Calef to create characters that were stylized and fun rather than realistic and specific.  In Calef's own words, "I think the writing is very well done – sincere, but also funny.  The posters created for the campaign were adapted for print advertisements as well.  The idea of a little mascot that’s a piece of bubblegum, who himself is chewing gum and blowing a bubble, was another character that got a great reaction from kids.  A nice bit of absurdity in a campaign that deals with serious issues."














Thursday, February 23, 2012

Robin Moline illustrates a Cricket McRae cover

Robin Moline recently did an illustration for the cover of A Deadly Row to Hoe, by Cricket McRae.  The book is a mystery published by Llewellyn Worldwide and is scheduled for a November release.  Here's a sneak peek!
Robin Moline - Deadly Row to Hoe



Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Pisco Sour recipe - illustrated by Santiago Uceda

Pisco is a grape brandy produced in wine making regions of Peru and Chile.  The roots of Pisco date back to the 16th century, when the Spaniards brought the grape from Europe to the Peruvian region.  The King of Spain banned wine in the 17th century ...

Read more, check out the two illustrations and learn the recipe!

Part of a Santiago Uceda illustration for Pisco Sour recipe - Click on image to go to full illustration

Friday, February 17, 2012

Palm Springs illustrated

Nice new site that focuses on Palm Springs stylized illustration - Lifestyle and architecture. You can submit your photos and get a personalized illustration ... customized to your liking.

From the site:
The final work can be printed in a variety of formats to suit your taste. We can create a large scale fine art piece printed on paper or canvas, or reproduce your portrait on a smaller scale as personal notecards or postcards for yourself or your business.

Palm Springs Illustration - Custom Illustration by Artist Lucie Rice

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Claudine Hellmuth highlight on Fiskars.com

Claudine Hellmuth, our favorite collage artist (of course!), was recently interviewed by Fiskars, the makers of those orange-handled scissors with which we are all familiar.  Claudine is now a part of Fiskars Featured Artists, which is a section on their website where they interview artists working in a variety of media, but who share a common love and need for scissors in their work.  So fun and easy to read!

Screenshot of Claudine Hellmuth's interview on Fiskars website

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Marco Wagner's portrait of Justin Vernon ... aka Bon Iver

In light of Bon Iver's Grammy win earlier this week, we thought we would share with you this portrait that Marco Wagner did of the band's lead singer, Justin Vernon:

Marco Wagner - Bon Iver: Justin Vernon

 In his free time, Marco often illustrates musicians that inspire him.  In this particular case, Marco had gone on a holiday road trip during which he drove 2000 km and the only music he listened to the entire time was Bon Iver's album, "For Emma, Forever Ago".  Not only did he never tire of the music, but it inspired to him to create this personal piece of Justin Vernon.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Santiago Uceda wins awards for Oregon State University animations

Santiago Uceda and his team at Oregon State University won the gold in the CASE Awards for their TV spots - Santiago co-directed the spots, did all of the illustration and tackled the animation process with the help of his team.  CASE is the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, and for those in academia it's the equivalent of what Communication Arts or the Print annual are for us creatives  :)

Congrats Santiago!!

Oregon State University, Healthy People


What does it mean to be Powered by Orange?



View more of Santiago's illustration and animation work

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Mariya Paskovsky illustrates the Green Fairy Cocktail

The Jen Vaughn Artist Agent Group of Illustrators recently started a long term promotional blog illustrating cocktails and mocktails from around the world. The Green Fairy, illustrated by Mariya Paskovsky, is the second installment in this year-long (or longer!) endeavor.

The Green Fairy is the English translation of La Fee Verte, which was the affectionate French nickname for Absinthe in the late 19th century (and even still to this day).  During that era it was the drink of choice among many well-known artists and writers, such as Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Oscar Wilde, ...

CONTINUE READING, VIEW THE FULL ILLUSTRATION, AND LEARN THE RECIPE FOR THE GREEN FAIRY HERE.

Mariya Paskovsky - The Green Fairy Cocktail

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

3 new illustrations by Calef Brown for CFO Magazine

Artist and Poet Calef Brown recently created 3 illustrations for the February issue of CFO Magazine. The stories were about rather dry subjects, such as accounting oversight, companies hiring more financial planning and analysis people, and corporations using the computer dashboard interface to monitor their businesses.  In Calef's own words, "My challenge was to create engaging illustrations to show the concepts simply and engage the reader. To add variety I gave each of the three pieces a distinct, but related, color palette."

We love the outcome, and think these illos are anything but dry!

Calef Brown - CFO Magazine - February 2012

Calef Brown for CFO Magazine - February 2012

Calef Brown for CFO Magazine - February 2012

Calef Brown for CFO Magazine - February 2012

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Cathie Bleck illustration for Poetry Magazine Cover

from Cathie's blog:

It was an honor from Cathie Bleck to be selected to do one of the covers for the 100th Anniversary issue of Poetry Magazine and especially to be the first one. Felix Sockwell, who is a fellow Drawger, already did a fabulous post and piece previously, so you might want to check that article.

The assignment was to draw the infamous Pegasus in any way, shape or form as long as it could be overprinting the 100 design produced by the wonderful art director, Alex Knowlton of Winterhouse.

Here is the final piece for the project:
Cathie Bleck - "Pegasus"

Cathie Bleck - final Pegasus illustration in context
These are copies of the final piece designed by Alex Knowlton, as well as a beautiful folder with an embossing of the artwork, designed by Michael Renaud.
In there was written, "Poetry magazine presents new work by the most recognized poets, but its primary commitment is still to discover new voices. In the words of critic Adam Kirsch "Poetry Magazine has done what long seemed impossible ... it has become indispensable reading for anyone who cares about American literature".

We are so proud that Cathie had a part in highlighting such a great publication!

View more of Cathie's work

Monday, February 6, 2012

Artist Kim Rosen illustrates Holocaust Memories

Kim Rosen - Holocaust illustration
From Kim's blog:

"My Mother is Drenched in Memories of the Holocaust"
This illustration accompanies a very sad story of a Holocaust survivor who could never forget her past. The author writes about his 90 year old mother who's life has been an extended version of the false identity she was forced to assume during the Nazi occupation of Hungary. Through the last half of her life, this survivor has suppressed her agony and heartbreak and managed to get by with a forced smile. Thanks again to Cinders for always giving me thoughtful stories to illustrate. 

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Bloody Mary illustrated

From our friends at The Art of the Cocktails comes this new illustrated recipe of the well-known and popular brunch cocktail Bloody Mary. The drink name we think stems from Queen Mary I of England, has been on the American continent since the early 1930s. Although the exact origin is still a bit foggy, there are many references of a Fernand Petiot, a Parisian bartender who ....

Check out the original recipe, the whole story, and the ENTIRE final illustration here.

Detail of Bloody Mary, illustrated by Dave Stevenson

This illustration is by artist Dave Stevenson and was created in pen & ink and gouache. You may view more of Dave's work here.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Livia Cives illustration on depression in NuRant Magazine

Livia Cives illustrated a new piece for the January 2012 issue of Nu(r)ant magazine, which focuses on different points of view of the apocalypse.
The article illustrated by Livia was about a personal apocalypse in which the main character, a young girl, was on the brink of collapse thinking about her life.
Livia chose to portray the character as being dragged to the bottom of the ocean attached to a mine, which symbolizes her 'weighted' problems.

Livia Cives illustration for Nu(r)ant Magazine