ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Tor Freeman

Tags

children's books, illustration, london, tor freeman, visual art

Tor Freeman is a London-based illustrator who specializes in children’s books.  But her work goes beyond the typical children’s book illustrator in that her passion for her subjects combined with her talent as an artist make her one of those rare forces we are so lucky to have featured on the L+W blog.  Her work makes sense to both children and adults because of its depth and ability to tell a complete story through one picture.  We love and admire Tor’s work.  Here is what she had to say about some of her pieces:

Although I’m interested in all kinds of illustration, my main work is in children’s books. Here are some watercolour studies of kids.

I like drawing musical instruments, animals and kids playing them. Not sure what kind of horn this might be! Also in pen and watercolour.

 

Lately I’ve been experimenting more with digital colouring, feeling my way about a bit. I seem to be drawing a lot of pigs these days as well! In my initial sketches for this I was thinking of the scene in The Fabulous Baker Boys where Michelle Pfeiffer sings Makin’ Whoopie on the piano, but more pig ladies joined in.

This was an earlier digital experiment, trying to get different textures. I guess my aim is to make the work still look as traditional as possible.

I love patterns, here I’d been looking at colours from Ezra Jack Keats’ books. Maybe it could work as wrapping paper…

I really enjoyed doing these drawings, listening to the Cabaret soundtrack the while. My favourite thing is drawing characters, movement and expression. I’m trying to be stricter with myself about doing backgrounds too!

 

Visit Tor’s site: http://www.torfreeman.com/index.html

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Jen Hill

Tags

animation, children's books, illustration, jen hill, sesame street, visual art

Jen Hill is a doodler who happens to let her characters evolve into interesting, clever and ultimately fantastical stories that drive the narratives of her work.  It’s no wonder she is a freelance animator for Sesame Street, as her work brings a visual education to anyone who views it, particularly children.  Jen seems to have a knack for capturing the essence of of story in her pieces.  She also does incredibly cool projects such as designing a symbol language for a tech company that makes communication devices for nonverbal populations, predominantly children.  She is presently shopping a children’s book she has written and illustrated.  Here is what Jen had to say about some of her work:

These ladies are in some kind of eastern European village. Whoever they are waiting for is late. (Gouache, 9 x 12)

This tree is outside a castle where an aging princess sits strumming a mandolin.  There are companion pieces to this series, which is inspired by a picture I had on the wall of my bedroom as a child in which a 60’s style large-eyed girl strums a guitar. (Gouache, 9 x 12)

A depiction of a favorite tween pastime: the occult. This shows my best friend Eva and me toying with dark forces. I doodled it absentmindedly one day and discovered later that it bore quite a resemblance to her, which inspired me to create a finished piece. (Gouache, 9 x12)

Part of a 10-part series I may turn into a book. Here is a woodsman with his coterie. He is trying to convince the deer to follow them. Why does the bear look apprehensive? (Gouache, 16 x 20)

Maybe this is why. (Gouache, 8 x 10)

Later at the cabin they dance under his spell. (Gouache, 9 x 12)

A picture I painted for a spring promo card. (Gouache, 10 x 14)

A picture I painted for a summer promo. (Gouache, 10 x 14)

Website: www.jen-hill.com

Blog: http://jenhillustration.blogspot.com/

twitter: http://twitter.com/jenhillustrator

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Amy Schimler

Tags

american greetings, amy schimler, baby gap, children's books, illustration, target, visual art

Viewing Amy Schimler’s art is a little like eating pie on a hot summer night- a homemade pie, that is, with all the right stuff inside.  It is light, colorful, refined with an undertone of the guiltiest of pleasures that still somehow feels good for you.  Her work is definitely good for the soul, in our opinion, because while she illustrates for children and greeting cards, which is in itself a delight, she speaks to people of all ages through her mastery of her craft and her whimsical way of capturing truth in the world around her.  Amy’s clients include Target, Baby Gap and American Greetings, to name a few.  Here is what she had to say about some of her work:

Clover

This was an illustration for “Highlights High Five Magazine” about the change of season from Winter to Spring. It was a page in a mini book that the young readers could assemble themselves. 

Blue Bird Garden

Portfolio Piece that was illustrated for the greeting card market.

Cupcakes

This is one of my favorite textile designs that is licensed by a fabric company. It is so much fun to see projects on websites such as Etsy that have been sewn with the fabrics.

Book Spreads

These are a couple of spreads from a children’s book, titled “Why is the Sky Blue?” that I illustrated for Ladybird Books.  This book was chosen by booktime.org to be distributed to students starting school for the first time this fall in the UK.

Self Promo Card

This was an illustration that I used for a recent self promotional postcard.

Visit Amy’s Site

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Steve Mack

Tags

canada, children's books, illustration, steve mack, visual art

Steve Mack’s illustrations are simply delightful.  He loves to illustrate for children’s books and greeting cards- how much more endearing can you get?  What’s best is that he is extremely talented, so his work appeals to everyone on many different levels.  Steve lives in Canada with his lovely family, and loves to fish.  Another huge plus in our book.  Here is what he had to say about some of his work:

Who’s Smart Owl 

This owl was an experiment in texture and super bold primary color. When I illustrate I keep in mind scale, color, texture and composition. The images I like the best are deceptively simple. I reduce, add, shift and scale. My illustration process has almost become more like sculpting the total image I want rather than drawing it directly one time. That’s the power of digital illustration software! It’s tough to tell when to stop but if I get close to a balance I like in an image it will feel finished to me.

Dog Pirates Image

This illustration is for my most popular kids greeting card. This was commissioned for American Greetings and I did it about 5 years ago now but I can still walk into just about any place that has American Greetings Cards and find it in their juvenile birthday section. I am still pleased with how it turned out and happy that it has been so popular for a number of years.

Whale in the Storm

I am currently developing a new children’s book around this image. I try to tell little stories in my illustration and this one has prompted me to write a whole book around it.



Visit Steve’s Site: http://illustrationfarm.com/

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Øivind Hovland

Tags

bbc, children's books, esquire magazine, illustration, olvind hovland, tabella, visual art

Øivind Hovland is a special kind of illustrator- he’s the kind that can take the everyday, mundane image, no matter how big or how small, and turn it into something that makes you turn your thinking cap on and stretch your brain in new ways.  His images are like brain candy to me, and to thousands of others who can’t get enough of them-  just ask his long list of clients, which include Esquire Magazine, Radio Times and the BBC.  Øivind is also the author of two illustrated books published by Tabella.  We LOVE his style!  Here is what he had to say about his work: 

‘Even if you only have one small image at your disposal, a story can still be told. And that, in a nutshell is my aim, to tell a story using whatever means I have’.

Anabolic steroids

Editorial illustration for Bergens Tidende, a Norwegian newspaper.

The idea being a strong-man balancing a tightrope doomed to fall. Dark rain clouds and the weight he’s carrying will eventually hurl him into the abyss which is drugs abuse. A dark subject aside, I still tried to put a bit of humour in there.

Odd crowd 

This was really just for fun. Me trying to cram a bunch of odd characters into the image, playing around with hair dos, facial hair and crimes against fashion. Sometimes I have to tone down the intensity of characters in my illustrations, but since this was my own project I decided to go all the way, well most of the way with the different characters depicted. A harmless piece that makes me smile.

Skeletons in the closet 

Editorial illustration for Sykepleien, a Norwegian nursing magazine. Some dodgy dealings went on in Norway regarding waiting lists in hospitals.  Internal investigation committees was assigned by each hospital to check if anything untoward had taken place, needless to say they were all cleared of any wrongdoings…..

The zine writer 

A back page profile illustration for Broken pencil, a Canadian art magazine. A profile image on the life an times (so far) of Canadian writer and artist Harley R Pageot. Challenge was to include as much info about the artist without cluttering it too much. A particularly fun commission!

Tv brought me up 

Full page editorial illustration for Zoot, a Portuguese fashion magazine. Brief was to depict a day in the life of one of the magazine’s writers. This person being a very interesting yet dark and chaotic individual, it proved to be (design-wise) a hard nut to crack – but I got there in the end. Hugely entertaining brief.

The phone call 

Brand new illustration. Ones in a while I do a self initiated illustration like this one, pushing my style in a direction I’d like ‘all’ my commissioned work to go – if that makes any sense.

Visit Øivind’s site

ARIST SPOTLIGHT: Joyce Hesselberth

Tags

adobe, capitol records, children's books, communication, david plunkert, illustration, joyce hesselberth, mtv, sput design, visual art

Joyce Hesselberth is one half of the Spur Design team.  Her illustrations caught my eye immediately because of their handmade quality and eye-catching simplicity.  But even more, her work is unquestionably deeply layered with meaning, which can keep you fixated for quite a while.  Together with David Plunkert, Joyce has produced award-winning work for Adobe, Capitol Records, MTV and the Academy of Sciences, to name a few.  Communication is key to her work, and you can see why.  Here is what Joyce had to say about her work:

One of my big projects lately has been A Child’s Book of Animal Poems and Blessings. It’s a collection of poems from many different poets and gathered from many different cultures: from African pygmy, to Lewis Carroll, Cochiti Indian. I absolutely loved having an excuse to draw animals all day. It’s published by Skinner House and is available here:

http://www.uuabookstore.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=1216

Fish head is a recent piece I did to help promote a local art festival. The festival took place by a river and the client wanted to reference the idea of the river in the art. We designed banners, t-shirts, print ads, posters around this piece.

This is for the Chronicle Review. The story was about the life of an editor. I’ve noticed that whenever I can work a bird into the illustration, I am happy (especially when the story has absolutely nothing to do with birds). A lot of my work is based around strong, simple shapes, and this one is no exception.

A piece on childhood obesity for The New York Times. The story talked about how the path to obesity may start at a younger age than we realize.

This piece was for The Wall Street Journal (European version). It was about agents who are finding the next great thriller books in foreign markets. I like working in black and white sometimes. It’s a nice change of pace. My favorite thing about this piece though was the dog in the lower right. Who knows, he may be the next great fiction writer.

Visit Joyce’s site

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Matthew Scott

Tags

advertising, children's books, divine paper house, editorials, illustration, matthew scott, united kingdom

Matthew Scott is an illustrator based in the UK with a talent for just about everything.  His site, Divine Paper House, is so aptly named to house the work he has done for children’s books, editorials, advertising and his personal work.  Be sure to have a look at his editorial work- it brings new meaning to the world of advertising, which in my opinion is almost undeserving of such talent.  Matthew graduated in 2008 from Kingston University with honors and his awards include “Best New Blood” in the 2008 D&AD Awards and first place in the 2008 student category of the Cheltenham Illustration Awards for his book titled, “The Diver.”  


Here is what Matthew had to say about a few pieces of his work:

Bo-Bo’s

Personal piece.  

Diver

Single page from my first book the diver which won first place in the cheltenham illustration awards 2008, the book tells the tale of a deep sea divers love of mermaids.

I think I just missed another summer

 Personal piece

Journey Home

 Spread from the same children’s picture book featuring the full cast of characters- they are all on there way home from the beach. 

Mix

Quick personal pieces for my portfolio,  trying to develop my children characters and to work at a faster pace.

Nik Mag 

Cover piece for nickelodeon magazines comic book section for may last year.

On Second Thoughts 

Single page from a children’s book still in production about a bear on a journey.

Violet and Daisy 

Poster design produced whilst I was in university to advertise the famous conjoined twins of the 1920’s.  

Visit Matthew’s site

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Fred Blunt!

Tags

cartoons, children's books, fred blunt, illustration, united kingdom, visual art

Fred Blunt’s work is at once whimsical and spot-on clever, making his work enticing to both adults and children.  He’s from the UK, has a brilliant portfolio and has a brand new baby girl named Bonnie!  We love Fred’s work.  Here is what he had to say about it:

My influences are largely what I grew up with, old 1950’s US cartoons, which seemed to be on the TV all the time when I was small. Everything from the classic Tom and Jerry’s, the great chuck Jones Warner stuff, the brilliantly stylised UPA type stuff, and of course the beautifully designed Ed Benedict stuff for Hanna and Barbera.

Pre-school British stuff from my childhood also leaves a big impact. Particularly Mr. Benn by the fabulous David Mckee, Towser by Tony Ross and of course the beautifully whimsical worlds created by Peter Firmin and Oliver Postgate – Bagpuss in particular. I also love foreign made cartoons from my youth like Vicky the Viking and DogTanian and the three muskerhounds.

Similarly I’m still obsessed with Quentin Blake’s illustrations which I grew up with whilst reading the Roald Dahl books- I just love the uninhibited looseness and energy he brings.

Recently I have been enjoying the work of the French master cartoonist Jean-Jacques Sempé, whose cartoons remind me of watching silent movies – he really is an amazing draughtsman.

There’s a riot

Was my contribution to the Beck’s music inspired art project. Which was a chance for artists to re-imagine some of the classic record sleeves.  My sleeve design for There’s A Riot Goin’ On, by Sly and The family stone relates to a rather dark true story about Sly’s pet monkey and bull terrier, which happened during the making of the album.

Overlapping Critters

Is a personal piece – just a little freeform doodle of some of my favourite things to draw. When I’m drawing purely for pleasure I try to be as unselfconscious as possible and  try to get into a sort of doodle trance!

Barking up the wrong tree

Was again something that developed from a sketchbook doodle.

It’s a mixture of crayon line, with a watercolour and Photoshop collage for the colour.

Kids go free

Was a promotional piece for my agent’s folio.

I wanted this piece to be clear, bright and eye catching.

Reluctant Dragon cover

This was for an Usborne early reader.  When I illustrated this book, I wanted it to feel like you are looking at stills from an animation.  When I was a child I used to get quite miffed when you would get a story book based on your favourite cartoon, and they were drawn in a completely different style to the series!  The reluctant dragon is a retelling of the Kenneth Grahame classic – originally illustrated by the brilliant A A Milne of Winnie the Pooh fame… I avoided seeing his illustrations at all costs, so I wouldn’t get intimidated!

Visit Fred’s Site

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Steve Simpson

Tags

advertising, animation, children's books, graphic design, illustration, illustration mundo, society of illustrators, steve simpson, united kingdom, visual art

Steve Simpson is another fascinating, inventive illustrator we met through Illustration Mundo.  His work is fun, smart, extremely detailed.  Steve clearly draws from a number of world influences in a most unique and enticing way.  He has won numerous awards for his work, including the Association of Illustrators UK, Society of Illustrators, Applied Arts Canada and 3×3 Magazine, to name a few.  Here is what Steve has to say about his work:


I’ve been a full time illustrator for about the last 15 years. After studying technical illustration I spent a few years working in animation on children’s TV shows. I think both of these experiences have had an effect on my work. I spread my time between advertising/design and children’s books.

15

This is part of a spread I did to help celebrate a client’s 15th year in business. The full piece is a triple page wrap around spread. I went back to using a dip pen for this one, then finished it in photoshop.

Absolut

This A2 piece was commissioned by Absolut Vodka for a 16 artist exhibition entitled “Absolut Art”. It’s a mix of acrylics and pen and ink. There are also cutout elements. Most of my work has a digital factor so it was nice to do a physical piece for a change. It’s now part of the Absolut archive made famous by Andy Warhol’s 1985 piece. Since then hundreds of artists have contributed their talents to the Absolut campaign, including names such as Nam June Paik, Louise Bougeois, Damian Hirst, Maurizio Cattelan, Rosemarie Trockel to name but a few.

Barcode

I’ve recently finished this guy for a chilli sauce bottle called Inferno. It’s heavily influenced by Mexican folk art and was great fun to work on. Rather than just suppling the illustrations for the piece I got to design the label also.

Inferno

As the barcode can stand out like a sore thumb I was able to make the individual bars into bones with skulls on top.

This is another project I’ve just finished. It’s a children’s book about a little monkey who’s having trouble sleeping. I have more images from this book on my portfolio site http://www.stevesimpson.com/projects/lulu/

Sweet

More birds and a monkey. The poster was given away at a talk I gave in Dublin last year. It was created digitally.

 

Visit Steve’s site
See Steve’s work on YouTube





 

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Lucy McCririck

Tags

children's books, edinburgh, floris books, illustration, lucy mccrick, plant and grow, scotland, visual art

Lucy McCririck is an Edinburgh-based illustrator who has just finished her studies at Edinburgh College of Art.  Her illustrations are wonderfully beautiful pieces of magic inspired by Scotland’s farming and rural land and Edinburgh’s architecture.  She has been working on a “Plant and Grow” project, commissioned by the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society, and her work can also be found in “Green Fingers and Muddy Boots,” a children’s gardening guide published by Floris Books.

Fox and Hens

This is a page from the Children’s Book I’m about halfway through finishing at the moment. It’s a collection of Scottish Nursery Rhymes that I’ve written, this one about a group of gossiping hens who get munched by a fox. There’s a lot of talk about improving Scottish language accessibility here in Scotland, whether that actually translates into publishers willing to take on books with a very small target audience remains to be seen.

Green Fish and Salmon

Drawing fish is entirely self indulgent. They aren’t for a specific project, I just enjoy painting them. I live next to a world-famous salmon fishing river, so perhaps that’s where the inspiration comes from.

Pirate Boat

Since I graduated last year I’ve found that a lot of the work I’ve been getting comes from a local level, specifically through word of mouth. This drawing was for an 80^th birthday party invitation.  I’ve done a few invitation commissions, the advantage being that I can print them myself with whatever message the client wants typed up inside.

Letter Story

This is one of my older pieces from college. I wrote a little poem about the postal system imagining an underground world peopled with strange creatures where the post was sorted out before being returned to the surface.

Visit Lucy’s site
Visit Lucy’s store on Etsy
Visit Lucy’s blog