Two-time Hugo Award and Chesley Award Winner, Julie Dillon is a freelance artist from Northern California. In 2005 she graduated with a BFA in Fine Arts from Sacramento State University. Then a year later she had begun working as a freelance artist professionally. Specialising in sci-fi and fantasy art, Dillon has created artwork for trading cards, book covers, magazines, and even perfume labels. Clients including Simon & Schuster, Tor Books, and Penguin Books.

Dillon’s illustrations are rich in colours with enchanting lighting. Warm glows illuminate her figures and environments. Her compositions too are equally compelling. Even though she works in a realistic style, she is unafraid to play with the laws of physics to produce more dynamic images.

Julie Dillon has run two very successful Kickstarter campaigns for a series of annual art books, titled Imagined Realms. If you missed the campaign and wish you could get your hands on a copy, you are in luck! You can pick up a hard copy of Book 1 from her shop, and a digital copy from her gumroad.

If there is a comic on the shelf right now not coloured by Jordie Bellaire, I have not seen it. This weekend, during a quick comic shop, I saw her name on Moon Knight, Convergence Shazam, The Kitchen, Injection and probably a bunch more I did not spot. Jordie Bellaire has been a familiar fixture of our comic shop shelves for much of the last two years. So prolific and wonderful is Ballaire, that last year the industry showed their appriciation in the form of an Eisner award. Which in 22 years only 10 other colourist have earned, Dave Stewart and Chris Ware claiming over half of the awards between them.

Bellaire has worked with close to all of the big comic publisher on many great titles such as, Pretty Deadly, The Manhattan Projects, Nowhere Men, Zero, and Hawkeye. Along the way, enhansing the pages of many of my favourite current comic artist including Tom Fowler, Chris Samnee, Ramon Perez, Sean Murphy, Becky Cloonan and Emma Rios.

Perhaps you have heard of Colorist Appreciation Day, well, you can thank Bellaire for that too!

I started collecting comics in a bygone time called the 90s. Back then there was one stamp on the covers of comic far more important than the Comic Code Authority, which was Liquid!. Many of my favourite titles had it and thanks to their distinct logo, one could not miss it. It was the first time I took a real interest in colourist and that apprieciation has grown ever since. I thought at the time this was a shared feeling, however, jump forward 20 years and it seems like the industy and perhaps its audience have not shown colourist the same recognition. In a tumblr post by titled, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it any more” directed at an unnamed fan convention, Bellaire laid it out bare, stating the importanace of all professionals that work in comics, underlining the vital role that colourist play. The post gained the attention that the subject deserved and resulted in fans calling for a #ColoristAppreciationDay on Twitter and opened a discussion that continues today.

To see more of Jordie Bellaire’s work, simply go to your comic shop and pick a comic up from the shelf, chances are she coloured it. You can also check out her tumblr and twitter.

September 6th, 1917, saw the birth of Frank Modell. September 6th, 2015, saw him celebrate his 98th birthday. Born in Philadelphia, a twenty-something Modell would head to nearby Atlantic City where he would work as a beach artist. Around the same time, he would also attend Philadelphia Museum School of Art, studying illustration.

Straight after graduating Modell was drafted and stationed in Great Britain, France, Belgium, Luxemburg, and Germany. All the while he was sending cartoon ideas to The New Yorker magazine. After the war, he was accepted in the ranks of The New Yorker staff. His illustrations would appear in the magazine from 1945 to 1995. During that time he produced six covers and more than one thousand cartoons. Modell also wrote and illustrated several children’s books including Seen Any Cats? (1981), Goodbye Old Year, Hello New Year (1984) and One Zillion Valentines (1987). One Zillion Valentines would be later adapted for a short animation in 1998.

As well as all of the above, Frank Modell produced animated storyboards for the children’s TV show Sesame Street and shared his acting chops on Broadway and even had a bit role in the Woody Allen film, Stardust Memories (1980).

A few years ago James Stevenson, a good friend of his, took it upon himself to create an illustrated biography of Frank Modell. It is called The Life, Loves and Laughs of Frank Modell It contains drawings which originally appeared The New Yorker magazine, as well as some new illustrations created for specifically for the book. Definitely one to check out. For now, I think I will leave you with a lovely quote from the man himself:

I paint and make sketches everywhere I go. Drawing funny pictures for a living is as good as it gets and I’m grateful.
Frank Modell

Jerzy Drozd, the cartoonist and teaching artist, not the “creative bass guitar company with unique design” is the guiding force behind possibly my favourite podcast, Lean Into Art (LIA). He, along with co-host Rob Stenzinger, have consistently thought-provoking topics and discussion. Drozd is also responsible for Comics Are Great!, which among many things, runs regular workshops and events for children and teenagers. With the aim of encouraging them to read more and, of course, learn how to make comics.

As his tagline suggests, Drozd is not only a teaching artist, he spends much of his time as a professional cartoonist. He has worked on graphic novels, The Front: Rebirth an all-ages action/adventure, and most recently, The Warren Commission Report: A Graphic Investigation into the Kennedy Assassination, which the title helpfully removes the need for a synopsis. It was written by Dan Mishkin and Drozd collaborated with Illustrator Ernie Colón on the artwork.

Drozd has also started a webcomic called Boulder and Fleet. A new page is released each week and it centers around a bear and a bird, with a host of other animals, whom go on 80s-cartoon-inspired adventures. There’s lots of lasers. Exactly. I will give you a minute to go and bookmark it.

You can find all of Jerzy Drozd’s podcasts on his YouTube channel and keep up-to-date with all of his endeavours on his website.

Zac Retz is a colour artist and character designer for games, film and animation. He had been working at games company Workinman Interactive since 2013, until recently deciding to become freelance. Part of the decision to freelance was so he could work on his own animated short. He has set up a Patreon to cover some of the costs. In return he shares the visual development process as well as tutorials.

Retz’s artwork is stunning owing a lot of its appeal to his understanding of light and colour. Adjusting between realism to expressionism to better suit the story and mood. All of his portfolio is filled with charming illustrations, but his more romantic ones are especially alluring, as they do perfectly convey the emotions of the characters.

You may perhaps already recognise his work from a previous Lounge feature, Gustavo Soares, who turned one of Retz’s images into 3D.

You can find more of Zac Retz’s lush illustrations on his blog, ArtStation and Instagram.

Carl Oscar August Erickson was a prolific American advertising and fashion illustrator, born 1892 in Joliet, Illinoise. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Chicago for two years. Whilst at art school people began calling him “Eric”. The nickname stuck and would later adopt it as his signature. At the start of his career he worked for advertising agencies such as Marshall Field, and Lord & Thomas (now FCB). In 1914 Erickson move to New York, and continued to illustrate for advertising.

He made the transition into fashion drawing his first fashion illustration for the trade journal, the Dry Goods Economist. A short while later, in 1916, made his debut for Vogue magazine. He fell in love and married a fellow Vogue illustrator, Lee Creelman. The two moved to Paris in 1920, where Erickson began illustrating for the French edition of Vogue and drawing society portraits. The couple lived in France for two decades but were forced to return to American due to the invasion of Paris in the Second World War.

By 1925, Erickson was a regular artist for Vogue magazine and a dominate figure in the fashion world. He developed a working relationship with French fashion designers Pierre Balmain and Cristóbal Balenciaga, as well as collaborating with artist René Bouët-Willaumez and René Bouché. Erickson continued to work until his death in 1958. After his death, he had the unique honor of two retrospectives of his work hosted by the Brooklyn Museum and Parsons School of Design. One in 1959 and the second in 1964.

Throughout his career Erickson was focused and hard-working. Constantly practicing and making studies, taking his sketchbook wherever he went, from restaurants to theaters. For each published magazine piece, he would make a multitude of preliminary sketches. He would also always draw from life, and never drew without a model. He used many different types of media included charcoal, pencil, Chinese ink, watercolor, and gouache. He was referred to as “the Toulouse-Lautrec of America” and in 1982 was inducted to the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame.

You can find a lot of Carl Erickson’s work around the web as well as some in some fashion books, such as 100 Years of Fashion. There is also a 128-page book, Fashion Drawings in Vogue: Carl Erickson, that was published in 1989. A good condition copy can sell for quite a bit, but you can still find pretty cheap second-hand ones on Amazon.

Ty Wilkins is a graphic designer and illustrator based in Austin, Texas. He graduated with a BFA in Graphic Design from a Auburn University. After which he worked for various design companies, gaining experience and honing his skills. In 2010 he took the plunge and formed his own design studio.

Working for himself Wilkins is able to inject more of his personality into projects. He also takes the opportunity to explore geometry and minimalism. Creating typography, icons, and illustrations that have liveliness and charm. Wilkins’ distinct style has attracted brands including Target, Cheerios, IBM and Facebook. As well as publications including Monocle, ESPN Magazine, Wired and Bloomberg.

Wilkins’ illustrations take full advantage of the perfect lines of vectors. However, he often incorporates scanned painted textures adding an element of handcrafted imperfection. His pastel pallet, as well as his strong use of geometric shapes, is very reminiscent of 1950s illustration. Which he plays upon by adding subtle noise and distress.

Find more of Ty Wilkins’ illustrations on his website, Dribbble and Instagram.

With tonight being All Hallows’ Eve, it seems only too appropriate to feature an illustrator who is becoming synonymous with modern horror comics, Tyler Crook.

The Oregonian actual started in video games, producing art for sports games MLB: The Show, Gameday, and Gamebreaker. After twelve years as a 3D modeler, Crook decided to go in a different direction. He partnering with writer Philip Gelatt, and in 2011 released the graphic novel Petrograd. Published by Oni Press, the historical thriller marked Crook’s first step into the comic industry, and almost immediately landed a regular spot as the artist for B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth. Thus beginning his foray into fear.

Starting strong, just one year later he picked up the 2012 Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award. He has since worked on titles including Witchfinder, Badblood, and 6th Gun. He also contributed to the Dark Horse relaunch of pioneering horror magazine, Creepy. Keeping the momentum going, his latest work on Harrow County has been absolutely masterful.

For more treats check out Tyler Crook’s website, as well as on the Harrow County Tumblr. You also have to check out this neat little trick!

Howard Pyle was born on March 5, 1853 in Wilmington, Delaware. He showed a keen interest in art and literature from a very young age. At school Pyle showed indifference to his studies. His mother, who was a painter, encouraged him to pursue art.

Rather than going to college, Pyle moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and spent three years studying under Francis Van der Wielen at the Art Students’ League. After a visit to the island of Chincoteague off Virginia he submitted an illustrated article to Scribner’s Monthly. Roswell Smith, one of the owners of the magazine, suggested Pyle move to New York to pursue a career in illustration.

In 1876, Pyle heeding Smith’s advice, moved to New York. However, he struggled to get work at first due to his lack of professional experience. He also struggled to suitably translate his ideas for publication. His luck changed when he sold a double-page illustrated article to Harper’s Weekly. It appeared in the issue of March 9, 1878. He was paid the tidy sum of $75, which was five times what he had expected. From there he began illustrating and writing for many popular periodicals including Collier’s, Harper’s Monthly, Cosmopolitan, Scribner’s, and St. Nicholas magazines. He soon became widely known for his editorial illustrations.

By the time Pyle returned home to Wilmington in 1880, he was an established artist. A year later he married a singer, Anne Poole, on April 12, 1881. Around that time he began to work on a book, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood. It was published in 1883. Pyle careful crafted almost every aspect of the book, from the writing, illustration, and design, down to the type of lettering used. This book, rightfully so, garnered international attention and praise from critics such as William Morris. Pyle put that same level of commitment and care into many more books, notably, Otto of the Silver Hand (1888), Men of Iron (1891), The Story of King Arthur and His Knights (1903), Howard Pyle’s Book Of Pirates (Compiled in 1921).

Between 1894 to 1900 Pyle joined the faculty of Drexel Institute of Art (now called Drexel University) to teach illustration. A natural tutor, Pyle discovered a drive to better teach students about illustration outside of the confines of formal art education. In 1900, Pyle left Drexel to established his own art school. It was attached to his personal art studio and became known as the Brandywine School. Having made a good living through his professional illustration Pyle never accepted money for his teaching. Many of his students were female, making up to fifty percent of his classes. Which was very uncommon in those days. Pyle excelled in many mediums, pen and ink, watercolors, oils, pencil and charcoal. He taught his students technique as well as encouraging them train both spiritually and artistically. To experience many environments so that they could authentically represent them in their work.

In 1910 Pyle along with his family went to Italy, with an intention to study the old masters. However, after just one year, he suffered a kidney infection and died in Florence at the age of 58. The Delaware Museum of Art was founded two years later in his honor. It houses over 100 paintings, drawings, and prints purchased from Pyle’s widow, Anne.

In a career lasting a little over thirty years, Pyle produced nearly 3,500 illustrations across 200 magazine articles and 19 books. His legacy is felt today with many contemporary illustrators still citing Pyle’s work as an important influence. His contribution in illustration, literature and education is still studied and praised today, truly earning Howard Pyle the title of the “Father of American Illustration.”

You may know Rob Schrab as the writer of feature films Monster House (2006) and Channel 101 (2004), or as the co-creator The Sarah Silverman Program. Perhaps you recognise his name because it was recently announced Schrab will direct The Lego Movie Sequel. I will be honest, until very recently, I had no idea of any of that. For me, the name “Rob Schrab” is synonymous with the comic series Scud: The Disposable Assassin.

Scud was an off-the-wall tale of a disposable vending machine robot whose only objective was to dispose of a target and then self-destruct. After accidently realising the catch-22 of his purpose, rather than killing his target, Jeff, Scud instead incapacitates her. Scud then begins a career as a freelance mercenary to cover Jeff’s medical bills. Not content with unorthodox beginnings, Scud: TDA quickly descends into an Oddball adventure of biblical proportions.

In 1998, Scud: TDA went into an indefinite hiatus after issue #20, due to Schrab growing dissatisfied of the plot. The publisher, Fireman Press, established for the purpose of printing Scud, was dissolved after a falling out with Schrab over rights. Despite this, and to much of the fan’s satisfaction, Scud: TDA was finally revisited in 2008, with a 4-part conclusion published by Image Comics.

At the time of Scud’s heyday, in the mid to late 90s, I was eagerly picking up comics by smaller and independent publishers. Titles including CreeD (Hall of Heroes / Lightning Comics), The Tick (New England Comics Press) and The Sleeze Brothers (Epic Comics), to name a few. These smaller publishers were usually putting out much more unconventional stories, comletely unhindered by the Comics Code Authority and commercial burdens. Looking back, I will admit Scud’s artwork was a little untamed compared to the larger publishers, but the story and energy took you on a ride that was not matched in their titles. However, the artwork did not bother me at the time. The enthusiasm of Schrab and his jam-pack pages, though imperfect, told the story perfectly.

To the dismay of many, Rob Schrab has stated that he has no plans for further issues of Scud or any of its spin-off characters. It looks like, for now at least, he is firmly focused on his film and television commitments. If you happen to be looking for an alternative to the perfectly polished work on the shelves these days, I would strongly suggest picking up some issues of Scud: The Disposable Assassin.

David Jason Latour is an American comic book artist and writer, born in 1977, North Carolina. He obtained a Bachelor’s degree in visual arts at East Carolina University. Whilst studying there, he was the head illustrator for school newspaper and began a comic strip called 4 Seats Left (4SL).

Graduating in 1999, LaTour continued to write, draw, and self-publish his comic, 4SL. His first foray working for a publishers was in 2002, for Funk-O-Tron Comics, where he inked “B-side” stories in Battle Pope. Also around this time, LaTour built an ongoing relationship with Bongo Comics as a Colourist. Later, in 2005, LaTour and writer B. Clay Moore released a short-lived title, The Expatriate, through Image Comics.

LaTour has since worked on Image, Dark Horse, Marvel and DC properties including Noche Roja, Scalped, Daredevil, Wolverine, B.P.R.D., Winter Soldier and Django Unchained. In 2011, LaTour wrote a four-part creator-owned series, Loose Ends. Published by Gauge Comics, it was drawn by Chris Brunner, with colours by Rico Renzi.

Currently, LaTour credits include co-creating and writing Marvel’s Spider-Gwen, along with artist by Robbi Rodriguez. In addition to drawing the Image Comics series, Southern Bastards. Jason Aaron writes the hard-boiled tale of Earl Tubb, an angry old man with a very big stick. The Eisner Award-nominated ongoing series has so far been collected into two trade paperback volumes. This year, LaTour won the National Cartoonists Society’s Reuben Award for Best Comic Book Artist.

To see more of Jason Latour’s artwork, head over to DeviantArt, Tumblr and Instagram

Alex Fuentes aka Los Fokos is an illustrator and graphic designer from Los Angeles. Fuentes, self-taught, took inspiration from comic books, graffiti, art nouveau, science fiction, and the “metaphysical.” He carefully studied other artists, learning basics and applying them, to developed his own voice.

I was first introduced to Fuentes’s work through his story “One Little Miracle for a Hungry Swarm.” A short comic of his which was published in Flight Anthology Volume 3. That was way back in 2006. Since then Fuentes has been featured in copious publications and galleries. He has created artwork for many well-known global brands, including Nike, Levi’s, Microsoft, Sony, Disney and many more.

In 2012, Coldplay and Mark Osborne announced a comic series that would tie into the Coldplay album Mylo Xyloto. The comic series was published by Bongo Comics; a publisher more commonly associated with the property of Matt Groening. Fuentes created interior and cover artwork for the comic. Working alongside a great line-up, Adventure Time writer, Dylan Haggerty, Bone colourist, Steve Hamaker, and Blambot’s Nate Piekos.

To see more of Alex Fuentes’s artwork, check out his website, and follow him on Instagram and Twitter.

Joe Eula was an American fashion illustrator, costume designer, stage director, and tastemaker. Began his career whilst still in his 20s, Eula’s accomplishments are awe-inspiring.

Born in 1925, Connecticut. He graduated from high school in 1942 at the onset of World War II. Eula enlisted in the American Light Infantry, serving in the Italian Campaign. He fought in the Apennines Mountains and was awarded the Bronze Star. In 1945, after the war had ended, he enrolled at Art Students League of New York.

While still a student, Eula’s first published illustration was in Town & Country magazine. Additionally, he produced drawings for the department store Saks Fifth Avenue. Following his graduation in the late 1940s, he began his career at the esteem New York Herald Tribune. He covered fashion and social events with writer, Eugenia Sheppard. I wonder if at this point Eula had any idea about the profusely productive journey he was embarking on.

After the Herald Tribune Eula moved to London to work for the fashion column of The Sunday Times. At the same time, Eula was producing posters for Broadway shows, including Miles Davis, Marilyn Monroe, Marlene Dietrich, and Diana Vreeland.

The 1970 saw Eula become the creative director at Halston, the groundbreaking and influence label set up by Roy Halston Frowick. Eula held the position for ten years, helping to define the company’s brand. In 1971, He assisted fashion journalist, Diana Vreeland, organise exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York. He was illustrating for American Vogue, when in 1979 he signed an exclusive contract with Italian and French Harper’’s Bazaar. He had the distinct honour of covering Yves Saint Laurent’s first (1958) and last (2002) collections.

Eula illustrated for several designers including Coco Chanel, Hubert de Givenchy, Gianni Versace, Christian Dior and Karl Lagerfeld. By the 1980s, he had settled in Hudson Valley. There he designed a line of china for Tiffany, which the store continues to sell. In August, 2004, he drew his last published illustrations, a series of fall coats for The New York Times, three months before his death.

In 2014, HarperCollins published the first collection of Eula’s work. Joe Eula: Master of Twentieth-Century Fashion Illustration features over 200 sketches and illustrations spanning his entire career. It is the best place to really dive into Eula’s iconic work.

Tom Whalen is an American Illustrator and Designer. You may already recognise his work from Mondo or Gallery 1988. Whalen’s gamut does not start nor end there, having worked with an incredible array of Clients.

Fuelled from a young age by a love of comic artist Todd McFarlane, Steve Ditko, and Jack Kirby. Whalen took that passion to University with him, where after being introduced to the graphic design acumen of Saul Bass, Milton Glaser and Jan Tschichold, he found his voice. Ever since, he consciously implements both illustration and graphic design elements equally. Wielding one harmonious and cohesive visual language.

In addition to the interplay of typography and illustration, and his limited colour palettes, possibly the most notable aspect of Whalen’s work is his use of rigid geometric shapes. Rarely using just one background scene, if any, he experiments with the interaction characters and objects. Seamlessly merging one part into another to form layered, intricate, and compelling compositions.

These elements and more have given Whalen a enduring career, nearing 20 years, and granted him the chance to work on exciting projects for Disney, Lucasfilm, Paramount, Marvel Comics, DC Comics, The Misfits and The Beatles.

You can see more of Tom Whalen’s work on his website, pick up one of his print from his shop, and follow him on Instagram and Twitter.

Welcome back lounger. Firstly, let me wish you a happy new year. Hope you took the chance to relax and de-stress. Over our December break we kept our idle hands busy. Talking to illustrators and harvesting plans to bring you more diversified content. The most obvious yield of our busy hands is our new uncluttered website theme. We have stripped everything down to the essentials with the aim of making browsing the features, the Cabinet and the Bookshelf more enjoyable. You may notice we have removed our comment section, but that is certainly not a subtle hint. We still love to hear from fellow Loungers, and you can always reach out to us on Twitter, where we will be waiting to hear your thoughts on the new theme.

With that out of the way and without further ado, I present to you our very first inspirational feature of the 2016, Alice and Martin Provensen. The beloved couple are famous for illustrating more than 40 children’s books together, many of which they also wrote. They are also responsible for bringing to life Kellogg’s Tony the Tiger.

Alice was born August 14, 1918 and Martin was born July 10, 1916. The pair had some uncanny similarities growing up. Both were born in Chicago, moved to California when they were twelve, received scholarships to the Art Institute of Chicago and attended the University of California. After their studies their paths started differ. Alice worked at the animation studio Walter Lantz Productions, home of Woody Woodpecker. While Martin worked at Walt Disney Studio, on their feature-length films Dumbo, Fantasia, and Pinocchio. The two finally crossed paths in 1943, and got married the following year.

The Provensen’s moved to New York City. There, with help from a friend they landed their first job together, illustrating The Fireside Book of Folk Songs (1947). They later illustrated Little Golden Book’s The Fuzzy Duckling (1949), The Color Kittens (1949) and The Little Fat Policeman (1950). In 1952, Kellogg’s approached the couple to design some mascots for their cereal, Frosted Flakes. In addition to Tony the Tiger, they designed an entire “Kellogg’s Zoo” with animal mascots including Katy the Kangaroo, Zeke the Zebra, Elmo the Elephant and Newt the Gnu. All of which have dissipated through time. However, Frosted Flakes’ lead mascot, Tony the Tiger was heavily featured in Kellogg’s advertising campaigns, making him an icon in the process.

The lucrative Kellogg’s commissions gave the Provensens a lot of exposure, and was probably a nice change from the lower-paying fees of the children’s book at the time. Even so, the couple continued to illustrate children’s books well into the 1980s, up until Martin’s death in 1987. They won a Caldecott Medal for The Glorious Flight (1983), which they also wrote. It was also called the “most distinguished American picture book for children” by the American Library Association. Eight of their books have been named on the The New York Times annual Ten Best Illustrated Books list. Alice said this of their partnership,

“we were a true collaboration. Martin and I really were one artist.”

Alice Provensen has continued to illustrate children’s books. Since 1990 she has written and illustrate seven books, including Punch in New York, published in 1991, which is considered her best solo work. Now,well into her 90s, she has continued to work on publishing projects regularly.

Some of my favourite Provensen books, and a great place to get into their work, are Tales from the Ballet (1968), The Voyage of the Ludgate Hill (1987) and the aforementioned, acclaimed The Glorious Flight (1983).

Tim Probert is an Illustrator and Director. He has worked on a great breadth of projects. Illustrating for children’s books, magazines and advertising, as well as designing characters, storyboarding and painting backgrounds for animation.

Probert earned a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Painting at the Boston University, graduating in 2005. He also took a year to study Storyboarding and Animatics at the School of Visual Arts. After which he found work in animation. Starting from the ground up, cleaning up lines and scanning drawings, in no time at all Probert was animating the opening sequence for the Providence French Film Festival, and later working as a Visual Development Artist at Nickelodeon.

In 2012, he worked on two children’s books. The sensational scratch and sniff New York, Phew York, written by Amber C. Jones and the concisely titled, Pickle: The (Formerly) Anonymous Prank Club of Fountain Point Middle School, written by Kim Baker. Probert was also the colourist on volume 6 of the Amulet graphic novel series, Amulet: Escape From Lucien.

Last year, Farrar, Straus and Giroux published A Whole New Ballgame. Illustrated by Probert and written by the zealous Phil Bildner. The story follows two best friends being pushed outside of their comfort zones as they start fifth-grade and it is nothing like what they expected. The book has earned many positive reviews.

In 2014, Probert worked as a freelance animator at the New York animation studio Nathan Love. Only to later join the team in a more formal capacity, as a Director and Illustrator, in 2015. The very same year, the British animation studio Aardman Animations announced their merger with Nathan Love, forming Aardman Nathan Love.

You can find Tim Probert’s illustrations on his website and Tumblr, and see more of his sketches and storyboards on Flickr.

Susan Kare is an artist and graphic designer. Best known for her work with Apple, where she created some of the most recognisable icons for the original Macintosh computer.

In 1975 Kare received a B.A. in Art from Mount Holyoke College. Then, in 1978, graduated from New York University with a Ph.D. in fine arts. After which Kare moved to San Francisco and took a job as a curator for the Fine Arts Museums.

Quickly realising that she would much rather create art than sell it. In 1983, she accepted a position at Apple as the screen graphics and digital font designer. Having never designed a computer icon, nor a typeface before, Kare improvised. Learning on the job. All the while, oblivious to the cultural significance and longevity of the work she was creating.

Whilst at Apple, among the many famous icons, Kare designed the smiling computer icon, the wrist watch loader and Apple’s command key (⌘). She also designed notable typeface’s Monaco, Geneva and Chicago. All of which have since been converted to TrueType from their original bitmap version. Chicago was not only used for the Macintosh’s interface and brand identity, years later it was used in the first iPod.

After Steve Jobs left Apple and formed NeXT in 1985. Kare soon followed and served as NeXT’s Creative Director. The logo of the company was designed by the great Paul Rand. Kare saw Rand as a mentor and they both shared a similar ethos. Even if you are designing for a stiff blue collar industry, you should not have to suppress your natural playfulness.

Kare’s achievements are vast. Among many others, she has worked with clients Cisco, IBM, Motorola, Paypal, Sony Pictures, Xerox, Fossil, and BBDO. Some other works of note include designing the card deck for Microsoft Windows 3.0’s solitaire game. As well as Facebook’s “Gifts.” The gift feature initially donated its profits to Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation, for the fight against breast cancer.

Kare’s work has earned its place in the permanent collection of Museum of Modern Art in New York. The MoMA said this of Kare’s contributions,

“[Susan Kare is] a pioneering and influential computer iconographer. Since 1983, Kare has designed thousands of icons for the world’s leading software companies. Utilizing a minimalist grid of pixels and constructed with mosaic-like precision, her icons communicate their function immediately and memorably, with wit and style.”

You can find out more about Susan Kare on her website. You can also pick up one of her limited edition prints, numbered and signed by Kare. To keep up-to-date with Kare, follow her on Twitter.

Today we are starting something new which we are calling Sequential Sundays. Each Sunday we will showcase work in the field of animation. Be it shorts, trailers, making-ofs, and perhaps even tutorials. It should work well as a nice addition to our already established days, Manga Mondays and Fashion Fridays.

Kicking off Sequential Sundays is Palm Rot. A frenzied short by American animation filmmaker Ryan Gillis Lizama. Palm Rot takes us on a journey into the Florida Everglades. We follow a crop-duster named Bill who discovers a lone crate. Letting curiosity get the better of him, Bill could not have prepared for what happened next.

Palm Rot made 2015 official selection at a number of animation festivals, including Raindance, KLIK!, Sundance, SXSW, Annecy International and AFI Fest. You can find out more about the short on its process blog.

Credits

Direction / Animation: Ryan Gillis
Sound Design: Owen Granich-Young
Music: Waylon Thornton
Voice Acting: Greg Tonner
Cel Coloring: Jesse James Dean, Mara Guevara, Jabril Mack

John Rea Neill was a magazine and children’s book illustrator, best known for his exceptional run on the The Oz series. He Illustrated more than forty stories set in the Land of Oz, earning him the title of the Royal Illustrator of Oz.

Neill was born on November 12, 1877, in Philadelphia. He grew up in a family of eight children. After his father’s death, his mother continued to run the family laundry business, keeping the family together. In 1895 Neill enrolled in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. However he dropped out after one semester, stating they had nothing to teach him.

In 1896, Neill found work at a Philadelphia newspaper. He quickly graduated to the Philadelphia Inquirer. After that, Neill moved around quite a bit. First to Philadelphia North American, then to New York to work for the Evening Journal. Only to return to Philadelphia and the North American, then to the Public Ledger, then back again to the North American.

In 1904, he was approached by The Reilly and Britton Company to illustrate The Land of Oz. At the time Neill was overloaded with assignments, and it was only after three meetings that Reilly and Britton finally persuaded him to accept the work. In 1911, after illustrating five Oz books, Neill decided to resign from the North American so that he could freelance full time.

Although William Wallace Denslow illustrated the first Oz book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Neill illustrated every Oz book that followed up until his death. Which includes L. Frank Baum’s remaining run, the twenty books written by Ruth Plumly Thompson, and the three books that Neill authored himself.

Even though he is best known for is work on Oz, some of his best pieces were produced for other books, periodicals, and newspapers. Neill’s pen and ink work is incredible. He manages to have both a sensitive and humorous approach to his illustrations. Creating characters that really come alive on the page.

I do not believe there is a book dedicated to John R. Neill’s work as yet, though there really should be. Until that fateful day, you can find a lot of his Oz work on the Children’s Library website. Also Neill’s granddaughters has set up a website dedicated to her grandfather that features a lot of his sketches.