Join Illustration Associate Professor Steven Guarnaccia, Olimpia Zagnoli, Marina Sagona, Irene Rinaldi, Sergio Ruzzier, Alessandro Gottardo (Shout) and Riccardo Vecchio on Tuesday, November 4, for a lively conversation about Italian illustrators working for and in the US!
In 2014, Anya Ulinich abandons the world of prose with her new graphic novel, “Lena Finkle’s Magic Barrel,” in which she deploys her competence as both a writer and an illustrator. This book is based on “Lena Finkle’s Magic Barrel,” by Bernard Malamund, which narrates the story of a man who consults a marriage broker in search for a wife. In Anya Ulinich’s version, the magic barrel is a world of online dating, portrayed as a chaotic and intricate world many of us are familiar with. Anya was classically trained in art, but switched to writing upon her arrival in the States, as she stated having “no place to paint.” However, after her first book “Petropolis,” Anya found herself stuck, she felt like she was “impersonating a novelist.” After the rejection of her second book from her publisher, her agent asked her, “What else do you have,” and Anya showed her an assortment of doodles, sketches, diary-like pages; that was all she had. This was the beginning of a great and entirely new project. Even though Ulinich graduated from the University of California with an MFA in painting and had previously written a novel (non-graphic), she maintains having known very little about comic books prior to this project. Nonetheless, this book brings Ulinich’s work to a whole other level of notability, creating a new visual and written language all of her own.
Essentially the book tells the story of a woman, Lena, (also the narrator), who much like Anya herself, is a late 30s divorced mother and novelist from Moscow, teaching and living in Brooklyn with her two daughters. It recounts Lena’s attempts to mend her views of love and sex, through social media platforms such as OKCupid, but there is much more complexity to the plot that Ulinich had in mind. The work appears as a sort of revealing, sequence of journals, which uncover and examine the main characters, and thus indirectly the author’s life and psyche from within. Through subtle details, we come to learn much about the reality of Ulinich’s life and upbringing.
“Lena Finkle’s Magic Barrel” successfully and deeply captivates its viewers as we are both told and shown a story simultaneously. Her drawing style is rather ostentatious, thrilling, powerful, and witty, yet it is somehow always dark, or cloudy or night-time. Moreover, Anya’s drawing technique of combining quick sketches and more finalized illustrations into a style which is naturalistic, impressionistic and at times, cartoony, parallel the protagonist’s constant efforts to make sense of the diverse pieces of her life.
In her book, Anya Ulinich does not attempt to hide anything. We follow the protagonists’s most mundane actions and watch her in all her imperfect and tremendous humanity, resulting in a stronger bond and connection between character and reader. Anya Ulinich is both witty and serious, kind and straightforward, ruffled and unapologetic. The pages mostly dominated with words take a bit of getting used to, yet the experience is truly rewarding. I personally believe that books such as this one, gorgeously created, cleverly recounted and fancifully illustrated are such masterpieces and treasures.
-Noe Paparella
All images courtesy of leo-and-diane-dillon.blogspot.com
Many great artists can attribute the core foundation of their work to their matriculation at Parsons, but how many can attribute the core foundation of their marriage to our institution? Leo and Diane Dillon can do both.
Illustration power couple and class of ’56, the Dillons met in 1953 while studying at Parsons where they “became instant arch-rivals and remained together from then on.” Shortly after graduation, they married and developed a very unique method of creating work together.
With a career spanning over 50 years, the Dillons created more than 100 speculative fiction book and magazine covers. Together, the two amassed over 20 prestigious awards for their work including the 1971 Hugo Grant Award for Best Professional Artist, five New York Times Best Illustrated Awards, the 1976 and 1977 Caldecott Medal, and the 2006 Knickerbocker Award.
Following Leo Dillon’s death in 2012, the New York Times referred to the Dillons as “one of the world’s pre-eminent illustrators for young people, producing artwork — praised for its vibrancy, ecumenicalism and sheer sumptuous beauty — that was a seamless amalgam of both their hands.”
In 1997, the Dillons were inducted into the Society of Illustrators’ Hall of Fame and in 1991 they received a Doctorate of Fine Art Degree from Parsons.
“The Art of Leo and Diane Dillon” is on display October 21 – December 20, 2014 at the Museum of American Illustration at the Society of Illustrators. For more info on the Dillons and the current exhibit, visit the Society’s official website.
“Ever since I can remember drawing has been my outlet for expressing everything. When I am happy I draw and when I am sad I draw even more. As an observant Jew most of my work is religiously inspired. I believe that tradition carries so much wisdom, but also needs to be processed through to feel applicable to the time I am living in. Spending hours on a project allows me to organize my thoughts and actualize them into a piece of art. I hope to inspire others to question their reality with my work, but more importantly to simply make people smile. I want to show that there is always something deeper to the reality we see every day. Whether it is a lesson from a sacred text or my own thoughts, I want to provide a suggestion of meaning, worth, and happiness to my audience. I like to think of my work as wishes for the world.”
Jessica graduated last spring! Want to get in touch? Email her at JessTDeutsch@gmail.com and visit her website here.
“Isis Bucket Challenge” / courtesy of Eliza Bender
Eliza Bender is a junior illustration major from Sugar Loaf, NY. Employing a hyper-realistic style, she recontextualizes the spaces in which icons and phenomena exist to provide a polarizing, insightful, and often clever viewpoint that’s unmistakably clear. Eliza’s politically-fired illustrations often provoke heated commentary amongst viewers, as evidenced in a reddit post that spent a fair amount of time atop the site’s front page.
Her animatic “The Water Tower” received the very first Hammie Award for Best Character Design, a prize instituted within the program to recognize the best student work in Animation.
To see more of Eliza’s work:
Official Website: elizabender.com
Facebook: facebook.com/elizabenderillustration
With her alter-ego, Tomby, Parsons Illustration alumna Emily Eibel defies the common perception that every illustrator has one distinguishable “style” of work.
The organic qualities expressed through Emily’s stitched works in contrast to the highly technical and rigid qualities of Tomby’s pixel work may immediately suggest two entirely different artists are behind them; however, as Emily herself suggests, “it’s really just one style in two mediums.” She likens the layer-building process of her pixel illustrations to painting, while considering the stitch work as more like drawing with thread. She claims the solutions in one medium lend themselves directly to the other medium, making it much easier for her to balance the complexities of working as both Emily and Tomby.
Emily’s selected clients boast an impressive list of names including The New York Times, WIRED Magazine, ESPN Magazine, Maxim, The New Yorker, and more!
To see more of her work visit her official website: emilyeibel.com AND tombyillustration.com
Meet our fabulous alumni!
Beth is a Texas born designer/illustrator based in Brooklyn. She graduated from our program in 2014 and has been doing amazing work.
Amongst her clients are: Dior, Kevyn Aucoin Beauty, Into The Gloss, Nylon Magazine, Wilhelmina Modeling Agency, Sisley Cosmetics, Marc O’Polo Menswear, Bleach Online Magazine, VERB Haircare, Nex9 Productions, The New School, Verameat Jewelry, The Vera List Center for Art and Politics, Explain-o-Graphics, Michelin Automotive, The Horn Austin.
You can view and purchase her illustrations here: http://society6.com/bethzimmerman and http://www.printallover.me/collections/beezee
You can also find her here: http://bethzimmermanart.com/
Instagram: http://instagram.com/bethzimm
Her work is inspired by the complexity of lines and shapes. The process of which, incorporating color and human figures become an intriguing odyssey to make. Lluvia strives to evoke a sense of sensitivity and vulnerability, which can be distinguished by the color palettes and expressions exposed.
To see more of her beautiful work: lluviarainn.tumblr.com
To contact her: lluviajimenez93@hotmail.com
