Check out these great illustrations by Parsons Illustration Alum Sylvia Park. They were created for and published in Time Out magazine this past January. Her work has also been featured in the March ’09 issue of O magazine. Keep up with her work by reading her blog or see her entire portfolio by visiting her official website!
Great work, Sylvia.
Check out Adjunct Faculty James Gallagher’s contribution to the Ink 01 International Illustration Gallery Catalogue. Tons of other fantastic artists are included, as well. Here’s the official description of the project:
Communicating stories through illustrations has always been something almost marginal, reserved to a selected percentage of public. But this aspect has evolved so much over recent years that illustration has become very common in our everyday landscapes. It is increasingly used as a tool to work in different creative, commercial and artistic disciplines. That is why, when it comes to reflect and show its current outlook, boundaries are usually dissolved and creators that represent it work in such diverse fields as advertising, graphic design or art.
Ink was born as a meeting point to facilitate the relationship between illustrators and creators from different countries. A space to learn about the current situation of world illustration and in which to talk about and reflect upon its present and also future. It turns to be a conceptual, visual, reflective exploration of illustration that we hope will lead to the finding of new places.
Read and see more about this cool catalogue here.
Congratulations on your inclusion, Jim!
Bonus: You can check out a video preview of the catalogue over at Ink’s Vimeo channel.
Parsons Illustration alum Debra Ziss has a brand new children’s book coming out this summer! Over at her blog, she’s sharing a sneak peek of sketches and pages, like the one above. She’s also involved in a plethora of other projects like creating a t-shirt for the Gap and doing hand lettering like this:
Keep up the good work, Debra!
Parsons Illustration Adjunct Faculty Viktor Koen‘s TOYPHABET prints have been exhibited extensively as part of the series Dark Peculiar Toys, around the world, including Berlin, Athens and Beijing. This illustrated typeface is included in numerous books about typography, digital art and fantasy and has been featured in a full length article by Steven Heller in the prestigious Baseline magazine.
This is the first time the letters have been available in book form, featuring texts by author and long time collaborator Jeffrey Lee Simons.
TOYPHABET is a limited edition book made specially for the 2OO9 New York Comic Con and is carried exclusively by Baby Tattoo Books at booth#1622 this weekend at NY Comic-con.
Keep up the great work, Viktor!
The official description of the event:
Kraus, Suares and Holland will discuss the beginnings, the development and the current state of The New York Times Op-Ed Page, whose illustrations started to revolutionize journalism in the 1970s. The lecture will focus on the Op-Ed’s use of illustration over the years, how illustration is commissioned and why, the artists that helped create its image and the importance of message-driven illustration.
The lecture will be followed by book signings by all three paticipants.
Moderated by Fernanda Cohen
Limited to 120 people $15 non-members $10 members $7 students
RSVP kevin@societyillustrators.org or call 212 838 2560
The Society of Illustrators
128 East 63rd Street (between Park and Lexington Avenues)
New York, NY 10065
Tel: (212) 838-2560
Earlier that the same day–February 4th–Jerelle Kraus will be appearing at the 92nd Street Y in Tribeca. There are half-price tickets available for art students! Here’s the lowdown:
In her 30 years as The New York Times art director, Jerelle Kraus observed many battles between editors and artists over the parameters of respectable journalism. Here she reveals some of the censored treasures that editors deemed too blasphemous to publish and explains how op-ed art has changed the course and purpose of illustration, and why it is more relevant and indispensable than ever. Kraus is the author of All the Art That’s Fit to Print (And Some That Wasn’t): Inside The New York Times Op-Ed Page.
You can grab your copy of Jerelle’s book here!
Check out the Illustration Department’s new ad, illustrated by Peter de Seve and located in the Society of Illustrators annual! Nice work, Peter.
The new McSweeney’s (#28) showcases work of two recent Illustration alum, Liz Lee (see above) and Phillip Fivel Nessen (see below), and Illustration Part-time faculty member Jordin Isip, who each illustrated a modern fable for the publication. Here’s a description of the edition:
McSweeney’s #28
This time around, Mcsweeney’s presents us with “eight individual books, fully illustrated, which resurrect and reinvent the art of the fable — simple, suprising, and morally direct. More or less.” Each of these books is a snappy little hardcover, the cover illustration of each of which join together (and are held together in this cleverly designed package) to form two large painted images by Danica Novgorodoff. The books are: Poor Little Egg-Boy Hatched in a Shul by Nathan Englander, illustrated by Jordin Isip; The Book and the Girl by Brian Evenson, illustrated by Philip Fivel Nessen; The Guy Who Kept Meeting Himself by Ryan Boudinot, illustrated by Genevieve Sims; LaKeisha and the Dirty Girl by Tayari Jones, illustrated by Morgan Elliot; The Thousands by Daniel Alarcón, illustrated by Jordan Awan; Two Free Men by Sheila Heti, illustrated by Liz Lee; Virgil Walker by Arthur Bradford, illustrated by Jon Adams; and The Box by Sarah Manguso, illustrated by Louie Cordero.
Grab your copy here!
Congratulations to Liz, Phillip, and Jordin!
In addition to being nominated for an Ignatz Award, Skim, a graphic novel written by Mariko Tamaki and her cousin, Parsons Illustration Part-time Faculty member, Jillian Tamaki was named last week as one of the Best Illustrated Children’s Books of 2008. See Skim and the other books recognized in this slideshow. The book was also reviewed in the Times. Here’s a snippet:
The black and white pictures by Jillian Tamaki, Mariko’s cousin, create a nuanced, three-dimensional portrait of Skim, conveying a great deal of information often without the help of the text. The book’s most striking use of purely visual communication occurs in a lush and lovely double-page tableau of Skim and Ms. Archer exchanging a kiss in the woods that leaves the reader (and maybe even the participants) wondering who kissed whom. In another sequence, Skim and Ms. Archer sip tea without ever making eye contact, the pictures and minimal text communicating the uncomfortable emotional charge in the room and the two characters’ difficulty in knowing what to say to each other.
Tamaki’s palette often becomes noticeably darker or lighter to signal a change in mood. Various night scenes communicate Skim’s depression, her unhappy moon-face isolated in fields of inky black, streetlights casting long, lonely shadows. In contrast, Tamaki sets the outdoor memorial service for the dead boyfriend on a frozen winter field, the participants drawn in lightly, almost as if they’re ghosts, the snowy backdrop and blank white balloons (shown caught on bare winter trees) conveying absence and emptiness.
Read the rest of the review here and pick up your copy of Skim here.
Congratulations to Jillian and Mariko on their tremendous accomplishments!
SECOND ANNUAL BROOKLYN MUSEUM CHILDREN’S BOOK FAIR
The Brooklyn Museum
The Rubin Pavillion, 1st Floor
November 15th, 2008
1:00–5:00pm
Illustration Part-time Faculty member Sergio Ruzzier will sign copies of his new picture book: AMANDINA.
Here’s a snippet from a review of Amandina:
Using watercolors that range from a deep peach to a liquid cobalt blue, Ruzzier’s palate here is a subdued but colorful collective. And from a visual perspective I was fond of the setting to this tale. Born in Milan, Ruzzier has set this book against an Italian backdrop. The theater she rents “in the old town” is called the “Teatro Ventura”. Later her show seems to incorporate Harlequin elements. And for the record, Amandina’s show really does look splendid. It would be one thing if we were told that Amandina was a special little dog with lots of talent, but to actually see the remarkable show in progress is a special treat. Without much explanation we see that the “fanciful prologue” (again, great turns of phrase here) involves a suitcase that explodes with a smoky column of flowers while Amandina floats above like a butterfly. And then there’s the magic show, the dances from around the world, the acrobatics… who wouldn’t want to see her perform all of this?
Read the rest here. And if you’re in the mood for more reading, here’s a tidbit from an interview with Sergio:
What exactly is your process when you are illustrating a book? You can start wherever you’d like when answering: getting initial ideas, starting to illustrate, or even what it’s like under deadline, etc. Do you outline a great deal of the book before you illustrate or just let your muse lead you on and see where you end up?
SR: When I am illustrating another author’s text, the process is pretty much always the same: while I read and re-read the manuscript, I draw little rough sketches on the edges. Then I make them a little nicer on a different paper, and I use these more refined sketches to build a dummy. When the dummy is approved by the publisher, I start working on the preparatory drawings, in pencil on plain paper. When I’m happy with the composition, including characters’ expressions, backgrounds, and all the details, I trace the drawing onto a watercolor paper, with the help of a light box. Then I ink the drawing, erase the pencil, and watercolor it.
It’s much more complex and variable when I’m working on my own story. I don’t really have a standard process, and I could start by sketching a character, or writing all or parts of the text, or putting on paper the whole sequence of roughs, spread by spread. Normally, I keep going back and forth between words and pictures. I also waste a lot of time, and often I am at my desk for hours without accomplishing anything. More often, anticipating that I wouldn’t accomplish anything, I go for a walk. Research is always a great excuse to navigate the internet aimlessly. But once I get to the dummy, or at least to a thumbnail storyboard decent enough to be shown to my editor, then I am ready to start with the final drawings…
Catch the rest of that informative interview over here at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.
Pick up your copy of Amandina here!
Congrats to Sergio on the great success of his new publication.
Parsons illustration alumnus Jannie Ho (’99) wrote us, saying:
just wanted to drop a line about my latest picture book, The Haunted Ghoul Bus, written by Lisa Trumbauer, illustrated by me.
Born in Hong Kong and raised in Philadelphia, Jannie worked as a graphic designer at Nickelodeon, Scholastic and an associate art director at TIME magazine for Kids before deciding that illustration was her true calling. Also known as Chicken Girl, Jannie now creates digital illustrations for children’s books, magazines, and a variety of other clients. Much of her work and style has been inspired by Japanese and retro art. BesidesThe Haunted Ghoul Bus, Jannie has also worked on The Mixed-Up Alphabet (Scholastic, 2007), written by Steve Metzger, and The Penguins’ Perfect Picnic (Innovative Kids, 2007), written by Trish Rabe.
Grab your copy of The Haunted Ghoul Bus here–just in time for Halloween!
Keep up the amazing work, Jannie!
And Illustration Alums? Don’t stop emailing us your updates!