Tag Archives: philip fivel nessen

Illustration Faculty & Alumni Updates Digest

russian mr. wiggles.
  • Adjunct Faculty Neil Swaab tells us that the Russian edition of his book, Rehabilitating Mr. Wiggles: Volume 1, has just been released. Get your copy here.
philip fivel
  • Illustration Alum Philip Fivel Nessen has updated his portfolio with new artwork. See more images here.
bentfootes
  • Illustration and Alum R. Sikoryak created the animation and archival images for the mockumentary, The Bentfootes, a loving skewering of 200 years of American dance. Catch a free screening:

Saturday and Sunday March 29-30, Tuesday April 1 @ 1:00 pmFestivalHUB @ Seaport | LMCC Swing Space210 Front Street at Beekman Street, NYC

angie mason
jonathan jay lee
  • Illustration Alum Jonathan Jay Lee sent us an email recently saying, “I did some really exciting stuff in Hong Kong, I drew this comic book for this HK popstar called Kary Ng. She wanted to be a superhero, it was used for her concert and her new single. I did a cover for HK magazine, and I redesigned and painted the interior of this club in Lan Kwai Fong…If you get the chance, I posted links and pictures of my projects in HK at the end of my website.”
george bates t-shirt
yaccarino
  • Illustration Alum Dan Yaccarino is writing a screen adaptation of his children’s book, Where the Four Winds Blow as an animated feature for Fox/Blue Sky Studios, developing a new animated series based on his popular book Unlovable and writing and illustrating more childrens books.

Congratulations to all our faculty and alumni on their recent accomplishments!Want to see your news here?  Email us!

From the Vault: Illustration Friday interview with Philip Fivel Nessen

nessen yellow sun

While sifting through the blogroll, I came across this interview from August with recent Illustration alum Philip Fivel Nessen. He talks about the development of his style, his methods of finding work, and what inspires him. Here’s a brief excerpt:

How did you get started in the illustration field?

The first time I noticed illustration was a Henrik Drescher drawing in the New York Times book review. It was an Uncle Sam head, with spider legs, and I think lasers for eyes. It had people running through the spider legs. I think that’s where my interest in visual arts started. I find Monet sort of boring. As for doing work, I got a few jobs just through my website before I started doing any promotion or meeting with anyone. Then I sent out postcards and took my portfolio to a few places and got some good advice and some more jobs. And then I did an Illustration Friday interview.

How did you find your style? Has it changed since you started?

At first it was a very calculated thing. I spent like a month cutting things out and taking notes. Just sort of figuring out where I could fit into the illustration business and be sort of novel but also reflect stuff I really like. I also wanted to sort of look like a late 1950s, early 1960s illustrator. After I started drawing more new stylistic things popped up in response to different things. Thick lines, thin lines, abstract people, figural people. Whatever. Things are still working themselves out. I sort of hope I end up like one of those guys comfortable enough to do work that’s not the same story over and over. There is definitely a fine line between hopeless and multi-dimensional.

Read the rest of the interview here (and make sure you take a look around the rest of the Illustration Friday site for great interviews and image galleries).

(Image by Philip Fivel Nessen)