Zeloot

Eline Van Dam — better known as Zeloot —is an illustrator/artist from the Hague.

She works in most areas of illustration from editorial to advertising to music and toys...

She has created images for a broad range of clients, working with the New Yorker, MTV, Heineken, Hasbro and countless others.

But she is most famous for her gig posters. Think "Summer of Love" and Haight-Ashbury (the golden age of) reborn with a fresh 21st century European sensibility.  Far out!

And she is prolific— it was hard to choose just these few to show!  If her website is not enough for you, there is also Lezilus, her agent's site, as well as this interview.

Enjoy yourselves... and try not to get lost!

Zabala!

Madrid para niños:  imagery by Javier Zabala

Also: Javier Zabala video-- see sketch books and demos.

Hot enough for you?

To mark the arrival of the hot sultry days of summer, I give you some of my favourite suns.

Lionel Kalish (formerly of Push Pin Studios)

Sun Family, by Martin Romero

detail of beautiful quilt, seen on zoe's flickr

Poster for music festival, by the great Celestino Piatti, from Graphis Annual 67/68 (via sandiv999) 

Mladi Muzikanti, illustrated by Jan Herink (1987)

...and finally, a somewhat shy sun by Antonio Frasconi 

(for Overhead the Sun, woodcuts for Walt Whitman poems, 1969.  Via VBMKL)

Stay cool this summer!

Marie Mahler

I really like the work of Marie Mahler, a French illustrator now living and working in Brussels.

She works in oil pastels and colour pencils and collage—the originals measure about 20 x 20 cm. Best-known for her children's books (published by Didier Jeunesse, Mango, Lito, among others), she also does other illustration work, including:  editorial (including Milan), stationery and cards, and toy and game illustration for Djeco,the wonderful French toymakers.

These images are from her beautiful book Kalimagier.  This picture book, published jointly by Ricochet (France) and Lazhari Labter Editions (Algeria), was inspired by words that cross over from the French language to the Arabic and back again — indeed, "kalima" means word in Arabic, and "imagier" is French for a sort of picture dictionary. This includes words like Zarafa (giraffe), Quoton (cotton), guitar, café and so on — 100 words in all.

If you happen to be in Paris you can see the originals, now on show at Galerie Jeanne Robillard until 2 July.  

But if not, you can always look at this video, which includes a really interesting interview with Marie (in French), plus a virtual tour of the images and the gallery. Don't miss it!

How sweet it is!

I just discovered this blog, and I must urge you to go have a look:
Dessert Girl is the blog "where Design and Dessert Meet".  What does that mean?

Illustrations and recipes sent in by a variety of artists, illustrators and designers.

(Swedish designer and artist Petra Borner has a recipe for Chess Square Cookies)

Art, too.

(oil painting by Lee Price)

Pictures of spectacularly decorated cakes (and other desserts) to ogle.

(from Maggie Austin Cake)

(Indian henna patterns inspired Rora Does Cake)

And of course recipes galore (Like this one, for peanut butter and banana cream pie!).

Eye candy for sweet tooths... what's not to like?

Do a lot of work

"Nobody tells this to beginners— I wish someone had told me.

All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste.  But there is this gap.  For the first couple of years you make stuff... but it's just not that good.  But your taste (the thing that got you into this game!) is still killer!

And your taste is why your work disappoints you.

And a lot of people never get past this phase; they quit.

Most people who do interesting, creative work went through years of this.  We know our work doesn't have this special ting we want it to have.  We all go through this... it's normal,

and the most important thing you can do is  a  l o t  o f  w o r k .  

Put yourself on a deadline, so that every week you will finish one story.  

It is only by going though a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your intentions.

... It's gonna take a while.
It's normal to take awhile.
You've just got to fight your way through."

        ~Ira Glass~
(read on Melinda Josie's blog)

Martin Jarrie headshots

Heads up!  Martin Jarrie, painter and illustrator extraordinaire, is having a one-man show in Paris!

His illustrations are equally wonderful — his Hyacinthe et Rose received the  Bologna Ragazzi Award this year.

His show — "La Fabrique Anatomique" — is up until 4 June, at  the Arsenic Galerie ... don't miss it!

Wild Pop-Up

Check this out: British illustrator Simon Wild has got a great (photoshop) tutorial: 

Design a Pop-Up Illustration.

Do you know his illustrations?  "Exuberant"is the word that comes to mind:

and

and

Heads up

Hello again!  I have been unavoidably detained in recent times with all manner of things, expected and unexpected (yes, the usual suspects:  work and over-work, life, and whatnot...). But I wanted to pop in briefly today and share a new discovery.

Pratica l'Arte is blog dedicated to the creation of art. From practical tips and tricks to inspiring thoughts, to tutorials and announcements for art shows and workshops, it seems to have it all!

I have only just dipped my toes in a little, but it does come highly recommended, from  Le Figure dei Libri, the wonderful blog on children's books by the illustrator and author and teacher, Anna Castagnoli. 

Both are in Italian...

Coqué Azcona

I am charmed and startled by the work of Barcelona artist Coqué Azcona.  Feast your eyes!