Illustrators Division

The Risograph Radness of Wren McDonald

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From the Illustrators Division

Wren McDonald is an illustrator based in Hudson Valley, NY. As an educator at SVA's RisoLAB he has access to the unique Risograph machines that give his prints the texture and richness they exude.

Not sure what risography is? Here's a nice colorful explanation: LINK​

Wren's work drips with personality and playfulness. You can see more of his work here:

Website: LINK​

Instagram: LINK​

Twitter: LINK​

Tumblr: LINK​

I just snagged an Akira zine and one of these stickers from his shop!

-Jake

Kevin Hong's Dragon Couriers

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From the Illustrators Division

New York based artist Kevin Hong is a Korean-American illustrator who seems to be dialed into drawing everything I love. I was thinking of just sharing a medley of his work here, but this Dragon Courier illustration series really caught my eye. Imagine Kiki's Delivery Service, but it's in a fantasy world and the girls ride dragons instead of brooms.

His style is a pretty straight forward western Japanese hybrid like you see in the European comics scene, but I think where he shines is his color and concepts.

There's another idea he has on his website that's essentially the dragon couriers but it's in the future and the fantasy is replace with technology and it just looks so well thought out and developed.

I'd love to see more of anything he makes. Hoping he does a comic or something someday!

Website: LINK​

Twitter: LINK​

Instagram: LINK​

Tumblr: LINK

-Jake

The Grungergetic comic art of Vlad Legostaev

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From the Illustrators Division

I've coined a term for this style of art that I see in Legostaev and his contemporaries: Grungergetic.

It's grungy, full of energy, and I love it. I'm always afraid to get a little sloppy with my inks in favor of keeping things tight. But I'd love to loosen up a little like Vlad.

Vlad Legostaev is a Ukrainian based comic artist and one to keep an eye on. I love how he draws the Turtles: LINK​

You can see more of his work here:

Instagram: LINK​

Twitter: LINK (Content warning, lots of grizzly Ukrainian war coverage)

Website: LINK

-Jake

Elizabeth Torque's Awakening of Wonder

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From the Illustrators Division

I only recently became aware of comic artist Elizabeth Torque on twitter where she's been posting these jaw dropping drawings. A quick search to find out more about this artist revealed an extensive back log of comic covers for Marvel: LINK. Her Marvel work is excellent, but also very much in line with what you'd expect on the cover of a Marvel comic.

The work she's been recently posting on Twitter though is a MAJOR leveling up. There's something unleashed and magical about these. Like she's really tapped into something personal. To paraphrase from one of her pieces there I'd call it an "Awakening of Wonder."

I love this new direction for her, and someone PLEASE hire her to draw a Labyrinth comic! If not Labyrinth, then I'd love to see her own comic project some day.

More on her Twitter: LINK

-Jake

The cute yet cool drawings of Concept Artist Ryo Yambe

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From the Illustrators Division

I've seen Yambe's work here and there on the internet and it has always stopped me in my tracks. I'm a sucker for combining cute with cool, and Yambe does it masterfully and seemingly effortlessly.

Back in October I had the surprise pleasure of meeting him in person at Lightbox Expo. I was excited to pick up a copy of his new book collecting all of these drawings. Unfortunately, there was a problem with the printer, or shipping, or something and he didn't have any books with him. I hope he's able to sort that out because as far as I can tell there's no way to get a copy right now.

Website: LINK​

Instagram: LINK​

Twitter: LINK​

-Jake

French artist Alex Diboine

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From the Illustrators Division

I've been following the work of French artist Alex Diboine for several years. He's kind of a genius at everything he draws. Characters, environments, color keys, even 3D models all have a deft proficiency about them that makes them look like he just busted them out while also looking well crafted and thought through. I hope to rise to his level some day. Super inspired.

Nicely curated Website: LINK​

Instagram: LINK​

Twitter: LINK​

Lots of older stuff on his Tumblr: LINK​

-Jake

The Idyllic Illustrations and Comics of Sarah Webb

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From the Illustrators Division

I'm currently lost in the the dense over growth of Sarah Webb's illustrations and comics. I found their work while researching inspiration for my Dusk Bunnies print and just fell in love with her organic style.

Webb currently works in the animation industry in Los Angeles, but is originally from Alaska, and I think you can see a lot of her upbringing in her work.

More here:

Current webcomic: LINK​

Website: LINK​

Instagram: LINK (No art, but a "personal visual journal")

Twitter: LINK​

Tumblr: LINK​

-Jake

Surreal symbolic art of Helvetica Blanc

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From the Illustrators Division

Gosh, I just love the work of Helvetica Blanc. Based in the Pacific Northwest, with a back ground in graphic design, Helvetica is "an artist exploring mysticism, the subconscious, and worldbuilding with an emphasis on form and texture."

The compositions, shapes, textures, and colors hint to an unknown world of iconography that feels familiar but altogether alien. Like, if we discovered a long dead civilization on Pluto and all we had left were their statues and art, I feel like it would look something like this.

More here:

Website: LINK​

Twitter: LINK​

Prints: LINK

-Jake

Gobli Prin

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From the Illustrators Division

Remarkable character designs by Tokyo based illustrator Gobli Prin. If Yoshitaka Amano and old school Hayao Miyazaki had a baby you'd get the work of this artist. And yet, some how I think he's bringing something of his own to the table besides just his style. I don't know what he's cooking up, but I want to see a world book or comic or game based on his designs. Hoping this all leads to something!

I wish there was more out there about him; a website or something, but all we have are his twitter and instagram: LINK and LINK​

-Jake

TELLURION

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From the Illustrators Division

I've been following Matt Rhodes since the early 2000s. He's an incredible artist who's work bridges the gap between concept art and illustration.

He's worked for years in the gaming industry on AAA titles, but the work that absolutely stuns me is his personal project TELLURION.

I was reminded by this when friend of the newsletter, Thomas, sent me an email suggesting this for the newsletter.

Here's Thomas's note in the email:

"He spent three years drawing more than 300 full-color panels. He said that he was terrible at dialogue and for a long time it kept him from doing a story. Then someone suggested he draw a story without dialogue. I was skeptical, but after a dozen images I was hooked, and binged the whole thing. It was surprisingly gripping.

It’s really a great example of not letting your weakness stop you from creating art."

A couple lessons here:

  • There is power in slow productivity. You can create something substantial by consistently chipping away at it image by image over time. No need to sprint.

  • Do work that plays to your strengths. Yes, you want to grow and improve in areas you are weak, but don't let those weaknesses be a roadblock to making something great.

​

Experience TELLURION here: LINK​

Matt's Instagram: LINK​

Artstation: LINK​

Also, I love his version of DUNE: LINK LINK and LINK

-Jake

Ghibliesque Star Wars

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From the Illustrators Division

What if Star Wars was an early 80's anime for kids? Gop Gap's vision for that is absolutely perfect.

Gop Gap is a visual development artist working out of Thailand. They do some incredible character work, but also capture moments so well. Lighting and color is on point.

Check out the links below, there is A TON more work with Star Wars, Pokemon, Marvel, and Dragon Ball.

Artstation: LINK​

Instagram: LINK​

If you like this, also check out this post from way back: LINK​

-Jake

Corporate Memphis...but cool

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From the Illustrators Division

London based Brazilian illustrator and designer, Gabriel Silveira does the Corporate Memphis style...but he brings an edge to it that I think elevates the genre. Like, I think it'd be cool to see a whole comic, or animated film in his approach to illustration. Really would like to mix in this kind of polish and refinement to my own work somehow.

Check out his website here: LINK​

Instagram: LINK​

Behance: LINK​

-Jake

Paul Felix's Lilo and Stitch Art

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From the Illustrators Division

Lilo and Stitch turned 20 this week and it's brought back so many memories of a very impressionable time of my art life. I was in my early 20's and working at my first job at an animation studio, had my first kid a year earlier and was still trying to figure out my art style and where I fit in animation/concept art.

I saw Lili and Stitch and it's combination of cute, fun, and sci-fi made a massive impact on what I wanted to create.

I got the Art of Lilo and Stitch book and studied that thing front to back. I picked up watercoloring and worked on my design skills from it. One artist stood out to me above the rest: Paul Felix.

There's no Paul Felix website and as far as I can tell there's no social media account for him either. What there is though is the "UNOFFICIAL PAUL FELIX" blog.

To see a lot more work of his, check out the blog here: LINK

-Jake

Got my eye on you

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From the Illustrators Division

I'm in awe at the colors of this Beholder drawing by Canadian artist Darren M. A. Calvert. I thought it was digital at first, but no, this guy knows his way around design markers. Fabulous. I'm taking notes.

More of Darren's work here:

Instagram: LINK​

Twitter: LINK​

Etsy: LINK​

This got a good chuckle out of me: LINK​

-Jake

The Gungy Futurism of Scott Vanden Bosch

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From the Illustrators Division

I fell in love with Scott Vanden Bosch's work a few years ago. Recently, I did a deep dive to try and find all of his drawings over time. It was cool to see how he's evolved as an artist and embraces the cartoony style he's settled on.

Here's a guy who has such a thorough understanding of composition, light and shadow, and design principles that he could do something pretty realistic with his work. But then his art would look like very other concept artist out there. No, Scott has a voice, and it's been a lot of fun to see what he does with it.

These samples barely scratch the surface. You should see the little sculpts he does of these guys.

Website: LINK​

Tumbler: LINK​

Blog: LINK​

Twitter: LINK (the most current collection of his art)

Instagram: LINK​

-Jake