Freistil Online, Portal für Illustration

I have just received a news release from a new website called Freistil Online, which aims to be the first web source for illustration in German-speaking countries.

This newly launched portal covers drawing and illustrators, as well as the contemporary influences and developments among the field. The themes are Editorial-, Advertising, Fashion Illustration, graphic novels, art and motion. Most significantly, it is being used to introduce books, magazines and websites and review exhibitions, fairs and events.



The term ‘illustration’ is being used to include street art, graphic design and online solutions. The scope of the site also includes thesis projects from schools and other institutions. Reports from Germany, Austria and Switzerland are accompanied by insights of the illustration markets in New York, London and Madrid.

Even if you don’t read or speak german the website is worth checking out for the visual content.

Workspaces, studios and inspiration

If you wish to peep a little in the workspaces of illustrators such as Kyle T Webster, don’t miss this selection in Drawger called Studio Tours. I like these photo collections, for the sake of decoration and interiorism, with a dash of voyeurism, and a good dose of visual inspiration.
Another good way to visit (virtually) an artist’s studio is with the special panoramic views presented at the Bohonus VR website (click the artist pic rather than the link below) Mouse around and you’ll watch different corners of the studio.

More studio inspiration: the Flickr sets called Professional creatives at home, Art studios y Annotated workspaces y The workpaces.

Project s2dio, in guillotine, is another excellent collection:

For the comic enthusiats, there is a whole section / category in Comic Book Resources devoted to studio tours.
And for even more inspiration, a Google Image search will provide very interesting results.

Any more suggestions?

Children's books by Paul Rand

Paul Rand illustrated several children's books written by his wife, Ann Rand, in the fifties and early sixties. As it happens with true classics, the illustration and layout in Rand’s books looks just as fresh today as when they were first published.

His style of illustration, consistent with his design work, is based in a witty use of simple shapes, flat colours and a well-thought composition and layout.

Now these charming editions have been reprinted by Chronicle Books in San Francisco for your delight.

Sparkle and Spin is a playful children's classic (now happily available again through Chronicle Books) that reveals to young readers the power and music in the words they use every day.

This reissue of the childhood classic I Know a Lot of Things is a celebration of all the new and intriguing knowledge children delight in possessing. Written from the simplicity of a child's perspective, with all the teeny nuggets of wisdom contained therein, and illustrated with Rand's colorful and witty style.

Little 1,originally published in 1961, is an exuberant picture book filled with clever wordplay, and not only tells the engaging story of Little 1 and his quest for a friend, but makes learning numbers and simple addition positively fun.

Letterhead

This is a detail of a very psychedelic letterhead I still have to finish and use, and here is the whole thing:

I wonder if bills and invoices printed in this colourful stationery would be more appealing for clients :-)

Halloweenish

I'm not very keen on Halloween stuff, but I couldn't resist to post these two cute drawings made by my son (11), as they fit the bill perfectly. He did the sketches in my pocket sketchbook. He’s learning english quite fast and he takes every ocassion to write some of the words he learns.

Misc. short notes

Flashforwardcon’s Channel on Youtube

icon01 is a video series of one on one conversations with industry icons. Produced for Flashforward08 San Francisco. This page features interviews with Stefan Sagmeister, Milton Glaser, Joshua Davis, Scott McCloud and more. Also available at http://www.icon01.com/.

Paint applications for Android

Still with basic functionality compared to Brushes, Colors! or Layers, the application list for the Android mobile OS is growing. This search on Cyrklet will keep you up to date.
See also androidfreeware.net/.

Vérossignol

I've enjoyed every post by Véronique Joffre in her blog since I discovered it. Her collages, illustrations and paintings are wonderful and poetic. She uses a variety of subdued and subtle colours to great effect.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Alberto Mielgo

An extraordinarily gifted painter / illustrator / concept art artist. He has a loose style and wonderful sense of colour that really pulls up every image he attemps to paint, both in digital or traditional media.

Visit his blog or his personal website to enjoy more of his work. As a bonus, there you’ll find a very good selection of links to other illustration and painting-related blogs and sites.

A fresh take on travel journals

This is something I definitely have to do instead of the usual travel sketchbooks.

Matt Sundstrom shares his journey from the East Coast to the West: 8 days and 3,700 miles from New Hampshire to Oregon. I like both the ink drawings collected in this website and the nice layout of the whole webpage, somewhere betweeen comic, cartography, slideshow and sketchbook.

(Seen on Drawn!.)

Farewell to summer days

This year the summer has lasted more than usual but definitely it’s over.
These are some sketches from a recent sketchbook with some (digital) colour touches, a good souvenir of these marvelous sunny weeks for the cold and dark months to come.
(Click the image to see a bigger version.)

I like dreaming this

This doodle (pencil sketch plus some digital colour touches) has been encouraged by this week’s Illustration Friday theme, Flying. (Click the image to see a bigger version.)

Music sketches

These are a few sketches I have collected. They share a musical theme because I draw these doodles on a music folder (lyrics, printouts of discographies, lists of record database and so on...) And yes, I still love those ancient vinyl LP’s and the bygone era of albums, shiny cardboard picture sleeves...

(Click the image to see a bigger version of each illustration.)

From sketch to final digital illustration

with the argentinian illustrator Delius. Her blog shows quite a bit of her sketchbooks and a comparison of the pencil drawings and the final digital artwork, like this example:

Visit her site to see high resolution examples of these charming illustrations and other works.

Poly Bernatene is argentinian, as well, and here is an inspiring video: 8 hours of digital work that mimics traditional techniques such as acrylic or gouache, compressed in a few minutes:

Janusz Grabianski

Janusz Grabianski (1929-1976) was a polish illustrator specialised in children's books. He used a bold and expressive watercolour and/or gouache technique in his artwork.

He illustrated the 1001 nights, the Holy Bible, the Andersen and Grimm tales, quite a few other children stories, and many more books.

If you have the opportunity to find a reissue or an used copy, don't doubt it: it's very enjoyable.

These are some articles about Grabianski on the net:

• @ illuopa
• @ hiving out
• @ masha
• @hippopotamstudio
• a japanese website with his books

Related: a czech artist with a similar technique, Mirko Hanak (also commented by Gene Deitch):

Milton Glaser: new retrospectives and documentaries

Milton Glaser’s Seeing Things is an exhibition of his drawings, watercolors, prints, giclées, and sketchbooks, and a collection of arts-related posters, all created over a span of 50 years. From May 2 through Sept. 12, 2009 in the Avram Gallery (Stony Brook University.)

Meanwhile, The Drawing is Thinking exhibition presenting 180 selected drawings compiled from Milton’s most recent book of the same title has just closed in Gelerija Vzigalica (The Gallery of the City Museum of Ljubljana, Slovenia). It was open from May 26 through June 19, 2009. The drawings span over fifty years of work, and are varied in subject matter as well as style. The show is meant to be experienced sequentially, like a melodic line – with each drawing reflecting on what has passed in anticipation of what is to come.

And, even better, there is an upcoming documentary calle To Inform & Delight which will be screened this summer in different venues:

• June 27: Albuquerque / Guild Cinema
• July 2: Boston / Mfa Boston
• July 7: Westhampton / Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center
• Aug 12: Austin / Alamo Drafthouse, Aiga Austin
• Aug 27: Orange County / Orange County Museum Of Art
• Aug 27: Atlanta / Aiga Atlanta

The film closed in NYC on June 11, after a three week extension at Cinema Village.

Directed and produced by Wendy Keys; released by Art House Films. Running time: 1 hour 13 minutes. Here is a review in the Tiny mix tape blog.

While you wait your opportunity to watch the documentary, here is a short Youtube video with Glaser and some of his work, called Window inspiration, in which some of the world's leading designers, architects and fine artists are asked for an interpretation of their dream window.

And here is an older lecture on TED (from 1998), called Using design to make ideas new, in which Glaser dives deep into a new painting inspired by Piero della Francesca. From here, he muses on what makes a convincing poster, by breaking down an idea and making it new. You can watch a higher resolution video on the linked page.

Online gallery with my paintings

This is a correction of a previous post—the link was no longer correct.

You can visit an online gallery with my paintings and works on paper from the nineties.

Most of the works displayed are acrylics on canvas or paper. The paintings are partly abstract, partly depictions of places and interiors.