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I’m sad to report that the phenomenally talented, Ignatz award winning and dear friend to people and pets alike, Laura Park, is in sore need of emergency back surgery (specifically, a discectomy). Even with insurance, she still needs to raise $3500 which she hasn’t got, and that’s where you, Drawn’s faithful and charitable readers, can help.

She has set up a donation page to help offset the cost of the surgery and any amount you can spare will be greatly appreciated. And in return, you will be highly rewarded knowing you’ve helped out an extremely gifted artist return to the craft she loves; creating comics and paintings that are sure to slap a crooked smile on your face and plant an olde tyme song in your heart.

Oddly enough, Laura was featured on Drawn! nearly three years ago to the day, regarding the subject of artists and lower-back pain.

Posted by Stephan Britt on Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog | Permalink | No comments
Tags: back surgery, Comics, discectomy, donate, featherbed, Ignatz award, illustrator, laura park

Felt Mistress AKA Louise Evans (previously featured on Drawn!) is a UK-based stitcher, prolific tea drinker and creator of some of the best darn dolls these adoring eyes have ever gazed upon. Utilizing skills learned as a couture dress maker and milliner, Lousie works with her partner, illustrator Jonathan Edwards, on a wild and wooly array of wonderful one-off creatures. Other notable collaborations include her work with three very talented Jon’s; Jon Burgerman, Jon Knox and John Allison.

Current projects include shows such as Brain Drain with Jon Burgerman, Heliumcowboy (link might not be safe for work), Plush You! LA, a few upcoming custom shows and some super duper top secret solo projects to which she claims she’s sworn to secrecy (for the time being). To keep up with the latest from Felt Mistress (and to see if she coughs up any of those highly guarded secrets!), you can happily follow along with her blog or flickr stream. I know I will!

Posted by Stephan Britt on Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog | Permalink | No comments
Tags: blog, Crafts, dolls, Felt Mistress, Flickr, John Allison, jon burgerman, Jon Knox, Jonathan Edwards, Louise Evans, plush

If you happen to be near Northampton, MA this upcoming Sunday, you should swing by the Academy of Music for a special afternoon of Mo Willems’ animated shorts, benefiting the Forbes Library’s Children’s Department.

From Mo:

If you’re in the Northampton, MA area this Sunday at 2pm, please join me at the fantastic Academy of Music downtown for
Cartoon-A-Palooza!, an afternoon of my animated cartoons to benefit the Forbes Library.

It’ll be a fun afternoon of Sesame Street, Nickelodeon, & Cartoon Network shorts, plus the full library of animated versions of my books: Leonardo the Terrible Monster, Knuffle Bunny, Knuffle Bunny Too, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! and the world premier of The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog!

These are seldom seen shorts that have won 2 Carnegie Medals, Best in Show at the NY International Children’s Film Fest, multiple ASIFA-East awards, & more!

Tickets are available at the box office, the Library, or on-line. Every penny will go to much needed repairs in the children’s and youth section of the library.

After the show, I’ll be on hand to sign special edition Elephant and Piggie posters featuring the books of 40 local authors such as Norton Juster, Holly Black, Julius Lester, Tony DiTerlizzi, and Jane Yolen.

For more information or to buy tickets online, visit the Forbes Library website.

Posted by Jared Chapman on Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog | Permalink | No comments
Tags: Animation, children's books, Events, Illustration, mo willems

Being a big fan of Tove Jansson’s Moomin books, I had no idea she had illustrated a version of The Hobbit as well as two books by Lewis Carroll, until I recently discovered this site. There isn’t much information and the scans are a bit small, still it’s amazing to see such rarely seen work (at least to me) by one of the world’s greatest children’s book illustrators.

Posted by Stephan Britt on Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog | Permalink | No comments
Tags: Alice in Wonderland, J.R.R. Tolkien, Lewis Carroll, Moomins, The Hobbit, Tove Jansson

Dallas Poague of Monkey in a Dryer and Pally Pal paper toys has recently put his love of the great 1930s where his internet is! Although the site is currently under construction, his tribute to Ub Iwerks is chock fulla interesting facts, comical cartoons and a 90-minute biography of the man behind the man who swiped The Mouse right out from under him (citation needed)! So go pop some corn, grab a sarsaparilla and while away the day watching cartoons in living blackened white – just the way your grandparents like ‘em!

Posted by Stephan Britt on Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog | Permalink | No comments
Tags: 1930s, Animation, cartoons, Flip the Frog, Monkey in a Dryer, Pally Pal, Ub Iwerks, Walt Disney

Pattern design studio We Love Patterns and Funkrush clothing have teamed up for an exclusive contest for the readers of Drawn! They’re looking to select their 3 favorite pattern ideas or themes submitted and each winner will get a free We Love Patterns squirrel t-shirt (pictured above). Submissions must be sent to [email protected] with the subject “We Love Patterns Too.” Here’s some more information about We Love Patterns, courtesy of the talented Mr. Caba himself:

We Love Patterns is a family company created in 2010 by Gastón Caba, Silvana Marino and Lara Caba. We are devoted to create a growing collection of extra-cute, colorful & optimistic pattern artworks, hoping to help to add charm and whimsy to all different kind of products. We decided to offer a different style from the standard pattern artwork. What we specially like about patterns is the ability to tell a tiny story or to catch a whole complex concept with the sum of tiny objects & words. Some of our original designs are also created by queen of cute Bubi Au Yeung, the multi-talented Dana Zimmerling & Mr. TobyHK. We are selecting more artists to add to our catalogue which we update every month.

Posted by Stephan Britt on Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog | Permalink | No comments
Tags: Bubi Au Yeung, Clothing, contest, Dana Zimmerling, Funkrush, Gaston Caba, patterns, TobyHK, We Love Patterns

Now that Terrible Yellow Eyes is (mostly) behind us, many artists are beginning to wonder ‘where the wild things are’. Well friends, take heart… there are Monsters in Real Places!

A group of talented young Canadian illustrators has recently started a blog where you can meet wild things like Inviso Bill (above) and Huge Green Guy AKA, “Hugh” (below).

The best part? You are invited to contribute the monsters you have witnessed in real places to Monsters in Real Places: “Care to join in the fun?” write the blog’s creators, “Use a photograph of some setting. Create and add a monster into the photo. E-mail it to us with a quick blurb and some contact info. It’s that simple.”

Posted by Leif Peng on Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog | Permalink | No comments
Tags: Illustration, monsters, photo-illustration