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Something we all need to hear once and awhile, from Keri Smith to you.

Have a postive week, everyone.

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Well, I don’t know about everyone else, but this holiday season has entirely snuck up on me. I barely saw it coming!

To celebrate, here’s a few places where you can read gorgeously illustrated children’s books online, for free. I foresee an afternoon in my future of cuddling up with pumpkin pie, some tea, and these links:

Super Index of Children’s Books Online: the Rosetta Project

This index has been in my arsenal of inspirational sites for a few years - and it just keeps getting better. The image takes you to the book “The Ladder of Rickety Rungs” which is just lavishly illustrated with moody and mysterious watercolors.

The Digital Library Center: EBIND Digital Collections features another amazing collection of children’s books, though some of the books I reviewed are scanned at too low of a resolution to read comfortably. However, that still leaves the illustrations to view, and there’s a wealth of holiday themed books of all varieties.

Nineteenth Century American Children and What They Read provides a humourous background to an index of early American children’s literature.

Lastly, to celebrate abundance and youth and imagination, here’s a fun Little Audrey short from Archive.org:

“Little Audrey makes a gingerbread man, then takes a nap and dreams that the Gingerbread Man goes to cakeland where he tries to marry his sweetheart, Angel Cake. But Devil Food Cake interferes and carries off the bride. Cop Cakes and Animal Crackers come to the rescue.”

Animation by G. Germanetti. Story by Bill Turner and Larry Riley. Scenics by Robert Little. Music by Winston Sharples. Produced in 1950.

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Mark Todd’s New Works at Luz de Jesus will probably go down in history as one of my favorite shows of all time. As always, his work is full of surprises, wonderfully fun, and attentive to detail. But seeing a favorite artist’s interpretation of a favorite subject matter is a rare dream come true. While I attempted to put my appreciation into words, Coober Skeber came up.

Coober Skeber was a indie comics anthology published by Highwater Books. Marvel comics declared bankruptcy in the nineties. In response, the second issue of Coober Skeber was jokingly titled, “The Marvel Benefit Issue.” It gave all of its artists a stab at their favorite Marvel superheroes. Obscure characters were preferred. (Moon-Boy got a job and Man-Thing battled Galactus.) But Seth tackled the X-Men on the cover. Ron Rege drew Peter Parker’s first encounter with the Fantastic Four. James Kochalka’s story about the Hulk fighting the rain still makes me laugh out loud (and was later included, surprisingly, in an official Marvel comic). Of course, Coober Skeber was a blatant copyright infringement. Marvel issued a cease and desist order… which turned the anthology into a legendary collector’s item.

Thanks to the internet, it is not out of reach. Wired wrote an article about. Hand-Drawn Corpses attempted to collect the work online. Word is that Marvel may even take a hint and publish its own collection of superhero comics by indie artists.

In YOUR dream come true, which Marvel superheroes would you like to see drawn by which artists?

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Don’t miss the great interview that Comixology scored with Esther Pearl Watson.

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In honor of the spooky festivities this week, I searched for really good examples of early Halloween illustrations and ended up stumbling upon some gems. The image above is from Morticia’s Morgue, a gallery of antique Halloween postcards from the author’s personal collection. Another site by Richard Anderson offers e-cards of a whole different collection of vintage Halloween ephemerata.

From Project Gutenberg, three books about Halloween festivities from the 1800s -

Games for Hallow-e’en by Mary E. Blain

“Hallow-e’en or Hallow-Even is the last night of October, being the eve
or vigil of All-Hallow’s or All Saint’s Day, and no holiday in all the
year is so informal or so marked by fun both for grown-ups as well as
children as this one. On this night there should be nothing but
laughter, fun and mystery. It is the night when Fairies dance, Ghosts,
Witches, Devils and mischief-making Elves wander around. It is the
night when all sorts of charms and spells are invoked for prying into
the future by all young folks and sometimes by folks who are not
young.”

The Book of Hallowe’en by Ruth Edna Kelley

“This book is intended to give the reader an account of the origin and history of Hallowe’en, how it absorbed some customs belonging to other days in the year,—such as May Day, Midsummer, and Christmas. The context is illustrated by selections from ancient and modern poetry and prose, related to Hallowe’en ideas.”

Hallowe’en at Merryvale by Alice Hale Burnett

“What’s Hallowe’en mean, Father?” asked Thomas Brown as the family was seated at breakfast one morning late in October.

“It means the evening before All Saints Day,” answered Father Brown.

“Do you remember what fun we had last year, Chuck?” remarked Toad, for Thomas was called “Toad” by his friends, and Charley was known as “Chuck.”

“I should say I do,” he answered.

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A few days ago I got an email from Kris and her boyfriend Steve who collaborated on a monster for my Monster Mash contest (still happening, if you want to contribute!)… Their monster totally rocked, btw. Anyway, they mentioned that I might find this little tidbit interesting:

They met through Illustration Friday!

Turns out he commented on one of her entries and that started an email dialog that turned into phone conversation and then they met in person. And they’ve been dating two years now! She’s even moving to the US to be with him.

I just thought that was too awesome and had to share it here! This is the first (I think, are there more of you?) IF hookup! hee!

Congrats to Kris and Steve! (They even sent a cute pic for the blog. )

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scott mcleod invented the 24 hour comic in 1990. artists are challenged to create a 24 page comic in 24 hours. this saturday, October 20th, is 24 Hour Comics Day! visit the site for more information on the challenge, the history, the holiday, and places where you can celebrate it with other frantically caffeinated artists.

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this and the kennedy school are why i miss portland so much.

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Hello all! Just a quick little note to let you all know that I will be taking a five week hiatus from ye IF blog because my husband and I are driving across Canada for our holidays. Yep, true. We live in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and we are driving all the way to the East coast. Then we are turning around and driving through the USA (if they let me in) back.

I am so excited about my journey. I hope to take some much needed time to draw in my sketchbook, read books, snap photographs, visit art galleries and just generally gain some inspiration. I have an empty moleskin ready to go.

I’d like to get your advice, dear reader. If you have any recommendations for lovely arty things to see, inspiring places or uncharted territory I would love to hear it. Feel free to leave a comment!

(We are going to Regina, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Halifax, PEI, Maine, Boston, Chicago and small towns and small towns and sights as we can fit!)

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It can happen… perhaps rarely, but eventually. If you ever encounter Blogger’s block and can’t think of a single thing to write about, but want to keep things active and interesting, try something from this list by art and print market expert Barney Davey.

Here are the first ten… out of a total of 52 topics (one a week for a year)
52 blog topics for artists - Courtesy of Art Print Issues

1. Why I support xyz charity
2. The most inspiring art teacher I have known
3. How I came to know being a professional artist was my career path
4. Why I love working with xyz medium
5. What you can learn from the traveling exhibit at the abc museum
6. Four galleries I would love to carry my work and why
7. Five contemporary artists whose works inspire and inform me
8. Clues to the subtle messages in my art
9. My color palette is (nature/technology/environment) driven and why
10. Ten things they don’t teach you in art school
[read on]…

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Completely unrelated to illustration or design but still wonderfully creative! Knitted cupcakes. Can you believe that stuff is made from icing?!?! I am blown away by the cuteness.

I don’t know if I could bring myself to eat em’. I take that back.

Check out more beautiful creations on vegan yum yum, authored by Lolo!

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my brother and sister celebrate a phenomenon that they call “the tuna fish special.” you have experienced it, i’m sure, when you talk about a movie and, soon afterwards, it airs on tv. they named it the tuna fish special because, once you utter that phrase, you will begin to see it everywhere. on menus. at restaurants. maybe on the internet. when they see the thing they’ve talked about, my brother and sister exclaim “tuna fish special!” the way the rest of us might say “punch bug!” or “deja vu!”

i am enjoying a James Jean special this month. last month, i didn’t know who he was. a friend at the comic book store said “you don’t know james jean?” no. maybe, i know his work. “he does all the covers for Fables?” no. i guess i don’t.

like a proper tuna fish special though, the universe is now flaunting james jean at every corner. a few days after i heard of him, i found an article about him in a zine i like. a week after that, i saw Fables for the first time. then Process Recess 2, his new book. then Drawn wrote about him. now, i’m reading his blog.

p.s., i chose this jame jean image OF COURSE as a belated birthday card to penelope. happy d-day, p-lope!

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In my opinion, this t-shirt illustration sums up the majority of society these days. As Luke Ramsey points out on Threadless: “This design is a joke about the online social community ” Facebook.” I for one, have been wasting my time being “face hooked.” I created this design to remind me to spend more time drawing.” Amen to that!  

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Great idea, Brianna! What better way to honor the creator of Illustration Friday? Here’s my contribution… an old IF illustration I did when the weekly topic was “Ancient”. O, the irony!:D

Happiest of Birthdays, Penny! Eat LOTS of cake. Or pie. Your choice.

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Sept. 5th is Penelope’s birthday, and she’s currently celebrating on a wee vacation. So I thought I’d post a few selections from the IF Topic “Cake” so we could celebrate here with her. Happy Birthday, Penelope!!

Illustration by Erik Brooks

“The Cakewalk” by Sweet Pea

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Our focus here on IF Blog is of course, illustration. And I would have it no other way. But one of my primary sources of inspiration is photography and there is no photographer I find more inspirational, more “jinky” (whatever that means… must be an Aussie thing) than Barb “Jinky” Uil. Her photographs of children and families burst with life and juicy color. This is a woman who truly understands the magic of childhood and captures it joyfully, beautifully in the bubble of her lens.

But her photos display a thorough understanding of some of the finer elements we employ in illustration and design too. She knows how to limit her palette so that the colors all sing together, how to crop for dynamic affect, how to eliminate everything that doesn’t contribute to the subject at hand and finally, how to tell a story with a single image. Oh, the stories she tells! The children, the families, the chickens (!) in her photos are not just generic smiling faces… they shimmer with individual personality and gleam with originality. And they never fail to make me smile. Visit Barb’s official portfolio site here or her beautiful blog here and then try and tell me she doesn’t immeditately have you grinning from ear to ear too. I won’t believe you.

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my former cartooning teacher, bill brown, is running for president! check out his very appealing platform!

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This morning, while perusing Drawn!, I caught a headline that drop kicked my heart to my stomach. Mike Wieringo

, indefatigueable, incredible comic book artist Mike Wieringo, died of a sudden heart attack on Sunday at the age 44. I didn’t know Mike personally. I never sent him an e-mail or comment on his blog. I’ve never even held one of his comic books in my hands. But I am simply staggered by the loss of him.

Normally, I would read an obituary like that, think to myself “oh, so young! That’s so sad,” pause a moment to think about how deperately short life is, how it can all turn on a dime, and then move on with my day, the way you do when it’s not really someone you know.

But this is different to me. No, I didn’t know Mike. I didn’t know his comic books. I’m not even a comic book aficiando like our own Rama Hughes. But I knew Mike’s art. I knew it well and I loved it. I spent a great deal of the past year admiring it, studying it, trying in someways to emulate it… or more specifically, the wonderful quality of line and character that made it so special, so incredibly unique. You see, last spring I naively accepted the job of creating a comic book on the subject of Climate Change for Scouts Canada. I am not a comic book artist, I have never drawn a comic book before, and as I said, I’m not even a comic book reader. But I am an illustrator and have worked in a comic-compatible style and I thought, you know, I’d just run with it and figure it out as I went along. Wing it. Easy Peasy.

But I had no idea how incredibly challenging it is to create a comic book from scratch. Nonewhatsoever. I had great admiration for a number of comic book artists before this, but let me tell you… that admiration? would better be categorized as worship now. And Mike Wieringo was the artist I worshipped above all others.

I found him through The Drawing Board where he was a regular contributer to the forum, while I was desperately searching for cues that might tell me where to begin, how to go about this thing exactly. I was at first attracted by his calm, kind, always constructive comments. Then I followed a link to his site and discovered exactly what I was looking for. So much comic book art is over-the-top testosterone-driven. So much of it is special effects and pyrotechniques and no heart. So much of it feels… I don’t know… exploitive, for lack of a better word.

But Mike Wieringero’s art is all about heart. It is all about being good and solid. His round, fluid line expressed such humanity, such warmth and clean character. It felt wholesome and real and… well, heroic.

I’ve been reading tributes

to him all day and it seems to me that what I saw in his work expressed an essential part of who Mike Wieringo really was as a person. I’m feeling deeply regretful that I never e-mailed him and told him just how much his example helped me, just how much he taught me and how much better an artist I am because I found his work. And that makes me sad. But it also makes me feel better, because he will always live on through his work. His art, expressing the best of who he was the way it does, will live on in ways he never could have imagined… touching and instructing people across the globe he never knew existed. And that’s an astonishing legacy to leave behind.

Thank you Mike, for being the hero I needed.

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GO TO THE LIBRARY!

it occurred to me that i write about books a lot. before my posts become a portal to amazon, it’s worth mentioning that i don’t buy all this stuff. i go to the library. i go to the library a lot. if you haven’t been to one in a while, you should know that they stock most new releases, not to mention comics, movies, and music. the Brand Library in glendale, california (portrayed above) specializes in art books. thanks to the internet, you can order books online, receive notifications when they are ready, and renew your items online to avoid late fees. libraries are the perfect bookstore for those of us with crowded studios or tight budgets. and you can find them all over the place.

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Scott McCloud, the comic strip scholar and author of Understanding Comics, Reinventing Comics, and Making Comics, has been touring the country with his family. Catch them all at the San Diego Comic-Con this year. On Friday at 5:30 (in room 5AB), the whole family will recap their cross-country tour. On Sunday at noon (in the same room), Sky and Winter McCloud will spill the beans on what it’s like to have a cartoonist for a dad.

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every summer, my wife (flirting above with a tim biskup monster) takes me to the San Diego Comic Convention. if you haven’t been… if you are ANYWHERE nearby… even if you have a complete disinterest in comics… you must go. at least once. to see the supermen with potatoes in their underwear. to be outnumbered by storm troopers. to experience the culture shock of complete immersion in nerdland.

not to mention the fact that many of the best illustrators in the world are there. in real life. signing books. selling weird stuff. smiling. having fun. absolutely willing to make friends… or enact an awkward moment.

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I felt charged and excited when I read Pasqualina Azzarello’s interview at sidewalkpressed some months ago. She paints public murals at construction sites around NYC. She also painted 500 rocks for people to find! So inspiring! I thought it was worth digging out of the internet world and sharing on IF.

A quote from her interview:

It is clear to me that context affects how a work of art is seen and experienced, and by the same token, nothing is truly neutral. Even the white window-less walls of a gallery or museum create a culturally potent backdrop. So yes, the context I choose to share my work in is critical. In the case of the 500 painted rocks or the painted flowers around the construction site in Dumbo, I was interested in the element of people, while in the throes of the mundane of the day-to-day, being able to happen upon something that was blatantly handmade. I believe that a certain disruption occurs when that which is automated is juxtaposed with that which is created and vital. I find that creative disruption compelling and incredibly important.

Check out more images in Michael’s flickr photo set.

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Are your drink coasters dull? Are they boring and uninspired? Well, they need not be drab any longer!  Claire Louise Milne has posted a beautiful tutorial on how you can make your very own custom set of coasters!

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Islands Fold, is having their 1 year anniversary! (wicked poster!)

A bit of background on these unique folks:

Islands Fold™ is an independant publisher and artist residency created by Angela Conley and Luke Ramsey. It’s about inviting artists into our home, supporting creative identity, collaborating, promoting health and well being and producing unique art. Established on Pender Island B.C, Canada, the residency is offered at no charge to the artists. It is sustained through public support by purchasing the books and zines made by Islands Fold.

Also, check out this Catalogue of Hand Type, over at the Islands Fold blog.

Lots of neat stuff happening on the islands of British Columbia! I’d like creative sabbatical. Anyone with me on that?

Happy weekend, IF readers!

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This morning I did a quick run around the house with a digital camera capturing the different colors, patterns and textures that I’ve accumulated over time. Pillows, blankets, rugs, rocks, bags, cutting board… they are the things that surround me.

Some are natural things, some are bold colorful things and some are just boring useful things. But I see a connection to them and my work. The things that are in our everyday settings seem to pop up into our work over time. Maybe subconsciously, maybe on purpose. But I think it’s inevitable…

I noticed that the red coral I have sitting in a vase informed my “Hummingbird” piece. A striped rug was modified and became a tablecloth in another. And a floral pillow pattern made its way onto a dress for another. Sometimes it’s just the color that pops up. Little bursts of bright red just like an accent vase in a room or the yellow vacuum cleaner you just bought. You can’t help but let it affect you. It just shows up.

(Makes you really think about what you choose to have around you at any given time, doesn’t it?)

One of my favorite artists sees this in her work too… click here.

I wonder if you can notice this too in your own work… Do you see connections? If so, I’d love to see it… Write a blog post and link to it in the comments…

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