James Bennett - Handicapping the Wild Kingdom, WSJ

"What if the horse-racing industry dispensed with its long-standing equine bias?" Thats the premise of the tongue-in-cheek Wall Street Journal article James Bennett illustrated about a week back. Veering away from the financial stuff we usually illustrate for WSJ, this article is actually a fun read as well. Take a look here.

 

Jason Seiler - Kanye West for Rolling Stone

Jason Seiler created this portrait of Kanye West for the current issue of Rolling Stone. Take a look at the other portraits Jason has created for their album reviews over the past few years: 

Rick Ross

The Black Keys

Gary Clark Jr

Lil Wayne

Elton John and Leon Russell

Seasick Steve

Introducing Andre Kutscherauer!

About 6 months ago, we got a request from Der Spiegel to create a 3d alien for the cover of their children's edition, Dein Spiegel. In the 2012 Breakthrough Contest, our 5th place winner was a brilliant 3d artist, André Kutscherauer. I remembered his work and recommended him for the task. Needless to say, Andre did an excellent job which prompted us to take a chance and represent our very first 3d artist. 

Tim Bower - The Element of Surprise, Wharton Magazine

The current issue of Wharton Magazine (the publication of University of Pennsylvania's business school)  features this illustration by Tim Bower for their article Office Hours: Obamacare and the Element of Surprise.

Eric Drooker - Mining for Millions, NY Lottery

Monday morning as I got off the subway and was walking to the office, one of the first things I noticed was Eric Drooker's artwork on almost every phone booth and bus shelter. The work was completed several weeks back and we were anticipating it's release so we can share it with you.

Eric was commissioned by DDB for The New York Lottery to create illustrations promoting their new scratch-off ticket, Black Diamond Riches. The concept is that you can "mine for millions" anywhere, anytime simply by playing. Eric lends the campaign both a conceptual edge and his quintessential New Yorker aesthetic.

Dongyun Lee - Clean Cookstoves, Deloitte University Press

Dongyun Lee illustrated the cover for Generating Consumer Demand for Clean Cook Stoves for Deloitte University Press. Many of the low-income parts of the world have yet to adopt cleaner, more efficient cooking methods which can eliminate many health and safety risks. This article discusses how to create demand for alternatives rather than force them on the public.

Take a look at some of the other articles Dongyun illustrated for DUP.
Dongyun Lee - The Mobile Elite
Dongyun Lee - Cloud Wars

David Palumbo wins Spectrum Gold!

Last month at Spectrum Live in Kansas City, David Palumbo received a Gold Award in the Book category for his illustration, Fed. Congratulations! 

For the full list of winners, click here. 

Ted Wright - Hillsboro Rodeo 2013

For the second year in a row, Ted Wright designed and illustrated the poster for The Hillsboro Rodeo in his hometown. Here's what he had to say about his fun experience getting to sign posters at the event:

"I had a ball signing prints and having a booth there at the event. It's funny how people love to talk with artists about their work and get their point of views about it. There were over 30,000 people that attended the event and the weather was perfect. I met the rodeo clown whose name was Dusty and he was a big fan of my work and a collector of fine vintage rodeo posters. It felt good to go outside the studio and sell my work and prints to the home town crowd. They made me all feel like a celebrity and their kindness was very humbling to me." -Ted Wright

Ricardo Martinez - The Tallest Tree in the Forest

We love that Arena Stage uses illustration on their posters (and wish film companies would still continue in that tradition). Ricardo Martinez joined long list of artist who have created wonderful art for them over the years with his first poster for The Tallest Tree in the Forest which will run from from Jan 10 to Feb 16, 2014. 

Take a look at some of the other recent theater posters our artists have done >>> 

Jason Seiler - Cyrano de Bergerac

Gary Kelley - Pullman Porter Blues

Jon Foster - My Fair Lady

Thomas Ehretsmann - Jefferson and Hamilton

Thomas Ehretsmann illustrated this double portrait of Jefferson and Hamilton for Bloomsbury Press's book on the fierce political rivalry between the 2 founding fathers (one that ended in a duel between Hamilton and Jefferson's vice president, Aaron Burr). 

Inventors and Innovators // Great Minds That Inspire

David Johnson "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them." - Albert Einstein Ricardo Martinez "Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations." - Steve Jobs Jason Seiler "Whatever has happened in my quest for innovation has been part of my quest for immaculate reality." - George Lucas Tim Bower "Don't become a mere recorder of facts, but try to penetrate the mystery of their origin."  - Ivan Pavlov Kent Barton "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." - Thomas A. Edison Thomas Ehretsmann "It's not tyranny we desire; it's a just, limited, federal government." - Alexander Hamilton C.F. Payne "We are recorders and reporters of the facts-not judges of the behavior we describe." - Alfred C. Kinsey Gregory Manchess "If you can dream it, you can do it." - Walt Disney Patrick Arrasmith "An investment in knowledge pays the best interest." -Benjamin Franklin Kinuko Y. Craft Evangelina Villegas is a Mexican cereal biochemist whose work with maize led to the development of high-quality protein maize (QPM). She and her colleague, Dr. Surinder Vasal, shared the 2000 World Food Prize for this achievement.[cite] Maria Corte Maidagan "Give me but a firm spot on which to stand, and I shall move the earth." - Archimedes Chris Gall "By giving people the power to share, we're making the world more transparent." - Mark Zuckerberg Tyler Jacobson "Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known." - Carl Sagan Douglas Smith "It is surmounting difficulties that makes heroes." - Louis Pasteur Gary Kelley "It isn't enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn't enough to believe in it. One must work at it." - Â Eleanor Roosevelt Mark Summers "I confess that in 1901 I said to my brother Orville that man would not fly for fifty years." - Wilbur Wright Bill Sanderson "Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration." - Thomas A. Edison James Bennett "To succeed, jump as quickly at opportunities as you do at conclusions." - Benjamin Franklin Dongyun Lee ""To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk." - Thomas A. Edison

Breakththrough 2013: The Runners Up

Last week, we announced the winner of the 2013 Breakthrough Contest to be Trylea (Zhichao) Cai of Hanzhou, China. 

Here are the runners up who were only a few points away from top place. They are all brilliant illustrators representing a wide range of styles. 

2nd - Lin Bo is an artist living and working in China. It's easy to see why he had such a high score. He combines realistic technical skills and solid illustration sensibilities. 

3rd - Tanner Griepentrog is a San Francisco based painter and illustrator.  He earned his BFA in traditional illustration from the Academy of Art University. His work combines both digital and traditional medium. Richard visited San Francisco's Academy of Art University a few weeks ago and had the opportunity to meet Tanner. We didn't know the final results at the time but were happy to see he did so well. 

4th - Julia Griffin received her BFA in illustration from SVA in 2010.  She is currently living and working in NYC, where she spends most of her time carefully rendering fairytales and mythology in colored pencil.  At the moment she is finishing work on an illustrated retelling of Hans Christian Anderson's "The Snow Queen." 

5th - BreeAnn Veenstra received her BFA in Illustration from Grand Valley State University in 2009 and has been working as a freelance illustrator for several years. Her work has appeared in a range of media from editorial works, CD and DVD cover art, web design, and even children’s stickers.

5th - Nuri Keli is a graduate of Savannah College of Art in Georgia and specializes in  in concept art/character design, and visual Development.

5th - Celia Krampien is a freelance illustrator currently living in Oakville, Ontario. She is a graduate of Sheridan College's BAA Illustration program. Celia draws much of her inspiration from nature and includes flora and fauna in her images whenever she can. Her work can be characterized by the use of precise lines, bright colours and subtle textures. 

5th - Rodney Pike is a caricature illustrator using photo-manipulation as his main technique. He has no formal art training and works for a variety of clients such as  FHM Magazine, Tennis Magazine, Browser Magazine, Elite Magazine, The Village Voice Magazine, DOCMA Photoshop Magazine, etc.