Recently in illustration Category

FIT Class of 2016 Masters of Fine Arts in Illustration - Event at Society of Illustrators

The Society of Illustrators and Fashion Institute of Technology are inviting art directors, reps, editors, and other creatives to BOOKENDS: MFA VISUAL THESIS, Thursday, June 9 at 6.30pm at the Society of Illustrators. It's a panel discussion and presentation by the FIT Class of 2016 Masters of Fine Arts in Illustration (taught by SoI director Anelle Miller). This promises to be a great evening of illustration and inspiration. 

Barack Obama: Portraits of a President - An interview with Richard Baker

Barack Obama: Portraits of a President is an essential evening of illustration brilliance featuring artists Barry Blitt, Steve Brodner, Anita Kunz, and Edel Rodriguez, sponsored by the Society of Publication Designers and hosted (and organized) by art director Richard Baker. The event will be Tuesday, November 17 at 7p at the Helen Mills Theater, 137 W. 26th St. in NYC. Get tix and more info here.

Richard Baker is a noted designer who has directed the visual identities of numerous top magazines, including Parade, Life, Us, Vibe and more. We interviewed RIchard about the Portraits of a President evening.

(Above): Illustration from The New Yorker by Barry Blitt.

Why President Obama? Why now?
President Obama is a controversial presence in politics, and he makes for a great subject among illustrators. Now that we're near the end of his eight years as President and are in the middle of the next election, I thought it would be a good time to look back through the eyes of some of the best-known and accomplished visual satirists--who also are some of my favorite illustrators. I think it's rare to witness in real time the authentication (which is what these artists do) of a moment in the American political timeline. This event will give the audience the opportunity to see some great works of visual journalism while hearing the artists talk about their personal journeys in creating these stunning portrayals of President Obama.

Four of the most-renowned political satirists will be on stage: Barry Blitt, Steve Brodner, Anita Kunz, and Edel Rodriguez. These artists have been assigned work by some of the best-known publications in the world. They will compare notes, tell anecdotes and exchange views with each other and the audience about what it takes to portray, sometimes in undignified parody, the most powerful politician in the world, and what it might say about us. The discussion will also take the long view of these visual documents in the context of journalistic history. They will discuss the challenges of illustrating someone whose politics they might or might not agree with, and the fine line they sometimes walk between healthy respect and appropriate cynicism. Politics mixed with art should provide a lively discussion!
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Barack Obama: Portraits of a President - November 17 in NYC

Barack Obama: Portraits of a President: Essential evening of illustration brilliance featuring artists Barry Blitt, Steve Brodner, Anita Kunz, and Edel Rodriguez, sponsored by the Society of Publication Designers and hosted (and organized) by art director Richard Baker. Get your tickets soon because it's guaranteed to be a sell-out. November 17 at 7p at the Helen Mills Theater, 137 W. 26th St. in NYC. Get tix and more info here.

Barack Obama: Portraits of a President - illustrations by Anita Kunz

Barack Obama: Portraits of a President: Essential evening of illustration brilliance featuring artists Barry Blitt, Steve Brodner, Anita Kunz, and Edel Rodriguez, sponsored by the Society of Publication Designers and hosted (and organized) by art director Richard Baker. Get your tickets soon because it's guaranteed to be a sell-out. November 17 at 7p at the Helen Mills Theater, 137 W. 26th St. in NYC. Get tix and more info here.

(Illustrations by Anita Kunz: more on the next page) … MORE

Barack Obama: Portraits of a President - illustrations by Barry Blitt

Barack Obama: Portraits of a President: Essential evening of illustration brilliance featuring artists Barry Blitt, Steve Brodner, Anita Kunz, and Edel Rodriguez, sponsored by the Society of Publication Designers and hosted (and organized) by art director Richard Baker. Get your tickets soon because it's guaranteed to be a sell-out. November 17 at 7p at the Helen Mills Theater, 137 W. 26th St. in NYC. Get tix and more info here.

(Illustrations by Barry Blitt: more on the next page) … MORE

Barack Obama: Portraits of a President - illustrations by Steve Brodner

Barack Obama: Portraits of a President: Essential evening of illustration brilliance featuring artists Barry Blitt, Steve Brodner, Anita Kunz, and Edel Rodriguez, sponsored by the Society of Publication Designers and hosted (and organized) by art director Richard Baker. Get your tickets soon because it's guaranteed to be a sell-out. November 17 at 7p at the Helen Mills Theater, 137 W. 26th St. in NYC. Get tix and more info here.

(Illustrations by Steve Brodner: more on the next page)
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Barack Obama: Portraits of a President - illustrations by Edel Rodriguez

Barack Obama: Portraits of a President: Essential evening of illustration brilliance featuring artists Barry Blitt, Steve Brodner, Anita Kunz, and Edel Rodriguez, sponsored by the Society of Publication Designers and hosted (and organized) by art director Richard Baker. Get your tickets soon because it's guaranteed to be a sell-out. November 17 at 7p at the Helen Mills Theater, 137 W. 26th St. in NYC. Get tix and more info here.

(Illustrations by Edel Rodriguez: more on the next page)


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Barack Obama: Portraits of a President

SPD and Richard Baker present this stellar panel on Tuesday, November 17th.  Join us as they discuss their inspiring work on this seminal political figure. 

RSVP Now!  All tickets and seating are first come, first served.  Purchase after the jump... … MORE

Barack Obama: Portraits of a President

Barack Obama: Portraits of a President is a new Kickstarter project created by art director (and longtime SPD friend and colleague) Richard Baker. He'll be using the funding to sponsor an event that will feature some noted illustrators (Edel Rodriguez and Steve Brodner, among others) and moderator Steven Heller, all discussing how Barack Obama has been portrayed visually by illustrators. It's a great project and promises to be an historic evening.

Sign up to be a supporter of Barack Obama: Portraits of a President here.

(Illustration by Hanoch Piven)

Cover of the Day : The Believer Jan/Feb 2015

Illustration Age Showcases New Inspiring Work from Five Magazines

For the week of April 28-May 2, the Illustration Age website featured illustrations from five diverse magazines. Guest edited by Robert Newman, the idea behind the series was to look at magazines that use illustration as a major component of their design and content.

The five magazines that were exhibited: Eight by Eight, Anorak, Reader's Digest, The Baffler, and The New Yorker, represent a wide variety of genres, audiences, formats, and styles of illustration. But for all of them, illustration is an essential part of the visual identity of the magazine, not just a way to decorate or accompany stories, but an integral part of the regular conversation that is carried on with the readers. The editors and art directors of these magazines are passionate supporters of illustration, each with their own unique aesthetic.

This series is an inspiring look at new and established illustrators and a tribute to some great design and art direction.
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Barack Obama Illustrations

Last week we posted a collection of Mitt Romney illustrations. Now, we're giving equal time to illustrations of Barack Obama. Although most of the illustrations in this set are recent, we did dig back for a few published right after the 2008 elections. There are too many great Obama illustrations than can easily fit into one slideshow. We've gathered another giant gallery here on Facebook.

(Above): Illustration by Edel Rodriguez, for Essence
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Mitt Romney Illustrations

Watching the Democratic Convention this week, we've heard that many people think a Mitt Romney Presidency will be very bad for women, gays, veterans, students, minorities, labor unions, the middle class, and more. But there's one group that Mitt Romney has already been a giant boon for: illustrators! Romney has inspired some great illustration over the past few months, and has been caricatured on the covers of The New Yorker, The New Republic, Huffington, and Rolling Stone, among others. Here's a collection of some of our favorite Mitt Romney illustrations. If you have more to contribute, please send them along and we'll add them to the slideshow.

(Above): Rolling Stone, illustration: Robert Grossman, art director: Joseph Hutchinson
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Happy Thanksgiving! 11 Illustrated New Yorker Thanksgiving Covers

The New Yorker has been publishing Thanksgiving covers for most of its history. But our favorites are the ones done since 1993, all art directed by Francoise Mouly. Here are 10 of our favorites (plus one pre-93 cover by Saul Steinberg because we loved it so much!)… MORE

Rolling Stone and the Art of the Record Review, Pt. 2: Senior Art Director Steven Charny

Rolling Stone senior art director Steven Charny is the guy responsible for assigning the lead record review illustration that appears in every issue of the magazine. Under the direction of RS art director Joe Hutchinson, Charny continues the long tradition of one of the premier editorial spotlights for illustrators. A great collection of 40 years of Rolling Stone illustrated portraits is now on display at the Society of Illustrators (through October 22). Tonight, October 5, at 6.30pm, the Society presents An Evening with Rolling Stone Magazine Senior Art Director Steven Charny. He'll be presenting lots of wonderful work, as well as discussing the creative process, and showing off lots of behind-the-scenes sketches. This is an essential evening for anyone interested in illustration. Charny answered some questions for SPD, and shared some of his favorite recent illustrations from the magazine, on the jump page.

(Above): Unpublished illustration of Shakira by Roberto Parada, for Rolling Stone (see details on the next page).
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Rolling Stone and the Art of the Record Review

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American Illustration competition winners

The winners of the latest American Illustration competition are online as a cool slideshow. You can see hundreds of illustration samples by many different illustrators, a wide range of styles and subject matter. On display are both the winners that will be published later this year in the American Illustration 29 annual, as well as an additional selection of online-only illustrations.… MORE

Illustrator Frank Frazetta, R.I.P.

Comic book, science fiction, and fantasy fans everywhere were saddened today by the death of illustrator supreme Frank Frazetta. Frazetta was known for his science fiction and fantasy book covers, and also for his many magazine covers for publications like Eerie, Creepy, Vampirella, and the National Lampoon. His penchant for drawing scantily-clad women with outrageous proportions made him a favorite of males of all ages, although surely SPD members appreciated Frazetta for his deft drawing and attention to detail.… MORE

Bruce Jay Friedman book covers

Illustrator Drew Friedman has published a collection of 15 covers from books written by his father, author Bruce Jay Friedman. They range back to the early 60s, and include cool illustrations by Saul Steinberg, Victor Juhasz, and Christoph Niemann, among others, as well as some smart, creative cover designs. 

Today's Inspiration: Brilliant Archival Illustration

Today's Inspiration. is a brilliantly written, curated, and edited visual website devoted to the history of editorial illustration from the 40s, 50s, and 60s. The brainchild of Canadian illustrator Leif Peng, the site is updated daily and also has a daily email newsletter. This is the ultimate website for rich information on classic old school illustrators and illustration! There's also a new companion site, Female Illustrators of the Mid-20th Century.… MORE

David Cowles' Black History Month illustrated portraits

In honor of Black History Month, illustrator David Cowles has posted a gallery on his Facebook page of 28 portraits of noted African American activists, celebrities, and entertainers. It's a great collection of illustrations in a variery of styles, all of them distinctive and memorable. We've got a dozen more examples here; visit Cowles' Facebook page and website to see many more.… MORE

Illustrator David Levine, R.I.P.

We just received the sad news that brilliant illustrator David Levine passed away at the age of 83. Most famous for his many illustrations of writers for The New York Review of Books, Levine was also part of the school of 60s illustrators who skewered LBJ, Nixon and others with wit and style. The New York Review of Books has a wonderful gallery of Levine's work here. And you can see a quick take on a handful of his greatest illustrations (LBJ, Nixon, Kissinger...) here.

From Nagel to Niemann

I recently visited the National Portrait Gallery in London which got me thinking about editorial portraits. In magazine design, more often than not, photography is the star of the show. But there are more great illustrators today than ever before, and I will always have a special respect for artists who can take an image like a basic portrait and transform it into something uniquely their own---through drawing. Maybe it's a side-effect of my own unrealized dreams of becoming a really cool, famous painter. But for now, I'll settle for being cool by association.
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Can't Touch This

You may have your fancy SPD medals, but I gotta tell you, I think I have something that's pretty hard to top. I have an original Paul Davis portrait of my own--literally.… MORE

Process: Christopher Silas Neal

While searching for illustrators to recommend for a magazine redesign project we're working on at my studio, I recently visited Christopher Silas Neal's web site (www.redsilas.com). Chris' work is very painterly and evocative with a mixture of image, symbols, and type.… MORE

Nothing But a Ballpoint Pen

For the September issue of Los Angeles, art director Joe Kimberling collaborated with illustrator and type designer Marian Bantjes to create the cover. The solution, done solely with a blue ballpoint pen, is a notebook covered with doodles inspired by a creative, yet distracted high school student. As Marian says on the contributors page "I did everything but the bar code". Check out more of her amazing work here.

Panorama Project 3

Saturday night was the opening of  The Panorama Project at the Jonathan LeVine Gallery (curated by Jordan Islip and Rodger Stevens) where 134 artists created 5x7 panels that shared a horizon line.  The weather that night was stormy, but the gallery was still packed. People who had arrived by subway were dripping wet (myself included) and there were piles of umbrellas by the elevators. A few who'd clearly come door to door in car services were looking impeccably artsy and fabulously dry.
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Power Pens: The Art of Politics

There is nothing like a history-making presidential campaign to bring out the insight, outrage and humor in publishing's top illustrators and visual journalists. Curated by Edel Rodriguez, The Society of Illustrators is presenting the original work of twenty five top illustrators and their contributions to the campaign season including Barry Blitt's controversial New Yorker cover of Barack and Michele Obama. The show opens at the carriage house on 63rd St. in New York October 4th and I made a campaign stop with Philip Burke, Steve Brodner, Dan Adel and Victor Juhasz. 
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Art Directors vs. Illustrators: A Throwdown

A throwdown in a nice way. It was a tradition way back to drag the solitary artists out of their studio to meet the people who are usually stuck emailing them from cubicles. If you are here in NYC Thursday evening (TOMORROW NIGHT!) please come have a beverage with magazine folk, drawing folk and all kinds of folks. It's too far to the AI-AP party to wait to mingle.
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Mixed Media

As Art Director of W and in my pursuit to side with the wondrous world of art collecting, I've been keeping note of some stimulating work currently being produced by young artists. One abstract creator I've had my eye on is Carlyle Stewart, whom I met while attending an art auction benefit last May. His mediums vary from collage paintings and photo montages, to Linear and Tonal drawings. … MORE