Arthur Szyk

. . .a.k.a master of minature, crazy-detailed illuminated art. If you’re in SF within the next 10 days catch Arthur Szyk’s show at the Legion of Honor. Thank goodness for patience, passion and magnifying glasses!

Illustrator Extraordinaire

. . .David Roberts, one of my long-time favorite children’s book illustrators. His characters capture that charming balance of quirky imperfection, English humor and feisty charm—plus, a good helping of fashion. Yes, please!

Cool Book Alert!

I don't think I've ever seen this many good illustrations in one book: Illusive.

Bookart and paper engineering

... these are a few of my favourite things. Next to raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, of course.
This fantastic book by Tristan O'Shannessy manages to combine the two and crowns it with some very eye-pleasing design on the actual printed pages. Although I'll readily admit that it took me a moment or two of unabated staring to move on to the content beyond this amazing form.
That is one boss book.

Does Retro times Retro make Retro squared?

The idea of taking retro films (at least they are retro to ditzy twentysomethings like this humble blogger) and creating even more retro book covers leaves me with a bit of postmodern whiplash.

But that time I was at the receiving end of a guy crashing into the tail end of a traffic jam sure didn't feel quite as good as looking at these designs. Actually, that felt awful. Moving on.

The graphic designer behind the blog spacesick creates an ever growing collection of brilliant book cover designs for the good, the bad and the ugly in film history, reminding me that the best work can come from projects you do "just because".

Okay, "Shaun" is not retro. It's just awesome.

It also turns out that the the designer is merely a year older than I am.
If you'll excuse me, I'll go play in traffic now.

Illustrations that Wink at You

Introducing the work of New York resident Jesse Kuhn a.k.a. rawtoastdesign.





Along with creating editorial art, posters, and book covers, he has also developed a children’s series of books called The Quirkles, 26 alphabet-based characters (like Andy Acid and Botanist Bert) with a lust for science.

hee. hee.

My Latest Crush

Okay, this is the body of work that I’ve been obsessed with lately. Oksaka-born illustrator Toshiyuki Fukuda has a herculeun handle on his craft. And, his talents extend across many mediums: textile, book covers, cards, dolls, wallets, to name a few. What crazy, perfect balance in composition and contrast—this guy really knows how to handle a blank canvas. xxoo, Toshiyuki-san!

Alianza

This is what happens when you match the brilliant hand-lettering of Retna. . .

. . .with the larger-than-life portraits of el Mac:

. . .poetry.

The final exhibit that we are sharing from the SF Lower Haight Art Walk last week is a collaboration: Alianza, a new book featuring the work of el Mac and Retna as individuals and co-conspirators in cities all over the world. El Mac was on-site celebrating his latest collection, and adding a new mural to Haight Street—though he was kind enough to take a break to sign our book.

P.S.

El Mac is also known for this fingerprint-like texture in his work (1st image). Retna is also known for adding his dynamic illustration style to fashion photos (2nd image)

. . .and this one really shows el Mac's skill as a fine draftsman.