Brightness no4

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Digital Journal of Illustration |

Are you interested in submitting to Brightness?

If you’d like the chance of being published in one of issue , get in touch via this page. Please note that we receive many submissions each day and have limited space in each publication.

So show us the work you’re most proud of or the work you specially enjoy creating.

Submission Info

Email your submission to Info@brightnessmag.com with “ART SUBMISSION” in the subject line.

• Submit images as JPEGs or GIFs • Submit up to 5 images • Image sizes should be at least 600px wide and no more than 1000px wide

Please be sure to include:

1. Your name 2. Your location 3. Your website, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr 4. Your bio (up to 100 words, NO LONGER!) 5. Up to 5 images of your art + a video or the process of your art.

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Please note:

• Brightness cannot feature all art/artists • Brightness does not offer payment • By submitting you are granting (Brightness) the right to post your art on this website, on Brightness’s social media accounts, and in it’s Newsletter

Join Our Mailing list!

Join our mailing list if you are an illustrator, artist, curator, art director or just interested in art.

Info@Brightnessmag.com

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Scuola Internazionale d Illustrazione Sàrmede, Treviso (Italy) — Corsi 2017 Entra nel mondo del libro illustrato Docenti: Valeria Bertesina Giacomo Bizzai Marnie Campagnaro Paolo Canton Anna Castagnoli Anita Cerpelloni Jesús Cisneros Maria Grazia Colonnello Joanna Concejo Mara Cozzolino Eleonora Cumer Luigi Dal Cin ELSE Philip Giordano Arcadio Lobato Violeta Lópiz Giovanni Manna Marina Marcolin Monica Monachesi Eva Montanari André Neves Gabriel Pacheco Arianna Papini Giusi Quarenghi Sarolta Szulyovszky Arianna Vairo Linda Wolfsgruber Info e iscrizioni: corsi@sarmedemostra.it T. +39 0438 95 95 82

Illustrazione per album, libro d’artista, progettazione editoriale, scrittura creativa per ragazzi, lettura animata, pedagogia e didattica dell’immagine.

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Premi, pubblicazioni, mostre, borse di studio e molte altre opportunità.

sarmedemostra.it

International School of Illustration Sàrmede, Treviso (Italy) — Courses 2017 Enter the world of picture book Teachers: Valeria Bertesina Giacomo Bizzai Marnie Campagnaro Paolo Canton Anna Castagnoli Anita Cerpelloni Jesús Cisneros Maria Grazia Colonnello Joanna Concejo Mara Cozzolino Eleonora Cumer Luigi Dal Cin ELSE Philip Giordano Arcadio Lobato Violeta Lópiz Giovanni Manna Marina Marcolin Monica Monachesi Eva Montanari André Neves Gabriel Pacheco Arianna Papini Giusi Quarenghi Sarolta Szulyovszky Arianna Vairo Linda Wolfsgruber Info and enrolment: corsi@sarmedemostra.it T. +39 0438 95 95 82

Illustration, picture books, artist books, publishing, creative writing, storytelling, pedagogy and art teaching.

Awards, publications, exhibitions, scholarships and other opportunities.

sarmedemostra.it

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Digital Journal of Illustration |

Index

SPOTLIGHT | 18 Concha Pasamar | I guess that I can’t claim –as no one can- to be a completely self taught illustrator.

BEST HEARTWARMINGTRUE STORIES | 22 Some of the most heartening and inspirational stories are to be found in real life. And there is a lot to be learnt from the trailblazing achievements of history’s most renowned and respected figures.

THE FUTURE OF ILLUSTRATION | 24 SUSPENDED MOMENT | 28 Drawing has always been my way of observing and communicating reality. The sign is like a vector of emotions, which take shape and become language through the images.

AROUND THE WORLD | 36 Giulia Tomai | Marcos Viso | Cristina Barsony

A BIT LIKE REAL LIFE | 38 Tom Schamp was born in Mortsel (Belgium) and grew up in Brussels. After graduating from Sint-Lukas Brussels University College of Art and Design, he studied Graphic Arts in Poznan (Poland), where he got the opportunity to experiment with various new style elements. He gradually developed a style of his own, using acrylic paint on cardboard.

BRIGHTNESS GALLERY | 46 #iamanillustrator

SHORT NEWS | 58

In This Issue of

Brigh |6

THE DEAFENING SILENCE OF AN IMAGE

Klaas Verplancke (1964) studied Advertising Graphics and Photography. He started his professional career in advertising agencies and continued to do his illustrating after office hours. In 1990, he decided to become a fulltime illustrator. Advertising acted as a handy training ground for his new profession, teaching him to analyze issues and to get a story across to the public at large. In the following years, he made countless contributions to magazines and newspapers and illustrated more or less a hundred and fifty books, At first glance, Verplancke’s drawings and paintings differ a great deal in appearance and execution.

Klaas Verplancke

htness 10

Art Director & Editor In Chief

Creative Director & Graphic Designer

Web Designer

Hasmik (Narjes Mohammadi)

Sadegh Amiri

Sahebe Arefimehr

International Contributor

Translator

Sales & Marketing

Ali Ghafele Bashi

Yassin Mohammadi

Brightness Studio info@brightnessmag.com

cover :

Special Thanks To

K laas V erplancke to

Mr.Keyvan Ghafele Bashi

a s k q u e s t i o n s a b o u t y o u r s u b s c r i p t i o n , p l e a s e e m a i l u s at: info@brightnessmag.com

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w w w. b r i g h t n e s s m a g . c o m

Š All Rights Are Reserved.

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Digital Journal of Illustration |

Letter From The Editor

I am an

Illustrator FOR A MORE PEACEFUL DAY, WAR IS NOT THE WAY

Hasmik

(Narjes Mohammadi)

Independent Illustrator

Editor In Chief

I picked up my phone to see what was happening in the world, just as I did every morning after my cup of coffee. This morning, as I read the news I was provoked into deep thought -more so than usual. It was as if I had to spend hours just to find a piece of good news in the vast expanse of this earth. In every corner of the world the flame of war had been kindled. Politicians were at each other’s throats and flaunted their powers at one another. Amidst these conflicts homes are destroyed, fathers are deprived of their sons, wives are deprived of their husbands’ embraces, the merry laughs of children at play become inaudible, and the once colorful lives of people turn into sorrowful black and white existences. In such a world the only comfort we have is the warm embrace of art. It is as if with the help of art every bullet becomes a coloring pencil used by a child to draw a house with the scent of chocolate cake rising from it’s chimney. How wonderful it would be if instead of bombs airplanes showered cities with paint, so that the world would be a happier place. As you may know, the Brightness publications seek to introduce people to illustration art.

If one wished to delve into the beginnings of this profession one need only look to the earliest cave paintings. As illustration artists we need to ask ourselves to what extent we have strived to perpetuate peace, security, and positive emotions to the people of the world. We ask our fellow illustration artists to send us their works on the theme of world peace, so that we may have the privilege of publishing them in this magazine and thereby together be the harbingers of peace.

We ask our kind readers to send in their submissions to the following email address: info@brightnessmag.com We wish for a day when war becomes just a meaningless word.

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Hasmik (Narjes Mohammadi) | It wins in Hiiillustration 2016

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Digital Journal of Illustration |

Klaas Verplancke

THE Klaas Verplancke DEAFENING Exclusive Interview with

SILENCE OF AN

IMAGE

Klaas Verplancke is a worldwide acclaimed speaker, lecturer, jury member, curator, author & illustrator of more than 150 books published in more than 30 languages and 60 translations. He won a Bologna Ragazzi Award, was top five finalist for the Hans Christian Andersen Awards and received twelve consecutive nominations for the ALMA. He also works for international magazines and newspapers, such as The New Yorker and The New York Times and has been selected for the annuals of American Illustration, Society of Illustrators, AOI & 3x3 magazine.

His most recent picture book ‚Magritte’s Apple’ was commissioned and published by MoMA, The Museum of Modern Art, New York and Centre Pompidou, Paris.

His qualities as an independent visual and text creator led to exhibitions in Belgium and abroad, international invitations as jury member (Bologna Illustrator Exhibition and Bologna Ragazzi Digital Award, Italy), as guest teacher (Itabashi Summer School Tokyo, Japan) and as guest lecturer (USBBY Congress Chicago and St Louis, USA).

Klaas Verplancke is also a professor at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium.

More info at www.klaas.be | Facebook | Instagram | Tumblr | Twitter

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Exclusive Interview

The paradox of choice | 11 Š illustration by Klaas Verplancke for MO*magazine.

Digital Journal of Illustration |

Klaas Verplancke

© illustrations by Klaas Verplancke. From ‘Appelmoes’ published by De Eenhoorn, 2010.

•When did you start to dedicate to the world of illustration?

I produced my first illustrations during my military service.

I was designer of Vox, the weekly magazine of the Belgian army. When there was a lack of photos, I filled in any empty spaces with drawings. I studied Advertising Graphics and Photography from 1982 to 1986 and started working for a few advertising agencies.

At the same time, I started as a freelance illustrator after office hours and become full-time illustrator in 1990. Advertising acted as a handy training ground for my new profession, teaching me how to analyse issues and create conceptual stories.

• How do you define your illustrations?

I once quoted: ‘Anyone can draw a chair, but an illustrator draws what the chair thinks and feels.

Drawing is reproducing what you see. Illustrating is looking sideways, beyond the preconditioned representation or signification of what we see. What you see is a shell, what’s really important is inside, what we see when we close our eyes: joy, loneliness, hope, sorrow…. The deafening silence of an image. René Magritte was right: ‘Ceci n’est pas une image’.

What you see is not an image but imagination, because we all look different, depending on our personal feelings, experiences… The art of illustrating is that the reader images that an illustration is the image is his own imagination.

•With what technique are you more comfortable? What is the importance of technique?

‘Form follows function’ is a classic design rule. This is also meaningful for the art of illustration. An idea must be enforced by the technique, the style and atmosphere, not otherwise. The | 12

way I illustrate is always determined by the content of story.

That is what I’ve tried to show in my monograph. The First Klaasbook: style is a way of thinking, not a way of drawing.

The unity of my work must be found in the interior, not in the exterior.

In spite of all external differences and the apparent effortless ease with which I change the formal register, all my books show the same conception of what illustration should be.

I know this is a anti-commercial approach, because the market demands a recognizable trademark and the same style and characters in every new story.

But this attitude leads to interchangeability and ignores the story is a unique idea. It’s also totally opposite to the artistic development of an artist.

A creative mind daily inhales visual and mental impulses and impressions that continually inspire and knead our thoughts and emotions. Thus, my style has changed in the same way as I have changed as a person and so is every book a reflection on a moment or a remarkable period in my life.

As I’m getting older, I don’t need to impress and to proof my skills anymore. This awareness creates mental liberty that allows me to focus on the values and themes that are precious to me and that I want to share with the world through my books.

• How is children’s publishing industry in your country?

Children’s literature on one hand can be seen as a romantic medium for social and/or religious education and easy entertainment, or, on the other hand considered as a form of art, confronting, reflecting and giving a voice to even uneasy topics, emotions and thoughts. I’ve always worked according to these latter principles here in Flanders, where there’s a great respect and support for artistic freedom and authenticity.

Exclusive Interview

• What is the difference between editorial illustration and other ones?

I’m generally a concept-targeted illustrator, combining metaphors in extraordinary and surreal combinations to create visual wit, a smile in the mind. Every medium needs a different execution. This variety nourishes and exercises the flexibility of my brain, but my way of thinking doesn’t change. An editorial illustration is like a quote: fast, catchy and substantive alone, speaking for themselves.

Book illustrations are a chain of key moments, feelings or thoughts, all related to each other.

• Would you explain more about your books, do you prefer philosophical story or fictional ?

I tend to describe my oeuvre as philosophical realism. Not ‘real’ in the sense of true, but truly credible with recognizable thoughts and feelings. Universal, common emotions and situations that we only notice when transformed into a story. A story that works like a mirror: it reflects the emotions and thoughts of the reader and creates consolation. That’s why books and art in general is made for. I discovered that most of my stories end with a happy and reassuring home-coming scene. We all search for shelter, comfort, a home - not made of stone - but build with love, friendship and words. That’s the essence of storytelling, like I wrote in my picture book Reus: ‘A book is a roof, once upon a time is the attic, and they lived happily ever after is in the cellar. Between the two lives half the world on a thousand sheets of paper and that is my house.

• What is the importance role of philosophical stories in the modern world?

Philosophical and poetical stories translates the invisible, the elusive incomprehensible aspects of our lives. Like my stories, they are often labeled – by adults (!) - as ‘too difficult’ for children….

First of all, ‘The Child’ does not exist. Like a baker would bake his

bread for a particular kind of child. What if we would apply this reasoning to adults? Not all adults understand and read Kafka’s books. So, the books of Kafka are ‘too difficult’ for adults?....

Second, we must get off the perception that ‘I don’t understand it’ is equal to ‘I don’t like it’. The unknown can be fascinating and feed our imagination. Let me quote Guus Kuijer, ALMA laureate: “If we don’t want to learn, then everything is elitist and unintelligible, even opening a door.” Children intuitively assume that they need to learn if they want to grow. Friction stimulates solutions and nuanced thinking, and philosophy helps us through this process. It guides us through the complexity of today’s world and creates acceptance for mysteries and insoluble questions. ….“We think we understand the rules when we become adults, but what we really experience is the narrowing of our imagination,” (© David Lynch).

• What is your best piece of advice for young artists who are getting started as creators of children`s books?

Making children’s books is an honor that requires the awareness of a great responsibility. Memories are composed by the words, sounds and songs we’ve heard and the books we’ve read in our youth, the images that are burnt in our mind. Thus, the children’s books we make today will be the memory of the adults of tomorrow.

We create the future through children’s books, and thàt is a huge challenge. That’s is exactly why children need our respect and shouldn’t be poisoned by meaningless or mindless entertainment.

Never underestimate the children’s capacity for understanding. It’s a long, tough and unknown road between the feeling, the image in your head and the final result on paper or in a book. It’s an adventure because you never know which obstacles you may encounter in route. But you always come home differently. © Klaas Verplancke / July 2017 | 13

Digital Journal of Illustration |

Klaas Verplancke

© illustrations by Klaas Verplancke. From ‘Magritte’s Apple’ published by MoMA, The Museum of Modern Art New York, 2016. | 14

Exclusive Interview

© illustrations by Klaas Verplancke. From ‘In een slootje ben ik een bootje’ published by Lannoo, 2015. | 15

Digital Journal of Illustration |

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Klaas Verplancke

Exclusive Interview

© illustrations by Klaas Verplancke. From ‘Reus’ published by De Eenhoorn, 2005.

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Digital Journal of Illustration |

Spotlight

I guess that I can’t claim –as no one can- to be a completely self taught illustrator. It is true that I’ve taken no official Degree in art or illustration, but drawing has played a main role in my life since I was a child and we all have numerous and diverse models of doing everything. Even if I’ve developed another career, in the last years and after a long interval, I have attended different courses, workshops and masterclasses with great illustration professionals, so that I can state today that communicating through drawing has taken again a main role in my life. I’m not sure to have a personal style; anyway, this is a question that doesn’t bother me so much, and if people usually to tell me that my work is recognizable it is maybe because I simply draw in my most natural way of doing it, trying not to betray my loose and expressive line. This is why I often use graphite, although I love ink too. In fact, I would say that I tend to use pencil for children illustration and ink for adult illustration and some of my favorite sketching topics: live musicians, landscapes.

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Concha Pasamar

I l l u st r a t o r www.conchapasamar.com

www.fb.com/ConchaPasamarIlustracion

I sometimes break this general rule, though, and in my works on altered books I use both pencil and ink, on a layer of white acrylic:

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Digital Journal of Illustration |

The Creative Space Spotlight

As for the color, I often use graphite with traditional techniques such as watercolor, markers or color pencils (I mostly apply color in some parts of the image), as in the series of traditional tales illustrations, or in Arrecife and the Melodies’ Factory (2016) –also combined with collage.

But I also like using digital color with Photoshop, which allows me to get more uniform results, trying different combinations and hues, etc.

In this case, I use my own personal brushes or textures to feel more comfortable. Anyway, I never use the graphic tablet to draw, because I really enjoy the feeling of the pencil or brush sliding on the paper.

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I find inspiration in different ways: sometimes from a text or a concept, and sometimes, on the contrary, it is simply by the act of drawing that an idea comes to my mind as the forms awake some thought or connection. In both cases, as when I write, I need time to get a more defined image and find specially motivating this phase in which vague ideas come together with documentation or graphic inspiration to form a mental stage for the new characters. I resumed illustration as a sort of therapy and hobby, but it comes that after some time I find myself currently engaged in new projects: cd art covers, picture books, licensing or narrative illustration will keep me really busy in the near future.

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Digital Journal of Illustration |

Article

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Pbiographies icture book : best heartwarming true stories Some of the most heartening and inspirational stories are to be found in real life.

And there is a lot to be learnt from the trailblazing achievements of history’s most renowned and respected figures. But how did these inspirational figures reach their goals and what prompted them to act the ways they did?

Picture book biographies peel back history and bring to life the true stories of iconic figures for a younger generation of readers. Crossing nationalities, careers and cultures, people including Nelson Mandela and Amelia Earhart have overcome all sorts of obstacles to realise their dreams.

Here are 10 of the most inspiring picture book biographies for young readers to read and savour:

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Wangari’s Trees of Peace by Jeanette Winter Wangari Maathai, is credited with planting over 30 million trees in Kenya. Wangari spent six years studying in America, only to return to Kenya to find a wasteland and her beloved trees gone. She started a programme to reintroduce Kenya’s trees to the land, which grew from starting in her garden, to covering the whole of Kenya. Her incredible life which culminated in her winning a Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 is told here in breathtaking detail.

Just Being Audrey Margaret Cardillo and Julia Denos Discover the inspirational woman behind the camera in this book about Audrey Hepburn’s life and charity work. As well as exploring her work on classic films including Roman Holiday and Breakfast at Tiffany’s, this picture book by Margaret Cardillo and Julia Denos follows Audrey’s childhood in Nazi-occupied Europe and her work in Africa as a Unicef ambassador. This is a great way to introduce this iconic screen legend to a younger audience and her dedication to helping and empowering others.

Malala Yousafzai by Karen Leggett Abouraya and LC Wheatley The iconic story of Malala Yousafzai’s story is a testament to bravery and the importance of believing in yourself that is told here with the aim of educating a younger audience about the importance of education and the power of words. A voice of a generation and an inspiration to teenagers across the globe, this picture book bring’s Malala’s commitment to fairness and equality for all to a whole new generation of readers.

Long Walk to Freedom abridged by Chris van Wyk and illustrated by Paddy Bouma The biography of the 20th centuries most famous activists is re–told for children by Chris van Wyk. Paddy Bouma’s illustrations capture the vibrancy of life in South Africa. A great book to introduce the countries first back president to younger readers.

Amelia to Zora by Cynthia Chin-Lee and illustreated by Megan Halsey and Sean Addy You get 26 true tales of 26 pioneering women who sought to change the world around them here. From Amelia Earhart – the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic – to Zora Neale Hurston, a trail blazing author, this is a book that celebrates the achievements of 26 women who made their unique marks on history.

Anne Frank by Josephine Poole and Angela Barrett This sensitively illustrated picture book follows the story of Anne Frank, her persecution at the hand of Nazi Germany and her infamous diary. However, rather than starting the story with Anne and her families decision to hide in an annex, we are taken back to Anne’s early childhood, giving us insight into her life as a normal, happy child. Follow her heartbreaking story from beginning to end in this sensitive and delicate book that brings the human cost of the holocaust to life.

Girls Think of Everything by Catherine Thimmesh and Melissa Sweet Did you know that some of the world’s most ingenuous inventions were thought of by women?

Catherine Thimmesh’s book lifts the lid of some of histories unsung, female inventors. From Mary Anderson, who invented the windshield wiper to Ruth Wakefield who invented the first chocolate chip cookie, it also features young inventors including 10-year-old Becky Schroeder, who became the youngest woman to secure a patent in American history. The book is while being beautifully illustrated throughout by Melissa Sweet.

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Digital Journal of Illustration |

Article

The Future of Illustration:

A Design Student’s

Perspective | 24

The following article on “The Future of Illustration” was contributed

by Michelle Cahill, a student at the CATC Design School in Australia.

Michelle Cahill is an Australian Artist and Graphic Design student.

Alongside other projects she has worked with Australian band Evoletah to create the cover art for the bands 2011 CD EP release “Draw your gun” and has also produced the cover art and design for The Quiet Room debut album “All the Frozen Horses.” Michelle is passionate about creativity and loves to explore new ideas, technologies and techniques.

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“The future of illustration lies in finding new ways to visually evolve an idea to break new territory.”

Kate Sallai

Since the earliest days of humankind, when cave walls were decorated with broad spanning murals, of ancient beasts and figures, illustration has been a medium by which people have educated, connected and shared stories with each other from generation to generation, era to era.

With its origins fortified by mud, colored pigment and stone, and its legacy spanning history, we must now ask ourselves, what is the future of illustration? Where is it going next? What will come to pass for the future of this skill, and for those who choose to pursue illustration as a profession?

The explosion of the Internet in the digital age has obliged illustrators to expand their repertoire in order to carve out their own personal niche within the digital medium.

Advanced forms of online visual communication such as blogs and social media platforms have prompted a surge in demand for hand-drawn and digital illustrations to support content.

After all, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Often required to develop cutting-edge measures in order to keep up with the ever changing digital world that their images will become a part of, adept illustrators have begun to design new and innovative works to accompany and enhance online content.

Expert illustrators are mindful of the increasing need for their work to be noticed amid the cacophony of content on the web.

They must acknowledge that their work will be vying for a disassociated audience’s limited attention in this modern world which has become relentlessly overrun with online advertising, content marketing and the limits of the attention economy. This means attention is a resource, as each user only has so much of it.

As big business has accepted the need for higher quality artwork over cheaper stock imagery to capture the attention of Millennials, the illustration industry gas seen a recent resurgence. These companies seek to employ illustrators to create unique custom images that will reinforce and focus the business’s branding (Kliever, 2016).

The very act of hiring illustrators to create custom work also ensures avoiding embarrassing mishaps which can occur when companies are noticed displaying the same stock imagery as their online competitors.

A positive consequence of employing an illustrative artist is that individual companies can present a far more personalized and accessible user experience. This is by far better suited to their specific target market and reaffirms a more authentic presence for potential clientele.

Illustrations in the future will be more than purely a visual support. The constant development of advanced programming, online formats and cutting-edge digital techniques, coupled with skilled innovative illustrators is resulting in new illustrative designs which are tactile, united and interactive (Burns, 2016).

Thanks to “divergence culture,” or the stream of information across mixed media platforms and the migratory attitude of general audiences, illustrations are being modified for mobility

and versatility (O’Reilly, 2015).

Standalone historic illustration and conventional animation have evolved. Thanks to developments in intuitive programming, they are now a confluence of both.

Animated interfaces, GIFs and built-in interactivity are coming to the fore, now giving illustrations a novel contemporary edge.

The development of interactive illustrations and animation is now breaking the barrier between the viewer and the screen, encouraging a new wave of bilateral involvement.

An example of this would be the prize winning digital magazine Scrawl, which has been carefully crafted as a digital platform.

The magazine integrates art and technology creating an entirely new form of storytelling.

Parallel to this increasingly digital illustration boom is the evolution of traditional techniques. The process is now becoming more craftsmanlike with the use of 3D and amalgamated techniques, most commonly seen in the form of an effective mix of photography, illustration and typography— or the use of 3D printing technologies.

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Digital Journal of Illustration |

Article

Artists are reconnecting with skills and trades of bygone eras: complex etching, collage, printing press and embroidered works are sympathetically being merged with digital techniques, creating individually memorable representations that are shaping up to become the next online hit.

This blend of techniques is being leveraged to create playful, new and interesting visual experiences, injecting a fresh dose of “reality meets fiction” into communicative projects.

Examples of artists who are advancing multimedia work in the field include Izziyana Suhaimi, who blends illustration with finely detailed embroidery; Niky Roehreke, who regularly experiments with collage; and Ollanski, a remarkable paper engineer who takes paper craft to the next level.

So what does an illustrator need to do in order to capitalize on these burgeoning trends? Going digital is inevitably the path leading us forward, so building on skills that will allow an illustrator to be flexible, creative and memorable in the digital age will be vital.

Learning new skills in animation, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and similar programs will be essential tools for illustrators looking to forge new ground. Additionally, many Illustrators agree that further developing preexisting skills can be more important than amassing more new skills. Devoting yourself to the refinement of your craft allows you to develop your personal style and stand out from the ever-increasing crowd. A savvy, forward-thinking illustrator will be sure to keep a graphite-laden finger on the pulse of the design industry by signing up for workshops and training alerts via websites such as AGDA, the Loop, or AIGA. Illustrators should constantly be seeking inspiration, learning and evolving. This can be achieved by utilizing access to online tutorials, reading topically specific books, going to exhibitions, seminars and signing up for short courses or further education via a university or an online provider. Keeping in touch with mentors, skilled professionals within the field and fellow illustrators are simple steps that can be taken towards achieving goals and becoming one of the best in the business. Illustrators who wish to become successful within the industry must now embrace a global mindset in lieu of focusing solely on building a local network. This can be achieved by keeping abreast of what is on trend within international markets, networking on a global scale or collaboratively working with others internationally on the web.

The Power of Illustration

Illustration has an extraordinary warmth that can be inserted into what tends to be an overly-impersonal digital world. In turn, this ties us to our childhood sense of wonder, discovery and magic.

Illustrations allow us to connect with our inner child by motivating us to reminisce, imagine and reconnect with the earliest creators in history.

Within a modern world that is overtly digital, illustration can implore us to take a second look, pause, reflect, think, connect and/ or interact. As humans were are so easily able to simply close our eyes and imagine the very place in time in which an illustration was created. This allows us to—in a sense—become time travelers. We can visualize the very hands of the artist working by studying the techniques and styles that each artist has employed.

There are few other art forms that so readily adapt to modern technologies while connecting us with history, thanks to the many clever and talented individuals who are not afraid to learn from the past and embrace the new. Illustration never forgets its beginnings while forever embracing its journey.

www.printmag.com/illustration/the-future-of-illustration

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‘‘

“Art is food for the soul… it has the power to inspire and engage people with pretty much any experience or message. …. a broad, ever evolving platform that is crucial to effective education and communication.”

Lani Paxton

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Going digital is inevitably the path leading us forward, so building on skills that will allow an illustrator to be flexible, creative and memorable in the digital age will be vital.

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Digital Journal of Illustration |

Glenda Subrelin

Exclusive Interview With Glenda Sburelin

SUSPENDED M OM E N T www.glendasburelin.blogspot.com

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Exclusive Interview

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Digital Journal of Illustration |

Glenda Subrelin

When did you start to dedicate to the world of illustration?

I’m very grateful for your invitation.

Drawing has always been my way of observing and communicating reality. The sign is like a vector of emotions, which take shape and become language through the images.

I approached the world of children’s book illustrations, driven by the passion for drawing and the desire to make it a profession.

When I became mum I understood the great potential of illustrated books and their importance in the evolutionary age. So my desire was to deepen and understand their pedagogical value, but also all the formal, aesthetic and linguistic aspects that characterize it.

How do you define your illustrations?

I think that my illustrations can be defined “of the suspended moment.” Drawing has the ability to stop the time, freeze it and return the istant in which the whole essence of emotion is concentrated. Often my characters are placed in a rarefied environment, surreal, where realistic references are almost absent or just outlined.

My language is symbolic, uses a metaphysics of elements, in a correspondence between inner dimension, memory and reality.

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Exclusive Interview

Where does an idea come from and how does it transform from an idea into a book?

My experience as mother, has been very important also for my profession as illustrator for children’s books: watching my children and their way of perceiving the world, their feelings, their fears, their desires, helped me in search of content. Each illustrator also has its innate stylistic language, which is born and developed, not only through exercise and research, but above all by its sensitivity, its way of perceiving reality and translating it into images. Certainly, there are some themes that are most interesting to me, arguments related to the sphere of feelings, relationships and also the condition of the environment and respect for nature.

Tell us about you and how do you develope the story and structure: I could answer by explaining the development of one of my recently published books, a silent book titled “Story of a Dream” for a South Korean Publisher (Agaworld Montessori, 2017). I think this book form is very interesting, because it offers to the child the opportunity to sharpen the observation and to fill that narrative vacuum left by the absence of written text. These books tell stories that are constantly transformed, precisely because the narration is hidden between the lines of “not told”, in which the child plays the role of interpreting and completing meanings.

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Glenda Subrelin

In the case of my book, the incipit is the following: a little girl sees an orange feather that stimulates her curiosity, deciding to catch it. So the feather becomes a metaphor of a dream to be pursued. In her attempt to grab it, the girl crosses various new and evocative environment and situations, which from time to time, leave a colored sign on her white dress. At the end of the “journey”, her dress will be enriched with the colors of her experience.

After the study of the principal character, in this project I decided to set the sequence of pages, at a rhythm of visual alternation, that is intramezzling full images with very clear and empty images, so that the child can elaborate the information and understand the hidden meanings. The sensation is that of a surreal landscape, because it must suggest the dimension of the dream.

How do you decide what to include and what not to include in the book?

Each element included in the book has its “narrative importance”, both in the sequential rhythm of the pages, and in every single image, in communicative effectiveness function. Even the expressive value of the colors is important, as is the perception of chromaticity in the alternation of pages, so sometimes it is necessary to remove or add color or color-forms to balance or emphasize narrative meanings. I believe that it is necessary to seek that balance between form and language, between the aesthetics and the functionality of the visual narration.

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Exclusive Interview

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Glenda Subrelin

What is the importance of technique Before to start working on a new book, I study a technique and style that best suits that text. The illustrated book is a set of languages that are mixed in a perfect balance of forms and contents, and thus also the technique has its own expressive value as a function of visual storytelling. Experimentation is a very important aspect of my work and the development of new solutions is always stimulating because it enlivens my enthusiasm and passion for drawing.

How is children’s publishing industry in your country?

In Italy, publishing for children enjoys a positive time, though the economic crisis. Our country boasts illustrators and authors of great importance, both in its history and in the contemporary scene, as well as a good number of independent Publishers who publish illustrated books of remarkable quality.

In fact, there is a careful eye on the quality of the books for children, due to the need to respond to the growing needs and solicitations of a constantly changing society, and also for the wide interest of pedagogues, educators and scholars, in asserting the importance of reading in the evolutionary age.

Basically, attention is concentrated around the illustrated book, as a complex tool of various narration forms that can stimulate the child’s thought. The illustrated book represents in its perfect balance of form and content, verbal and visual, an indispensable aesthetic experience.There is growing sensibleness towards the publishing industry and the illustration’s world, through cultural events, workshops in schools, in bookshops and libraries, performed by professionals, as well as the considerable offer of high-level training courses. Do not forget that, just in Bologna, there is one of the world’s most important fairs annually. Certainly, the globalization has facilitated trade and the opportunity for us illustrators to open up to the international scene, but considering the percentage of co-productions of Italian books abroad, the numbers are still low. The trend is that buying copyright from abroad, rather than selling it.

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Exclusive Interview

Is it very different from what is done in your country from other countries? What are your influences international illustrators?

In my country over the last twenty years we have witnessed a substantial increase in the spread of reading for the reasons cited earlier.

I believe that much has been done in this direction, especially by observing the considerable response in the collective awareness about reading and Illustration’s world.

All we are in a rapidly evolving and open world, so information sharing travels at great speed towards a general direction of reading’s development.

The international illustrators that fascinate me most are those who can teach me a lot, for their skills in composition and stylistic originality, but most of all I look at the great professionals who have been able to develop a deep sensitivity and capabilities, such as complete narrators, just to name a few Wolf Erlbruch, Shaun Tan, Susy Lee, ...

What do you think about e-books and apps like a new field of job?

In contemporary society, digital has become part of everyone’s daily life, so today’s children, as “digital natives”, make continuous use of electronic devices both for playful and educational purposes. Therefore, even in the context of reading for children, the socalled new “ augmented reality” of apps is undoubtedly an excellent tool for reading and its spreading, also considering the potential of interactivity. I believe that it is a new frontier, a new opportunity to experience the “aesthetic trip” offered by the illustrated book, giving to the child reader access to the virtual story through a new playful dimension of reading.

E-books should be seen as reading supports, even considering the need for children with disabilities or reading difficulties to be able to be facilitated.

These tools should not be considered as substitutes for the paper illustrated book, but the starting point from which new paths of experience related to childhood literature may arise.

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Around The World

Giulia Tomai www.giuliatomai.com My latest project is a picture book for kids around 9-11. The title is “Shakespeare in versi” (“Shakespeare in verse”), the publisher is Mondadori, a very important Italian publisher. The book is re-written by Roberto Piumini, a great Italian author for children book, and the volume is about three Shakespeare’s operas: “Romeo and Juliet”, “A Midsummer night’s dream” and “Love’s Labour’s Lost”. The style of the book is quite classical, almost like a vintage book, and the illustrations often work as frame for the text.

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Cristina Barsony www.cristinabarsony.com

The new project I’m working on is a children’s book, a project quite dear to me. I received this text some time ago with the proposal to work on the illustrations. I have read it and it was simply a match not very often this happens but back thenI was caught up with other projects and I couldn’t start with it. In a way I’m happy because now I feel more ready for it. The story is very delicate, deals with transition from childhood to the first feeling of falling in love, loss, imaginary world and parenthood.

I spend a lot of time searching for the idea of the book because I wanted to capture as best I can the sensitivity and spirit of it. If all goes well the book will be released at the end of October in Roumania.

Marcos Viso www.marcosvisoilustracion.com www.kalandraka.com

“Los días liebre” [Hare days] is a poetry book about daily life, so much brief and intense.

These fifteen compositions by Clara López call up our wishes for living in a more peaceful way. The symbolic universe of this book is full of memories, fantasy and typical thoughts of children. Marcos Viso makes use of pastel drawings, barely outlined shapes, watered-down pictures and soft textures for representing these free verses and showing the metaphotic dichotomy between hare days and turtle days.

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Tom Schamp

A BIT LIKE

Real Life

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH

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Exclusive Interview

Tom Schamp was born in Mortsel (Belgium) and grew up in Brussels.

After graduating from Sint-Lukas Brussels University College of Art and Design, he studied Graphic Arts in Poznan (Poland), where he got the opportunity to experiment with various new style elements. He gradually developed a style of his own, using acrylic paint on cardboard.

Tom’s illustrations appeal to adults and children alike. His assignments come from an international mix of customers, including reknown children’s books publishers (Albin Michel, Milan, Lannoo), magazines (Humo, Playboy), newspapers (De Morgen, De Standaard, NRC Handelsblad), and various ad agencies. He has designed posters, calendars, post cards, toys, annual reports, web sites, and postage stamps.

In 2005, Belgian publishing house Oogachtend published a 197-page retrospective book with a broad selection of illustrations Tom made during the first 13 years of his professional career. The book reveals some of the subtle style changes that characterize Tom’s work throughout the early years. Click on the book’s cover to view a gallery with sample pages from this book.

In November 2010, Belgian culture & arts channel Canvas (VRT) aired a 50-minute documentary - which was part of the channel’s series “Vormgevers” - featuring Tom Schamp, his work, and the creative process Tom used for his book “Otto in de Sneeuw”. Below is the full feature documentary and a short animated version of half of the book that was specially created for the occasion.

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Tom Schamp

Exclusive Interview

Tom Schamp • Where does an idea come from and how does it transform from an idea into a book?

Very often ideas got shaped in my head in the early hours of morning when a certain feeling of ‘guilt’ that I really should start working on something in order to meet the deadline is taking over my thinking...

When working on a book it’s slightly different because it’s more like personal work and it’s more a process of one thing leading to another.

A process of associative thinking while your hands are painting stuff and you must take decisions on how you’re going to show things (colors, shapes, words etc) • How do you decide what to include and what not to include in the book?

Very often it’s in the confrontation/ collaboration with a publisher/editor that it becomes clear what works and what doesn’t.

It forces you to show work in progress, to show the vulnerability of ideas that seemed great inside your head, but rather pale on paper and it defines what’s worth fighting for as a creative and what turn out to be lost causes that only matter in your tiny little world.

• What are some of the techniques or processes that you used in creating the artwork for the book? And what is the main

characteristic of your art?

I like the balance between the old techniques (mainly painting in my case) and the digital ones because it turns out to be activating other parts in your brain so you can stay more concentrated for longer periods (at least if you switch of the internet while working on the screen) I think one of my main characteristics is that I start from a concept, but then try very hard to hide it behind lots of details and anecdotic stuff. A bit like real life (if there’s any concept at all) • How do you find thinking about the book as a whole – the text, illustration, design – in comparison with illustrating someone else’s text?

I’ve been working both on my own ‘texts’ or others’ and it’s more or less the same process to me: just trying to translate your imagination.

It very often starts from a color.

Should this be a blue book or rather a pink one.

Or all at the same time. Vertical, horizontal or square? How many pages? And once all these things are decided, it’s one page leading to another and then going through it again and again until you have the feeling you can’t add or leave out anything anymore and you would absolutely love to be somewhere else. | 41

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Tom Schamp

Exclusive Interview

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Tom Schamp

• What is the difference between illustration in modern world and past?

In modern times everything is much more available The last days I did some workshops in Spain for illustrators of all ages and almost everyone used google images to check how to draw particular things.

That’s a huge progress compared to the older days where you had to visit several libraries to find a monkey in the right position before you could really start working, but I kind of like the idea that I learned it the hard way and that I could continue doing my thing if all technology fails. I feel very much that my brain is not always compatible with the technological evolution. But overall I think this is a great time to be an illustrator: everything is much more oriented to the whole world, there are so many pictures taken all over the place that people seem to be craving for original interpretations of reality, customers appreciate your personal approach and don’t want you to make something that’s not you (generally spoken) • What is your best piece of advice for young artists who are getting started as creators of children`s books?

My advice: take the work very seriously, but yourself not at all. It’s only drawing, but very often may outlive you in the long run And I very consciously continue doing different types of projects, for children & adults alike, commercial and less commercial, because in my head I don’t make such a clear distinction and things you can’t use in one situation are useful for other commissions (sometimes literally the left overs and thrown away illustrations for one customer can be recuperated and turn out to be masterpieces in a new context)

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Exclusive Interview

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Brightness Gallery

Brightness

Gallery

This section is devoted to the works of some of the best illustrators from all around the world. As with any real gallery , ours too aims to introduce and present those creative and elegant artworks which are created by both of professional and enthusiastic young artists.

However, as opposed to the real galleries, this one will not be restricted by physical barriers or geogeraphical borders, which implies that artists could easily connect to a wider range of audience worldwide.

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#iamanillustrator In order to be able to better tackle the aforementioned challenges and to raise awareness of the artful masterpieces created by illustrators, we have decided to create the company “I am an illustrator.”

Our fellow illustrators can also be ambassadors that help the world become better acquainted with the wonderful art of illustration by sharing their artworks in categories such as: advertising, sports, fashion, children, teenagers, the elderly … with the hashtag “Iamanillustrator”.

Sadegh Amiri & Hasmik

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Brightness Gallery

valentina malgaris

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valentina malgaris

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Brightness Gallery

Cristina Barsony

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Giulia Tomai

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Brightness Gallery

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Homa Rostami

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Sylvie Bello

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Brightness Gallery

Marcos Viso

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Marcos Viso

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Brightness Gallery

Solmaz Joshaghani

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Solmaz Joshaghani

Submit Your Illustration to: info@brightnessmag.com

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Short News

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O NEWS

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B ri a n S a n d e rs Selected Works Brian Sanders: Selected Works, the first exhibition dedicated to the work of pioneering British illustrator, is currently on view at the Lever Gallery. A veteran of the golden age of magazine illustration and the co-founder of the Association of Illustrators, Sanders’ solo exhibition features his trailblazing portraits for magazines such as The Sunday Times and Nova Magazine during the 1960s, his unprecedented illustration work on 2001: A Space Odyssey with Stanley Kubrick up to his 2011 work commissioned by Matthew Weiner for series six of AMC’s Mad Men. Chronicling Sanders’ long and successful career, the exhibition includes previously unseen and unpublished artwork. Brian Sanders rose to prominence in 1960s London, when magazine illustration was booming. The work was experimental and reflected the excitement of the ‘Swinging Sixties,’ mirroring the fashion and music of this defining era. The medium was new, the compositions were off-kilter and the colors were brighter, sharper and more striking. American illustrators had a huge influence on the style and work of their English counterparts, with the US artists using acrylic paint to create what was referred to as the ‘bubble and streak’ effect, initially developed by US masters such as Bernie Fuchs. Notable work from this period in the exhibition includes Ho Chi Min, commissioned for the cover of The Sunday Times Magazine, 1970s tennis star Roger Taylor also for The Sunday Times, plus Sanders’ illustrations of Le Mans and his portrait of Sean Connery’s Bond set against Sanders’ own Aston Martin DB3.

A series of portraits for influential Nova Magazine featuring famous figures and their foibles includes Warren Beatty, Noel Coward, Richard Nixon and Tony Benn. In 1965, Sanders was commissioned by Stanley Kubrick to spend months on set with unfettered access during the making of 2001: A Space Odyssey to illustrate the film sets and scenes of Kubrick and his crew in production. Sanders would draw on the set two days per week and work on larger paintings in his studio. This was a rare occurrence, as Kubrick often worked with a closed set, and was the only person allowed to take photos on set. Much of this work by Sanders remained unpublished for decades. When Mad Men series creator Matthew Weiner, inspired by the painterly illustrations of the 1970s TWA flight menus, wanted a nostalgic image to promote the sixth season of the acclaimed series, he turned to Brian Sanders to produce an illustration for the series six poster and DVD packaging. This captivating illustration was emblazoned across buses and billboards and propelled Sanders’ name back into the limelight in 2011.

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iJungle International Illustration Awards 2017 iJungle Illustration Awards is now open for submissions. The contest is open to illustrators, agencies, representatives, students and teachers from all over the world. This year, the competition has seven categories: Book, Editorial, Comics, Commercial, New Talent (Student), Self-Promotion and Video Games Art. The deadline for submission is October 30, 2017. more: ijungleawards.com (321)

Concepts Releases New Update Focused on Apple Pencil Concepts, a digital design sketchbook app for iPad Pro, released a new update that focuses on the Apple Pencil, further blurring the lines between art and technology. The update includes two new pencils (one hard and one soft) that work seamlessly with the Apple Pencil’s advanced tilt and pressure sensors. Using an advanced blend of vector math with traditional tools like pencils, markers, or even watercolor, Concepts’ users are able to directly manipulate what they draw on screen in order to achieve precision or explore ideas that change over time. Concepts 4.6 Update

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Adobe’s 2017 Creative Residency Open for Applications

Adobe is calling for applications for its 2017 Creative Residency. Six creatives of all types are offered a yearlong apprenticeship from Adobe to work on a creative passion project and share their process with the creative community along the way. Current Creative Residents include filmmaker and popular Youtuber Sara Dietschy, who is taking her videos to the next level by amplifying her work across social and pursuing new mediums, and graphic designer and letterer Christine Herrin, who is working on a design-rich travel journal to inspire people to document their lives in creative and meaningful ways. The deadline for applications is February 26, 2017.

V&A Illustration Awards 2017 Entries are now being accepted for the 2017 V&A Illustration Awards competition. The competition is organized by the V&A’s National Art Library and is free to enter for illustrators publishing within the UK market. The deadline for entries is December 15, 2016. Winners will be announced at the Awards ceremony in May 2017.

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New Version of Rebelle Now Available

Rebelle 2, the new version of the one-of-a-kind paint software that lets you create realistic watercolor, acrylic and dry media artwork, is now available. The new version integrates groundbreaking improvements, watercolor and acrylic brushes got an unprecedented realistic look and together with watercolor masking fluid give an exceptional traditional feel to the digital painting. Completely new brush engine allows users to create custom brushes - round, flat, bamboo, various wet splatters, sponges and many others. New stencils and selection tools together with wet paint diffusion open new creative results yet not possible to achieve in digital art.

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Need You! BECOME A VOLUNTEER

We’re looking to recruit volunteers to join our team. ( Brightness ) is an international digital magazine discussing and exploring the field of illustration. We are making an effort to improve the standing of illustration as an independent profession in the world.

As another major objective, we feature outstanding and creative contemporary illustration projects in various fields.

So, we are looking for volunteers to help us in these areas: - French/Spanish to English translation (assistant needed).

- Publishing and collecting illustration news from around the globe (illustrator or illustration student needed) Obviously, you’ll be part of our team and we will publish your name as one of our own colleagues.

Email us at: info@Brightnessmag.com

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Welcome Articles From Writers

Brightness welcome articles , researches and interviews from writers, activists, journalists and also from artists around the world, on topics that we deal with regularly or on topics that you think need a wider circulation in illustration subject. We are most likely to publish those articles which are well-written, concise, offer a unique progressive perspective and have appeal to national and international readers. Please keep submissions under 1000 words.

Since we have a small editorial staff, we cannot spend much time editing submissions. Please send us final drafts of your work. We do not guarantee that we publish all the articles we receive. They will be published after a confirmation by twice of the managers.

Please send all submissions as plain text within the body of an email - you can also attach the article, for the safer side. Please include your name, contact information. A short paragraph bio is a must. If you wish, you can also send a thumb size photo of the author. We’ll be glad to publish it along with the article.

You can submit your articles to i n f o @ b r i g h t n e s s m a g . c o m One word of caution. When you are submitting articles use the word -submission- in the subject line.

Finally, it is very important to respect copyright and write the names of artists who their arts are used by you in the caption.

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