FALL 2020 ISSUE
the journal L.L. MEDIA's
Illustrators
BRUNO MALLART
FRENCH MASTER ILLUSTRATOR
WENDY EDELSON
AWARD-WINNING CHILDRENS ILLUSTRATOR
TANYA MARRIOT MASTER DOLL & PUPPETMAKER
PETER SIS
HALL OF FAME KIDLIT ARTIST
In addition, Interviews with Rohan Eason, Agata Karelus, Julia Sidneva, Gail Armstrong, Alla Belova and others
it's
just
my opinion by Lon Levin
time /tīm/
a point of time as measured in hours and minutes. Ever thought that there’s just not enough time in the day to get everything done? Wouldn’t it be great to have 5-10 more hours of time? Let me walk you through some ways you can save time in your week. Say "no" more often! If you’re a people pleaser like me it may be really hard to say no or to end a phone call conversation that has gone on far too long.. Years ago I never gave a lot of thought to how much time I was wasting talking to people well beyond the amount of time I should have. Especially when I was talking to someone about a job or a project. I wanted them to like me as well as my work. And most of the time they did…like me. The art….well not as much. It’s hard to excuse yourself from a conversation but it is necessary and the person you’re talking to will most of the time have more respect for you and your time. So yes, say no more often and free up some time for yourself.
Lay off TV and social media. I don’t mean to never watch them but endless watching of either is counterproductive and it eats up time you can use for other more significant endeavors. The discipline this brings will resonate throughout your work. And finally, schedule your priorities. First tackle the projects that are due first, even if others seem more interesting or excite you more. If you have the choice work on the most intense projects first. That way you will be able to control the pressure of deadlines better. As my dad used to say, “Your reputation is everything” and earning a reputation as a talented, trustworthy and easy to deal with illustrator is truly a great achievement. The bottom line is everyone has 24 hours in a day. How you use them is up to you entirely.
Batch your work. This requires thoughtful organization and a plan to stick to. You might think that this will stifle your creativity. But in fact it’ll help you to become totally professional and save you hours of time. I learned this lesson the hard way as a creative director in the entertainment industry. Frequently I had to work on and oversee 10-20 projects at a time. By moving forward forcefully and batching types of activities together we were able to discover solutions that were not apparent when we started Use your waiting time well. Use your waiting time well. Instead of cruising the internet and following inane stories down a rabbit hole of wasted time, you can watch a webinar, read a chapter in a book or organize your supplies. Important discoveries for solving creative problems are frequently found in useful down time.
Illustration by Lon Levin
Illustration by Lon Levin
All Artwork above was created by Lon Levin
Bruno
MALLART Every now and then I come cross an artist who blows my mind. I literally feel like I'm an art archaeologist who has unearth a great talent whom I had no idea existed. Bruno Mallart is that artist. His vision and execution are superior and it makes me feel honored to have his interview in our magazine. During the process of asking Bruno questions I realized a translation may not capture the full meaning of his answers and because we are read by artists around the globe I decided to print his answers in English and French - editor When did you first think about art as something you wanted to do? Were you encouraged or discouraged by family, friends, teachers, mentors? L’école ça n’était pas mon truc, mais le dessin me réussissait bien. Dans ma famille tout le monde est scientifique, de mes grand parents jusqu’à mes frères. Pourtant mes parents m’ont encouragé et j’ai toujours senti de l’admiration de leur part. Ils étaient vraiment sympas avec cette « petite brebis galeuse qui ne deviendra pas Docteur comme tout le monde ». Je m’imaginais devenir prof de dessin. Il faut dire que de mes yeux d’enfant, vivre du dessin, c’était l’enseigner ou crever la dalle (traduction: mourir de faim). Puis, à sà
l’école d’art j’ai découvert l’ampleur infinie des métiers artistiques. School was not my thing, but the drawing worked well. In my family everyone is a scientist, from my grandparents to my brothers. Yet, my parents encouraged me and I have always felt the admiration of them. They were really nice with this "little black sheep who will not become a doctor like everyone else".I imagined myself becoming a drawing teacher. It must be said that with my child's eyes, you teach or "you burst the slab" a French expression that means "starving to death". Then at art school I discovered the infinite scope of artistic crafts.
What kind of kid were you? Where did you grow up? What were your influences? Je suis né à Paris. J’étais un enfant rêveur, du genre qui ne veut pas grandir. J’ai toujours gardé ce côté là, pas trop sérieux, aimant la facétie.Ma première vrai influence fut un peintre Allemand, Pierre Schmmidiger, qui habitait à côté de chez moi et chez qui je prenais des cours de dessin, je devais avoir 11
Wendy
edelson
An Interview with Lon Levin
ARTWORK THAT WARMS THE HEART When did you first think about art as something you wanted to do? Were you encouraged or discouraged by family, friends, teachers, mentors? I started drawing when I was two. Almost all children start scribbling around that age but I began in the back of the family station wagon when we moved from New York City to Southern California. To keep me entertained ( quiet ) I was given paper and pencils and began drawing mothers holding babies, animals, children playing, the landscape out the windows…I would hand my drawings up to my parents in the front seat, and from what they tell me,,, they were very surprised. My parents both had wanted to be artists, my Dad a sculptor, my Mom a fashion designer… so they were very aware, of art and drawing.
I never stopped after that fateful cross country trip. My Dad had a sort of studio in our garage and he mostly carved large figures in wood, from fallen trees. I would draw there, to be with him. I remember being tired and saying I was going to go in the house and he looked at my drawing and said, “ NO! you cannot stop until you get that foreshortening of the foot right! To be a great artist you must first be a great draughtsman, you must draw, draw, draw and make sure the anatomy is correct… that your figures can STAND on those legs… until then, any technique is worthless, color is meaningless…. The drawing, the skeleton MUST be accurate!!!!” He was very passionate and not kidding, so I’d stayed and drew until he told me it was good My family was enormously encouraging and never said I should, “ learn X in case
the art didn’t work out, so I’d have something to fall back on”, like many well meaning parents do. They were kind of all or nothing people. When I was in seventh grade a friend of mine’s father was a fairly well known painter. After a while I’d just go visit him in his studio. He introduced me to mediums other than pencils, like pen and ink and technical pens and gouache and watercolors. I was very fortunate and was surrounded by people who encouraged and supported me. What kind of kid were you? Where did you grow up? What were your influences? I was very fortunate and was surrounded by people who encouraged and supported me. To be honest, I was a kind of strange kid. I was an only child, the daughter of two bohemian parents who had no interest at all in “ fitting in “. I was a loner and spent virtually all my time drawing. I went from kindergarten straight into the second grade
so I was always younger than the other children. I grew up in Chatsworth, California. My Dad used to go to yard sales and estate sales all the time and brought me an OLD encyclopaedia for children called The Wonder Book of Knowledge, which was filled with engravings and B & W drawings and color plates by artists like Howard Pyle, the pre-Raphalite Brotherhood and Arthur Rackham. I was positively smitten and he brought me all the books he could find by them. I particularly loved “The Wonder Clock” by Howard Pyle and also the wonderful fairy tales from Russian illustrators. All of these influenced me greatly, the strong drawing, design and detail, imagination, and pattern.
"To be honest, I was a kind of strange kid."
COHEN SANTIAGO
Born in Mexico, Santiago has a BA in Communications Design from Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana, and MS from Pratt Institute also in Communication Design. He has worked as an Illustrator for major newspapers and magazines in the U.S. and he designed 24 animated episodes of "Troubles the Cat" for The Cartoon Network and CTN (Children's Television Network). He designed and animated short films for children which aired on HBO (two of the programs won an Emmy and a Peabody award), and designed openers for the French TF! Over the last 10 years he's created close to 20 children's books for editorial companies like Marshall Cavendish, Viking, GP Putnam, Zanner-Bloser, Houghton Mifflin, Warner, Golden Books, Zondervon, Chronicle, Blue Apple books and Skypony. Santiago also designed the first logo for Comedy Central and a film for the Poison Control
As a fine artist Santiago has individual and collective art shows in galleries in New York and Mexico. He received a grant from the Xeric Foundation to self publish his graphic novel "The Fifth Name". When did you first think about art as something you wanted to do? Were you encouraged or discouraged by family, friends, teachers, mentors? My father was a good artist and I tried to copy some of his cartoons when I was a kid, and couldn’t draw as well as he did; that frustrated me and I wanted to learn how to draw as well as he did, so I practiced a lot. Later on I became a photographer, but eventually I switched to art for good. My family was very supportive but they worried that I couldn’t make a living as an artist, that’s why I became a graphic designer and illustrator. I have a really good mentor who has supported me all my adult life, R. O. Blechman, who is a first rate cartoonist and animator. When I lost my father I took him as a father
N "One influence was living near a wooded area where
my friends and I could play “Army” and swing on vines." "
Peter Sis the master had a father who was a filmaker, traveller and a storyteller...and my mother who was a gifted, patient artist. There was no television or internet so I just drew stories of my parents.
I was a quiet kid and grew up in the city of Prague. It all started to change with the news of the Beatles and the pop culture...oh, and there were other influences: a collection of the Sunday Comics from the Chicago newspapers in the '30's. My grandfather brought them from America where he was a railway architect. He designed railways in Cleveland and Chicago. There were also books from America, magazines, records my father brought from his travels. I do remember seeing the art of Saul Steinberg from an early age. I still love it. Your style is very unique. Did you work on a style or is that what naturally came out of you? I never worked on my style. In the High School for The Arts I did not compare well with the students drawing in the "classic realistic" style. The teachers wedre putting me down, which together with adolescence was "deadly". Luckily after that in Art College I had a professor, a great freeform illustrator who took me under his wing.
When did you first think about art as something you wanted to do? Were you encouraged or discouraged by family, friends, teachers, mentors? I drew and doodled ever since I was a young boy. I was surprised when my father said "You probably want to go to art school" or something like that. I was always encouraged by my parents – they were artists and had artist friends who became mentors of mine. The teachers at school were without imagination...I was in a communist country after all. What kind of kid were you? Where did you grow up? What were your influences? I grew up in a dull and grey communist country. But, I
That continued with Quentin Blake in London and after coming to America just observing and trying to fit in. How did you get started? And how did you progress? I came to America to make animated films. When that didn't work out I started to illustrate out of necessity....newspapers, magazines and books. The first projects were black and white then color. It just grew and grew - I guess it was the time and I was a novelty. Then the doors got bigger and I was paid more. There was almost no editorial - but, it would've been fun to try. Galleries and big agents seem to come after major recognition. They come and go...it all seems to happen in some organic way. I remember asking art director, Steve Heller after 17 years of drawing for N.Y.T.B.R. almost every week, if I'm not taking the place of some young illustrators. He said you'll know when it's time to go...and it did happen just like that. How has the advent of the computer affected your work? Do you work traditionally or digitally or both? I am using tools I'm used to. Pens and brushes fit for my hand. The big problem seems to be with the
the availibilty of old fashion materials – ink, water color paper, paints and pastels. Everybody has gone digital! I am doing most of my art the old-fashioned way. I love to see paint dry. It's therapuetic for me. Your children’s books are marvelous. Simple yet elegant. How did the way you approach your books come about come about? Thank you for the kind words about my books. There were quite a few in 35 plus years. I grew up in Czechslovakia which always had (despite the politics) beautiful children's books. I was helped by wonderful people who made my books possible –
(cont.) publishers, editors, art directors. So many things have changed during my "life in books". First black and white, color separation, slowly more and more colors, large size, digital art. So I am really curious about what's to come... Can you explain a little about the origin and inspiration of Tibet Through The Red Box? "Tibet Through The Red Box" (I did that years ago!) - and when I look at it today - I think - this is pretty amazing, how did this ever happen? One thing is the story and I was in a hurry to complete the book because my father was diagnosed with cancer. Also when I started books in America I was talking everything out with my dad. He suggested I do a giant cook book and an explorer who went to Tibet and not only collected recipes but also stories ... (My father, who was a film director published a very popular book,"Counting of the Noodles in the Spring Soup" in Prague), so he knew it would work. I did not dare mention it to any publisher,
it just might be an interesting idea. So there I was creating a book – my stories about him and Tibet with lots of artwork and quite amazing layers – and was able to present it to him and the Dalai Lama when it was finished. I think he was happy and his Holiness blessed it. It was possibly my most important book. What’s does your process entail? Start to finish. Can you give us a short step-by-step? Process – Story – Write the story or more often draw the story. Get the interest of an editor (who knows me and doesn't think I'm crazy) same with an agent. This process can be swift but also, drag on a long, long time. Once you agree on the size of the book and create a few pieces of art it all starts to fall into place. There are moments when it feels like it's going to be easy, but then comes the time when you are in the middle of the tunnel and cannot see the light on either side. You fix things that come up –- draw, paint, proofs – and then the magical moment when the finished book is ready.
You won more awards since we last talked years ago. You achieved so much what remains on your bucket list? Any ultimate goal? The awards certainly were not and are not the goal. However, American Publishers use Award-Winning! Best-Selling! or Internationally Acclaimed! But what really matters is the person who really made a neat book. My ultimate goal would be to really, really let go and do something in simple line so beautiful and so smart just like Sol Steinberg used to do!
What do you do to promote yourself and get more work? I do not promote myself. I always thought I do not need to but I was wrong, especially since I have received two Lifetime Achievement Awards. Art Directors won't even consider getting in touch. I do not need more work, but I like new challenges.
You can find out more about Peter at http://petersis.com - Editor
Lon Levin • 1129 S. Point View Street • Los Angeles, Ca 90035 • 818-268-9953 • lonfellow@gmail.com ©2020 Illustrators Journal/Levinland Studio. All Interviews and stories contain with the publication are the sole property of The Illustrators Journal and Levinland Studio and cannot be reproduced in any medium without the expressed written permission of the publisher.