The Illustrators Journal Winter Edition

WINTER 2019

the journal LevinLand’s

DREW BARDANA

Character by Design

BOB MACMAHON

"Bobtoons"

EMMA CHADWICK Warm & Cuddly

Illustrators

JULIE MELLAN

Delightfully French

ROXY MUNRO

"Mazescapes"

Illustration by Rhonda Voo

VISIONARY ARTIST

RHONDA VOO

Front Cover Art : Rhonda Voo

Co-Publisher/Editor Gregg Masters

The Illustrators Journal/Winter 2019

Publisher/Creative Director Lon Levin Contributing Writer Leslie Cober-Gentry Contributing Writer Heather Leary "Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are."

All the work depicted in this magazine are the property of the artists who created the work and cannot be used in any way without the expressed written permission of the publisher and artists.

— John Wooden

DREW BARDANA Imaginative artist Drew just wants to be a famous illustrator! We think he's on his way.

RHONDA VOO Visionary artist & accomplish designer, illustrator and sculptress "Voos" us with her brilliance KSENIA KOPALOVA One of Russia's top young illustrators shows us her style.

EMMA CHADWICK A modern version of Beatrix Potter who once was planning to follow a career in Clinical Psychology.

BOB MACMAHON Bob's kidlit artwork is traditional, warm, humorous and extremely appealing to children and adults alike.

ROXY MUNRO The master of the "mazescape" and other kidlit delights gives us some insight into her brilliance.

DIGITAL PAINTING Illustrators/Publisher Lon Levin talks about his extensive digital painting experience.

JULIE MELLAN French illustrator Julie admits she's a Disney-lover.

Her artwork reflects that influence and takes it a step further.

Just My Opinion

you can’t do it

ALONE a·lone

by Lon Levin

adjective

I became an art director figuring it was better for me to direct artists than to fight with art directors who didn't "get me".

“The hardest part of being alone, is being alone.”

I got a position at 20th Century Fox as an art director for feature films. I was forced into interaction with dozens of people from all parts of the entertainment business. My job could not be done alone, I needed help, support and co-operation from other workers. I learned then that to accomplish great things you have to be part of a team.

having no one else present.

-Anthony T.Hincks

There are people who believe that “alone time” is a good thing. It gives you time to think and reflect on what you’re doing. Some people prefer to work alone and find themselves more productive when they do. This is not the “alone” I am talking about.

I once thought my illustration work was so good that I could do the piece, send it out and wait for job offers to come in. I attribute part of that thinking to going to an elite Art College and hearing how special anyone who graduated those hallowed halls was. After a lot of alone time I realized that I wasn’t going to be a success by myself.

I needed to interact with other creative and non-creatives to get their feedback.

I spent 23 years in the entertainment business and at every stop I made it my business to stay humble and always look to be as helpful as I could to my fellow workers, no matter what level they were on.

My last position at Warner Bros was as senior director of the art department for worldwide marketing. I worked with a dozen or so people who very talented and fun to be with. But, for some reason I felt alone. I felt like I needed to do something different. Oddly, I needed to be alone.

“Sometimes you need to take a break from everyone and spend time alone, to experience, appreciate and love yourself.” ― Robert Tew

I spent the next few years finding out what would make me happy, fulfilled and something that could benefit others. I illustrated children’s books, I did a daily cartoon for an on-line company, I bought, renovated and sold homes.

I became a real estate agent. Finally I decided to combine all of my goals into a magazine that celebrates Illustration.

A vehicle that allows me to meet and interview tremendously talented and fascinating people. More than creating an interesting publication that gets intimate with it’s subjects I’ve created a community of people who want to learn from each because as I stated no one does anything of value without the help of others, because that’s what life and progress is all about. So I am grateful to have met so many artists and I am happy that they are part of this venture we call The Illustrators Journal.

Illustration by Lon Levin

WITH STYLE "I’d love to be able to support myself fully with illustration sometime in the near future. That’s the ultimate goal. It takes time to make a presence and build a client base.

Patience has been key.

I’m having fun with my illustration journey and learning lots along the way."

When did you first think about art as something you wanted to do? Were you encouraged or discouraged by family, friends, teachers, mentors?

It was in high school when I started taking art seriously and considering it as a career option.

An advisor at a portfolio review suggested illustration as a focus for my work. I took the advice and pursued illustration at Pacific Northwest College of Art. My family was very supportive in the decision.

What kind of kid were you?

Where did you grow up? What were your influences?

I grew up outside of Portland, Oregon. I was creative as a kid, always drawing and making things. Like most 90's kids, I was very inspired by Pokemon and began drawing all of the characters.

Your style is very unique. Did you work on developing a style or is that what naturally came out of you?

My style has naturally developed over the past 5 years of working as a freelance illustrator. I’ve put effort into keeping the way I draw and create digital illustrations consistent. This allows my work to be recognizable and ensures clients that I can produce different kinds of images with the same look and feel.

You do a lot of actively colorful art work. How did that happen?

It’s a stylistic choice, for sure. When I first started right out of school, my color sense was super dark and overly saturated. I was working for some weekly newspapers and magazines and noticed that my illustrations were printing too dark. I then started using brighter colors and liked the results much better.

Has the computer affected your work? Do you work traditionally and digitally?

I work in both traditional and digital media.

Right now I’m working more digitally than traditionally. It’s much faster when trying to meet deadlines! That being said, I’ve created digital brushes using my own art marks. I’ve also created a large collection of drawn and painted shapes and textures to drop into my digital work.

This allows me to work digitally, but keep the hand drawn elements, too. It’s fun to take a day and make a mess of traditional media and then scan it all in to use for later.

What’s going on in your head when you work on a piece? Your fears, anticipation, confidence , etc. How do you know something is finished?

I spend a majority of my time on sketches.

This is the most important part. If I can get my composition, values and color palette right in the sketch phase, it’s smooth sailing when working on the final. I try to lose myself when working on the final. It’s real easy to get sucked into the details with digital art and agonize over the details. This makes the art feel flat and lifeless. Easier said than done, but I try to keep it fast and worry-free.

Your work is very contemporary. Is that intentional? Who influences your work?

I can’t say that I have anyone that I’m influenced by. I like to stay connected on social media to see what other illustrators are making, how they’re making, and what they are being hired for.

What’s the future hold for you? Any ultimate goal?

You tell me! I’d love to be able to support myself fully with illustration sometime in the near future. That’s the ultimate goal. It takes time to make a presence and build a client base. Patience has been key. I’m having fun with my illustration journey and learning lots along the way.

" I like to stay connected on

social media to see what other illustrators are making..."

"I’ve always looked up to the crew of the Pencil Factory in New

I’m curious about how you choose what to work on. What’s does your process entail? Start to finish. Can you give us a short step-by-step?

If I stay organized, my work goes by pretty quick. First thing - find a color palette. You do not want to be wasting time pushing color sliders half way through your illustration. I start with the big flat shapes of the composition first. Then I detail any lines and smaller details. Drop in some textures and DONE!

What do you do to promote yourself and get work? Have you worked for publishers in European countries like England or France? If not would you want to?

To promote myself, I keep my social media up to date and post new work regularly. I send a lot of cold emails to potential clients and send physical mail to the dream clients. It’s time consuming work that doesn’t pay off right away, but worth the effort. Just recently, I got a job from an email I sent three years ago!

York. I think they’ve always been leaders in the industry. I’d love to visit the studio and see what a day looks like there. "

RHON

DA V OO

"We get a lot of exposure for my work on social media, both domestically and internationally.

I'm on Instagram @voo.voo. voo. voo. voo."

All You Need is Love.

KSENIA K O PA L O VA

by Lon Levin

What kind of kid were you? Where did you grow up?

What were your influences?

There's a common stereotype about artists in childhood and kids in general, that all of them are so naturally creative and ingenious that the only task of an art teacher and parents is not to stifle this creativity. I was a complete opposite to this.

When did you first think about art as something you wanted to do? Were you encouraged or discouraged by family, friends, teachers, mentors?

Even though I have been drawing a lot ever since I remember, it wasn't until the last years of my first university that I have started thinking about it as professional practice.

Back then I was studying sociology, but was still drawing quite a lot. I started taking commissions to earn some money and gain experience in freelancing as an illustrator. Doing this, I soon realized it's not sociology that I want to do for a living.

At the same time, I really lacked a lot of skills and that's why decided to continue my education and enroll in an illustration program at British Higher School of Art and Design. Even though at that time the profession of an illustrator wasn't considered a way to gain stable income, my family was really supportive of my decision, which I am really grateful for.

Looking at my childhood drawings I can't help but think: How could I be so boring?.. I loved copying images from encyclopedias, meticulously - as much as a 5 year old child possibly can - redrawing birds and trees from biology books. My notepad scribbles were very typical princesses and flowers. Looking at them today I would never think the person who drew that would become an artist. This boring and meticulous diligence, though, might have become the reason why I was pretty successful in studies - including the studies in an art school for kids, which was one of the few places to get prepared for the art university in a small town where I grew up.

That school was very conservative in its approach, giving classes where 10 year olds had to draw Aristotle plaster heads and home ware still life. Nowadays it seems ridiculous to me to teach art to kids like this.

A

(cont.)

I am still very grateful to my teachers at that school, as they were the people who gave me the drawing basics which I still use and they managed to create a really warm and heartfelt atmosphere within that strict and conservative framework of the school's program. I believe this was one of the reasons I truly loved attending that school and drawing in general.

Your style is very unique. Did you work on developing a style or is that what naturally came out of you?

I believe style is something that comes naturally, as a sum of individual life and professional experience.

Attempts to force it seem a bit far-fetched and shallow.

This is not to say that one should just sit and wait for it to emerge though. I'm convinced style is a result of constant self-questioning.

"Cartooning was an arduous climb up the ladder. Several rungs were missing."

You do a lot of whimsical art work, wooden dolls and ceramics. How did that happen?

Traditional techniques, craft and creating work with my own hands in general is something that resonates deeply in me. When I see people who really love gardening, or building something - be it a birdhouse or their own house - I always feel I'm essentially doing the same thing but in a different way. Most of the time I just draw to fulfill this need to use my hands to create something out of nothing.

Sometimes it is not enough and I need to go even further with materials; to create objects - like dolls or ceramic tiles.

Basically, they are just an extension of my drawing, but for me it's an important way to explore and harness the world around me.

Has the computer affected your work? Do you work traditionally and digitally?

My work is a mix of both analog and digital drawing. Even though the traditional hand drawing and crafty look is important for me, the majority of my projects do not exist in real life exactly the way they are presented on the web.

What’s going on in your head when you work on a piece? Your fears, anticipation, confidence , etc. How do you know something is finished?

With bigger projects, it all starts from great enthusiasm and energetic inspiration. Yes! This is the project of my life! But even if I'm sure I can do it and despite all of my experience I inevitably hit the wall of frustration once all the agreements are settled and I actually start: So how am I gonna deal with it? God, I have no idea. That is when venting frustration helps me a lot! At that point I would usually complain to my friends, and even if they say nothing, just verbalizing my own vague ideas helps me clarify my own stream of thoughts, which usually leads to some initial solution. In case of a site-specific work it really helps to explore the actual spot, draw it a lot, write about it, make photos - for me it's a way to get some first results.

Even if they eventually become irrelevant to the final piece, doing this really builds up confidence and helps to move forward.

Are you aware of America and English illustrators? Does their work influence your work?

Of course. To name a few, I'm a big fan of David Jien, Matt Leines, Chris Sasaki, JooHee Yoon, Ping Zhu, Dadu Shin, Laura Carlin, Lizzy Stewart, Rachel Gannon, Stephen Vuillemin (even though he was born in France) and many, many others.

I’m curious about how you choose what to work on.

What’s does your process entail? Start to finish. Can you give us a short step-by-step?

When it comes to commissions, I choose projects that allow me to draw manually and decide myself on the concept behind the image. As for personal work, it's whatever is now most intriguing to me. For instance, for now it's the notion of place. I'm interested in what it is like to be somewhere, what a place is like without a spectator, what's it like to belong to some place, how places change in time. With these projects, I usually start from concentrating on the actual space and figuring out what I want to say about it. It's usually half of the deal. After that I figure out the format - will it be a set of images or 3d objects? Where is it going to be displayed?

On the web, in the street, in a gallery? After that it's all pretty straight-forward: sketches, more sketches, mockups and the final work.

What do you do to promote yourself and get work?

Have you worked for publishers in Western counties like America, England and France? If not would you want to?

In most cases clients find me themselves, but sometimes I find people from companies which I feel my work suits well and contact them directly either on SNS or by email. The majority of my clients are from Russia, but I have some experience working for French, Swedish, American companies. They weren't publishers though they were an illustration agency, a stationery production company, and even a veterinary hospital.

Sure, I would love to do more for clients from abroad.

It would especially be interesting to do more editorial illustration. Once I’m disenchanted with that one, I switch back. It helps keep things fresh.

What’s the future hold for you? Any ultimate goal?

It's connected to your previous question: my current goal is to be an artist who works internationally.

If you could meet anyone in the field you’re in who would it be and why?

There are a lot of artists I adore but at the same time it feels like we exist in different coordinate systems: Alexis Beauclair, Geran Knol, Keiko Narahashi, Stephan Dybus are just a few of them. Meeting them in person would definitely be a valuable experience.

emma

chadwick An Interview with Lon Levin

ARTWORK THAT TICKLES AND TWINKLES

When did you first think about art as something you wanted to do? Were you encouraged or discouraged by family, friends, teachers?

like I wouldn’t be able to make a living from drawing so tried a number of different business ideas before I felt confident enough to just concentrate on drawing.

I’ve always loved art but was initially planning to follow a career in Clinical Psychology. I studied Psychology for my first degree but realized that my passion lay in art so I enrolled on a part time Art Foundation Diploma alongside the final year of my undergraduate degree. That was a bit of a crazy year and involved a lot of all-nighters to finish deadlines for both courses but when that was done I was able to study a Masters degree in Authorial Illustration. Even after I’d obtained my MA I still felt

I was even determined to be a Chocolatier at one point and spent months and months making my own molds and hand finishing tiny chocolate characters. It was basically painting but using chocolate instead. My family have always been very supportive of my art. I’m the oldest of 4 sisters and the only one in our family with any artistic inclination so they are all easily impressed by anything creative I do. My Nan was very artistic so she helped to nurture my passion from a young age.

What kind of kid were you? Where did you grow up? What were your influences?

I grew up in a small market town in the Shropshire countryside in England. I was always a quiet, studious child and loved art from a young age. I would make my own little books and journals, and repeatedly draw my friends and family in different styles. I was lucky that my best friend was into art with equal measure so we did a lot of drawing together. I have quite a competitive, perfectionist nature and tend to lose interest in things if I can’t be the best, however my best friend always had far greater artistic talent than me. This meant that I was familiar with feeling artistically inferior from a young age and that I learned how to enjoy making art despite this. It has also made me quite a humble and self-critical artist now which can be both a benefit and a disadvantage. I had quite a wide range of influences really but the books that really stood out from my childhood were ‘Changes’ by ‘Anthony Browne’ which I borrowed

many times from our local library, a copy of Lane Smith’s ‘Maths Curse’ which I received for my 10th birthday, Philip Ridley’s ‘Scribbleboy’ and ‘Kaspar in the Glitter’ which were illustrated by Chris Riddell. These books all fed my love of illustration and still feel magical when I look at them now.

Your style and take on creation of art is very unique. Did you work on developing a style or is that what naturally came out of you?

I used to be very conscious about trying to develop a style. I love such a varied number of artists and illustrators that I found I would look at one person’s work and try and emulate that, and then the next week compare my work to a different artist and feel that I needed to change it again. Its only recently that I’ve felt more comfortable with drawing things in a way that feels more instinctive to me and concentrate

(Cont.) more on how I naturally enjoy working. Once I stopped consciously caring about my style I found that was when it really started to develop.

You do a lot of lovable warm character art work.

How did that happen?

Will you explain a little about the origins of your characters and their meaning to you? Do they come out of your head or from people you’ve seen or know?

I’ve always been drawn to quite dark, moody artwork in terms of both content and palette. I remember getting some feedback from my tutor on some work I had done for my MA. He told me that the colors I had used were too dark for a children’s illustration. I explained that I really loved the muted palettes that Shaun Tan uses but he responded that “Shaun Tan gets away with it because his drawings are so good”. That’s always stuck with me so although I still really love using a dark palette, I try and balance that with a cute, loveable character, or with touches of bright colours. I also love the juxtaposition of these contrasting elements too.

In books, film or art the area that has always captivated me the most is magical realism. I love the idea of making the everyday seem magical or making the magical seem everyday, and I try to explore this with my work. With each piece I generally try to make mundane, overlooked scenes or characters seem enchanting, or to place familiar animals in unusual everyday scenes creating a surreal, almost magical impression. . I want the viewer to feel as though they could come across such an event in their own lives, which I try to achieve by including unnecessary, mundane details in the background, and by using a fairly realistic colour palette.

(Cont.)

I particularly love exploring this concept with fairy tales.

There’s nothing supernatural about three bears or an owl and a pussy cat yet we automatically assume that these tales take place in a fictional land. I want to encourage people to imagine that these events could take place in their world. I'm currently working on a children’s book about a Dragon which isn’t a character that I would normally chose to focus on. Templar Publishing held a 40th anniversary illustration competition (which I was fortunate enough to win) for which the brief was to create a dragon themed story. I realized that a dragon character was actually the perfect vehicle to explore magical realism in a picture book. The dragon finds himself in our world and explores it with the company of a child he has befriended. With this I hope to make the reader feel as though this could happen to them, as well as to use the dragon’s outside perspective on the familiar things we take for granted to encourage people to appreciate the magic that can be found here.

Has the computer affected your work? Do you work traditionally and digitally?

Yes, majorly. I always worked traditionally using acrylic paint and colored pencils and even won a ‘Best Emerging Artist’ award for one of my paintings, but when I had children I found I stopped producing artwork because there just wasn’t the time or space needed. Once I started working digitally it was far more convenient and I was able to find time to draw again. It wasn’t until I started working digitally that my career really started to progress, but I have found that when people ask me about my medium I’m almost apologetic when I say I use the iPad. There’s a definite prejudice that digital work is somehow lesser than traditional art, and even some of my friends have questioned whether I can ‘actually draw for real’. With my work I strive to make it look as traditional as possible. Some of my earlier work has a definite digital feel to it which I try to stay away from now, and people have since contacted me to ask whether I have original pieces for sale so I guess I’m on the right track.

What’s going on in your head when you work on a piece? Your fears, anticipation, confidence, etc.

How do you know something is finished?

I don’t think I have ever considered a piece finished, I always just work until I run out of time before a deadline.

Even with work I do just for fun I always try to tie it in with the weekly colour collective brief on twitter so that I always

have a deadline to work to Without one I would drive myself mad over-thinking and over-working every illustration I did. I’m unlikely to ever be happy that a piece is finished, there would always be something I would change.

Your work is so unique, how did you attract clients when you first started out. Were you concerned about getting found by the right client?

I guess with platforms such as Instagram you are able to put your work out there and wait for people who like your work to approach you. I just started posting art for fun really, and would get excited if any strangers happened to like it, but its gradually built up from there. Clients who contact me have seen my work and feel the style is already suited to their need, but there have been occasions where I don’t feel I am the right person for their brief. I’m only working part time at the moment so I am able to just take on projects that I think I will enjoy and add value to.

I’m curious about how you choose what to work on. What’s does your process entail? Start to finish. Can you give us a short step-by-step?

Sometimes I have a clear idea of what to work on, other times I might start with a scene that I would like to try and draw and then work out who could be in that scene, what could be happening? I start by opening a number of source pictures on my Mac and then using Procreate on my iPad I draw a really rough outline. Next I quickly block in all the color and lighting to fill the picture, again really roughly, until I am happy with the palette, and then start working through adding detail to a section at a time.

The whole way through this I constantly open up copies of the work so far on my Mac to make sure I don’t stray too far from the original rough plan. Sometimes I’ll work on something and then find that I preferred it before, which is another reason I love working digitally – the undo button is my best friend! The whole process takes me far too long really and I need to work on making this more efficient, or perhaps being less critical!

What do you do to promote yourself and get work? Have you worked for publishers(print and gaming)/animation companies in European countries like England or France or US? If not would you want to?

To be honest I haven’t actively promoted myself at all yet. In an ideal world I probably wouldn’t have reached this point until a year or so down the line. My children are 5 years, 3 years and 9 months old so I wasn’t planning to push my art work until they were a little older – not that I’m complaining! Most of my work comes through Instagram and Etsy sales and I haven’t yet reached a point where I haven’t got a project on the go, but when the time comes I will work on my portfolio to find an agent. My last big project was ‘Get Back in the Book’ by Larry Issa which is a book I illustrated for Kalamus who are an American publisher so I’m open to working with companies from any country really, technology makes it so easy these days.

What’s the future hold for you? Any ultimate goal?

I’m currently working on my debut author/ illustrator book for Templar Publishing which is due to be published Spring 2021. After that, who knows?

I have a notebook filled with story ideas so I’d love to work my way through some of those. I also have an idea for an illustrated novel so it’s probably my goal to work on that one day.

If you could meet anyone in the field you’re in who would it be and why?

I’m quite fortunate that my parents own an independent children’s bookshop so I’ve been able to meet a lot of people I admire in the field; for example, David Litchfield, Chris Ridell, Julia Donaldson. Unfortunately I’m quite socially awkward so I never actually articulate anything I’d like to say to them! I’d love to one day meet Shaun Tan as he’s my absolute favorite illustrator, not necessarily to ask him anything but to be able to watch him work would be an amazing experience.

"Once I started working digitally it was far more convenient and I was able to find time to draw again."

Interview answers Bob McMahon Humorist&Kidlit book artist The art of Bob McMahon is funny, endearing and adorable.

Bobtoons Interview with Bob McMahon by Lon Levin

Interview answers Bob McMahon

Your style is so distinctive, how did that come about? Or did it just happen? Who are your art heroes? Mine are all the artists of Mad magazine, Charles Bragg, Tenniel and Daumier among others. I think we have most of the same influences! To add to that list I would put political cartoonists Jeff McNelly, Pat Oliphant, Paul Conrad.

You’ve work in many areas of the commercial world, any you like best?

Back when I was doing advertising work I liked doing movie posters and I also did art for a number of corporate publications too. Met some great people there. The posters I did were for some really, really small straight to video type movies but it was fun anyway. I remember the deadlines for advertising work were just insane! They would have you do a full color artwork from sketch to finish in like three days but they did pay good money back then. finally responded.

You and I have had the same agent. Has she helped your career? Do you recommend having an agent? How did you get an agent to begin with?

An agent like Ronnie Herman, who is well connected in the publishing industry, can be a great help but that doesn’t mean you can stop sending out postcards and promoting yourself. Only you are responsible for the success of your career. You have to keep getting your artwork out there and do good work. For me an agent is invaluable for negotiating contracts and trying to get you the best deal. They know the ins and outs of the publishing industry and they know what to can be changed in a contract and what can’t.

I got an agent by sending out lots of postcards to all the representatives that I thought would be a good fit for my style. It took a while but Ronnie Herman was the one who finally responded How has the shift to digital affected you, your business and your work?

I used to work with pen and inks and then I slowly worked my way toward being all digital.

I started off scanning my original ink drawings and then coloring them in the computer but then I got experienced enough with the Wacom pen that I started doing the whole thing in the computer and never looked back. I do miss the tactile part of doing art with pen and inks though and I use to love to go to the art store and pick out papers and see what new art toys they had.

Are there any areas of the business that have heated up for you and why don’t we see more Bob McMahon children’s books?

Early last year I was asked by a NY PR agency to illustrate and e-book for kids about a childhood disease to help kids who had it understand it better and not be afraid. It was the first e-book I ever did and the first for the PR company too so we learned together. I think the growth in e-books in the future is going to be explosive and they’re going to need illustrators so hopefully this means more work for us all. I’m working on projects now but it takes at least a year before they hit the stores. In September I have a book coming out that I illustrated called Apple Days.

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INGREDIENTS

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DIRECTIONS

DIRECTIONS

1. |

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In 2020 the partners at The Illustrators Journal are planning to launch "The Illustrators Journey" an educational webinar that deep dives into the world of illustration. Anybody who is interested in a career in illustration or to brush up on new developments and technology in the commercial art world should keep a lookout for it.

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Julie Mellan Interview with

Lon Levin

When

did

you

first

think

thing you wanted to do? discouraged

by

about

Were family, friends,

art

as

some-

you encouraged or teachers,

mentors?

I always loved drawing, since I could hold a pen. As a child, I used to draw and paint all day long, and I simply never stopped. When I was 5, I told my mother that drawing for children books must be a pretty cool job… Luckily, my parents told to my brothers and I that we could do whatever the jobs we wanted as long as we did it well, and with passion. Yes, I felt encouraged by friends and family despite I knew that working as a freelance won’t be a bed of roses everyday.

What kind of kid were you? Where What were your influences?

did you grow up?

I was a regular, happy little bookworm! I’m French, always lived in France. My family is a real cliché: my

parents, my two brothers and I lived in a suburban area with our Labrador in the late 90’s. I was surrounded by friends of my age in this lovely neighborhood and (when I wasn’t reading), we spent entire days playing in each other’s backgrounds or rooms… We also watched a lot of Disney’ s movies. I definitely was inspired by these in the first place. After the high school, I entered an art school, in order to learn the animation. There, we studied academic drawing, painting, illustration and animation.

But when I had to choose my path, I rather preferred illustration: its delightful for me to spend several hours painting a detailed scene, but a real pain when it’s for hundreds of animation’s keys gestures.

Your style and take on creation of art is very unique.

Did you work on developing a style or is that what naturally came out of you?

I don’t have the feeling I have my own style yet !

" could hold a pen.

I always loved drawing, since I

"

"I simply find animals funnier than humans to draw."

joy. Then, I transpose it with animals because I simply find them funnier than humans to draw.

Has

the computer affected your work?

traditionally and digitally?

Do

you work

I still work traditionally, with watercolor. Some illustrators manage to do magnificent digital paintings but on my side, I’m so bad at it ! I simply can’t. That’s alright, because I love this traditional way, from the process to the final rendering. Sometimes, people tell me that they actually like this classic look, that it reminds them oldfashioned illustrations. Nothing makes me more proud

(Continued) I think this is like an handwriting, it comes naturally, you can try to improve it, work on it, but it represents intrinsically who you are.

Several art teachers told me for years that my characters looked too much like Disney’s. I try to avoid that, to go beyond and add my touch, but this is what it comes naturally for me !

You do a lot of lovable warm character art work. How did that happen?

Usually, I draw my characters based on a feeling, then comes what they will look like. I guess this process gives them more depth. Then, I’m inspired by nature: for example, have you noticed how cute a baby wombat is?

Will you explain a little about the origins of your characters and their meaning to you? Do they come out of your head or from people you’ve seen or know?

As I said, I start with an idea, a feeling, a posture. I’m often inspired by my two sons. Toddlers and kids have their own gestures and attitudes, their games or funny words. As an example, my son recently reached the minimal size to ride Space Mountain, I had to paint this smile ! There’s so much in it: pride, excitation and pure

than when I heard “it reminds me of Beatrix Potter’s art.”

However, I do paint little colors thumbnails on Photoshop before I start the actual painting. It helps me to easily settle the color scale and harmony, the light sources, and the contrast of an illustration.

What’s going on in your head when you work on a piece? Your fears, anticipation, confidence How do you know something is finished?

Once I have my idea, I start sketching. I have two big fears: The first one is that it looks too much like Disney.

(But I love Disney!) As practice, I copied the characters

"Some illustrators manage to do magnificent digital paintings but on my side, I’m so bad at it !

I simply can’t."

for years when I was a kid, and I still love the movies; but I heard so often that is was boring, that it gave a déjà-vu feeling, that I try to add my own personal touch every time. Also, my second fear is to be too classic, almost outdated. I work traditionally, I paint cute animals with watercolors. I’m pretty far from whacky, scatty and cool illustrations that are made these days. I do my best to go beyond my smooth, reserved nature.

Also, I must confess I’m never really confident when I start a new piece. I’ll discover the final rendering at the very end: sometimes it looks like what I had in mind, sometimes it doesn’t.

Finally, an illustration is finished, obviously, when everything is done. If this mouse needs whiskers, it’s finished when they have been drawn. But I really don’t know how to explain when the mouse needs whiskers or not. It’s like cooking: some people would add a little more salt, some wouldn’t!

Your work is so unique, how did you attract clients when you first started out. Were you concerned about getting found by the right client?

Oh, when I started, freshly graduated at 23 years-old, I was concerned by getting found, merely! Working in illustration: welcome to the jungle! I have launched dozens of portfolios to French publishers, with more or less success in the first months. In the beginning of my career, I did a lot of birth announcement cards and wedding invites, for living. Happily, I found editorial projects pretty quickly, and I keep working with my first publisher since then. Few years ago, I also started to post my work on social medias, it gave me some global visibility, and I am now represented by an international illustration agency who brings me some projects and support me with the contracts.

I’m curious about how you choose what to work on.

What’s does your process entail? Start to finish. Can you give us a short step-by-step?

It was hard at the beginning, but today, I can afford to choose on which projects I want to work. Usually, I receive the text in the first place, if I like it, if it inspires me, let’s go for it! I start with tiny (and pretty ugly) thumbnails, I settle the storyboard this way, so I can have an overlook of the book and its sequence. I try to diversify the compositions in the several pages. When it looks good for me, I do the sketches in the right size, then I send to the publishers to get his green light, and continue on the paintings.

What do you do to promote yourself and get work?

Have you worked for publishers(print and gaming)/animation companies in European countries like England or France or US? If not would you want to?

In order to promote my work, I just post my latest illustrations on social medias and my online portfolio. And sometimes, between two paintings, when I have some time, I knock at publishers’ doors to let them know that I’m here… But in general, they rather come to me when a project is launched and they need an illustrator to work on it.

I work with few publishers in France, from Netherlands and the US. My style of illustrations seems to be too classic, too formal for the French publishing…

I would love to work with publishers from the UK! Fingers crossed!

What’s the future hold for you? Any ultimate goal?

I wish I could live from illustration for many years.

Let’s go for even more books! And pretty good ones.

Actually, I’m really often frustrated by the timelines.

As I work traditionally, I need time to complete a book project while publishers schedule the publication just few months later. My ultimate goal would be to have the opportunity to work on a beautiful illustrated book, full of clumsy, cute animals, and having enough time to enhance it as much as it’s necessary.

If you could meet anyone in the field you’re in who

would it be and why?

Does it sound creepy if I say I would like to meet a bunch of dead people? Seriously, I’m a huge fan of classical illustrators like Breatrix Potter (obvisouly, already said it), Arthur Rackham, Kay Nielsen, Grandville, Gustave Doré. I would like to know what their lives looked like at their time. All of them were real precursors in their field!

But of course, there are also many great illustrators these days!

I had the chance to study with one of my favorite illustrator, Jean Claverie, who was a teacher in my art school. He is a master of watercolor, and he undoubtedly taught me to be really exacting with this demanding medium.

Beyond the living, I admire Rebecca Dautremer, Christopher Denise, Geneviève Godbout, Quentin Gréban, Frédéric Pillot… and many others I forgot. To be honest, I think I would be too shy to ask them anything, if I could, I would just sit quietly, and watch them working.

Feedback

I really like how you arranged and designed each page with my illustrations. It gives the whole a really a fresh look and elegant touch. What I really like about your Journal is the diversity of illustrators you choose for each issue. It gives a sense of where illustration is going through the multitude of talents on display. And it's a good source of inspiration for those starting out in this profession, as well.

Stefano Imbert/Award-winning Fashion Designer/Board Member SINY

"The Illustrator’s Journal, a wonderful online magazine about everything illustration. Thank you Lon! I really enjoyed doing this interview, thinking about the answers to your great questions" - Wendy Edelson/Award-winning illustrator

"The Illustrators Journal looks great!"

- Rolli Writer/Cartoonist

This looks so fantastic Lon! I love the big photo of the Corey Haim canvas you included!

It's a beautiful piece, thank you soooo much!

- Sarah Beetson/Award-winning Illustrator/Artist Rep/England

The Illustrators Journal! Yaaaay! Thank You - Agata Karelus/Award-winning Animator/Illustrator/Designer/Poland

ILLUSTRATION BY LON LEVIN

CONTACT: Levinlandstudio@gmail.com 818.268.9953