connecticut creative gathering

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A creative gathering is happening in the woods of Connecticut this weekend. Co-hosted by larks & japes and art school girl, RETREAT will see a small group of artists introduce each other to their craft through a series of participant-led workshops.

To support the event, some of the 2013 attendees have made work available in the RETREAT shop with proceeds helping to fund the event. Prints of the illustration above, by Work/Life 3 participant Sun Young Park, are one of the items available. 

You can follow the action on twitter (@larksandjapes and @artschoolgirl2 will be using the hashtag #retreatCT). 

 

brad woodard, a man on the move

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Brad Woodard's illustration for Work/Life 3. 

Brad Woodard is a man in motion. During the interview phase for Work/Life 3, I asked him how being an illustrator affected his personal life. "My creative mind never takes a break," he answered. "It is a problem. As a result, I tend to move a lot. And the places I like to move to are generally beautiful. Hence my living in the Seattle, Philippines, Newport Beach, California, and Boston." He can now add Austin, Texas to that long list—Brad and his young family just made the move to a new state. This transition also marks Brad's decision to leave a steady job and delve full time into his illustration and design business, Brave the Woods.

When I asked Brad what his dream assignment was, he replied, "To illustrate a children's science book. That or illustrate the side of a U-Haul truck." Seeing this moving trend in Brad's life coupled with his belief that the best thing about being an illustrator is that “you have the chance to interpret the world around you and visualize it how you see it.”, I wrote the following assignment for Brad:

Illustrate an idealized road-trip of your life, and/or depict your life as the graphics on the side of a U-Haul trailer.

Work/Life 3 is available in our shop and if you order now, you'll also have the chance to get the second edition at a special discounted price!

the talented ms. balsley

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You may remember when we told you about Lilla Rogers' Global Talent Search. We're happy to provide an update today—Emily Balsley is a finalist! She's one of six finalists in this contest which had over 1500 entrants from 30 countries. Emily is over the moon and so are we! 

"As my shaky doodle above shows, I went through a LOT of emotions when I found out the results—I was stunned; I wept; I couldn't stop talk-talk-talking about it; I paced a lot; I freaked out," exclaims Emily. "When I drew this, my hands were shaking so bad. But all of it was out of sheer excitement! I have to say - yesterday's productivity level was pretty low - it was so hard to focus!"

Emily's next task is to create a line of home decor and/or gift products. The winner will be announced on Thursday October 3. Good luck Emily!

 

Emily is also a participant in Work/Life 3. 

 

 

WL3: Lauren Venell

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 Lauren Venell's illustration process is a bit different than most of the other illustrators featured in Work/Life 3. Her work is dimensional and rather than having a set style, she lets the demands of the assignment influence the medium of choice. This variety is interesting—this giant burrito, the wreath made of credit cards, or these meats made from fleece—but her work is consistently high quality and well-made. 

I was pretty excited when I came up with Lauren's assignment: 

THE ASSIGNMENT: Go to the hardware store, a grocery store or a flea market and select some objects to use in an assemblage or composition about you.

Pretty fun! I'd like to assign that to myself sometime (or perhaps as an open call for the magazine? to be determined...!)

With a baby on the way, family was on her mind. Lauren devised this family tree in which bent wires express the names of her relatives. The little red swing represents her soon-to-be-born child. Read Lauren's honest play-by-play of her Work/Life experience on her blog.

Work/Life 3: Helen Musselwhite

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Helen Musselwhite's Work/Life 3 dimensional paper illustration.

Let's all marvel at how amazing Helen's shelf of inspiration is! 

Helen Musselwhite is a UK-based illustrator who specializes in cut and folded paper illustrations. Her technical skill combined with her artistic eye makes her work extremely appealing. I am so pleased that Helen is part of Work/Life 3—that's her contribution above. I gasped when I first saw it!

I gave each Work/Life participant a "bespoke illustration assignment" — a directive that I based on a lengthy questionnaire and portfolio review. 

HELEN'S ASSIGNMENT

Go for a walk with your dog in the English countryside and construct a paper illustration inspired by the experience. Envision the resulting illustration as a still from an animated film or a page from an illustrated book. 

Helen's initial sketches: "The illustration will be on a white background and each area will be treated very much like a spot illustration. Together they tell the story of one of mine and Earls favourite walks on footpaths across the fields and the wildlife, and other dogs we meet. As it quite often rains here there will be some stormy looking clouds!"

Helen and her dog Earl list the common sights on their daily walk.

Thanks for the inspiration, Earl!

For those of you in the vicinity of Stafford, UK, Unit Twelve Gallery has a new show in which Helen's Work/Life piece will be displayed.  The exhibition 21st Century Farmer showcases work that has a "contemporary take on rural themes and imagery."

PURCHASE WORK/LIFE 3 IN OUR SHOP. 

september desktop download

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“I am not sure if I chose to be an artist, really. I think I was created to be an artist. It is an integral part of who I am.”
— Oana Befort, Work/Life 3 participant

Our September desktop download features the work of Oana Befort. She is one of the 100 talented illustrators featured in Work/Life 3: the UPPERCASE directory of illustration.

ORDER WORK/LIFE 3 IN OUR SHOP. 

See our book trailer here. 

Work/Life 3: Alistar Khabuliani

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Thank you so much to Alistar who surprised me with this wonderful video that she created. "I've shot a promotional video as an extract from my pages of Work/Life 3 experiences and inspirations. The video is about the emotions that move creativity inside any form of creation and from where it comes from—for me, it has been a long walk by the sea."

Alistar's assignment: Illustrate a day at the beach with your children as if it was also a page out of an Italian language book for English-speakers.

Work/Life 3: Leonie Bos

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Dutch illustrator Leonie Bos has a post on her blog about her spread in the new book—she has actually posted the entire spread so there's your chance to sample a few pages. Our congratulations to Leonie on a recent commission from the Wall Street Journal!

Photographer Marcel van Driel provided the great photographs of Leonie and her workspace. Here are a few outtakes and details. 

Type Tuesday: Kal Barteski

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Kal Barteski's Work/Life illustration. 

For today's Type Tuesday, we have a special post featuring Work/Life 3 illustrator Kal Barteski. You might be familiar with Kal's "Link with Love" campaign as well as her exuberant prints of inspiring inky scrawls. She also has a profound fondness for polar bears and was recently honoured to present at TEDxManitoba.

I am pleased that Kal is part of Work/Life 3 and look forward to her work gracing the pages of the magazine at some point. Below is an excerpt from our interview.

 

Does your personal life (i.e. children, working from a home studio) affect your career?

I think that my personal life has definitely had an impact on my career. I work at home—which means I never really leave the "office". I also have three small children so I wholeheartedly recognize the value of leaving my work when my time is up for the day. I do not spend as much time with social media as the world would lead me to believe that I should. But, life trumps the internet and I draw my creativity from being fulfilled in my real life. It's been an interesting battle to learn from over the years and as my personal life has changed.

How do you maintain a balance between your work and your life? (or not?)

I do my best to maintain balance by having set hours to "work" on my illustration and art. It is still a struggle to "fit things in" before I know I have to close the door and join my family. It has also been a gift to see how my work patterns and sequences have changed to meet my parenting/life needs.

What is your ideal day?

My ideal days start early. I have breakfast with my husband and three funny girls, I walk my oldest daughter to kindergarten when our super-fantastic nanny arrives with a smile. And after that I get 8 solid hours to paint, draw, sketch and make my career dreams happen in my studio. I have lunch with the kids. I paint all afternoon before shutting the door and reuniting with my family for dinner, baths, games and bedtimes. Life is chaotic right now, but I love chaos. I've also found that I need to be creating art to be a good mom, wife, daughter and friend. It's a priority for me to give the ones I love my best self by creating a space and time that I can do that.

Kal Barteski at work. 

Work/Life 3: book trailer

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The latest book from UPPERCASE is freshly printed and ready to ship! Hooray! 

It is Labour Day, so what better day to celebrate a book that is all about the love of work? Work/Life 3 explores the illustrator's life and what it takes to stay creative 24/7.

With the third edition of Work/Life, we are pushing the personal nature of of the series to a new level. This edition's theme is "An Illustrated Life". Each participant offers their unique take on this theme and have created an original illustration based on a bespoke assignment specific to their interests and story that I created after an extensive questionnaire and portfolio review.

Additional imagery (sketchbook pages, studio shots, inspirational objects) are integral to each participant’s spread, allowing the reader to take a peek into their entire work/life. Cover illustration by Jeff Rogers. Artists featured in the video trailer in order of appearance: Michael Byers, Ilichna Morasky, Emmi Jormalainen, Helen Dardik, Oana Befort, Karolin Schnoor and Emily Balsley. See the full list of our 100 participants on the project page. 

ORDER WORK/LIFE 3 IN OUR SHOP. 

WL3: James Gulliver Hancock

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As the printer puts the finishing touches on our forthcoming book, Work/Life 3, I am pleased to share some recent work by James Gulliver Hancock.  James is an Australian illustrator based in New York. Frost*, a creative agency based in Sydney, commissioned James to create illustrations for a bank's call centre. On initial reading, that may have sounded like a boring assignment, but just look at the results! The following text is from the Frost* press release:

The Frost* Environments team recently completed an exciting new project for employees at Commonwealth Bank’s Melbourne (Australia) call centre. Working in collaboration with Interior Designers Davenport Campbell, the agency was commissioned to animate the newly refurbished activity-based workplace, whilst inspiring and engaging staff who are often working on intense, monotonous tasks.

The scope of work included signage and way-finding for the seven level development, alongside super-sized environmental graphic backdrops that added a distinctly Melbourne identity to the inner-city office.

The concept involved visually breaking up the building's floor plate by referencing urban-laneway culture in work zones and parklands and nature in the break-out spaces.

Working closely with New York based illustrator James Gulliver Hancock, they established sub-themes of work, rest and play to tell the everyday stories of the city's inhabitants, with a fantastical twist. Hidden pockets of quirky detail were incorporated at a micro-scale, as a cheeky nod to the city’s laneways where there is always something new to discover. A graphic language formed from iconic Melbourne architecture also helped embed the signage firmly into its location.

Work/Life 3: start the presses!

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 Work/Life 3 is all designed and as of this afternoon, off to the printer. I took this photo to mark the last big design project that will happen in this exact location. (When I think of the hours I've sat in the spot over the past eight years... the result is a library of books and an shelf load of magazines.) The next challenge is to pack up the office in anticipation of the move next Wednesday.

work/life life/work work/work life/life

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The third edition of Work/Life is nearing completion. All 100 artists have seen their spreads and now it is being read through by our copy editor one last time. Once I'm done the Photoshop work on the hundreds of photos and illustrations, it will be off to the printer!

The ultimate plan was to get the files done before I pack up my computer to move it to the new office. A month ago, in the midst of the flood and impending move, I didn't think it would be possible. This definitely feels like a victory in a difficult year.

Danielle Sayer made this fun animation of the Work/Life postcards inserted into the latest issue.  I love it when our readers create unexpected things like this! Thanks, Danielle. (And thanks to Jeff Rogers for his excellent cover concept and illustration.)

first look! the cover of Work/Life 3

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I am pleased to unveil the front and back cover of the third edition of Work/Life! This illustration was created by the über talented Jeff Rogers.

With the third book in this series, we push the personal nature of Work/Life to a new level. This edition’s theme is “An Illustrated Life” in which we explore the illustrator’s lifestyle in intimate detail and find out what it takes to stay creative 24/7.

The book is available for pre-orders in the shop and will ship in September.  This is an excellent book if you're looking for creative motivation or are interested in becoming a professional illustrator. It is also a top-notch directory of talent for creative directors and art buyers.

work/life 3 cover tease

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Work/Life cover in progress by Jeff Rogers

Here's a glimpse of the amazing work Jeff Rogers has done for the cover of the third edition of Work/Life: the UPPERCASE directory of illustration. I'm looking forward to sharing the full cover design with you next week! 

In the meantime, I'll be posting updates from Erin's and my trip to Toronto for the National Magazine Awards. We leave early tomorrow and are looking forward to visiting our stockists and having a "Show and Tell Toronto" event at Kid Icarus tomorrow evening. 

working on work/life: Lea Vervoort

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The submission deadline for my 100 artists is nearing, so my inbox is bursting with questions, artwork and downloads. While I'm busy sorting, here are some images of Lea Vervoort​ working on her illustration for the forthcoming Work/Life book.

From her home studio in the Netherlands, Lea answered some of our questions on her illustrated life:

Has being an illustrator affected your personal life? (ie the choice of where or how you live?) Actually I can live where ever I want to. My work is international orientated. As long as I have a roof, my computer and my paper with pencils I can work. 

Does your personal life (i.e. children, working from a home studio) affect your career? Working from a home studio sometimes affects my career. I would love to work at a studio away from home, but I'm not able to afford it (yet).

​Lea's sketch for her Work/Life illustration.

How do you maintain a balance between your work and your life? (or not?) Illustration is a really big part of my life. It’s my passion and it's my work. And even if I’m not working I’m thinking about it, so there's not really a balance between work and life here. But I don't mind, it makes me happy.

What is your ideal day? A day with lots of sun! Living in the Netherlands with all the rain can be a bit depressing sometime.

Where do you work? Do you have a studio at home or somewhere else? How is your workspace enhance or hinder creativity? I work at home. I live together with my boyfriend. He is an animator and works from home too. We share the office, a room (15m2) next to our living room. It's quite nice to have company of another creative soul.

​The full illustration will be revealed in the book!

Is your image-making inspired by personal interests or do you prefer to be driven by specific assignment? Mostly my image-making is inspired by a specific assignment, but I always try to put some things of own interest in it too. And when I have some spare time I love to make personal work.

How is your creative vision expressed through your work? Because of my imagination I love to create/make up worlds. In my work you are likely to find things like environments, surroundings and cities with a certain atmosphere or characters such as animals, people or non-existing beings. Sometimes I’m still a kid who thinks that grown-ups are boring. With my work I hope to surprise and bring back a little sparkle to dusty lives.