Clare Owen for Cooking Light's Summer Cookbook

Food is a favorite subject matter for Clare Owen so when given the opportunity to contribute her illustrative talents Cooking Light's Summer Cookbook Clare was thrilled.  

The "Farmer's Market" edition was art directed by Sheri Wilson and showcases three fabulous city markets every foodie should know: Portland's market at PSU, Chicago's Logan Square and Philadelphia's Headhouse market.

Clare's main illustration accompanies an article on "how to shop" and features all the elements you look for in a great farmer's market. Clare's rich color palette and use of texture brings the 'scene' to life. Her contemporary style shows just how hip shopping at the market can be.

Summer Farmers Market illustrated by Clare Owen

What's happening in Chicago, Philly and Portland illustrated by Clare Owen

Hungry for more? View Clare's complete portfolio. Clare Owen is represented by i2i Art Inc.

Janice Kun for apple Magazine

Amy Sawchenko, art director at apple Magazine recently commissioned Janice Kun to illustrate a six-page feature on summer activities for all ages. Amy definitely wanted to capture the fun and excitement the season brings.  

Janice combined photography with her bright and beautiful watercolor backgrounds to create these playful and exciting digital collages.

Janice always strives to create the perfect composition; balancing hand-drawn elements and watercolors with photography and other mixed media. Her photo-illustrations range from somber to evocative to fun.

View Janice Kun's portfolio, represented by i2i Art Inc.

Gary Alphonso for Ensign Magazine

Scott Knudsen, art director for Ensign Magazine, came to Gary Alphonso with a story of faith and sacrifice. Looking at the opening paragraph, the metaphor that inspired these beautiful pieces was clear -- "A ship is safe in the harbor, but that's not what ships are for."  

The article, "Faith to leave the harbor" showcases Gary's classic, digitally rendered, scratchboard style and the nautical theme highlights Gary's real ability to capture motion and light in his illustrations.

View more of Gary Alphonso's work at i2i Art Inc.

Mark Hoffmann for D Magazine

Will your kids be happy campers this summer? From Spanish immersion to paleontology camp, D Magazine handpicked some of the most exciting options in the Dallas, TX area. All that was needed was a terrific illustration to draw the reader in.  

Art director, Jamie Laubhan-Oliver, decided on Mark Hoffmann for the job. Mark let his imagination lead the way, resulting in this playful, folksy piece that is sure to put a smile on your face as you remember those long days of summer past.

Browse Mark Hoffmann's portfolio on i2i Art.

Thom Sevalrud for The Journal of the Norwegian Medical Association

Thom Sevalrud had the pleasure of illustrating yet another cover for The Journal of the Norwegian Medical Association this past month. Art director Lotte Gronneberg chose the prefect topic for Thom's style.  

Thom's piece depicts how technology will change the role of patient care in the years to come. As Thom often does, he gives us the sense of the enormity of these decisions and how very personal they can be.

'Patient Technology' by Thom Sevalrud

Cover of The Journal of Norwegian Medical Association

See more conceptual illustration by Thom Sevalrud.  Thom Sevalrud is represented by i2i Art Inc.

Dave Murray for National Magazine

When tech collides with the standard way of doing things. Illustrator Dave Murray is often asked to visually interpret this concept. Most recently, art director Tony Delitala of Delitala Design, assigned Dave to illustrate two high tech articles for the Canadian Bar Association's National Magazine.  

Dave's strong use of symbolism, conceptual intelligence and graphical style invites the reader to dive into these stories.

Technology can help make justice more accessible

Heavy workload? There’s an app for that.

Check out more of Dave's work. Represented by i2i Art Inc.

Eric Chow for Remodeling Magazine

With ever-changing rules and regulations, remodeling you home or office is no picnic. Remodeling Magazine tackled this topic in the feature article "Watch Your Step" for their March 2015 issue.  

The design team at Hanley Wood knew a conceptual solution would be best to illustrate the fine line contractors walk between safety and regulations. Illustrator Eric Chow worked closely with them to come up with this clever tightrope analogy.

Eric chose to put a menacing face to the dangers of lead paint removal for the inside story.

Looking for a new way to tell your next story?  Visit Eric Chow's complete portfolio at i2i Art.

Monika Melnychuk for Wine & Spirits Magazine

The Wine & Spirits 26th Annual Restaurant Poll is out this month with their famed list of the top 50 wines Americans love most. This year's cover showcases the elite bunch of sommeliers that help make these decisions.  The sophisticated playfulness of Monika Melnychuk's illustration style couldn't have been a better choice to capture the group's likeness.  

Armed with all the pics art director Michael Rush could get his hands on, Monika meticulously drew each somm's portrait, happily revealing a little (or a lot) of each personality and style.

Cover Wine & Spirits Featuring Monika Melnychuk Illustration

Wine & Spirits Cover Featuring Monika Melnychuk

Be sure to take a look through the rest of Monika's stellar portfolio on i2i Art.

Dave Murray for Reader's Digest, "Birders Unite!"

Hipsters: known for ransacking vintage stores, perfecting their beards and gentrifying neighborhoods with their artisanal food stores. It seemed likely they should revitalize some old school hobbies while they are at it. Like bird watching.  

This month's Reader's Digest article, "Birders Unite!" written by Julia Zarankin, dives into the phenomena of the bird watching millennials.  Needing to combine the tattooed with the wilderness, art director Annelise Dekker picked the perfect artist in Dave Murray.

Caution: These are not your grandfather's illustrations:

Uniquely stylized, award-winning illustration.  We invite your to check out more of Dave Murray's illustration.

Clare Owen for Everyone Loves Paris

teNeues has published a lovely new collection of all things Paris.  Everyone Loves Paris is edited by the talented Leslie Jonath--who fell in love with Clare Owen's Paris illustrations.  Leslie artfully curated this wonderful collection from renowned illustrators around the world.  Needless-to-say, Clare (a self proclaimed Francophile) was delighted to contribute her art!  

teNeues has this to say about the collection, Everyone Loves Paris includes tributes from over 50 illustrators from around the world. From grand landmarks—such as the Eiffel Tower, Sacré-Cœur Basilica, and the Louvre Pyramid—to the small pleasures of daily life, each image expresses the joys of this marvelous city through the perspective of each artist’s brush...Everyone Loves Paris is a delightful meander that will inspire you to view the City of Light from a new angle and in a multitude of styles."

Here now is the cover featuring a lovely ©Emma Block Illustration

Clare Owen's Chat Noir and Aujour d'hui

Feast your eyes on Clare Owen's delightful portfolio.

Rémy Simard for apple Magazine

It's never easy to explain a complex theory, never mind making it an enjoyable experience.  When Editor Terry Bullick at apple magazine was tasked with a story about brain development she turned to illustrator Rémy Simard to help her communicate this intricate topic to her readers.  

Rémy's fun, lighthearted, comic book style was the perfect way to break this story down into easy to understand concepts. A quick 5 minute read and you too will be an expert on brain development.

Visit Rémy Simard's portfolio for more examples of his unique illustration.

Tim Zeltner for Cowgirl Up: 10th Anniversary Art Exhibition

Typically Tim Zeltner paints his illustration on wood, but when the Desert Caballeros Western Museum approached him to paint on a leather boot for the annual Cowgirl Up award, he was up for the challenge!  This boot would become the 'glass slipper' to be awarded to a woman who captures the spirit and the lifestyle of the West each year at the popular springtime exhibition.

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The 2015 exhibition is opening today.  Join the Desert Caballeros Western Museum as they celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Cowgirl Up!  As a special offering this year, the museum asked Tim to paint another boot with a 10th Anniversary painted on it!  Check back--we'll share more news and pics of the event next week.

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Check out Tim Zeltner's entire portfolio.

Janice Kun for the Government of Ontario

  Janice Kun collaborated with Deirdre Hughes, creative director with Agency59, to create the illustration used for Kathleen Wynne's Government of Ontario Sexual Violence and Harassment Action Plan.  Both an honour and a challenge, the art needed to show the optimism the new Action Plan promises, while at the same time representing the struggle and the work to be done on this important societal problem.

To accomplish all of this, Janice's illustration needed to take a conceptual approach in showing the urgency and the action to be taken on the issue of sexual violence and harassment.  Through her unique blend of photography, hand rendering and digital collage, Janice's mixed media illustration set out to do all this.

Below in the main double page spread of the report, three figures work together to reshape a landscape that moves rhythmically from the darkness of an abstracted, geometric background, into one of brighter, bolder colours, and organic shapes. Their dialogue sparks the process of change by writing a new script, painting a new horizon, and cultivating new growth.

Visit Janice Kun's entire portfolio.

Mark Hoffmann's Mural at the Montserrat Gallery

The exhibition SEVEN: A Peformative Drawing Project at the Montserrat Gallery was a perfect opportunity for illustrator Mark Hoffmann to spread his creative wings even further. Mark, along with six other artists, put their creative process on display by executing a large mural on one of the gallery's walls in an open studio environment. The mural itself was meant to be the "residue of an artistic performance." We found both the process and the final product pretty spectacular.  

Mark Hoffmann's 'Men of Mountains' Mural

 Close up of Mark Hoffmann's lettering

We chatted with Mark Hoffmann after the show...

i2i Art: How were you approached with this project?

Mark: Leonie Bradbury (the gallery director at Montserrat College of Art, where I teach) contacted me in the fall to see if I had any interest.  They usually try to get one faculty member involved and thought I would be a good fit with the other artists.

i2i Art: Was this your first mural?

Mark: Yes, and it was quite overwhelming.

i2i Art: Tell us about the piece.  What was your inspiration?

Mark: I really wanted to paint a giant horse and started to research. Somehow I ended up reading about the early exploration of what would later become the first national park of the U.S., Yellowstone. In my research I found the story of the Cook, Folsom, Peterson expedition to explore and survey the land. I thought this might make a fun image with them, a horse, and geysers. I also had a previous color palette worked out that I wanted to apply to the piece.

i2i Art: What was it like working on that scale?

Mark: Difficult. It's hard to get a sense of the scale until it is right in front of you. I found that I had to stand back and look at it a lot, otherwise I wouldn't take the scale into full consideration.

i2i Art: The gallery was open while you were working on the piece, tell us about the atmosphere.

Mark: As I was working, quite a few folks stopped in to look, but very few chatted with me. They later told me they were afraid to interrupt. I must look deep in thought when I paint. It was nice to have the freedom to paint and explore at that scale and really knock people over with an image.

i2i Art: Do you have any tips, tricks or lessons learned you want to share?

Mark:  I realized that some of the techniques I planned to use are hard on that scale and surface. Use a paint with primer in it (I used house paints) so you don't have to apply it twice to get good coverage. Bring plenty of Aleve and Tylenol, the work can be a little back breaking.

Hyperlapse: Watch Mark Hoffmann's mural come to life

http://youtu.be/RNxRIeZmY-Y

On view through March 28, 2015 at the Montserrat Gallery.

Mark Hoffmann offers a playfulness to his americana, folk art style.  View Mark's entire portfolio.

Tim Zeltner for Henry Holt's Power Down Little Robot

  Power Down Little Robot, is a very special children's picture book lovingly illustrated by Tim Zeltner and written by Anna Staniszewski.  When it's time to power down for the night, Little Robot is not ready and he quickly opens his stalling program.  From there, the story is very familiar to avoidance experts everywhere (mombots and dadbots), and told with one fun twist after another.  In the end Mom Unit knows how to get him tucked in to his module as he finally powers down.

Sally Doherty, Executive Editor for Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, fell in love with Tim Zeltner's art.  Power Down, Little Robot is the second picture book she has commissioned him to illustrate.  Upon receiving Tim's final art for the book Sally's reaction was, "Wow!  You've done it again--you've really knocked us out with your extraordinary vision for this story.  I just love everything about what you've done:  the colors, the style, the expressions.  Fantastic!"  Well deserved praise for Tim Zeltner's beautiful hand painted illustrations on wood.

"Now hurry and clean your cogs.", says Mom Unit.  The Little Robot says to himself, "I try to brush them at half my normal rate, but nothing gets past Mom Unit's sharp eye."

"But I'm not tired!  Look.  My power level is still at yellow."

"But I need to tell you a secret!...Did you know that a hummingbot flaps its wings a million times a second?"

"The sleep module is soft and warm.  Maybe I could close my eyes for a millisecond..."

"Dream sequence initiated."

Check out Tim Zeltner's entire portfolio.

Dave Murray for Canadian Grocer

The always enthusiastic Dave Murray jumped at the chance to work with art director Lindsay Maclachlan again on a feature article for Canadian Grocer. Dave often illustrates technological innovations so the brave new world of in-store technology at our local grocer was a perfect match for Dave's style.

The Future of the Grocery Store

Dave Murray Illustration for Canadian Grocer

smartphones and tablets could dominate our grocery shopping experience

Dave Murray spot illustrations Canadian Grocer

View more of Dave Murray's illustration and check out Dave's interview on his recent award from the Society of Illustrators.

Greg Stevenson for Dreams on Wheels Reader

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Greg Stevenson created these instructional illustrations combining his playful doodles, line-work and hand lettering with a photo-collage approach for educational publisher Developmental Studies.  SIPPS (Systematic Instruction in Phonological Awareness, Phonics, and Sight Words) is a program for new and struggling readers from kindergarten through grade 12. The main criteria for the art was to decode the stories to visually assist the reader with comprehension.

Check out Greg Stevenson's versatile portfolio.

Gary Alphonso: Creates Facebook and Twitter Banners

Recently, Gary Alphonso was asked by The Design Office of Ann Marie Ternullo to create this art for Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative Association’s Facebook and Twitter pages.  The art was originally created for the co-op's annual report.  Ann Marie’s idea was to have the art modified by Gary, to create digital banners for their social media marketing–a very effective use of the art.  Elements within the art were moved around to accommodate the Facebook and Twitter logos while maximizing the impact of the image area.  Aside from offering a custom solution for their social media marketing it also took advantage of the branding established by the annual report, creating a nice continuity across platforms.  

As a master with Adobe Illustrator, Gary Alphonso creates everything from futuristic high tech art to vintage woodcut illustration--but it's always his dynamic compositions that carry his trademark style into any application so perfectly.

This is the original illustration Gary created for the Annual Report that was modified for use as in social media banners.

Check out Gary Alphonso's entire portfolio.

Mystery Book Covers: Clare Owen for Harlequin

Clare Owen has now created three gorgeous covers with art director Sean Kapitain at Harlequin.  The front cover for Hunting Sweetie Rose and Honestly Dearest, You're Dead are featured below.  Stay tuned to see the third in the series--to be released in March 2015.  Clare's illustrations are so inviting but be careful, with these mystery covers, the devil is in the details.

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I just love the details like the wind blowing the curtain and the steam rising on the coffee. They seem to bring the story to life.

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For much more delightful Clare Owen illustration visit her portfolio here.

The Year of You: Mark Hoffmann for D Magazine

Did you make a resolution this year?  If not, you still can! How about, "prepare to become the most interesting person you know"?  That was the inspiration for Mark Hoffmann's latest commission for D Magazine.  Art director, Jamie Laubhan-Oliver took advantage of Mark's amazing lettering and whimsical style for the article The Year of You which outlines a long list of cool classes available in Dallas, TX for those ready to learn something new.  

So whether your passion is art and photography, fitness and dance or just "making something", check out what's offered in your neighborhood and become just a little more interesting in 2015.

Get inspired by Mark Hoffmann, visit his online portfolio today.