Where are you based?

In a great warehouse studio in Surry Hills, Sydney, Australia. I think it was used to produce uniforms during WWII. I share the space with 4 other awesome illustrators (Nigel Buchanan, Jim Tsinganos, Stuart McLachlan and Lew Keilar) as well as 4 other creatives.

It’s a space where we can get instant inspiration, advice (and criticism), share contacts and hand on jobs to each other.

What’s your work process and the tools you use, especially how do you achieve your grungy/scratchy effects?

I’m the worst drawer in the world so the initial process is the hardest. With editorial work I start out with lots of really bad thumbnails on recycled paper just trying to work with shapes and come up with about 3-5 ideas.

Once they start taking shape I move on to refine the drawings on tracing paper which I can also use to transfer the art to the illustration board once I get a go-ahead on a concept.

I then paint with acrylics on to illustration board, building up lots of layers that I can dig into and scratch away at with just about anything on hand. I want to make the surface look like it has a history and a story to tell. It’s then scanned and I can tweak color and tidy up any marks that I don’t like in Photoshop on my Cintiq Wacom screen.

What inspired you most recently?

I’ve just put together a dummy for a kid’s book that was inspired by my 2 year old son and I’ve been looking at lots of vintage children’s book ephemera. I saw some hand lettering by a guy called ESPO done at Coney Island recently that was really cool.

I saw a talk online by designer Marian Bantjes which inspires me to keep doing what I love doing as opposed to following a trail of money.

As well as all the usual suspects like old medical/health charts, day of the dead imagery, vintage ad characters, battered and beaten hand signage.

© Christopher Nielsen, 2010

What are you working on at the moment?

I just finished up an illustration of Moses handing down “5 things to ask your plan adviser” for PlanSponsor, a female Bigfoot with online customized shoes for Nett Mag, a rum drinking polar bear for The Sydney Morning Herald Good Weekend and 2 Mexican Wrestling cards for an article on credit v debit cards for Money Mag.

His work process involves an ink drawing on paper, followed by acrylic and digital colouring. At the moment Julian is working on a series of oil painting illustrations, claiming it is ‘something I’ve always had respect for but not been able to concentrate on before‘.

© Julian De Narvaez, 2010

What are the main tools you use in creating your illustrations?

I mainly use a brush pen and pencil and then I go back with Photoshop for color. I’ve got some background in printmaking and when I can, I try and mimic those techniques in my digital work. So if I have a color layer I try and create it with ink on vellum traced over the drawn layer and I scan that and use it instead of just using a boring Photoshop brush.

I also work with gouache and sometimes acrylic. I love how unforgiving and unpredictable gouache is, and acrylic is amazing for it’s versatility.

What are you working on at the moment?

Right now I’m working on a book cover for Small Desk Press by Lizzy Acker. The book is called Monster Party and I’m super stoked about it. I’m also busy working on some pieces for exhibitions here and there. I’m also trying to learn a few new songs on the accordion.

Where do you mainly get inspired?

I find a lot of inspiration in my extensive collection of books. I worked at a library for a few years and when people would donate books to the library I would get first pick (the books land in the trash most of the time anyways) I got all kinds of great books from there.

Some nice high end art books, but a lot of old encyclopedias, a book of erotic limericks, medical procedures, military yearbooks, an illustrated children’s pulp novel, and lots of EC comics. I’m also inspired by the Los Angeles. I’ve lived in the area my whole life and the colors and the landscape are everywhere in my work. I think cowboy movies are pretty sweet too.

© Josh Evans, 2010

How did you get into illustration?

I came to New York as a older student to study illustration, but I disliked it so I switched to part time and studied design.

While there I would also audit / sit-in on other classes that seemed interesting. Near the end I took a independent study with Bleckman and Nieman that re-ignited my interest in illustration, and upon graduation I just hustled and hustled!

What is the work process and tools of the work you do?

My illustration process is idea driven -I usually lie in bed and make notes trying to think of an idea that makes me happy.

I then get reference and sketch it up hoping I have cool editors / art directors that don’t want to make it more literal. For illustration I am essentially just drawing with a pencil though in my art practice I am using paint, collage, and assorted other materials.

What are you working on right now?

I just finished doing a op-ed collaboration with my friend Josh Cochran which was a first and fun. I am also working on the monthly editorial illustration I do for LA Magazine.

© Leif Parsons, 2010

What is your one self-promotion tip?

Make something nice enough (and interesting enough) that you would want to keep it, then perhaps an art director will want to do the same…

Ive been watching MDC’s art on deviantart for years. I feel he’s one of the few artists to have really push old school tattoo flash into a standalone art form. His work has the authenticity of Ed Hardy or Sailor Jerry. His work easily translates to a tattooable piece of flash but equality it can be admired as a work of art in its own right.

Andrew Le, a graphic designer from Mississippi, USA is the first person to suggest another illustrator at Ape on the Moon. That person is Will Bryant, and this is what Andrew has to say about him:

Will Bryant is an artist I became friends with during undergraduate school, and he remains to this day one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. He is currently a member of Austin, Texas based collaborative, Public School.

His style is consistent, yet he his not confined to a specific medium. You can see Will’s work on t-shirts, signage, magazines, packaging, and various products just to name a few of his endeavors. Will says, “I make stuff because I get sad if I don’t.”

Greetings, Ape on the Moon fans! I am very honored to be with you and help out my talented and hard-working friend Alex whilst he is away on a much deserved holiday. I will be back next week… same time, same place.

Today I present the super clever work of Irina Troitskaya, an illustrator and educator based in Moscow, Russia. Irina’s portfolio is quite dense with an exciting mix of personal projects and client work. Her illustrations have been commissioned by Elle, Hewlett-Packard and BMW amongst many others.

I am particularly fond of her contemporary reinterpretation of Russian matreshka dolls which you can get a taste of below along with a sneak peek at her terrific sketchbook. Enjoy! –Amy

© Irina Troitskaya, 2010

“Irina Troitskaya grew up in Izhevsk, an industrial city deep into Russia. She has been drawing for as long as she can remember. Her delicate, surreal and poetic works record those fragile moments of life which hard to capture, because they vanish from our sight in a blink. She tells us stories of intimate relationships between a bear and a bird or a fish and a lion whose coexistence seems impossible, but yet true.”

See more on Irina’s website + flickr

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Using a range of traditional and digital mediums, Pietari’s work exhibits a profound understanding of the value of well balanced composition; using colour, varying line thickness, shape and tone to create congruent artwork.

ⓒ Pietari Posti, 2010

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However, having been introduced to the book ‘All the Art That’s Fit to Print (And Some That Wasn’t): Inside the New York Times Op-Ed Page‘ and spoken to its charismatic author, I saw that it contains insights that are actually very relevant to this blog, and to the contemporary illustration world in itself.

The book reveals the story of the world’s first Op-Ed (opposite the editorial) page, which was introduced to the New York Times newspaper in 1970. It was the first newspaper page written by readers as opposed to members of the Times’ staff, which allowed for commentary from a different perspective. This book focuses on the illustration element of that page, which saw art compliment the often controversial views of the page. The Op-Ed was the first public platform that published conceptual illustration. Interestingly, before Op-Ed, illustration was mostly literal or decorative.

The New York Times art director and author of the book Jerelle Kraus, who worked on the Op-Ed page for a record 13 years (longer than any other editor or art-director), writes a fascinating account of how the page has developed, showcasing a vast range of illustrations by many influential artists who now have household names. The book also introduces work that was rejected, often for the sake of ‘political correctness’ or perceived sexual content, revealing a large body of beautiful and edgy art that had never before been published.

As the Op-Ed page acted as a platform for the contributions of the public, this story brings with it a fascinating insight into a system that is effectively mirrored by the way in which the views of the public are shared through the blogosphere. The difference with today is that illustrations, as well as the opinions of people at all levels, are published and shared on a massive and viral scale without passing through the editorial stage.

This documentation of important illustration work showcased through a public platform emphasizing the merit of free speech, makes this book relevant to not only readers of Ape on the Moon, but to an understanding of how the contemporary illustration world has been shaped through changing attitudes to publishing and various events in history.

Reviews of the book are very welcome in the comments section here.

ⓒ Columbia University Press, 2009

You can get yourself a copy at Amazon with user reviews here.

MoonApe

What’s particularly excellent about the work he does, is the method he uses, which is to use old fashioned pencil, brushes, gouache paint and inks instead of what would seem the obvious, digital route.

ⓒ Michael Cho, 2009

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