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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ⓒ Marissa Textor, 2009

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Matt uses ‘mechanical pencils, regular old graphite pencils, Micron ink pens and Sharpie pens. I usually draw in the random sketchbooks and Moleskines laying about the house’.

Evidently a very proud father, he fits drawing and painting time whenever he ‘can find the time between changing diapers and cleaning up after my son.‘

ⓒ Matt Mims, 2009

Matt is currently working on getting his website and online store up and running. He has original artwork for sale and will eventually be supplying prints of select works.

Thanks Matt!

MoonApe

Today we’re peering into the sketchbook of Oregon-based illustrator, animator and director Ward Jenkins. Ward has a unique style, and one that is easily recognizable, with its strong lines and frequent use of fun, stylized characters.

This feature looks a little closer at some of the collections of his initial ideas sketched on paper. Ward has also been kind enough to speak a great deal about his background, tools, favourite working environments and what inspires his work.

How did you get into illustration?

I’ve always drawn throughout my childhood, all the way through high school and after graduation, but wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do art-wise as a career. After several (okay, many) years of searching (and doing a few illustration jobs that were so minute and insignificant), I eventually landed a BFA degree in illustration from Georgia State University, in Atlanta (my hometown). However, during my time there, I really got into animation and after graduation, started focusing my efforts on trying to get a job in the animation field around the Atlanta area.

After an internship and working several freelance jobs at a few animation companies in Atlanta, I got a great position at Primal Screen as an animation director, working on broadcast elements and commercials. What I think was unique in working at Primal was the fact that my boss, Douglass Grimmett, had more of a design background and was open to various creative possibilities within each particular job. He allowed me to explore and search for options when it came to character design and environments.

Even though I had a degree in illustration, I learned more from working at Primal than all the years in school. And during my time at Primal, I began to work on my personal art style on the side, drawing and creating various illustrations on my own after hours.

After working at Primal for over 7 years, I had an incredible opportunity to work at a larger animation company in Portland, Oregon. After much deliberation, my wife & I decided to go ahead and move the family across the country, to see where it would take us. Well, it didn’t last long. After only 15 months at Laika House, I was let go, and suddenly found myself on my own.

Thus, I was thrown into the world of freelance and had to find work through the avenues that seemed to be fitting for me: animation and illustration. It was like starting over, to a degree. I had no personal website, no physical portfolio, no real contacts, no identity, save for my blog and Flickr.

Bit by bit, I began to find a presence online, networked through various friends and friends of friends and finally got a decent website up and running, showcasing some of my artwork and animated commercials I’d done throughout the years. It’s been a slow process, but finally I’ve began to see some benefits after being on my own after a year and a half now. It hasn’t been easy, that’s for sure. Especially in this economy.

What are your tools of choice for your sketch work?

I work primarily with red Col-Erase pencils for light sketch work, and regular 2B (or softer) graphite pencils for the darker lines.

I’ve been getting into mechanical pencils (again, 2B lead) lately because I like to draw on the go and I don’t have to worry about a pencil sharpener. These pencils aren’t anything fancy, just regular ones that I can buy three at a time. For sketchbooks, I enjoy the Moleskines (or something similar) for the smaller, on-the-go size.

I also have a larger sketchbook (11 x 14 inches) for doing sketches and concepts for various paying jobs. Just a normal, Canson sketchbook. Again, nothing fancy.

Which artist inspires your work the most at the moment?

It’s always changing, of course, but right now I’m really inspired by the work of vintage mid-century illustrators Jerry Smath, M. Sasek, Abner Graboff, Jim Flora (always inspired by Flora), Janet LaSalle, and David Weidman.

Contemporary artists who are inspiring me are Marc Boutavant, Frank Chimero, Meg Hunt, Kevin Waldron….there’s more, but I’ll just stop here for now.

How often do you find yourself sketching?

I’d love to say that I sketch every day, but that doesn’t happen. I try to draw in my sketchbook several times a week, if not, then at least once a week.

Where is your favourite sketching location(s)?

I keep my sketchbook (the smaller one especially) with me all the time, in my bag, in the car, etc. in case inspiration strikes. So, I guess you can say that the car is my favorite location. I know, lame, but it’s the truth.

One place I always take my sketchbook is church, where the subjects are the backs of heads of other church members. There’s talk of having an art show in the gallery of our church featuring my sketches drawn during the service. It’ll be a pretty funny exhibit I think.

ⓒ Ward Jenkins, 2009

What are you working on at the moment?

I’m currently animating the main character for a cereal commercial, which I’m excited about because it’s been a while since I’ve done any animation. I really enjoy animating and have missed it terribly.

I just got the nod to illustrate my second children’s book (my first one was “How To Train With A T. Rex and Win 8 Gold Medals”, a fun book describing Michael Phelps’ crazy training leading up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics), so I’m happy to get started on that one soon! It’ll be published by Simon & Schuster in Spring 2011. Stay tuned!

Also, I’ve been trying to work on a promo postcard to send out to various art directors and editors, but it’s been hard to find the time to finish it! I really like what I’ve done on it so far, just waiting for a break from work to finish it up.

This all sounds seriously exciting, Ward, thank you!

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Her pictures are simple, funny and honest in their loose and seemingly un-technical compositions. But there is a method behind these little sketches and a lot more consistency than appears at first sight. Nicole’s work demonstrates there is value in consistency and simplicity in contemporary illustration.

I gave her a quick interview to find out more about her.

What keeps you busy apart from your sketches every day?

Honestly, not too much else in the way of art-making (besides the little drawings), but there’s been a lot of art-looking going on lately. I feel like I’m really excited by a lot of what I see on Etsy.com.  There’s so much great stuff on there and I have no idea who most of the people who make it are but that’s part of what inspires me the most. Anybody can make things and everything is special.

Quilts and ceramics and bow ties for cats and drawings… I spend far too much time on that website, searching and searching and searching.

What got you into drawing regularly in the way that you do?

I have to admit I have a tendency to compare myself to other artists much more than I probably should. That probably started when I was in art college (tiny Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, Mass.).

I’d peek at another artist’s work and think to myself, “now why is it that that person can make something so finished or so big or so colorful and all I want to do is make something quick?” Then I’d get to work on trying to make something finished looking or big or colorful and feel like I was a big phony.

That’s not how I LIKE to draw and who says I have to do anything I don’t LIKE to do? Nobody but me and I should really stop with all that.

Making a drawing a day is a way of getting OVER the thought that these little drawings aren’t important and that there’s real value in a tiny little thing that comes out of nowhere especially if it feels genuine enough.

What are your drawing instruments?

Cheap, cheap things!  I’ve been very fond of Papermate Sharpwriters (the yellowish/orange-ish mechanical pencils with the twisty tan tip and nice little pink eraser) and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.  Oh, and a big stack of computer paper that costs just about nothing for a mountain of it

Usually, the cheaper the materials, the better I think my drawings come out (probably because the expensive stuff psychs me out) but when I’m feeling slightly fancier I’ll use a Prismacolor Premier black fine line pen and Faber-Castell’s PITT artist pen in this really great dark yellow color

I suppose my biggest problem with my use of cheap materials is that when anyone wants to buy a drawing I feel pretty guilty that the physical thing they’re going to own might likely fall to pieces someday.

What are you working on at the moment?

Right now I’m thinking about getting back to work on my drawing-a-day blog at Finkle Boudit. I’ve been focusing on some other things for a while (like how my taste-buds feel like they need to shake the hands of bakery I can find in Portland) so I took a couple months off but I’m feeling my attention coming back around.

I might need a new scanner though because the one I’ve got has a petulant side to her.

ⓒ Nicole MacNeill, 2009

Good luck with getting back on track with those drawings!

MoonApe

These include her excellent drawn work, with what I see incorporating mainly Eastern European, American and Japanese influences, combined with bits and pieces that compliment each other to create a very pleasing aesthetic.

I’m a big fan of building up work in a sketchbook or diary that lead to the books being artworks in themselves.

ⓒ Anna Rusakova, 2009

Thank you Anna!

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If these don’t inspire you to get outside with those sketchbooks and pencils, I don’t know what will.

ⓒ Wil Freeborn, 2009

Check out and buy Wil’s ‘See You Around‘ book, documenting 2 years of traveling.

Thank you Wil!

MoonApe

Having spoken to him, I found out an interesting and I’m assuming under-used illustration technique.

Hollis went to the University of South Carolina and graduated with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in 1999.

Since then, he’s shown in galleries, being currently represented by Linda Warren Gallery in Chicago, Illinois, Barbara Archer Gallery in Atlanta, Georgia, and if ART Gallery in Columbia, South Carolina.

Hollis uses Copic and Prismacolor markers for his various undertakings, as well as the Industrial Black Sharpies.

My work process is typically preparing the image in Photoshop, which is often a combination of photography and scanned drawings. Then I use a light box to reproduce the image on paper. As for canvas, the same process, using an opaque projector.

He’s just finished working on a drawing of this hexagon pattern containing the color spectrum within a diagonal grid pattern, which he’s covered with darker colours in an attempt to block out a large proportion of the colours.

It’ll end up being very dense.

Well here it is:

ⓒ Hollis Brown Thornton, 2009

Great work Hollis!

Regards, MoonApe

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How did you get into cartooning and illustration?

I’ve been interested in comics and art for as long as I can remember. I’ve always had a strong urge to want to create what I liked so I started drawing pretty early on. I really had no other aptitudes, so while all of my classmates were out playing sports I was inside drawing.

What is your typical process of work and the tools you use?

I draw out most things, both comics and illustrations, with a pencil first. An ordinary mechanical pencil. Then I’ll go over the pencils with ink. I go back and forth between lots of different tools to keep myself interested but the most common tools I use are G-nibs with Winsor & Newton Indian Ink (usually diluted a tiny bit), or a brush with the same ink. Most often I use a Pentel Pocket Brush though. That’s the thing I always have with me, it’s the most versatile.

With both illustrations and comics I tend to doodle the visual elements in my sketchbook for a bit before tackling the main piece. For comics I will thumbnail the story pages with colored ball point pens (to keep the information organized) and then I’ll spend a couple of pages doodling the characters to really nail their specifics. It’s mostly the same with illustrations, thumbnailing the compositions until I get it right, and then sketching the visual elements several times in my sketchbook.

I think, for me, this sketchbook process is the most important because it gives me confidence for when I tackle the final page and it keeps me loose. Otherwise I would be really tight and nervous and the drawings would look stiff and dead. I feel like keeping loose and calm helps allow spontaneity and suprises to happen in the drawing process, which is always fruitful and fun.

A lot of your work appears destined for print, including through your own press. What advice do you have for those illustrators that want to work for printed material?

Colors never look the same in print as they do on the screen. Absolutely never. But most of the time it’s okay, as long as you’re ready for it. It’s hard to visualize what something will look like in print when working on the computer, so I try to make sure the compositions are strong enough to hold up the image even if the colors change a little bit.

A helpful way to understand compositions and balance is to work with fewer colors. It’s a fun challenge and I really like the way it looks. I almost always end up getting rid of a few colors when I’m two thirds of a way through an illustration because I often get carried way in the beginning. It’s refreshing to see the image in such a stripped down way, and then I can build it back up with that fresh perspective.

I don’t really know too much about materials for printing. I self-publish most of my comics and those are almost always printed on cheap copy paper. But I do like to use French Paper for my covers. They’re very good. Great quality and pretty colors.

I usually don’t like glossy paper. Sometimes it works, but I think most people probably choose it because they think it always looks good, and it doesn’t, in my opinion.

Is it easy to get set up making and printing your own comics?

I think so. I was never exposed to self-publishing until I became a student at The Center for Cartoon Studies. Often our homework was to be in the form of multiple-paged comics so we ended up making a lot of mini-comics and we were to make enough copies so that each person in our class could have their own. And that was the beginning for me. It was easy to get started because I had to. I have a hard time keeping things in print though, I keep running out of copies of my books.

ⓒ Joseph Lambert, 2009

What is in the pipeline at the moment?

I’m finishing up a collection of comics. That will be published by Secret Acres, and will probably come out sometime around November of 2009. I’m working on a biography of Helen Keller. It’s part of the series of comic biographies that Hyperion Publishing has put out in partnership with The Center for Cartoon Studies. I don’t know when that is coming out, but it should be finished this winter. And I’m going to start a few stories for inclusion in the Fantagraphics comics anthology Mome.

Are there any illustrators out there who are working on or planning on creating their own comics? It would be nice to hear comments from you.

Thanks for your interesting insight, Joe.

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His recent set of drawings are the focus of this interview, where I sought to find out more about his background and working style.

Lee has been drawing since he can remember; an important prerequisite, I feel, for the collection of work he is known for.

Over the years after graduating, my style sort of skipped around but generally I couldn’t sit with one piece for too long. Getting bored came easy. Then over the last few years I really lost any desire to do any art at all. It was a pretty hefty creative depression. Very recently I’ve begun to get inspired again, and the work has for some reason needed to be darker, and thick with line work. I’m still seeing where it goes.

Japanese art has been one of the main sources of inspiration for Lee over the years. Other influences include ‘organic/floral/natural textures… mushrooms… plus many ideas about air/wind/breath.‘

All of the pieces from Lee’s recent series have been drawn on a surprisingly small 8 by 5 inches Moleskine journalist/reporter notebook, which has a smoother paper quality than their sketchbooks range, and have a subtler, more favourable texture with an off white colour that Lee loves.

As far as drawing goes, I definitely have some sort of repetitive line syndrome. Building up layers and layers of line work is somewhat soothing to my brain as of late. For the moment, color either goes on as a slight tint or I start with a splotch and draw on top. Color is definitely where I need more exploration.

Recently Lee has been using a drafting lead holder with 2mm leads, which are 5B. ‘I’m going through roughly 6 leads or so a month maybe… with some breaks in there too. I need new lead come to think of it.’

ⓒ Lee Misenheimer, 2009

Lee is currently keeping the sketchbook going on a daily basis. ‘I have a few medium sized pieces in the works and a larger piece tacked to my wall that i just started on. I’m also trying to get back to a couple projects that I owe people during those few bad years.’

Inspiring, Lee, thank you!

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