Mats Gustafson

The illustrator I found this week is Mats Gustafson, which came from looking at Communication Arts November 2005 issue and seeing his illustrations in the catalog below. His illustrations are based on watercolors and inks, creating interesting textures and conveys the object in the simplest matter possible.  Though he's done some sketches and they're as neat as his watercolor illustrations, they don't bring the dynamic feel illustrations like the one on the right.  It also seems that he uses the grayscale as the main color scheme; but when she uses bright colors, it feels more romantic and very organic.  To find some of her work, you can click here.

Jane Mjolsness

This is the work of Jane Mjolsness, whom I found in the Print November 2002 issue.  It's similar to the artwork of Mary Lee Blasutta, but she brings her own style to it, using brighter colors (bringing more vibrancy to her work) and at some points uses simpler line strokes and less detail to convey the subject at hand.  She even has pieces, like below, where she has a simple drawing with her handwriting to explain everything, which I would like to try and put into my own work.

The only thing I wish she would've tried to do was collages like Mary, but maybe it worked out for the best and she does packaging designs for her work instead (like she has above).  Simple is beautiful.  You can find her portfolio here.

Franklin McMahon

I was looking through the old World Book Encyclopedia's down in my basement and came upon one illustration that I loved!  I will eventually get it scanned, but am currently trying to find his website as well.  His name is Franklin McMahon and has been an illustrator for quite awhile.  He has a very interesting way of still showing lots of lines, adding detail, and a unique way of drawing each section and people; even for the articles in the World Book Encyclopedias.  He adds character to everything he draws.  If someone found his main website, please send me the link.  I've been trying to look for his portfolio website and haven't found it yet.

Trish Grantham

I had found Trish Grantham in HOW magazine's August 2006 issue and fell in love with her illustrations!  Not only does she do regular artwork that have the collage feel, she does a lot of installations that are the same.  Her murals are really interesting as well.  To me, it's not only the collages that I really like, she has a very pleasing color palette of lighter colors of blues, pinks, and yellows.

I wonder, though, for some of these illustrators what the message is they're trying to exactly convey?  There is a certain sadness in the installation (to the right) but don't understand why the dove is wearing a crown?  Either way, I would definitely view more of her work if she had some here in town.

Jonathon Carlson

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I found Jonathon Carlson in Print magazine's Design Annual 2002.  The best part of his illustrations is he's able to have his own style while bringing in the old 1940's/1950's drawing inspirations to light.

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Jonathon has a way of combining darker color tones that I truly enjoy in each of his pieces and love a lot of the advertisements he's done.  They're so humorous and totally unexpected!

Some of the best examples of incorporating the old with the new design in his work is above and to the left.  To check out more of his work, click here.

Jaz Harold

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The illustrator for this week I found when looking through CMYK 2009 edition by the name of Jaz Harold.  He has really interesting subject matter in his illustrations, which really drew me to him.

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His drawing style was probably the item that drew me to him the most; especially when you look at his different types of illustrations he does.  Throughout, you can still see his style in there, which makes it very special.

The picture to the left is a digital drawing he did (which can be seen in the CMYK issue), and the right is a painting/drawing.

You can click to get to his website here.

Mary Lee Blasutta

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This is the work of Mary Lee Blasutta, whom I found thanks to Paul while I was working on a previous project for GDS 220.

I think she has done some absolutely amazing artwork, some of it reminding me of the French drawings and has a unique drawing style for the people she creates.

Also, she manages to do some collages (one of them being below and I think that it's an absolute creative way to take a map... It looks like it could be a real life project a designer created!) and a few animations.

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I hope to use this style of work for one of my projects because it brings out sophistication while being so simple.  To check out her website, you can click either of the picture credits or here.