At Advocate Art we were delighted to receive this book sample from Franklin Watts, illustrated by freelance artist Steve Stone. The wonderfully bright and mischievious pictures are a great example of the standard of work being produced by our children’s illustrators. Check our more of his work here. Good job, Steve!
Advocate Art would like to tell you a bit more about Lawrence Chase. Lawrence originally from St.Albans, specialises in children’s book illustration. He uses a range of techniques to generate his images, we love how he combines traditional pencil on watercolour paper and digital colouring. Read Lawrence’s biography below and check out his portfolio of work on the Advocate website.
I was born on the 6th April 1985 in St.Albans where I lived for the first 15 years of my life, before moving to Luton with a brief stay in Watford. I currently live with my girlfriend and our goldfish George in a sleepy little village called Markyate. Which isn’t always that sleepy when airplanes fly over on their way to distant faraway lands, like Edinburgh! Growing up I always liked to draw, especially characters from books or videogames. I even opened a small shop in my bedroom where I sold my pictures to family and friends. My favourite children’s books were the Professor Brainstorm series, illustrated by Heath Robinson. With their mix of humour and over-engineered contraptions that have always fascinated me. Art was the only thing I ever saw myself doing, so I enrolled on a Fine Art BA(hons) course at Bedfordshire University and graduated in 2009. Since then I have embarked on a career in illustration, using both traditional pencil on watercolour paper, and digital colouring techniques to make my kooky drawings come to life.
Advocate Art would like to introduce you to the two fabulous interns that we currently have working with us…
Firstly there is Claire, who studied Illustration at Cambridge School of Art. She started last week and so far she has been busy uploading artists work to the website and helping our agents with mocking up greetings card range boards as well as contributing to the post Bologna follow ups that we talk about in the blog post SENDS SENDS SENDS.
And then there is Sian who joined us this week. She studied illustration and digital animation at the University of Southampton. She has also been helping us with our Bologna sends and catalogue updates. Have a look at more of her work on her website.
Watch this space for more from Sian and Claire…
We were very excited here at Advocate to see the work of one our artists Sarah Horne featured in the Sun.The clipping featured an interview with the author Timothy Knapman about the second book in the Uncle Foulpest series.
See the clipping below, visit amazon to purchase the book or see more of Sarah’s work on our website by clicking here.
Here at Advocate Art we love to know when our illustrators are doing well. We received these lovely message about Marc Mones. Well done Marc!
It was really pleasure to work with Marc, and I hope he does as well.
Please tell him that I wish he has a great luck on his next project and look forward to working with him again soon.
Have a look at some of his work on the Advocate Art website by clicking here.
Here at Advocate Art we are excited to introduce our new illustrator Jessica Taunton. We think her vibrant artwork would be perfect for children’s books and we can’t wait to start showing her work to clients. Keep reading to learn more about Jessica and visit Advocate Arts website here to see more of her work.
I was born in Somerset in 1985. I lived there for 18 months and during this time became very well acquainted with the next-door neighbour’s garden gnomes. I went to primary school in Herefordshire where I lived on a small farm, then I moved to the seaside in Pembrokeshire when I was 12. I have lived in the countryside for most of my life and always feel inspired by sunshine and nature. My Mum is a calligrapher and sulptor, and my Dad a bookbinder so I have always been surrounded by creativity. I studied illustration with animation at Manchester Metropolitan University and graduated with a first in 2007. I absolutely loved the course and it was there that I decided to pursue a creative career. I work digitally to combine my drawings with photos, texture and patterns and would describe my work as being bright, colourful and fun. I like taking photos, running, cooking, surfing and toasting marshmallow. I am a big reggae fan and my favourite book is Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts.
Recently you will have seen blog posts on the new Advocate Heads Up calendar and agency book which comes with a CD full of our lovely illustrators’ work. Well our featured artist on the CD cover is children’s illustrator Emmeline Pidgen and she has sent us a few words describing why she made this illustration.
“I created this illustration in honour of Roald Dahl day 2011. Roald Dahl stories were a big part of my life growing up, and when I discovered this quote from the man himself I couldn’t help but attempt to illustrate the true magic to be found within the covers of story books. ‘Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.’ – Roald Dahl”
Wording on the CD:
Contains: E-book pdf of artists’ folios – additional folio pieces as medium resolution – files suitable for presentation – images themed in categories e.g. “dinosaurs”.
Does not contain: viruses – programs that will crash your computer – works from prima-donnas or divas.
Igor Sinkovec works as an illustrator and animator, mainly within a comical and whimsical style aimed towards the younger generation. He works in both traditional and digital mediums to create his work. Here is a little more about him.
“I was born in Slovenia in 1978. As a kid I was dreaming of becoming a truck driver… or at least an astronaut. As it turned out, I got stuck behind a drawing board. Sometimes I still draw a road tanker or a space-shuttle.
I draw illustrations and comics for magazines, book covers, picture-books, school work-books and character designs.
Along with illustration I also work as a 2D animator (film and games) and animation director. Among other projects I have animated, written and directed 2 cartoon shorts Ignatz (pilot episode for a series, supported by European film fund MEDIA) and Egon the Hat (supported by Slovenian Ministry of Culture).
I’m mostly drawing for children and youth. I like the humorous & whimsical side of life and I guess that reflects in my work.
I’m working with computer as well as with classic mediums.
When I’m drawing I often listen to music, but there are times when I need complete silence to focus on what I’m doing.
I also love books. There’s just something personal and intimate about them. I usually read in the morning, before starting to work; a great start to the day.
I live in Ljubljana with my girlfriend who is also an illustrator.”
Advocate artists “Tyanim” are a husband and wife team that goes by the names Thierry and Yinxuan. Both specialise in 3D work, however Thierry is an animator whilst Yinxuan is an illustrator. Read on to find out a little more about each, and to see there work on the Advocate website click here.
What is your place and year of birth?
Thierry: I was born in France in 1980 and my wife was Born In China in 1983.
Where did you grow up/where do you now live?
Thierry: I grew up in Nancy, a nice little city in the north east of France.
Yinxuan: I grew up in Qing Huang Dao…
Thierry: God bless you.
Yinxuan: I didn’t sneeze stupid. It is the name of the place I grew up. It is also the place where the Great Wall of China began.
Any special childhood influences which lead to your artistic career?
Thierry: I spent my child hood watching cartoon and feature film. Aladdin from Disney was a shock to me. After that I knew my dream was to be a character animator.
Yinxuan: I always loved watching sketching and painting, I feel all art is telling a story, I am really inspired by that.
If you are not self-taught, what training did you undergo to become an artist?
Yinxuan: I have been to the Beijing School of Cinema and I graduated in 3D animation.
Thierry: 7 years ago I started learning animation alone using Richard Williams’s book, and last year in order to become a better animator I decided to join Animation Mentor School.
How would you describe your artwork?
Yinxuan: Cute, sexy and cartoony, I guess.
What methods do you usually employ in your art?
Yinxuan: I always start by gathering lots of reference of what I need in order to create characters, I also spend time thumbnailing and drawing with pencil and paper, and them I’ll move to my computer and start modelling in 3D.
Thierry: Well I start clicking and I hope for the best. Nah, just kidding.
How do you describe yourself when people ask about your career?
Thierry: I stop trying to describe myself, every time I say ‘I’m a Character animator’ most people say ‘what is that?’
Any key exhibitions/campaigns/published media you have participated in?
Yinxuan: I was interviewed by the magazine Effects Zone and my ‘toi et moi’ Illustration got published in the magazine 3D artists.
Are you a member of any artistic societies?
Thierry: I wanted to be member of a secret society, but I never find it.
Do you have a favourite piece that you have created?
Yinxuan: Every new one I finish is always my favourite.
Do you have any pets?
Yinxuan: I would like to have a cat.
If you weren’t an artist/illustrator, what do you think you’d be doing?
Thierry: When I was a kid I wanted to be a fireman, then I started using a computer.
Yinxuan: Owner of my own library or a shop selling various things for home.
Do you prefer the countryside or the city?
Thierry: City, definitely city.
Do you listen to music when you drawn/paint? If so, what kind?
Thierry: I’m not listening to music when I’m animating, I need to focus as much as I can.
This afternoon, one of our very talented illustrators Francoise Michelle came to visit us at Advocate all the way from Wigan. She brought us these gorgeous owl mugs and a ladybird mug especially for Ed which says high flier! To see Francoise’s work on the Advocate website click here.
We are very excited to see that three of our children’s book illustrators are featured on Sunshine Smile Publications website as showcased artists. Sunshine Smile Publications is dedicated to celebrating children’s books, and the love and hard work that their creators put into making stories come alive! Their site has news on upcoming illustrators and children’s books and an online resource for finding young fiction. As well as this it generates a fabulous buzz around the work by interviewing and featuring artists on their website. Three of our artists have been interviewed and appear on the home page which is very exciting! Angela Muss, Genie Espinosa and Steven Wood all have question and answer interviews as well as an overview of their work and examples of their illustrations. Below are screen shots of the artists on the website but if you would like to read more then click here to visit the Sunshine Smile Publications website, it is definitely worth a visit!
We saw something funny today so we just had to put it on the blog! Who knew Patch would become such a successful illustrator . . . .
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