Artist from La La Land

Illustrator of the week is Melissa Kojima from "Artist in LA LA Land Illustration".

I consider her one of my friends from the blogging network and such an honor she follows me (thank you Melissa) she always shares great support(thank you Melissa) So I don't know what took me so long to feature her (wait I know, Procrastination tsk tsk) She's does everything from illustration to Paper-Mache. I'm a big fan of her paper-dolls and not just like the ones you used to cut from the back of children magazines with the little flaps, but articulated ones, Perfect for children and adults. If you are a fan of bunnies,paper toys,vintage toys, animal circus or looking for a blog full of inspiration, definitely check her blog. I follow her blog not only to see her work that she shares, but she also shares such awesome findings, she just shared this amazing thanksgiving paper play I would not have found on my own. So highly recommend to check out her work and her blog, you'll end up full of inspiration,and now some photos.

Hungry for more? Visit her blog @ http://www.melissakojima.blogspot.com

Renata Liwska

I love Renata Liwska's Illustrations, they make me want to hug them and cuddle with them. Her characters are so friendly! and I love her rendering style :).  I was surprised to find out she used photoshop, it really doesn't look very digital, I like how she worked out a style where she combined the  traditional with the digital! but you really can't tell! you can see the process of her work thanks to amazon.com HERE. I really need to get some of her books in my library.

See more of her work at her website, while there check the sketchbook section! @ http://www.renataliwska.com/

Yes, she has a blog, enjoy it @ http://renataliwska.blogspot.com/

Irina Vinnik

Yes, you can close your mouth now, it's quite jaw-dropping. I love Irina Vinik's illustrations, from the one's in her sketchbook to her graphics in the computer, all those details, and swirls it reminds me of art nouveau. She started as an architect, then web designer and she's now an illustrator. I'm showing here my favorites, they are mostly her botanical illustrations, but she does some cool letterings too.So go check out her website at http://vinnik.net 

or visit her BEHANCE

Sally Mavor

I truly admire illustrators whose work is 3D Wether is sculpture to sewing skills, I quite admire the attention they pay to the details.  The way she handles her fabric creations are beautiful! I love to spend time looking at how she did every detail and boy the lettering she does is so mouthwatering!!! Once I'm settled in Mexico, I can't wait to include her books in my library.


Visit her website for more wonders @ http://www.weefolkstudio.com/
And her blog @ http://weefolk.wordpress.com/

Brandi Milne

When doing my Influence Map I couldn't believe I haven't shared one of my favorite, sweet and inspirational illustrator Brandi Milne (even her name sounds cool). I actually first saw her work at the Corey Helford Gallery in Culver City, CA. She also visited my school to give a talk, and she's a really sweet, funny and charismatic person. Her illustrations really reflect the person she is. I love her style from how she draws her sweet characters from flora,fauna and humans, her color palette has a candy touch to it, and it almost feel as if she've been to candy land or wonderland!


Go visit her Website @ http://brandimilne.com
Visit her blog @ http://brandimilne.blogspot.com/
See some cool videos of her sketching @ http://www.sketchtheatre.com/?p=3815

Raquel Aparicio

I love Raquel Aparicio's illustrations I feel she uses negative space so well. She uses different media but I love the ink style it has and how simple she keeps her illustrations. They have a sense of it being suspended in time. Very cool. Go visit her website to see more awesome work @ http://www.raquelissima.com/

Dani Jones

This week Illustrator of the week is Dani jones! I really love her digital illustration, they have a touch of traditional style, it looks to me like acrylic and gouaches! I really like her illustration style and she's quite a very active illustrator is so inspiring to read her blog! plus she gives such good advice, tips, as well as really good tutorials. I plan to do the following tutorials:

• How to Draw Children.
• Get the Most out of your Line Drawing.
• 50 Facial Expressions and How to Draw them.
• The Value of Color Studies.

She also create The Illustrated Section, a great place to sell your webcomics! I been thinking that sometime in the future I would love to start a comic series, so the illustrated section would be a great place to sell it. 

So check out her website: http://danidraws.com/

Her blog: http://danidraws.com/blog/

And the Illustrated Section: http://theillustratedsection.com

She also just finished a Children's book called " Once upon a Time" is quite charming!:

Go read it here: http://danidraws.com/onceuponatime/

She also shares her process, which is very informative.

Fun Interview of Coralie Bickford-Smith

One of my favorite book designers is Coralie Bickford-Smith, I'm a huge fan of her clothbound books, I shared some on this post. She just released new covers for "The Great Food Series" for Penguin books and them covers don't disappoint, check out her interview:

A serious interview with designer Coralie Bickford-Smith about her Great Food series for Penguin from Alan Trotter on Vimeo.

Go Check out more of her book covers @ : http://www.cb-smith.com/

In My Mailbox: Rubin Pinqk!

As you know I was a winner in Rubin Pinqk "Art Forward" which led me to do the "Postcard Forward" a few weeks ago. So it was so nice to see a letter addressed to me in a cute pink envelope and here is what greeted me :)

Isn't it awesome! I love it so thank you so much Rubin!. If you haven't checked out Rubin's blog do so now, here are some of my favorite sketches of his:

See more of his work @ http://rubinpingk.com

Mike Smith

I love Mike Smith's blogjournal. Not just the humor but the format! who would've though a planner/diary could be transformed into a sketchbook, pretty inspiring no? His comics cover topics of his daily life from illustration, to his dogs, his family and friends. 

Go visit his blog @ www.blogshank.com