David Levine

David Levine is a towering influence on most illustrators who ply their trade in satire, so this Vanity Fair article is a must read. Be sure to check out Levine’s online gallery.

I bought this extraordinary used book (which is out of print as of 1983.) This gem contains chapters such as: “Getting the Picture Idea” /” How To Select a Model”/ “The Importance of Detail” / Poses and Props”/ Making the Charcoal Drawing”/ Making the Color Sketch”/ and “The Final Painting”.

I wish Watson-Guptill Publications would release and updated edition with modern printing in full color, with a hardcover—it is the only way I can think of to improve on this classic.

It also has an interesting blog.

Please feel free to visit my page there if you are interested.

Me with C.F. Payne

The Illustration Academy held a week long continuing education workshop in San Francisco in March that I attended.

I still reflect on the week-long program—it was that great.

I met and studied under industry leaders such as C.F. Payne and Mark English, Gary Kelley, and Anita Kunz.

Gary Kelley, Mark English, Sterling Hundley, Andrea Wicklund, John English, Anita Kunz, and Brent Watkinson

“The days began at 9:00 AM with studio time, lectures, slide presentations, demonstrations, or figure drawing scheduled until 9:00 PM. Students remained in the studios and worked until after midnight on the assignments. All of the instructors listed were in attendance for the full week, except for Geroge Pratt, who was with us for about a day and a half.

Also during this busy week, the students conceptualized, researched, and completed an assignment given the first day by the faculty. The week ended with a final critique of the completed works. One week in length, this Illustration Academy was shorter, but every bit as intense as the seven week program.”

I particularly enjoyed the opportunity to watch them work and ask questions about anything and everything related to a career in illustration.

illo magazine archive

For fans of illustration, check out the publication put together by Dan Zimmer.

Why not buy a subscription and help make this beautiful magazine a well-deserved success?

Adbase is an online custom list service for design professionals. They tout themselves as a “The easiest way to reach new clients”. After using them for a couple of years, I like them—especially because they make e-mail campaigns as painless as possible.

If you want an alternative mailing list service, then how about Agency Access? They recently acquired Steven Langerman Lists (consolidation goes on—world without end.)

Another great website is Brands of the world. A colleague who used to work at Virgen Advertising mentioned this site once and expressed some reluctance to share such a useful website for fear that popularity might cause its demise. Here it is anyway!

The Illustration Academy is held in Richmond Virginia (it used to be held in Independence Missouri) and brings students together with some of the best professional illustrators working today. Worth every penny if you are serious about illustration.