I made a vow this year to learn more about some the fantastic illustrators out there sharing their work on the web, and I've done this mostly by subscribing to a bunch of new design and inspiration blogs. As I've written before, I've also been asked to participate in the More Birthdays campaign from the American Cancer Society and one of the great things they asked me to do was take a look at some of the artists who've contributed illustrations to their More Birthdays campaign. I had already encountered the work of Brooklyn-based illustrator and pattern-maker Julia Rotham in the New York Times as well as a major contributor to Design*Sponge (especially her perfect illustrations for so many of the Design*Sponge City Guides; I wish she had illustrated my Detroit Guide!), so I was super excited to see that Julia had a piece among the More Birthdays artwork. Julia's contribution to the campaign is this colorful pattern made up of late 1980s-looking buses, station wagons, minivans and cars intended to honor the volunteer drivers who take cancer patients to treatment. Julia writes, "You’re making more birthdays possible. Because I imagined the patients being driven home healthy, my pattern design shows the patients full of bright happy color, returning home, feeling better. "

It would make a great wrapping paper for a special someone's birthday (and it's available from the ACS as four huge sheets of wrapping paper here).

I really like these kinds of patterns. The one above reminds me a bit of some of my favorite illustrations I've bought fellow 20x200 artists Christine Berrie and Jane Mount, so I was excited to dig a bit deeper into Julia's portfolio, and man was I excited by what I found there. Check out a few of my favorite examples of her work:

 

I really love this painting of Brooklyn Hasidim:

And this one with all the badass detectives:

Even though I had been exposed to Julia's work before, exploring her site I was super pleased to see some of her digital illustrations for woodland-themed toys that I knew nothing about. I am definitely going to have to pick up some of these fox things for my fox-obsessed daughter.

Illustrations for Kid O's Into the Forest game

And I love her illustration for this puzzle, also for Kid O:

Again, I am so grateful to the ACS for doing what they do and bringing together these artists and exposing me to Julia's beautiful work. If you want to support the ACS by buying a copy of Julia's print, it's available here (again) as a wrapping paper, a poster, and a limited edition print. And be sure to check out her portfolio for more of her work.

Previous Inspiration

This blog is intended solely to share the things I come across that inspire me. If I have posted a copyrighted image, I have only done so to the extent necessary to comment upon or discuss it; I will always include a link to the original source of the image if that source is online or acknowledge the source if it is in print. If I have reproduced anything of yours here that is copyrighted and you want me to remove it, please do not hesitate to contact me and I will do so right away.

When I was researching artists for our 2010 holiday card, I became upset with myself for how little I knew about the range of fantastic illustrators sharing their work on the Internet and how overwhelming it was to see so much talent out there. As I wrote before, I was honored to be asked to participate in the More Birthdays campaign from the American Cancer Society and one thing they asked me to do was take a look at some of the artists who've contributed illustrations to the More Birthdays campaign, and that's how I came across the work of Wahington D.C.-based illustrator Andrew Bannecker. Andrew's contribution to the campaign was this lovely sort of abstract piece he says represents, "the magic moment right after you blow out a birthday candle."

But when I visited Andrew's portfolio site, I was not expecting all the wonderful figurative illustrations of mustachioed animals, fire eaters, sword swallowers, pirates, and pipe-smoking gents. Check out some of my favorite selections of his work below:

I really, really love those pirates, as well as the happy horse in that last one.

I am grateful to the ACS for bringing together these artists and exposing me to Andrew's beautiful work. If you want to support the ACS by buying a copy of Andrew's print, it's available here as a wrapping paper (more birthdays!), a poster, and a limited edition print. 

Previous Inspiration

This blog is intended solely to share the things I come across that inspire me. If I have posted a copyrighted image, I have only done so to the extent necessary to comment upon or discuss it; I will always include a link to the original source of the image if that source is online or acknowledge the source if it is in print. If I have reproduced anything of yours here that is copyrighted and you want me to remove it, please do not hesitate to contact me and I will do so right away.