May 11th, 2012
We have some lovely goodies to share with you this week!
We were so happy to learn that Victo Ngai was asked to illustrate a full page piece for the New Yorker - possibly one of the most coveted assignments in our industry. The illustration was to accompany a wonderful piece of fiction by Peter Stamm entitled “Sweet Dreams,” and Victo was asked to create an image about the two young protagonists, a couple in Switzerland. Take a peak on her blog to see sketches and to learn more about her interesting process.
We also received these awesome images from Carlo Stanga, who recently completed a fabulous campaign in his native Italy for the cheese manufacturer “Galbani.” Here is a closeup of the work, which is classically Carlo:
And here we see the image in context, used in a huge advertisement next to a glorious gothic cathedral in Milan:
Finally, we wanted to take a moment to honor the life and work of Maurice Sendak, who sadly passed away this week. Sendak, who most famously penned the children’s classic “Where the Wild Things Are,” had an incredible influence on children’s literature, and he will be greatly missed. You can read more here.
image by Maurice Sendak:
Tags: Carlo Stanga, victo ngai
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May 2nd, 2012
Spectrum, the annual which celebrates the best in contemporary fantastic art, has recently announced its winners, and Victo Ngai was so excited to learn that three of her pieces have been included. Congratulations, Victo! This is great exposure, and a tremendous honor.
You may follow Victo’s tumblr here.
And congrats again to this talented young artist!
Victo’s winning pieces:
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April 27th, 2012
Patti Mollica’s vibrant, thick brushstrokes capture perfectly the energy of her environment, be it dizzying and urban or bucolic and serene. Particularly considering her talent for communicating her medium, it is not surprising that she has been invited to conduct a week-long painting workship, en plein air, in stunning Cordona, Italy. How does one say “Lucky Duck” in Italian?
On her website, Patti elaborates: “Have you always longed to create paintings quickly and confidently but got overwhelmed by the task of translating complex scenes with lots of detail? If so, this workshop is designed specifically for you…my step-by-step workshop is designed to teach you how to paint quickly and fearlessly, using bold, brillant colors, thick, juicy paint and big brushes.” Sounds heavenly.
If you are able to get away, the workshop will be taking place September 8-15, and you can learn more by clicking here.
Image by Patti Mollica:
Tags: Patti Mollica
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April 17th, 2012
The annual “American Illustration” competition acknowledges some of the most cutting-edge illustrations from the previous year, and it is a great honor in our industry to be included in their pages. We are so happy that this year, three of our artists have made it!
Josée Bisaillon’s whimsical image was ‘chosen’ to appear on the juried web gallery:
Valeria Petrone’s bathing beauties were ’selected’ to appear in the annual:
And Victo Ngai’s awesome conceptual piece will also appear in the book this year:
Congratulations, Ladies!
Tags: Josee Bisaillon, Valeria Petrone, victo ngai
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April 5th, 2012
It has been a genuine pleasure to watch Josée Bisaillon’s charming work evolve, and it was a joy to learn that she has received not one, but two fantastic awards in the past week. How nice that the industry thinks she’s as fabulous as we do!
The Great Moon Hoax was recently included in the 2012 edition of Best Children’s Books of the Year by the Children’s Book Committee at the Bankstreet College of Education. The committee looks at over 6000 titles every year and carefully selects the best 600 books based on their literary quality while also considering their emotional impact on children. You can learn more by clicking here.
Additionally, we have learned that Bookspeak! has been honored at this year’s Bologna Children’s Book Fair with a White Raven Award…this is tremendous! The Bologna Children’s Book Fair is one of the premier events in our industry, and this is truly a tremendous accolade. We couldn’t be more proud.
Félicitations, Josée!
Tags: Josee Bisaillon
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April 3rd, 2012
Steal this Art is a company founded on a simple principle: to bring quality prints by talented artists to art-lovers on a budget. With each limited edition print on sale for a mere 24 hours, the company prints the pieces on-demand, greatly reducing the artists’ costs. And we are pleased to announce that on Tuesday, April 10th, Dave Calver’s awesome piece ” Sweet Wound” will be up for grabs! The print run will be limited to 100 copies, and at $40 a piece, you know that they’re going to sell like hotcakes.
Check out Steal this Art for more info.
“Sweet Wound” by Dave Calver
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March 16th, 2012
There has been an awful lot going on behind the scenes, and we have been looking forward to sharing this week’s post with you!
Victo Ngai recently traveled back to her native Hong Kong, where she was selected to receive two silver medals and one judge’s pick for the Second Greater China Illustration Awards - a competition that includes illustrators from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau and Mainland China. She explains that this particular accomplishment means a lot to her, as it is the first time that she has won an award in her homeland. She wrote a little bit about the experience on her wonderful blog, which you can read by clicking here. And congratulations, Miss Victo!! She keeps reeling them in.
Here is Victo, third from the left, bottom row:
The awards:
Victo also received a wonderful acknowledgment from CommunicationArts, which featured a brief interview with the artist, along with some of her works. Take a peek here!
One of Victo Ngai’s featured pieces:
We were also thrilled to receive some very exciting press. Recently, we announced a very high-profile collaboration between Second Lady Dr. Jill Biden and our very own Raul Colon. Dr Biden’s first children’s book, “Don’t Forget, God Bless our Troops” is a touching story told through the eyes of a child dealing with a parent fighting overseas, and we were thrilled to receive an announcement from Publisher’s Weekly celebrating its release (click here). It goes without saying that we are rather confident that we’ll be hearing an awful lot about this book in the months to come.
And finally, we would like to congratulate the MTA’s Arts for Transit program, with whom we have had the joy of collaborating on several occasions. They have just announced the release of the Arts for Transit on Meridian App, a virtual gallery of all of the mosaics, installations, paintings, posters, art cards and more that pepper the lives of New Yorkers every day. Now, wherever you are in the world, you can always enjoy a little piece of NYC. Take a moment to view a little video announcing this interesting development here.
Here is a poster that was created for the MTA by Sylvie Daigneault:
Dave Calver created this beauty for the program:
And a mural created by Raul Colon:
Tags: raul colon, victo ngai
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March 8th, 2012
Creative Quarterly has become a notable source for talent in the commercial arts, and it is always exciting when our awesome MGI-ers are selected to appear in this terrific publication! We would like to say a hearty congratulations to Sylvie Daigneault and Paul Garland, who have been selected as ‘winners’ AND ‘runners-up’ in the Professional Illustration Category. Congrats, lady and gent! And thank you to the judges and publisher Charles Hively for this nice acknowledgment.
“Winning” Piece by Sylvie Daigneault:
“Runner Up” Piece by Sylvie Daigneault:
“Winning” Piece by Paul Garland:
“Runner Up” Piece by Paul Garland:
Tags: paul garland, Sylvie Daigneault
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February 22nd, 2012
Six years ago, principal Gail Gaynin began fundraising for and participating in the massively successful Hike 4 Hope with a few of her closest girlfriends. After learning that many loved ones had been diagnosed with cancer, particularly in that year, Gail’s philanthropic heart realized that it was time to help yet another cause - and she’s remained dedicated to the City of Hope ever since.
The City of Hope is a pioneer in cancer-treatment technologies and spearheads new areas of research, and this awesome institution needs your help now more than ever. Won’t you join us in supporting Gail and this terrific charity?
Please click here to learn more about the City of Hope and to help Gail get one step closer to her goal!
And thanks 
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February 8th, 2012
We work hard to keep our artists’ portfolios fresh and relevant (hats off to Vicki), and wanted to share our latest makeovers…
Steven Tabbutt
Victo Ngai
Kurt Huggins and Zelda Devon
Pete Ryan
Shannon Brady
Check us out!
Tags: kurt huggins zelda devon, pete ryan, shannon brady, Steven Tabbutt, victo ngai
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