CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS! THE BLACK & WHITE ISSUE

 
Art by Elizabeth Haidle

Art by Elizabeth Haidle

 

Are you an artist or writer who would love to contribute to ILLUSTORIA? Well, we'd love to hear from you!

We have a few slots left in our upcoming issue, themed "BLACK & WHITE." In particular, we're looking for:

- a couple of 2- to 3-page comics or illustrated stories

-spot art or standalone illustrations + minimal text or poetry

-1–3 panel comic strips

Pssst...! We  may be a wee bit biased toward work that celebrates diversity, silent films, and b&w photography...but also totally open and excited to see your original ideas! 

Submissions due by October 12th, 2017. Find out more about our submissions guidelines here, then email your submission to: submissions@illustoria.com.

Good luck!

Announcing #5: THE MOTION ISSUE

 
Cover art by Yuliya Gwilym

Cover art by Yuliya Gwilym

 

We are thrilled to present issue #5 of ILLUSTORIA, The Motion Issue. This issue is currently at the printer and will be delivered in the coming weeks so be on the lookout! 

 
Color proofs of The Motion Issue

Color proofs of The Motion Issue

 

The Motion issue is bursting with invigorating stories and comics that will get your brain humming and your feet gearing up for action. We asked writers, artists, and makers to explore motion in all different forms, and the result is a meditation in movement in the form of sea creatures at the aquarium, the gallop of horses, journeys into space and fantastical worlds, the capturing of motion through art and photography, and even the progressive, forward-movement of trailblazers and activists. 

Start off the school year inspired and energized through interviews with writer/activist Kate Schatz and visionary artist Miriam Klein Stahl of the bestseller Rad Women Wordwide.

A spread from our interview with rad women Kate Schatz and Miriam Klein Stahl of Rad Women Worldwide and Rad American Women A-Z

A spread from our interview with rad women Kate Schatz and Miriam Klein Stahl of Rad Women Worldwide and Rad American Women A-Z

Learn how to make your own Victorian-era animated thaumatrope with a DIY activity by our creative director, Elizabeth Haidle.

DIY Victorian-era thaumatrope activity

DIY Victorian-era thaumatrope activity

Become a color detective when you read a brief history of vermilion by pigment and watercolor expert Alexis Joseph of Case for Making and master watercolorist Lindsay Stripling.

A Brief History of Vermilion by Alexis Joseph and Lindsay Victoria Lee, for issue #5: Motion

A Brief History of Vermilion by Alexis Joseph and Lindsay Victoria Lee, for issue #5: Motion

Fall in love with heroes of art history through eye-opening comics on Eadweard Muybridge, Madeline L'Engle, and Henri Matisse, and enjoy so much more in the form of comics, illustrated stories, book recommendations, a playlist and recipe, coloring pages, and activities.

Photographing Motion: Eadweard Muybridge, by Marlowe Dobbe for issue #5: Motion

Photographing Motion: Eadweard Muybridge, by Marlowe Dobbe for issue #5: Motion

 Spread from Literary Giants as Kids: Madeleine L'Engle, by Elizabeth Haidle for issue #5: Motion

 Spread from Literary Giants as Kids: Madeleine L'Engle, by Elizabeth Haidle for issue #5: Motion

So get moving and pre-order your copy of The Motion Issue on our shop page or at your local favorite shop, newsstand, or bookstore

Drawing Contest! Win a signed book + original art by Martin Cendreda

 
Contest page in Issue 4: The Grow Issue. Enter to win An Apple and an Adventure and a piece of original art. 

Contest page in Issue 4: The Grow Issue. Enter to win An Apple and an Adventure and a piece of original art. 

 

Do you have a copy of ILLUSTORIA issue 4: The Grow Issue? If so, you can enter our drawing contest for a chance to win a signed copy of An Apple and An Adventure PLUS a piece of original art by the talented illustrator-animator-storyboard artist-comic book maker-author Martin Cendreda!

All you or your creative little one will need to do:

1. Draw what you think will grow in the empty space on the page (pictured above). Bonus points for creating a ditty for the cave girl to sing!

2. Send a photo or scan of your artwork to hello@illustoria.com

Contest runs from May 01, 2017 to July 15, 2017. (Deadline has just been extended so don't delay!) We will choose a winner on/around July 15, 2017. (For further details, see our contest rules.)

Here's a look at Martin's comic, "Seed Songs," which appears in Illustoria: The Grow Issue.

 
 

This adorable comic was inspired by the characters in his new book, An Apple and An Adventure, published by Boom! Studios. In this engaging book that grownups will enjoy just as much as little ones learning their ABCs, a cave girl and her triceratops set out on an adventure from A to Z and make new friends along the way. They meet all sorts of characters including galloping goliaths, nine newts, petite plesiosaurs, and more. Martin creates a fantastical landscape that will have everyone poring over the details--large and small, simple yet other-worldly. It's a total joy to read so don't miss out on this opportunity to get a signed copy + an original piece of art!

 
From Boom! Studios: An Apple and An Adventure uses rhyme and the ABCs to create an engaging world of wonder that's both educational and fun. 

From Boom! Studios: An Apple and An Adventure uses rhyme and the ABCs to create an engaging world of wonder that's both educational and fun. 

 

Martin was kind enough to give us a behind-the-scenes look at the making of this book. Read all about his fascinating process sketching, developing, and creating his book here

So don't delay. Get out your copy of IllustoriaThe Grow Issue, color and draw to your wild imagination's content on our contest page, and send in your entry here!

We look forward to seeing what you come up with. Good luck!!

Todd Webb Follows Georgia O'Keeffe in the Desert

Meet Todd Webb, who lives in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and who graces the pages of the — upcoming! — second issue of Illustoria with a gorgeous, reflective piece about the great American painter Georgia O'Keeffe. Todd's comic is drawn, literally and figuratively, from O'Keeffe's own writings — he uses her own words. Webb shared shots of his studio, and his thoughts about creativity, and much more, in the following interview.

What were you like as a kid?

Shy and quiet — picked on a lot, so I kept to myself or a small but close group of friends. My favorite place was the library, and I was always reading or drawing. 

What were some of your favorite childhood books?

Early on I read all the Encyclopedia Brown and Hardy Boys books — my dad still had a full set of Tom Swift books too and we read those together when I was really little. I've still got those. I read a lot of Peanuts collections. And Calvin & Hobbes. My dad had a lot of sci fi books so I read a bunch of those at an early age too, but eventually started reading "classics" — Salinger, Hemingway, etc. etc. 

When did you know you wanted to be an artist and writer?

When I figured out that Charles Schulz made Peanuts and that was his job — the idea that you could grow up and draw comics for a living instantly overtook my brain, and I never stopped shooting for that goal, though eventually my aim shifted to comic books instead of comic strips.

Todd Webb's studio

Who or what inspires you? 

Everything — haha. I'm constantly getting ideas from things and people I encounter, see, read about, etc. I like to read poetry. That always gives me weird fun ideas to try out with comics. 

When do you feel you're most creative?

It used to be late at night, but as I've grown older I think I tend to do my best work if I get started first thing in the morning. But a big aspect of being creative is being able to make yourself just do the work every day — even if you're not feeling "inspired" — you've still gotta hit the drawing board and make something! 

The artist at work

Do you have a favorite type of pen, or brush, or paper for drawing with?

For years now I've been inking with Faber Castell Pitt Artist brush pens. I love them! I usually draw on Strathmore Bristol board. I'll buy a big pad of it and trim the paper to whatever size I need for a specific project.  

It all starts with pencil on paper.

What advice would you share with young aspiring artists?

Keep at it! And do it because you love it. Make work and show it to artists you admire. Don't be afraid of mistakes and don't think you need to draw a certain way or that you need special supplies. Do the best you can do with what you have! 
 
Why did you draw something about Georgia O'Keefee?

There's a couple reasons. A few years back I got to see her painting "The Lawrence Tree" (which is a great painting of a tree she used to sit beneath on the Lawrence ranch, seen from beneath as if you were looking up through the branches) and I really liked it. So I started to dig through other works of hers I hadn't been familiar with, and that led me to a big collection of her letters, which were a great read as well. I ended up writing a song about the Lawrence Tree painting, as well as one inspired by a letter ("The Lawrence Tree" and "Georgia, 1931" respectively on the Seamonster album Baldessari). So that was one thing. In the interim, I've really enjoyed connecting with other artists and writers and musicians from the past whose work really speaks to me by making something myself inspired by their works, be it a comic, a drawing, or a piece of music. I think engaging with an inspiring piece of work by making a piece of my own helps me process and figure out what it is I like about it so much, and also serves as a way of having a "conversation" with that person who maybe isn't even alive anymore. Anyways, back to Georgia: in reading books about her I realized she was good friends with the photographer Todd Webb (which is my name!) and it was amusing to me when I'd come across a letter of hers addressed to someone with my name. It was pretty surreal. I was already familiar with that Todd Webb's work, because ever since Google was invented, if you search for me, you'd also get results for him (he was very well known, and many of his photos were of Georgia O'Keeffe) So I thought it would be fun to further confuse the internet by putting a work of my own out there about Georgia O'Keeffe. 
 

Four panels from Todd's upcoming Illustoria comic

What was the process like, working from her own words?

Great fun! When I'm working on a piece like this, I really respond to particular writings of the artists that resonate with my own thinking. For years I used to keep a comic strip diary, and so working on a comic like "Georgia in the Desert" feels almost like drawing my own cartoon journal. I may be drawing about someone else and using their words, but it feels very personal to my own thinking. If that makes any sense! 
 
How does the idea of making art from the things you come upon in everyday life — which is a theme of the comic you drew — inform your own work?

Immensely. I think the things we encounter every day we often take for granted, so it's fun to focus a work on something small and seemingly insignificant — we are surrounded by so much wonder and beauty and we often forget to pay it any mind — Georgia painting huge gorgeous abstractions based on the surface of a rock, or a bone, or a flower or a row of clouds is a perfect example of really appreciating your everyday surroundings, whatever they may be.  

Todd's synthesizers are right on his studio bookshelf.

Tell us a bit about your music?

When I'm not drawing, I'm usually making music. At this point I have two projects: Seamonster is my main outlet, which is poppy semi-electronic songs that I guess sound a bit like girl groups from the 1950s mixed with something like Kraftwerk, haha. Contemporary songwriters like Stephen Merritt (of the Magnetic Fields), Mark Mulcahy (Miracle Legion, Polaris), and Dean Wareham (Galaxie 500) are huge influences. I also recently have started releasing music under the name Oahu, which is quieter ambient electronic experiments in the vein of Brian Eno or someone like William Basinski. Oahu uses lots of synthesizers and tape loops and has no singing. Its good background music for reading. 

What work of yours should an Illustoria parent read next?

Chance Operations: it's a collection of shorter experimental comics where I used chance operations (made famous by composer John Cage) and flipped coins to determine where images, colors, and text would go. It reads more like poems than a traditional narrative, and has a little essay explaining the process in more detail. 

An interior page from Webb's Chance Operations

What work of yours should an Illustoria kiddo read next?

Tuesday Moon: it's the story of a girl named Tuesday who has a rotten day at school, and is paid a visit by the Mann (two n's) in the Moon. They go on an adventure in space together and the moon helps her realize maybe her day wasn't as rotten as she thought it was. Raina Telgemeier, author of Smile, said, "Tuesday Moon is charming, thoughtful, and full of the best kind of whimsy."

An interior page from Tuesday Moon