Jonathan Ball is an illustrator and graphic designer. Inspired by lobrow art forms such as cartoons, retro video games, urban art and cute monsters. He enjoys creating fantasy worlds and characters in vibrant colours and settings. Check out the short interview I did with Jonathan and his amazing art.

power up mushrooms by Jonathan Ball

Where were you born, where do you live, any other background info?

Born 1974 , Cardiff, UK. although I always liked drawing but it wasn’t until i studied graphic design at the age of 29 that I realized it was illustration that was my main passion. So have only been working as an illustrator for around 4 years.

pirate and sea monster laugh by Jonathan Ball

good morning forest by Jonathan Ball

How would you describe your work?

I love a good contrast between dark and light elements, colour and darkness. The same goes for themes as well, things can be cute and cuddly but also have a darker side. A lot of my work is collage like in effect and I love layering hundreds of elements in my pictures, or creating atmospheres for the worlds my characters inhabit.

the clouds take revenge by Jonathan Ball

march of progress by Jonathan Ball

What processes and techniques do you use to create your work?

I use a variety of techniques. One of my favorite is to make various elements as vectors and then bring them into photoshop to layer into an image. I then use photoshops tools to create interesting effects and layer style. I often add various scanned textures to roughen the vector look. I’m quite keen on reusing my various vector elements to give my pictures a consistency in style. Each new picture has a large part of a previous images mixed in.

angrybears by Jonathan Ball

food by Jonathan Ball

mushroom graveyard by Jonathan Ball

Are you a full time artist?

Yes I’m lucky enough to make a good full time living from illustration. Hope it lasts, there’s always worry that work will dry up when you are self-employed.

pandas will die by Jonathan Ball

the day the sun fell to earth by Jonathan Ball

How did you get started?

It gradually built up over the past few years, I got featured in quite a few websites and print magazines, and the work has kept coming in. Also starting to sell quite a fe prints and other bits of merchandise.

ms pac-man by Jonathan Ball

in bed by Jonathan Ball

Any notable accomplishments?

My work has been used on quite a few high profile ad campaigns, such as for Playstation and Doritos. Currently creating some album covers and characters for various websites and games.

hellovolcanoflat by Jonathan Ball

treenodirt by Jonathan Ball

It’s Friday! And with Friday comes my Friday Favorites. Check out Christoph Niemann’s illustrations that showed up all over this week’s edition of The New York Times Magazine. Also, we were lucky enough to score an exclusive interview with Imagekind illustrator Mario Zucca!

Christoph Niemann in The New York Times Magazine

The June 14th, 2009 edition of The New York Times Magazine titled Infrastructure! featured several of Imagekind member artist Christoph Niemann’s illustrations. The issue focuses on examining the different ways that we have built our cities and our very lives. Whether it’s the buildings, bridges, streets or as personal as the way we’ve routed our internet connection, understanding our infrastructure is foundational for improvement.

Infrastructure by Christoph Niemann

Niemann offers several poignant illustrations throughout the magazine to help demonstrate this pursuit of understanding. Best of all, you can purchase some of the illustrations featured in The New York Times Magazine directly from his Imagekind galleries! Hopefully he’ll add some more soon… hint, hint.

Several articles in the magazine are published online and make an interesting, and insightful, read!

Exclusive Interview with Mario Zucca

Speaking of Christoph Niemann, Mario Zucca, who cites Niemann as one of his favorite artists on Imagekind, was cool enough to chat for a bit and answer a few questions in our exclusive interview. Like Niemann, Zucca is one of the premier editorial and illustration artist whose work has been featured in dozens of the top print and online publications around the nation.

Retail Barons by Mario Zucca

Make sure to check out the interview and see all of Mario Zucca’s illustration artwork for sale as prints on Imagekind.

“Draw with vectors! Set yourselves free!”

Vectips posted a sweet interview with one of my favorite illustration artists on Imagekind, Chris Leavens.

If you are at all interested in illustration, vector, or just plain crazy art, you should definitely check out Chris’ work.

Keep reading to see some excerpts from the interview where Chris shares some tips using vectors and insight into how he views his own work.

If I could offer one piece of advice to folks looking to work as illustrators or designers, it’s to focus your attention on cultivating your sensibilities, your angle. Too many people spend too much time trying to hone technical skills. Those come with time and experimentation. If you’re inquisitive, you’ll want to see how far you can push the tools you’re using. Your art, your style, they’re driven by your sensibilities, not your technical knowledge.

I like watching people at art shows looking at my work. Most people get these big smiles on their faces and that’s exactly the reaction I’m looking for. Occasionally some snooty types pass by and sneer, which makes me even happier. One thing that can be somewhat annoying is the ever-present assumption that I use or need to use all varieties of illicit substances to create my artwork. Honest to God, I never touch the stuff. I rarely even drink and I never drink when I’m creating my work. I just have a crazy imagination that would probably make me into a crazy person if I didn’t have some sort of creative outlet.

To see more of Chris’ amazing vector artwork, take a look at his Imagekind gallery where all of his prints are for sale.

To find out more about Chris, visit his personal site and blog over at Unloosen.

Nate

Wikipedia defines an illustration as, “a visualization such as a drawing, painting, photograph or other work of art that stresses subject more than form.” Here are 20 of some of the coolest illustration artists I recently came across when browsing the site.

Should you or another artist be added? Post the Imagekind URL in the comments. Lets get a list of the best illustrators on Imagekind going.

Artwork: Cover for American Illustration by Christoph Niemann

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