Hasta La Creative!

A little about yourself
I’m Satish G,  illustrator and concept artist. I’m specialized in illustration, concept art and graphic designer. My passion for illustration, comics, graphic novels and all kind of visual art shaped up my professional carrier.

Why are you an Illustrator?
“Life” is such a wonderful  thing.  Everything a creature does, is because it has this life factor dwelling in it.  And every form of life looks like a miracle to me.  The facial expressions, color, the postures , the shapes of each being is so special  and I have become addicted of playing around the above factors with my imaginations and pencil for my tools. That’s why I am an illustrator.

Did you attend school for fine art or design?
It was always clear to me that I was good as an artist. So I took up my specialization in Painting as a subject.  Fortunately I was also exposed to Designing in my various work experiences.

You have a distinct style of illustration. How long did it take you to develop your style?
I always stacked to what I like best. And the style which i have right now is not at all a deliberate attempt from within. When you move on with your thoughts and way of execution you are bound to fall in a unique pattern which has our character in it that we call as style. And when you realize it and you go beyond exploring it you are really enjoying the show.

Were there any particular role models for you when you grew up?
I wish I had?.!!!

Who was the most influential personality on your career in Illustrations?
Unfortunately I did not have a guiding star in my life.  But was fortunate enough to have been blessed with parents who tried to nurture my talents in whatever way they could. Illustrations in the children?s comics and magazines have been a great help.

Was there any time when you wanted to quit Illustrations?
Everybody goes through rough patches in their lives. There were times when I felt my desire of becoming an artist will take me nowhere. But I am glad I was wrong!

Are many advertising agencies getting illustrations made these days? Do you work more with agencies or with others? If others, whom?
Well, I am not aware if many agencies are getting illustrations made these days. I have worked with agencies on and off but never felt it was much of a lucrative business for me.  I am working towards having my own line of story books for children.  I also work for the online gaming companies.

Do you do most of your stuff by hand, or are they digital?
A combination of both brings out an interesting result.  When it is a real canvas, then  it’s just my hand which takes the credit!!

Any other Indian Illustrators who you admire?
I am an ardent fan of many Indian Painters. But have not found an illustration Guru for my idol.

Do you have any favorite fellow illustrators or resources relating to your fields?
There’s so much talent to explore on web and every artist I come across amuses me in a certain way.  Observing and learning has become my nature.

You have such a wide experience as an artist. What advice do you have for aspiring creative professionals? Would you advise them to take on Illustration as a career option?
I say that whatever you do, you shall do it for the love of doing it.  I am a believer of Karma and can only advice that one should do his karma with all his heart and not worry about the end result. Your efforts will work for you and there’s no ambiguity about it.

Mac or PC?
PC

What’s on your iPod?
Soundgarden, Eels, kings of leon, Nickleback, Doors & ACDC.

Illustration in Indian Advertising

George Supreeth runs  Pencilsauce, and Bite Lightning, an illustration studio and an Illustrator representation unit in Bangalore. He was among the new breed of computer literate visualisers who wiped out advertising studio artists in the mid 90s. He quit the Ad industry in 2000 and has been sulking around its periphery ever since. He teaches at the local art college and he loves to draw.

There’s something about the Punjabi  word ‘Jugaad’, that doesn’t translate too well into English, but it is a concept that is intrinsic to Indian advertising illustrations. There is something about our advertising that utterly and completely ignores illustration as a visual device. Perhaps social scientists and psychologists may say that it is the inherent Indian trait to deify that makes the humanizing art of photography a more relevant option. That and the fact that Photoshop changed everything in the early 90’s.

Illustration in Early Indian Advertising
Illustrations actually had a pretty good run in early Indian advertising. The fact that it lent itself to the coarse ‘Indian’ art paper (as opposed to foreign art), and reproduced well also helped.  Most illustrators were studio artists, who created stunning art using alabaster paper and poster colours. In fact until a few years ago, the model for most applied arts courses were actually illustration courses, posing as applied arts for advertising.

Since basic drawing skills were the very foundation of institutes like the JJ school of Art, almost every Indian art director in an advertising agency could draw. This led to quite a staggering range of illustrative styles in Indian advertising of the 70s and the 80s.

BSA SLR Kapil Dev

Boroline

Remember Kapil and his BSA? Even then I thought that the artist’s lines were impeccable, and I loved the frame where he reaches the airport. This illustrator really nailed each action shot. and then there was the alien’s time machine in the Boroline ad. Another nicely done comic! Also remember the Nutrine rabbit? To be honest I always hated that guy, but comics, characters and even just ornamental styles were rampant in advertising of the 70’s and the 80s.

Visit Vishal Patel’s site for some examples of retro comic book styles.

In the early 90’s when Photoshop hit the agency circuit, and the possibilities of Photo manipulation dawned on the agency creative, the holy grail of advertising photography had been breached. Up until then, Photography was entirely the domain of the Photographer. From the shoot planning right up until the transparencies were handed over, the photographer ruled the whole mysterious process. With Photoshop however, you didn’t have to run back to the processing lab every time you needed a new overlay or colourisation. Even better you could create complete comps of the layout. That one software did everything. It wiped out photo strippers, colourisation artists, and cut and paste experts. A side effect of the whole process was that illustration got left out in the cold.
When applied arts and advertising students discovered digital photo manipulation, entire college projects were comped using the software. The idea of storytelling or using images to tell stories soon became prevalent, with the images informing the story. With illustration, the idea came first and then you briefed the illustrator on what you wanted. With photo manipulation, you picked an image with potential, and pick an angle to base your story on. As a result, an entire industry forgot how to draw, and with it how to use Illustration as a visual medium.

The Whole Point of Illustration
While some illustration enthusiasts argue VS photography in general, the point of illustration is something else entirely. Illustrations use the innate ability of human beings to anthropomorphise. Which is why Calvin and Hobbes are so endearing, and comic books feel like motion pictures when you remember them afterwards. Illustrations reach some areas of our mind that photographs just cannot. Unlike a photograph of a person, an illustrated character can be designed without a trace of gender, race or age. It need not even be of the same species, but it still has the power to resonate with basic human emotions.

A well designed illustration can present the viewer with a completely new experience. Take the Mother’s pride ads illustrated by the talented  Sameer Kulavoor. Using a collage styled illustration completely and pleasantly disrupts the viewers expectation of the visual. Here, the skill of the illustrator is to keep the illustration within the realms of believability even when he’s exaggerating the characters and the environments. Disruption in this case directly lends itself to brand recall or the ability of the viewer to recall the brand due to him associating it with the illustration. The entire point of cleverness in advertising is to create spikes in people’s normative experiences. Little anchors that they will associate with the advertised product or service. These anchors are reactivated at the point of purchase through repeating elements from the original message or advertisment.

The Illustration Scene Today
While Illustration has been making a major resurgence the world over, in India we are only just begining to rediscover it’s potential. Artist’s like Kulavoor are among the few talented people who are creating an interest in this field. In an area which is cluttered with photographic imagery, Illustration can provide the key to differentiation. However our skills in this area have atrophied. During the period when advertising and publishing forgot illustration, potential and budding illustrators turned to a new area for sustenance. Computer graphics!
You could argue that computer graphics is just the tool and not the field. But in the time that illustration was no longer required for storytelling, artists turned their attention to graphical representation. Most Indian artists are extremely skilled at graphical representations, even at hyper realistic detail. This is not the same as Illustration. The word Illustrate itself means to educate by example or to enlighten. An illustrator needs to understand narrative, continuity and characterization to illustrate an idea. Graphical representations on the other hand are just maps. An objective device devoid of interactive potential.
The potential to brand through illustration will eventually dawn on the Indian advertising creative. With the number of advertising media increasing exponentially each year and as differentiation through imagery becomes increasingly difficult, Illustration offers a way to create unique visual experiences and newer ways to tap into consumers’ minds.

Pencil Sauce at work

Illustration for Jungle Camp, by Pencil Sauce

Clay Model character, by Pencil Sauce

A photo-realistic rendtion of a Wine Bottle. Illustration by Pencil Sauce.

Gary Taxali is an award-winning illustrator whose work has appeared in every major magazine and newspaper. Gary has exhibited in many galleries and museums throughout North America and Europe including Jonathan LeVine Gallery in New York City and The Museum of Contemporary Art in Rome. In 2005, he launched his first vinyl toy, The Toy Monkey, which included a special edition along with a silkscreen print commissioned by The Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. This led Gary to create his own toy company, Chump Toys, which recently saw the release of his OH NO and OH OH vinyl figures. Aside from his gallery shows and illustration work, Gary also devotes a portion of his time teaching and lecturing at various arts organizations and schools such as OCAD University (Toronto, Canada), The Art Director’s Club of Houston (Houston, USA), Dankmarks Designskole (Copenhagen, Denmark) and Istituto Europeo Di Design (Rome, Italy) . He is a Founding Member of IPA (The Illustrators’ Partnership of America) and sits on the Advisory Board of 3×3: The Magazine of Contemporary Illustration. Gary has also juried many student and professional competitions including The Society of Illustrators, The National Magazine Awards, The Dallas Society of Visual Communications and 3×3: The Magazine of Contemporary Illustration. Currently, Gary is writing and illustrating his first children’s book entitled This Is Silly which is being published by Scholastic and slated for a Summer 2010 release. Gary recently created the cover art and inside illustrations for Aimee Mann’s new album @#%&*! Smilers, which won a 2009 Grammy Award Nomination for Best Package Design. He lives and works in Toronto, Canada.

Why are you an Illustrator?
I love connecting pictures to text.  I have my whole life.  In fact, when I was four years old my teacher wrote in my report card that “my favorite activity is when I read a story aloud to the class.  Afterward, he loves to show me pictures he’s drawn based on the story just heard”.  So, I guess you could say I’ve been illustrating since I was four.

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Quelques magnifiques illustrations réalisées par Adam Simpson, graphiste basé à Londres, qui exerce son talent de dessin au trait pour une large gamme de journaux, de magazines, et de livres. Plus d’exemples dans la suite.

D’autres illustrations sur son portfolio.

Le portfolio de l’artiste portugais Joao Oliveira sobrement intitulé On Repeat. Des magnifiques illustrations et compositions, pour la plupart en noir et blanc. Des oeuvres à découvrir dans la suite et sur son site web.

Advertising Agency: JWT San Juan, Puerto Rico
Creative Director: Jaime Rosado
Art Director: Johanna Santiago
Copywriter: Miguel Fernández
Published: December 2007

Advertising Agency: JWT San Juan, Puerto Rico
Creative Director: Jaime Rosado
Art Director: Johanna Santiago
Copywriter: Miguel Fernández
Published: December 2007

Advertising Agency: Vitrorobertson, USA
Chief Creative Officer: John Vitro
Creative Director: KT Thayer
Associate Creative Director / Copywriter: Justin Ebert
Art Directors: Matt Dimmer, Barry Brothers
Illustrator: Jimmy Turrell

If you see something, say something.

Advertising Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Creative Director / Copywriter / Art Director: Magnus Olsson
Photographer: Chris Beeldschoon
Illustrator: Simon Spilsbury
Agency Account: Anne Bando, Eva Cortenbach
Agency Producer: Jan Willem Wiesenekker

If you see something, say something.

Advertising Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Creative Director / Copywriter / Art Director: Magnus Olsson
Photographer: Chris Beeldschoon
Illustrator: Simon Spilsbury
Agency Account: Anne Bando, Eva Cortenbach
Agency Producer: Jan Willem Wiesenekker