#World Illustration Awards

[zaraillustrates]

I’m thrilled to announce that my illustrations ‘Invisible No More’ (AARP) and ‘Ne vois-tu pas que je brûle?’ (Actes Sud) have been longlisted in the Advertising and Book Cover categories of the World Illustration Awards 2024!

Many thanks to the jury, The AOI and Directory of Illustration. A huge thanks also to AD Jenny Rosenberg, Actes Sud, RappArt and Meiklejohn.

[muppetjackrackham]

since 2022 is almost over i’ve been thinking about all the movies i watched this year and man, nothing really compares to watching elvis in the theaters. the only other movie i had gone to see during covid at the time was no time to die the year before (since it was daniel craig’s last bond film) and prior to that i hadn’t gone to see a film in the theater since knives out came out in 2019. i’ve loved baz lurhman ever since i was old enough to watch moulin rouge, so i kind of figured i’d like elvis but man, i never expected to care so much about a film like elvis the way i do. and not only that, but the experience itself. the sheer fucking spectacle of this film is one that i don’t know will ever be surpassed for me, because i saw this film eight times in the theater and wondered if it would ever fail to meet the expectation set by that initial viewing, and it never did. not once. it was good every. single. time. i sat in just about every row you could think of and it was not only consistently good, it almost surpassed itself with every subsequent viewing. in 23 years i can’t think of a single movie that has ever made me feel that way. what elvis accomplished is nothing short of miraculous in every way imaginable. i’ve talked about how elvis as a film made me care about a man that only ever existed as a fixture of rock n’ roll music, another name for the history books, a name that mattered in the context of music my folks grew up listening to more than i did. a movie carried on the shoulders of a relative unknown compared to every other major musical biopic to come out in the last few years (bohemian rhapsody and rocketman bolstering far more recognizable star power in rami malek and taron egerton respectively), a name that i hope will go on to even greater heights as a result of his performance and his work ethic. a movie that has given me an experience unlike any other before it, one that i try to relive every time i watch it on my own. a movie that will always be one of the greatest experiences i’ve ever had the privilege of seeing on the big screen.

elvis 2022 man. elvis 2022.

[danielleurbansblog]

Review: Writers of The Future Vol. 36

Synopsis: Sci-fi and fantasy of tomorrow . . . . . . selected by masters of today. Where can you find the hottest new talent all in one book? Right here. This year’s winning stories include a diverse collection of brilliantly realized worlds of dystopian politics, magical realism, post-apocalyptic adventure, and romance, dark fantasy and more. You’ll love this anthology because these writers…

[naumovskidusan]

"World`s Greatest DAD Best Fathers Day Family Gift Idea" by Olivera Pavlovic Naumovski on INPRNT

[euqinim0dart]

Im honored to announce that my piece "Pitter Patter" has been longlisted in the World Illustration Awards!

Big thank you to the Association of Illustration and the judges.

[nasa]

NASA Inspires Your Crafty Creations for World Embroidery Day

It’s amazing what you can do with a little needle and thread! For #WorldEmbroideryDay, we asked what NASA imagery inspired you. You responded with a variety of embroidered creations, highlighting our different areas of study.

Here’s what we found:

Webb’s Carina Nebula

Wendy Edwards, a project coordinator with Earth Science Data Systems at NASA, created this embroidered piece inspired by Webb’s Carina Nebula image. Captured in infrared light, this image revealed for the first time previously invisible areas of star birth. Credit: Wendy Edwards, NASA. Pattern credit: Clare Bray, Climbing Goat Designs

Wendy Edwards, a project coordinator with Earth Science Data Systems at NASA, first learned cross stitch in middle school where she had to pick rotating electives and cross stitch/embroidery was one of the options.  “When I look up to the stars and think about how incredibly, incomprehensibly big it is out there in the universe, I’m reminded that the universe isn’t ‘out there’ at all. We’re in it,” she said. Her latest piece focused on Webb’s image release of the Carina Nebula. The image showcased the telescope’s ability to peer through cosmic dust, shedding new light on how stars form.

Ocean Color Imagery: Exploring the North Caspian Sea

Danielle Currie of Satellite Stitches created a piece inspired by the Caspian Sea, taken by NASA’s ocean color satellites. Credit: Danielle Currie/Satellite Stitches

Danielle Currie is an environmental professional who resides in New Brunswick, Canada. She began embroidering at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic as a hobby to take her mind off the stress of the unknown. Danielle’s piece is titled “46.69, 50.43,” named after the coordinates of the area of the northern Caspian Sea captured by LandSat8 in 2019.

An image of the Caspian Sea captured by Landsat 8 in 2019. Credit: NASA

Two Hubble Images of the Pillars of Creation, 1995 and 2015

Melissa Cole of Star Stuff Stitching created an embroidery piece based on the Hubble image Pillars of Creation released in 1995. Credit: Melissa Cole, Star Stuff Stitching

Melissa Cole is an award-winning fiber artist from Philadelphia, PA, USA, inspired by the beauty and vastness of the universe. They began creating their own cross stitch patterns at 14, while living with their grandparents in rural Michigan, using colored pencils and graph paper.  The Pillars of Creation (Eagle Nebula, M16), released by the Hubble Telescope in 1995 when Melissa was just 11 years old, captured the imagination of a young person in a rural, religious setting, with limited access to science education.

Lauren Wright Vartanian of the shop Neurons and Nebulas created this piece inspired by the Hubble Space Telescope’s 2015 25th anniversary re-capture of the Pillars of Creation. Credit:  Lauren Wright Vartanian, Neurons and Nebulas

Lauren Wright Vartanian of Guelph, Ontario Canada considers herself a huge space nerd. She’s a multidisciplinary artist who took up hand sewing after the birth of her daughter. She’s currently working on the illustrations for a science themed alphabet book, made entirely out of textile art. It is being published by Firefly Books and comes out in the fall of 2024. Lauren said she was enamored by the original Pillars image released by Hubble in 1995. When Hubble released a higher resolution capture in 2015, she fell in love even further! This is her tribute to those well-known images.

James Webb Telescope Captures Pillars of Creation

Darci Lenker of Darci Lenker Art, created a rectangular version of Webb’s Pillars of Creation. Credit:  Darci Lenker of Darci Lenker Art

Darci Lenker of Norman, Oklahoma started embroidery in college more than 20 years ago, but mainly only used it as an embellishment for her other fiber works. In 2015, she started a daily embroidery project where she planned to do one one-inch circle of embroidery every day for a year.  She did a collection of miniature thread painted galaxies and nebulas for Science Museum Oklahoma in 2019. Lenker said she had previously embroidered the Hubble Telescope’s image of Pillars of Creation and was excited to see the new Webb Telescope image of the same thing. Lenker could not wait to stitch the same piece with bolder, more vivid colors.

Milky Way

Darci Lenker of Darci Lenker Art was inspired by NASA’s imaging of the Milky Way Galaxy. Credit: Darci Lenker

In this piece, Lenker became inspired by the Milky Way Galaxy, which is organized into spiral arms of giant stars that illuminate interstellar gas and dust. The Sun is in a finger called the Orion Spur.

The Cosmic Microwave Background

This image shows an embroidery design based on the cosmic microwave background, created by Jessica Campbell, who runs Astrostitches. Inside a tan wooden frame, a colorful oval is stitched onto a black background in shades of blue, green, yellow, and a little bit of red. Credit: Jessica Campbell/ Astrostitches

Jessica Campbell obtained her PhD in astrophysics from the University of Toronto studying interstellar dust and magnetic fields in the Milky Way Galaxy. Jessica promptly taught herself how to cross-stitch in March 2020 and has since enjoyed turning astronomical observations into realistic cross-stitches. Her piece was inspired by the cosmic microwave background, which displays the oldest light in the universe.

The full-sky image of the temperature fluctuations (shown as color differences) in the cosmic microwave background, made from nine years of WMAP observations. These are the seeds of galaxies, from a time when the universe was under 400,000 years old. Credit: NASA/WMAP Science Team

GISSTEMP: NASA’s Yearly Temperature Release

Katy Mersmann, a NASA social media specialist, created this embroidered piece based on NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) global annual temperature record. Earth’s average surface temperature in 2020 tied with 2016 as the warmest year on record. Credit: Katy Mersmann, NASA

Katy Mersmann is a social media specialist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. She started embroidering when she was in graduate school. Many of her pieces are inspired by her work as a communicator. With climate data in particular, she was inspired by the researchers who are doing the work to understand how the planet is changing. The GISTEMP piece above is based on a data visualization of 2020 global temperature anomalies, still currently tied for the warmest year on record.

In addition to embroidery, NASA continues to inspire art in all forms. Check out other creative takes with Landsat Crafts and the James Webb Space telescope public art gallery.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space!

[maximumtriumphmagazine]

award-winning palestinian children's illustrator baraa Alnajjar writes:

ما جدوى ان تكون رسام كتاب أطفال في عالم يحكم على أطفال بلدك بالإعدام، بالموت، بالفناء، بالإبادة !!

"what use is it to be an illustrator of children's books when the world has sentenced the children of your country to the death penalty, to vanish, to genocide?

"some of baraa's illustrations

this is an illustration for youssef, whose mother is remembered running desperately into the hospital asking if anyone had seen a "small white boy with beautiful curly hair, his name is youssef," a description which was remembered by millions when she finally identified his body:

this illustration is for young omar, who was hugging his little brother and teaching him how to repeat the shahada after him (a prayer spoken by muslims before their death) as he lay on his hospital bed:

"we want a new year that doesn't kill us or our children, we want it a year without blood, without screaming, without pain, we want a new attempt to get our lives back, or something that resembled our life, even if life is a lie we still cling to it, return life to us—a new year's card unlike any other year:"

Baraa is currently raising money to get her family of 12 out of Gaza. This is a reputable fundraiser, so please donate if you can. The Egyptian government currently charges over $5,000 per person to get into Cairo through the Rafah crossing:

https://gofund.me/0342709c

https://gofund.me/013cfc7f

[makingqueerhistory]

Queer Ducks (and Other Animals): The Natural World of Animal Sexuality

Eliot Schrefer with Jules Zuckerberg

This groundbreaking illustrated YA nonfiction title from two-time National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author Eliot Schrefer is a well-researched and teen-friendly exploration of the gamut of queer behaviors observed in animals. A quiet revolution has been underway in recent years, with study after study revealing substantial same-sex sexual behavior in animals. Join celebrated author Eliot Schrefer on an exploration of queer behavior in the animal world—from albatrosses to bonobos to clownfish to doodlebugs.

In sharp and witty prose—aided by humorous comics from artist Jules Zuckerberg—Schrefer uses science, history, anthropology, and sociology to illustrate the diversity of sexual behavior in the animal world. Interviews with researchers in the field offer additional insights for readers and aspiring scientists.

Queer behavior in animals is as diverse and complex—and as natural—as it is in our own species. It doesn’t set us apart from animals—it bonds us even closer to our animal selves.

[alleannaharris]

Today's Black History Month illustration is of Josephine Baker. She was a world famous entertainer, WWII spy, and activist.

Freda Josephine McDonald was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1906. Her parents were both vaudeville performers, but Baker would have to take on odd jobs to help support her family.

At the age of 15, she ran off and joined a dance troupe from Philadelphia. She also got married, took her husband’s last name, dropped her first name and started going by the name Josephine Baker. After acting and dancing in musicals, she moved to New York City and was soon performing at the Plantation Club where she became a crowd favorite.

In 1925, Baker went to Paris to dance at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in La Revue Nègre. When the Revue closed, she was given her own show and her career skyrocketed.

She was the first Black woman to star in a motion picture and one of the first Black entertainers to achieve acclaim on screen and stage.

Baker became a citizen of France in 1937. When the Germans occupied France during WWII, she worked with the Red Cross and the French Resistance by transporting confidential information by writing with invisible ink on her sheet music. She was awarded the Croix de Guerre and the Legion of Honor with the rosette of the Résistance.

Baker traveled many times to the US to participate in the civil rights movement. She was the only woman who spoke at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1968.

Her time at home forced her to confront segregation and discrimination that she didn’t experience overseas. She often refused to perform for segregated audiences and club owners were forced to integrate for her shows.

She continued to perform until her death in 1975, during the celebration of the 50th anniversary of her Paris debut.

I’ll be back on Monday with the last illustration and story!

[70sscifiart]

Thrilled to announce my book WORLDS BEYOND TIME is a finalist for the 2024 Locus Awards in the "Illustrated and Art Book" category!

2024 Locus Awards Top Ten Finalists

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Emil Ferris’s long-awaited “My Favorite Thing Is Monsters Book Two”

NEXT WEEKEND (June 7–9), I'm in AMHERST, NEW YORK to keynote the 25th Annual Media Ecology Association Convention and accept the Neil Postman Award for Career Achievement in Public Intellectual Activity.

Seven years ago, I was absolutely floored by My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, a wildly original, stunningly gorgeous, haunting and brilliant debut graphic novel from Emil Ferris. Every single thing about this book was amazing:

https://memex.craphound.com/2017/06/20/my-favorite-thing-is-monsters-a-haunting-diary-of-a-young-girl-as-a-dazzling-graphic-novel/

The more I found out about the book, the more amazed I became. I met Ferris at that summer's San Diego Comic Con, where I learned that she had drawn it over a while recovering from paralysis of her right – dominant – hand after a West Nile Virus infection. Each meticulously drawn and cross-hatched page had taken days of work with a pen duct-taped to her hand, a project of seven years.

The wild backstory of the book's creation was matched with a wild production story: first, Ferris's initial publisher bailed on her because the book was too long; then her new publisher's first shipment of the book was seized by the South Korean state bank, from the Panama Canal, when the shipper went bankrupt and its creditors held all its cargo to ransom.

My Favorite Thing Is Monsters told the story of Karen Reyes, a 10 year old, monster-obsessed queer girl in 1968 Chicago who lives with her working-class single mother and her older brother, Deeze, in an apartment house full of mysterious, haunted adults. There's the landlord – a gangster and his girlfriend – the one-eyed ventriloquist, and the beautiful Holocaust survivor and her jazz-drummer husband.

Karen narrates and draws the story, depicting herself as a werewolf in a detective's trenchcoat and fedora, as she tries to unravel the secrets kept by the grownups around her. Karen's life is filled with mysteries, from the identity of her father (her brother, a talented illustrator, has removed him from all the family photos and redrawn him as the Invisible Man) to the purpose of a mysterious locked door in the building's cellar.

But the most pressing mystery of all is the death of her upstairs neighbor, the beautiful Annika Silverberg, a troubled Holocaust survivor whose alleged suicide just doesn't add up, and Karen – who loved and worshiped Annika – is determined to get to the bottom of it.

Karen is tormented by the adults in her life keeping too much from her – and by their failure to shield her from life's hardest truths. The flip side of Karen's frustration with adult secrecy is her exposure to adult activity she's too young to understand. From Annika's cassette-taped oral history of her girlhood in an Weimar brothel and her escape from a Nazi concentration camp, to the sex workers she sees turning tricks in cars and alleys in her neighborhood, to the horrors of the Vietnam war, Karen's struggle to understand is characterized by too much information, and too little.

Ferris's storytelling style is dazzling, and it's matched and exceeded by her illustration style, which is grounded in the classic horror comics of the 1950s and 1960s. Characters in Karen's life – including Karen herself – are sometimes depicted in the EC horror style, and that same sinister darkness crowds around the edges of her depictions of real-world Chicago.

These monster-comic throwbacks are absolute catnip for me. I, too, was a monster-obsessed kid, and spent endless hours watching, drawing, and dreaming about this kind of monster.

But Ferris isn't just a monster-obsessive; she's also a formally trained fine artist, and she infuses her love of great painters into Deeze, Karen's womanizing petty criminal of an older brother. Deeze and Karen's visits to the Art Institute of Chicago are commemorated with loving recreations of famous paintings, which are skillfully connected to pulp monster art with a combination of Deeze's commentary and Ferris's meticulous pen-strokes.

Seven years ago, Book One of My Favorite Thing Is Monsters absolutely floored me, and I early anticipated Book Two, which was meant to conclude the story, picking up from Book One's cliff-hanger ending. Originally, that second volume was scheduled for just a few months after Book One's publication (the original manuscript for Book One ran to 700 pages, and the book had been chopped down for publication, with the intention of concluding the story in another volume).

But the book was mysteriously delayed, and then delayed again. Months stretched into years. Stranger rumors swirled about the second volume's status, compounded by the bizarre misfortunes that had befallen book one. Last winter, Bleeding Cool's Rich Johnston published an article detailing a messy lawsuit between Ferris and her publishers, Fantagraphics:

https://bleedingcool.com/comics/fantagraphics-sued-emil-ferris-over-my-favorite-thing-is-monsters/

The filings in that case go some ways toward resolve the mystery of Book Two's delay, though the contradictory claims from Ferris and her publisher are harder to sort through than the mysteries at the heart of Monsters. The one sure thing is that writer and publisher eventually settled, paving the way for the publication of the very long-awaited Book Two:

https://www.fantagraphics.com/products/my-favorite-thing-is-monsters-book-two

Book Two picks up from Book One's cliffhanger and then rockets forward. Everything brilliant about One is even better in Two – the illustrations more lush, the fine art analysis more pointed and brilliant, the storytelling more assured and propulsive, the shocks and violence more outrageous, the characters more lovable, complex and grotesque.

Everything about Two is more. The background radiation of the Vietnam War in One takes center stage with Deeze's machinations to beat the draft, and Deeze and Karen being ensnared in the Chicago Police Riots of '68. The allegories, analysis and reproductions of classical art get more pointed, grotesque and lavish. Annika's Nazi concentration camp horrors are more explicit and more explicitly connected to Karen's life. The queerness of the story takes center stage, both through Karen's first love and the introduction of a queer nightclub. The characters are more vivid, as is the racial injustice and the corruption of the adult world.

I've been staring at the spine of My Favorite Thing Is Monsters Book One on my bookshelf for seven years. Partly, that's because the book is such a gorgeous thing, truly one of the great publishing packages of the century. But mostly, it's because I couldn't let go of Ferris's story, her characters, and her stupendous art.

After seven years, it would have been hard for Book Two to live up to all that anticipation, but goddammit if Ferris didn't manage to meet and exceed everything I could have hoped for in a conclusion.

There's a lot of people on my Christmas list who'll be getting both volumes of Monsters this year – and that number will only go up if Fantagraphics does some kind of slipcased two-volume set.

In the meantime, we've got more Ferris to look forward to. Last April, she announced that she had sold a prequel to Monsters and a new standalone two-volume noir murder series to Pantheon Books:

https://twitter.com/likaluca/status/1648364225855733769

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/06/01/the-druid/#oh-my-papa

[jstor]

Effie Lee Morris stands as a towering figure in the realm of children's literature and library services, leaving an indelible mark through her visionary leadership and tireless advocacy. Born into an era marked by racial segregation and systemic barriers, Morris defied the odds, rising to become a beacon of change and progress. Her journey began as a public librarian in Cleveland and later in the Bronx, where she cultivated a deep appreciation for the transformative power of literature and education.

In 1971, Effie Lee Morris shattered barriers as the first African-American president of the Public Library Association, a milestone that underscored her commitment to equity and inclusion in library spaces. Her groundbreaking work extended beyond administrative roles; Morris played a pivotal role in shaping the landscape of children's literature by spearheading the establishment of the Coretta Scott King Award. By crafting the original selection criteria in 1970, she laid the foundation for recognizing and celebrating African-American authors and illustrators, ensuring their voices resonated prominently in the literary world.

Morris's impact reverberated within the walls of the San Francisco Public Library (SFPL), where she assumed the role of the first coordinator of children's services. During her tenure, she revolutionized children's literature by establishing a research collection of out-of-print books, meticulously documenting the evolving portrayals of ethnic and culturally diverse groups. This collection, later renamed the Effie Lee Morris Historical and Research Collection in her honor, served as a testament to her unwavering dedication to preserving diverse narratives and fostering cultural understanding.

Beyond her professional achievements, Morris's advocacy extended into the realm of social justice and community engagement. She founded the San Francisco chapter of the Women's National Book Association and actively participated in the American Library Association's Social Responsibilities Round Table, championing causes aimed at combating racism, inequality, and poverty. Her contributions were met with widespread recognition, as evidenced by numerous accolades, including the Silver Spur Award and the Grolier Foundation Award, affirming her status as a trailblazer in the literary landscape.

Effie Lee Morris's legacy transcends generations, inspiring future leaders and storytellers to uphold the values of diversity, inclusion, and equity in children's literature and library services. Her visionary spirit lives on in the countless lives touched by her work, serving as a timeless reminder of the transformative power of literature in bridging cultures, fostering empathy, and igniting change.

Read more about Effie Lee Morris here.

[digi-lov]

Imperialdramon: Dragon Mode ST9-06 Alternative Art by Capitan Artiglio from the Digimon Illustration Competition 2023 Pack

「Imperialdramon a new hope」 by Capitan Artiglio

Winners' comments Winning this award is truly an honour. Kenji Watanabe’s illustrations made me dream since I was little and I spent my childhood drawing Digimon. Thank you with all my heart for this opportunity!

Judge's comment This creatively depicts a world befitting Imperialdramon Dragon Mode, the ultimate ancient dragon Digimon. The beautiful use of colors also highlights that being that has the potential to become either savior or destroyer. - Mr. Masashi Harada

[from the website]

[naumovskidusan]

"Worlds Greatest KID cute trophy family award for children" by Olivera Pavlovic Naumovski on INPRNT

[betterthanapokeintheeye]

Rob Wilkins - In Bath talking about Terry Pratchett, A Stroke of the Pen

Rob Wilkins will be in Bath talking about, and signing the book, Terry Pratchett: A Stroke of the Pen

Date: Wed 22nd November 2023 Doors Open 7pm

Location: Topping & Company Booksellers of Bath, York Street, Bath, Somerset BA1 1NG

Rob Wilkins, Pratchett’s former assistant, friend, head of the Pratchett literary estate & author of Terry Pratchett: A Life With Footnotes joins the team at the shop to talk on A Stroke of the Pen: the recently rediscovered short stories by Terry Pratchett.

The book is a truly unmissable, beautifully illustrated collection of unearthed stories from the pen of Sir Terry Pratchett: award-winning and bestselling author, and creator of the phenomenally successful Discworld series. It contains twenty early and once-lost short stories by one of the world's best loved authors, each accompanied by exquisite original woodcut illustrations.

These are rediscovered tales that Pratchett wrote under a pseudonym for newspapers during the 1970s and 1980s. Whilst none are set in the Discworld, they hint towards the world he would go on to create, containing all of his trademark wit, satirical wisdom and fantastic imagination.

Tickets available from https://www.toppingbooks.co.uk/events/bath/rob-wilkins-for-terry-pratchetts-a-stroke-of-the-pen-2023/

[the-book-ferret]

I thank my hat for stopping my thoughts from floating up, up, and away. I thank the cloud for the puddles. With inviting collage illustrations, Jarvis brings his singular whimsy and sweetness to a musing on gratitude that spans the ages. The moon brings nighttime, and the sun the day. With no yellow and blue, we’d be a world without green lights, and without itches we’d never know the relief of a scratch. From oversized plants that offer hiding places to boots that somehow know the way, from siblings who bravely take the first plunge to yourself for being you, award-winning picture-book creator Jarvis spans the gamut from the silly to the sublime and opens the endless possibilities for giving thanks. Strikingly illustrated in bright, clear colors, this uplifting picture book is poised to make a thoughtful gift Thank you to @candlewickpress for sending me a copy of the book.