Illustration Portal

A Resource of Illustrator's Websites

This is a categorized listing of the many talented illustrators that I've come across in my career as an art director. Also included are a list of artists' representatives as well as illustrator networking and blogging sites.

I've grouped the illustrators somewhat randomly, but there is a method to my madness (at least in my head). Most, if not all, of them could be listed under multiple categories as well, but that would be a bit cumbersome. If you're on this list and don't like how you're categorized, drop me a line and I'll move you. I don't really think it's possible to sum up an illustrators work in a few words, but since it seems to be required to write something in that field, I've listed a few words under each name, but don't take it too seriously. Instead just click away and explore.

Assemblage

Three dimensional work

Polly Becker: Amazing figures cobbled together from bits and pieces. Polly is also a very skilled engraving-style illustrator.
Gina R. Binkley: Intricately built 3-D diorama-like constructions, as well as collage.
Susan Farrington: Nice 3-D figure-based work with whimsical feel
Megan Halsey: Nice children's illos as well

Caricature

Darren Thompson: Painterly caricatures
Josh Gosfield: Painterly, retro-quality caricatures under "illustration"
Pablo: bold graphic caricatures
Steve Brodner: Out there
Hanoch Piven (personal site): he can make a garbage can and a couple of donuts look like Homer Simpson.
Hanoch Piven (Heflin): More fun likenesses
Charlie Powell: Great
Rachael Cole: Folksy, very succesful likenesses.
Peter Emmerich: also does b&w sketch style
Ismael Roldan: a pro

Cerebral

Great concepts with difficult or abstract subjects

Brian Cronin: Needs no description!
Elliott Golden: Delicate line and washes of color
COLIN JOHNSON: Surreal and intense
Philippe Weisbecker: Folk art inspired
Nick Dewar: Great concepts, quiet look
Dan Page: Paints on wood sometimes
Fernanda Cohen: Very delicate color pencil
Tatsuro Kiuchi: Clean broad silk screen-like.
Brian Cairns: beautiful colors and very smart concepts
The Heads of State: "The Heads of State design: posters, packaging, logos, bumper stickers, what have you. No job is too small, no fee is to big."

Children's

Ronald Slabbers: Nice range

Crafty

Combining different crafts, such as sewing, with illustration

Caroline Hwang: Beautiful stitched illustrations
Dave Wheeler: A clever combination of painted pieces and three dimensional objects and scraps.
Scott Campbell: Tattoo-like style
Maria Rendon: Unique style 3d painted wood (or at least that's what it appears to be). Nice site.

Collage

Christian Northeast: Wonderful.
Ellen Weinstein: Collage with painterly aspects.
Sarah Fanelli: Whimsical collage
Greg Morgan: Retro feel
Brian Stauffer: moody collage with photo elements
Noah Woods: Noah kindly directed me to his new website--there's so much great work here!
Marty Blake: Quirky and fun retro
Matt Dennis: Bold graphic collage
James Turrell: 70s posterish collage
Shonagh Rae: layers of linework splashes of color and photo
Tim Marrs: photocollage. ots of music-oriented stuff
Gary Neill: works small as well
Pierre-Paul Pariseau: colorful, photo-based collage
John Ritter: Bold graphic style with photo elements
Eduardo Recife: Beautiful, poetic
Cliff Alejandro: textural
Alex Williamson: Very nice photo-based gritty collage
Richard Mia: Really beautiful line and collage
Matt Wood: Five different styles
Isabelle Cardinal: Nice moody, sort of 19th Century-looking collage
Skewed Reality: Nice, scratchy, messy collage
SILJA GOETZ: playful and hip collage
Molueart (hmmm?): An updated Francis-Picabia-look.
Personal Projects Created by Ryan Katrina of Neuarmy - A Creative Situation: Oookaay. Anyway nice xerox-y looking collage.
Tez Humphreys | Illustration: Collage with an oddly fresco, wall-like feel.
Gina Binkley: assemblage
Michelle Thompson: *
SEAN MCCABE: very cool
Aaron McConomy: Very fresh, nice photo-based collage
Stephanie Levy: "Illustration, painting, and collage created by an American artist living in Germany."

Very nice shelter-y collage and drawing style.
Chris Keegan: More fresh collage
Eddie Guy: Check out the animation too.
Laura Tarrish: Nice, clean collage.
Kyle Reed: Very colorful, bold and graphic. Nice black & white, too

Comics style and actual

Comic book style and strips

Brian Biggs: Nice children stuff as well.
Matt Madden: Comics and Illustration
Nicolás Cinquegrani: nice
Danny Hellman: does caricatures as well.
Lou Brooks: POW!
Erik T Johnson: nice dot patterns
Steve Wacksman: cartoon-neyworky
Rutu Modan: Very nice, Tin Tin-esque work
Adam McCauley: Retro, but very hip
Mark Steele: Nice watercolor editorial cartoons
Emily Flake: All kinds of funny things
Christina Ung: Poetic and sensitive comic strips. Also, illustration for children's books and other.

Engraving

Polly Becker: Her engraving style is very 19th C
Kate Thomssen: Architecture, wildlife etc. Nice "how-to" work as well.

Fashionesque

Hip in a fashion-con way

Matt Vincent: Kind of clubby
Orlando Hoetzel: sleek and stylish
LULU PLASTICPIRATE: icons are great
SHINGO shimizu: Shingo Shimizu is a Graphic Designer and Illustrator working in Toronto, Canada.

Food

Eating, dishes, fruits, veggies, etc.

Marco Marella: Colorful, stylized...nice café scenes, too

Humor

Barry Blitt: Watercolor and line. Very smart.
Victoria Roberts: New Yorker cartoonist
> PortfoliAdrian: retro style funny
Serge Bloch: Simple, brilliant, funny!
Ryan Snook: funny little round guys

Hip Futurist

Justin Wood: cool and hi tech
John Hersey: funny, quirky and cool.
Oksana Badrak: Cutting edge illustration and concept art.
Derek Bacon: Clean, photographic quality
Erik Sandberg: painterly, collage, surreal
Ingi Erlingsson: Collage with photo elements
James Jean

Infographic artists

Illustrators who do infographics as well as illustration

Chris Philpot: Nice line quality.
+ RITZco Illustration Portfolio +: New York illustrator Ritzco's online portfolio.
Josh McKible: Line and bold color, great detail.
Andy Potts: Collage, with photo and splashes of color.
John Grimwade: Information Graphics extraordinaire
HEADCASE DESIGN: Headcase Design is a Philadelphia-based graphic design and illustration studio.
Paul Kepple is the owner of and art director at Headcase Design.
Jude Buffum is a graphic designer and illustrator at Headcase Design.
500gls Illustration: Slick and stylish with a lot of movement.
Felix Sockwell: smart
Otto Steininger: retro look graphics and illos. line and some collage elements
KellyAnne Hanrahan: Does some nice line art graphic drawing, although you won't see much of it on her site. Update your site KellyAnne!
Raymond Biesinger: Great, loose collage-y graphics and illos.
L-Dopa Design + Illustration: A nice range of styles
Tobias Wandres. Represented by Illustration: International animator and illustrator for advertising, new media, graphic design, editorial and publishing. Represented by Illustration. Online resource at www.illustrationweb.com.
Bryan Christie Design: One word--amazing.
Celia Johnson: Really subtle and beautiful.
Aaron Piland: Cool seventies-ish graphic and colorful illos. Great tiny icons as well.

Lettering

Grady McFerrin: Nice hand drawn lettering.
Brian Rea: handwriting
Elvis Swift: Calligraphic lettering and illustration
si scott design: Swirly, floral, hip
Jon Valk Design: Type, Design, Logos, Lettering

Line Drawing

Mark Danielson: Nice architectural/interior work
Joel Holland: nice line drawing and lettering as well
Option - G: nice high school kid doodle look
Hope Gangloff: #
Klas Fahlen: #
Rachell Sumpter: delicate wash and line
Alex Robbins - illustrator and graphic designer: *
Josh Cochran: Great concepts, hip literary feel
Jon Han: A little on the abstract side, but I like it
Jessica Findley Illustrations: Color and black & white

Maps

Jack Molloy: beautiful antique-look maps

Painterly

Zachariah Ohora: Nice fashion work & other

Photo Illustration

Stephen Webster: Colorful and fun
Anastasia Vasilakis: Sultry photo montage
Amy Guip: Very hip.
Josh Gosfield: A poetic mystic
Margaret Riegel: Photo-based montage
Scott Austin: Dreamlike photo montage
Miles Donovan: Music, fashion and cityscape (under portfolio II)
Randy Lyhus: Cool and futuristic
John Weber: Very cool hi-tech photo collage with found objects
Joseph Rafferty Photography: Nice black & white stuff
Viktor Koen: Interesting personal work.
Steven Biver: beautiful photography and montage
Stuart Bradford: Nice graphic photo-based work

Photorealistic

Chris Lyons: Also does a good likeness

Portraits

Rob Day: 19thC-looking painting
JB Lowe: Traditional
Rachel Salomon: Very nice line drawing
Marc Burckhardt: 19thC-looking portraits
Lara Tomlin: etchings
Erik Sandberg: folk-surreal
Marla Campbell: Very nice portraits with a decorative art nouveau feel
Harry Campbell: If you're looking for something graphic but not too heavy
Michael Witte: Line and watercolor
Brian Taylor illustration: Hip caricature and likeness
Hellovon: Superb portraits

Psychadelic

Kai & Sunny: fluid line and color
Plusetplus: nike ads.

Quick Reads

Good, simple, clear concepts

Leo Acadia: Colorful and bold illustrations fit for poster or postage stamp. A portfolio of images that focuses on clear concepts and simplicity in approach.

Retro charm

John S. Dykes: Painterly, thrift shop chic.
Melinda Beck: One of her three or four different styles.
Gilbert Ford: engraving & color
ZELA ILLUSTRATION: fashion and portraits
Greg Mably: Graphic whimsy
Michael Bartalos: Graphic, clean
Laurie Rosen: Very bold and clean, great use of letterforms
Martha Rich: painterly folk
Esther Pearl Watson: Painterly folk
Mark Matcho: MARK MATCHO abandoned a promising job as a short-order cook to pursue a career in illustration. They laughed when I turned in my hairnet, recalls the 38-year-young Pasadena native. But someday I'll show them all.
Adam McCauley: The O-Town Style
Karen Greenberg: strong sense of type and design
Ian Bilbey: Very bright and graphic
Carl Wiens: Nice
Jean-Francois Martin: retro collage
Illustration by Mark Kaufman: Nice retro-ish line work and use of type.
Mark Gagnon: Maps, portraits and more
Matthew Laznicka: Retro ad-look, very nice!
Kilowatt Kat: Nice distressed, retro style illos by Adam Nickel
Franklin Hammond: Nice graphic look

Retro Cool

Tavis Coburn: Like a superhero
Gary Taxali: Little round guys
Tim Biskup: Fantastic
ISO50 - The Visual Work of Scott Hansen

Science and Nature

Debbie Maizels, Zoobotanica: Biological, Scientific, Veterinary and Medical Illustration

These are some of the most beautiful science illustrations I've seen.
Gunther Graphics: The fish especially are fantastic.
Karen Carr: "International wildlife and natural history artist Karen Carr, with illustrations and sculpture featuring dinosaurs, North American and African wildlife, and other environmental themes."
Dugald Stermer: Many of Dugald's images are also available as prints.
Patrick Lynch artist | author | illustrator | designer: Personal Web site of Patrick J. Lynch, Web designer,
medical and biological illustrator, and author.
Bryan Christie Design: One word?amazing.

Visual Narrative

Artists who are good storytellers

Joshua Gorchov: Nice likenesses as well
CLAYTON BROTHERS: Surreal folk painting
Daniel Lim: gen x
Mark Todd: Sketchbook style
Julia Rothman: solid
Olivier Kugler: &n
Esther Pearl Watson
Ruth Gwily
Catell Ronca | Illustration

Visual poetry

More of a mood than a concept

Rachel Salomon: Natural elements
CHRISTOPHER SILAS NEAL: Moody and poetic
PJ Fidler: Surreal paintings, moody
Rachell Sumpter: Delicate
Fernanda Cohen: Lovely and sumptuous.
Christopher Silas Neal: Conceptual
Jacob Magraw-Mickelson: Very distinctive and fresh, lovely. Kind of has a Native American feel at times.
Sophie Casson: Bold, flat areas of color, woodcut-look
stefanie augustine: nice portraits, maps and collage also
Rebecca Bradley: Beautiful and lush watercolors
Katherine Siy: nice flowers and birds

Woodcut and Screenprint Style

Bold graphic shapes

Shaw Nielsen: Color and black and white work
Tim Gough: Tim does design, illustration and screenprinting and has lots of interesting links, too.
Beppe Giacobbe: Bright and very attractive
David Pohl: Beautiful colors
The Heads of State: "The Heads of State design: posters, packaging, logos, bumper stickers, what have you. No job is too small, no fee is to big."

Word Picture Association

Artists who are adept at combining a simple picture style with words

Juliette Borda: Colorful and sweet but smart.
Lino: Painterly, collage
Sarah Wilkins: Pleasing
Trisha Krauss: Paintings, folky
Leigh Wells: Elegant and thoughtful collage with nice use of lettering and words

Whimsical

Benoit: Light, painterly, charming
Jeffrey Fisher: Nice maps too
Laura Levine: Folk
Michael Sloan: Nice & happy
Rebecca Hahn: Playful, cute and colorful artwork as she says herself
Monika Aichele: v fun
Ian Bilbey: Very bright and fun
Greg Clarke: Dog people
Calef Brown: Nice lettering too
Camilla Engman: Some very nice collages recently as well as nice line work.
Yolanda Gonzalez: Very pretty and colorful
Andrew Bannecker: delightful
Janice Nadeau: lovely
Lorena Siminovich - Illustration: New York based illustrator, digital collages. Specialized in Childrens illustration Fashion and Food illustration.
Ali Douglas: Poodles and poofy hair--yay!
Kristine Lombardi: Pretty Dufy-inspired line work with wash. Nice curly lettering, too.
Leo Acadia: "Colorful and bold illustrations fit for poster or postage stamp. A portfolio of images that focuses on clear concepts and simplicity in approach."
Doreen Mulryan: cute, and sometimes mean, little critters
Rob Dunlavey: whimsical AND smart!
Scott Rhodes: cute!

Essential Illustration Books

American Showcase Illustration (20th ed. Includes CD-Rom. 2 Vol Set)

American Illustration 14 (American Illustration Great Big Book of Fun): Over 200 Original Works, Photographed & Reproduced in the latest Color Effects at Tremdnmendous Expense

by American Illustration

Amazon Price: (as of 07/26/2008)

REPS

Lilla Rogers Studio--Buongiorno, Hello: Lilla Rogers Studio
Heart Agency: Based in London
Heflinreps: Some very good, under-appreciated artists
Lindgren & Smith: nice range
Central Illustration: Many great talents
ChildrensIllustrators.com: Children's Illustrators. Picture book artists and published books showcase.
Debut Art: Lots of great talent.
Magnet Reps || Artist Representatives: Magnet Reps is a leading artist representation and management agency representing a diverse group of stylistically unique award-winning illustrators from across the globe.
Illustration, stock illustration guide and illustrator link directory: Stock illustration portal and guide for finding individual illustrators, all available directly from the artists. Over 29,000 stock illustrations available in a commission free environment. Illustrator guide and link directory with 1954 links.
Marlena Agency: Serge Bloch
Gary Clement
Karine Daisay
Selçuk Demirel
Gerard DuBois
Camilla Engman
Mieczyslaw Gorowski
Linda Helton
Carole Henaff
Hadley Hooper
Martin Jarrie and many others...
Anna Goodson Management: Also has some photographers
Bernstein & Andriulli: Bernstein & Andriulli Illustration
Illustration, stock illustration guide and illustrator link directory: Stock illustration portal and guide for finding individual illustrators, all available directly from the artists. Over 29,000 stock illustrations available in a commission free environment. Illustrator guide and link directory with 1935 links.
Dutch Uncle: Dutch Uncle Agency is an international illustration agency. Representing Dragon, Mark Matcho, Katherine Streeter and many others. Special section on Japanese Illustrators.
+ COLAGENE + CLINIQUE D'ILLUSTRATION +: Some very fresh illustrators
Friend and Johnson: Brian Cairns (beautiful concepts), Ann Field, Paul Wearing, Tim Tomkinson (good portraits)
Synergy Art : Artists Agency : +44 (0)20 7727 9800: More great work from the UK
i2iArt: Nice range of illustrators. Andrea Cobb, Kyser, Ian Phillips many others.
Levy Creative: New home of Fernanda Cohen
http://www.eyecandy.co.uk: Lots of great people!
Folio Art: Catalin Estrada, Britta Stenhouse, Veronica Palmieri plus lots more
Gerald and Cullen Rapp: many many good illustrators!

Sites and Blogs for Illustrators

Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog: Drawn! is a collaborative weblog for illustrators, artists, cartoonists, and anyone who likes to draw. Visit us daily for a dose of links and creative inspiration.
Gumbo Illustration: Gumbo Illustration
IllustrationMundo: Find an illustrator, get current information about the commercial illustration industry and be a part of the illustration community.
Today's Inspiration: A place for those with an interest in illustration from the 40's and 50's to share their knowledge, views and opinions.
Drawger.com: Illustrator blogs for and by illustrators. Sites available by invitation only.
Sketch Motel: This is a cool collective of artists.

Where to Get Cool Illustration Stuff

You can purchase prints and accessories by your favorite illustrators online

Thumbtack Press: Many of my favorite illustrators have reasonably-priced prints available on this site.
Prickie.com: Prickie.com sells unique button badges (or pins) designed by a wide range of artists. I feel like covering every jacket I have with these cool pins!
START MOBILE | NEW ART FOR MOBILE DEVICES: Wallpaper for your phone. Lots of cool illustration to choose from for $1.99

Drawn! Updated Daily

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Picture Mechanics

A portal of thirty fantastic illustrators

Here you will find news, blogs, and other postings by thirty top illustrators as well as links to their sites, among them Juliette Borda, Christian Northeast, and Greg Mably.

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Please tell me what you think!

Serenity_Prayer_Gifts

Really wonderful lens! Lots of good resources and skillful organization. Thanks! :-)

Posted May 25, 2008

boiscanot

Very comprehensive & useful. I am not yet one here ...

Posted April 07, 2008

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