Emiliano's Website

Sorry that I forgot to post this with my presentation.
Here is Emiliano's website http://www.emilianoponzi.com/

Illustrator Presentation

For my presentation I chose to interview both Emiliano Ponzi and Jon Klassen. With this project I decided to go with Emiliano Ponzi. Emiliano is based out of Milan,Italy and his work has strong graphic qualities and use of repetition. He uses a Wacom computer and the Corel Painter software to create his pieces.

                                                                      "Dandelion"

                                                                     "School of Fish"

                                                                         "Hoarders"

                                                 "The World's Most Influential Companies"

                                                                        "Butterfly"
                                                      
                                                           Interview Questions and Answers

 1)  What's your favourite website/magazine/book/publications for
 inspiration?

I do not have a favourite book or web resource in this sense. I guess
all could be "inspiration", a picture on google, on a magazine as a
novel or just  a memory.

 2) What was your favourite professional assignment that you ever
did ?

The best assignments are both those where everything go great from the
firts step as those where you struggle a lot to find the right feeling.
I remember one I did in late 2010 for the New York Times op-ed, they
need final in 24-48 hours because it's a daily section, everything
goes very well from the first feedback to the published image. It was
picked for the 2010 notable op-ed art.
Guess anyway all of us think the perfect assignement is still to come,
should be a combo of "great topic+ great art director+ great results+
great money".

 3) What do you do when you can't come up with ideas?

we are artists...maybe, we are pros...sure! It means that we need to
do a job with the same attitude that  a lowyer or an account manager
does,so we have to produce even if it's a bad day or if the buket of
ideas is empty. Here it comes our pro side to rescue us. We start
looking around on books or web, reading the assignements over and over
finding at least a tiny suggestions for the image, trying to look at
the issue with a different prospective (sometimes is just a matter of
point of view) and eventually, at least we could reuse an old idea
with a new make up.
Sometimes from assignements that look boring or impossible to
represent we come up with meaningful and beautiful illustration
capable to win awards or deserved to be exposed. Because we start the
work with no expectations.

 4) Whats the best advice would you give an aspiring illustrator/
 student?

Do not follow trends, take a look at the market but do not build your
style based on mainstream illustration. Be a citizen of your world 
but grow your own touch able to have the communicative strength to go
beyond trends.

 5) How do you advertise yourself/get work ?

Years ago I would have responded that doing a great job is the only
and best way to advertise yourself. Now I think It become partially
true because there is an enormus quantity of images around, especially
on the web, and it's more difficult to come up from the crowd. So sure
doing great stuff is always fundamental but also showing and putting
it under the nose of people we want to work with is pretty important.
Doing masterpieces in our studio is not so effective as doing very
good illustrations in front of a client.

Interview with Carlos Lerms

Hello! The illustrator I chose to interview and do my presentation on is Carlos Lerms! I also wound up interviewing [Sarah Mensinga] and [Jon Klassen] who had a lot to say, and a lot of good advice they were willing to share. You can read their interviews if you click through the links above.

[Carlos Lerms] is awesome. He is a Mexican illustrator, working out of Cancun. He does a lot of poster work, and just recently started his own webcomic. If you check his [deviantart] (which is terribly inspiring and updated almost daily), you can also see a ton of other works relating to pop culture that will probably make you laugh. (Here's one about winning if you have yet to tire of it.)

"Explosions" (gig poster)

"No Such Thing As A Gruffalo"

"Chikita Violenta" (gig poster)

"The Hero of Hyrule"

"Social Networks"

"Tamarindo, pg. 5"

Interview

1) What sort of medium or programs to you use for your work?

I use digital mostly, illustrator and photoshop, but I always start with a pencil sketch, even if it's just a rough approach...

2) What are some of your favorite websites/magazines/books/publications for inspiration?

Abduzeedo.com is one, NiceFuckingGraphics (www.nfgraphics.com) , Omgposters, Yayeveryday... :)

3) What was your favorite professional assignment that you've ever done?

Once I had to do an illustration mixing Machete, Scott Pilgrim, and Harry Potter... it wasn't my best but it was the most fun :D

4) You have a really fantastic, bright style has it always been that way? How did you get there?

Mostly by just giving myself little challenges along the way... Trying to work in limited colors, then limited geometry, and suddendly letting go of restrictions and watching everything explode :)

5) What do you do when you can't come up with ideas? How do you manage stress?

I'm almost always stressed and tired, but it's ok if you're having fun... And about idea blockage, i don't believe in inspiration... If I can't think of something I just start working on something else, or researching... I never let myself stay still.

6) How do you advertise yourself/get work? What works for you?

Well, through my website mostly, and posting stuff on tumblr and deviantart.

7) Is your personal work particularly different from your professional work?

Yes, professional work is always what the client wants first... So it's very very different.

8) What's the best advice you would give a student aspiring to work as an illustrator?

Listen to a lot of music, Read a lot of books, watch a bunch of movies, play a lot of videogames, watch a lot of cartoons, and

draw the rest of the time... :)

***[Here] is a link to the piece Carlos talks about in Q3 of the interview, his favorite assignment.

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For my illustration inspired by Lerms, my theme was "Vacations." The first was a technique test (Kevin!) The second is my attempt to incorporate it into my interests. It was confusing, hard, fun, confusing, and a good lesson on many levels.