This is awesome

Goonies Chunk Truffle Shuffle, by Marz Jr..

A preview of things to come

I've been working on a little illustration that I'm excited about. Here's a tiny section of it. If you can guess what's going on, I'll probably give you a million dollars.

More fantastic illustrators

Spending too much time on the internet has the wonderful effect of shoving me in the direction of too many illustrator's websites. I've stumbled upon the following talented people through various means - blog comments, Illustration Friday* archives, link hopping...several of them have that retro style I enjoy so much:

Monsieur IV, by Blanca Gomez of Cosas Minimas. Available here. Go look as her website. Just look at it. And then tell me you wish you didn't own every one of them, or better yet, you made them all yourself.

This charming little vignette is titled Sneaky. It's by Vincent Desjardins, who generously explains his process on his blog. He gets the letter-press look with the aid of the help of Mr. Retro. Next time I have a hundred bucks to blow on a sweet Photoshop filter, I'm getting me one of those. Love that look.

Stacked, by Gennine, who writes this enchanting blog. Available here. The bird motif has been so popular for so long, but hers still impress me. I think it's the graphic shapes mixed with organic textures, which I tend to love.

*If you've never been to Illustration Friday, it provides a weekly prompt to which illustrators of all kinds respond. Fun browsing.

Four kids' books I want real bad

First, Antoine de Saint Exupery's The Little Prince is absolutely one of my favorite books of all time. And I have several copies of it. But then I found the big fat pop-up edition at a bookstore and just about wet my pants with excitement. I got to leaf through it, pull the tabs, watch the sunrises and sunsets over the little planets, watch the snake slither up...it's incredibly well-crafted. This will be put on the really-pretty-books-around-which-I-will-gather-my-well-behaved-children-for-meaningful-family-reading-time shelf.

Dinosaur vs. The Potty

Second, my son and I have both been fans of Bob Shea's Dinosaur vs. Bedtime for a while. I haven't read Dinosaur vs. The Potty yet, but I'm confident it will be just as fun as the first. I'm hoping my son's enthusiasm for roaring like a dinosaur will carry over to enthusiasm for learning to use the potty.

LMNO peas

Third, I just grabbed LMNO peas off the shelf at the library this weekend, and it's adorable! The illustrations are simple and sweet and the rhymes are the same.

Ellsworth's Extraordinary Electric Ears

Last, I grabbed Ellsworth's Extraordinary Electric Ears on the same library trip, and it's fantastic. It's a bit of an alphabetical I-spy book, like Graham Base's Anamalia and so many others, but it's so clever and simple. The page for X made me particularly happy, though so many other alphabet books seem to struggle with that one. The humor and the aesthetic also remind me of A Town Called Panic*, which is always a plus.

* If you've never seen A Town Called Panic, please go watch it right now. It's French, it's hilarious, and it's available on Netflix Instant Watch.

Some of my favorite illustrators

I'm a trend-follower; I'm just as in love with the flat, graphic 1950's/1960's illustration style as the rest of the world. Here are some of my favorites:

First, from the actual 1950's and 1960's, we have Jim Flora and Charley Harper. Just check out those shapes!

From Jim Flora's Kangaroo for Christmas, via here.

By Jim Flora, via this place.

From Charley Harper's ABCs, via this place.

From a Charley Harper book, via this place.

Then we have two contemporary illustrators who have some of that same flair, Ward Jenkins and the ever-stylish Matte Stephens. Yes, I am a Mad Men fan:

Ultimate Mad Men Party, Ward Jenkins

Daytripping, Ward Jenkins

Matte Stephens, via Spraygraphic.

By Matte Stephens, via Monkeyama.

If you dig this stuff just as much as I do, take a look at grain edit, a blog dedicated to 50's and 60's era modern illustration.