Category: Amazing illustration
Why does our artist Carolyn Gavin get so many commissions to illustrate things like wine labels, Anthro bedding, chocolate bars, and more?
We love our artist Carolyn Gavin, and we’re delighted to profile her today. From chocolate and wine packaging, to Anthropologie bedding, Carolyn’s work adds lush watercolor beauty to any product.
I first became aware of Carolyn’s work many years ago in a tiny paper goods shop in Rockport, Massachusetts. Her journals for Ecojot absolutely floored me–her style was truly original.
Contact us to assign or license–we’re happy to help!
Animation by Natasha DeWitz
Photo courtesy CreativeBug
Check out Carolyn’s CreativeBug Class, “Daily Painting Challenge: Flowers, Fruits and the Natural World”
Watercolors
Click on the image above to see a Carolyn watercolor painting in action!
Packaging
Packaging for L’Occitane en Provence
Gift box and Pumpkin Spice chocolate bar packaging art by Carolyn Gavin
Wine label for Georges DuBoeuf
Books & Products
Carolyn illustrated two books in the Kids Can Press “Nature All Around” series.
File this under very cool jobs: Carolyn Gavin was invited by Fossil Toronto to hand-paint purses, wallets and watches recently.
Bedding for Anthropologie
There are several reasons why our artists love illustrating for editorial. See new work by our artists for the Washington Post.
There are several reasons why our artists love illustrating for editorial. First, the manuscripts open new worlds to illustrate. Second, concepting adds a rich dimension to the piece. And third, the faster time frame keeps it fresh.
Today, we are delighted to feature recent work by several of our artists for the venerable Washington Post.
Contact us to assign or license–we’re happy to help!
Illustration on souvenirs from a variety of countries by Jessica Allen for the Washington Post Travel Section
Illustration on climate change by Jon Cannell for the Washington Post
Illustration on Father’s Day by Marco Marella for the Washington Post
Illustration on wellness by Sarah Papworth for the Washington Post
What to do in Anaheim and Orlando besides Disney by Trina Dalziel for the Washington Post Travel Section
Called “the Praying Mantis” for its shape, this illustration by Katie Vernon for the Washington Post illustrates the most gerrymandered district in Maryland.
Here’s our GIANT ANNOUNCEMENT: THE BIG REVEAL–0UR NEWEST ARTIST!
Do you know what we love? We love signing artists. First, we love following them, then secretly working with them, and then finally announcing them. Why? Because as agents we love getting artists work. We really do. It’s just the way we’re made.
So when we see an artist like BAMBI RAMSEY, and all the amazing work she’s created, we envision her work on brilliantly illustrated books, magical children’s books, very cool editorial work, pretty fabric, happy toys, gorgeous lush floral cards, and just about everything else in the whole wide world.
We are delighted to now represent the brilliantly talented Bambi Ramsey.
Let me talk you through some of my favorite pieces.
Meet our newest artist, Bambi Ramsey
Here’s how I know that Bambi will be busy with commissions: I popped her art into this Bingo board I made for my Make Art That Sells students. You can see that she hits such a vast array of markets, subjects, moods, and more which is what I love to see in an artist’s body of work. I’m so eager to see what her first jobs are!
Find Fuchsia Food Fast
When I first saw this piece that Bambi created for a text I wrote for my Illustrating Children’s Book course, I knew I was dying to see her work in children’s books. Imagine what it would be like for the child who is looking through this book–the delight as they notice all the details like the shelf of jams, spotting the cat eyeing the love birds on the second floor, and did you notice the rocket ship in the alley? Contact us to chat about your book project. Let’s make it happen.
Bambi and I worked together for a few months before I signed her, and Senior Agent Susan McCabe and I wanted to see how she would do a full page illustration for a farmer’s market. We were also curious to see how she’d illustrate men. Result–> man bun man and flip-flop man. This stunning gem is what she did. Are you beginning to see why we just had to take on Bambi? Plus, she is wonderful to work with, and super-professional from all her years at a whole bunch of art departments.
Bambi took a whole bunch of my courses, and we love how each time she took the Children’s Book course, she developed her work in a different direction. Here, Bambi displays her ability to illustrate an historical text, researching period clothing.
Bambi crushed it in the Creating Collections for Home Decor course. She’s got such a gift for lettering, as you see above, and also further down this newsletter in the Patti Smith piece. When called for, she’s able to vibe out the color palette that’s right for the market. Here, she’s focusing on watery violet, gold, and black.
I always want to see winter holiday in a portfolio, and was delighted to spot this in Bambi’s portfolio. Folk art + winter holiday.
I worked privately with Bambi the past few months so that she could create a few more pieces to round out her portfolio. I asked her to illustrate any famous woman she wanted because we’re getting a lot of work for those kinds of images. She floored me with this portrait of Isobelle Eberhardt–a woman before her time–a Swiss explorer who moved to Algeria, dressed as a man, and was a writer and advocate of decolonialization. Not only did Bambi select a fascinating person, but the illustration is drop-dead gorgeous. I literally let out a gasp when I saw it.
Bambi already had this piece in her portfolio when I contacted her. I simply asked her to make it a tiny bit more ‘editorial’ by adding text to the cover of the book and scattering some seed packets around the figure, telling a quiet story of gardening.
I’m always happy when I see florals in a portfolio. They get work.
Patti Smith: The lettering. The intense, gorgeous face. The rich color palette. I mean, seriously, what more do you need? Case closed; let’s sign Bambi. So give us a shout and let’s make it happen with your project.
Yup, she was a semi-finalist in our highly competitive Global Talent Search. By the way, in lieu of the GTS this year, we are hand-picking artists from my MATS courses. I love the GTS, but I also am loving the ability to just swoop in and sign an artist I’m loving from class. Stay tuned.
See how our illustrators paint a taste of summer. Ice cream, bathing suits, and bikes.
Enjoy these summery images by our artists.
Animation by Natasha Dewitz
BIG NEWS! Plus see our artists celebrate Canada Day
BIG NEWS! We’re delighted to announce that we’ve signed another new artist who I have been watching closely for some time in my MATS courses. Her work is spectacularly gorgeous, she’s incredibly gifted in painting a broad range of subject matter applicable to a variety of top markets, and was often selected to be in my class reviews. We’ll announce her identity very soon, so stay tuned!
Meanwhile, Happy Canada Day to all our our Canadian clients, artists and friends. Did you know that agent Kim Fleming is from Montreal originally? She sometimes agents in French.
Enjoy some art celebrating Canada.
Born by the Black Sea, Helen now lives in Ottawa
We love Katie’s painterly map of Toronto
Love this lumberjill. Is that a word? It is now.
From John’s “Finger Log Rolling mini kit” for Running Press.
Everything Sarah paints embodies cool charm. We love this poster she created for the Folk Alliance.
Enjoy Jessica’s lovely hand-painted Vancouver stamp
I took a whole bunch of photos in the Studio of new products just in, illustrated by our illustrators. Plus a cool walking bird.
We have clients in so many industries and we love them all–editorial, home décor, stationery… You keep our artists engaged and busy, with loads of fascinating products you’ve asked them to illustrate.
Here’s a sampling of some recent products. Dive in and enjoy. And thank you to all of our clients, old and new, and future ones, too!
Contact us to assign or license–we’re happy to help!
Animation by Natasha Dewitz
Congratulations to Flora Waycott!
Flora’s stunning pop-up card for The Museum of Modern Art won a Louie Award for best Christmas card in the boxed category! The prestigious Louie Awards recognize the most outstanding greeting cards marketed in the U.S.
Congrats, Flora!
This is a fun one. Lots of Lovely Art’s gorgeous new art kit subscription box launched this month, fully illustrated by watercolor master Carolyn Gavin. It includes watercolors, markers, brush, pencil and an easy block colour project created exclusively by Carolyn for creating simple landscapes, as well as 3 great projects inspired by Hockney, Hundertwasser and Klee.
Happy journals and card sets by Hsinping Pan for teNeues. Coming soon: we’ve got lot of brand new books illustrated by Hsinping to show you.
Cover of The Mindfulness Journal by Trina Dalziel and card for Papyrus by Helen Dardik. By the way, the flowers on that Helen card are huge honkin’ gems.
Not only is Clairice Gifford an illustrator, but she’s a top-notch type designer, having lettered some impressive titles. Here’s a piece she did for Southern Living Magazine.
Look at these beauties we recently got in! Tara Lilly’s color palettes are charming, yet she always manages to come up with new ones. Plate series for TAG, Ltd.
You can see why Kendra’s images get snapped up for cards. They are modern and elegant, and easy to send to anyone. Here’s a recent design for Calypso Cards.
I hope you enjoyed the show! Want great art for your project? Don’t hesitate to contact us. We’d be delighted to assist you with any of your art needs. Get to know us here!
xo
Big orange hair lady, hipster deli man, long braids–what do these have in common?
You know what? You can always tell the artist’s style by how they draw people. Here’s a buffet of faces by our artists. Enjoy!
Animation by Natasha Dewitz
From children’s book The Perfect Shelter, coming soon from Little Tiger Press.
I hope you enjoyed the show! Want great art for your project? Don’t hesitate to contact us. We’d be delighted to assist you with any of your art needs. Get to know us here!
xo
Co-Founder, Make Art That Sells courses
P. S. Read what our clients have to say about working with our agency here!
Get ready to swoon. You’re going to see some amazing work for Sarah Papworth’s I Know An Artist book.
Every so often, one of my artists sends us work so magnificent that even after all these years of being an agent and seeing lots of top-notch work on a daily basis, I am absolutely blown away by the power of the work.
Sarah Papworth’s incredible book I Know An Artist (Quarto) is a masterpiece of imaginative work; each artist is portrayed with a different, tuned-in vibe: the color palette, the subject matter–even the lettering reflects the spirit of the artist.
I hope you enjoy Sarah’s work, and should you wish to buy the book, you can do so here.
Contact us to assign or license – we’re happy to help!
Animation by Natasha Dewitz
Daniel Roode’s book in top 100 rankings on Amazon!
Wonderful news: Daniel Roode’s This Little Scientist Book was in the top 100 of books sold on Amazon last week, and #1 Best seller in Children’s Historical Biographies. Congrats, Daniel!
Animation by Natasha Dewitz
Daniel is well-known for his captivating books for younger children, but did you know he also creates really stylish and modern pieces for grown-ups, too?
Giftware collection for Midwest CBK
A recap of Susan’s fanastic trip to NYC
What happens when you set agent Susan McCabe loose in NYC to visit art directors? Watch and see some pix from her visit last week!
Animation by Natasha Dewitz
Intrepid agent Susan McCabe in Manhattan
The art directors loved getting these luscious magazines of our artists’ work for children’s books and for greeting cards.
AD’s: Contact us and we’d be happy to send you a copy!
Susan visited with folks from a number of publishing houses…
Here’s Liam Donnelly and Tracy Shaw of Jimmy Patterson Books. They’ve done a few books with our artist Hsinping Pan.
Sneak Peek! Susan shot this photo of the proofs of Hsinping Pan’s gorgeous new book with Jimmy Patterson entitled Bigger Words for Little Geniuses, due out September 2019. Speaking of language, Hsinping is fluent in English and Taiwanese, having lived in both Los Angeles and Taipei.
Helen Dardik & Carolyn Gavin’s watercolor workshop
Shanliegh Heelan (left) and Mary Catherine Heelan (right)
It’s always wonderful to see projects fully realized. Susan snapped this shot of these brand new card sets for Roger La Borde by Kendra Binney, which were revealed at the Noted show.
Anne Bentley and Katie Vernon for Roger La Borde
Some of Kendra Binney’s cards spotted at the Calypso booth.
Susan enjoyed visiting Creative Director Monica Brandrup of the lovely card company, Up With Paper.
Pop-up card by Rebecca Jones for Up With Paper.
