Illustrators

"Order and randomness arise under the influence of the creative act in the context of a certain approach to forming and are the fundamental principles of creation that have an ontological basis in art. The metaphor of letter — Littera, architectural integration and synergy of metaphors — columns of a chaotic set of a ghost city, a carrier of randomness information code. Typographic metropolis — Babylonian Chaos of letters spontaneous arrangement like a thesis and antithesis of harmony and order of newspaper columns in the form of eternal city. Randomness is divine, because it is not made by hands, it is not subject to man, unlike order. There is something mystical about the randomness code. The idea of the involvement of ontological “order” and “randomness” in forming is a universal approach to creative act. Thus, the "effect of randomness" is created in the process of creative experiment with printed form and printing. The categories of "order" and "randomness", being the basis of the beautiful, manifest themselves as aesthetic paradigms of the unique author's printing and visual art."

"The works create new poetry, which involuntarily rivals with habitual esthetic stereotypes. For instance, we accept as a common notion to worship joyously the classic beauty of St. Petersburg, its harmony and stately grandeur. This exposition does have variations of that sort. But observe “Night Nevsky” by Parygin. Rough to the touch texture, dark abyss. In the darkness urgent lights explode. They bring forth immediate spiritual angst. One does not regard the regal magnificence of the urban landscape-it is neither cast aside, nor left behind the curtains, as dramatism of modern perception takes over. One regards not a city museum for curious crowds, but one beholds the habitat of our days where we seek, love, fight, suffer. That art defines perception."

"Another important direction in contemporary Russian artists’ books, with many precedents set by the Futurists, is the fusion of poetic and artistic talent of artist-authors blessed with Doppelbegabung. The intimate relationships between text and image is enhanced when author and artist are one and the same person and engage in an inter-art discourse that leads to creations that are truly unified works of art. An artist who achieved equal mastery in more than one medium and made different arts merge in his personality was no doubt Alexey Parygin. His poetic collections <...> represent an attempt to synthesize text and plastic figurative form in books where literary and visual languages are calculated to have a simultaneous effect on the reader/viewer. The work of Alexey Parygin have common features that are not accidental as the books were created at more or less the same time."

"Megalopolises. Plans. Building plans. Yellow. Street lineature. Labyrinths of yards. Pigeon flocks. Green. The geometry of squares. Dead zones. Subway burrows. Red. Meaning signs. Dim light. Noise. Voids. Black. The work transformed itself in the process of manifestation. The pictograms appeared almost by accident — naturally. Text: Parking / Diner / Bird / Airport / Disabled / Attention / Parking / Motel / Bar / Attention / Cat / Bird / Diner ... Recoded, literally: art, like all modern culture, lost its clear value criteria, meaning and purpose of movement long ago. City. One of the main problems of modern society is the almost complete loss of the ability to self-cognition and self-identification. City. Civilization is degrading. The agony still continues, maintaining the illusion of life, but it does not change the merits of the question. City."

"...from my point of view, a very serious, worthy and professional exhibition. It's nice that there is a solid culture of color, ...there is a persistent desire to express their feelings of life, their artistic vision."

"His works show high culture, erudition and taste, it is hard to favor any particular piece. Moreover, the artist prefers options on a particular plastic theme, as he himself puts it. He uses various in techniques, and revisits it in different periods of creativity. He believes his plastic theme conveys the plastic state. The state arises and manifests in very different ways, yet retaining its basic sign. Perhaps this art form blends both the sign and its notion."

"A big city is always partially a Babylon, sometimes an eclectic mixture, juxtaposing contrasts, dialogue and conflict all at once. It is a Unity achieved thanks to our differences. It contains both old and new things. A city without development is dull. A city deprived of its historical context is uninteresting. Moreover, a city without clear urban planning ideas is a toneless backwater."

"The reality of how America functions is it's hard to be an artist, period. It's really undervalued work. You have to convince so many people to like what you are doing before you can do it all the time. That's a real barrier, and it's scary and seems impossible. For a long time, I had, like, three strips a week running on various websites and I wasn't getting paid for any of it. The Nib was the first paid work ever got. It's important, I think, to step back and think, "Oh man, I managed to do this." Now I'm doing it full time. And it is unserious and unprofitable, but at least I'm happy with it."

"My style is very self-taught. I sort of taught myself drawing from watching The Simpsons and reading The Far Side. I think you can see those two things come out in my comics. I really like drawing gross stuff. I really like drawing gooey shit. I like to draw Ted Cruz, because he's really melty. I love to draw someone melting, or with extra eyeballs. I love a skull. Fire is really fun. So there's all these things that I just like to draw, and they'll end up in my comics."

"My sketchbooks are a mess. I use them as sounding boards so there's a mixture of writing, word associations, and incomprehensible squiggles. Except when I am trying to perfect a caricature, the art in them is blisteringly rudimentary."

"I spend a majority of my time thinking, and reading: Trying to find the angle that no one else would think to depict. I am always fearful of producing obvious things. While all art is at least tangentially political (the second you publicly place a mark on a piece of paper you will piss SOMEONE off), mine is deliberately overtly political. I take issues and events and try desperately to make sense of them. Like a columnist, I practice opinion journalism except I actually draw my conclusions, so to speak."

"I find that I can say so much more through humor. People are far more likely to absorb a message or opinion if it is wrapped in wit."

"When I was about five or six, I got in big trouble at school for illustrating an age-inappropriate poem about the Queen. To my detriment, the art was so carefully and lovingly drawn that my teacher could see exactly who was depicted, and what was going on. I grew up in England where that sort of thing was frowned upon—unlike corporal punishment, which was actively employed—and it all ended very badly. But I definitely learned an early lesson in the breathtaking power of art."

"Illustrated books for children can be extraordinary and powerful vehicles for young people to explore the world. For many, children’s books also provide the first introduction to art. Contemporary children’s book publishing is broadening and transforming at a rapid pace and responding to the longstanding need for children’s literature to be reflect the lives and experiences of all readers. Holmes’ distinctive artistic vision is at the forefront of this positive change. Her richly detailed visual narratives captivate and challenge audiences of all ages, inviting all to see the world anew."

"(Being able to draw) means that I have both an escape, and a voice."

"Comics was the thing that I always wanted to be able to do."

"Like the history of Black Americans, once we shine a light on the story, we see its great complexity, depth, detail, and beauty."

"I can only remember what was NOT my favorite – Canterbury Tales!! But I was in love with Greek and Roman Mythology…"

"My Aunt, Ms. Barbara Clarke Elam was a librarian. In her time, as a Black librarian, she was a rare creature. A Simmons graduate in Library Science, she went on to train School Librarians in Boston. Many express their indebtedness to her for opening up the world of literature and education to them. She taught by her actions that reading was fundamental to a rich inner life. It was her love for sharing books and innumerable trips with her and my cousins to the Egleston Branch of the Boston Public library in Roxbury that introduced me to art, found on the pages of books like “Curious George,” “Make Way for Ducklings” and “Madeline and the Bad Hat.” The images in those books intrigued me as a child and set my feet on the path to becoming a visual artist."

"Reading and rereading the manuscript. Reading it out loud. Recently I’ve begun taping myself and listening to myself reading the manuscript. Makes for a great before bed activity with a nice cup of tea. Next, I think about colors and the mood I want to set for the book. Then on research: Google and the Public Library."

"Absolutely not. If I saw a brown face it was because I colored it in myself. Even at my church, in our bible stories, not one face was tan, brown or black. In college there were two or three Black artists included in my courses. However a black professor opened up my world by helping to arrange a trip to the National Conference of Artists – A Black artists organization that had as members, Jacob Lawrence, Elizabeth Catlett, Samella Lewis and a host of other from around the country. It was like water to a thirsty child."

"I'm hard-pressed to think of a thing that happened in politics that is purely just comedy, because people's lives are at stake. I think the worst kind of political cartoon is just, like, "Look at this thing that happened." Like, "Here's a drawing of a news event with nothing to say about it." No point of view, nothing to say. That's not funny to me. What is funny to me is a point of view. It's something to say that is interesting or surprising about the subjects. Like, what is bad about Trump? 'Cause there's a million things, right? I think what's bad about Trump is the system that produced him. I try to think much more about the root causes of things and less about the aesthetic differences that I have with a politician. The jokes that are just like, "Oh, Trump's hands are small" are less funny to me. It's a little easy to poke fun at a person; it's harder and more interesting to poke fun at a structure. Because when you see Trump do something, it's not just him; it's hundreds of thousands of people enabling his policy-it's a whole support system there. For me, it was really clarifying when Trump was elected. A lot of the reaction, especially the more center-left, was like, "Oh no, Trump has dropped out of space, like from a meteorite. He's this rogue figure!" That's distorting everything he is. You can draw an extremely straight line from where the Republican Party was at with Reagan to Trump. I think it's more interesting to talk about that stuff."

"I fell in love with making art because of the images in children’s books."

"To top it off, he wants to bomb any country that he pleases, using a slogan that a country is “antidemocratic” – which simply means that anyone who is not for him is against him, and thus a potential target of attack. According to Bush, here you can see the “socialist hell.” Well, in that case, rather than prohibiting U. S. citizens from traveling to Cuba, they should do as the writer Eduardo Galeano suggested: organize tourist excursions so people could see these “horrors.”"

"As a community arts advocate and gallerist, I always encouraged artists to take every opportunity to “show your work.” If no one sees it, it is not doing an important job. Some artists balked at the idea of showing in restaurants or cafes. But I contend that art directors eat, museum curators eat and collectors eat. To that end, I was “showing my work” at a local ice cream store. Someone from Candlewick Press came in with their daughter for an ice cream cone and saw the work."

"This isn’t a perfect country; we have lots of difficulties and many things that need to be improved, and many things that need to change. But we also have many things that are worthy of admiration, things that just about no other country of the so-called third world has achieved, or will achieve for a long time."

"you will find Cuban heavy metal musicians, or rappers, along with those who play salsa – all outside influences are accepted without problems."

"What does bother me as a Cuban and an intellectual worker is that from the United States they’re trying to tell us Cubans what to do. President Bush recently called for democracy in Cuba; but I can’t explain to myself what moral standing he has, to give democracy lessons to my country, he being a president who got to the White House after fraudulent elections."

"if I had to explain it I would say that my work is about my life and community. Therefore it is seated on a foundation of Black Art traditions. Through a colored lens that may include quilt making, gardening, cooking, interior design, fashion, the healing arts, and spirituality."

"It’s impossible that in any society everyone will be in favor of the government. This happens here also. These folks are in the minority, as far as I can see, and, anyway, it has to be that way – if it were not so, this Revolution would not have lasted more than 40 years, 90 miles from the U.S."

"Participation in international humor events has brought me many other influences. My work style includes a large dose of “esthetic vampirism,” in that I’ve absorbed a lot from a lot of different people. But I have a central axis, my major cartoon characters, who have been changing in their own right along with the changes in the type of humor that I happen to be doing."

"My cartoons are published in various media outlets, not only in Latin America but also in Europe, Asia and the U.S. In some cases, I’ve gotten paid for them, in others not. In most cases, what they pay me is truly miserable, but I persist, with the happiness of seeing my work reproduced and accepted by many people."

"the essential thing for a cartoonist is information. The more information you have “laid down” in your head, the more options you will have to create cartoons that are not trite or repetitive, and the better your ideas will be. This also presupposes a work ethic that requires you to rediscover yourself every day, and allows you to avoid “easy” solutions."

"I decided to do this because of a personal interest, and because I was totally convinced of what I had to do. The position of a professional here doesn’t greatly differ in economic status from that of any other productive activity, so it wasn’t something that would have a great effect on me. It is true that I won’t have the same degree of stability, but that’s the risk you take to do what you really want."

"The initial influences on my work are in the work that was developed in Cuba in the humor magazine Dedeté [DDT], which avoids “pamphletizing” [crude propagandizing] and looks for new forms of communication … for non-traditional esthetic solutions. That’s where my style starts out."

"The role of political art in Cuba is a big one. The newspaper where I have worked for years makes major use of editorial cartoons, and on not a few occasions the front page is a full-page cartoon."

"I work primarily in collage and mixed media using lost and found papers, objects, and stories. Lately, I’ve been inspired by the profound and timeless writings of James Baldwin, Frederick Douglass, Toni Morrison, and Nina Simone."

"Psychiatry and comics have a lot in common, because they are related to the thinking of people I care about very much."

"Doctors cure diseases for humans, and cartoonists cure diseases for society. Humor can promote people's understanding of the complex conditions in contemporary society."

"I think the story is the most important thing. Kids (and adults) love stories. The art – its colors, characters, form, and style serve the story. To the extent that we can imagine ourselves in the story, we can embody and explore its values and lessons."

"People often confuse jokes with humor, but my humor is very serious. I not only make people laugh, but also make people reflect and analyze."

"I would encourage displays of books about artists (not just Black artists) and making available tools and activities that encourage choice and creativity. The library is a place for browsing and learning what we are visually attracted to – what we are curious about. Great librarians are always paying attention and help us with our interests. Artists’ visits and presentations add a dimensionality to reading about a particular topic."

"(My favorite artist that uses dark humor is) the French humorist Claude Serre, with a fine graphic style and a very hard black humor can be found in his series of cartoons, like “Humour Noir & Hommes en Blanc”. Another good example that can be easily found is the book “Idées Noires”, by Franquin. Very different from his usual style, but still a little gem that is not very known to the public."

"In the art world I love René Magritte, for his dreamlike and surreal view of life and the world around us. I also really do like pre-Raphaelite artists such as Dante Gabriele Rossetti."

"I make my art on drawing paper, with Indian ink, watercolours and pastels. Nib and brush are my best friends."

"I remember a simple, poetic, but wonderful cartoon of the great Cheval: a turtle walking slowly carrying on its shell a slug with a happy face, with the antennas folded back by the wind. It can be considered a good example of how drawings can be simple but give a precise idea of the relativity of things."

"I think it’s important that this job doesn’t lose the old handcrafted tradition, and that artists try not to rely only on a computer. The risk that can be taken is some sort of similarity among all different styles."

"plagiarism must be stigmatized, but it’s increasingly becoming some sort of “Witch Hunt” nowadays."

"In these years there are a great number of debates about similar cartoons. Many ideas are similar, of course, because the themes are recurring: war, peace, pollution, society, etc. Condemning all artists isn’t right. Many of them have in fact similar ideas, at the same time even if in opposite sides of the World. It’s although important for all the authors to truly check if the idea is truly an original one… Even if checking the whole web, catalogues and magazines could be a hard task indeed."

"I love the art of Kambiz Derambakhsh, for his graphic synthesis and his original ideas."