The label “Internet Famous” gets thrown about a lot these days, not always justifiably, but after amassing a huge fan-base on sites like deviantArt and Facebook, I believe Lois Van Baarle has definitely earned it. Born in Holland, Lois Van Baarle studied animation in Ghent, Belgium, then continued her studies at Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht (HKU). Lois is currently working as a freelance illustrator and animator with international clients including Channel 4, CBBC, and Centre National du Jeu. All the while self-funding and developing her animation project, Trichrome. Check out her website for more stunning work. Also her FAQ is a very useful read for those looking to to start a career in illustration or wanting to learn more about digital techniques.

Most illustrators I’ve come across use pencils to sketch with, so when I first saw Joe’s work I thought it was totally refreshing. Not only are his pencils finished pieces, he also animates using this method. Beautifully grotesque, Joseph’s work is an ongoing exploration of the absurd. In his own words:

“All my personal work is based around a long standing research project which focuses on the absurd and its relationship to visual and written communication. I am interested in How fantasy, nonsense and the inexplicable can take on the semblance of ‘normality’. The language of science is one element which I look at extensively in my work, exploring how this language can be used to represent the absurd and what effect this has on the narrative. I explore these subjects using narrative illustration and illustrative animation, creating printed books and short animations.”

Visit Joe’s website to see more of his excellent work.

Student of the famous Gobelins School, Rémy Schaepman, whilst studying produced two outstanding short animations. The first Dodudindon, produced for Annecy International Animated Film Festival, and the second is the prize-winning Three dots. He has great versatility, displaying a range of accomplished styles both in his animations and personal work. To see more of his work, head over to his website.

Wischnik was born in Wolgast, and now lives and works in Berlin, Germany. His website portfolio is a must-see. It’s full of all sorts of styles and mediums, including vector, animation, collage, traditional inked illustration, digital illustration and even a great little comic strip simply titled ‘Oh’. You can definitely see that this is someone who enjoys their work. And I enjoyed it too.

Today we have the wonderful, zany illustrations of Josh Parpan to inspire you! He’s a former CalArts student now working at Disney TV on a show called ‘Gravity Falls’. Josh has a superb grasp on character design, with all manner of angles and shapes explored to great effect. His colour palettes are also always stylish and tasteful.

Elsa Duhamel is an animator and visual development artist from France. Her work is so beautiful; I couldn’t help but go through every video on her Vimeo page. The soft lighting and generous textures are always evident, no matter which medium she works in. Her characters have that charm that I think goes missing in a lot of mass-produced animation.

I can’t get over the amazing lighting and mark-making by Dice Tsutsumi. Born in Tokyo, he moved to New York in 1993. He has had a remarkable career so far, particularly in the animation industry. At Blue Sky Studios, he worked as a visual development and colour key artist for ‘Ice Age’, ‘Robots’ and ‘Horton Hears a Who’. He later moved on to Pixar as an art director, giving him the chance to work on ‘Toy Story 3’. Dice has also had a children’s book published, titled ‘I can Hear’. Last but not least, I will mention his work on ‘Sketchtravel’ and ‘Totoro Forest Project’, two excellent projects that Dice has helped organise. To see more from this creative dynamo, visit his fantastic blog.