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.

I stumbled upon Justin’s blog today (and I think I looked through every page). He is currently working at Disney Studios, and he also creates a lot of fun illustrated work in his spare time. I really like his background art, which is simple, yet beautiful. You’ll also find on his blog some comic strips, character design, illustrated skateboards and the list goes on. Super talent, and extremely inspiring.

Note: Interestingly, we previously featured Justin’s brother Josh on The Lounge.

Joshua Middleton’s career began in the comic book industry, with his clean-cut style attracting several major comic book publishers including DC, Marvel, Dark Horse and Image. He later went on to work in television animation and feature films for companies such as Warner Brothers, Nickelodeon, Universal and Sony Pictures Animation. Joshua is also one hell of a book cover artist…see more on his website.

Erwin Madrid was born in the Philippines and grew up in California, USA. His talents were spotted very early on by Dreamworks, who hired him during his last semester at the Academy of Art College in San Francisco. He worked on a lot of the Shrek franchise, as well as the Madagascar sequel. He also creates some beautiful children’s book illustrations and has illustrated a comic book titled ‘Ananke’, which looks incredible.

Erwin Madrid has inspired me a lot in my own work, so I hope he can do the same for you.

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.

Lots of different styles from London-based illustrator and designer, Oren Haskins. Yet, they all have a common thread. His drafts have eloquent and often rigid shapes. His pallets are muted and constrained. One may think that this combination may hinder any emotion or motion in the illustration, but in fact, the narrative is better for it. Check out more Haskins’ work on his website and blog.

Todd Harris has created a lot of artwork for the gaming industry and is the talented illustrator behind the hilarious ‘Heroes Guide to…’ books. You have to admire his super-rich colours, fun-filled fantasy characters and his great compositions. His backgrounds are almost dream-like. Find more stuff of dreams on his blog.