Fun, stylish, bright and friendly—Eric’s illustrations are all of these things. I love his characters made up of geometric shapes. Illustrations are naturally flat or two-dimensional by nature, so it’s interesting to see the way he embraces that in his work; everything feels unashamedly flat, with simple shapes fitting together to create exciting compositions. Find more of Eric’s work on his website.

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.

Tyler Parker is an illustrator based in Seattle Washington, USA. He has had four children’s books published by MeeGenius (find links to them all here). Tyler’s signature style combines a cut-out style with vibrant colours using simple shapes. His clients include Giant Robot, American Greeting and VT Kids.

I really enjoyed looking through Natasha’s Behance page. There isn’t a huge amount of work there, but it’s quality, not quantity, as every good portfolio should be. There is a nice playful innocence that comes through in every piece.

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.

Aurélie Neyret is a French freelance illustrator. Working across mediums from children’s books and magazines to trading cards. A couple years ago I treated myself to an original sketch via her Etsy shop. It arrived in brown envelope with an inked, and lightly pencilled, doodle on it. Inside was a thank you note with yet another cute doodle. Finally reaching the sketch, an energeticic pencil drawing of three girls, with yet another treat on the reverse! It is quite possibly one of my smartest and cherished purchases. Find more of Neyret’s work on her 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.