Karl is a Manhattan based illustrator, with an excellent skill for hand-lettering. He also creates some really nice book covers, picture book artwork and editorial illustrations. Karl’s work is always pleasant to look at; I like the beautiful colours and he has a nice handle on his ink strokes. But there are also some attention grabbing ideas in his work, such as an unravelling women’s head and a flying turtle. It’s a mixture of good ideas and the technical ability to pull them off which make Karl very admirable.

His clients include Coca-cola, Nike, Penguin, Virgin and Sony. See more on Karls’ website.

Hamburg-based illustrator Maike Plenzke creates rich coloured and textured work. She often builds up her tones uses regimented shapes which contrast nicely against her very loose pencil work. You can check out her portfolio, or see more of her sketches and ideas on her tumblr.

I love Miriam’s fun style, full of bright colours and big smiles. Her pattern work is beautiful and is available to buy as fabrics and wallpaper from her Spoonflower Shop. She also creates ‘Doodle Strips’, a sort of online sketchy comic but without the separation of boxes. To be honest, I’m not completely sure it works as it isn’t in English (but I hope it reads well as it looks amazing and very inventive)! Her website is definitely worth the extra little click to get to. She has lots of work, freebies and more. So if you like what you see here, head on over…

Max is from Moscow. His work is digital, so he takes advantage of the punchy bright colours available on screen to create inviting, enchanting illustrations and characters. Apart from the excellent technique and style, his work makes me smile. His clients include VISA, YouSendIt and Volkswagen. Visit Max’s website for more.

Born in Burma, Nila grew up in England and graduated from London’s Central St. Martins College of Art. Since then she’s been working as a freelance illustrator, with clients including Marks & Spencers, McDonald’s, Royal Mail and Paperchase. I love her sexy, minimal, colourful and fun illustrations, of which you can find plenty more on her website.

By the mid 90s I had successfully chosen my three favourite comic book artist, Joe Madureira, J. Scott Campbell and you guessed it, Humberto Ramos. You can only imagine my delight when they buddied together to form Cliffhanger. Over the years I have revelled watching the way Mr. Ramos’s style has evolved, I especially love his confidence in his un-inked pencils. It was his art in Impulse that made me sit up and take note. After which he went on to work on some brilliant comics including, Ash, Crimson, Out There, Wolverine and Runaways. Dotting around publishers early on, Mr. Ramos has, it seems, found a home with Marvel, and is currently penciler for The Amazing Spider-Man.

- Here is a little something for you fellow Cliffhanger geeks!

Melissa’s work is so imaginative, I found myself lost in page after page of her blog. She has a really cute narrative going on in her ‘Um…Mum’ story, definitely worth looking at. But I just love the style; loose figures that can pull off all sorts of interesting shapes and that sketchy scribbley feel that suggests naivety, a beautiful style for children (but I like it, too!)

Visit Melissa’s blog here, or her website here.