Graphic novelist Mike Deas is probably best known for his Graphic Guide Adventure Series. But there’s another interesting side to Mike’s illustration career; he visits schools as a guest speaker! I remember meeting author Michael Rosen when I was young, at my primary school Hazelwood. He left a lasting impression on me—and from what I can see in his testimonials Mike Deas must have a similar effect on the children he visits.  And what a great way to make some spritely young fans. Win-win!

Sandra is a Swede living and working in Berlin, Germany. As well as creating beautiful illustrations, she is a graphic designer and runs a small online shop here, where you can find her knitted ‘wrist worms’, which I thought were really cool.

Her clients include The Art of Eating, Bang, Lines & Shapes and Motorola.

Keeping with our manga theme, Hyper Japan is back and promises to be another “Creative, Cool, Cute and Crazy” event. It spans three day, Friday 24, Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 February at Brompton Hall, Earls Court. It features anime, manga, art, cosplay, food, fashion, games…and pretty much everything you love about Japan. So if you are looking for something different to do this weekend why not check it out!

Katsuya Terada aka the “Doodle King” is an illustrator and character designer who has worked on titles like Blood: The Last Vampire, Hell Boy and The Legend of Zelda. With a varied and unique illustration style, I love how a lot of his work has a more traditional approach, creating stories not just images. See more of his illustration on his tumblr.

I really like every post on aspiring illustrator Halah El-Kholy’s blog. Everything almost has a cute but slightly chilling feel to it. It’s very querky, using an effective simple colour palette, patterns come to play in her work and there is attention to detail (such as ladies wrinkles), to give it a dark undertone. I find it extremely interesting!

If you’re into cooking, take a look at They Draw & Cook for some interesting illustrated recipes. They are submitted by illustrators from all over the globe, and everything seems a very high standard. Here’s a little about the site:

“Nate Padavick and Salli Swindell are a brother and sister design and illustration team who have been working together for over 10 years as Studio SSS. Nate and Salli came up with this idea while on a family vacation. Nate was trying to recreate a favorite dish – fettucine with figs in a balsamic butter sauce – while Salli sat at the counter with her watercolors painting the crate of figs. This led them to realize how fun it was to illustrate food. They then started talking about creating a little recipe book for friends, family, and clients. They asked some of their artist pals to help, but never got enough recipes to justify printing a book, so Nate built a quick blog and Salli started to spread the word – it spread fast! They Draw & Cook now contains the biggest and best collection of illustrated recipes anywhere.”

Zoe More O’Ferrall is a Central Saint Martins post graduate based in London.

“I find the ‘everyday ordinary’ inspiring, be it objects, packaging or possessions and I like engaging the humour in them. I relish exploring new places and cities so alongside a love of drawing buildings this comes out in much of my work.”

Zoe’s client list includes The Times, Mumford & Sons, Top Shop, Harrods and John Lewis.

Dave Mott has a great online presence, with a website, blog, Dribbble, Flickr and more. So if you haven’t yet bumped into his work somehow, this is for you!

Personally, I think this is absolutely shameful behaviour by Marvel and I’m not alone. Read more about Ghost Rider creator Gary Friedrich and his legal battle with Marvel here.

Below is a message from Gary:

“A NOTE TO MY FANS AND SUPPORTERS:

Since the various news agencies and websites have reported the ruling against me on my claims against Marvel in the Ghost Rider lawsuit, and the assessment of a $17,000 judgment against me and my company instead, I have read an amazing amount of comments in my support on the internet, and have received many messages of support directly. Although the reports of my employment situation and financial difficulties as well as problems with my health are unfortunately true, I want to let everyone in the comic book world, especially my supporters and fans of the Ghost Rider character which I invented, created, and wrote, that I am going to appeal the Court’s ruling and continue to fight this as long as I am able and that your support of me means more than you will ever know. I have heard your voices. I thank you with all my heart, and I appreciate your thoughts and best wishes as I soldier on.

Feel free to keep in touch with me via e-mail: fgroovygary@aol.com.”

Zane’s blog has some excellent character design and visual development illustrations. The images can be viewed at large sizes, which is a great bonus.