I adore the delicate line work and pastel colours of Marguerite Sauvage’s illustrations. Based in Paris and professionally illustrating since 2001, Sauvage has worked with a host of big brands including Elle Magazine, Mattel, PlayStation 3, Apple Computers, MTV, just to name a few. Her work, at times, can be overtly sexual and the juxtaposition of Sauvage’s ethereal style for such graphic images make it some of her most engaging illustrations. She of coarse has plentiful amount of G-Rated illustrations over on her website, which you should definitely visit. I will finish on one of Marguerite Sauvage quotes, regarding what inspires her, which I agree with completely:

“Happiness and anti-stress: I just want to make things prettier.”

Recently going through some of my old trading cards I stumbled on my 1994 Marvel Masterpieces set. All my love for The Brothers Hildebrandt came flooding back. I loved their short comment on the back like,

“We found that we literally had to develop a new style to paint this set, to convey the extremes of the intensity for the characters!”

Just the kind of stuff to get a young illustrator charged up! The brothers started painting professionally in 1959 and worked solidly since, illustrating for posters, books, adverts and, of coarse, trading cards. I was sad to read that Tim died in 2006, but the duo’s work will definitely continue inspiring illustrators for years to come. See more of their work on their website.

I just can’t get enough of the work by illustrator Xavier Ramonède. His blog, sushixav, is filled with splendid illustrations, animation and a great step-by-step tutorial too! I really enjoy ogling his simple shapes and limited flat colours with a just a hint of tone. You can also see more of his work on his deviantArt page.

Another top Capcom artist for today’s Manga Mondays, Kinu Nishimura. She was hired by Capcom way back in 1991, and is best known for her work on Street Fighter 2 Turbo and Street Fighter III. Her work is very distinctive, often using a soft watercolour-painted style. You can find out a little more about Nishimura on the Capcom Wiki website.

Green Screens by Sleeping At Last, a music video created by Javan Ivey. Whilst studying at Pratt Institute Brooklyn, Ivey created a wonderful short titled “My Paper Mind“. An animation where he actually created a new technique, which he called ‘Stratastencil’, strongly influenced by the Stratacut technique. See more of his work on his vimeo page.

Gobelins’ graduate and ex-intern at Dreamworks SKG, Aurelie Blard-Quintard is a freelance illustrator/animator based in Paris. Her style is loose and full of charm. To see more of her work hop over to her brilliantly titled blog, “Tea time isn’t it?“.

London-based fashion illustrator, Bobby Hillson has had an interestingly vast career. She started her illustration career working for publications such as Vogue and The Sunday Times, and designers like Coco Chanel. In 1969 she founded her own children’s wear, which subsequently earned her nomination for The Times newspaper’s designer of the year.

After years in the fashion industry Hillson turned her hand to teaching. She returned to Central Saint Martin’s and set up the MA Fashion Course. In her time there she has taught many prominent British fashion designers, such as Alexander McQueen, Stephen Jones and Rifat Ozbek.