Stephen Savage: Toys and Gender

Stephen Savage plays it both ways for the New York Times, illustrating letters to the editor on the topic of “The Marketing of Toys Based on Gender.”

 

Thomas Burns: Illustration West 51

Thomas Burns’ image, “The Whale in the Room,” has been accepted by the Society of Illustrators Los Angeles for inclusion in the SILA Illustration West 51 exhibition.

 

Marty Blake: Non-Vanilla, Part 2

Marty Blake’s ironic, retro “Non-Vanilla” campaign for Ben & Jerry continues with these two additional examples of eccentric holiday behavior.

 

Chi Birmingham: Fiscal Debate

Chi Birmingham's new illustration in the Sunday Business section of the New York Times accompanies an article on the power of symbolism in the current fiscal debate.

 

Roy Scott: Accepting Responsibility

Roy Scott created this illustration for Wolters Kluwer Health Publishing to accompany an article about the agony of implementing “Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care” decisions for loved ones.

Joshua David: Weeki Wachee Water Ballet

Joshua David McKenney designed and illustrated art for the Weeki Wachee Mermaids’ merchandise.

Vanessa Dell: Smithsonian Portraits

Vanessa Dell was commissioned to illustrate the December Contributors Portraits for Smithsonian Magazine.

Gemma Robinson has joined Theispot!

Gemma Robinson is the newest member of Theispot.com.

Eric Hanson: Holiday Greetings

Eric Hanson created this Christmas card for his good friends at the Dutch design firm GBE.

Keith Frawley: Carl Claus for Pixar

Keith Frawley was commissioned by Pixar Times to create a feature illustration for their site (pixartimes.com) to be displayed the week before Christmas. Keith’s inspiration for this piece was simple enough: the movie “UP”. 

Megan Piontkowski: Barnard College Holiday E-Card

Megan Piontkowski's live drawing and illustrations lend an air of festive energy to Barnard College's Holiday E-Card.

Michael Waraksa: SI 55

Michael Waraksa had two pieces accepted into the Society of Illustrators 55 annual. "Good Afternoon" and "New Aluminium Thursday" were both selected for the uncommissioned category.

Marty Blake: Ben & Jerry’s Non-Vanilla

Marty Blake has been working with ad agency Silver + Partners on a five illustration social media campaign for Ben & Jerry's, aiming to excite interest in vanilla ice cream by depicting outlandish, non-vanilla holiday traditions. The first in the series, featuring Marty’s ironic retro imagery, has just rolled out on Facebook.

Chuck Gonzales: U.S. Kids

Chuck Gonzales illustrates feats of mental and physical daring for one of his favorite regular clients, U.S. Kids magazine group.

Marilena Perilli: Get Cooking

Marilena Perilli pulls out the aprons and starts cooking in this sweet illustration for Tampa Bay Times.

Ruth Rowland: Season’s Greetings

Ruth Rowland worked with the design team at the Southern Poverty Law Center to create a holiday card to be sent to donors as a sign of their appreciation. SPLC is a nonprofit civil rights organization dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry, and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of society. 

John Tomac: Food Fight

John Tomac’s fun page one spot for the New York Times Dining section is all about the disagreements parents and their adult children have when they go out to eat. The younger generation grows up, moves to the big city and develops a taste for the exotic, while the older generation wonders who in there right mind would pay $300 for pizza.

Tyler Jacobson: The Power of Ten

Tyler Jacobson had only a few short days to complete these ten portraits for Sports Illustrated. The illustration accompanied an article honoring ten modern athletes dedicated to helping others. 

Chris Gash: The Cards of Christmas Past, Present and Future

Chris Gash tries to send a client holiday card every year and every year… here he shows us some of the winners (and not-so-much) from the archives. This was a good one from 2008:

Brian Stauffer: Op Ed Animation

Brian Stauffer’s stark illustration for the print edition of the New York Times Op Ed page, accompanying a piece on life sentences for low level crimes, comes powerfully alive with animation for the on line edition.

James Yang: Beyond Digital

James Yang’s illustration for the Chronicle of Higher Education accompanies an article that examines teaching beyond the digital age.

Janet Allinger: Pinot Paradise

Janet Allinger combined her illustration and design talents to produce this logo for Pinot Paradise, the annual celebration of Pinot Noir exclusively grown and produced in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Kyle Hilton: Happy Endings

Kyle Hilton’s latest Paper Doll series was created on set with ABC for their sitcom, Happy Endings.  Kyle worked on these with one of the show’s writers to come up with some of their favorite costumes and moments from Seasons 1 and 2.  

Cathy Gendron: Holiday Stress

Cathy Gendron produced this illustration last week for “5 Ingredients for a Smooth Holiday,” a Washington Post story outlining some helpful hints meant to lighten your load during the joyous season. 

Jon Foster: Angel Season

Jon Foster’s latest illustration, for the cover of new original fiction by JT Petty on Tor.com, is nothing short of rapturous.

Goni Montes: Sick, Brah…

Goni Montes has been illustrating regularly for Skiing Magazine, creating fun and quirky illustrations to accompany stories about the culture of the sport. Here is one from November, for an article about altitude sickness.

Brian Stauffer: Op Ed Animation

Brian Stauffer’s stark illustration for the print edition of the New York Times Op Ed page, accompanying a piece on life sentences for low level crimes, comes powerfully alive with animation for the on line edition.

Jacob Thomas: Jack Reacher

Jacob Thomas illustrates Tom Cruise’s latest role, Jack Reacher, for an article in the Washington Post Sunday Style section that asks, “Why is Jack Reacher so Popular?”

 

Gregory Manchess: Jameson Whiskey

Gregory Manchess was commissioned to create the illustrations for this year’s Jameson Whiskey's ad campaign, featuring old-school paintings of John Jameson himself, performing heroic acts of daring on behalf of his beloved beverage.

 

Elisabeth Alba: Rising Star

Elisabeth Alba’s dreamy, perfectly composed paintings earned her the honor of being named one of the two winners in the illustration category of ImagineFX magazine’s “Rising Stars 2012” competition.

 

La Boca: Book Cover Quartet

La Boca has designed this set of four paperbacks for a new edition of B.S. Johnson novels, to be published in February of 2013 by Picador in the UK.

 

Megan Piontkowski: Portrait of Steve Dalachinsky

Megan Piontkowski illustrates the next installment of Steve Dalachinsky's column "Outtakes" for the Brooklyn Rail's Music section, featuring a portrait of the writer contemplating jazz musicians who passed away during 2012.

 

Laura Watson: Happy Holidays

Laura Watson sends warm, woodsy wishes for a sweet and lovely holiday season!

 

Carl Wiens: Shining Bright

Carl Wiens created this colorful firefly image as part of the print and identity collateral for Kingston Arts Council's Fiftieth Anniversary celebrations. The Council was founded as artists and performers united in saving the historic Grand Theatre from demolition. 

Leon Mussche: Crowdfunding

Leon Mussche illustrated a feature on “crowdfunding,” a relatively new way of collectively financing projects, for the current issue of Rabobank magazine. Leon visualized this co-operative form of banking as a tandem bike: the person in front is presenting the idea, with a lot of effort being made behind him. 

 

Bob Staake: Name That Baby!

Bob Staake’s Name That Baby is here just in time for the holidays! Kids (and adults) will love this goofy, rhyming picture ebook/app about a family that welcomes a new member to their brood -- and the challenges they face in trying to come up with a name that isn't too "weird, crazy or strange".

Aaron Meshon: Take Me Out To The Yakyu

Aaron Meshon’s first children’s book, “Take Me Out To The Yakyu”, is the story of a little boy and his grandfathers, one in America and one in Japan, who learns about baseball and its rich, varying cultural traditions. Buy a copy in Theispot.com Bookstore.

Chi Birmingham: Cinder Block City

Chi Birmingham brought his gouache kit out of retirement for the New York Times "Townies" blog, illustrating an essay by a man coming to terms with new real estate developments in his once industrial neighborhood.

Brian Stauffer: Vancouver Opera Posters

Brian Stauffer was commissioned by the Vancouver Opera to illustrate a vibrant series of posters for their 2011-2012 season. 

 

Richard Borge: Titles & Graphics

Richard Borge generously treats you to two minutes of fast-moving titles and motion graphics: you will NOT be bored…

Mike Tofanelli: Almost Famous

Mike Tofanelli’s fun full page illustration for Westchester Magazine accompanies a feature on local residents who share their names with celebrities. Among those profiled: a FedEx worker named Liz Taylor, an owner of a carpet cleaning business named George Burns and an ad executive named Michael Jordan.

Jason Seiler: The Good Wife

Jason Seiler’s ebullient, tongue-in-cheek portrait of Michelle Obama, done for the cover of this week’s New York Observer, was completed in a little over one day…

 

Chris Gash: Eyes on the Prize

Chris Gash illustrated the “Parenting” column in Worth magazine for the second time this month. The topic was what it really means to raise successful children, and how not to turn them into anxious, goal-obsessed teenagers.

 

Judith Drews: Lolli Cleans Up

Judith Drews’ latest character, Lolli, needs to tidy her room… but how can she possibly do it, with so many lovely toys that want to be played with?

 

Taylor Callery: Common Room

Taylor Callery created these illustrations for The University of Pittsburgh Common Room. "Boot Camp PhD" is an article about a training class offered to students that provides techniques of discipline when writing their PhD papers. 

 

Peter Horjus: Scents of the Season

Peter Horjus created six holiday images for the Glade Limited Edition Winter Collection, which now appear on dozens of scented holiday products, including adorable cloth ornaments.

Mark Summers: Pirates at the Plate

Mark Summers' new book, “Pirates at the Plate,” published with Creative Editions, is about an epic baseball showdown between pirates and cowboys.

Joyce Hesselberth: Developing Empathy

Joyce Hesselberth’s latest illustration for Dr. Perri Klass' column in the New York Times examines how children develop empathy and whether or not it can be taught.

Merrill Rainey: Pockets Magazine

Merrill Rainey’s got some cute new illustrations in the latest issue of Pockets Magazine for kids.

Tom Richmond: The Dork Knight

Tom Richmond’s latest parody artwork for MAD Magazine is titled, “The Dork Knight Reprises.”  Here is a peek at the MADness, which appears in the current issue:

 

John Kachik: The Amazing Kale

John Kachik’s illustration for STYLE Magazine accompanies their "Food for Thought" feature, which poses the burning question: Is kale the new arugula?