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The Hernandez Brothers, Gilbert, Jaime & Mario, are trailblazers of modern graphic storytelling. Premiering in 1981, their personal comics anthology Love and Rockets spawned from healthy doses of classic superhero/Archie comics, undergrounds like Zap, and punk rock music of the late 1970’s. Their stories are character driven, semi-autobiographical, complex, and sometimes surreal. They are their own 3-man “Miramax” of the independent comics industry, cranking out bunches of original, unconventional material each year.

This week marked the release of Love and Rockets Volume 3 #7, published by Fantagraphics Books. After the original run of 50 magazine-sized issues, and a 20 issue, comics sized Volume 2, fans now get to look forward to a new 100 page soft cover book each year. Most stories from the series end up in their own collections(usually with extras), like with Gilbert’s epic Palomar story-line, and Jaime’s chronicles of Maggie & Hopey.

The influence of Los Bros. Hernandez can be seen throughout the U.S. and abroad at the multitude of comics conventions, and zine-fests. As Kirby, Ditko, and Eisner laid down the foundation for modern mainstream comics, so has The Hernandez Brothers’ work done for the modern independent cartoonist.

You can follow the latest updates on what’s next for the Hernandez Brothers, and Love and Rockets at their facebook page here.

Also, Gilbert Hernandez has recently started a new weekly comic strip at VICE.com here.

For more comics related art, you can follow me on my website comicstavern.com - Andy Yates

Submitted by Melanie Elfert for the Illustration Friday topic NOISE.

Lucky for us, Geof Darrow is a stickler for the details. His intricate, clean line artwork attracted the attention of comics creator Frank Miller in 1990, and the two would go onto create Hard-Boiled, and Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot for Dark Horse. After serving as Conceptual Designer on all 3 Matrix movies, Darrow created the original series Shaolin Cowboy for The Wachowski Bros’ Burlyman Entertainment in 2005. He continues to produce new Shaolin Cowboy comics, to this day.

In the early 1980’s, after studying his craft at the American Academy of Arts in Chicago, Darrow worked with such comics legends as Jack Kirby(at Hanna Barbera studios), and Moebius(City of Fire art project).

Geof Darrow has won 3 Eisner Awards for excellence in writing/illustrating comics, as well as an Inkpot Award.

A good way to check out more art, and keep up with Mr. Darrow’s work is to “like” his facebook page here.

For more comics related art, you can follow me on my website comicstavern.com - Andy Yates

Dan Brereton broke into the comics scene in the late 80’s/early 90’s with books like The Black Terror from Eclipse, and The Psycho from DC Comics. His distinct painted art style stood out among the other comics being published at that time. In 1995 Brereton introduced his creator-owned series The Nocturnals to the world. The Nocturnals is a pulp style horror series about a bunch of supernatural crime fighters, starring a cast of colorful characters like Doc Horror, his daughter Evening AKA Halloween Girl, Firelion(a revived victim of spontaneous human combustion), and many, many more.

The Nocturnals are celebrating their 20th Anniversary with a special KickStarter campaign for their next graphic novel The Sinister Path. There’s less than 2 days left as I write this, so hurry over there, if you’re interested.

Other works of note by Dan Brereton are Giantkiller, Batman: Thrillkiller, Legends of the World’s Finest, and The Last Battle, just to name a few.

Brereton has been nominated for 5 Eisner Awards, and has won an Inkpot Award.

You can keep up with the latest Dan Brereton news, and browse more artwork on his website here.

For more comics related art, you can follow me on my website comicstavern.com - Andy Yates

Francesco Francavilla is an Italian comic-book artist who’s fame has skyrocketed the last 5 years. He’d been working in the independent comics scene since the mid-2000’s on projects like The Black Coat, and Sorrow. Francavilla’s first high-profile project came in 2008 when he collaborated with Matt Wagner on a new Zorro series for Dynamite Entertainment. From there he got to infuse his classic pulp style art on Marvel’s Black Panther, and Scott Snyder’s first Batman story arc in Detective Comics.

In 2012 Francavilla introduced his own noir vigilante, The Black Beetle, to the world in the pages of Dark Horse Presents. Since then, 2 volumes of the critically acclaimed series have been published(No Way Out, 2013 & Necrologue, 2014).

Most of Francesco Francavilla’s recent work has been focused on the mega-hit Afterlife with Archie, which gives readers a more mature, horror take on those classic Riverdale characters. He also continues to work on various personal, and professional illustration projects, including some exclusive movie posters for Mondo.

Francavilla is frequently updating his blog with new art, so if you like what you see click here for more!

For more comics related art, you can follow me on my website comicstavern.com - Andy Yates

When David Petersen’s Mouse Guard hit comic store shelves in 2006, I remember thinking, in my very jaded, pessimistic way,“oh, there’s another furry animal gimmick book that probably won’t last more than a couple issues..”. So, now 8+ years later, and multiple volumes of Mouse Guard stories later, I realize how terribly wrong I was. David Petersen has proven that his little creator-owned book had the perseverance to make it against all odds, just like his little furry protagonists! Petersen accomplishes bringing a classic illustrated storybook aesthetic to his comics. His background in printmaking has helped him develop this style.

In addition to Mouse Guard, Petersen has done numerous cover illustrations, and poster art for big name clients like Marvel Comics, IDW, and Mondo posters.

David Petersen earned his degree in Fine Arts from Eastern Michigan University, after a short stint in community college.

You can see up to date news, and the latest artwork on David Petersen’s blog here.

For more comics related art, you can follow me on my website comicstavern.com - Andy Yates

Joshua Middleton has been working in comics, book illustration, film, and animation since 1999. I first noticed his work in the critically acclaimed creator owned series Sky Between Branches back in 2002. His clean lines, and lushly painted art helped to land him a gig at Marvel, where he drew the first four issues of the mega-hit series NYX, which introduced Wolverine’s daughter, X-23. He has produced many covers, and occasionally interior art for DC Comics over the years, including this week’s special Flash variant cover for Detective Comics. He will be doing all of the artwork for two issues of Wonder Woman, coming up in April, and May.

Middleton served as a concept artist on the cult-favorite science fiction film Serenity in 2005, and was a character designer/art director on the 2009 series, Green Lantern: The Animated Series for Warner Brothers.

There’s a lot more artwork to drool over at Joshua Middleton’s website here.

For more comics related art, you can follow me on my website comicstavern.com - Andy Yates

Just like in professional sports, comics often recruits talent from outside the U.S. Case in point, Marvel’s “gun for hire” Gabriele Dell’Otto. The Italian native started doing work for marvel’s European division in 1998. He officially began working for the core Marvel Comics line when he was brought on to draw & paint Secret War, written by mega-popular writer Brian Michael Bendis. After that, Dell’Otto produced a bunch of covers for the Annihilation crossover, and illustrated the mini-series X-Force: Sex & Violence.

Currently, Gabriele Dell’Otto is one of Marvel’s top artists, and you can see his work on the latest issues of the Spider-Verse cross-over, and Miracleman.

Here’s a link to the Italian fan-site for Gabriele Dell’Otto, if you’d like to browse more of his great artwork.

For more comics related art, you can follow me on my website comicstavern.com - Andy Yates

Keeping things short, and sweet this week. Enjoy this art by the King of Christmas Comics, Walt Kelly.

You can check out some recent collections of Walt Kelly’s classic Pogo strips here.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!

For more comics related art, you can follow me on my website comicstavern.com - Andy Yates

Joshua W. Cotter splashed onto the small press comix scene in 2004, with his self published comic Skyscrapers of the Midwest. Cotter’s distinct “old-time-y” style of meticulously rendering his cartoons in black ink cross hatches, and little, scratchy lines hearkens to old underground comics of the 1960’s & 70’s.. His character’s are sometimes anthropomorphic, or humans with “cartoon animal” characteristics. Skyscrapers of the Midwest explores the trauma of childhood, and limitless imagination of two brothers growing up in the American Heartland .

After the collected edition hard-cover of Skyscrapers of the Midwest was published, Cotter would chronicle a difficult period of his life in his next book, Driven by Lemons, both published by AdHouse.

Today, you can follow updates of Cotter’s next comic, Nod Away, on the website, Study Group Comics. It’s a sci-fi drama/character study about a scientist working on a mysterious A.I. project up in a space station called USS Integrity. This story, and another that Cotter is currently working on will be the meat of his next book, also titled Nod Away.

You can learn more about Cotter’s process, and see more of his art on his tumblr site here.

For more comics related art, you can follow me on my website comicstavern.com - Andy Yates

If Paul Pope and Brendan McCarthy had a love child it would be Nathan Fox. Rarely have I seen an illustrator who produces work that is equally as impressive in ink/brush mode, as it is in full colored/painted mode; each being perfectly realized pieces of art. After a short stint of focusing his career on editorial illustration, Fox moved onto comics in the early 2000’s, and further expanded his skill-set at The School of Visual Arts(New York), in the Illustration As Visual Essay Graduate Program.

Nathan Fox’s career in comics has been an eclectic one, including work on mainstream books like Harley Quinn, The Haunt, and Batman: Gotham Knights, along with indy projects such as Pigeons from Hell, Blue Estate, and Dogs of War. Currently, Fox is providing cover art for the DC/Vertigo series Federal Bureau of Physics AKA FBP(which was recently optioned for a film), drew a story in Vertigo Quarterly: CMYK, and is part of an impressive collection of artists reviving Jack Kirby’s Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers for Dynamite Entertainment.

Nathan Fox has also done illustration work for Wired Magazine, The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Mad Magazine, and Entertainment Weekly, just to name a few. His work has been featured in art galleries across the U.S. and he teaches Visual Narrative at The School of Visual Arts in New York City.

You can get the latest news, and explore more of Nathan’s work at his website here.

For more comics related art, you can follow me on my website comicstavern.com - Andy Yates

Darwyn Cooke is another great cartoonist from Canada to grace the pages of mainstream comics. Cooke’s current career in comics began when he wrote, and drew the memorable DC Elseworlds special Batman: Ego. After a short stint in comics in the mid-late 80’s, he found success as an animator/storyboard artist for Batman: The Animated Series & Superman: The Animated Series in the 1990’s, including creating the main title design for Batman Beyond.

Notable works from Darwyn are DC: The New Frontier(which told the tale of DC Superheroes during the dormant period of the 1950’s), Catwoman’s reboot/redesign in 2001 with writer Ed Brubaker(this run of comics is proving to be ahead of it’s time since we’re seeing a new trend of rethinking/redesigning superhero style & character; i.e. Ms. Marvel, Batgirl, etc.) , the comics adaptations of Donald E. Westlake’s classic crime thriller series Parker, and a recent spate of cover art, including a whole month’s worth of variant covers for many of DC’s flagship titles, and the first issues of IDW’s King Features line.

You can keep up with all things Darwyn Cooke on his website here.

For more comics related art, you can follow me on my website comicstavern.com - Andy Yates

Artist/musician/bartender/comics brew-master Leslie Stein has been making comics since the early 2000’s. She started making her comics by cutting & pasting construction paper into colorful silhouettes. Her work has continued to morph, and evolve over the years. Today, you can see how she’s broken down her characters, and stories into minimal line work, expressive colors, and animated typography!

Leslie Stein began self-publishing her personal anthology Eye of the Majestic Creature in 2004. The series stars her cartoon alter ego Larrybear(along with a colorful cast of characters based off of real life friends), and has transformed over the years from mostly fictional stories to semi-autobiographical stories, today.

Fantagraphics Books has published two collections of Stein’s comics, and is publishing a collection of her Diary Comics in 2015.

You can read new, regularly updated Diary Comics on Leslie’s tumblr site here, and VICE features a weekly comic by her, as well.

For more comics related art, you can follow me on my website comicstavern.com - Andy Yates

DC/Vertigo’s long running title Fables has been a showcase for some of the top illustrators working in comics, today. One of the shining stars to contribute covers to the series(as well as a recent interior story) is artist Nimit Malavia. His dynamic yet delicate illustrations portray a strong sense of mood/color existing in a deep field of depth. While looking at them, you literally feel like you could fall into the page(or screen, if you prefer digital)!

Nimit’s work graces the walls of Shopify’s offices(as pictured above), and he’s done commercial work for high profile clients like 20th Century Fox, DC, and Marvel Comics, just to name a few.

Iam8bit in Los Angeles, CA is currently featuring Nimit’s art, along with 39 other artists, for a show called Sequel, where artists create movie poster art for imaginary sequels(Cowboy Bebop:The Movie was Nimit’s contribution).

You can explore more of Nimit Malavia’s art, and keep up with the latest news on his website here.

For more comics related art, you can follow me on my website comicstavern.com - Andy Yates

I discovered Jon Contino by following the work of Jessica Hische and Drew Melton (the typography world is very small). The first two things that resonated with me was the fact that he, like me, didn’t go to art school, and that he also used his musicianship as a passageway to his passion for design. As much as I’ve grown to love digital illustration and type design, I’m always the most drawn to analog aesthetics–and Jon prioritizes them in his work.

Jon Contino is an award-winning designer, illustrator, art director and self-professed alphastructaesthetitologist. His style is strongly inspired by contemporary street art, his native stomping grounds of New York, and the grit of hand-drawn type. He’s worked with clients like Ogilvy, Nike, Whole Foods, McSweeney’s, Target and The New York Times. He’s also an ADC Young Gun 9 winner to boot, and happens to possess a heartwarming Long Island-born accent.

Jon cites his family as being vital in governing his design and illustration aesthetic. His mother and grandmother happened to be artists, both supporting and assisting in his pursuit of his craft by bringing home reams of butcher paper and instructional drawing books (more about this in the wonderful Shoptalk interview here). He discovered that the lettering he was seeing in movie posters and baseball adverts still counted as typography–even at a very early age. It took me much longer to figure out that illustration and beautifully drawn words weren’t just for books–the marks of our handiwork can truly be found anywhere, if you just slow down and take the time to look.

As a teenager, Jon got his freelancer chops very early on. As a designer geek and drummer in a hardcore band, he was constantly relied upon by his band (and friends’ bands) to supply flyer designs, gig posters and the like. Soon enough, he realized that he could actually “make money at this thing,” and he was preparing invoices and freelancing by the ripe old age of 15.

In 2006, after working for a few different companies and design houses, he opened his own creative studio and has been working for himself ever since. He’s constantly turning pet projects into mini-businesses–most recently, he started up Contino Brand. And even amidst his successes, he’s learned the art of saying no for the sake of self-preservation.

Jon has spoken about how his preference for modern minimalism and his hand-drawn gritty aesthetic meets with a clash. That clash has governed a unique vision that brings the best of clean design and true-to-form drawing together. I’m enthralled by this intersection, and so clearly see the passion and determination that stands solidly behind Jon’s work. His personal history only continues to illuminate it.

Website

Facebook

Blog

Twitter

I also highly recommend his interview with The Great Discontent and his podcast interview with Shoptalk.

Change can take a long time to happen. The mainstream comics market is no exception, but there have been some recent encouraging signs. Case in point, the newly redesigned, Doc Marten/iPhone sporting Batgirl by forward thinking creator Cameron Stewart, who co-writes, and sketches story breakdowns for the series. Stewart, a Canadian native, has been drawing comics for over a decade, and has worked with some of the most celebrated comics writers out there, including Grant Morrison, Ed Brubaker, and Jason Aaron.

In addition to the monthly Batgirl, he’s currently working on a comics sequel to Fight Club with writer Chuck Palahniuk, which he’s described as a dream project to be a part of.

Cameron Stewart won both an Eisner(2010) & Shuster(2009) award for his web comic Sin Titulo. You can find a lot more artwork to drool over at his website here.

For more comics related art, you can follow me on my website comicstavern.com - Andy Yates

John Totleben happens to be one of the finest illustrators to ever work in comics. His first published work was in the popular science fiction/fantasy magazine Heavy Metal in the late 70’s. He first became well known for his collaboration with artist Stephen R. Bissette, and writer Alan Moore on their ground breaking run on Swamp Thing for DC Comics in the early/mid 80’s. Their run also included the introduction of popular character John Constantine AKA Hellblazer. Totleben continued to impress with his distinct, ultra-detailed inks, and lush painted covers with his work on Eclipse Comics’ Miracleman. After many years in legal limbo, Marvel Comics secured the rights to re-publish issues of Miracleman, which is once again shining a light on Totleben’s timeless art.

Sadly, John Totleben has suffered from the eye disease retinitis pigmentosa for years now, so he’s had to slow down his output as an artist. Yet, he’s still capable of rendering some of the most beautiful scenes you can imagine albeit at a much slower rate.

John Totleben has won numerous Kirby & Inkpot awards throughout his career, and was the co-founder/editor of the famed Taboo horror anthology.

You can learn more about John Totleben’s life & career here.

For more comics related art, you can follow me on my website comicstavern.com - Andy Yates

The enigmatic comics legend Basil Wolverton(1909-1978) is celebrated this week with the release of IDW’s Artist’s Edition Basil Wolverton’s Weird Worlds. IDW’s series of art books collects the best examples of original comics art that still exists, and reproduces that art at it’s original size(15″ by 22″ for this edition), preserving the little imperfections, and notes that might have been left on the original page. These newly printed artifacts are a perfect way to enjoy work by one of your favorite artists, and it serves as a perfect introduction to new fans.

Wolverton reached the pinnacle of his fame when he won Al Capp‘s legendary ugliest woman contest, drawing Lena the Hyena, which was featured on the cover of Life Magazine. His work was prominently featured in the early issues of Mad Magazine, and his Spacehawk & Powerhouse Pepper strips were published in various Timely comics during the 1930’s & 40’s. In the 1940’s, Basil Wolverton became a minister for Herbert W. Armstrong’s Radio Church of God, which took a literal interpretation of the apocalyptic parts of  the Bible. Some of this point of view is reflected in Wolverton’s work, and that dark side certainly trickled into many of his commercial pieces, as well.

You can read more about the history of artist Basil Wolverton, and his interest in the end times here, which includes words from his son, Monte.

For more comics related art, you can follow me on my website comicstavern.com - Andy Yates

Cartoonist Noah Van Sciver has been crafting his own special brand of throwback indy comix since the mid-2000’s. His one man anthology, Blammo, is up to issue #9, and it would fit quite comfortably between classic Eightball’s & Yummyfur’s on the funny book racks! It was with Fantagraphics’ critically acclaimed anthology series, Mome, that Noah started to reach a wider audience, and soon after that his first graphic novel would be published; The Hypo: The Melancholic Young Lincoln. Van Sciver was born in New Jersey, but has lived in Denver, CO for most of his adult life, where his oft times publisher Kilgore Books & Comics is located.

AdHouse Books recently published a collection of his comics titled Youth is Wasted, and Fantagraphics has 2 more upcoming projects with Noah in 2015: Saint Cole & Fante Bukowski.

Noah has been nominated multiple times for an Ignatz Award(which is sort of like an Oscar for Small Press comics…), and has had his work featured in the prestigious Best American Comics annual.

You can check out more of Noah Van Sciver’s comics like his day-to-day “Diary Comics”, and other serialized stories on his tumblr site here.

For more comics related art, you can follow me on my website comicstavern.com - Andy Yates

I had to post a lot of images for this week’s Comics Illustrator of the Week, because Bill Sienkiewicz has so many amazing pieces of art to share. I only just scraped the surface of his body of work! One of the first comic books I ever read was Dune, the Marvel comics adaptation of the David Lynch film. I didn’t really read it, so much as I absorbed the dynamic art by Sienkiewicz within those pages. It was the first time I’d really seen an example of comic book art crossing over into the “respectable” fine arts realm.

Bill Sienkiewicz (pronounced sin-KEV-itch) is best known for his magnum opus, Stray Toasters, and his work on Elektra: Assassin for Marvel. He incorporates a combination of oil painting, acrylics, watercolor, mixed-media, collage and mimeograph into his art, which is very rare in comics. Sienkiewicz has done a lot of work for Hollywood, including The Dark Knight, The Grinch, and The Green Mile just to name a few.

He recently worked on the critically acclaimed Daredevil:End of Days series with friends, and fellow comics legends, Brian Michael Bendis, David Mack, Alex Maleev, and Klaus Janson. His variant cover for Wytches #1, the highly anticipated new Image series, is truly disturbing, and shows a master artist at the peak of his craft.

Other works of note are Voodoo Child: The Illustrated Legend of Jimi Hendrix, Santa: My Life & Times (An Illustrated Autobiography), and a stint designing multimedia stage productions for Roger Waters’ 2006 Dark Side of the Moon Tour.

Bill Sienkiewicz has recieved numerous awards, and nominations, but one of the biggest honors was a  2004 Eisner Award for DC Comics’ The Sandman: Endless Nights.

You can read more about Bill Sienkiewicz’s illustrious career, and see more examples of his art on his official website here.

For more comics related art, you can follow me on my website comicstavern.com - Andy Yates

This Art Crush entry has truly been a long time coming. I first came across Lisa Congdon by way of Meighan O’Toole’s former art blog and podcast, My Love For You (which is post-worthy in its own right–it was an enormous source of inspiration for me during my college years). While I definitely gravitated to Lisa’s work on a visual level, it was her personal story that drew me in. Freelance illustration had been her second career. She didn’t start painting or making art until she was 31, and here she was, participating in museum-level shows, working with clients like Chronicle Books, and just being a genuine, successful badass. Lisa is not only someone I look up to artistically–she’s also a prime example of a human being.

Lisa’s art career was secondary, after she accumulated over a decade of experience in the education and nonprofit industries. By pure chance, she stumbled into a painting class and began making art of all kinds from that day forward–fueled by pure joy instead of the desire to succeed quickly. Having always been an avid collector, her random ephemera would find their way into countless collages as well as a series of photos, drawings and paintings that would eventually make up her A Collection A Day project. As she continued to develop her craft and share it with the ever-expanding Internet, people began to catch on. Today, she is an accomplished and prolific working artist, blogger, illustrator, public speaker and writer. Some of her most notable clients to date include The Land of Nod, The Museum of Modern Art, Harper Collins, 826 Valencia and Martha Stewart Living Magazine.

Lisa unabashedly tackles the subjects she is most passionate about, and that fearlessness is expressed effortlessly in the execution of her work. She describes herself as a “visual junkie,” and is deeply inspired by patterns, travel, architecture and vintage packaging, just to name a few. A faithful blogger, Lisa writes about her own process in addition to other artists whom she admires, as well as her life “outside the studio,” which includes swimming, biking, sewing, and traveling. In other words, she’s just making all of us look bad! (I only kid.)

One of the reasons I relate to Lisa’s work is due to the versatility and ever-evolving nature of her aesthetic. Certain characteristics like neon hues and her penchant for all things Scandinavian are mainstays, but she continues to branch out and explore all kinds of mediums (block printing and calligraphy, to name a few). These explorations fuel her work and expand her direction, which is most recently geared towards abstract painting. She’s a wonderful example of why you don’t need to narrow yourself down to one specific style (something I often grapple with).

Lisa is quite a unique artist in that she is not only a creator, but a mentor as well. Breaking into freelance illustration can be a challenging and solitary undertaking, and she continues to give her generous time to those who wish to pursue and learn more about the field through classes, speaking engagements and conferences around the country. I first met Lisa at her first Freelance Illustration class at Makeshift Society back in December 2012, and it was one of my most pivotal learning experiences to date.

Lisa recently released her new book, “Art, Inc.: The Essential Guide for Building Your Career as an Artist,” which is a revolutionary and timely answer to the starving artist stereotype. It covers all areas of the freelance artist’s domain, such as photographing fine art, finding printing services, copyright, and diversifying income. It sits on the shelf above my working desk (I like to call it my “VIP” shelf) as I reference it constantly.

On that same note, I’m very excited to be taking Lisa’s “Become A Working Artist” class through CreativeLive next week! You can follow along with the class virtually by RSVPing here.

To listen to Meighan’s podcast with Lisa, click here. I also highly recommend her feature in The Great Discontent.

Follow along with Lisa below:

Website

Twitter

Blog

Instagram

Purchase Lisa’s books below:

Art, Inc.

Whatever You Are, Be A Good One

A Collection A Day

Julia Gfrörer studied illustration at Seattle’s Cornish College of the Arts before graduating with a double major in printmaking and painting. She was encouraged to get into making comics by her good friend, the late comics historian, publisher & cartoonist ,Dylan Williams. She started off making a few hand made zines like Ariadne auf Naxos, and Stupid Tales of Wolverine, but then found great critical success with her comic Flesh and Bone, published by Sparkplug Books. Tonally, her work is deeply rooted in Victorian gothic horror, and classic Medieval romances. I see a lot of David Lynch rubbing off in her stories, and a little Larry Clark in her raw approach to sex.

Her graphic novel, Black is the Color, was published by Fantagraphics in 2013. Her work has also appeared in The Thickness comics anthology, Arthur Magazine, Study Group Magazine, Black Eye, and The Best American Comics collection.

Julia Gfrörer also writes a regular comics analysis column for the Comics Journal called Symbol Reader. You can follow that here.

You can order Julia Gfrörer’s latest zine, Palm Ash, and get the latest news on her website here.

For more comics related art, you can follow me on my website comicstavern.com - Andy Yates

In the midst of a world grounded in digital technology, sometimes we need a reminder that good things can still be grounded in reality. This is why we still go visit galleries and museums to see artwork in person (a habit I’m still trying to get better at). This is why we still give each other greeting cards, or why our desks seem to collect countless post-its over time. It can be as simple as opening a letter or unwrapping a present–interacting with real material still matters. 

On that note, I’d like to introduce you to Anna Bond, owner and creative director of Rifle Paper Co.–an inimitable force in the stationery field and beyond.

While Anna now lives and works in Winter Park, Florida, she has roots in New Jersey and received a degree in graphic design in Virginia. After working as an art director and freelance illustrator for a couple years, she discovered (or rekindled, rather) her love for stationery design while illustrating some wedding invitations. As mentioned in her feature on The Every Girl, stationery was the optimal combination of graphic design and illustration that she had been searching for, and so she pushed onwards.

While there’s something to be said for art directing at 21, I admire Anna’s honest and expressive way of dealing with her expectations, realities, and how to improve upon them. She’s spoken before about the first launch of Rifle Paper Co.’s website, detailing product disasters, website crashes, international shipping issues, and taking turns panicking with her husband. Without sounding cruel or spiteful, it’s incredibly comforting to know that someone as ambitious and driven as Anna has screwed up before. And to me, there’s no better way to recover than by succeeding.

Nearly all Rifle Paper Co. products feature Anna’s hand-painted illustrations, which are often nostalgic in style with a pastel palette.

Some of Rifle Paper Co.’s selected clients and collaborative partners: Anthropologie (their very first!), Kate Spade New York, Hygge & West, Chronicle Books, AMC Mad Men, and Penguin Books. I think it’s important to note that the variety of clients reflects Anna’s ability to design for both traditional and modern brands, which can be difficult depending on one’s personal style.

Follow along with Anna and her husband Nathan’s exciting ventures at Rifle Paper Co.’s website, and take a peek at Anna’s portfolio here. You can also find her on Twitter. I particularly enjoyed her Day in the Life feature on Design*Sponge as well.