The Adoration of the three Maki

I love these Makis/lemurs! I guess they will accompany me (and you!) through the new year as well.
Happy New Year, everybody! :)

"Die Unverzichtbaren" - a postcard set by the illustrators of Darmstadt

Finally our postcard set "Die Unverzichtbaren" is ready! :)
18 greeting cards for (almost) all occasions, created by 18 illustrators from the region of Darmstadt. Comes in a handy cardboard box. To be sold at our next group exhibition in February 2010.
A fellow illustrator and I thought it would be nice if we had something for the visitors to take away which represents all of us. So we asked each of our colleagues to illustrate one motif suitable for a greeting card - so that the final set should not only show our work but also be useful.

Wrapping paper

On this wrapping paper you will meet some guests from the Maki Party, and two music performers from the "Katta Orchestra".

Maki Party

This is a postcard motif I created for "Die Unverzichtbaren" - a postcard set by the illustrators of Darmstadt, to be sold at our next group exhibition in February 2010.
Mouse Lemurs and Tarsiers (Mausmakis und Koboldmakis) having a party in the jungle!

Illustration Friday: Wrapped no.3

Have you ever seen the eggs of a dogfish? The baby-sharks are wrapped in their eggshell yet you can see them moving around... I thought they'd suit this girl well who is wrapped in her hair (and thoughts maybe). By the way, your dogfish is called a cat-shark in German. :)
Check out my other illus for IF: Wrapped no.1 and no.2.

Illustration Friday: Wrapped no.2

This one is based on a photo of Björk.
Check out my other illus for IF: Wrapped no.1 and no.3.

Illustration Friday: Wrapped no.1

Last week's topic "wrapped" triggered a whole series of illus.
With this one I wanted to try some new colouring techniques (Light! Shadow! And the sandals really are golden/bronze-coloured, not yellow) so I made a quick sketch of my feet for a start. Last week we also had the hottest day of the year, 37°C... too hot to break new ground! ;) So I came up with this instead. I'll post the new version as soon as it's finished.
Check out my other illus for IF: Wrapped no.2 and no.3.

Illustration Friday: Breezy

This is an old one which I thought was suitable for this week's topic. It's part of my diploma, an illustrated short-story of T.C. Boyle. This is where the story culminates...

"Illustre Gestalten", an exhibition of illustrators in Darmstadt

Last year some illustrators from the region of Darmstadt started a regular meeting once a month (as it already exists in Frankfurt and many other German towns). Soon more and more illustrators joined the group, all of them very happy to quit their lone wolf's existence and to meet some colleagues!
This year in January we had this two-day-group-exhibition in which 17 illustrators participated, most of all to show the people of Darmstadt that such a thing as an illustrator exists! ;)
It was quite successful and all of us enjoyed it very much. It was my first exhibition and I didn't have much to show - most of it you've already seen in this blog - but to show your art in a public place is a great experience, I recommend that very much! ;)

Illustration Friday: Island

"This is my island, my fantasy ... "
Wonderful topic! It took me straight back to my childhood days when I was crazy about dinosaurs and volcanoes... and cutting stuff out of magazines! Haven't done a paper collage in years, so I gave it another try! :)

Illustration Friday: Canned

Arrgh... I haven't posted in two years! But I've been watching you people at Illu Friday! ;) In the meantime I started dozens of illus but never made it in time... now I'm tired of it, so I'm going to post some of the old topics anyway. I hope you don't mind, and I'd be glad about any comments! :)
This illu is based on some photos I took during our trip to Santorin (the most beautiful island I've seen). This is Katrin, watching the sunset at Ia, on top of an old castle. It's said to be the best place to watch the sunset, so when it's time there's a crowd of tourists rushing there... but it's worth it, don't miss it! :)

Illustration Friday: Tea

Like so many others this week I felt inspired by the latest Geisha-movie. Those gorgeous kimono! Also I drink a lot of tea in every colour, but my favourite is home-made Chai. Makes you feel hot and spicy! I'd be glad about any comments on this or on one of my latest entries as I'm still searching for "my own style"... which seems to be vital if you want to work as an illustrator... which I'd love to some day!

Foxy Lady: Happy Birthday!

This one I did for a friend's birthday. Could be used again for carnival and Easter! ;)

Foxy Lady: Lazy Afternoon

This one was printed as a self-promotional postcard to be shown at the book fairs in Leipzig, Bologna and Frankfurt where the IO (something like the German professional association for illustrators) is going to represent itself.
By now I wish I had chosen something else. I don't know, somehow I always like the piece best that I finished most recently... does anybody else feel the same way about his work?

Foxy Lady: Lazy Afternoon 2

Foxy Lady: Walking the Dog

Let me introduce you to Lady Fox. This is something I'm doing just for fun, don't know how to use it yet, maybe I'll print a tee, just outlines in foxy red... She's quite relaxed, loves having a catnap in the afternoon, but gets active at night. Don't know what she does for a living or how she manages to satisfy her luxurious desires. But don't call her a slacker! First of all, she's a lady... a Foxy Lady!

Illustration Friday: Simple

To avoid being late again, I told myself to keep it REAL simple this time. Anyway it took me more than one hour! ;)
The tune to this is "Little Birdie" from Ween (I think it's from their very first album) which I kept humming to myself over and over again and going nuts about it - anybody who knows this song knows why! ;)

Have a Happy Valentine's Day, everybody!

Illustration Friday: Chair

I'm late again! I wonder if ANYBODY feels like opening the 650th link? :/
This week's topic made me think of a game we used to play on Carnival when I was a child: musical chairs. I thought this idea was quite original although I came across some "musical chairs" while browsing through the previous entries... I just didn't get it - in German it's called "Reise nach Jerusalem" - so I kept wondering which kind of music chairs would make? ;)
So here's my version: only two players left, who's going to win?

Illustration Friday: Roots

Last minute entry: Roots or You got to know where you're coming from... I wonder what's it all about with all those animals lately? Ok, I love them, but I DO draw other things as well! ;) Comments and critics appreciated, as always!

A lion for Darmstadt

This is for the 675th anniversary of the town where I'm living: 35 lions all over Darmstadt! (cause the lion is our heraldic animal) I remember having seen cows all over Chicago...

Illustration Friday: Reflection

So here's my very first submission for the current topic... even cats might have something to think about when it comes to the subject of self-reflection...
I hope you like it! Any comments or criticisms are highly appreciated! Ahh... one more thing: I decided to write this blog in English to be able to share it not only with my German friends but also with YOU out there... but, as I'm no native speaker, sometimes I might be unable to express exactly what I mean... so, if I sound a little... awkward or something, it's because I pick the words from the dictionary!

Yay, here we go!

Thanks to you people at Friday Illustration I now have my own blog to show some of my work. I'm quite happy - if I knew this was so easy I would have done it a long time ago (as I seem to be unable to finish my own site) :)