Toronto Mayor, vexed by cover illustration, orders NOW magazine copies destroyed

[This post has been updated] Municipal staff in Toronto have been instructed to search out and destroy all copies of NOW magazine from City Hall and all municipal facilities because it features an unflattering cover image of Mayor Rob Ford. An internal memorandum published by the magazine says the purge was ordered by the mayor's office.
The image for the cover story by Enzo Di Matteo, is clearly

Conceiving a concept cover at Halifax magazine

Sometimes, magazines take for granted that their readers know what goes on behind the curtain. So it's always interesting to see a magazine letting the readers in on how, for instance, it conceives its covers -- the most obvious, visible example of the creative magazine process.Halifax magazine has published on its blog a look in on the process that resulted in an unusual, illustrated cover for

Resurgent Global Brief magazine distinguished by using top rank illustrators

It's a pleasure to see a magazine using some of the best and top-rank illustrators, as is the case in the just published issue 5 of Global Brief. Readers will recall that the magazine ran into a spot of bother (almost strangled at birth), but is now apparently on a solid footing and at home at Glendon College at York University. The art director for the magazine is Louis Fishauf Design; Fishauf

Nice work when you can get it: Seth talks about creating The Walrus summer reading cover

An interesting interview between Walrus art director Brian Morgan and cartoonist Seth about the process they went through to come up with the cover(s) for the magazine's summer reading issue...and other stuff, including Seth's creative influences and working methods. For magaziners, it's irresistible. 

The cover above (one of two that readers were asked to select from) was eventually

The iPad as an illustrator's tool

For magazine illustrators out there, as well as the rest of us, a fascinating video showing Brooklyn artist David John Kassan using an iPad and "fingerpainting" to make a portrait from life. [Thanks, Michel.]

Drawing on Hirschfeld's inspiration, illustrators continue to chronicle theatre

Nice piece in the New York Times about the heirs apparent to the late Al Hirschfeld, the illustrator of hundreds of Broadway shows and plays in newspapers, magazines and on posters. This thumbnail is by Justin Robertson, who says: "Theater and caricature are a culmination of everything I like."

See tomorrow's illustrators, today, as Sheridan grad show opens Thursday

Each year about this time, the public gets to see the best work of tomorrow's illustrators with the Sheridan Illustration 2010 grad show. (the example above is by Heather Brindely).
Regular readers of this blog know that I am a great fan of illustration and lament that it is not used as often as might be in Canadian magazines. If, nevertheless, illustration is thriving, it is largely because of

Drawn to illustration

Editorial illustration is becoming something of an endangered species, but there is some good work being done out there, notably in smaller magazines such as Maisonneuve and the Literary Review of Canada. Both have recently featured ink drawings by Montreal illustrator and artist Aimée van Drimmelen. The drawing here is from the current issue of Maisonneuve, illustrating a story by Chantal

Swerve magazine food columnist wins prestigious cookbook illustration prize

Pierre Lamielle, a food columnist for Calgary's Swerve magazine, has won the 2009 Gourmand Awards in Paris, France for his cookbook Kitchen Scraps: A Humorous Illustrated Cookbook. He was competing against 19 other cookbooks from 17 countries, according to a Canadian Press report.The Gourmand Awards were founded in 1995 by Edouard Cointreau to honour excellence in cookbook presentation. "Edouard

Seneca College launching entrepreneurial illustration program

Seneca College in Toronto is launching an  illustration program with a twist beginning in January. The twist is entrepreneurial -- students will not only learn illustration, they'll also register their own small businesses, have a working website and learn accounting, marketing and revenue generating skills to succeed as entrepreneurial artists, according to a release from the college.
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If you've got a lemon, make lemonade: Memories of Ramparts magazine

Ramparts magazine meant a lot to me when it was around and I am very pleased to see that it is coming back into public consciousness by the publication of a new book called A Bomb in Every Issue: How the Short, Unruly Life of Ramparts Magazine Changed America, by Peter Richardson. The New York Times has done a review of the book in the October 11 Sunday book review. I am also really pleased that

Championing the champions of illustration

For those who read this blog and love illustration, I can highly recommend a posting by illustrator Tim O'Brien who points out that Mother Jones magazine has taken a real leadership role in the use of magazine illustration.This when illustrated covers are said, by some, not to work on newsstands and the cost of illustration is on the block with everything else in cash-strapped times.While O'Brien

Dean of Canadian cartoonists laid off by Vancouver Sun

I just learned that the Vancouver Sun has discontinued use of the dean of Canadian editorial cartoonists, Roy Petersen, as a cost-cutting measure and to add insult to injury, killed his last cartoon.This, according to a posting on the blog Cagle.com, which described him accurately as "one of the world's best". Peterson wasn't fired -- he was a contract freelancer -- but the distinction after so

Sheridan graduate show highlights the "power of illustration"

The Sheridan College illlustration program graduate show in Toronto is always a highlight and this year is no exception.For the second year the program partnered with Rethink Communications to create a brand for the illustration grads and the program. This year's theme is "the power of illustration".The students were handed an unfinished sentence: "Illustrators have the power to ________." and

Drawing entries

I suppose it is only fitting that illustrators should be expected to put out some first-rate material to invite entries for the annual compilation of the Society of Illustrators called Illustrators 51 (for which Canadian illustrators are welcome). But, oh boy, what a nice piece of work John Cuneo has done with the poster, which can be downloaded as a pdf. Above's a detail: (thanks to the blog

New online magazine Lyte.Arts is for art lovers and art makers

A small group of students from the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD) has launched a bi-monthly online magazine called Lyte.Arts, for "people who live for, love and make art." It's feature-rich and handsome and worth a visit to see what young artists think about what's important.Half the magazine is devoted to interviews and features about established illustrators and fine artists; the

Sheridan grad illustrators to showcase best work

Canada's only dedicated illustration program is holding a launch for its grad student show on April 26 at the Steam Whistle Brewery. All the work has been created by the 2007 graduates of Sheridan College’s renowned Bachelor of Applied Arts Illustration program [the illustration above is by Jeff Smalley]. The show will feature work that probes behind today's front-page news, say the organizers.