IC Members Show Coming Up!

Hello Illustrators Club Members, Don't forget to enter 2 pieces into the Illustrators Club Members Show coming up! It's free to enter and IC Members are guaranteed a place on the wall at the Art Institute of Washington in Rosslyn. The location of the gallery is very close to Georgetown and provides great exposure for your work! And best of all; I've said it before, … it's Free for IC members! All that is required is a small hanging fee which we use toward refreshments for the opening night of the show. Here is what you need to know: Drop off, mail or FedEx by 5:00PM MONDAY, December 7, 2009 to: AIW SHOW 2062 Cobblestone Lane; Reston, VA 20191 Check your e-mail for this message and further directions (attached).

So, if you're an IC Member, send it in … and you're in! It's free! See you at the show. David Labrozzi President Illustrators Club of Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia www.illustratorsclub.org

The Kelly Collection

The Illustrators Club of Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia had the wonderful opportunity once again to tour the remarkable Kelly Collection of American Illustration. The tour was made possible by Mr. Kelly and Collection Curator, Ms. Alberding.

Ms. Alberding's insights into the works on display were not only very informative, but entertaining as well. Her research into the tales the Illustrations were originally produced for as well as stories about the Illustrators themselves, provided viewers with a heightened perspective of these already highly regarded works.

I find myself saying this often about the experience; but truly, viewing these works first hand had been nothing less than magical. There is no doubt, everyone left that day inspired!

Thanks goes out once again to Mr. Kelly for the kind generosity he has extended to the Club through sharing his Collection. We are more than fortunate to have such a friend in the world of Illustration.

Sincerely,

David Labrozzi

President

Illustrators Club of Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia

www.illustratorsclub.org

National Archives - UK

Some fantastic work is on display at the National Archives (UK) website. Found a beautiful sequential piece of the perils of a Merchant vessel in the North Atlantic. After looking around, I had to pass it on... Check out the caracature of Fire-Bomb Fritz by Reginald Mount from 1942! Fantastic work!

I also appreciate seeing the full artboard with notations and battered edges.

Here's the link: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/theartofwar/

Think Anatomy

Just found a huge online anatomy resource - Lots of info for medical illustrators, and even something for us with weaker constitutions. Good site for those of you going through your anatomy classes -- Know your Costal Insertions of Latissimus Dorsi!

Click around...

http://thinkanatomy.com/

DACs Payback for UK Pubs

As an artist or visual creator you can claim Payback royalties if your work has been featured in a UK book, magazine or included in a programme broadcast on BBC Digital or terrestrial television. DACS pays these roylaties to successful claimants in December each year. Read more here. http://www.dacs.org.uk/index.php?m=4

DACS is a membership based organisation representing 36,000 fine artists and their heirs, in addition to 16,000 photographers, illustrators, craftspeople, cartoonists, architects, animators and designers, including some of the biggest names in contemporary visual arts.

--- If you qualify, you have until Sept 30th to put in a claim! Many Thanks to UK Illustrator Lynne Chapman for the heads-up!

We could use the love on this side of the pond, too. awe... yeah!

Go Figure! Is Starting Up Again. October 6 is On Us!

The IC sponsored figure drawing sessions are starting up again!

Show up on October 6 starting at 6 p.m. and draw for free. Sessions end at 9 p.m.

The first session will be October 6 at the Art Institute of Washington on the 11th floor. Please ask the front desk for assistance with the elevator.

The Art Institute of Washington is located in Rosslyn, VA. The location is very near the Rosslyn stop on the orange line of the metro.

After the 6th, sessions will run every Tuesday and Thursday for the Fall season (with the exception of holidays). The sessions will be held between the hours of 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. on those days.

As mentioned earlier in this post, on October 6, 2009 you can come and draw for free. After that the fee is $8.00/session. As

always, students and faculty of the Art Institute are invited to attend for free.

See you there!

David Labrozzi

President,

Illustrators Club of Washington DC Maryland and Virginia

www.illustratorsclub.org

Covering Media - Illustration Annuals

I came across this entry this morning over at the Covering Media blog. The author covers the medal winners of the top three annuals, going back to the beginning of inception. Society of Illustrators, American Illustration Annual and Spectrum winners are listed. I checked out the SI wiki and see Gary Kelley has the top spot with 12 gold and 15 silver medals... WOW!

Here's the link to check the tally... Didn't I see your name up there too?

http://blog.coveringmedia.com/2009/08/juried-illustration-annual-summaries.html

Illustration West 48

Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles has announced:

Time for Illustration West 48!
www.entersila.com
Questions? Just give them a call.

Missed ILW 47? Check out www.si-la.org/47

Alyce Heath

Association Manager

P.O. Box 940310

Simi Valley, CA 93094

800-799-6368

www.si-la.org

Hi again,

Here's some details on one other competition coming up. This one you have plenty of time to prepare for. Check it out at: http://www.x.to/

Hi Everyone,

I know this is too last minute for anyone to enter now, but for future reference, there is the juried show, London International Creative Competition. I don't know too much about this competition, but you may check their site out at: http://www.licc.us/artists/index.php

Martha Vaughn and Montgomery College

I just caught this post on (James) Gurney Journey (Dinotopia) and his review of the Montgomery College art department under IC member Martha Vaughn's direction. Take a peek... some very good classroom organization ideas!

http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2009/03/montgomery-college.html

Opening of the Richmond Illustrator's 3rd Annual

IC president David Labrozzi and member Paul Zdepski visited the Richmond Illustrators Club (RIC) 3rd Annual show on Friday, June 5th. The show is currently hosted at Ghostprint Gallery, 220 W. Broad St. Richmond VA. The show was brimming with regional, national and international illustration, juried by Marshal Arisman. The Richmond Club is very active, and shares many dual members with the IC of DC, MD and VA.

RIC president, Katie McBride and vice-president Holly Camp were able to welcome and chat with all in attendance. They were the perfect hosts.

You are invited to take the jaunt down I-95 to the VA state capitol to view the show and enjoy the bustle of a very active and hip Broad Street... It's teeming with art, music, food and eccentricity.

Photos courtesy of Hannele Lahti.

Moonbeam Art: A Collection of Illustrations by Susannah Edwards

Susannah Edwards, a member of the DC Area Illustrators Club, is having a solo show of some of her recent illustrations at the Fairlington Community Center in Arlington, VA. The gallery is open Monday through Friday, 10 AM to 6 PM.  The show will be up until Friday, June 12th, 2009. Susannah has two illustration techniques: pen and ink with watercolor and linoleum block prints with watercolor. To preview some of her artwork, please visit: www.directoryofillustration.com/SusannahEdwards. Hope you get a chance to stop by and check out the show!!!

REFLECTIONS REFRACTIONS

Photo by Hannele Lahti
http://72.32.9.12/~hlahti/blog/

This week the Illustrators Club attended a very special and personal tour of the National Portrait Gallery's show, Reflections Refractions: Self-Portraiture in the Twentieth Century.

The tour was conducted by Curator of Prints and Drawings, Wendy Wick Reaves who has always provided such scholarly insight into past tours for the club. Her personal touch makes for a truly wonderful presentation. If you missed the previous tour, it was the Ballyhoo! exhibit of posters. For those of us who attended, we're still talking about that show.

The Reflections Refractions show is no different in it's thoughtful choices of works toward the theme. Don't let the reserved nature of self-portraiture fool you. For that matter, don't let the pre-conception of what self-portrait is influence your vision. The works of Reflections Refractions are full of complexity and many challenge the viewer to re-examine what indeed fulfills the requirements of of a work to be a self-portrait. It also asks the question, is the artist revealing everything about themselves to the viewer? What might they be leaving out? What statement do they intend to make? There are even a couple of fine examples of artists portraits throughout their lives. The psychology, the stories; all remarkable!

On behalf of the Illustrators Club, we cannot thank Wendy enough for once again being our guide through yet another spectacular show at the National Portrait Gallery.

Of course, you don't have to wait for a guided tour. You can always go down to the gallery and see the show for yourself. You won't be disappointed. I know I'll be back.

Here's a link to the Galleries web site for more information about Reflections Refractions: http://www.npg.si.edu/exhibit/curex1.htm#reflections

David Labrozzi

Richmond Illustrators Club 3rd Annual Juried Show; Call For Entries!

Hi everyone,

I wanted to pass along the announcement for the Richmond Illustrators Club's 3rd Annual Juried Show, Call For Entries! This Year Marshall Arisman will be judging.

See below for the official announcement:

The Richmond Illustrators Club is planning its 3rd Annual Juried Show!

The club meets on a monthly basis to plan events, to share and critique work, and to maintain contacts within the local illustration community. We hold an annual juried show, in addition to a member show, and we also have a book of Grimm's fairy tales that we've completed and are now in the process of trying to publish. The club has really been helpful in providing an outlet for illustrators to come together and share ideas and encouragement.

We are starting to organize our 3rd Annual Juried Show, and we think you should enter! The show will be held at Ghostprint Gallery, located in downtown Richmond, opening June 5th.

To enter, go to www.richmondillustratorsclub.com. We will be accepting entries electronically through our website. Please make sure that your files are no larger than 2MB, and 1000 pixels on the longest dimension at 72DPI. The first entry is $20 with $5 for each subsequent entry. Payment can be delivered either online through our Paypal account or mailed with a hard cop of the entry form to R.I.C., 17 West Marshall Street, Apartment A, Richmond, VA 23220.. The deadline for entries is April 24. More information is available on the entry form found on our website. If you have any questions on the process, please emailrichmond.illustrators@gmail.com or info@richmondillustratorsclub.com.

Last year's show attracted almost 200 entries from all across country, of which we were able to display 45 pieces. The show was a wonderful time and drew a large amount of people and publicity. Many participants of the show felt a direct benefit from their involvement, for example, either securing gallery representation or obtaining clients. Predominately, we use the juried show to promote illustration throughout our community and remind local and national ad agencies, publications and other business that use illustration, that there is a powerful illustration force – sometimes right under their noses in their own city.

You can view past winners and other information on our other website www.richmondillustratorsclub.blogspot.com, though we are in the process of switching everything to www.richmondillustratorsclub.com. Please help us spread the word! Tell all your friends about this and help us make this the best show yet. This is a great show, and we want as many people and as much great artwork as possible to be involved! Please let us know if we can answer any questions you may have, or provide more information on the club and its purpose. Below is a press release about the Third Annual Juried Show that might provide some more detail.

Thanks and we look forward to hearing from you!
Katie McBride, President
Holly Camp, Vice President
Richmond Illustrators Club
__________________________

The Richmond Illustrators Club 3rd Annual Juried Show:
The Richmond Illustrators Club 3rd Annual Juried Show is a locally organized event that draws nation-wide attention, while reminding Richmond of its own illustration presence. Last year's call for entries attracted nearly 200 works from across the country and thousands of people came to the opening to admire the selected pieces.
We have been fortunate to work with jurors that have been amazing in their talent and intelligence -- Anita Kunz, Greg Swearingen, Josh George, and Kadir Nelson, among others. As artists, they run the gamut from conceptual editorial to children's book to gallery work. They have awarded gold, silver and bronze places, joined by The Phil Meggs Award for Excellence in Design, assigned by his wife and daughter. This year, we will be working with esteemed illustrator Marshall Arisman, Chair of the Illustration as Visual Essay program at the School of Visual Arts in New York.
The show opens June 5th at Ghostprint gallery, at the heart of the Broad Street First Fridays art walk and provides an excellent opportunity to expose great work to art buyers, art directors, gallery owners and other creative professionals.
The last two shows have been very successful and have directly helped several members get gallery representation as well as other opportunities.
Visit our website at www.richmondillustratorsclub.com to read club news, review membership information, find links to members work and see past years winners.
___________________________

About the Club:
The Richmond Illustrator's club is a non-profit organization that provides information and promotion for the advancement of freelance illustrators and the illustration profession. The Club has been in existence for almost 20 years; if you're a working illustrator in the Richmond area, odds are you've been involved with the club at some point. Our members have worked in various aspects of the communication arts field, from editorial illustration to graphic design to fine art. Some of the club's clients include National Public Radio, Christian Children's Fund, NASA, Virginia Living Magazine, Rolling Stone, The Washington Post, Raven Tree Press, and Virginia Commonwealth University.
Some of our past projects have been a set of Richmond-themed postcards to send out to art directors and a book of Grimm's Fairy Tales. As a club, we illustrated more than 30 stories. The book is currently all laid out and we are seeking publication. On the horizon are more ideas of more group projects that will hopefully serve to benefit and involve the community.
The club provides to its members

• An opportunity to maintain and create contacts within the communication arts community, both in Richmond and with members of other regional illustrators clubs.
• Members shows
• Juried shows
• Group promotional projects
• Web site to host portfolios and club news.

A Welcome to the Illustrators Club

Hello Members of the Illustrators Club of Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia and followers of our blog. I thought maybe the best way to introduce the Illustrators Club to those who are new would be to give a brief example of some of the activities we created last year. The short list of activities for members to participate in are Club sponsored shows, gallery tours, speakers and seminars.

For example, last December we held our Members Show at the Art Institute of Washington's gallery in Rosslyn, VA and last summer our Juried Exhibition at Pepco's Edison Gallery in Washington DC . The core sentiment of these shows has been to expose the community at large to Illustration and the fantastic work which is sometimes overlooked in the guise of everyday print materials. It has been important to the field as the gallery setting, among other things, has helped to increase the appreciation and solidify the position of Illustration in the Arts.

Most recently, we held a private tour with the National Portrait Gallery to see the "Ballyhoo!" poster exhibit held there. Among the posters ranging from victorian to modern day was Shepard Fairey's special piece done for the gallery of the Obama "HOPE" poster. Last year we held a tour of the Kelly Collection; a local, private collection of some of the most outstanding pieces of Golden Age Illustration. It was an unforgettable day to say the least. 

We coupled the Kelly Tour with our speaker series. It was a great pairing as our speaker was Illustrator/Professor Murray Tinkelman; a legend among the Illustration community. If you have a chance, read the article/interview with Murray in issue 23 of Illustration magazine. His down to earth speaking style combined with his lifetime in Illustration (beginning with Cooper Studios) made for the best in information and entertainment. In fact, we were able to have Murray walk through the Kelly Collection with us. It truly offered great insight into the works we viewed that day. Like I said; unforgettable.

Before I leave the subject of Murray and the study of Illustration I would like to make a brief mention of the Limited Residency MFA in Illustration program at the University of Hartford http://hartfordillustrationmfa.org. Murray started the program there and it's a great one! Both Paul Zdepski and myself are attending and I can honestly say it's possibly the best thing you can do for yourself as an Illustrator. Whether your goal is to teach or to rediscover your personal vision among a group of peers, the program will support you.

To get back to the Club; we regularly hold a Business and Legal seminar. This year we plan to add a special speaker to discuss the lucrative practice of licensing illustration. Of course we maintain an active role in the dissemination of information regarding the Orphan Works legislation and the possible dangers which exist to the rights of Illustrators today. We have coupled this with our support of and affiliation with ASIP (American Society of Illustrators Partnership) .

I am personally proud to be a part of the Illustrators Club for their role and support of ASIP. We have Joe Azar to thank for helping us to make this connection. Without him, the Illustrators Club would not have been involved so early in the development and support of ASIP. Marie Dauenheimer and her connections in the Medical Illustration community have been key to this as well.

It's good to mention Marie here as she has done so much to create and develop the Programs and Activities the Illustrators Club promotes and sponsors. One of the best, in my opinion, has been the ongoing Open Life Drawing sessions held at AiW every Tuesday and Thursday night. While being open to members, opening the the sessions to the public has brought a great variety of people together who simply enjoy drawing the human form. From students to professionals; whether for practice, study or just the enjoyment of drawing, it has been a great experience to get together and draw. All of this while giving back to the community. Students draw along side professionals. What I would have given for this when I was coming along. Did I mention students of AiW are admitted for free?

So the Club really does do a lot. And, it's all done with a volunteer group. Even this blog.

We are always looking for more participation; whether it be suggestions for lecture series, or something we may have never sponsored before. Of course, we are always looking for volunteers too. I have always felt we accomplish so much with a few and can only imagine what we could do with more.

I hope you'll participate.

David Labrozzi
President,
Illustrators Club of Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia
http://www.illustratorsclub.org

David Hagen: Identified and Unidentified

Long-time IC Member David Hagen would like to invite you to see his new show,
“Identified and Unidentified,” just opened in Arlington (Rosslyn area):
Century 21 Exhibit Space
1711 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, VA 22209
Open daily 10 am – 6 pm
703.528.8195

It runs through the end of April with a reception on Friday, March 27th.

Congratulations, David!

Xto Nude Image Awards

To Follow up on Tyler's post, there is one other show coming up. That is, the Xto Nude Image Awards. The deadline is February 28, so there isn't much time. If you have something ready though, it's online entry so it's still possible to get something there.

This is the first time I have heard about this competition. However; from reading the description on their site (http://www.x.to/) it appears it is open to both Illustrators and Photographers.

The highlights are a Grand Prize of $2000.00 and exhibit in New York while 2nd Prize is still $1000.00 with exhibit in New York.

Upcoming Competition Deadlines

*EDITED


Some illustration competition deadlines are quickly approaching. I often forget about these and scramble at the last minute to meet the specific submission requirements. Lucky for lazy folks like me, they all seem to accept submissions online!

American Illustration (March 2): Call for Entries

Print Magazine (April 1 - late entry fee applies): Call for Entries

Communication Arts (March 20): Call for Entries

3x3 Magazine (March 14): Call for Entries

If anyone else knows of any more competitions in the next month or so, please add them. And good luck!

What's going on out in Paul Zdepski's Studio?

a whole bunch of watercolor...

I've been retooling my entire portfolio over the last 6 months. I'm trying to focus on the Children's market, breaking away from my usual editorial themes. As a life long oil painter, I had developed a solid style, color vocabulary and approach to creating a piece... practically second nature. That has all changed.

I entered a Master of Fine Arts in Illustration program this past summer at the University of Hartford. I had to begin thinking about a thesis, and what I could do to make this major outlay of precious cash work for me. The instructors are varied, but there are many award winning children's field folks; Dennis Nolan - Golden Kite winner, Betsy Lewin - Caldecot winner... Ted Lewin, Murray Tinkelman, Bunny Carter... the list is expanding to C.F. Payne and others.

These folks work in manners and fields totally foreign to my experience, and I figured I needed to take this opportunity to learn something entirely new. I've decided to tap into my humorous side, which has always been there, but has been interpreted as smarmy or preachy in my editorial work. I'm ditching all the oil and going for fluid media - ink and watercolor... very few second chances with these two.

My thesis is being built around some characters I had developed back in 2005, and this effort is pushing my entire Illustration portfolio and focus into a new direction, field, possibilities, and satisfaction.

I've never "re-tooled" like this, but have read about other illustrators that have done it a number of times. It's a lot of effort, but it's also like entering a laboratory and creating new life.

I post my progress on my blog, Zillustration Studio News and have much of my older work on my portfolio site, Zillustration.com, HOWEVER... for my thesis, I've gone the extra mile and bought an entire domain name to handle the new work. It's a sandbox, work in progress, and is only a couple of images right now, but I will build it out over the next year to function as it's own portfolio and interactive FUNzone - DogBabies.com

So, that's what's happening out in the hills of Virginia. If you want to contact me, please do, I love to talk about Illustration, painting and to creative folks. p@zillustration.com

Welcome Message

Welcome!
We're The Illustrators Club of Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia — IC for short. Thank you for visiting!

Who We Are
IC is a non-profit, all-volunteer trade association dedicated to promoting the art and business of illustration since 1986. Our membership network includes professional illustrators, graphic designers, educators, students, vendors and related businesses.

Why We're Here
IC provides a broad palette of resources, programs and opportunities to educate and benefit members, art buyers and the general public. We strive to protect the rights and interests of all members, while maintaining high standards and encouraging fair business practices throughout the graphic arts community. If you would like to join our active and ever expanding group, visit our site at: http://www.illustratorsclub.org