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A black and white illustration of a person in a hat looking at a large cat inside a frame. The person holds a magnifying glass up to the cat’s face, while small hearts float in the air.

Josh Holinaty is smuggling the silly and the gross into a publication near you

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Date
21 June 2012

The fact that someone producing such brilliant, varied, detailed illustrations for unexpected publications like The Globe and Mail, Canadian Business and Runner’s World could restore the faith of anyone who thinks that such magazines wouldn’t be interested in commissioning work described by its creator as “silly, gross, drippy, grungey and clean.”

Josh Holinaty’s illustrations are an absolute joy to behold, due mainly to their Archie Comic style injected with a strong hit of asinine humour. One minute you’re looking at a chaotically-detailed image of a snowboarding accident, the next you’re witnessing a gloriously simple image of a before and after shot of a decaying banana (complete with spot-on facial expression, naturally).

An illustration of a person lying on a green field, their body connected to several green energy drink cans via tubes. They are drinking from one can while another person looks on, with a speech bubble reading “CHUG IT, BRAH!”.
Above

Josh Holinaty: Transworld Snowboarding

An illustration of a hairy, creature-like figure standing in a cluttered room surrounded by people. The figure wears goggles and a yellow jacket, while others crowd around them with cameras and microphones. Speech bubbles contain phrases such as “Massage?”, “Sup, Barb!” and “I’m totally twittering this!”.
Above

Josh Holinaty: Transworld Snowboarding

An illustration of two bananas. The top banana is bright yellow with a smiling face, while a black arrow points down to a bruised, frowning banana below.
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Josh Holinaty: OWL

An illustration of a red figure standing over a snowy landscape filled with buried people and skeletons. A red rectangular slab rests on the snow, surrounded by scattered money and a trophy that reads “Team Snowchamp 1992”.
Above

Josh Holinaty:

An illustration of a person riding a red bicycle. They wear a yellow striped T-shirt, red shorts and a green cap, leaning back with their head tilted upwards.
Above

Josh Holinaty:

An illustration of three people on a city street. A person in a pink coat stands still while a barefoot person in a white vest and red shorts dances energetically beside them. A third person in a green T-shirt runs past from the right.
Above

Josh Holinaty: Runner’s World

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About the Author

Liv Siddall

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Liv joined It’s Nice That as an intern in 2011 and worked across online, print and events, and was latterly Features Editor before leaving in May 2015.

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