Halloween — Sophia Martineck: Halloween (detail)

Work / Illustration

Sophia Martineck’s sophisticated pencil drawings of New York and an A-Z of professions

Words by Madeleine Morley, Friday 04 July 2014

Sophia Martineck is a Berlin-based illustration whose subtle, blocky and gorgeously detailed illustrations are child-like but also intriguingly evocative and precise. We were particularly taken by her black and white etchings of New York scenes, and her illustrations for an ABC book that showcases 26 types of professions from A to Z. Sophia has worked for an incredible list of clients, from The New Yorker to The Financial Times to Le Monde, and she describes herself as a “sophisticated pencil girl,” which sums up her drawings perfectly.

Ecologist — Sophia Martineck: Ecologist

Halloween — Sophia Martineck: Halloween

Surgeon — Sophia Martineck: Surgeon

Life_guard — Sophia Martineck: Life Guard

Demolition_man — Sophia Martineck: Builder

Cullers_05 — Sophia Martineck: Cullers

Work / Illustration Ricky Leung’s illustrations capture the quiet moments of everyday life

Ricky Leung’s work is often inspired by the idea of “slow living”, with a sustainable, local and organic approach to everyday life being both “intriguing and beautiful” to the illustrator. “Travelling, interior deign, film photography and food are things I love… I want to convey those feelings and imagery through a light-hearted and playful way.”

Rebecca Fulleylove — 18 October 2017
Work / Publication Carnovsky illustrates the human body under X-ray using RGB illustration technique

Illustration for educational books has become ever more inventive in recent years, diversifying a medium that has vast creative potential, and Wide Eyed Edition’s recent release Illumanatomy is symbolic of this shift. The large format book is filled cover to cover with full bleed, intricate, three-colour illustrations by Milan-based duo Carnovsky depicting the human body in three layers. Using a set of lenses that come with the book, you can see the skeleton (through the red lens), the muscles (through the green lens) and the organs (through blue) and learn facts about the details of each image. It uses a technique made famous by Carnovsky in 2010 for its RGB wallpaper that revealed different images under different lights.

Jenny Brewer — 16 October 2017
Work / Illustration Saiman Chow adopts a psychedelic vibe for his editorial illustrations

“Doing editorial work is a lot like going to bootcamp. Once you hit the ground, you have to run as fast as you can in 24–30 hours and hopefully get to the finish line in one piece,” says illustrator Saiman Chow on his editorial commissions. “There’s no time to overthink it and despite the time constraints, it’s a great way to train yourself to trust your intuition.”

Rebecca Fulleylove — 12 October 2017
Work / Illustration The inner workings of Ori Toor's cerebral labyrinth for our World Mental Health Day takeover

For our World Mental Health Day takeover, we tasked Tel Aviv-based illustrator and animator Ori Toor with visualising a complex and sensitive topic. “I wanted to show the intricate mind of the creative person,” he explains of his interpretation of the brief. “I made it a bit personal, as I do with most of my work – overall it’s joyful but at the same time trying to keep the darker side under control. I wanted to create a balance between happy and sad.”

Jenny Brewer — 10 October 2017
Work / World Mental Health Day “Subtlety is key”: Rachel Levit on the art of illustrating sensitive themes

When talking to Mexican artist and illustrator Rachel Levit about this piece for World Mental Health Day she sent over a folder of archive work that illustrates sensitive content. We knew before hand that Rachel had an eye for illustrating subjects with a delicate story, but when looking through her selection a distinct style was noticeable. This is a style that hints at a tender personable thought, but also remains relatable to anyone, male or female, young or old, and whether they have had troubles with mental health or not.

Lucy Bourton — 10 October 2017
Work / World Mental Health Day Illustrators Tishk Barzanji and Charlotte Edey discuss isolation

Back in spring, we first featured the work of Tishk Barzanji, who revealed that his pastel-hued interiors spoke of an underlying anxiety. This month the Iraq-born visual artist is set to take over Hackney venue Palm Vaults alongside illustrator Charlotte Edey for Quiet Utopia, a joint show which, using Tishk’s signature surrealism, will explore “the importance of introspection” through large scale digital works, illustrations and woven tapestries. We caught up with the pair in the lead up to the show’s launch to talk about the ways in which introspection and isolation can be a useful part of the creative process in a world where we are never not connected.

Bryony Stone — 10 October 2017