I have realised that I haven't really talked about illustrators on this blog yet, so now is the time to start. I love illustration as much as pattern, they both continue to inspire me equally. An illustrator who I am going to discuss today is James Gulliver Hancock. Hancock has been on my radar for a while, I am unsure of where or how I first discovered his successful blog "All The Buildings in New York" this then evolved into a book, then a series of books (All The Buildings in London, All The Buildings in Sydney, All The Buildings in New York...).
Personally I have always found buildings tricky to draw, part of me wants to draw like an architect with a ruler, because I have never been able to draw buildings in the style I sketch everything else in, however with a ruler I tense up and draw boxy child like buildings. Hancock style of illustration is brilliant, it is free and quirky, he cleverly highlights little details that give that add intrigue that maybe overlooked. His choice of perspective is good, and the illustration looks authentic and spontaneous, not computer engineered or rigid. His colour palette is what I would describe as dirty pastels, not too girly and sugary. They are not the real life colours which to me makes the overall outcome more creative and fun.
Hancock has also created another book 'Artists, Writers, Thinkers, Dreamers' which includes 50 annotated portraits of people that have inspired Hancock, he has doodled facts and trivia I would describe it is as an engaging and innovative book.
