Sarah Gonzales

Just take a look at Sarah's work and it's clear that it's pretty darn good. What I think you can't necessarily get from student work, is a real sense of who that artist is, and who they will be. But if you were to talk to Sarah in person I think you would sense she is one of those artists that seems to have just that little bit extra something. It's hard to describe because it's something intuitive. But perhaps that's the best description, Sarah is intuitively an artist. She's not necessarily trying to be one, although she works super hard at it, she just is an artist – and one to watch for in the future.

https://www.behance.net/sarahangeli

Lauren Shipton

It wasn't long ago that designers who liked to draw were asked this either/or question: are you a designer or an illustrator? Lauren's excellent work shows that in today's design world the answer can be correctly answered as both. Lauren's design and illustration mesh together seamlessly and exhibits her versatility as a visual communicator. www.laurenshipton.com

Frances Motta

I missed out on teaching a lot of this years design grads so it's great to see their work for the first time. I appreciated Fran Motta's design work for it's honest directness.  It has a raw classic feeling reminiscent of avant-garde from the middle 20th century. Made relevant for today.

http://francesmotta.com

Nicole Wolf

Nicole is serious about her work. And this commitment to her craft will no doubt lead her to do some seriously good work as a professional – she's already doing that as student.

https://www.behance.net/CryWolf_Illustration

Meghan Fenske

Meghan is the first of this years (2015) graduates work I would like to bring to your attention. One of the advantages of being at ACAD is to get the opportunity to work with these future professionals and see their creative process first hand. Meghan's design process is super rigorous and considerate – but she is also able to keep it fresh. This fine balance makes her work both effective and exciting.

http://meghanfenske.com

Portfolio Show this Thursday April 23

Just a reminder to all Calgary design professionals.

For more information and links to student portfolios, please visit www.acad.ca/wh_2015_04_portfolio_show.html.

Accomplishments in publishing

I was recently asked to list some of the accomplishments of ACAD Illustration and Character Design Alumni. I figured it would be good to share it here too, this is just a short list mostly off the top of my head and mostly illustration for publishing.

Jillian Tamaki was the winner of the 2014 Governor General's Award for illustrating childrens picture books for her New York Times bestselling YA graphic novel This One Summer written by Mariko Tamaki. This One Summer also one a Caldecott Honor Book and a host of other awards. National Post Article

in the last year Fiona Staples was awarded and nominated for multiple Hugo awards for her work on the bestselling graphic novel series Saga written by Brian K Vaughan. It also won several Eisner Awards and a Joe Shuster Award. I09 Article

Of course I know the most about my wife Renata, so here is lots of dirt on her: New York Times best selling illustrator Renata Liwska was nominated for a 2014 Governor General's Award for illustrating childrens picture books for Once Upon a Memory written by Nina Laden and published by Little Brown in December 2014. Other books she has had published recently include Boom, Snot, Twitty written by Doreen Cronin and Published by Viking in March 2014 as well as it's upcoming sequel This Way that Way to be released June 2015. Other books Renata is currently working on include Dormouse Dreams written by Karma Wilson (Disney Hyperion) and Places to Be written by Mac Barnett (Harper Collins). Other awards for 2014 include Society of Illustrators NY, The Original Show, and Communication Arts Illustration Annual. Kirkus Review

Mike Kerr (note:shameless self promotion) and Renata Liwska have received a two book children's picture book deal with Bloomsbury USA.

Jacqui Lee has a couple new children's picture books in the last year, Murilla Gorilla and the Hammock Problem (Aug 2014 )and Taffy Time March 2015 both written by Jennifer Lloyd.

Joy Ang has two new books coming up Mustache Baby Meets His Match written by Bridget Heos (March 2015) and Behold! A Baby written by Stephanie Watson (June 2015).

Kim Smith has several books on the go, her most recent book is Around the World written by Natalia Diaz and Melissa Owens.

Licoln Agnews most recent is Runaway Tomato written by Kim Cooley Reeder

Charlie's Dirt Day is a sequel illustrated by Jacqueline Hudon Verrelli

Cartoonist Dave Whamond was a winner of 2014 National Cartoonist Society award for magazine illustration. And has recently been nominated for an award in 2015.

Riley Rossmo's most engaging work is showcased in his most recent comic series Rasputin written by Alex Grecian and published by Image Comics.

Peter Panzerfaust illustrated by Tyler Jenkins and written by Kurtis J Wiebe is on to it's 25 issue. And he has a new title coming from Darkhouse called Neverboy.

Serena Malyon was a 2014 Spectrum award winner.

Dragon Age: Inquisition was named Game of The Year for 2014 and includes work by several ACAD alumni including Art Director Matthew Goldman.

And last but not least Sam Weber recently completed work on a Folio Society Edition of Frank Herbert's Dune If anyone knows ones I missed let me know.