Ben Bensen, Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles Air Force Chair (2010-present), recalls his first professional assignment as an artist. While in his senior year at the University of Southwestern Louisiana in Lafayette, he painted a pocket watch for a billboard design to advertise Hub City Bank. He has been making a living as an artist ever since that day in 1971. Graduating from USL, Ben left Louisiana to attend the prestigious Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, to...

Alvin Jones is an artist and visionary with his hand on the pulse of pop culture. He has been creating digital art and characters that not only reflect the challenges humanity faces today but also imagine future possibilities.   His work, spanning comic books, children’s literature, digital art, and even music, taps into universal themes of environmental preservation, innovation, and exploration. Alvin is building a brand that weaves intricate stories through his characters like The Bugga...

Holly Vigil is a freelance illustrator based in Los Angeles, California. In 2022, she received her BFA with an emphasis in illustration from California State University Fullerton. Vigil utilizes traditional mediums, including but not limited to color pencil, mixed media, and digital art with a conceptual nature. Along with her studio work, Vigil has worked as a promotional artist for the independent animation production company Boldbird Studios and as an illustration intern for the news and...

Jorge Mascarenhas Second Vice President/Illustration West Show Chair 2024 Jorge Mascarenhas was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He’s been drawing since he can remember, as he doodled away through his notebooks and desks during his early education. His illustrations have been commissioned, nationally and internationally, by clients such as The New Yorker, The New York Times, Penguin, Family Circle, Macmillan, TOR, Wednesday Books, Barnes and Noble, Sterling Publishing, Runner’s World, Random...