Speakers & Interviews
See Our Illustration West 62 Judge Interviews
Check out the Judge Interviews: Jennifer Bruce Ted (Slampyak) Kinyak Jorge Mascarenhas Mark Smith Tetiana “Tania” Yakunova illustrationwest.org DEADLINE: 11/19/2023 - TONIGHT AT MIDNIGHT!
UPDATE! In-Person and Zoom: Leveraging Resources to Your Professional Benefit
You asked and here you go: An In-Person and Zoom Event For virtual attendees, the Zoom link will be emailed an hour before the event starts. See you soon! Questions? Contact the office at info@si-la.org or 800-799-6368
Interview With ILW61 Judge Orlando Arocena
Our eighth and final Illustration West 61 interview is with Orlando Arocena. Communications and Branding Committee member Chad Ewanic, conducted the interview with Orlando. 1.) How do you personally define ILLUSTRATION and why do you think you’ve gravitated toward it? I define Illustration as the Marketing term used within the commercial industry for anything that is created and published as a static. non animated visual intended to drive awareness and/or deliver a visual representation from...
Interview With ILW61 Judge Rick Sealock
Our seventh Illustration West 61 interview is with Rick Sealock. Board member Jon Messer, Secretary and Program Chair, conducted the interview with Rick. What inspired you to become an illustrator? In hindsight, I blame it on the comics of the day, mostly Mad magazine and Cracked. I grew up with these visual brain-bashing encyclopedias of Life and loved their imaginative and sarcastic natures. Caricature and editorializing were a main focus beyond the pure entertainment value. They made...
Interview With ILW61 Judge Vanessa Lemen
Our sixth Illustration West 61 interview is with Vanessa Lemen. Board member Jon Messer, Secretary and Program Chair, conducted the interview with Vanessa. What inspired you to become an illustrator? A deep love for making art. To be an illustrator, to be a painter, fine artist, visual artist, whatever you want to call it, it came from that deep connection with the making of art and storytelling and speaking in that form that inspired me to want to be doing that as much as I could. Where did...
Interview With ILW61 Judge Karina Granda
Our fifth Illustration West 61 interview is with Karina Granda, Art Director at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. She has designed and art directed many award-winning and bestselling books including The Proudest Blue, The Magic Misfits series, Stamped and Stamped (for Kids), The Inheritance Games series, the Folks of the Air series, Internment, and the Love & Gelato series. When not reading or making books, she loves hunting for the best cheese and donuts, taking long walks (city or...
Interview With ILW61 Judge Robert St. Pierre
Our fourth Illustration West 61 interview is with Robert St. Pierre. Board member Jon Messer, Secretary and Program Chair, conducted the interview with Robert. What inspired you to become an illustrator? I studied Illustration and found my inspiration with some of the classic American Illustrators and artists such as Rockwell, Sergent, Cornwall, Loomis, Lyndecker Where did you grow up and did that have an influence on your artwork? New England. Some of the architectural design aesthetics have...
Interview with ILW61 Judge Thomas Blackshear, II
Our third Illustration West 61 interview is with Thomas Blackshear, II, who was also a judge for our ILW 34. Board member Jon Messer, Secretary and Program Chair, conducted the interview with Thomas. What inspired you to become an illustrator? I wanted to be an artist even as a kid. I didn’t know what kind of artist, but in high school I found out about illustrators and I admired their skill level. I didn’t want to be a starving artist. I wanted to be able to make money at art, and I hoped it...
Interview With ILW61 Judge Anita Kunz
Our second Illustration West 61 interview is with Anita Kunz, twice Illustration West Bronze Award winner (Editorial, ILW 45 and Institutional, ILW43) as well as having been a judge for our ILW 42. Board member Jon Messer, Secretary and Program Chair, conducted the interview with Anita. What inspired you to become an illustrator? My uncle was an illustrator whose motto was “Art for Education”. He illustrated textbooks and made a lot of educational materials such as filmstrips for schools. He...
Interview with ILW61 Judge Francis Vallejo
Our first Illustration West 61 interview is with Francis Vallejo, winner of llustration West 55's Joseph Morgan Henninger Best in Show as well as a Gold (Entertainment & Visual Development), Silver (Advertising) and Bronze Unpublished/Self-Promotional in Illustration West 47. Board member David Habben, Web Chair, conducted the interview with Francis. What excites you about illustration? Drawing and composing. I'm an illustrator as a result of my comic book fandom as a young boy. I would...