The Picture Book

A bible of contemporary illustration, compiled by award-winning designer Angus Hyland, The Picture Book presents a broad spectrum of styles, techniques and subject matter representative of current trends and innovations to create a stunning compendium of work. Each artist's work is accompanied by a self-portrait and a short, illuminating profile exploring their inspirations and their approach both to illustration and to their career.

Angus Hyland ran his own studio for 10 years until he became a partner at Pentagram Design, London, in April 1998. He has won over 100 creative awards for his work, including two D&AD silvers. Angus has also edited the successful illustration books Pen & Mouse and Hand to Eye.

I received a mini edition of this book last year, as a present for starting university and I've referred to it a couple of times, usually when I've ran out of inspiration or simply need motivation to explore and finish sketches.

Jonathan Tran.

Born in Gibraltar, 1980, Jonathan Tran crawled his way over to Britain at the age of three. Here, as a child, he honed his drawing techniques on doors, walls, wardrobes and any other surfaces he could get his hands on. It wasn't long until he moved onto Central St. Martins where he did a Foundation Course in illustration, followed by three years at Kent Institute of Art and Design.

Tran now spends most of his time making images. Most of his inspiration comes from other contemporary artists, in all fields, not just illustrators. For example, he is beginning to revisit his Craig David collection for some truly amazing ideas.

Unfortunately the images I've selected aren't in The Picture Book, I actually found them online and decided to use these two due to the composition and the colour and the fact that out of his portfolio these are my favourite. These in particular remind of a screen printing project I completed during my Foundation Degree in college and seeing this artists work has inspired me to go back to the skills I learnt in college and create prints, completely new and experiment with proportions, compositions, colour and media. 

Also a beautiful portfolio online.. http://www.jtran.net/

Stina Persson.

"Stina Persson has lived, studied and worked in Tokyo, New York, Florence and Lund, Sweden where she was born. She says her illustration style is basically about finding the right balance between the edgy and the elegant, the raw and the beautiful." To achieve this, she uses ink, watercolour and gouache, as well as Mexican cut paper and photo incorporation.

Star of the book for me; I realise I've already mentioned her within another post, however seeing her illustrations in The Picture Book, I couldn't resist and just had to mention her again! I first came across her work during my Foundation Degree in Illustration. There's something so beautiful about her work that I'm always inspired no matter what she creates. I warm to the vibrant colours of her sketches, I admire the way she paints and uses the media, I'm attracted to the way the watercolours blend effortlessly within each of her sketches, I'm inspired by the fun, playful energy her work gives off, I enjoy the topic that she associates her work with.. I could go on forever. It's because of these reasons that I've referred to her work so many times within individual, very different project briefs.

Her website again (to save you scrolling down!).. http://www.stinapersson.com/