Inspired mainly by the natural world, Hughes hopes to help children discover the joys of reading, and visits schools regularly as part of her work. Having studied illustration at Kingston University and graduated in 2005, her illustrations are mostly hand-drawn using inks, with the occasional gouache paint and pastels.

But like most children books’ illustrators, Hughes stumbled upon her vocation by chance. “I guess I never really decided I wanted to illustrate specifically for children,” she reflected in an interview with Kathy Temean. But after creating a lot of animal-based illustrations for greeting cards, the transition into character-led picture books seemed natural. “Although I’d call myself a children’s illustrator I don’t really like the idea that my work is only for a certain group of people,” she notes, “I hope that everyone can enjoy it at any stage in their life.”

As well as illustrating books for young readers, her artwork is also featured on greeting cards, gift-wrap, packaging, and stationery in countries all over the world, with her selected clients including Harper Collins, Bloomsbury Books, Anthropologie, and DengDeng Baby.

“While my illustration work is very commercial and ‘child friendly’ I’ve always had a love for heavy music and horror films,” she admits. “I like those two contradictions: the cute side and the scary side of me!”

Scroll down to see some recent highlights.

The post The Energetic Illustrations of Laura Hughes appeared first on 5dwallpaper.com.

For young children, books, especially picture books, open a window to other, greater worlds (including imaginary ones). If you’re looking for an original gift this holiday season, we recommend looking into Rob Hodgson’s picture book.

Based in Bristol, England, Hodgson is the author and illustrator of The Woods and The Cave, and the illustrator of An A to Z of Monsters and Magical Beings, Tattoo Time! Monster Activity, A Good Day for a Hat and Tony T-Rex’s Family Album. His books have been translated into a dozen languages and his first author/illustrated book, The Cave, was chosen by Book Trust to be given free to every reception aged child in England. So you know he’s got our seal of approval.

But according to Hodgson, he got into children’s books by mere chance. Having worked as an illustrator for years, it was only after working on a commission to illustrate someone else’s book that he fell in love with the process. “I was sent a huge (like, comedically huge) sack of kids’ book from an agent, who said he thought I’d be good at working on books,” he recalled what later happened in an interview with Deborah Kalb. “I’d never considered it before, and his gesture gave me the permission to think I could do it.”

When it comes to the creative process, Hodgson tends to stick to the same formula. “I always tend to start with the images. Usually I’ll sketch the characters in some early form, then start putting them in scenes, and then I start writing from there,” he explains. “Once there is something to jump off from, then I write and draw at the same time. Well, not exactly the same time. But you know what I mean!”

With Christmas just around the bend, you’d want to look into his work.

The post Treat Your Kids to a Rob Hodgson’s Picture Book appeared first on 5dwallpaper.com.

Originally from Norfolk, Oakley graduated from Camberwell College of Arts with a degree in Fine Art & Graphic design. “It was a multidisciplinary degree,” he relayed in an interview with The Make Bank, “and I was able to study many aspects of art and design including type-setting & letterpress, typography, silkscreen printing, video art, bookmaking, conceptual art, painting, illustration & graphic design.”

“At school and college I was very fortunate to have supportive teachers and family who saw I was very genuine in my interest in art & design,” he notes. “I think without this support it would have been much harder for me to thrive in a subject I enjoyed so much and still continue to enjoy today.”

With creativity oozing from him, his work is informed by his thoughts and daydreams. But Oakley also acknowledges the importance of hard work. “Its so important to making and keep making, draw and keep drawing,” he stresses.

For illustration projects, he usually works with pen and computer. But his more personal projects can include anything from paper and cardboard, to wood, paint, ink, hammer, nails, and glue. “It’s fun to play with random materials and it’s important for me to keep moving forward, looking for the melody and harmony in my work.”

The post Marcus Oakley’s Art Speaks to Our Inner Child appeared first on 5dwallpaper.com.

Born in Bogotá, Colombia, Espinosa’s love of illustration and design came naturally to him, and after moving to New York in 1992 he worked in a small design studio. But with his true passion being illustration, he quit his job, bought a page in a couple of sourcebooks, and became a full-time illustrator. 

“I chose to study graphic design, not only because I was inspired by record covers, rock band logos, and comics, but because I knew it would get me work quickly,” he explained his choice in an interview with AI-AP. “Even though my illustration career didn’t kick off until the mid-90s, I like to think that I started working while I was still attending design school. I got a small job doing storyboards for an ad agency, which lead to a designer position, and later on, I became an art director; by the time I left Colombia at the age of 22, I had worked in three large multinational agencies.”

Now based in Salt Lake City, Utah, his work accompanies children’s books as well as top tier publications like The New Yorker, Wired, Esquire, The New York Times, and The Atlantic, the BBC, and he has also collaborated with Nickelodeon, Penguin Random House, Swatch, and Facebook.

But you can also follow his creative journey via Instagram:

The post Leo Espinosa’s Illustrations Capture the Very Essence of Childhood appeared first on 5dwallpaper.com.

Though now fully committed to writing and illustrating stories for children, she had originally been trained in a whole other field – as a printed textile designer. “Training and working as a printed textile designer, illustration naturally went hand in hand with designing prints,” she explained in an interview with Dulwich Festival. “I’ve been very lucky that I’ve been able to transfer this into illustrating for books.”

When it comes to her creative process itself, her work very much relies on her background in textile. “I use a lot of different processes to draw and it’s great for bringing different characters to life by way of oil pastels, mono-printed line combined with collaged pattern (often from my own stash of designs), pen and ink, paper cutting and paint,” she explains. “I quite like a blank sheet of paper and often doodle on older, more worn out bits of paper I’ve collected over the years. It adds another element to the illustration, I think.”

“At the moment I love drawing animals and have a particular penchant for drawing soft toys (old and new), building up layer upon layer of texture to give the right look and feel to the character,” she added. “I love making them look a little bit wonky and odd, giving them their own unique personality.”

Her wonky illustrations will delight your inner child:

The post Lisa Stickley Encourages Children to Enjoy Reading appeared first on 5dwallpaper.com.

Working from his home studio in Leeds, he says that he enjoys his work most when he manages to achieve a creative flow. “It’s hard-fought,” he admitted in an interview with Lecture in Progress, “and something I want to explore further but when it occurs it’s really enjoyable. I’m not a naturally gifted draftsperson, I draw like a pissed robot most of the time, but there’s always intent in my hand where I’m trying to find that correct balance between control and wobble.”

Most days, his time is filled to the brim with work (rather than play). Working as a lecturer in illustration at Leeds Arts University, and commissioned by clients like The Guardian, New York Times, and Converse, Hodson says that it’s a struggle for him to find time for his more creative projects – a problem many creatives face.

“I get stressed out all the time by fear, guilt, and frustration that I should be doing more, making better, pushing further,” he says. “But I think I can combat this by looking at my own drawings more than my phone and spending more time thinking about nothing.”

Scroll down to see some of his work:

The post Poet and Illustrator, Matthew the Horse, Knows His Stuff appeared first on 5dwallpaper.com.

The Japanese father of two is a great example of what happens when your parent is creative. Creating a surreal landscape, he adds hand-drawn illustrations to his children’s photos. The results are epic!

The photos depict the boys’ many adventures and transforms them into pop culture icons. Yota has been sharing the improved photos of his children on social media and people seem to love them. With what he has achieved and his level of creativity, he definitely deserves the award for greatest dad. Either that or a mug.

See his amazing work below.

The post Japanese Dad Adds a Fantastic Twist to His Kids’ Photos appeared first on 5dwallpaper.com.

The unique company was founded by Alex Furmansky back in 2013, and by now has manufactured over 77,000 toys for just as many happy kids around the world.

Furmansky came up with the idea for Budsies while watching his little sister grow up (he’s 16 years older than her). He thought it was a shame that her childhood drawings were simply forgotten over time and asked himself: “What if I could turn a drawing into a stuffed animal friend that would last forever?”

See some of the Budsies toys below!

The post South Florida Company Turns Kids’ Artworks into Toys appeared first on 5dwallpaper.com.

Weng Chen, the artist behind The Adventures of Messy Cow comics, illustrates the strategies and weapons toddlers use against their beloved parents. Enjoy!

The post All the Ways a 2-Year-Old Can Hurt You, Illustrated appeared first on 5dwallpaper.com.

This mom of 5-year-old twins is also an artist, Youtuber, and designer. “Trapped in my heavy packed routines, sometimes small sweet things that happen in my life are taken for granted and forgotten,” she says. “Therefore, I decided to make comics about my life and my family.”

Enjoy her lovely comics below and follow her on Instagram if you want to see more.

The post Mom Draws Comics Inspired by Her Life with Twins appeared first on 5dwallpaper.com.

Inspired mainly by the natural world, Hughes hopes to help children discover the joys of reading, and visits schools regularly as part of her work. Having studied illustration at Kingston University and graduated in 2005, her illustrations are mostly hand-drawn using inks, with the occasional gouache paint and pastels.

But like most children books’ illustrators, Hughes stumbled upon her vocation by chance. “I guess I never really decided I wanted to illustrate specifically for children,” she reflected in an interview with Kathy Temean. But after creating a lot of animal-based illustrations for greeting cards, the transition into character-led picture books seemed natural. “Although I’d call myself a children’s illustrator I don’t really like the idea that my work is only for a certain group of people,” she notes, “I hope that everyone can enjoy it at any stage in their life.”

As well as illustrating books for young readers, her artwork is also featured on greeting cards, gift-wrap, packaging, and stationery in countries all over the world, with her selected clients including Harper Collins, Bloomsbury Books, Anthropologie, and DengDeng Baby.

“While my illustration work is very commercial and ‘child friendly’ I’ve always had a love for heavy music and horror films,” she admits. “I like those two contradictions: the cute side and the scary side of me!”

Scroll down to see some recent highlights.

The post The Energetic Illustrations of Laura Hughes appeared first on 5dwallpaper.com.

For young children, books, especially picture books, open a window to other, greater worlds (including imaginary ones). If you’re looking for an original gift this holiday season, we recommend looking into Rob Hodgson’s picture book.

Based in Bristol, England, Hodgson is the author and illustrator of The Woods and The Cave, and the illustrator of An A to Z of Monsters and Magical Beings, Tattoo Time! Monster Activity, A Good Day for a Hat and Tony T-Rex’s Family Album. His books have been translated into a dozen languages and his first author/illustrated book, The Cave, was chosen by Book Trust to be given free to every reception aged child in England. So you know he’s got our seal of approval.

But according to Hodgson, he got into children’s books by mere chance. Having worked as an illustrator for years, it was only after working on a commission to illustrate someone else’s book that he fell in love with the process. “I was sent a huge (like, comedically huge) sack of kids’ book from an agent, who said he thought I’d be good at working on books,” he recalled what later happened in an interview with Deborah Kalb. “I’d never considered it before, and his gesture gave me the permission to think I could do it.”

When it comes to the creative process, Hodgson tends to stick to the same formula. “I always tend to start with the images. Usually I’ll sketch the characters in some early form, then start putting them in scenes, and then I start writing from there,” he explains. “Once there is something to jump off from, then I write and draw at the same time. Well, not exactly the same time. But you know what I mean!”

With Christmas just around the bend, you’d want to look into his work.

The post Treat Your Kids to a Rob Hodgson’s Picture Book appeared first on 5dwallpaper.com.

Originally from Norfolk, Oakley graduated from Camberwell College of Arts with a degree in Fine Art & Graphic design. “It was a multidisciplinary degree,” he relayed in an interview with The Make Bank, “and I was able to study many aspects of art and design including type-setting & letterpress, typography, silkscreen printing, video art, bookmaking, conceptual art, painting, illustration & graphic design.”

“At school and college I was very fortunate to have supportive teachers and family who saw I was very genuine in my interest in art & design,” he notes. “I think without this support it would have been much harder for me to thrive in a subject I enjoyed so much and still continue to enjoy today.”

With creativity oozing from him, his work is informed by his thoughts and daydreams. But Oakley also acknowledges the importance of hard work. “Its so important to making and keep making, draw and keep drawing,” he stresses.

For illustration projects, he usually works with pen and computer. But his more personal projects can include anything from paper and cardboard, to wood, paint, ink, hammer, nails, and glue. “It’s fun to play with random materials and it’s important for me to keep moving forward, looking for the melody and harmony in my work.”

The post Marcus Oakley’s Art Speaks to Our Inner Child appeared first on 5dwallpaper.com.

Born in Bogotá, Colombia, Espinosa’s love of illustration and design came naturally to him, and after moving to New York in 1992 he worked in a small design studio. But with his true passion being illustration, he quit his job, bought a page in a couple of sourcebooks, and became a full-time illustrator. 

“I chose to study graphic design, not only because I was inspired by record covers, rock band logos, and comics, but because I knew it would get me work quickly,” he explained his choice in an interview with AI-AP. “Even though my illustration career didn’t kick off until the mid-90s, I like to think that I started working while I was still attending design school. I got a small job doing storyboards for an ad agency, which lead to a designer position, and later on, I became an art director; by the time I left Colombia at the age of 22, I had worked in three large multinational agencies.”

Now based in Salt Lake City, Utah, his work accompanies children’s books as well as top tier publications like The New Yorker, Wired, Esquire, The New York Times, and The Atlantic, the BBC, and he has also collaborated with Nickelodeon, Penguin Random House, Swatch, and Facebook.

But you can also follow his creative journey via Instagram:

The post Leo Espinosa’s Illustrations Capture the Very Essence of Childhood appeared first on 5dwallpaper.com.

Though now fully committed to writing and illustrating stories for children, she had originally been trained in a whole other field – as a printed textile designer. “Training and working as a printed textile designer, illustration naturally went hand in hand with designing prints,” she explained in an interview with Dulwich Festival. “I’ve been very lucky that I’ve been able to transfer this into illustrating for books.”

When it comes to her creative process itself, her work very much relies on her background in textile. “I use a lot of different processes to draw and it’s great for bringing different characters to life by way of oil pastels, mono-printed line combined with collaged pattern (often from my own stash of designs), pen and ink, paper cutting and paint,” she explains. “I quite like a blank sheet of paper and often doodle on older, more worn out bits of paper I’ve collected over the years. It adds another element to the illustration, I think.”

“At the moment I love drawing animals and have a particular penchant for drawing soft toys (old and new), building up layer upon layer of texture to give the right look and feel to the character,” she added. “I love making them look a little bit wonky and odd, giving them their own unique personality.”

Her wonky illustrations will delight your inner child:

The post Lisa Stickley Encourages Children to Enjoy Reading appeared first on 5dwallpaper.com.

Working from his home studio in Leeds, he says that he enjoys his work most when he manages to achieve a creative flow. “It’s hard-fought,” he admitted in an interview with Lecture in Progress, “and something I want to explore further but when it occurs it’s really enjoyable. I’m not a naturally gifted draftsperson, I draw like a pissed robot most of the time, but there’s always intent in my hand where I’m trying to find that correct balance between control and wobble.”

Most days, his time is filled to the brim with work (rather than play). Working as a lecturer in illustration at Leeds Arts University, and commissioned by clients like The Guardian, New York Times, and Converse, Hodson says that it’s a struggle for him to find time for his more creative projects – a problem many creatives face.

“I get stressed out all the time by fear, guilt, and frustration that I should be doing more, making better, pushing further,” he says. “But I think I can combat this by looking at my own drawings more than my phone and spending more time thinking about nothing.”

Scroll down to see some of his work:

The post Poet and Illustrator, Matthew the Horse, Knows His Stuff appeared first on 5dwallpaper.com.

The Japanese father of two is a great example of what happens when your parent is creative. Creating a surreal landscape, he adds hand-drawn illustrations to his children’s photos. The results are epic!

The photos depict the boys’ many adventures and transforms them into pop culture icons. Yota has been sharing the improved photos of his children on social media and people seem to love them. With what he has achieved and his level of creativity, he definitely deserves the award for greatest dad. Either that or a mug.

See his amazing work below.

The post Japanese Dad Adds a Fantastic Twist to His Kids’ Photos appeared first on 5dwallpaper.com.

The unique company was founded by Alex Furmansky back in 2013, and by now has manufactured over 77,000 toys for just as many happy kids around the world.

Furmansky came up with the idea for Budsies while watching his little sister grow up (he’s 16 years older than her). He thought it was a shame that her childhood drawings were simply forgotten over time and asked himself: “What if I could turn a drawing into a stuffed animal friend that would last forever?”

See some of the Budsies toys below!

The post South Florida Company Turns Kids’ Artworks into Toys appeared first on 5dwallpaper.com.

Weng Chen, the artist behind The Adventures of Messy Cow comics, illustrates the strategies and weapons toddlers use against their beloved parents. Enjoy!

The post All the Ways a 2-Year-Old Can Hurt You, Illustrated appeared first on 5dwallpaper.com.

This mom of 5-year-old twins is also an artist, Youtuber, and designer. “Trapped in my heavy packed routines, sometimes small sweet things that happen in my life are taken for granted and forgotten,” she says. “Therefore, I decided to make comics about my life and my family.”

Enjoy her lovely comics below and follow her on Instagram if you want to see more.

The post Mom Draws Comics Inspired by Her Life with Twins appeared first on 5dwallpaper.com.