Shout-out: Paul Hoppe

DIGESTATE CONTRIBUTOR:

PAUL HOPPE!

Paul Hoppe was born in Poland and raised in Germany, and lives in Brooklyn, NY now.

He is a freelance illustrator for newspapers, magazines and advertising agencies, and a writer and illustrator of children’s books and graphic novels. He also teaches occasionally at the School of Visual Arts. Clients and publications include The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, Addidas and IBM . His work has been recognized and awarded by the Society of Illustrators, American Illustration, Communication Arts and others. He has a studio at the Pencil Factory in Greenpoint where he’s surrounded with friendly and super-talented individuals every day.

Characters from "Tales To Behold"

“I love to tell stories with my drawings, whether it’s comics, children's books, storyboards, or editorial work. The reason why I got into the arts were comics I read as a kid. And that’s also a reason why I like children’s books. They are also picture stories.“

"The Woods" childrens book, published by Chronicle

After some years that he focused on design and illustration, the love for comics came back very strongly. He co-founded the anthology RabidRabbit and contributed to Syncopated Comics and other anthologies, while also self-publishing mini-comics and attending festivals such as MoCCA regularly. In Spring 2013, "Peanut“ will be released by Schwartz & Wade / Random House, a graphic novel he’s illustrated, written by Ayun Halliday (another DIGESTATE contributor!). It has been years in the making and he’s excited for it to come out.

Mock-up for "Peanut" cover

“Even though I was very happy and grateful for my commercial work and my books with the big publishers, I realized a couple years ago that all my art was made to have a purpose. I needed to find something that had no purpose at all, and to reconnect with the joy that I had when I first drew my crude comics as a kid. So I started creating my stories around THE BEHOLDER theme, self-publishing them as mini-comics and webcomics.“

Sample page from "Tales To Behold" #2

He’ll have a table at MoCCA together with friend and colleague AnujShrestha (yet another DIGESTATE contributor!!), and will debut his latest mini “Journey Into Misery 4“.

Illustration sample

Editor's note: Paul is a super nice dude, and my daughter loves his book, "The Woods". He's also one of the masterminds behind the Rabid Rabbit anthology.

These are my links:

Website: www.paulhoppe.com

Newsblog: http://paulhoppeblog.blogspot.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Paul-Hoppe-Illustration/136183409777781

BEHOLDER: http://cosmicbeholder.blogspot.com/

Shout-out: VICTOR KERLOW

DIGESTATE contributor:
 VICTOR KERLOW!

Victor Kerlow was born, raised and educated in Manhattan and still lives there, drawing full-time. Clients include The New Yorker, The New York Times, Fantagraphics, MTV, IFC Films, Random House, The Believer, Bloomberg, J Walter Thompson, The National Polytechnic Institute of Mexico City and many more. He also draws the weekly illustrations for The Metro Diary in The New York Times, and has a few exciting projects coming out soon, but not soon enough to mention right now, so please Google him frequently. Like every ten minutes.

victorkerlow.com
choppedintwo.blogspot.com

http://spaceadventurecomic.blogspot.com/

Editor's note: Victor is one of the most unassuming guys I've ever met considering his immense talent. He's one of those guys who's just always drawing, and I'm glad his talent is being both recognized and rewarded (did you see that client list up there?!). 

I'm especially impressed by the way his written words integrate into his drawings. I think a lot of cartoonists forget that the written word is a form of drawing and should be treated as such (im my opinion). There's nothing more jarring to me than a computer font paired with an obviously hand-drawn image. 

He is also unafraid to wear some of the sorriest looking promotional baseball caps I've ever seen. And he hangs out with undercover cops, so be careful.