János Kass II

Some more illustrations by Hungarian artist János Kass, a perfect Happy Easter in pictures.

János Kass I

János Kass (1927-2010) was a sculptor, graphic designer and printer, who also worked in film and animation. He illustrated over 400 books and was honoured with many awards in his life time including Hungary's highest award, the Kossuth prize. 
János Kass's style, as shown here, is a mixture of fine black lines and broader colour lines there is no mixing of colour, which is kept bold and singular. 
This is not János Kass's only style of work, but it is very distinctive and instantly recognisable as well as being bright, fun and happy.

Goodbye Bologna

Bologna Street Sign Graffiti

We are leaving Bologna today, so I am sharing with you some of the street art that I have seen during the last six days. 
Over the next few weeks I will be researching and sharing some of the wonderful illustrators that I have seen here, it takes time, sorry, there is so much information and so many photographs to edit.

Bologna Colour

I don't understand these random splashes of colour in Bologna, but I like them and they seem to be a strange celebration of water as they are always following the course of water or around the drains.

Agata Krolak I

Yesterday I was joined by my family here in Bologna, as today it is my daughters birthday. 
What better way to celebrate than with Agata Krolak's wonderful illustrations for Cakes, Cookies and Other Treats, it is so celebratory, fun, textural, and surprising.
I love the combinations of text, collage, photographs and the joy of the fun illustrations. 
Agata Krolak is an illustrator ad graphic designer based in Gdansk Poland.

Daniela Tordi

One of the lovely things about doing this blog is that I constantly get to meet such lovely people. Today I managed to see Daniela Tordi at the Bologna Children's Book Fair. 
Daniela is a self taught illustrator who after many years in journalism is now doing what she loves which is writing and illustrating, here she is with her lovely book about a rescued goose, Lo scrittore e l'oca (The writer and the Goose).

Mariana Rio I

Oh so so much to share  . . . 

This is Mariana Rio a Portuguese illustrator who's work stood out today with its bold colours, its stencilled / graffiti style on a mosaic of geometric shapes. 

"This is a book about different bodies.It is an unfinished puzzle for readers to think about… What is perfection? What are beautiful bodies? Does geometry have anything to do with these matters?" Mariana Rio

Palm Sunday in Bologna

I have arrived in the beautiful and friendly city of Bologna, and I am waiting for my friends to arrive from various locations across Europe. It is so exciting, even at the airport I could see so many illustrators arriving. 
The weather is very wet and I have walked the length of the city, but here are a few of my first impressions from around my apartment.

Bologna Bound

I am away, to Bologna!  Excitingly I am going to The 50th Bologna Children's Book Fair, but first the travel part and unfortunately my flight is at 5am so I will have to leave home at 2.30am. 

Here is Freya's drawing of what I will look like, I fear I may look a little less bright eyed. 

Next post from Bologna! 

Alexandra Huber III

Love these strange insect people again by the amazing Alexandra Huber.

Alexandra Huber II

My mind is a little messy this morning, as I am going away at 2.30am tomorrow, so this painting by self taught artist Alexandra Huber is a perfect illustration of how I feel, with all the things I have to do pinging around my head. 

Sanyu II

Some beautiful animal paintings from Sanyu (1901-1966).

Sanyu I

Stunning pale textured paintings from Sanyu (1901-1966). Paintings that have a haze of soft brush strokes that make you want to dive in. 
Sanyu was one of the first Chinese artists to train in Paris after the May the Fourth Movement in China. He never returned to China, falling in love with Paris and its lifestyle. He died aged 65 in obscurity and poverty.

Tetsuhiro Wakabayashi III

My last post today, featuring the illustrations of Tetsuhiro Wakabayashi .