Bill Brown My Mentor

Mentoring is one of the missing links for illustrators and artists. The masters had them, but some how we have missed out this great gift. I have been blessed to have a few mentors in my life. Folks that were not so much good buddies, but rather a teacher and stretcher if you will. They said the hard things and I will admit it would ruffle the feather a bit, but they gave me truth that I have benefited from in so many ways. I have also been mentored through watching others from the outside. I never got to meet some of my favorite artists, but I have had the chance to sit and drool all over their divine works and illustrations. Some that you may know and love as well are Ezra Jacks Keats, Mary Blair, Fiep Westendorp and Ludwig Bemelmans. These wonderful people have all since died, but I study their works daily. They teach me and influence my brand of artwork. There are other artists as well like Quentin Blake, Laura Childs, David Catrow, Brian Karas, Ed Fortheringham, and Bill Brown. Bill Brown is one of my favorite illustrators. I have loved his work forever! He is a very talented and humble man. I emailed him a few weeks ago and he was kind enough to get back to me. He is the illustrator of several books, Scholastic series, "Sister Magic, The Villains Guide to Better Living, and Swell" just to name a few. His agent is ART-DEPT.com. Bill has such a eye for beautiful, quirky and very funny things. I love this line. It is so filled with character and beauty. He is very retro which is always a hit with me. I feel like I'm looking at the Pink Panther cartoon or something. It is fun yet sophisticated as well. How am I mentored by him? Bill lives in Seattle, WA. We are to far apart for me to go into this studio or anything like that. I get mentored by finding his illustrations and not copying, but studying his work. Making note how one illustration is different from the other. I study his composition, background and color. I take a hour or two and just sit and Google the things that he has done. I am just fascinated by the work he does. He always amazes me with his brand of art. So today I give a shout out to Bill Brown. He's my hero! Bill is in the process of building his website, but you can see more of his wonderful work at art-dept.com. Great thanks to you Bill and Art-Dept for letting me share your fabu works with everyone.
Cheers!!