Jed Root

Jenny Mörtsell for COACD

Illustrator Jenny Mörtsell just completed a beautiful project for the popular blog COACD. Head on over to check out her illustrations of their top 25 most intriguing faces list, as well as a behind the scenes video of the artist at work!

New Illustrator Jean-Philippe Delhomme

We’re happy to announce that we’re now representing Jean-Philippe Delhomme.

Jean-Philippe has been a pivotal figure in fashion illustration throughout his career. Over the years, he has worked on luminous campaigns for Barney’s New York, Saab and Visa. Among his recent clients are The LA Times, Departures, Grazia Casa, Interview, GQ, the Mark Hotel- New York, Le Bon Marche, Indochine, French Architectural Digest, Casa Brutus, Whitewall, The NY Times, and The New Yorker.

Most recently, Jean-Philippe has garnered much praise for his portrait series of Karl Lagerfeld in Whitewall magazine. Karl himself was thrilled with the work!

His blog, The Unknown Hipster, chronicles the lives of the fashionable and design-savvy through the eyes of an unknown observer, who has been known to attend high profile events, uninvited.

Photo © Rafael Y. Herman for Whitewall Magazine

New Illustrator Luca Laurenti

We are now representing Luca Laurenti!

Luca is based in Rome and has worked as a graphic designer, illustrator and art director. His graphic photo-illustrative style reflects his strong design background as well as his fresh perspective on portraiture. He has worked in publishing and fashion for international clients such as Billboard Magazine, Rolling Stone, Sportswear International, XL Magazine (La Repubblica), Urb Magazine, Cover, Toy2r,and Graniph. He has published his work in several books, most recently “Illustration Now 2” by Taschen.

We’re happy to welcome Luca to Jed Root, Inc.!

Welcome to Jed Root, Mio Matsumoto!

We are proud to announce that we are now representing Mio Matsumoto!

Mio’s illustration work can be seen in magazines like ELLE Japan, anan, Ginger, inRED, Numéro Tokyo and TimeOut. She is currently illustrating for a weekly fashion column in Stella magazine by The Sunday Telegraph. Among her advertising clients are Marc by Marc Jacobs, Miller Harris, Jigsaw, Nissan, RioBlush and SpaceNK.

Mio is currently living and working in Tokyo, where she always finds great inspiration!

Interview with Illustration Duo Ingela och Vi

Our Illustration Director Christine Cavallomagno recently conducted an interview with Jed Root, Inc. illustration duo Ingela och Vi so we could learn a little bit more about them and their work!

Christine Cavallomagno - Hi Elisabeth and Peter and welcome. We’re happy to have you on board! First off, the question you must hear the most often, why the name Ingela och Vi?

Ingela och Vi - Thanks, thanks very much! We are happy to be on your ship!
Yeah, when we started our company, Ingela och Vi, we wanted to pay tribute to a person who means much to us both. Ingela is a Swedish female name and och Vi means “and us”. But many people take for granted that we used our own name-- since Elisabeth is the female in our duo, she is often called Ingela.

CC - How did you meet and start working together? Describe your collaborative process.

IoV - We met in a club in Malmö, Sweden 10 years ago. We saw each other among all the people and we just fell in love. 

CC - How did the two of you develop your particular style?

IoV - Five years later we combined our two main skills- photography and illustration- and begun building sets in 3D. We take paper and twist and turn it, use illustrated figures as actors, use textiles to give it a more natural feeling and depth.
To keep the things in place we often use fishing line which has become a kind of trademark for us. We like to play with different surfaces and materials and experiment with lighting. All the elements of the illustration are actually there in place when the camera goes off. We call our style illustrated-photography.

CC - I love that about your work—it really stands out in that you combine elements of photography, illustration and props styling. Tell us more about your process and some projects that you’ve enjoyed working on where you’ve been challenge to develop that process further.

IoV - We think every project, big or small, is a new challenge because you’re presented with new situations right there and then.  You have to give the same energy and love to each project and then you always learn something new. One of our biggest challenges was the animation for the Swedish department store NK in Stockholm. There were lots of environments which had to be divided in many separate parts. Often we work with a static set so it was an new experience to "cut" them apart.

CC - What inspires you?

IoV - Movies, movies and movies! All from horror movies to Ingmar Bergman and of course old fairy tales.

Interview with Illustrator Judit García-Talavera

Our Illustration Director Christine Cavallomagno recently conducted an interview with Jed Root, Inc. artist Judit García-Talavera so we could learn a little bit more about her!

Christine Cavallomagno - Welcome to Jed Root, Judit! It’s great to be working with you! Can you tell us a bit about your work- what inspires you, and what you love about illustration? 

Judit García-Talavera - Thanks!! I'm glad to work together and to be a part of Jed Root! My inspiration generally comes from many different sources, from fashion magazines, to the internet (blogs,flickr, myspace), flea markets, fashion photography, music, old movies... I try to get inspiration from my daily life. Illustration for me is more like a language and I try to use it to illustrate situations, feelings and thoughts.

CC - When did you first decide you wanted to be an illustrator?

JGT - I started drawing when I was very young. I was always sketching and daydreaming, and in that way the process I've worked with has not changed very much. When I was studying art I was obsessed with the Impressionists and the sketches from classical artists like Rembrandt or Goya. With my first job as an illustrator, all of my dreams of life as professional artist started to come true. I knew this was the only thing I wanted to do for a living.

CC - You work in traditional media, creating images with beautiful watercolor washes, saturated colors and inks. How do you combine traditional materials with working digitally to produce your work?

JGT - First I start drawing with pilot pen and ink, then I add color, usually using watercolors, color ink and felt-tip pens, Then I scan the artwork into the computer to work on the image digitally. This method of working offers me a lot of freedom to compose and it also allows me to work really quickly so I can focus on the details.

CC - Your work seems influenced quite a bit by fashion and travel. Tell us a bit about the experiences that you’ve had, that appear in your illustration work?

JGT - I grew up in Tenerife, a volcanic little island in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. When I began study art I realized how far I felt from the rest of the world and the few possibilities that I had to become an illustrator if I stayed on the island where the options are limited. That was the reason that made me move to Barcelona. It's a cosmopolitan city which has an incredible cultural life. I get to meet interesting and creative people from all over the world. Their experiences, stories, and memories help me to give a background to my characters and my illustrations. For me fashion is art and I enjoy discovering new designers, new magazines, fashion editorials, but always as a spectator, taking inspiration from fashion and allowing it to inform my work.

CC - Tell us about a few projects that you’ve worked on, and why you enjoyed working on them.

JGT - A few months ago I started following some blogs in the internet. These blogs are written by girls where they post their pictures of what they where wearing that day. Some of them are really well-known, and these girls become "internet stars" or "web-celebrities". I'm intrigued by this phenomenon that normal girls are now a reference for thousands of people all over the world. I've done a couple of illustrations of some bloggers and now I've started to collaborate with a street fashion blog called Trendycrew. I illustrate the pictures they take and I enjoy giving my personal perspective to each photo.

Interview with Illustrator Matthew Woodson

Our Illustration Director Christine Cavallomagno interviewed artist Matthew Woodson for our blog!

Christine Cavallomagno - Welcome to Jed Root, Matthew! We’re so happy to have you on board! Tell us a little bit about your illustration career up to this point?

Matthew Woodson - I graduated art school in January of 2006. I spent all of my time in school sitting in front of cases full of taxidermy, and drawing comics on the side. At first, these two things didn’t amount to much when it came to the idea of a career. But within a month of graduating I was commissioned by Margetotes, Fertitta & Partners to work with them on the 2006 Perry Ellis Fall/Winter campaign. I had stumbled into a dream job without even knowing it. My job with MFP catapulted me into the world of illustration head first, and I basically haven’t put the brush down since; juggling jobs from large advertising agencies, editorial work, book publications, and album packaging.

CC - When did you first realized you loved to draw?

MW - I am sure I am going to answer this the same way that most artists do, by saying I can’t remember a time when I didn’t love to draw. Drawing has always been second nature to me; it is as reactionary as breathing, and as functional as writing. I can basically blame all of my inabilities with math and grammar on the fact that I wasn’t paying enough attention in class for the first 12 years of my schooling because I was too busy drawing dinosaurs.

CC - Where did you grow up? Does that setting ever haunt your work? That reminds me of your website, called Ghostco. How did you come up with that name?

MW - I grew up in southern Indiana, on the edge of Brown County in a house built by my father hidden in the woods. There is very little of my childhood surroundings that doesn’t permeate almost every piece I do. It seems almost funny now that drawing deer, trees and birds has become so chic, when those were some of the first things to grab my artistic attention as a kid. I have been facetiously explaining Ghostco as “to be within the company of the deceased” or “an organization of the non-existent” for years. And while it isn’t completely based on the idea of actual ghosts, it deals more with feelings of loss, and grief, and the ghosts of ideas. The word Ghostco has become almost a joke after evolving over the years. It initially started with my childhood obsession with ghosts, and then was then cemented into my psyche after being devastated by several deaths in my later teenage years. I used “Ghostco Enterprises” as a moniker in my early college years within my rather loose interpretation of graffiti, which nearly got me kicked out of school (wait, they don’t want you to draw on the walls in art school?). Then in 2003 when I finally buckled down to purchase webspace, Ghostco just seemed like the perfect name to use. It encompasses not only my work, but also how I lead my life.
 
CC - Your work often deals with dramatic environments in nature almost as much as it addresses human psychology and emotions. How do these inspirations come through in your commercial work and how do they inform one another?

MW - Dealing with human psychology is just an inevitable facet of doing figurative illustration. Psychology either through mood, palette, or human expression is the driving force behind my work. I don’t know how to draw a person without drawing an emotion behind them. It’s the connection between the artist and the viewer, and any piece of art or illustration lacking that connection just falls flat. But you can only get so far with drawing emotion through the figure, and that’s where natural environments come in. We have been personifying nature since the dawn of humans; it is part of who we are. The ability to show the same emotions through a resting figure, and a snow covered countryside is what I find challenging and inescapable when I start drawing anything.

CC - You’ve worked with multiple art forms including tattoo work, comics and graphic design, and have found illustration to be your main obsession. How do you approach these different media and what is it about illustration that you love so much?

MW - I guess really I don’t see a difference between all of these forms. Comics and illustration are basically the same thing in my eyes, except in one version you have to tell the story in just one panel. Tattoos (or at least how I handle tattoos) are really no different from illustration either. Yes, there is more of a sense of design that goes along with drawing for tattoos, but in essence I approach them in almost exactly the same way. As for graphic design, I have relied on simple palettes, curved edges, and dotted lines for years. It is basically just a simplified version of my illustration.

CC - Tell us about some clients you’ve really enjoyed working with. What are your favorite types of projects?
MW - I guess when looking through the last few years of my work, a client that I have really enjoyed working with is Type Records. Working with them has been a dream, and there is very little art direction given to me anymore. The process of making the album covers has become this beautifully intuitive thing. I basically sit down and listen to an album repeatedly, and just start drawing until I reach a visual that I feel fits the music. This is a practice I have been doing since I can remember; be it with music, literature, photography or movies. It is just very nice when I come across a client that also embraces that process. We have really created a strong working relationship over doing so many album packages together.

Jenny Mortsell Interview

Our Illustration Director Christine Cavallomagno was kind enough to conduct an interview with our new artist Jenny Mortsell so we could learn a little bit more about her!

Christine Cavallomagno - Welcome to Jed Root and welcome to New York! You plan to move here in the next couple of months from Stockholm- Tell us a bit about coming to New York to pursue your illustration career, and why you chose Jed Root to represent you.

Jenny Mortsell - My story is the same as many others, I came here for a week for new years 2008, and fell totally in love with the city, and when I got back to Sweden I just knew I had to go back. Which I did, I've been going back and forth between Stockholm and New York for over a year now. Especially if you come from a small country like Sweden, the energy, diversity and the "everything is possible" attitude is quite overwhelming, and addictive. I was without an agent since may -08 and took some time off commissions for some months. Just when I decided it was time for me to find an agent in NYC I found out you were starting to represent illustrators at Jed Root as well, and knowing how many great photographers you represent it was an easy choice to join you. I think we got in touch on Monday, I met you on Tuesday and by Wednesday all was settled, right?

CC - Yes, I think it went that quickly! I was incredibly impressed with your work- there wasn’t even a question! Jenny, what do you find yourself influenced by as far as visual media?

JM - "Found" pictures on the internet is my biggest influence by far. I'm really into Tumblr and Flickr, and ye olde Google image search too. And people who I don't know’s Facebook albums! I love when you stumble upon someone's collection of private pictures or movie screencaps or scans. I think I find any image that is very personal, or slightly taken out of context inspiring, I'm afraid much more than going to exhibitions and museums. I think it has something to do with that I don't like when people tell me what is "good" or what I "should/would like". When you go to an exhibition everything is already picked out and approved, on the internet there's this whole mish mash of fine art and complete trash next to each other and you constantly have to reevaluate what you like and why. I feel it's more honest that way.

CC - How did you get your start in illustration- what do you love about it?

JM - I have always loved to draw, as long as I can remember. And I think I've always known that I wanted to do it for a living, but it took a while to get the courage, of course. I studied art for many years, went to three different art schools before I even started art college, and then I took both a bachelor and a master in Graphic Design & Illustration. That's 8 years! After graduation I worked for almost a year with graphic design commissions together with some friends from college, but since no one paid us decent money and we were five people sharing an income, I was totally broke so I started to do more drawings of my own. I got such great response from the people I showed it to, so I decided to give it a serious try, and it went very well. What I love about it is the process. I enjoy working with Creatives very much, but when it comes to sitting down to create the work, I've always been kind of a lone ranger, so I spend much of my time drawing with headphones on in my studio.

CC - In your work, part of what is so compelling is the hand-drawn element. Your work is so lifelike, yet the process is such an intricate part of your work as well. Tell us a bit about how you work, and what your process is like? 

JM - I start with cheating (if you will), because I always have a photographic image to look at. I often use my own, or if it's a commission, I use images that are sent to me. But I prefer the ones with slight imperfections, or when  something has been caught in a moment- for example someone half-blinking, things that would be tricky to draw from a live model. That's the contrast I like. I think something interesting happens when you spend so much time and effort in doing a life-like drawing of someone making a funny face, or with the fly open, or with tangled up hair. I always use the same pencil, a mechanical 0.5 mm pencil (with a really good eraser in one end for all the mistakes I make). I usually look at the picture I'm drawing from on my computer screen, in that way I can zoom or rotate or play with the contrast when my eyes get tired. I use my fingers a lot too, to smudge the pencil and make shadings. Because of that my drawings are also always full of fingerprints that I have to retouch after I've scanned them... I don't do much with my drawings in the computer, besides spending far too much time removing dust and fingerprints from scans. I often get the question how long it takes for me to do a drawing. Ideally for a portrait it takes me a couple of days of pure drawing and one day for retouch, but more complicated motifs, with a detailed background or a lot of things going on requires more time.

CC - Can you name a couple of clients that you’ve worked with and why you’ve enjoyed working with them?

JM - The first magazine I ever had an illustration published in was a Swedish feminist magazine called Bang. I've done loads of illustrations for them since, and they've always been a dream to work with, always giving me a ton of creative freedom. I have also enjoyed working with NYLON, and I've had the opportunity to do many different things through them, not only for the magazine, but on various projects. For example, I've done a t-shirt print for NYLON/Urban Outfitters and a snowboard for NYLON/Burton. Working with the New York Times Magazine was also a really great experience. I like working with small clients like fanzines as well as on large advertising projects that will be all over town, equally, but for different reasons. To work under someone else's direction is a challenge that can be very rewarding. But by working on smaller projects in between it keeps my work fresh! So I like to do a mix of both.

Check Out Our Illustrators!

Jed Root, Inc. is proud to announce that our Illustration site is officially live! Click here to check out some fantastic work by Jed Root artists Matthew Woodson, Jenny Mortsell, Judit Garcia-Talavera, and Kez Glozier! For more information on any of our illustrators contact Christine Cavallomagno, the director of our illustration board.

Matthew Woodson for Glamour

NOW REPRESENTING ILLUSTRATORS!

We are very pleased to announce that Jed Root, Inc. has opened an Illustrators Division. The new division will be headed-up by Christine Cavallomagno. Prior to joining Jed Root, Christine was an agent in the Illustration Division of Art Department for 4 years. She holds a Masters degree in History of Art, Criticism and Theory from Pratt Institute.

“I love working with illustrators! Illustration is such a wonderfully diverse and constantly evolving art form. I love how good illustration always respects its audience, while pushing the borders of the imagination. Looking after illustrators means helping them find it in themselves to take the next step in their work and giving them everything they need to support them in doing that. Helping illustrators to really own their style and move forward in their work is one of the most rewarding parts of being an agent,” says Christine.

“I'm thrilled to be joining Jed Root and am very much looking forward to creating a standout roster of illustration talent as well as looking beyond traditional interpretations of commercial art. The boundaries between illustration, design and animation have been dissolving as illustrators are now working in the full range of media, from traditional to digital and CGI and are constantly experimenting with different means of meeting the challenges of new advertising media.”

Our list of new artists will be announced soon. In the meantime, feel free to contact Christine here for more info!