mystic eyes - the worlds of Jackie Morris

One of our favourite illustrators at wonder | wander | world is Jackie Morris, whose work we've loved ever since discovering The Snow Leopard in 2007.

It's a story of a mythical leopard who sings the world into being, illustrated with gorgeous art of the real-life snow leopard, a desperately endangered species. We were hooked!

The Ice Bear, 2011

Her art ranges from the brilliantly-observed realism of works like The Ice Bear and the White Fox, to whimsical fairytales straight from a child's imagination.

Tell Me A Dragon, 2009

In 2017 she collaborated with nature writer and poet Robert Macfarlane to produce The Lost Words, a large-format poetry book dedicated to words from the natural world which were removed from the Oxford Illustrated Children's Dictionary: acorn, dandelion, otter, and many others.

Her most recent book is a reissue of the 2015 Queen of the Sky, a real-life story about her friend rescuing and nursing an injured peregrine falcon in the Welsh countryside.

We look forward to more gorgeous stories woven by this talented craftswoman!

botanical illustration with Lizzie Harper

Lizzie Harper is a botanical illustrator based in Britain. Her stunning realism evokes classical masters like Franz Bauer and Maria Sybilla Merian. We first found her when searching for watercolour paper reviews!

TILAOK for Ruben de Jesus

Ruben De Jesus is a children’s book illustrator, a graphic designer, and a professor at the Department of Visual Communication, College of Fine Arts, University of the Philippines Diliman.

Ruben de Jesus, the artist

He is a founder of “Ang Ilustrador ng Kabataan” (Ang INK; the Illustrator of the Youth) and the Sectoral Representative for Illustrators of the Philippine Board on Books for Young People (PBBY).

His illustrations in Ang Mahiyaing Manok established a distinct style recognized and honored in visual and children’s literary art circles.

World Building | drawing it in

Think about the last movie you watched or book you read where you said to yourself: 'I want to live there.'

When we were small wonder | wander | women, we often pretended to be space knights or Bene Gesserit. Harry Potter or Game of Thrones seem so magnetic because the creators are masters of world-building. But how does someone build a world that doesn't exist?

Marianne North | artist & adventurer

wonder | wonder | world is honored to feature another wonder | wonder | woman we greatly admire.

Marianne North in Ceylon by Julia Cameron

Marianne North (24 October 1830 – 30 August 1890) was a prolific English Victorian biologist and botanical artist known for her plant and landscape paintings, her extensive foreign travels, her writings, and her plant discoveries.

Marianne North (courtesy A McRobb/RBG Kew)

Sara Barnes | brown paper bag

At wonder | wander | world we have not posted a favorite site for a bit.

Lately we have been inspired to with the advent of an illustration project of our own that has fired us up.

In Sara's own words:

Brown Paper Bag is an illustration-loving blog that celebrates the field in its many forms. BPB catalogs illustration, and it’s more than just interested in editorial images you’d see in magazines. Fashion, tattoos, and illustrated products are all important parts of our visual culture and deserve their time to shine. 

Browse through this fine collection of desirables - enjoy!

Baba Torre | artist in residence

Another proud family shout out!

Mama Li

Sister and aunt to us wonder | wander | women - Baba Torre, has finally consented to allow us to post and display her artistic illustrations and watercolors.

The artist at her work station.

MORE art from Mahala

Perpetuating our own productivity, this week's wonder | wander | world post features more of Mahala's artistic illustrations.

A recent trip to Venice was the inspirations for these fashion illustrations revolving around the Moretta, or 'mute servant' mask - a Venetian ladies' mask held on by gripping a button between the teeth, rendering the wearer silent.

The second set features some italic practice with dip pens and Diamine inks, using forms by Gaye Godfrey-Nicholls.

Enjoy! May these spark on more inspiration, feeding more projects.

botanical illustrations

Our wonder | wander | world find for this week celebrates both the art and beauty of science, as well as the life and work of Maria Sibilla Merian - 17th century entomologist, artist, and adventurer.

In a time when women were corseted in limitations and had few options, Merian made her own profession.

Mental Health Awareness Week

A medical foundation commissioned some illustrations for Mental Health Awareness Week 2017.

The brief outlined points on mental health in the workplace, and how even the most outwardly functional people struggle with it in their daily lives.

elephant parade

We draw aside the curtain this month to give you a peek at wonder | wander | women's latest and favourite commission!

Our crowning glory framed in antiqued brushed chrome.

bank on creativity

For this week's pick wonder | wander | world shines the spotlight on Jake Parker.

Master illustrator of loved books - Little Bot and Sparrow, Antler Boy, Missile Mouse, and SkyHeart.

Creator of Inktober and World Art Drop Day.

Jake Parker is a fountain of inspiration and hopefully yours as well now.

new prints of Bill Mudron

Here is our wonder | wander | world pick of the week.

If Miyazaki was a pre-WWII Japanese wood print artist, here's what his characters might look like.

Studio Ghibli Characters Look Even Better in Traditional Japanese Wood-Cut Style

In a new series of posters from illustrator Bill Mudron, an alternate history is imagined - if beloved animator Hayao Miyazaki was born a half century earlier, he might have been a wood printer in the vein of shin-hanga print artist Kawase Hasui.

A marvelous mashup of Japanese cultural icons, casting peaceful settings from Miyazaki films like My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, and Spirited Away, in Hasui's turn-of-the-century "new prints" style.

Enjoy!

Lief Peng's Today's Inspiration: vintage illustration heaven!

Vintage illustration is one of the most popular and imitated genres of illustration, but almost nothing is known about the men and women who created stunning work for endless magazines and agencies in the 50s and 60s. 

Lola Fielding

Leif Peng, himself an accomplished commercial artist, runs a well-researched blog called Today's Inspiration where he tracks down mid-century illustrators, gathering up every crumb of detail about their life and work, and making beautiful posts about them.

cARTography by Ed Fairburn

Of the many loves wonder |wander | women obsess over - pens and pencils, maps and travel, imagination and creativity - are sure to top our wonder |wander | world lists.

Anna Fisher ink/pencil, 23" x 23" approx. 

To experience them all in the imaginative cartographic illustrations of UK portrait artist Ed Fairburn are a heavenly delight! 

Paper maps are essential to his work as the geographical canvas for his detailed ink and pencil portraits. 

Planisphère Céleste - pencil on a celestial star chart.