Mike Knapp : The Hand-Off

That's official ! the sketchbook is becoming the "THEME" of the...sketchbook itself. And for the best ! I have already told you in previous posts how much I love the Michael Knapp unique style. And I am never disappointed by any of his illustrations or sketches. NEVER. Simply because Mike 's personal demand is always over the audience's expectations. As you can see on his artistic contribution in the Sketchbook exclusive section it's a perfect disposition between the form and the content. Mike is not only the great designer behind "Robots","Ice Age 2" , the artistic director of the short nominated at the Oscars : "No time for Nuts" , not only the comic autor in the Out Of Picture collective, not only the webdesigner of Out Of Picture, not only an Apple addicted, not only the most phlegmatic illustrator I know he is, for me, one of the best illustrator ever and I do hope I will buy some days soon a New-Yorker cover drawn by him.
Perfect transition to announce you he gaves the holy Sketchbook to GOD himself, The Master of the Masters. Ladies and gentlemen : Mister Peter de Sève.
Brace yourself.

Exposition/Exhibition Rébecca DAUTREMER

Le vernissage de l'exposition "Vive le Carnaval" avec les illustrations originales de l'incontournable Rébecca Dautremer, artiste invitée au défi Sketchtravel, tirées de son dernier ouvrage :
"La tortue Géante des Galapagos" aux éditions Gautier Languereau aura lieu le jeudi 8 février prochain à partir de 18H30 à la maison des contes et des histoires, 7, rue Pecquay, 75004, Paris (métro Rambuteau). Venez nombreux découvrir l'univers incroyable et envoûtant de Rébecca Dautremer.

Vernissage of the Exhibition "Vive le Carnaval" with originals illustrations by the incontrovertible Rebecca Dautremer (Sketchtravel member) : Thursday, the 8th of February at 6.30 PM at the Tales and Stories House, 7, rue Pecquay, 75004, Paris (subway station : Rambuteau).
Cross over the atlantic, the channel or else to discover Rebecca's world is worth your while !

Welcome into the fine Yoko Tanji world

Yoko Tanji has just send me her marvellous drawing. I invit you to discover this wonderful sketch in the "Exclusive section" or simply by clicking on the red sketchbook on the official website. The sketchbook has became THE theme, in a way, and has inspired the talented japanese illustrator. Thank you very much dear Yoko Tanji for being a part of this international challenge.
You can also see the "work in progress" above

Yoko Tanji vient out juste de me faire parvenir des photos du dessin qu'elle a réalisé dans le carnet en décembre dernier. Je vous invite à le découvrir dans la section exclusive . ou simplement en cliquant sur le carnet rouge sur le site officiel Le carnet est devenu en quelque sorte LE thème et a inspiré la talentueuse illustratrice japonaise que nous remercions chaleureusement d'avoir participé à ce défi.
Ci-contre, le dessin photographié par l'artiste pendant la réalisation.

Pierre Alary : Our Ambassador during the Angoulême Festival

Pierre Alary is a very brave man : He wore the only Sketchtravel T-shirt during his Angoulême Comic Festival signatures for his last Comic : The Third Belladone ;-) Thank you very much Pierre for being such an Ambassador !
Pierre Alary défendait les couleurs de Sketchtravel durant les dédicaces de son dernier album : le troisième volet de "Belladone" (aux éditions Soleil), pendant le festival de BD d'Angoulême, et nous envoit les preuves en images. Merci , Pierre , d'avoir été notre Ambassadeur !

One for the honey,two for the show...

To "bee" or not to "bee" in the sketchbook ? Vincent NGuyen answered very quickly to this existential question and painted in the sketchbook this week. You can discover his adorable painting by visiting the exclusive section. Vincent is very good at designing cute and appealing characters, especially Dodo. I invit you to read his children books ("Louis and the Dodo", "the Crabfish", "Jungle bullies", "Whoosh went the wind", "Stella the star",etc)
Forgive my english if I didn't write this note well, I was never very good at spelling bee.

OSCARS, They have been nominated !

What would be the link between the Sketchbook and the Oscars ? Well, this year, many artists invited to the Sketchtravel challenge will probably watch attentively the 79TH Annual academy Awards. Especially Chris Appelhansbecause he did an amazing work on Monster House, Enrico Casarosa and Daniel Lopez Munoz because they work at Pixar and "Cars" is also nominated and of course Michael Knapp who was the artistic director on this excellent short : " No time for nuts"at Bluesky Studios. Some of his awesome colleagues will be nervous too : the famous Scrat creator : Peter de Sève, The talented Story Boarder Nash Dunnigan and one of the funniest workaholic artist : Vincent NGuyen.
My god...so many huge talents you'll find in ONE sketchbook, such a pressure...and we just have officially announced 28 artists on 50...

THE CHOICE.

I invite all Sketchtravel members artists to send me the name of the charity association they have chosen. I am currently sending a personal mail to all for asking, but due to eventual technical problems we can have with e-mails sometimes,
I prefer using all channels to inform you quickly. You have the choice between three selected international associations :
http://www.unicef.org
http://www.holeinthewallcamps.org
http://clownsf.com/
Simply answer me to gerald@geraldguerlais.com . We have to choose the association now because the project Sketchtravel is beating off a higher level which requires a very professional process. Your choice stays absolutely secret. Thank you very much for your cooperation and the precious time you give us.Keep creating ! World needs dreams.

HELPED REQUIRED for the most efficient "good Domino effect ."

A special post today, illustrated by the recent very pertinent "Times" cover. I want to thank all internet users who keep talking about SKETCHTRAVEL.com everywhere on forums, blogs, e-mails, associations, meetings, etc. Our charity project was just a dream last september and step by step, thank to amazing devotions by THE 50 GREAT ARTISTS (see the list) and thank to www.cartoonbrew.com, www.drawn.ca, the Arludik team, Benjamin Desmet, Blogger, Sofinotsofar, the incontrovertible Ambassador Daisuke Tsutsumi and YOU, who are currently reading this note, more and more people aware inch by inch this sketchbook can go very far ! We are not a big company but a motivated group of artists (protected by devoted international Atorney at law...yes, we are not so naives) who truely believe
that with the help of a supporting audience who love visual arts, illustration, comics and animation, we can bring a very special and rare book to all bookstores worldwide in 2008. May be some cynic people will think this post is vapid and demagogic but sometimes, it's good to simply remember that nothing is possible without your devoted neighbour, whatever the size of this hurt planet.
Keep informing all medias about SKETCHTRAVEL, keep posting comments and supporting our artists, share this link, I haven't any press agent...oh sorry, I mean, YOU are my press agent. Let's shake the web, unknown worlwide users ! Who do we run for ? for the beauty of art ! for a kind of possible Babel book, and most of all, for charity associations (apparently it will be UNICEF). This journey is only starting, this sketchbook adventure is still in progress.. Thank you very much for your support and forgive me for not being able to answer personaly to all e-mails. Don't give up, today, more than ever, we still need YOU !

Andrea Blasich drawing available on the Exclusive Blog

Andrea Blasich did his drawing a few weeks ago but because of a crazy schedule did not have enough time for scanning it. But thank to his good friend Nash Dunnigan I have received it today. I posted it on the Exclusive blog. Enjoy !

Andrea Blasich a réalisé son dessin il y a quelques semaines mais à cause d'un planning chargé n'avait pas eu le temps de le scanner. Grâce à son ami Nash Dunnigan, je l'ai reçu aujourd'hui. Je viens de le mettre en ligne dans le blog dédié aux extraits.

It's raining Sketchbook !

A quick post to tell you, I have just posted on the "Exclusive blog" the wonderful sketch Nash Dunnigan sent me a few minutes ago. His black and white illustration, made with charcoal, is simply wonderful. Telling what he drew would be paraphrasing, I invit you to discover it right now !!

Tadahiro Uesugi met Yoko Tanji !

This holy sketchbook is now fluent in Japanese and an other wave of poetry inked his sweet pages again. The great master Tadahiro Uesugi who add his unique style to the sketchbook a few weeks ago met the admirable Yoko Tanji. I will post her art soon in the Exclusive blog section.The universe of Yoko Tanji is very eclectic, sometimes rich of warmy textures and sometimes minimalist, always strong and purposefuhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.photo.gifl.

Ce carnet sacré parle désormais courament japonais et une nouvelle vague de poésie a encore encré ses douces pages. Le grand maître Tadahiro Uesugi qui a apporté son style unique il y a quelques semaines a rencontré l'admirable Yoko Tanji. Je mettrais bientôt en ligne sa contribution artistique dans la rubrique exclusive. L'univers de Yoko Tanji est très écclectique, parfois riche en textures chaleureuses et parfois minimaliste, toujours fort et déterminé.

Angoulême Comics festival : Our Ambassadors.

Du 25 au 28 janvier prochain, Pierre Alary, Sketchtraveler, sera en dédicace pour le troisème volet de "Belladone" au stand des éditions Soleildu festival international de la Bande-dessinée d'Angoulême. Vous le reconnaitrez aisément, tout au moins pendant une journée, puisqu'il portera le T-Shirt officiel de Sketchtravel (blanc et rouge). Bonnes dédicaces Pierre !
Jean-Jacques et Diane Launier, nos partenaires Galeristes d'Arludik seront également présents, ainsi que le Sketchtraveler Dominique Bertailau stand RTL.
From 01/25 to 01/28 Pierre Alary, Sketchtraveler, will sign the third "Belladone" at the Soleil Stand éditions Soleilat the international comics festival of Angoulême. You'll recognize him easily because he will wears the official Sketchtravel T-shirt. Have fun Pierre !
Jean-Jacques and Diane Launier, our Galerists and partners fromArludik will be there too, and the Sketchtraveler Dominique Bertailat the RTL stand.

Ashley Wood joins Sketchtravel !

You have no idea how difficult is choosing a picture in Ashley Wood gallery ! he's such a killer !! he will represent "Australia" in this crazy international collective.
I guess it's not really necessary to introduce him, his wild style is so impressive and efficient that his pictures invaded the whole internet.
Welcome dear Ashley Wood ! be our guest !

Vous n'avez pas idée comme c'est difficile de choisir une image dans la galerie d'Ashley Wood. Ce mec est un tueur !! Il représentera l'Australie dans ce défi international de dingue. Je pense qu'il n'est pas nécessaire que je vous le présente, son style sauvage est si impressionnant et efficace qu'il a envahi le tout internet !
Bienvenue Monsieur Ashley Wood, vous êtes notre hôte !

Between Masters

During his last vacation in his home country, the incontrovertible Sketchtravel Ambassador : Daisuke Tsutsumi brought the holy sketchbook to the Japanese Master Tadahiro UESUGI. As you can see on this wonderful picture, they respected japanese tradition with strenght and honor.
The amazing drawing of Master UESUGI full of poetry and with a mind-blowing depth and a dexterous prospect, light and subtle is available here.
I would like to add a unique recognition to our great friend Daisuke for his involvment in this challenge. He lived through difficult event during his trip and we have warm wishes for his convalescent father.

From a big guy to a little guy

People who already had the chance to met Bob Mackenzie knows he is a tall guy...but people who also had the chance to met Daisuke "Dice" Tsutsumi knows he is not a dwarf and most of all, a big talent. Whatever...even with a picture, both of them, who share a creative space at Bluesky Studio can't stop creating amazing pictures whatever the tool. This one is probably the funniest ever sent to show us who get the sketchbook !
Dice Tsutsumi is my incontrovertible partner in the sketchtravel project and I can't tell how much I am happy and impressed he is so involved in this crazy challenge.
If you want to start 2007 with marvellous paintings in order to feed your imagination and make yourself happier, visit their website !

Dominique Louis joins the Sketchtravel project !

Today, Jean-Jacques Launier (5)from gallery Arludik and me had the great privilege, thank to my colleague Isabelle Clevenot (1) to share a meal with his boyfriend Lang (3)who used to work as a designer on Piccolo Saxo and the incredible Dominique Louis who used to work at Pixar as an artistic director and visual development artist on "Ratatouille", "Cars","The Incredibles" (he was also the voice of the french bad guy : Bomb Voyage),"Finding Nemo", "Monsters,inc" and Quest of camelot, Iron Giant at Warner, Goofie movie at Disney, etc. You can find awesome pastels by Dominique Louis in "the Art of Monsters,inc"He will be soon part of the sketchbook !!! Welcome on board Dominique !
Aujourd'hui, Jean-Jacques Launier (5) et moi (2) avons eu le privilège de déjeuner, grâce à la complicité de ma collègue Isabelle Clévenot (1), avec son ami Lang (3), designer sur Piccolo Saxo et l'indestructible Dominique Louis qui travaillait chezPixar comme directeur artistique et développeur visuel sur "Ratatouille", "Cars","les indestructibles" (il a également fait la voix du méchant "Folamour" dans ce film),"Finding Nemo", "Monstres et compagnie" , la "Quête de Camelot" et le "Géant de Fer" chez Warner, "Dingo et Max" chez Disney, etc. Vous pouvez retrouver les magnifiques pastels de Dominique Louis dans "the Art of Monsters,inc"Il participera très bientôt au carnet !!! bienvenue à bord Dominique !

Monsieur Sylvain Marc !

The Sketchtravel team keep informing you about artists invited in 2007. Remember that 50 artists have been invited for this international project and we already announced 27 of them (that's teasing). Today, let me introduce you to Sylvain Marc, one of the genious guy behind the short film "Cocotte Minute".have a look on his special demo reel That French artist,currently working at Framestore, London, deserves your attention.
L'équipe de Sketchtravel continue de vous informer sur les artistes invités en 2007. Pour rappel, 50 talents ont été invités à participer à ce projet international et 27 d'entre eux ont été officiellement annoncés (ça c'est du teasing). Aujourd'hui, permettez moi de vous présenter Sylvain Marc, un des génies derrière le court métrage "Cocotte Minute". Admirez sa bande démo . Ce jeune français, actuellement chez Framestore à Londres, vaut le coup d'oeil.