We have TWO special birthdays this week, our very own Melanie Ford Wilson and Rama Hughes!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
To celebrate, let’s share some dancing cake!!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOx02I9Bz6o[/youtube]

Russ Roca posts a video recap of Davy and Peter Rothbart from FOUND magazine performing at Open in Long Beach.

Not only is it a great video, but - look at all that lovely art on the walls! (A nice way to sample the IF show from the comfort of your computer monitor).

From the FOUND website: [...]

The first ever Illustration Friday show was amazing. I was sure I’d be able to blog it as it happened - hanging the art, setting up the stage, the creation and presentation of 150 cupcakes, meeting the artists. I have no idea why I thought that, because I ended up being so busy with preparations [...]

Illustration Friday and Open are excited to showcase twenty-five community-chosen artists at the first ever Illustration Friday gallery show!
The show begins November 3rd and runs through January 20th.
Open is located at 2226 E. 4th St. in Long Beach, CA (map).
The IF community created 678 total entries, and if you haven’t taken a [...]

In honor of this week’s topic, I thought I’d post some of my favourite abecedaria, or alphabet collections. Some consider the abecedarium to be a poetic form - others an illustrative form. Personally, I think it is a delightful opportunity for type and illustration to tango.

1. Edward Gorey’s Gashlycrumb Tinies is the definitive alphabet book, [...]

I consider it a compliment that Illustration Friday has grown big enough to inspire alternatives like Illustration Friday Night. Same idea different criteria.
Illustrations above by Switchsky and BaggelBoy respectively on the topic “I think we’re alone now.”

Isaac the Pirate, by Christophe Blain, tells the ongoing story of an aspiring artist who is shanghaied days before his wedding. He is forced into service by a pirate captain who needs an illustrator to document his voyage around the world.
For any Illustration Friday visitor who also enjoys those Captain Jack Sparrow movies, this is [...]