The work of Eric Hanson caught my eye yesterday when I was traipsing the aisle of books at a book fair (he illustrated the book Role Models by John Waters). I didn’t get the book, but his name was burned in my mind – it was that memorable.
Now, Eric has been illustrating and writing for the past 20 years, and I kept asking myself how could I NOT discover his work sooner. His lines are beautifully raw and organic, and I love the flamboyance that is naturally inherent in his characters – they all look like gay, fun, happy people that I’d love to hang out with. Watercolors are his mainstay, but after the book, he’s been dabbling in pencil as well (a medium which I think is beautiful, given his line quality!)
His eye for scale leads to interesting compositions and illustrations that are used for subjects such as politics, business and entertainment, and he has worked with clients big and small such as the New Yorker, McSweeney’s, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, Spy, Oprah, the Atlantic, Harper’s, the New York Times, and many others.
Keep up with him on his blog, and read this interview with him over at From the Desk of…
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As for the book fair, I didn’t get the books I wanted, but boy oh boy were there eye-candy to behold in the form of illustrated book covers. I managed to snap some of them and I didn’t do it often enough because it’s just awkward to snap books instead of flipping through them! (ps. find me (@pikaland) on instagram too if you like to see me post up random pictures!)
I can’t help it – I love what I do, and I happen to see what I love reflected in my everyday life.
