Tag Archives: illustration

Alireza Darvish, the amazing bibliophile

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I was blown away a couple of years ago by the work of the super talented Alireza Darvish, and I would like to share it with you; he is in love with books and the way he illustrates with them, makes every bibliophile swoon…

This is his Egyptian version:

I fell in love with Darvish’s “fish-book” below:

I am reading the new translation of Cervantes’ Don Quixote (my first time) so the following image rings closer:

Darvish becomes playful with his “interbooks”,

The problem of too many books and not enough time:

He’s having fun with the reverse situation too:

the one man book:

He uses books as bridges (I love the methaphor…),

Bu I still love Alireza Darvish’s illustrations when he becomes whimsical like in this one where the woman is reading to the mermaids:

I like his animals,

he gets poetic…

Don’t be fooled by the phantasmagorique side of Alireza Darvish, he has a darker side:

and a way darker side:

but he remains delightful and great to discover!

Visit his site here.

Take a look at his fantastic animations here.

In BBC here.

Belle Mellor, mi Amor

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Belle Mellor is my favorite illustrator; I discovered her work through the Economist some years ago and I am hooked!

Her images are clever, funny and subtle.

The above images are from one of my best Economist articles, A survey of mobility, Nomads at last.

How can you get more witty than these?

Here her man is walking over everybody,

but here the dude is addicted to love…

a cell phone with Chinese alphabet?

Mellor calls this Three piece suite for people who are homebound,

and people who can’t wait to get away from their office desks:

She has illustrated a lot of great articles about pollution (air, noise, etc…),

and she can be seriously sad:

but she really gets me when she goes softer like in this one below:

This is her tragedy,

and her bliss:

Rescue your emails?

‘Ask What I Want’ | How Magazine | For an article, about how designers need to listen to their clients:

I wished everybody,

to see her work, go to her website.

and read about her here.

A night with George Steiner and Gaelle Boissonnard

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A night with George Steiner and Gaelle Boissonnard—now that’s a curious ménage! Late caffeine kept me up until 6:30 this morning and I spent the night with these two.

 

gaelle boissonnard passerelles poissons fish michele roohani

Steiner took me from an old Transfuge to wikiquotes and Cornel West; there goes  3 hours pf precious sleep and when my mind was too tired to absorb anything more, Boissonnard’s images were there to help with their delicate originality.

 

gaelle boissonnard passerelles poissons fish michele roohani hat

“There is something terribly wrong with a culture inebriated by noise and gregariousness.” Steiner

 

gaelle boissonnard passerelles blue michele roohani

Boissonnard is everything our “noisy” culture isn’t—serene, quiet, tranquil…

She has started working with a new company; I hope this move makes her work more available to international markets. Just found out that my friends in Paris, La Banque de l’Image, mention her in their company’s blog!

 

Gaelle Boissonaard michele roohani in the wind

I love this quote of Steiner: “the most important tribute any human being can pay to a poem or a piece of prose he or she really loves is to learn it by heart. Not by brain, by heart; the expression is vital.” This is what I have learned by heart long ago:

“Le tout est de tout dire, et je manque de mots
Et je manque de temps, et je manque d’audace
Je rêve et je dévide au hasard mes images
J’ai mal vécu, et mal appris à parler clair.” Eluard

gaelle boissonnard passerelles bird michele roohani

دلم گرفته است

دلم گرفته است

به ايوان مي روم و انگشتانم را

بر پوست كشيده شب مي كشم

چراغهاي رابطه تاريكند

چراغهاي رابطه تاريكند

كسي مرا به آفتاب

معرفي نخواهد كرد

كسي مرا به ميهماني گنجشكها نخواهد برد

پرواز را به خاطر بسپار

پرنده مردني است


I feel sad,

I feel blue.

I go outside and rub my fingers

on the sleek shell of the night.

“I see  that lights of contact are blocked,

All lights of contact are blocked.”

“Nobody will introduce me to the sun,

Nobody will take me to the gathering of doves.”

Keep the flight in mind,

The bird may die.

Forugh Farrokhzad

This post is in the loving memory of the 3 sisters my friend, Marie, has lost in the past few years (the last one two days ago)—all young, all from heart problems…

To see Boissonnard’s blog  go here.