{"id":1111,"date":"2008-02-03T00:37:15","date_gmt":"2008-02-03T06:37:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=1111"},"modified":"2008-02-03T00:38:51","modified_gmt":"2008-02-03T06:38:51","slug":"7-imps-7-kicks-48-featuring-up-and-coming-illustrator-chris-eliopoulos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=1111","title":{"rendered":"7-Imp’s 7 Kicks #48: Featuring Up-and-Coming Illustrator, Chris Eliopoulos"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jules<\/strong>: Welcome to our weekly 7 Kicks list, the meeting ground for listing Seven(ish) Exceptionally Fabulous, Beautiful, Interesting, Hilarious, or Otherwise Positive Noteworthy Things from the past week (whether book-related or not) that happened to you.<\/p>\n

Happy February to all! It’s the first Sunday of the month, which means we’re featuring another new grad or student of illustration. I’ve been looking forward to this. I think this feature is fun, if I may say so myself. If you missed our very first one ever on the first Sunday in January, go here<\/a><\/strong> to see the illustrations of new grad Ashley Smith<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n

This week we welcome Chris Eliopoulos, who goes by Elio<\/a><\/strong>. You’ll see there at his site that he is a Chicago-based illustrator and comic artist “who enjoys telling stories with my work. I reference mid century print, design and advertising; UFOs, donuts, and old cranky men.”<\/font> Maybe he can tell us later if he’s ever done an illustration of an old, cranky man eating donuts on<\/em> a UFO. <\/p>\n

You gotta love the title of the above illustration, “ESP Cheese.”<\/p>\n

And here’s the very cryptic “Pipper.” Hmmm, there’s a story waiting to be told here:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Here’s what Elio had to tell us:<\/p>\n

My name is Chris Eliopoulos. I was born in Chicago, IL where I still reside. I am a recent graduate of Columbia College Chicago<\/a><\/strong> with a Bachelor’s in Fine Arts.<\/p>\n

I’ve always enjoyed children’s books ever since I was little. My parents would always make sure I’d have plenty of reading material.<\/p>\n

As I grew, I started drawing with Ed Emberly<\/a><\/strong> books. I’d love to follow along creating my own little world using his simple drawing instructions. Just using triangles, squares, circles, a few lines and color, Ed would should you how to create anything! Very modern and great line economy! <\/p>\n

I think children’s books are really important. I like to believe they are more then just silly stories. They can be used to introduce children to culture. Children’s books can be very sophisticated and introduce them to art as well.<\/p>\n

I look forward to making my own contemporary children’s books. I enjoy telling stories. I enjoy the challenge of creating simple yet attractive images. Right now, I’m working as hard as I can to get myself and work out to the world. Let’s make great books!<\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Wahoo! Elio makes me want to cheer with that closing sentence there. And here is one of Elio’s short comics:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

And we’ll close up here with a look at Elio’s eggs, which are terrifically menacing, are they not? Or, wait, they could be more wide-eyed and innocent, depending on how you slant your head when you look at the image. We’d like to thank him for stopping by and sharing his very stylistic illustrations with us. And we wish him much luck and tons of fun in the field of children’s book illustration. If you want more information, he has his own blog, elio’s journal<\/strong><\/em><\/a>. And his web site<\/a><\/strong> has some more illustration goodness (including Godzilla<\/a><\/strong>. Roar!). <\/p>\n

Thanks, Elio! We’ll see you in children’s books one day. <\/p>\n

* * * eisha’s kicks * * *<\/strong><\/font><\/font><\/center><\/p>\n

1* This week’s illustrations. “ESP Cheese”!!! Seriously, it doesn’t get better than that. And I also love this new thing of featuring up-and-coming artists.<\/p>\n

Miles at 10 months2* Check out my nephew Miles at 10 months. My sis-in-law sent new pics, and a skills update: he can stand, play peek-a-boo, wave and say “bye-bye,” and give high-fives. He can also climb as high as two shelves up in the refrigerator if she has her back turned while unloading groceries.<\/p>\n

3* I survived my first week at my new temp assignment. It’s a bit more demanding than the last one, since I’m actually covering a vacancy rather than providing additional support, and this position has a lo-o-o-o-t of responsibilities covering everything from event planning to building security. But everyone’s been very gracious and welcoming and patient with my newbie-ness.<\/p>\n

mmm\u20264* Blue Moon<\/strong><\/a> has a new beer flavor for spring: Rising Moon. It’s brewed with kaffir lime leaves and lime juice. I tend to think lime juice enhances the flavor of almost everything, so I’m quickly becoming a big fan.<\/p>\n

5* I finished The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales<\/strong><\/em><\/a>. Dang. That last story really is amazing.<\/p>\n

6* Um, did I mention I went to a Neko Case concert?<\/strong><\/a> Well, that was kickworthy enough to mention twice.<\/p>\n

7* Good food with good friends: dinner at Moosewood with our neighbors before the show, and dinner at B.’s fellow professor’s house last Sunday.<\/p>\n

* * * Jules’ kicks * * *<\/strong><\/font><\/font><\/center><\/p>\n

1). Featuring illustrations from new grads like Elio. <\/p>\n

2). My almost-four-year-old daughter loves to make up looong<\/em> words, and she totally told me this week — while I was driving, no less, and I could barely see the road from laughing — that “reading is engorgeable.” You think ALA will wanna use that for one of their “READ” posters<\/a><\/strong>? <\/p>\n

3). Speaking of, we’re still reading The Wonderful Wizard of Oz<\/em>, and it’s still a big kick. We also got in the first two or three chapters of Charlotte’s Web<\/em>, but she wanted to stop. I think that one’s for when she’s a bit older anyway. <\/p>\n

4). I’m still wow’ed by the final illustration from the new picture book Piano Starts Here: The Young Art Tatum<\/em><\/strong><\/a> by Robert Andrew Parker, which I shared in this post<\/a><\/strong> on Wednesday after getting permission from the publisher (if you love it as much as I do, the illustration is much bigger in that original post). Isn’t that beautiful? I think that’s my very favorite kick of the week, other than finding out that reading is engorgeable. <\/p>\n

5). For someone who doesn’t normally watch a whole helluva lot of television, I did this week. My husband and I finished Season One of “Battlestar Galactica” (take one for me; take two for him). And “Lost” returned. Creepypuzzlingentertainingmaddening ‘ol “Lost.” <\/p>\n

6). After reading this post<\/a><\/strong> over at Jama’s blog (and getting some of those titles in a library run), I decided to make my very own creamy tomato bisque-y soup for the whole family, and I have to say that I did quite well. It was yummy. This is remarkable, because my husband is more of a cook and baker than I (Exhibit A: I burnt my arm while pureeing the soup! ‘Cause I’m kind of a bumbling mess in the kitchen sometimes). Jama probably won’t speak to me again for saying this, but I’m very picky about soups and really only like a few. But a good, creamy tomato one is the best of all. I also ALMOST made Honey Chocolate Pie straight from The Pooh Cook Book<\/em><\/strong><\/a> by Virginia H. Ellison, but I ran out of time and bought<\/em> a chocolate pecan one from Publix instead. Amazingly, that took no time at all. Mmm . . . pie. <\/p>\n

7). And last, but far from least, this impassioned video from John Green<\/a><\/strong> about the Looking for Alaska<\/em> book-banning attempt at Depew High School in Buffalo, New York. “Shut up, and stop condescending to teenagers.” I love it. <\/p>\n

He closes with instructions about how to help if you’re so inclined. (I’m sure this video is everywhere, but I got my info from Kelly Fineman<\/a><\/strong>, so thanks, Kelly). <\/p>\n

<\/param><\/param><\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

P.S. Did you know it’s Library Lovers’ Month<\/a><\/strong>? I got that info<\/a><\/strong> from picture book author Natasha Wing, who has a new blog<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n

* * * * * * *<\/center><\/p>\n

What are your kicks this week? Please do tell. And what about that Elio? Give me a “wa!” and give me a “hoo!” I like his style. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jules: Welcome to our weekly 7 Kicks list, the meeting ground for listing Seven(ish) Exceptionally Fabulous, Beautiful, Interesting, Hilarious, or Otherwise Positive Noteworthy Things from the past week (whether book-related or not) that happened to you. Happy February to all! It’s the first Sunday of the month, which means we’re featuring another new grad or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-seven-good-things-before-monday"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1111\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}