James Jean is a fabulous illustrator whose done work for numerous books and magazines. His illustration work is surreal, beautiful and whimsical. There is a magical quality to his drawing and painting that is quite breathtaking.

Took a trip to the Prada store in NYC to see his latest illustration piece for the windows and interior. A twisted fairy tale world that spans one wall of the entire store. The original concepts are in his Works section under Prada I and Prada II and those were translated to a surreal short film, Trembled Blossoms which was directed by James Lima, written by James Jean with effects by Sight Effects Inc. It’s nice to see his work in motion and would like to see more.

We came across this short film on Feed. “The Dream Master“, was done by Diego Huacuja in Mexico City. Imaginative illustrations and animations narrate the short story by sci-fi writer Roger Zelazny.

It’s Oscar time once again and AWN has a list of the animation nominees and you can view short clips of the work or link to the creator’s sites. Great range of films from traditional 2D hand drawn animation, stop-motion and also the more contemporary 3D animation as well.

CBS Sunday Morning Show recently ran a story of illustrator and designer luminary, Charley Harper and his friendship with designer, Todd Oldham. Harper’s work is really a breath of fresh air and has a timeless quality to it.

The Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center site has some great content which includes an interview with Todd Oldham and Charley Harper.

Very inspiring beautiful work.

Video Copilot, a GREAT vfx tutorial site by Andrew Kramer. Dive in if you have a copy of After Effects, Cinema 4D or 3D Studio Max. Every exercise is clear and concise and there is something for every difficulty level here.

History of America is on Ventilate! The talented crew at MK12 has created a vibrant and stylized short with beautiful 3D and live action sequences which mimic ink illustration and watercolor. Peruse the behind-the-scenes production stills and the making of video also.

A humorously unique take on the American origin story, “one which chronicles the epic struggle between the astronauts and the cowboys as they fight for life, liberty and justice for all.”

Sit back, relax and enjoy a glass of your favorite cough syrup.

Cool Hunting’s short on Shanghai-based artist, Chen Hang Feng creates a wonderful mix of contemporary design and traditional Chinese papercut technique. Take a look at his Logomania series on his personal site.

As She Stares Longingly At What She Has Lost is a hauntingly lovely short by Philp Van. The piece touches you emotionally in every way from the music to the visuals. It has a very clean look going from a very innocent storybook setting and ends with a much more sinister tone brought on by the great special effects work from Method.

It’s quite a mesmerizing piece where you want to watch over and over again to pick up all the subtle nuances. Prepare yourself for a good cry.

Joshua Davis, artist, designer and programmer extraordinaire has recently updated his site. If you ever get a chance to hear him speak, it’s quite the show! Take a look at this M30 Daily entry if you missed it.

The Globe and Mail published this moving story about Ian Brown and his son, Walker who was born with the rare genetic disorder CFC, also known as orphan syndrome.