Image Credit © Karolis Strautniekas

How It Feels to Float by Karolis Strautniekas

Represented by Folio, Karolis Strautniekas is known for his beautiful illustrations, full of life, detail and contemporary line and colors. Working editorially with clients such as The New Yorker and Forbes, he also creates book covers for various authors, including this beauty for Helen Fox’s How It Feels to Float, on behalf of Penguin Random House.

Image Credit © Uijung Kim

Boats by Uijung Kim

Represented by Central Illustration Agency, South Korean illustrator Uijung Kim paid tribute to the beauty of Vietnam this year with delightful illustrations of floating markets. She’s definitely another of our faves from the Directory of Illustration.

Image Credit © Shari Wolf

The Girl in the Striped Chair by Shari Wolf

Cleveland native Shari Wolf is a painter, illustrator, book and textile artist. We can’t get enough of her illustration The Girl in the Striped Chair, which was painted with acrylics on canvas.

Image Credit © Tania Yakunova

The Earth Has Music For Those Who Listen by Tania Yakunova

Tania Yakunova is an illustrator from Kyiv, Ukraine who finds inspiration in avant-garde art and design of the 20th century. You can see it all over her wonderful calendar and postcards for Green Network Energy, celebrating the beauty of our world. Or follow her on Instagram.

Image Credit © Matt Chinworth

No Such Thing As Incognito by Matt Chinworth

This detailed artwork by Matt Chinworth is part of a recent series for The Washington Post on tech privacy, tracking and spy software and how you can better protect your private data and information. Based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Matt’s other clients include TED, The New Yorker and Vice.

Image Credit © Tom Peake

Future of Music by Tom Peake

Commercial UK artist Tom Peake has created an ongoing series of striking illustrations for Bentley Magazine. The latest project was about the future of music; this image being a great example of the conceptual way Tom’s illustrations are brimming with verve. Tom is represented by Meiklejohn.

Image Credit © Jason Raish 

FIT Black Student Illustrators Award by Jason Raish

Represented by Central Illustration Agency, Jason Raish put art into action this year with a fundraiser held at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), where the illustrator teaches. Designed to help black students study at the college, the fundraiser came with hyper-stylish prints where Jason contrasts “the stuffy, conservative, homogenous nature of vintage high fashion with the rebellious self-expression of Japanese Ukiyo-e inspired tattoos.”

Image Credit © Sam Peet

Strategist Skills by Sam Peet

Sam Peet is a London-based illustrator creating superlative commercial work on commission. This piece was for the Chicago Booth Magazine, for an article about types of skills that a good strategist has to have. Sam is represented by George Grace Represents.

Image Credit © Musketon

The Last Supper by Musketon

If anyone summed up the events of 2020 in one epic illustration, it was Belgian artist Musketon and his incredible tribute to Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece, but with a Covid-19 slant. The Last Supper, as featured above, is a huge self-initiated project that took three months to complete and we’re still finding new details every time we look at it. Musketon is represented by JSR Agency.

Image Credit © An Chen

 New Year GIF: 2020 by An Chen

An Chen’s charming GIF captures the hope we all had for a new decade back in the New Year, shortly before things came crashing down. Still, that’s no reason not to enjoy the joyous geometry of the Taiwanese illustrator and her series of stop motion loops.

Image Credit © Lonnie Ollivierre

Kobe Bryant by Lonnie Ollivierre

Represented by Shannon Associates, Lonnie Ollivierre is an Atlanta-based illustrator who was born in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. There, he first experienced the world of art via his father who was a sign painter. As a child, his family relocated to Brooklyn where he taught himself to paint from the comic books he collected. As he grew up, he dreamed of becoming a cartoonist, and later a painter after studying Norman Rockwell. Today, he paints the things that he sees in his everyday life, with his family and friends being the source of his work through which he hopes to inspire, educate, and uplift others. Amongst the many artworks that stood out for us this year was Lonnie’s tribute to the late, great Kobe Bryant.

Image Credit © Bella Pilar

GIFs by Bella Pilar

Trained in fine art and fashion, Bella Pilar’s work appears in advertising, books, magazines, and on hundreds of greeting cards, as well as pleasing her fashion and beauty clients around the world. What’s really caught our eye this year, though, are these beautifully arresting GIFs, all cleverly crafted in her signature style. Bella is represented by Magnet Reps.

Image Credit © Darya Shnykina

Places I’d Love to Live In by Darya Shnykina

Amongst the many beautiful projects by Darya Shnykina this year – which included a gorgeous book cover for Margery Allingham’s Mr Campion and Others – was this personal one entitled Places I’d Love to Live In. Enchanting, charming and soothing, it’s typical of the Russian artist’s style which captures the calm and introspective moments of her life.

Image Credit © Gary Bullock

Coast Scene by Gary Bullock

Gary Bullock is a UK illustrator working for packaging, advertising and editorial clients. We love this wonderfully inventive scratchboard coast scene, commissioned by De Nure Tours, where the colors just seem to leap off the page.

Image Credit © Christopher Bretz

Rosie the Rex Rider to the Rescue by Christopher Bretz

There’s something different about the pop culture takes of Christopher Bretz, an illustrator and concept artist based in Toronto, Canada. This latest of his genre mashups of steampunk and sci-fi sums up his fun vibes and knack for capturing expressions.