I discovered Delphine Durand (and her entourage of weird animals) when she was teaching a workshop at Ilustratour. I couldn't go and was left with the desire. Since then, I follow her work from the distance.

I love her magic and bizarre animated monsters that walk around her drawings and on her books and travel journals.



And thanks to her, I know about "Les Cahiers de L'Articho", a French illustration magazine that's got me blown away. She also has an amazing pinterest page where she uploads everything she likes.

Miguel Herranz (aka freehand) is an Urban Sketcher with an incredibly detailed hand and a complementary story to go along with each sketch. The stories range from memories to the people, places and things he comes across. Below is a snippet of his text for the drawing above:

"…I keep on drawing... I wonder what happens behind the third window of the second floor on that brick building... I imagine a filter that tells me with some color the places where people laugh joyfully, with some other color where they shout angrily, with other where they make love, where someone just died... I know I'm drawing all this."

It's a must that you take the time to read the captions behind each drawing. You will fall in love not only with his skilled hand, but how he describes what he sees.

For many of us, drawing while on the phone is exactly how we got into the habit of doodling. I know that for me, I can hardly last on a call for two minutes if I don't have a pen and paper around to scribble on.

The following is a series of drawings made by DZO Olivier from France, all made without much thinking, during a handful of different phone conversations. And be sure to visit his portfolio for a taste of what he can do when he's not distracted by chit-chat.

Some time ago, I found Lili Scratchy, a french illustrator and ceramic artisan who's world never stops surprising me. Going into her sketchbooks is like figuring out how her mind is like: A whole lot of little speaking monsters, colours, fruits, letters and weird animals.

Don't forget to take a look at her ceramic work, it's pretty impressive.

She has a blog that updates quite often and a Flickr where you can find all her work.

With over 1000 images, a carnival of mediums (water color, oil, collage, marker, and ink), and a retro dont-blame-me-when-it-gets-stuck-in-your-head kind of song, Reeo Zerko's stop-motion animation will make your lips curl in delight. As if this weren't enough, below the fold are images of the incomprehensible talent which drips (like my drool) from each page of his sketchbook. Damn he's good.

I tried, obstinately, to follow his drawn line- eye glued to the screen, furrowed brow. But try as I might, I must report that I remain uncertain if Will Scobie lifts his pen. Fluid and intricate, I'm quite sure you'll enjoy his endless sketchbook drawings as much as I did.

There is something so polite and pretty about Emmeline's finished work, that it makes me want to don white gloves.

Much of her sketchbook, on the contrary, is her test kitchen - where she can make a mess practicing and playing in her character studies with expression, perspective and layout. Here are a few of my favorites.