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# Illustration Now 3
- URL: https://www.ivarhagendoorn.com/blog/2009/12/24/illustration-now-3/
- Published: 2009-12-24T08:33:00.000Z
- Updated: 2023-01-19T17:54:36.000Z
- Description: I just had to have it. It's a great collection of contemporary illustration.
- Author: Ivar Hagendoorn
- Tags: Blog, Design

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f7/c4/f7c4338c-1a69-4369-8416-8d74c9880bb6/content/images/2019/08/jaime-zollars-1.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f7/c4/f7c4338c-1a69-4369-8416-8d74c9880bb6/content/images/2019/08/jaime-zollars-3.jpg)

Work by Jaime Zollars

The other week I picked up a copy of [*Illustration Now 3*](https://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/graphic%5Fdesign/all/04435/facts.illustration%5Fnow%5F3.htm?ref=ivarhagendoorn.com), the latest in Taschen's series of lusciously illustrated guides to current graphic design, illustration and so on. Even though you can find similar selections on-line, clicking through a web gallery cannot compete with leafing through a book in terms of speed.

I like browsing through these kind of books as a way of discovering what my mood of the moment is and in which direction I am thinking. Colours? Geometric? Baroque? Romantic? Abstract? Dirty Realism?

I try to resist the temptation of buying on impulse. I usually go back to a shop to have another look, but occasionally I happen upon a few images that I just got to have, knowing that my life would be miserable if I didn't buy the book right there, that I would be lying awake at night, trying to remember a particular image, unable to just grab the book and look at it.

There were a couple of images in *Illustration Now 3* that tipped the scale for me. [Jaime Zollars](http://www.jaimezollars.com/?ref=ivarhagendoorn.com)' dark fairy tale drawings are just wonderful. She creates striking visual metaphors of childhood fear. In [one picture](http://www.jaimezollars.com/?ref=ivarhagendoorn.com#/tengu-i-ii/) a girl is walking on a path, which doubles as a river, through a forest of leafless trees. She has to jump from skull to skull. From behind two trees masked figures spy at her. As with the picture above, I have the feeling that I totally understand it, even though when you try and put it into words it always sounds rather banal, so I won't even try.

I also loved [Ulla Puggaard](http://www.ullapuggaard.com/work/?ref=ivarhagendoorn.com)'s stark visual images and [Brian Hubble](https://levycreative.com/artist/brian-hubble/?ref=ivarhagendoorn.com)'s photo collages, which reminded me a lot of some work by Robert Rauschenberg that I really like. He also does pretty awesome Jean-Michel Basquiat like collage drawings, bringing together different sketches in the same frame, striking through some half finished drawings.

In terms of subject matter [Damyeong Yoo](http://yoo.damyeong.de/?ref=ivarhagendoorn.com)'s work is in the same category as Jaime Collar, featuring compelling metaphors of fear, but that's just my interpretation of the moment. She uses a very interesting technique of cut-out figures that create shadows on paper. I also liked the work of [Marco Wagner](https://marcowagner.myportfolio.com/?ref=ivarhagendoorn.com) (I guess I'm in a dark mood) and [Stephane Goddard](http://www.stephanegoddard.com/?ref=ivarhagendoorn.com).

The real joy of a book such as *Illustration Now 3* is the rich variety of styles and subject matter. Who knows in a few weeks or months my preferences may have shifted to different kind of work, such as that of [Ryan Heshka](http://www.ryanheshka.com/?ref=ivarhagendoorn.com) or [Cecilia Carlstedt](http://www.ceciliacarlstedt.com/?ref=ivarhagendoorn.com).