TODAY'S FEATURED POST

The Life of Chuck

Gregory Manchess

Lately I’ve been illustrating classic novels for special handmade editions. One publishing house I’ve worked with is Arete Editions in the UK. I’ve worked with the publisher, Marcelo Anciano, for twenty years and we love to discuss books and publishing and writing when working together. It’s from one of those conversations that he offered me the chance to illustrate Stephen King’s mild ghost story, The Life of Chuck. Marcelo also works on books and interior…

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EVERYDAY ORIGINAL

Clambake Fandango

YESTERDAY’S POST

Image

Research Images Like a Pro

Lauren Panepinto

June 12, 2025 - I just did a spurt of portfolio reviews (it's fresh graduates season!) and a topic seemed to come up more than a few times, and that usually means it's worth a Muddy Colors article. So here we go. I don't want to make this sound like a "the kids don't know X" or "back when I was in school we knew how to Y" kind of thing, but I think some old(er) school knowledge might help a growing problem. A growing problem of using search engines for image research. Since I've been reviewing portfolios and commissioning illustrators (for 20ish years now) I have occasionally had to have a conversation with artists about their image research. Sometimes amusingly referred to as "Google-Fu". The most glaring issue was most often reminding an artist — usually one fresh…

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