Focus: Brendan Wenzel
September 16th, 2006Acclaimed childrens book artist Brendan Wenzel claims that he learned most of what he knows from his father David, who apart from being his biggest influence is also a better Illustrator than anyone he has ever met. Furthermore Brendan told me that he likes clutter and that he got sick of the Pacific ocean. But perhaps it is these little details that best describe Brendan’s work. It is fantastically imaginative and great to look at. All his characters and situations are drawn with great gusto, and are as expressive as ever. It all does exhibit this air of something that was made with a lot of care and that really does pay off.
He cut his illustration teeth at Pratt Institute, but now resides in Brooklyn where he can not get sick of the Pacific anymore. Brendan told me that his influences include everyone under the sun, which of course is a very wise thing to say, but more specifically he cited the works of Quentin Blake, Jerry Pinkney and Rien Poortvliet as his greatest muses. His clients are mostly independent publishers but he has worked in film and music videos before aswell.
Even though he claims that he was moving a bit towards informational illustration lately, Brendan keeps as busy as ever. His website over at www.brendanwenzel.com is a nice little straightforward showcase where you can regulary find updates and new work of his complete with little stories to boot. Personally, I’m a fan of his terrifically executed work and you should be too, go and check it all out here!
