Cohen's Fashion Optical - 2 Good To Be True!

Here's a visual from a commercial for Cohen's Fashion Optical, which I also storyboarded, in cooperation with Greencard Pictures– it's called 2 Good To Be True. Using some reference from the early Cohen's stores in Manhattan, I recreated this old-timey illustration of a vintage store front.

See the full video on youtube here.

Many thanks for producer Kaitlin Del Campo and director Bryan Reisberg and all the other folks at Greencard Pictures and Cohen's!

Independence Day for The New Yorker

New piece in this week's New Yorker– illustrating a review of Independence Day: Resurgence.

This was a really cool assignment to work on of course… buildings that are being sucked into the sky by a giant space ship!

You can see the original sketch below, as well as the finished ink drawing, along with the published piece in this week's magazine.

Thanks so much to Creative Director Nicholas Blechman and Art Director Chris Curry for working with me!

Exhibition in Weingarten

Big news!
I'm having a large exhibition in my home town in Germany. It will include a wide array of works from the past 10 years, including originals and large prints of editorial illustration, children's books, comics and advertising work and is curated by Martin Oswald of the University of Education in Weingarten.

Opening Reception:
Friday April 22nd, 2016, 19 Uhr
Kornhausgalerie Weingarten
23. April – 12. Juni 2016

More info (in German) here
Newspaper article

It will be a similar show to the one at the German Consulate General in NY a couple years ago, with new works and some exclusive items.

There will also be other events surrounding it:
• Sequential Workshop at the Freie Kunstschule April 18.+20.+25.
• Comics Workshop at the PH Weingarten April 24th
• Lecture about comics, and a book
• Signing at my childhood comic book store Persiflage April 16th

Above is a brand-new image to promote the show, featuring our famous Baroque Basilika.

Freue mich darauf, euch alle dort zu sehen!

American Express Commissions

I was commissioned by American Express to create illustrations inspired by their credit cards, illustrative interpretations of their designs, to be used on Social Media, especially instagram. The subject matter was entirely up to me, as long as the card elements were present. So used this opportunity to create some futuristic cityscapes: a Green City, a Gold City, and a Platinum City.

The Green City was inspired by lost civilizations in the jungle, though mine was very much alive. The Gold City is high in the mountains, inspired by places such as Machu Pichu. The Platinum City was originally set in the Antarctic Ice, but I decided it should be on another planet, to end the series on an even more futuristic note.

First sketch for the Green City

Pencil stage

A look at the finished line-art, I'm using my trusty blue line method.

It was a great assignment, thanks very much to the awesome team at Alldayeveryday who brought me on board for this project, and to American Express for working with me!

Little Nemo: Dream Another Dream

I created this large sequential illustration for “Little Nemo– Dream Another Dream”, an anthology of tributes to Winsor McCay’s seminal strip by 118 contemporary artists.

I'm very proud to be part of this project, as this large book includes some of the finest artists working today, such as Paul Pope, Mike Allred, Yuko Shimizu, Andrea Tsurumi, Matty Hunh, Gregory Benton and so many more esteemed colleagues and friends.

It was  conceived and published by Locust Moon Press and is a beauty– the large proportions really allow to admire all the details of the fabulous pieces people created.

There will be a show of original artwork from the book at the Society of Illustrators from February 10th - March 28th, 2015.
The Opening Reception is on Wednesday, February 18th.
Hope to see you there!

Edit: The comic also just got accepted into the Society of Illustrators 2nd Comics and Cartoons Annual, whoo-hoo!

Within the context of the book, we decided to use an (almost) b/w version.
At the Society, you'll be able to see the actual original, warts and all.

3x3 Illustration Annual

Yay, my piece depicting the German House in NY from last year's show at the Consulate General got into the 3x3 Illustration Annual!

Here is the full list of all the winners. Congrats to everybody, and many thanks to all the judges and 3x3!

Happy Holidays 2013!

Enjoy the holidays! Have a great winter break, I'll see you in 2014!

Part of an illustration for the official holiday card of RWTH Aachen University

(Click to enlarge)

The Art Of Paul Hoppe Update

This is a brand-new image drawn specifically for my upcoming big show. It depicts the Consulate building with some creative license.

Here are the details:
Opening reception is November 5th, 6-8pm
871 United Nations Plaza

(1st Avenue between 48th and 49th Streets)

New York, NY


The event is free and open to the public, but RSVP is required on this site: https://paulhoppe.eventbrite.com


The show will be on display through Nov 29th, 2013

Ruins Girl and 400th Blog Post!

This is a new personal piece; you can find this and some other new work on my website, which I've just updated. And below, you can see how this piece got started as a small sketch. It's part of a personal series I've been working on, tentatively called The Invisible City.

Incidentally, this is also my 400th post on this blog! Thanks so much to everybody who swings by for a visit, it really means a lot to me! Here's to the next 400 ones!

Full page for Manhattan College Magazine

Really liked how this turned out, this is for the official magazine of Manhattan College, about measures for a green campus. Art Direction by Charlie Hess of Chess Design.

Cell Phone Girl

This is a brand-new piece I did just for fun, and I liked how it turned out so it's now the new home-page image on my website.

I've been recently thinking about how to bring some of the stylistics of my personal comics (especially the BEHOLDER books) into my editorial illustration work. The character is directly taken from my Journey Into Misery stories.

Spring Day at Union Square

Even though it was a beautiful day, I decided to change location after this drawing. Mostly because of a nasty stench in the air. Other people left as well, others stayed. It is New York, after all.

Homepage is in Ruins!

Website update on paulhoppe.com, besides my recent illustrations for the New York Times, EastBay Express and AARP Magazine, I also put up a new homepage image, it's a personal piece I did solely for fun– and self-promotion. It's kind of a fresh take on The Invisible City, a series of drawings I worked on during the MFA Illustration program years ago. I'll see if it evolves into a series again…

NYTimes Arts and Leisure Cover

Today's New York Times Arts & Leisure section features a cover by yours truly, it was a great project and I'm very happy with the result. Many thanks to AD Shannon Robertson and the friendly people at the NYTimes who came up with the pop-up idea. Below are my sketches, where you can see how the final piece evolved and some of the other ideas we played around with. You can read the article (about NYU's expansion plans in the city) here.

Home

I have just moved, I'm still surrounded with boxes, but I finally live in a building that's fun to draw!

If you need my new address, it's on my website, or drop me a line. For courier stuff, it'll be best to have it sent to my studio.

Here's to new beginnings!

Happy Holidays!

I'll be away from the studio from December 15th through 30th, I'm wishing you Happy Holidays and all the best! Looking forward to seeing you and working with you in 2012!

This year's Holiday card of the RWTH Aachen University in Germany.

Futuristic LA for UCLA Magazine

This is the cover for the new issue of UCLA Magazine. The article it's based on collects various visions of how Los Angeles could / should look like a couple of decades into the future. I really sank my teeth into this and I think it was worth it spending some extra hours. Many thanks to AD Charlie Hess for this great assignment!

Illustration for Architectural Lighting Magazine

A new illustration for Architectural Lighting Magazine, a worldwide look at the various schools that offer degrees and programs in Architectural Lighting. Many thanks to AD Marcy Ryan!

Architectural Lighting

This one came out in the July / August Issue of Architectural Lighting. It's about the sometimes confusing regulations and recommendations for environmental-friendly building and lighting design. Many thanks to Art Director Marcy Ryan!

UCLA Magazine

This piece came out in UCLA Magazine. It's about a new online resource that helps current students and alumni of UCLA to stay in touch and benefit from their network.