Meet the Illustrators
James Gulliver Hancock
The Illustrator of The Big Apple
Hometown? I’m originally from Sydney, Australia, but now spend time between Sydney and New York.
Described by friends as ‘HA HA Hancock’.
Favorite NYC building and why? Any brownstone in Brooklyn, love that they are like little characters, each with their own little quirks.
What do you like to do in the city? Catching the Ferry down the East river from Midtown to North Brooklyn and down to Dumbo for pizza.
Favorite NYC neighborhood? I seem to spend most of my time in the Lower East Side, finding new galleries that seem to appear and disappear on a whim.
Favorite museum? New Museum, and Guggenheim, love how the architecture juts out from the surroundings.
Favorite Artist? Julie Mehrtu.
Favorite childhood activity Drawing!
Worst subject in school? English. I would way rather draw and make pictures than write or speak!
Described by friends as ‘HA HA Hancock’.
Favorite NYC building and why? Any brownstone in Brooklyn, love that they are like little characters, each with their own little quirks.
What do you like to do in the city? Catching the Ferry down the East river from Midtown to North Brooklyn and down to Dumbo for pizza.
Favorite NYC neighborhood? I seem to spend most of my time in the Lower East Side, finding new galleries that seem to appear and disappear on a whim.
Favorite museum? New Museum, and Guggenheim, love how the architecture juts out from the surroundings.
Favorite Artist? Julie Mehrtu.
Favorite childhood activity Drawing!
Worst subject in school? English. I would way rather draw and make pictures than write or speak!
Kris Mukai
The Illustrator of Food Fight
Hometown? The Internet.
Described by friends as - Friends have described me as a large, blue bear that occasionally wears lipstick.
Did you ever dye your hair a fun color? One time in University I dyed my hair red. Sometimes I still dream about that hair
Favorite ice cream flavor? Vanilla.
Favorite comfort food? Cheeze-its (Not Cheese-Nips, Cheese Nips are inferior).
French fries or peas and carrots? Absolutely would pick the French fries!
Food you can’t live without? Coffee.
Favorite cartoon character? I was obsessed with Robotech and Digimon as a kid.
Favorite childhood activity? Definitely reading!
Worst subject at school? I failed physics class, but scored the highest in trigonometry class, that seems weird….
Favorite museum? The Baltimore Aquarium.
Favorite Artist? Lamar Abrams.
Greg Kletsel
The Illustrator of Funny Farm
Hometown? Coral Springs, FL .
Funny fact about you? Half of my mustache hairs are white!
Favorite Brooklyn spot? Brooklyn Public House in Fort Greene. I met my wife there!
What’s your spirit animal? Bald eagle playing basketball or half elephant, half baby.
Favorite museum? Museum of the Moving Image.
Favorite artist? Barry McGee.
Favorite cartoon? Tommy Pickles from Rugrats.
Favorite childhood activity? Drawing and playing video games time machine: Back....to the Future!
Favorite ice cream flavor? Birthday cake with cookie dough and brownie.
Funny fact about you? Half of my mustache hairs are white!
Favorite Brooklyn spot? Brooklyn Public House in Fort Greene. I met my wife there!
What’s your spirit animal? Bald eagle playing basketball or half elephant, half baby.
Favorite museum? Museum of the Moving Image.
Favorite artist? Barry McGee.
Favorite cartoon? Tommy Pickles from Rugrats.
Favorite childhood activity? Drawing and playing video games time machine: Back....to the Future!
Favorite ice cream flavor? Birthday cake with cookie dough and brownie.
Allison Kerek
The Illustrator of Let's Color America
Hometown? Lancaster, PA. Lancaster was an ideal place to grow up, a nice mix of country and city. We are home to one of the largest Amish communities in the world, so things like getting stuck in traffic behind horse and buggies wasn't out of the ordinary.
What do you love about Lancaster? It's such a cute, historic and friendly town. Downtown is home to plenty of wonderful little places, including an opera theater, America's oldest farmer's market, fun shops, art galleries, and more. I'd love to move back one day.
Did you ever dye your hair a fun color? I spent the first 13 years of my education in Catholic school where we weren't allowed to dye our hair, paint our nails, or do anything too expressive... so as soon as I entered art school, I bleached my hair, and dyed half of it pink. It looked pretty awful, but I guess I had to get that out of my system.
Your favorite US landmark? I'll forever love Disney World.
Most fun state to visit and why? I enjoyed spending summers in California. Great scenery, amusement parks, beaches, energy and history. Oh, and 'In and Out Burger'!
Your favorite artist? I have a few: Christopher Silas Neal, John Malta, Dustin Williams, Josh Cochran, James Gulliver Hancock and Kelly Thorn.
Your favorite cartoon character? Daria.
Favorite childhood memory? Going over to my grandparent's house to eat Pizza Hut and watch Wheel of Fortune. Visiting the farmers market with my dad to pick up produce for his restaurant. Waking up around 5 a.m. every morning to watch music videos on MTV and eat breakfast with my mom...I was a pretty lucky kid!
If you have a time machine, where would you go? I think I'd just like to go see some concerts in the 80s -- The Cure, The Smiths, Prince. That'd be fun!
Mike Lowery
The Illustrator of Spaced Out
MIKE LOWERY was born on Planet X3908 in the year 4523 A.B. (After Bubiloid). He traveled through space and time until his space ship crashed to Earth several years ago. At first, he was totally bummed, but now he kinda likes it. Mike a children's book illustrator now and he lives in Atlanta with his human wife and daughter. While working on this poster, he had a blast drawing portraits of every single alien he's ever met including: Zxeagreg, Bloop8x#, Jeremy and many others.
Hyesu Lee
The Illustrator of Alphabet City
HYESU LEE is a happy, messy illustrator based in Brooklyn. She loves to share the hidden beauty and happiness in the world through her work. Her favorite part about working on this poster was that while drawing the letters of the alphabet she was inspired by thinking of the names and initials of all of her friends.