Fantastic Beasts

Collette C. Curran is a concept artist and character designer who designs and illustrates for video games, clothing, children’s animation, and pinball machines. Born and raised in Southern California, she is a graduate of Concept Design Academy in Pasadena.

For this month’s Zócalo Sketchbook, Curran has done what any good Hollywood biopic will do for its subjects—have them portrayed by maximally attractive and charismatic actors. “Though I admire the precision of scientific illustration that studies our earthly flora and fauna, I can’t help but to instill a little of the fantastic into …

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Mi Young is a Chinese Canadian illustrator currently based in New York City. Young, who often draws from her own experiences as a global citizen, loves to explore characters and their interactions …

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Penelope Dullaghan is an artist and illustrator based in Indianapolis. She works in children’s publishing, editorial, and advertising. In her work she employs a range of mediums, including printmaking, paint, …

Creature Creations | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Creature Creations

Violeta Encarnación is an illustrator and animator born and raised in Cuba, who now resides in New York City. She also works as a senior tattoo artist at Skinblu, an …

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Nature Playback | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Nature Playback

Jorge Verdin is a Pasadena-based designer, illustrator, and musician. Under the name Clorofila, he is known as a pioneer of the Nortec music style. The multidisciplinary artist has also created music …