Joe Mathieu's Artwork

I am an illustrator. I create artwork for reproduction. It is what I have always liked best about creating art. I love to see my work in print. As I have said, my earliest exposure to art was the illustration and cartoon work of commercial magazines, comic books, and also newspaper comics. I have done very little artwork to hang on the walls. For me, the finished product is the book or magazine.

Most of my work is devoted to children's books, and most of that to books for Sesame Street. But I have also found it fun and rewarding to illustrate a number of album and CD covers for some of my favorite jazz musicians. I also do some caricature work. Of course, caricatures find their way into my children's books and music covers, but I have done some caricature work just for its own sake.

Over the years, I have worked in both traditional, "reflective" styles (on paper with watercolor and pencil), and also "digitally", drawing and painting on a computer. Both styles require the same drawing and painting skills, but today, digital work is usually required. With digital work, the finished product is a computer file, and ultimately, reproduced in a book. But with digital illustration, there is no "original art" as there would be for the reflective process.