Graham Roumieu

WE'RE SUPPORTING

Adrian Tomine is one of the finest cartoonists and illustrators of this generation, alongside the iconic Chris Ware and Daniel Clowes. He began his career Xeroxing copies of his comics for distribution, and stubbornly chooses to work in a medium as deliberately obscure as independent comics. While he continues to develop his ongoing series Optic Nerve (currently entering its fifteenth year of publication), he’s also the illustrator of choice for the New Yorker.

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

While I’m definitely not into the whole Lord of the Rings thing, I’m convinced Tolkien stole his inspiration from Göreme, in Turkey’s central Cappadocia region. After a mammoth volcanic eruption around 2,000 years ago, the landscape eroded to form a series of valleys, filled with peculiar, phallic-shaped tufts that the locals call ‘fairy chimneys’. Early Christians hollowed out the tufts and turned them into houses, churches and monasteries. These days, most of them are still in use and a few have been converted into cute hotels and hostels. If you’re not too claustrophobic, I’d highly recommend doing the hobbit thing and spending a night in one.

WE'RE WEARING

Jeans are a science, a science based on the deep knowledge of denim, washes and patterns, according to Dr. Denim, who have certainly twisted and turned every single atom of all their jeans into perfection. Each pair exudes a progressive design, made of superior quality at fair prices. My high waists have become the most desirable item in my wardrobe due to the denim’s strength which magically sculpts to your body yet leaves you embracing the comfort of wearing tracky-dacks. Seriously, there is nothing more important than owning a good-fitting pair of jeans. Dr. Denim delivers unisex designs that appeal to everyone.

WE'RE THINKING

People tend to think we illustrators carry around our sketchbooks everywhere. A confession: I don’t. That is one of the reason why I love looking at other illustrator’s sketchbooks. Virginia-based Tin Salamunic’s sketchbook tells me a bit about an everyday life in Richmond. And his obsession for cars. Read more

WE'RE READING

When I did the Master Cleanse diet a few years ago — the one where you consume nothing but lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper for ten days — I sat at work looking at pictures of food as if they were porn. Scanwiches would have gotten me hot and bothered like nothing else.

You heard it here first. Singer-songwriter Julian Perretta might just become the most exciting new artist of 2008. Read more

WE'RE LISTENING TO

I love this track by London based rock group, Scanners, which is off their latest album, Submarine. Having toured with acts such as The Horrors, The Wedding Present, The Charlatans, Electric Six, and Juliette & The Licks, Scanners could well blow up in 2010. Figuratively speaking, not literally. No, that wouldn’t be fun.