Happy news! I am one of the winner of this years LeadAward! Last night at the event's gala I was honored with the Bronze Award for the best illustration feature 2010.

I am very happy and proud of receiving this prize for a piece of work, which - for me personally - has been one of the most important ones last year: For Neon, together with author Patrick Bauer, I spent much time researching into a heroin network where kids are exploited as drug dealers – entirely run inside the Berlin tube network. As disturbing the research was, as interesting was the process of producing on location observations and sketches in trains, stations and asylums, in advance to returning to my studio to produce the final artwork.

Even greater that this process of producing illustraions has been honored with such an award:

„In contrast to other competitions for creative professionals, you cannot enter the LeadAwards yourself. An independent jury of experts combs through the entire year’s issues of around 400 German magazines and picks out prize-worthy articles. A high-profile jury then judges and evaluates them, ensuring a completely independent and truly comprehensive judgement. Those awarded Gold, Silver or Bronze awards can rightly claim to be among the best of the best.“ (source: Deichtorhallen's press release).

Sounds great, doesn't it?

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Thanks to my best artdirector Jonas Natterer, the Neon Crew and the LeadAcademy.

The Landjäger Magazine was invited to put up a stand in the Haus der Kulturen der Welt. So Elisabeth and Christian arrived with wurst and cheese from Austria. Also, our friends from Au, the Poschauko Twins, did a very nice speech.

I am looking forward to the next Landjäger issue. I just finished the last drawings for it during Typo.

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It's Pictoplasma Festival in Berlin. A conference about character design and illustration. Strolling around on the Character Walk with my students I popped into a workshop of the 3753%_tordal-crew from Norway. I designed the box of Papp, a little robot. Here it is: a green troll from the woods.

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An exciting and productive winter term in Würzburg has come to its end. This week my illustration classes will exhibit their latest work at the upcoming Degree Show. We will present loads of studies, illustrations, drawings, collages, comics, books and sketchbooks...

You are welcome. It's free and fun.

Friday, 4. 2. 2011, 14:00 – 19:00
Saturday, 5. 2. 2011, 10:00 – 17:00

University of Applied Sciences
Fachhochschule Würzburg-Schweinfurt
Münzstrasse 12
97070 Würzburg

From tomorrow on I will be in Mainz for the next three days. Together with Sebastian Haslauer, Manuel Bürger and Dirk Mönkemöller I will give a workshop at the local University of Applied Siences Mainz. Our goal is to create “the fanciest of all fanzines” in collaboration with our workshop students. I can't wait!

UPDATE (Monday, 31. January): In the making!

More workshops pictures very soon!
Thanks guys for a great weekend. Was real fun!

The underground line U8 in Berlin is the German capital's most frequented drug lane for heroine. Police and politics seem to be helpless to fight this problem as long the dealers are eleven year-old kids. Having been brought to Germany from countries such as the Lebanon they are too young to be arrested or taken to court.

For the German magazine “Neon” Patrick Bauer and I tried to get a deeper look into the daily business life of those kids. How does it feel like working all day long in the underground, how do they deal with the junkies and how with the police? How does the system work which abuses them? Is there a tiny leftover of childish cuteness and innocence or are they as serious drug dealers as their bosses?

To start with we went underground and secretely researched for days in the tube and its surroundings. Patrick tried to find some guys who weren’t too afraid of speaking and I did loads of on-location scribbles.

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After the kids got nervous and thought we were undercover police agents, alerting themselves with secret signs, I stopped my research and discussed a selection of over 40 scribbles with the magazine's art director Jonas Natterer. After deciding on five of those sketches I reworked them in my studio and created the final artwork with ink.

So, here's what it loos like in this month's issue:

Read the full story in the Neon Magazine's December issue.

Last weekend I took part in the Big Draw Berlin which is - as you might have already guessed - a drawing festival. On Sunday we explored the best pubs in Neukölln and their inhabitants with our sketchbooks. At the Sanderstübl they were a bit confused about us and what we did. But after the first scribbles and beer we became friends…

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...and Süddeutsche Zeitung likes Shake Your Tree

This is how the Post delivers Die Zeit - but we don't care if this is the content!

Order Tanjas and Ulrikes supernice Edition here.

Lately Landjäger released its latest issue. And finally I made it to one of the release parties in Austria. It was good to see you guys! For the topic "neighbours" I interviewed some of mine about the people who live on the other side of their walls and did some drawings. During the work on this issue some happy news arrived: The two latest Landjäger Magazines won the bronze medal at the European Design Awards.

You can order it here for 4 Euros plus shipping.

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