Sheri Rose Smith / Absolutely Cuckoo

UX illustrator by day,  doodler by night.  I dedicate most of my brain to solving  problems visually. Vector, pixel, ink, watercolor, gouache, ketchup and french fries. These are just of few tools I use to bring films, bad jokes and design solutions to life.  

Jake Hollomon / I Don't Believe In The Sun

A Portland native, sketchbook keeper, concept visualizer, graphic designer, illustrator, thrift store addict and foodie, Jake Hollomon is a graphic artist in Portland, Oregon. Currently working for Roundhouse Agency, his passion for design stems from an unending curiosity about the universe, paired with a love of providing a visual form to ideas.

Meg Hunt / All My Little Words

Hi! My name is Meg, and I'm an illustrator, educator and maker of things. I live and work in the wooded city of Portland, OR. My goal is to fill the world with my creations, and make people happy in the process.

CIELLE CHARRON / A CHICKEN WITH ITS HEAD CUT OFF

Cielle is a freelance designer, illustrator and music lover. She believes that art, like life, is way better when you have a sense of humor about it. Along with Michelle, she is the co-organizer of 69 Valentines.

Turn-ons: Bad dance moves

Turn-offs: Arrogance

Favorite love song to sing at karaoke: Tiptoe Through The Tulips- Tiny Tim

Past or present celebrity crush: John Linnell of They Might Be Giants (circa 1990). 

Mikey Burton / Reno Dakota

Mikey Burton is a part time designer and a part time illustrator—which adds up to a full time Designy Illustrator. He’s been working professionally for over 12 years now, but claims to be ‘still figuring it out.’ He’s done a lot of work in that time for clients such as Converse, ESPN, Target, The New York Times, Time Magazine, and Esquire, among others. He has won awards from organizations such as the Art Directors Club, Communication Arts and Print Magazine to name a few, and enjoys bragging about it in the third person. He spent his formative years and earned a masters degree from the great Kent State University in Ohio. Burton now works and lives in Brooklyn, NY where he pays way too much for coffee.

Turn-ons: piña coladas, and getting caught in the rain

Turn-offs: I'm not into yoga, I'm into champagne

Dream project: Become the Anthony Bourdain of drawing food.

Favorite materials to work with: the blob tool

69 Love Songs track you most identify with: "The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side" cause knowledge, wealth and refinement can’t beat a set of wheels

Favorite love song to sing at karaoke: This Charming Man

Past or present celebrity crush: Mark Ruffalo

Favorite romantic comedy: It's Complicated

My ideal Valentine’s Day consists of: making dinner reservations for the day after

Flowers or candy?: Candy... Duh!

Yeah, but what KIND of candy?: Does a full cookie cake count?

Jordan Hoagbin / I Don’t Want To Get Over You

designer most times, homebody the rest of the time.

Turn-ons: likes dogs

Turn-offs: does not like dogs

My ideal Valentine’s Day consists of: korean body scrub

Jennifer Daniel / Come Back From San Francisco

I’m Jennifer.

Hiller Goodspeed / The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side

In 10th grade I stole my dad's credit card to buy 69 Love Songs. I felt bad about it but I don't think there was ever an album I felt I needed to own more. It was the greatest gift he never knew he gave me.

Turn-ons: Colors, shapes, colorful shapes

Favorite materials to work with: Pencils and colored pencils and sometimes gouache

69 Love Songs track you most identify with: Washington, D.C.

Alex DeSpain / Let’s Pretend We’re Bunny Rabbits

double-jointed vegetarian

Turn-ons: fresh breath

Turn-offs: toe nails

Favorite materials to work with: sketchbook

Favorite romantic comedy: Obvious Child

My ideal Valentine’s Day consists of: full body massage at a winery

Flowers or candy?: candy

Yeah, but what KIND of candy?: candy cigarettes

Vanessa DeSpain / The Cactus Where Your Heart Should Be

My name is Vanessa DeSpain, I’m a designer living in Portland, Oregon, engaged in the pursuit for magic. I enjoy creating unique brand experiences through interactive design, strategic thinking, and art directing with creative collaborators. In my work I love to share personal narratives that engage with the human experience.

Mette Hornung Rankin / I Think I Need a New Heart

Mette is a designer and illustrator with a professional focus on packaging, books, branding and finding interesting interpretations of everyday life. Her approach is a hybrid of minimalistic Scandinavian influence and roughly optimistic pioneer spirit, combining functionality and efficiency with personality and verve. Off the clock she spends time with her young daughter and reads chapter books one at a time.

Dream project: The full meal deal of packaging, brand, product and store design for a Scandinavian childrenswear and toy company. That also sells ice cream in the summer.

Favorite materials to work with: my mind + other minds. Otherwise, a micron .01 black pen on Office Depot LaserPro 24# Bond will do

Past or present celebrity crush: 1980s: Tom Cruise, 1990s: Tom Cruise, 2000s: crush free, 2010s: anybody over 30

Kristin Rogers Brown / The Book of Love

Kristin Rogers Brown is a creative director, designer, and educator currently working as art director at Bitch Media, an independent media organization whose mission is to provide and encourage an engaged, thoughtful, intersectional feminist response to mainstream media and pop culture. Her work has allowed her to connect with passionate writers, and visual thinkers from all over the world who are similarly obsessed with music, the arts, and social change. In addition to designing, she is also an assistant professor at Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA), where she runs the senior studio in the illustration department and mentors thesis students.

Turn-ons: scrabble, mixed tapes, road trips, crying about sports

Turn-offs: fake banana flavoring, moths, mansplaining, condescension

Favorite materials to work with: smart, funny people

Favorite love song to sing at karaoke: Rock & Roll Suicide

Favorite romantic comedy: The Jerk

Flowers or candy?: pizza

STEPHANIE BRACHMANN / FIDO, YOUR LEASH IS TOO LONG

Stephanie Brachmann is a multidisciplinary artist living in Portland, Oregon. She has studied at University of Washington, Oregon College of Art & Craft, and Pacific Northwest College of Art. She enjoys dance parties and would like to know what it feels like to touch a cartoon. 

Turn-ons: belt buckles & puns

Turn-offs: narcissism & bad oral hygiene

Favorite materials to work with: ink, papier mache, fabric, yarn

69 Love Songs track you most identify with: "How Fucking Romantic"

Favorite love song to sing at karaoke: Kate Bush - "Hounds of Love"

Past or present celebrity crush: My first crush was Robin Hood from the Disney animated film; he's literally a fox.

Favorite romantic comedy: The Jerk

Flowers or candy?: both!

Yeah, but what KIND of candy?: Anything but Sweethearts.

Lisa Congdon / How Fucking Romantic

Portland illustrator and fine artist Lisa Congdon is best known for her colorful paintings, intricate line drawings, pattern design & hand lettering. Her clients include the MoMA, Harvard University, Lululemon, Random House Publishing and Chronicle Books, among many others. She is the author of seven books and was named one of 40 Women Over 40 to Watch in 2015.

M. Sabine Rear / The One You Really Love

M. Sabine Rear is a cartoonist, zine-maker, and the cute blind lady you gave your seat to on the bus.

Turn-ons: Prominent front teeth, earnestness

69 Love Songs track you most identify with: Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side; I like classic cars & funny-looking boys.

Favorite love song to sing at karaoke: Beast of Burden - Rolling Stones

Past or present celebrity crush: Alan Rickman

Favorite romantic comedy: Better Off Dead

Flowers or candy?: My ideal date shows up with a bouquet of chrysanthemums in one hand and a box of Hot Tamales in the other.

Jen Wick / Punk Love

Jen Wick is a really great creative director in town.

Turn-ons: epsom salts, sleep hygiene

Turn-offs: cold toes, cats

Dream project: gigantic newspapers

Favorite materials to work with: halftones and photocopiers

69 Love Songs track you most identify with: oh yeah

Favorite love song to sing at karaoke: rich girl

Past or present celebrity crush: weirdos in documentaries

Favorite romantic comedy: Beginners

My ideal Valentine’s Day consists of: fawning

Flowers or candy?: chocolate

Yeah, but what KIND of candy?: I already told you what kind.

Nathan Paul Rice / Parades Go By

Nathan was born and raised in San Francisco. He is unlearning in order to build toys and design interactive art installations. He is currently enrolled in the Applied Craft + Design program at Pacific Northwest College of Art and Oregon College of Arts and Crafts in Portland OR.

Kaley McKean /  Boa Constrictor

Kaley is a freelance illustrator based in Toronto, Canada, where she lives with Nolan Pelletier, a cat named Snoopy, and a snake named Opal. She likes to make colourful illustrations inspired by the natural world and history.

Turn-ons: Good with plants

Turn-offs: People who don't like disco

Past or present celebrity crush: Winona Ryder

Favorite romantic comedy: Valley Girl

Flowers or candy?: Flowers

Ping Zhu / A Pretty Girl Is Like…

Her work has been recognized and exhibited by American Illustration, Communication Arts, Society of Illustrators, Somerset House and the Art Director's Club (Young Guns 11).

Emily Isabella / My Sentimental Melody

Emily Isabella is a designer and illustrator based in the Hudson Valley, just north of New York City. Her rural surroundings inform much of her work and combined with frequent trips to the city, she is endlessly inspired.

She is a third generation illustrator who combines the world of illustration and design to create a dynamic style of sophisticated whimsy that is distinctively hers. Her designs and illustrations have been featured on wallpaper, fabrics, stationary, home goods, clothing, and books.  

Select clients include Kate Spade, Anthropologie, Hygge & West, Papyrus, Artisan Books, Chronicle Books, One Kings Lane and Birch Fabric.

Turn-ons: Kindness

Turn-offs: Flip flops

Favorite materials to work with: Goache, oil sticks, Arches paper

69 Love Songs track you most identify with: Nothing Matters When We're Dancing

My ideal Valentine’s Day consists of: I like to spend Valentines with friends, making things and wearing lipstick.

Flowers or candy?: I love candy.

Yeah, but what KIND of candy?: Candy coated black licorice in pastel colors or the darkest of chocolate.

Evah Fan / Nothing Matters When We’re Dancing

Evah Fan is an artist and illustrator whose work is sometimes the size of a pecan! She enjoys making zines, children’s books and art multiples. Her name pronounced in Swedish means “what the hell,” which she learned while studying for her master’s degree in Stockholm. She has been thawing out in California, sharing a studio with her husband and two cats that occupies their desktop.

Turn-ons: a good conversation

Turn-offs: being inconsiderate

Dream project: Doing packaging for my favorite snacks and a textile related project, maybe a rug?!

Favorite materials to work with: Acrylic Gouache

69 Love Songs track you most identify with: Reno Dakota, although it’s not the one that I got to pick for the show, ah so many good ones that I can relate to.

Favorite love song to sing at karaoke: That’s Amore by Dean Martin

Past or present celebrity crush: Past, Edward Furlong in T2! Present, Yosuke Kubozuka. He was in Ping Pong (2002) and in the Silence movie by Scorsese now.

My ideal Valentine’s Day consists of: Waking up to my cats and breakfast in bed. Maybe going on a hike, eat some fatty foods and then hit the roller skating rink.

Flowers or candy?: Candy!

Yeah, but what KIND of candy?: Mostly strawberry sour gummi candies such as Sour Power, Rips, Haribo Extra Sour Fruit Pasta, Sour Patch Kids and Haribo Strawberry Sour Snup!

Emily Skaer / Sweet-Lovin' Man

Emily Skaer is a motion designer & illustrator hailing from the mitten state. She’s a feminist, a runner, a cat lover and always on the search for the weirdest film in existence.

Conrad Crespin / The Things We Did and Didn’t Do

I am fascinated by how symbols are formed and developed into tools of communication and meaning.

I find inspiration in the modes and taxonomies that humanity imposes on itself. Simplicity and complexity are consistent sources of seduction.

Turn-ons: Intelligence

Turn-offs: Ignorance

Erik Marinovich / Roses

Erik Marinovich is a San Francisco based lettering artist and designer, and is a co-founder of Friends of Type. Since 2009 he has drawn letters, logos and type for nice folks like: Nike, Target, Google, Hilton, Facebook, Sonos, Sharpie, The Criterion Collection, Air Canada, Gap, Ford Motor Company. In 2012 he co-founded Title Case, a creative work space that conducts workshops and lectures. Between client work, teaching and side-projects, you’ll find him on the road promoting Keep Fresh Stay Rad and Let’s Go Letter Hunting, two new releases from Friends of Type published by Princeton Architectural Press.

Lindsay Eyth / Love Is Like Jazz

Whether I'm making personal adornments or useful objects, I aim to support women, queers, and anyone who's pushed to the margins in— loving themselves, loving each other, feeling seen & validated in the world, not taking shit, getting laughs in where they can, surviving & thriving, and doing the damn thing.

Ron Liberti / When My Boy Walks Down the Street

I am a freelance artist and musician born in 1967, raised on the Jersey shore and since 1991 live and work in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. I spend my time screen printing/collaging/illustrating/ making and listening to music and usually feeling very lucky to be doing things I love to do with the people I love to do those things with. 

Turn-ons: Good signage

Turn-offs: Misguided arrogance

Dream project: Move to Puerto Rico, live above a bar rent free in exchange for designing and printing posters for the Sunday afternoon punk rock matinees the bar puts on weekly. For a year.

Favorite materials to work with: Photocopies, Letraset, glue, tape, scissors, china markers, house paint, india ink, paper.

69 Love Songs track you most identify with: Nothing Matters When We're Dancing

Favorite love song to sing at karaoke: The Letter

Past or present celebrity crush: Martha Stewart

Favorite romantic comedy: Moonstruck

My ideal Valentine’s Day consists of: Getting stoned and going to the mall with my loved one, then us watching a "Vikings" marathon.

Flowers or candy?: Flowers

BT Livermore / Time Enough For Rocking When We're Old

BT Livermore was born in Minnesota, and like all Minnesotans, is covered head to toe with a downy layer of fur with which to keep warm during the winter. BT works in a multitude of mediums these days: sign painting, screenprint, letterpress, and wood, to name a few. In fall of 2016, BT packed up and moved from Portland to Butte, Montana, land of Big Skies and Cheap Studio Space, but plans to come back to visit frequently.

Lily Hudson / Very Funny

Lily is a writer but she tries not to let that stop her from making visual art. She loves to help artists with their writing.

Turn-ons: excessive body hair

Turn-offs: insufficient body hair

Dream project: Naming all the paint colors for Sherwin Williams

69 Love Songs track you most identify with: “I Don’t Want To Get Over You” for all the times when I haven’t acted in my own best interests

Favorite love song to sing at karaoke: “Superstar” by the Carpenters

Past or present celebrity crush: Dex Romweber from Flat Duo Jets (circa 1987) and David Rees (present day)

Favorite romantic comedy: Intolerable Cruelty

My ideal Valentine’s Day consists of: Kozy Shack and mutual admiration

Flowers or candy?: Candy

Yeah, but what KIND of candy?: Cornflake Ritter Sport bars and those orange jelly sticks covered in chocolate

Jenny Tiffany / Grand Canyon

I’m a freelance illustrato & designer living in Portland, OR. I love bright saturated colors and clean modern lines. My greatest source of inspiration comes from vintage ephemera and nature. I share my home with my wife, 2 cats, and 9 chickens.

Little Friends Of Printmaking / No One Will Ever Love You

Husband-and-wife team JW & Melissa Buchanan first made a name for themselves by designing and printing silkscreened concert posters, but soon branched out into further fields, designing fancy junk for whoever would pay them money. In addition to their work as illustrators and designers, they continue their fine art pursuits through exhibitions, lectures, and artists' residencies worldwide, spreading the gospel of silkscreen to anyone inclined to listen. The Little Friends currently live in Los Angeles.
 Turn-ons: Scorpios and complex carbohydrates

Turn-offs: Guys that come on too strong

Dream project: Redesign a state flag

Favorite materials to work with: Ink

69 Love Songs track you most identify with: Underwear

Favorite love song to sing at karaoke: Erotic City by Prince

Past or present celebrity crush: Rachel Maddow

Favorite romantic comedy: Punch Drunk Love

My ideal Valentine’s Day consists of: Too much Italian food

Flowers or candy?: Why would you even ask us that?! Candy of course.

Yeah, but what KIND of candy?: Sour gummies

Molly Mendoza / If You Don’t Cry

Molly Mendoza is an illustrator currently living in Portland, Oregon. She is captivated by the relationships that she has built with friends, family, and foes alike over the course of her life. Molly sets out to emulate those relationships through her chaotic yet rhythmic style to make some dang-good drawings.

When she isn't drawing she is probably watching sports anime or eating hotdogs.

Turn-Ons: petrichor, nice whiskey, summer nights, when people buy me nice whiskey.

Turn-ffs: mansplainin

Favorite love song to sing at karaoke: The Killers "Mr. Brightside" w/ an interpretive dance and floor routine.

Fran Krause /  You’re My Only Home

Fran Krause is an animator and cartoonist. He is currently a teacher in the Character Animation Program at CalArts, creator of several cartoons, and the creator of the Deep Dark Fears web comic series.

Turn-ons: Comics, Kindness, Patience, Diners, Breakfast, Breakfast, Pancakes, Breakfast

Turn-offs: Unwalkable neighborhoods

Dream project: Riding a panther made of clouds

Favorite materials to work with: Ink

69 Love Songs track you most identify with: The Book of Love

Favorite love song to sing at karaoke: I'm a car singer, not a karaoke singer. Modern Love by Bowie.

Past or present celebrity crush: Teddy Roosevelt

Favorite romantic comedy: Princess Bride

My ideal Valentine’s Day consists of: All the turn-ons, none of the turn-offs.

Flowers or candy?: Yes.

Yeah, but what KIND of candy?: Necco wafers, skybars, turkey joints.

Jim Datz / (Crazy for You) But Not That Crazy

Jim Datz is the Art Director of The New York Times Op-Ed page.

Favorite materials to work with: Pen and napkin and ebay

69 Love Songs track you most identify with: Two Kinds of People

Santiago Uceda / My Only Friend

Santiago Uceda was born in Lima, Peru, made his way to sunny So Cal and now resides in a sleepy college town in the Pacific Northwest. He is an interactive art director, illustrator and motion graphics artist. He has worked with many talented folks and institutions from global brands to non-profits, magazines, bands and private commissions. His work has been recognized by American Illustration, Latin American Illustración & International Motion Arts Awards.

oof. / Promises of Eternity

oof. is the Portland-based creative studio of Savannah Julian and August Miller. We specialize in the planning, design, and development of interactive experiences.

Turn-ons:

SJ: August

AM: Savannah

Turn-offs:

SJ: Loud eating

AM: Chaos

Favorite materials to work with: Code, Data, Vectors

Past or present celebrity crush:

SJ: Past: Matthew Broderick, Present: Carly Rae Jepsen

AM: Past: Natalie Portman, Present: Carly Rae Jepsen

My ideal Valentine’s Day consists of: Cheese plate

Flowers or candy?: Candy

Yeah, but what KIND of candy?: 

SJ: Reese's Pieces

AM: Butterfinger

John James F Dudek / World Love

John James is a friendly cartoonist who enjoys walking around. He used to own a restaurant but now he mostly draws comics, plays trivia, makes crazy plans, and enjoys plants.

Turn-ons: Plumes of heavy incense

Turn-offs: Losing track of a spider in my bedroom

Dream project: Storyboarding a reboot of Project G.e.e.K.e.R.

Favorite love song to sing at karaoke: Diana by Paul Anka

Past or present celebrity crush: Donald Glover and Danny Pudi together

My ideal Valentine’s Day consists of: Rosé and a dumb movie

Drew Marshall / Washington, DC

Drew Marshall designs websites by day and lurks with a brush in his garage in the night. He can paddle a canoe and bake apple pies to make you blush. Drew's dad jokes are cool-beans super funny.

Turn-ons: Pie

Turn-offs: Cake

Dream project: Paint the underside of the St Johns bridge

Favorite materials to work with: Acrylic, Pencil, Ink

69 Love Songs track you most identify with: Papa was a Rodeo

Past or present celebrity crush: Margot Kidder

Favorite romantic comedy: Honeysuckle Rose

My ideal Valentine’s Day consists of: Candlelit meatloaf dinner with Chimay

Flowers or candy?: Candy

Yeah, but what KIND of candy?: Pretzels in almond bark

Marylou Faure / Long-Forgotten Fairytale

My name is Marylou, I’m a french freelance illustrator working in lovely London!

I love to draw characters in their everyday life in a vibrant, colourful , pop style :) I also do a lot of hand drawn typography and I’m particularly interested in representing the female body. I like to draw anything as long as it’s done in a fun and quirky way!

I’ve recently had the chance to work with amazing clients such as Google, Deliveroo, Uniqlo, Adidas, Ford and some more cool brands.

Turn-ons: Music, chocolate, laughter

Turn-offs: Tiredness, too much chocolate, not enough laughter.

Dream project: Some type of outdoor installation.

Favorite materials to work with: Graphic tablet

Favorite love song to sing at karaoke: Somebody told me

Past or present celebrity crush: Leo <3

My ideal Valentine’s Day consists of: doing absolutely nothing

Flowers or candy?: both :)

Katie West / Kiss Me Like You Mean It

Katie West is a graphic designer and illusion in Portland, Oregon. She likes most of all to get a sweet note on Valentine's Day.
Turn-ons: an easy laugh

Turn-offs: complaining
Favorite love song to sing at karaoke: Running Up That Hill by Kate Bush (only song ever sang at karaoke...)

Past or present celebrity crush: Jeff Goldblum

Favorite romantic comedy: In A World

Flowers or candy?: Def both

Yeah, but what KIND of candy?: mini tootsie rolls and/or mini gummy frogs

Dan Cassaro / Papa Was a Rodeo

Dan Cassaro is a designer and illustrator in Brooklyn, NY. He is one of two Young Jerks, CEO of HorseTinder, and the first man to have sex with a brand. He ain't a beauty, but hey, he's alright. Dan lives with his wife and pet snakes in a converted 3D Printer.

Turn-ons: Pre-Acid Beatles, Post-Acid Rolling Stones

69 Love Songs track you most identify with: Papa Was A Rodeo in the streets, Busby Berkeley Dreams in the sheets

Favorite romantic comedy: My Life

Susie Ghahremani / Epitaph For My Heart

Susie Ghahremani is an illustrator, author, designer, and musician in San Diego, CA. She creates a collection of paper goods and gifts called Boygirlparty. She and her husband walked down the aisle to “I Die” by the Magnetic Fields. @boygirlparty on IG / twitter

Favorite materials to work with: Gouache on Wood

69 Love Songs track you most identify with: If You Don’t Cry

Favorite love song to sing at karaoke: Call Me by Blondie

Tess Donohoe / Asleep and Dreaming

Tess Donohoe is a multi-disciplinary designer who grew up in Denmark and is now calling Portland her home. She is a partner at the newly formed creative studio DeanDonohoe where she is working in a close collaborative partnership on creating custom experiences for a variety of clients. When she is not in front of a computer she tries to capture her impressions of the world through painting and drawing.

Dream project: A painted travel journal. Traveling around the world and painting in every city I visit.

Favorite materials to work with: Oil paint, Paper scraps and gouache

Past or present celebrity crush: Patrick Swayze

Favorite romantic comedy: Groundhog Day

Flowers or candy?: Candy

Yeah, but what KIND of candy?: Salty Licorice

Nolan Pelletier / The Sun Goes Down and the World Goes Dancing

Nolan Pelletier is an illustrator from Connecticut currently living in Toronto with his wife, illustrator Kaley McKean, and his cat, Snoopy.

Turn-ons: Harvest Gold

Dream project: Cereal Box

Past or present celebrity crush: Shelley Duvall in 3 Women

Favorite romantic comedy: They Came Together

My ideal Valentine’s Day consists of: Ordering in and watching Antiques Roadshow.

Flowers or candy?: Flowers

Maggie Chiang / The Way You Say Good-Night

Maggie Chiang is a Taiwanese American full time artist and part time dreamer. Inspired by both places real and fictitious Maggie's illustrations evoke a longing for adventure and the pursuit of the unknown, exploring impossible landscapes and places unseen. A central theme of her art is the relationship between humanity and nature, oftentimes the underlying thread that ties together her work and establishes her individual artistic voice.

Favorite materials to work with: Watercolor, graphite, gouache

Flowers or candy?: Flowers (Chrysanthemum)

Rory Phillips (Abigail, Belle Of Kilronan)

Rory Phillips is a freelance graphic designer and illustrator, subjects he also teaches at Portland State University.  He is originally from Belfast, Northern Ireland but currently lives and works in Portland ,OR.  He received his post-bac in Graphic Design from PSU in 2009. Since then, Rory has been lucky enough to work on a wide range of different projects; from animation and storyboarding, to papercraft and game design (plus just about everything in-between). He loves making things and hates writing about himself.  

Turn-ons: Wit

Turn-offs: Apathy

Favorite materials to work with: ink with pens or screen-printing screens

Favorite love song to sing at karaoke: Barry White-Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe

Past or present celebrity crush: Janeane Garofalo

Favorite romantic comedy: Repo Man

Robert Woodward / I Shatter

I believe that an image is the sum of a collaboration. The best are born from an intimate understanding of context, not only within the image's narrative, but also of the hands involved in it's creation, it's relevance in time and place, and finally within the personal perspective of the audience. I want to create stories that are bold and austere, and I believe that it is our responsibility as visual artists to challenge an audience's understanding of how a story is told through an image.

KATE BINGAMAN-BURT / UNDERWEAR

Kate makes work about the things we buy and the feelings we feel. The building blocks of her practice include: bright colors, hand lettering, inventories of illustrated objects, and input and interaction from the communities of awesome people who contribute to her crowd-sourced projects.

Phillip Stewart / It's A Crime

Pug Father. Snack Maker. Owner of Coffee Beer. Follow along at @coffeebeerme

Turn-ons: Pugs & Snacks

Turn-offs: No Pugs & No Snacks

Dream project: Pugs & Snacks

Favorite materials to work with: Snacks

69 Love Songs track you most identify with: It's A Crime

Favorite love song to sing at karaoke: Callin' Baton Rouge (Garth Brooks)

Past or present celebrity crush: Karen Allen

Favorite romantic comedy: Fight Club

My ideal Valentine’s Day consists of: Sexy Times & Sexy Dinner (In that order)

Flowers or candy?: Candy

Yeah, but what KIND of candy?: Ginger Newman-O's

MICHELLE LEIGH / BUSBY BERKELEY DREAMS

Michelle enjoys trivia, The Simpsons, and young adult fiction. Along with Cielle, she is the co-organizer of 69 Valentines 

Eva Landis / I'm Sorry I Love You

After growing up in the misty darkness of Washington State, I ventured south to search for the sun. I am currently living in an apartment full of potted plants and bones in Portland, Oregon, and just completed my BFA in Illustration at the Pacific Northwest College of Art.

Kelsey Wroten / Acoustic Guitar

My name is Kelsey Wroten and I work as a freelance illustrator and comics artist. I'm a Kansas City native currently living in Brooklyn, NY. I have worked with clients like The New York Times, The New Yorker, Nike, Lucky Peach, Lenny, Nick Magazine, Hershey, Cicada, Warby Parker, Vice, Bust and Bitch magazine. I also have been self publishing comics under the name Jukebox Comix since 2008. My work has won several awards including 3 Society of Illustrators Student awards, an AIGA award, 3 Gold circle awards, an ACP cartooning award, and a Jay Kennedy National Cartooning Award finalist nomination. I love coffee, craft beer, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

LK JAMES / THE DEATH OF FERDINAND DE SAUSSURE

I make work (books/comics/illustrations) about language, and how we contain and communicate ideas. I live in Portland, OR.

Dream project: build a website out of wood>>install it in front yard

Past or present celebrity crush: xxxxxxxxxxxxxPaul Newmanxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

My ideal Valentine’s Day consists of: beer + movie + beer + beer + take out + make out etc.

Yeah, but what KIND of candy?: m&m's!!!!!

Llew Mejia / Love in the Shadows

I'm a gemini, my favorite color is pale pink, I like long walks on the beach and I love kittens.

Turn-ons: My girls booty

Turn-offs: Smelly smells

Dream project: Oversized public works commissions

Favorite materials to work with: Flashe or gouache

69 Love Songs track you most identify with: Love in the shadows

Favorite love song to sing at karaoke: Hello darkness my old friend...

Favorite romantic comedy: None really hahaha they're so over the top and I feel like someone is trying to manipulate me...

My ideal Valentine’s Day consists of: Hanging out at home with my boo and drinking beers

Flowers or candy?: Candy

Yeah, but what KIND of candy?: Assorted gummies

Ben Javens / Bitter Tears

Ben left the beloved Yorkshire town he grew up in and moved to the heart of England where he graduated with a degree in Fine Art from the University of Central England. After wandering for several years in the wilderness that is life after graduation he found his true calling as an illustrator and hasn't looked back since.

Turn-ons: Music

Turn-offs: Bad music

Dream project: To write and illustrate my own children’s picture book

Favorite materials to work with: Wood

69 Love Songs track you most identify with: Bitter Tears

Favorite love song to sing at karaoke: I don’t sing in public

Past or present celebrity crush: Shirley Maclaine

Favorite romantic comedy: Some Like It Hot

My ideal Valentine’s Day consists of: Some me time

Flowers or candy?: Candy

Yeah, but what KIND of candy?: Liquorice

Marlowe Dobbe / Wi' Nae Wee Bairn Ye'll Me Beget

Ever since the portentous day her parents handed her a crayon, Marlowe has been illustrating. A Portland native and PNCA Illustration graduate, Marlowe draws inspiration from nature, myth, pop culture, and vintage Americana in her work. She is constantly experimenting and uses whatever tools she can get her hands on, resulting in colorful images that are brimming with unique textures and shape. When she's not working, Marlowe can most likely be spotted at a garage sale, where she's haggling with an old lady over the price of a sweater.

Turn-ons: Extensive knowledge of Pokemon

Turn-offs: Not being a hard-worker

Dream project: Illustrating beer labels!

Favorite materials to work with: Ink and crayons!

69 Love Songs track you most identify with: Time Enough for Rocking When We're Old

Favorite love song to sing at karaoke: Short Skirt/Long Jacket by CAKE

Past or present celebrity crush: Steven Yeun  

Favorite romantic comedy: Leap Year (Not Sorry)

My ideal Valentine’s Day consists of: Eating & Drinking at tap houses followed by an evening of video games

Flowers or candy?: Definitely flowers

Yeah, but what KIND of candy?: Not black licorice, that's for sure!

Kaye Blegvad / Yeah! Oh, Yeah!

Kaye Blegvad is an illustrator, designer, and general maker-of-things, who enjoys writing about herself in the third person. She was born & raised in London, studied illustration at the University of Brighton, and since then has lived between London and Brooklyn. Currently she lives in Brooklyn.

Taryn Cowart + Zack Franceschi / Experimental Music Love

Taryn Cowart and Zack Franceschi are lovers.
They love to sing love songs to each other, and to sixty-nine.

Reid Psaltis / Meaningless

Reid Psaltis majored in oil painting at Western Washington University, completed the science illustration graduate program at California State University – Monterey Bay. He interned in the Exhibitions Department at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, participating in the creation of the museum’s world famous dioramas. Reid’s work has been featured online at the Rumpus, Top Shelf 2.0, Study Group Comics and Trip City. His work has been published by Scout Books’ Good Ink series, Science Notes and Alternative Comics, and he is the illustrator of Dan Dan Berne's the Gods of Second Chances (Forest Avenue Press). He lives in Portland, Oregon.

Anthony Elder / Love is Like a Bottle of Gin

Anthony Elder is a designer and illustrator from Brooklyn, NY currently living in Chicago. He used to design YA book covers, but now he brands skyscrapers and draws dinky little pictures from time to time. He's humbled by the opportunity to partake in the 69 Valentines exhibition alongside such great artists and designers.

Turn-ons: Light switches, please (I'm afraid of dark).

Favorite materials to work with: bourbon + record player + micron pens.

Favorite love song to sing at karaoke: Train in Vain (Stand by Me): The Clash

Past or present celebrity crush: My fellow south Brooklynite Marisa Tomei, always and forever.

Favorite romantic comedy: The Wedding Singer

Flowers or candy?: I don't much care for candy.

Yeah, but what KIND of candy?: Fine, Jacques Torres chocolates.

Michael Buchino / Queen of the Savages

Michael Buchino is a single-image storyteller and principal at nope.ltd. He lives in Portland with a bike and a pencil.

Turn-ons: PMS 485

69 Love Songs track you most identify with: Claudia Gonson’s final, rhetorical and resigned inquiry countered by Stephin Merritt’s shrugging, matter-of-fact response in the sarcastically enthusiastic “Yeah! Oh, Yeah!” always made sense to me.

Past or present celebrity crush: Marcellus Gilmore Edson

Candy: Schoolkrijt

Name: Lowly Pencil / Queen of the Savages

Lowly Pencil is an artist and art educator living and working on the coast of Maine. Her art making is a daily practice in playfulness.

Turn ons: Pull chains

Turn offs: Switches

Dream Project: Waking up and drawing

Favorite material: Mechanical pencil

69 Love Songs track you most identify with: The Book of Love. "You can give me anything..." a rusty nail, a bottlecap, a broken token.

Celebrity Crush: Any actor that's busted their nose

Flowers/Candy: Flowers...of the crepe-paper/pipe cleaner variety

Cassandra Frances Swan / Blue You

Cassandra Frances is an illustrator and designer who lives and works too much in Portland. When she isn’t drawing—every- and anywhere, for money or for fun—or pushing pixels (mostly at Wieden+Kennedy) you can find her in the woods, wishing her cats could hike. You can see her work at cassandrafrances.com (although her website is constantly in need of updating).

Julia McNamara / I Can’t Touch You Anymore

Julia McNamara loves to draw. She draws with her kids at home, she draws with her college students, she draws for clients, and she draws just for fun.

Favorite love song to sing at karaoke: Love on the Rocks

Favorite materials to work with: crayons, felt tip markers, 9B graphite crayons, pixels.

Celebrity crush: Dr. Teeth

Favorite romantic comedy: Populaire

Flowers or candy?: Whiskey

Kinoko Evans / Two Kinds Of People

Hi! I am Kinoko Evans.

I'm a Pacific Northwest based artist and educator.My work uses character based narratives to tell visual stories. I find inspiration through reading and travel. I love to draw and I'm ambitious about formatting narratives into new mediums. Every new project is an adventure.

Bologna Sandwich / How To Say Goodbye

We are Kate Giambrone (left) and Julianna Johnson (right). Perhaps you've seen us exploring the streets of Portland or near the Portland State University campus where we enrich the minds of aspiring designers.

Lisa Brown / The Night You Can't Remember

LISA BROWN is an illustrator, author and cartoonist. Her most recent books include The Airport Book, Mummy Cat by Marcus Ewert, Emily’s Blue Period by Cathleen Daly, and the upcoming Goldfish Ghost, with author Lemony Snicket.  She is currently at work on a graphic novel about a carnival sideshow. Lisa teaches illustration at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco. but can mostly be found wasting time on the internets: www.americanchickens.com; @lisabrowndraws.

Turn-ons: Coffee, Cookies, Bourbon, Dirty books, My husband

Turn-offs: Everything else

Dream project: I think I am in the middle of it: a full-length graphic novel.

Favorite materials to work with: Pentel pocket brush pen + sketchbook.

69 Love Songs track you most identify with: Underwear.

Favorite love song to sing at karaoke: Tainted Love.

Past or present celebrity crush: David Bowie 4evah

Favorite romantic comedy: Truly Madly Deeply

Flowers or candy?: Both. Duh.

Yeah, but what KIND of candy?: Anything that is more like a cookie.

DOUG Studio / For We Are the King of the Boudoir

DOUG is your friendly neighborhood design studio. Founded by Jeffery Frankenhauser and Nicole Marsh, DOUG Studio focuses on approachable design for organizations in our community.

Dream project: Building an escape room.

Favorite materials to work with: Pens, paint, pixels, and puns.

69 Love Songs track you most identify with: Absolutely Cuckoo

Favorite love song to sing at karaoke: A Whole New World - Aladdin

Past or present celebrity crush: Lizzy Caplan

Favorite romantic comedy: She's All That

Flowers or candy?: CANDY DOESN'T DIE.

Jason Sturgill / Strange Eyes

I'm an artist based in Portland, Oregon specializing in conceptual work with a focus on character based illustration. Previously I worked as a graphic designer for Nike SB and Nike 6.0 in both apparel and brand design. I also spent several years at both Wieden+Kennedy and Dark Horse Comics.

Kathleen Marie / Xylophone Track

sensitive, experimental artist type.

Rilla AlexandeR | zebra

Rilla Alexander is an illustrator and graphic designer whose work has appeared on everything from toys and tea cups to busses and buildings. Her cast of characters dance across Museo del Prado's ceramics and stationery, populate Swiss Credit Cards and sleep on the walls of a Copenhagen hotel (where she replaced the bed with a tent). She has spoken at design conferences and led workshops all over the world and her work has been showcased at Paris’ cultural mecca Colette and at the Museé de la Publicité/Louvre.

Dream project: Anytime I am drawing animals, I am doing what 8 year old me dreamed of doing all day every day forever.