Jon Klassen is an illustrator and artist I have only just discovered but wish I had known about all my life. He is the 2014 Kate Greenaway prize winner and produces the most beautiful, minimal but gloriously textured illustrations for children's picture books. His stories have so much wit in them too, they're just off the wall enough. Take the bear in 'I want my hat back', his facial expression and posture barely change in the entire book, even when he is lying down he has the same stance just horizontal! It's such deadpan humour that is really appreciated by adults reading his books to their kids, and the limited facial features actually allow the kids to project their feelings onto the character.
Sometimes simpler is better. His use of blank space makes his illustrations feel really contemporary and uncluttered even though the areas of illustration can be very textured and layered. There is still plenty to look at.
"Now we see the little fish at last. Now he's looking right at us. He's getting more and more confident, he's like: "Look I'm going to talk to you guys." You know what he's feeling because the eyes are a symbol of the feeling. I don't really like drawing complicated acting as much. I was in animation for a while before I started making children’s books and I have always looked for symbols of emotion. How do you really draw someone who’s devastated or happy? I can't draw what a guilty fish actually looks like so I have to make a symbol of it." - Jon Klassen in an interview with The Guardian. 
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