jen wang.

By the time I was ready to sit down and write this out, I realized that I was lucky enough to experience the joy of the internet being down. Thus, I didn't have a whole lot of time to really explore new artists online, so I browsed through some favorite illustrators for this week. Jen Wang has been a huge illustration inspiration for me.

There's something about cartoon work being done in watercolor that seems contradictory, but works really well (at least as far as I'm concerned, it does.) I suppose it may be due to the fact that for cartoon work makes me immediately think of the more color blocked styles of classic Disney cel-shaded animation and bold comic books. Watercolors are such an excellent medium, however. They make everything look so dreamy and peaceful.

The cooler color palette makes this image feel nostalgic. It reads as a snapshot, yet the cutaway aspect brings it somewhere that isn't easy reached by traditional photography. Most of all, however, I'm impressed by the fact that the characters in this illustration all feel like they have personality. Jen Wang captures emotion so well in her work, that a viewer can't really help but feel like they know her characters... or at least feel the need to empathize with them.

jenwang.net