Don Kenn is a European based Illustrator. However, unlike most other artists his chosen medium is ink on post-it notes. Apparently he only uses the supplies that are available to him in his office in Denmark. His Illustrations are usually of monsters and other similar weird things. Sometimes he also includes a lone innocent looking kid that the monsters investigate.
Similarly to Kenn I enjoy working in small spaces and in pure black ink. I feel that pens and ink are majorly overlooked in favor of colours. I personally believe that ink is widely underutilized and Kenn’s heavy use of it gives me a fuzzy warm feeling only an Illustrator passionate about ink can get. I believe that the amount of detail that is used really makes the whole piece complete. If any of those little lines were not utilized as they are I do not think that each post-it would have the same amount of zest. I would not say that I emulate the style but I have adapted some of my own techniques to get similar shading and texture results.
I think it's really interesting that he does his work on post-it notes.. Often there's a lot of pressure to use "real" art materials to make art, but this guy is proof that a good artist can make solid art with anything. Even office supplies.
ReplyDeleteI wish this piece was bigger. I can see all the detail is there, but I can't look at it any closer, so it's...frustrating, or disappointing. This visual texture is great, and the scraggly teeth of the monster figures is really cool. I'm impressed this is pen, it looks very refined, and the lines are so fine.
ReplyDeleteI like this piece. It has such a surreal, creepy, but fun feel to it. I do enjoy the texturing of the ink used for the monsters and how he is able to create different values. I also agree strongly with the point that it shouldn't matter what kind of material you use as long as the end product is a good piece.
ReplyDeleteI love how he got the ink to give that "fuzzy warm felling" like you said Don. It reminds of a Wizard of Oz or Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends look. The monsters look frighting, but as I look at the layout of the material it is inviting and smooth.
ReplyDeleteI love this piece. It is so creative and dark. The medium the artist used was perfect. It is a very fun piece of art and his rendering is awesome. Pen and ink is very hard to do and I think he mastered it in this drawing.
ReplyDeletewhen i started really getting into drawing, i went straight ink on paper so i can really respect this a lot. it takes great skill to draw that small on post-it notes haha
ReplyDeleteI usually find myself drawing at work too, although mine aren't quite as successful. I really like his technique in using such small line marks. I like how the illustration is both funny yet kind of creepy in that these monsters are stalking little kids as they are walking down the street. The fact that he completed this on a post-it is ridiculous, but makes it that much more awesome.
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