Bear Nuts

I just had to do this sooner or later, in fact I’ve been craving to rant about how much I love this comic. I stumbled upon it on and off over the years, always forgetting the name of it, or loosing the link to the comic due to computer troubles I’ve had in the past. Found it again a bit ago and finally played catch up looking through all they have so far. If you know this comic then yay you. It’s called Bear Nuts. It’s a comic about a bunch of bears living in zoo, and they are designed kind of like carebears (kind of like that spoof I showed last time of the Cabbage Patch Kids). The artists that make this comic are Alison Acton and Jim Charalampidis, a married couple that are freelance artists. I’m not fully sure if Jim also illustrates with Alison, but their deviantart accounts make me think yes. They are both wonderful illustrators and their normal artwork is very nice, but the style they use in Bear nuts is something I’ve always loved, cause it's close to a style I wish my work leaned more to. Their bears are just so cute with big eyes, and expressions that range from cute to hilarious. Each with a interesting personality that are just wonderful in every way (hehe). I’ve tried in the past to make comics myself, but my style is very unstable that I can always see the difference of a character one box to the next, which makes me lean away from ever being a comic artist, well one of the many reasons. The way that these bears are illustrated are perfectly consistent a skill I really envy. Overall style is just so enjoyable to me. And the story itself puts me in giggle fits time to time. Above, I’m showing one of the wallpapers they have on their site, this is kind of the whole cast, but there have been others.

Brandon Boyd

This week I am presenting you with some illustrations from Incubus front man Brandon Boyd. They can be found in his book titled, "White Fluffy Clouds". The book is Vol. 1 of 2. I suggest flipping through it if the chance ever arises. Or if you feel like buying the damn thing it's packaged beautifully in two separate cardboard cases with text and drawing printed on the exterior. NOICE I know!

It takes on the feeling of a journal. Not a journal of strictly writings but a journal of thoughts expressed through art as well. Most of his artwork is very whimsical or tribal and often includes a female figure. His washes are crisp and his color palette vibrant. His art to me tells a story, one of constant questioning and exploration. I could easily see his work in a children's book or graphic novel.

The piece above is one of my favorites from White Fluffy Clouds. It can be found on pages 11 and 12 with a close up on pages 9 and 10. It also happens to be on the book cover and back. Its a side profile of a woman with elf like qualities. Her large ear, eye and lips with her dainty pointed nose are what lead me in that direction. Moving back from her face to her dreaded hair intertwined with flowers. There are swirls and patterns leading the eye in and out of the mess of hair and back to her face popping out away from the subtle pattern in the background. There is a very natural feel to a lot of Boyd's work. The warm oranges and reds mix with a slate blue for contrast. Most everything has a thick contour surrounding its color or lack of it.

All of his work is unique and definitely from somewhere "upstairs". I love to see the visual side to such a vocal person. It's just one step closer into their thoughts. If you want to know more check out his book site here.

Katie Rice

To be honest, I haven’t been paying too much attention to illustration around me, so once again, here’s an artist that I recently discovered through a friend. Her name is Katie Rice and her site is http://funnycute.blogspot.com/

Most of the work that she posts is rather sketchy, sometimes taken directly from her sketchbook or even from the post-it notes that she occasionally uses. Part of her distinctive style comes from the unfinished quality of her drawings. Her ability to capture the likeness of a person is really impressive. Katie also works with animation, so the people that she draws are incredibly gestural and expressive. Some of my favorite pieces that she’s done are quick caricatures of characters from movies like Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, to name a couple.

I’m especially drawn to Katie’s work because of the detailed layers that she applies to even the most basic sketches. Most of them look like they’re begun in pencil or pen with colored pencil and marker additions to create depth and personality. Her drawings are reminiscent of Tim Burton’s rough sketches, so that’s definitely a draw for me, at least. I’m not sure what I would classify her as: an illustrator, animator, storyboard artist, comic artist, character designer… Maybe just a generic label of “artist” would work because she falls under a lot of categories found in the design world.

Don Pendleton

Don Pendleton is a illustrator out of Dayton, Ohio. He has done a lot of skateboard deck graphics for companies such as Alien Workshop and element. He has also collaborated with Mountain Dew with the "Green Label" artist series. He creates very abstract free flowing patterns and forms characters in them. You have to look at his works for a long time to really see everything that is going on. You can see a lot of influence from cubism in his work. It has a warped sense of depth where you can see a multitude of viewpoints. It's definitely interesting to see cubism influencing illustration.

Tanja Szekessy

Tanja Szekessy is a German Illustrator I found last semester while looking through a magazine. I can’t really find much information on her other than she studied visual communication at the UdK Berlin and now works as an independent illustrator in Berlin. I love her stylized line work and how she mixes a diagrammatic style with an almost comic style.

I enjoy how descriptive the line work is, and I feel like she’s really good a giving her figures descriptive, gestural poses. She outlines everything, and the lines she uses really describe each figure realistically—even though everything is simplified.

Her color use is also really effective. Most of the color is quite flat and simple, however, it works quite well with her style. The simple color choices bring more attention to her descriptive line work. I think it is interesting how she gives her characters circle cheeks. It almost makes them look like dolls, yet it doesn’t take away from her overall style.  Her work becomes quite fanciful in some pieces, yet retains its graceful line work. However, all of her work (at least on her website) seems really cohesive.

Some of the details in these pieces are my favorite aspects of her work. The eyelashes on the first character are quite beautiful, and the fact that the second character doesn’t have pupils really fits with the mood of the piece.

Nick Dewar

Nick Dewar was an American illustrator who sadly passed away at the beginning of this year. His work has always been some of my favorite. He actually served as a portion of the reason that I desired to study illustration. I am a sucker for dark, thick outlines around figures as well as large, consistent fields of color. These two things were very characteristic of Dewar.

In the top piece, which is much more of what people normally associate with Dewar, is so much fun to me. Using minimal color and line, the piece presents a very particular mood and concept. I've interpreted this piece as a commentary on the nature of a human relationship in western society. The bubbly shapes jutting out of the otherwise basic figures seem to represent the edges of puzzle pieces, making a sort of snarky joke about the desire and/or inability to locate a perfect match in the romantic world. Maybe he intended something else... I don't know. This is what I see.

My point is that Nick Dewar had the ability to really convey something that could be insanely complex with the smallest bit of visual information. Of course not all of his work was so specific or full of meaning, but pieces like this are not few.

I am in a Figure Drawing class this semester and while my professor was laying the guidelines for our first drawing session, he told us "detail is only appropriate when it supports structure". I take this as a more verbose way of saying "less is more". To some degree, this concept applies to almost everything. Though attention to minute visual details in illustration may be impressive and entertaining, the concept of simplistic genius impresses me much more.

Imagine the couple in Dewar's illustration recreated sans puzzle bubbles. Imagine them drawn to near-realism, placed in a kitchen, and with word bubbles floating above them. Imagine the conversation about the state of their relationship. It may be interesting to look at for a bit...but, isn't it better to just get to the point in a fun creative way like this? I think so.


P.S. Sorry I did not post last week. I was home sick all week and am still without internet in my new apartment.

Romantically Apocalyptic

More webcomics Laura? Come on now...

Yeah guys. One more. I'll be more creative next week I promise. But this week, I'm throwing Romantically Apocalyptic your way. Why? Because it's one of the most interesting methods of illustration I've seen in a while. The logistics that go into this comic are beyond impressive.

Each of these comics is a multi-media crazy storm of technique, layering, and loving meticulous rendering. The comic only puts out one or two updates a month, but it's well worth the wait. So far, there are only 27 pages of comic, due mostly to the fact that the artist has had to take frequent breaks from illustrating in order to direct the pilot for the live action adaptation of the comic. Screen shots show that the live action result will be extremely close to the style of the illustrations themselves.

Each comic is a layering of textures, photographs, green screens, digital painting, live (and apparently dead) models. Each of the landscapes in the images are photographs taken by the artist Vitaly S. Alexius who has taken them over the last six years, of abandoned cityscapes and the like, mostly from Europe. The craftsmanship on these panels is absolutely fantastic. While it can occasionally be easy to see the photography aspect in the comics, Alexius meshes the realistic into the illustrative elegantly and effectively.

The story follows the adventures of "The Captain" (A fellow that is clearly off the edge but constructively so) and his surviving assistants in a post nuclear holocaust city. The events through just the first 27 pages address things ranging from fights between the captain and the skeletons left in the city, to arguments with his assistant over the use of the only non-radioactive straw in a 10,000 mile radius, to an encounter with aliens who have come to examine the remains of the planet. The exact year is undetermined, explained as only 20--something something, and the amount of time that has passed since the bombings that have left the city as it is is also unknown.

The comic is of course, not the only thing Alexius is up. So click through her name above to see her personal website and take a look at some of her photography as well as her illustrations.