Tom Richmon Week:4

Tom Richmond is an American illustrator working today. Most of you may know him from his work with MAD Magazine. He started working there in 2000, and is a major contributor today. He does a lot of parody illustrations off of TV shows and movies. I like the way he works a lot because he specialized in caricature and he can really find a way to make fun of something. You can even like the show or movie, and still laugh at it. He use traditional media to layout his artwork, and then colors it in on Photoshop. He also uses watercolor and airbrush with his caricature work. I really admire comedy artist like Tom, because its what I try to do with most of my own work. This image is from the movie School of Rock. The movie was ok (not my favorite Jack Black movie) but I think the artwork represents his work pretty well. When he works he leaves the speech bubbles blank and the editors and writers fill them in. He’s an awesome comedy illustrator.

Week 4 post - "Gender"

This is an illustration by Darion McCoy titled “Gender.” I guess what I like about this is the color scheme and that the subject is not immediately apparent. We see a young boy (but possibly a girl?) walking through the hallway at school, staring at his shadow cast on the lockers. But then you notice that his shadow has breasts and has more curves, and her arms are swinging from her sides rather than holding books. This is a very psychological illustration and I think that’s what drew me to it.
This artist’s style is very interesting to me. He frequently abstracts the human form, and fills the background with shapes you would not expect to find in that setting. The color scheme is very unnatural, it is mostly complimentary colors, but most notably, the boy’s shadow is lighter than its surroundings. The line quality varies between the crisp smooth outlines of the figure, and the wobbly, uneven lines of the background.

http://www.darionmccoy.com/illustration.html

Metropolis Coffee Company- poster

couldn't fine the creator for this poster, saw this in the lunch room in the Wabash floor. I took one look at this and was amazed by its simplicity that produced this aesthetic feel that really drew me in. The poster was designed for the coffee company metropolis, which has designs that creates these Nouveau kind of art. I love how it captures the essence of the city personality into the logo and have this 50's look to it. overall this style of art is what i really want to achieve for my future job.

Wallace Tripp

I don’t remember exactly when I first came across Wallace Tripp, but I do know it must have been a young age—my dad had somehow come into possession of his book, “Wurst Seller”, and I’ve always admired Tripp’s illustrations and wit displayed in this book, even if some of it was probably not appropriate for a little girl.

Wallace Tripp has purportedly illustrated over 40 books, one of these being parts of the “Amelia Bedelia” series, which I also loved as a child.  I was surprised to discover this fact, as the only thing I had previously associated him with was “Wurst Seller”.

“Wurst Seller” is a compilation of silly and dramatic illustrations, though the most of them run the silly course.  Most of the illustrations are simple, but still retain the sketchy, casual feeling that Tripp emulates through his illustrations.  However, some drawings have small areas that are extremely detailed which show off Tripp’s talent.

Robot & Doughnuts

Eric Joyner is a contemporary artist that attempts to use styles and techniques to mimic art from the 1920’s and 30’s. He makes his work seem older then it is by using the techniques that were heavily used during that time period. As artists started to experiment with their tools of choice painters started taking advantage of paints natural viscosity and how the brush stroke can be seen long after the painting is complete. Joyner has a lot of weight to his brush strokes and is not concerned about making his work as real to life as possible. However, he does work mainly in Robots and Doughnuts so realism is not hard to achieve. It is quite easy to see the gesture of the brush in every painting he does.

Joyner often illustrates freelance and occasionally for periodicals and companies. However, he tends to only publicize his personal art. He severely separates himself into two different artists, one that illustrates to earn money and another that illustrates for the joy of it. Choosing to only show his Robots and Doughnuts series to an increasing fan base. Seemingly he joyfully creates these lighthearted pieces to profit off of and realize the back of the brain dream most artists have, to get famous off of art they enjoy to make. He seems to be at this point selling prints of his work for about 500 dollars.

As his material has become more popular he seems to create more of the same. The soft, mildly chaotic and lighthearted illustrations are very all purpose. They seem to be able to go just about anywhere in a house and perhaps that is why he is making such a killing doing what he is doing. It may also explain why he is doing more of the same even after all of this time.

Week 4: Drew Struzan

For this week, I decided to go with a piece from an illustrator who is more well-known. It is likely that even if you do not know Drew Struzan's name you have seen his work, as he is the man behind some pretty iconic illustrated movie posters (Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Harry Potter being prime examples). However, I have never seen this piece, done for Pan's Labyrinth, outside of his gallery website, even though, according to the caption on the site, it was done for promotional purposes.

Stylistically, the piece seems to draw heavily on the organic motifs and more decorative backgrounds of Art Nouveau. In addition, the muted colors have a definite resemblance to Arthur Rackham's work, something that I think was intentional given who the illustration was for. In terms of style, it is definitely successful.

In terms of the content, I feel that this piece captures a main theme of the movie really well. I recall someone once saying that though the tasks that the faun gives to Ofelia are terrifying, they are less horrible than the other circumstances in her life. This illustration shows this perspective perfectly, as a distraught Ofelia seems to find comfort in the faun's magical world. What I find particularly interesting about this piece, and this may just be reading too much into it, is the faun's direct gaze at the viewer. There is something accusing in his expression, as if he holds the viewer responsible for Ofelia's grief.. if this was the artist's intent, it is intense and I love it. For this reason, this is my favorite Struzan piece, even if it didn't really see much use in promotional material.

For anyone interested in a trip down memory lane, see more of Drew Struzan's work at his site.

Matthew Laskowski

I just came across this piece on a whim, but it caught my eyes straight away. The scene is obviously inspired by the anime style and succeeds in capturing quite a mundane slice of life. Probably one most of us have witnessed and been a part of while commuting around the city. The detail and presence of the line art and the sort of simpleness of the colors give the scene a rather crisp look to everything. The use of the light, the frame of the door, and an uncommon hair color all help pull the focus on the girl stepping out. It’s just a simple, nice, but well done picture to look at overall.