As an artist, I find inspiration from a lot of other artists that I really love. It couldn’t be more true in this case since this artist also happens to be my “special lady friend,” Azucena Nava-Moreno. We just finished setting up her brand new website which is full of wondrous things. Click on the pic below and go look. You’ll be amazed. And I ain’t just sayin’ that ’cause she’s my girlfriend.
I first came across Michael Sloan’s work via Drawger.com. I really admire his minimalist brush work, where there’s just enough information given to tell you what you need to know. He recently illustrated a dream he had one night, and upon waking he wrote it all down so as not to forget it (as we all often do). He was compelled to do so because the dream was a particilarly coherent tale. Click the pic to read it.
Michael Sloan is also the creator of the Professor Nimbus comics, many of which can be read online, right here.
I thought I’d share these wood block paintings that my super-amazing girlfriend, Azucena Nava-Moreno, is doing for a gallery show (not sure which one or where yet). Anyway, we’re working on a website for her so she can strut more of her stuff. For now, I give you these works in progress!
Whatever happened to Rustboy?
I was filling my new bookshelf a few weeks ago and, as what always happens, I start wasting time by leafing through a book I hadn’t looked at in a while. In this case it was Brian Taylor’s Rustboy: Re-animating a Lifelong Dream.
Brian had started his Rustboy short film project some years ago (ten maybe?), and created beautiful looking animation with what was the available software of the day, all on his own. He published his progress on a slick website where he featured preliminary drawings, storyboards, test animations, and even specially composed music. It naturally garnered him quite a lot of attention.
Though the project was never finished, Brian still produced his “making-of” book, as well as some really cool Rustboy vinyl toys (which make me want an Ellie vinyl toy so much. One that has a green light in her torso). I had heard that there was even a children’s book in the works (haven’t seen one yet though).
Here’s some animation from Brian Taylor’s Rustboy for you to enjoy:
BibliOdyssey is a blog I visit from time to time to view beautiful pages from books of the past, maps, natural history prints, and other good things. I was going through the archives and ran accross a post of original Winnie The Pooh drawings by E.H. Shepard.
I had always thought Pooh held a place kind of at the periphery of those things that inspire me. However, these images have become so ingrained into my head over the years that I can’t help but believe they’ve woven their way into my drawings more than I realize. I love Shepard’s scratchy pen lines and his interpretations of Pooh and friends are so simple and iconic.
And, of course, Pooh represents all that is simple and good in the world. “It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn’t use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like “What about lunch?”
We made every attempt to make it to the James Gurney Dinotopia exhibit in Midland, Michigan over the weekend, to no avail. Managing to get there with ten minutes to closing, we couldn’t justify full price – nearly a dollar a minute. So instead of cool photos of me and Azucena standing next to Gurney’s incredible art, I’ll offer a link to his blog instead. Gurney Journey is not just a peek into the art of the creator of the Dinotopia series of books, it’s an in-depth course in art history, processes, and anatomy. Check it out!
My great friend (and great inspiration) John sent me his interpretation of Muffin. John does a thing he calls phony woodcuts, where he draws the subject at hand in reverse and then inverts the white to black and black to white in Photoshop. The results really do have a woodcut look to them. He even added some color to this one. Swing by John’s website and check out his work. He’s got some wonderful real woodcuts, and some beautiful micropointilism paintings that have an interesting process to them. Thanks John!
Dinosaur Comes To Town was one of the books that inspired me to be an artist as a kid. My sister claimed ownership of this book in our household, but me being the dinosaur geek that I am, I swiped it every chance I could. The artist, Art Seiden, was notably a children’s book illustrator, but also set the tone for advertising in the 1950s and 60s. I love the texture he creates with gouache and what looks like water colors. His characters are simple looking shapes that are anything but – they’re easily recognized and iconic. Plus there’s that nostalgic thing going on. His work reminds me of a time when I didn’t have to worry about anything except if I were going to miss Sesame Street.
You can find the entire book posted at Golden Gems, a blog that describes itself as “a collection of little golden books and other vintage & modern illustrations meant to inspire and delight.” It certainly does. You can also find some more of Seiden’s illustrations at Today’s Inspiration by Leif Peng and more at his Flickr page too.