Creature Spot

Quick update! I just needed to tell you all about my absolute new favorite blog: Creature Spot. It’s basically a blog for a bunch of different concept artists to come together and share their sketches and creations and I am in LOVE with it. Amazing work and extremely inspiring to someone who once dreamed of joining Weta Workshop as a concept artist (I have no given up on that dream – someday it will happen!).

Anyway… a few favorites:

• The Explorer’s Guide to Drawing Fantasy Creatures by Emily Fiegenschuh
• WoW: TCG Cards by LD Austin
• Talisman: The Dragons by Christopher Burdett
• Dog Women, Fish Men, Cat Monkeys and Ox Horses by Ryan Firchau

Go check them out and much more over at Creature Spot!

I have been making occasional blog posts over at Fuel your Illustration. One of my new year’s resolutions (that’s another blog post entirely) was to be a better editor, and I’m certainly trying, though life likes to throw curve balls that limit my blogging time. BUT. I’ve got a few good posts I’d like to share with you.

Fuel Your Illustration Articles!

Webcomic Wednesday: Animals in Webcomics
December 15th, 2010
“I love animals. Much of my life is dedicated to them in fact, so it makes sense that some of my favorite webcomics happen to have animals in them…”

Interview with Patrick O’Leary
December 23rd, 2010
“A few weeks ago, while I was putting together one of our fabulous Five Flickr Fridays, I realized that I kept picking artwork from the same individual…”

Gregory Thielker’s Oil Paintings
January 10th, 2011
“Sometimes you come across an artist whose work just takes your breath away. That’s what happened when I was introduced to the paintings of…”

Interview with Bard Hole Standal
January 17th, 2011
“For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to be a writer and illustrator. In fact, I wanted to create children’s books and I wanted them to be fun…”

And today’s article:

Webcomic Wednesday: Art of the Epic Graphic Novel
February 9th, 2011
“Comics. Graphic novels. Is a comic a graphic novel or is a graphic novel a comic? I tend to think of a graphic novel as an epic comic, but comics don’t necessarily…”

Write For Us!

These are just my articles, there are a ton more of them over at Fuel Your Illustration by my awesome co-editor and some great guest writers. Interested in writing for us? Head on over and contact us! We’d love to hear from you.

There’s a new article up from me over at Fuel Your Illustration. This time it’s on one of my favorite art subjects: animals! I showcase three of my favorite pet artist and introduce you to some of their best work. Take a moment to look through them and possibly connect with them. They are a great group of women with very different styles. The article is For the Love of Dog: Pet Portrait Artists! Check it out!

I stumbled upon illustrator Rory Doona on accident. I was looking up fanart of Where the Wild Things Are and ran across a speed painting he did of Max. I ended back up at his blog and was blown away by the amazing artwork he has showcased. I cannot even begin to tell you what a treasure I’ve found.

Rory is a manga-style illustrator and animator based in Bristol, UK. He says, “My illustration work is often motivated by a need to create a sense of space and beauty, I also enjoy creating stories and one day hope to be in a position where I can publish these ideas.” His work has been published on local flyers, advertisements in magazines, and used in the well-known publisher TOKYOPOP.

At first glance, it’s easy to mistake Rory’s illustrations for those of animation genius (and personal icon) Hayao Miyazaki. The bright, bold, colors, the seamless linework, the fascinating and whimsical characters: the work demands your attention and your eyes are drawn to every use of light and shadow. I am in love with this other-worldly style he has captured. I want to be in these paintings and experience the worlds he has created. It is easy to see that every piece has a story behind it. Rory says on his facebook page, “My art is for everyone, I draw and design things that inspire me in someway and I hope by sharing them with others I can inspire them too.” I think it’s safe to say that he has certainly inspired me.

Find out more about Rory here:
RoryDoona.com
Rory Doona Blog & Gallery
DeviantArt page
Facebook page
OSnap Prints

Previous Artist Showcases:

I loved James Cameron’s Avatar. Huge, huge fan of this epic film. So when I stumbled onto this fantastic assortment of Avatar fan art, I just had to share. There are some great concept sketches here as well as some breathtaking digital manipulations. Go on and head over to Cretique’s post The Lost Art of Avatar: A Massive Collection of Over 155 Avatar-Inspired Art. Even if you aren’t a fan of the movie (that’s just silly), this artwork is fantastic. Thanks for the great showcase, Cretique!

Matt was born and raised in California, and his love for electronics came at an early age. “My mom used to give me broken (and sometimes not) clocks, radios, electronics, and let me to take them apart and see how things worked. Of course I could never put them back together, but the curiosity turned me into a full time tech geek and robot fan.” His passion certainly shines in his artwork.

Matt doesn’t just draw robots – he draws robots with personality. Each bot has a name and a story, from Rock Bot (who I fondly refer to as BowieBot in my head) to Robo-Squids to Heart-bot. I love them all. He gives his reader a daily dose of robot art and since I first started following him, my day just doesn’t start off right without a one. Along with the well drawn robots, Matt also has a great eye for color – these particular illustrations (he does other non-robot artwork) use muted colors but personally, I feel it makes the subject matter come out even more. It adds to their characters. Please take a moment to check out this great illustrator – if you love robots, you’ll love these.

Find out more about Matt here:

Website: MattSpangler.com
Store: Lunarc
Twitter: @mattqspangler

Previous Artist Showcases:

“My artwork is made to be fun and enjoyable as well as a bit open-ended to invite the viewer to add their own story to the imagery. Digital works are created on a Mac, using Photoshop and/or Illustrator.” David went to school for drawing and design at the University of Central Florida. Now, he creates beautiful pixel art and icons for Iconfactory, and spends much of his spare time creating wonderfully vivid illustrations.

My favorite aspect of David’s art is his unusual subjects. From monsters to ninjas, his art takes the imagination everywhere, all the while keeping true to the fantastical elements he portrays. Over and over again, his art has turned up on my desktops. If you view his portfolio, almost all of the images in his gallery can be downloaded as stellar wallpapers. If you think you could use a splash of color in your life, check out David’s art.

Find out more about David here:

Website: DLanham.com
FlickR: dlanham
Work: Iconfactory
Twitter: @dlanham
Formspring: dlanham

Previous Artist Showcases:
Chelsea Conlin
Meg Smitherman
Viet-My Bui
Danielle Corsetto
Lois van Baarle
Erika Moen
Anne Julie Aubry
Jason Chan

Chelsea Conlin is a freelance illustrator who has made her way around the world and back; she grew up in New York and moved to Rhode Island for school, then she moved to Sapporo, Japan where she spent several years teaching English before heading off to Colorado for a short stint. She now lives in the bluegrass state of Kentucky. She likes to hike, hang out with her greyhound, and most of all paint.

One of the things I love about Chelsea’s artwork is that no matter what it is, there’s a certain realism to it. Look at any of her subjects, whether it’s Cthulhu or a unicorn, every detail might possibly have come from the reality of a different world. She has a certain grasp of anatomy and depth of character that really makes her digital paintings stand out. From silly to elegant, fantastical to still lives, she is an artist to look out for.

Find out more about Chelsea here:

Website: Paper Nautilus
Blog: Paper Nautilus Blog
Deviantart: cacodaemonia
Twitter: @cacodaemonia
Livejournal: cacodaemonia
ConceptArt: Sketchbook
Tegaki E: cacodaemonia

Previous Artist Showcases:
Meg Smitherman
Viet-My Bui
Danielle Corsetto
Lois van Baarle
Erika Moen
Anne Julie Aubry
Jason Chan

Meg resides in the beautiful realm of Missoula, Montana, where she dresses in fancy clothes, plays lots of MMORPGs, and lives with her extremely geeky, tousled-hair boyfriend (Hi Greg). I met her through her writing when we were in high school, but to me, it’s her art that really stands out. Her character “sketches” are amazing and really bring out the personality of each and every one of them. She has a talent for filling even the simplest postures with emotion. And she likes to draw geeky things like World of Warcraft characters and dressing her and her boyfriend up in Star Trek-esque outfits. This makes her full of win in my book.

Go check out her art and her fashion blog (which she needs to revive!), and tell her how wonderful she is. Because she is. And pretty, as always. Yep.

Find Meg at these other Places:

DeviantArt: Rethe
Tegaki-E: MissMeg
Fashion Blog: Meg Sue & You
Twitter: @Megsauce

Previous Artist Showcases:
Viet-My Bui
Danielle Corsetto
Lois van Baarle
Erika Moen
Anne Julie Aubry
Jason Chan

Viet-My is Vietnamese by descent but was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia. She is currently going to school for Commerce/Law, but hopes to peruse her dreams of Art & Design once she graduates. I think she’s doing a fabulous job of it right now. From her DA info (because she says it best): “She is often found having lunch, but has stayed the same weight for the past six years. She understands this is probably a good thing, but fears that her body is a cholesterol time-bomb and that in twenty years’ time, she’ll inflate in her sleep and drown in 40 years’ worth of fatty deposits. ” She’s intelligent, artistic, beautiful, and funny.

Viet-My’s pieces are just incredible. The attention to detail and the textures she uses in her artwork are beautiful. Her primary focus is beautiful women and I cannot even count how many times I’ve used her artwork for my desktop (I have a weakness for beautiful girls). The expressions used, the light in the eyes, and personality of each piece shines. Her style is one of a kind, and I was hard-pressed to choose just three pictures to put in this showcase. Pretty sure I have almost all of her artwork Favorited somewhere. Go check out her DA gallery for more impressive and inspirational works of art.

More places you can find Viet-My Bui:

Deviantart: ravenskar
Twitter: @vmbui
Tumblr: Viet-My Bui
CGHub: Ravenskar
Carbonmade: Ravenskar

Previous Artist Showcases:
Danielle Corsetto
Lois van Baarle
Erika Moen
Anne Julie Aubry
Jason Chan