At the end of each month we’ll be bringing you a round-up of the best resources that we’ve found throughout the previous month. So without further ado, here’s what we found in January 2012…
Inspiration
Kevin Dart’s Work
If you’re a fan of cool art and animation with a retro twist, then you must check out Kevin Dart - his use of light, design and muted colour palettes are a thing of beauty.
Start by having a peek at his latest animated short for Italian Sunglasses company Persol.
Sebastià Serra’s Work
I was thrilled to discover Sebastià’s beautiful work while looking for a Christmas themed picture book for Mali and was bowled over when I found ‘A Pirate’s Night Before Christmas’ - a unique take on the Christmas classic, this pirate version is beautifully illustrated by Sebastià in his unique and stunning style.
Dave DeVries’ Work
Ever wonder what fully rendered versions of kids drawings would look like? Wonder no more and head over here to find out, you’ll be glad you did! You can see more of Dave’s work here.
Two-Handed Drawing
I couldn’t quite believe my eyes when I saw this video of an artist drawing portraits of well-known celebrities using both hands at the same time. These weren’t crude drawings but beautiful studies of light and shadow, capturing spot-on likenesses.
Never mind the co-ordination it takes to draw with both hands, how on earth do you look at and focus on what you’re drawing when each hand is drawing a different person? - Mind blowing (if it’s genuine - what do you think?).
Ryan. A’s Work
This is a recent discovery from the last few days, thanks to the guys at Drawn. Ryan A’s online comics are both gorgeously written and illustrated - a great example of what the medium of sequential art delivered online can be with a little thought and creativity (and a great big dollop of talent!). My favourite has to be ‘Sarah & The Seed’ - haunting and heartwarming at the same time.
Interviews
Illustration Friday Artist Interviews
There is a great series of Illustrator interviews over at Illustration Friday, all conducted by the amazing Yuko Shimizu, that are well worth reading. Highlights were the interviews with Sam Weber and Chris Buzelli.
Podcasts
Now that the excellent Escape From Illustration Island podcast series has come to an end, you may be looking for a little something to fill the gap…look no further! Superstar Illustrator Sam Weber now runs a live audio show called ‘Your Dreams My Nightmares’.
If you’re not able to catch it live on WSVA Radio, you can catch up with all the episodes on the YDMN site.
Process Posts
Justin Gerard
Super talented Illustrator Justin Gerard has been sharing the creation process of one of his brilliant Illustrations on his blog. He takes you step-by-step through his traditional watercolour to digital process warts and all, including a complete re-do of the piece after noticing compositional problems with it - lots to learn here and fun to read. You can read the first one here but be sure to check out all 7 in the series.
Greg Manchess
Father Christmas as you’ve never seen him before in this great little process post for Greg Manchess’s take on ‘Santaman’, for the short story ‘If Dragon’s Mass Eve Be Cold And Clear’.
Maria Bogade
To celebrate the release of her German picture book ‘Schlafplatz Gesucht’ (‘A Place To Sleep’) Maria Bogade takes us through the process of creating a children’s picture book in this series of super useful posts on her blog.
The Storyboard / The Roughs / Final Illustrations
Informative
James Gurney - The Colour Blue In Toy Story 3
Reading James Gurney’s blog is always a great artistic education and this short post about the power of colour is no exception, relaying the significance of the colour blue in ‘Toy Story 3′.
Alicia Padron - Children’s Illustration FAQ
Children’s Illustrator Alicia Padron has set up a wonderful resource blog answering the many questions she is frequently asked by aspiring children’s illustrators. The site offers a wealth of information and is well worth checking out.
You can also find an in-depth interview with Alicia in the children’s Illustration special edition of the zero2illo IlloZine.
Nate Williams - Ideas For Generating Ideas
This is quite an old post from Nate Williams but one I re-visited last month, as it’s packed full of thought-provoking information on the process of generating Illustration concepts.
6 Steps To Creating A Knockout Online Portfolio
This post is mainly focused on design portfolios, it still has lots of great tips that can just as easily be applied to Illustration portfolio’s too.
That’s a wrap for January’s round-up post - we hope you’ve found it useful and look forward to bringing you lots more Inspiration and Information next month.
