Artist Spotlight: Betsy Walton

I stumbled onto the work of Betsy Walton this week via BOOOOOOOM! and have fallen completely in love with her paintings and illustrations. Her use of gouache is inspiring and makes me aware that I have a long way to go before I achieve the mastery of the medium she possesses. Here is a little blurb from her profile (since she can better describe her process than I) followed by a few samples.

As a painter, I work with galleries and collectors, and on personal projects. Many of my paintings and drawings explore the tension and balance between the mysterious nature of our existence and the objects and environments we find in everyday life. We can experience the sublime in the same room where we fold the laundry, and perhaps at the same time.

My style is informed by a range of influences including Byzantine icon paintings, American folk art, geometric abstraction, and the work of many contemporary illustrators and painters. I work with a spontaneous approach and few expectations of specific results. I rarely sketch preliminary drawings before diving into a painting, in the belief that the image formed through the painting process itself will be rich, revealing, and vital.

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Jillian Tamaki

Jillian Tamaki is one of my favorite contemporary illustrators. I check her sketchblog almost everyday, hoping for some of her creativity and talent to rub off on me (to no avail). Her brushwork faithfully captures her subject's emotional state while giving the composition itself a sense of dynamism. Not only that, she has this amazing ability to tell a story within a single image. And her amazing storytelling powers extend beyond the realm of editorial illustration! In 2008, her graphic novel Skim won the coveted Ignatz Award for Best Graphic Novel. Here is a small sampling of her work:



More information on her novel Skim and other comic endeavors can be found on her portfolio site.

Artist Spotlight: Yuko Shimizu

Originally working in PR for a big corporation in Tokyo, Yuko Shimizu decided she was not happy working in the advertising/marketing industry and ran away to New York to study illustration at the School of Visual Arts. I was made aware of her work a few years ago, but I recently ran into her website again and decided to bookmark it to death so I am never without it. I love the fluidity in her work, the way your eye moves around her composition. Her subject matter is quite bizzare yet makes a strong point and keeps your hooked. It's the kinda thing I aspire to create in my own work. Here is a small sample of her work:

Water in the Desert

Moebius' 40 Days Dan Le Désert (40 Days In The Desert for the non-French) has been a tremendous inspiraton to me while working on my comic Alien Raver, as well as my work in general. I became aware of Moebius (real name Jean Giraud) when my cousin got me his compilation book Fusion back in high school. Most of his comics are within the realm of fantastical and delirious science fiction, with a graphic style ranging from extreme realism to a more dream-like nature. Désert is a series of drawings that focuses on a priest/archer figure residing in the desert who witnesses magical occurrences while approached by other desert dwellers whose cities seemingly rise and fall around him (in a nutshell).

In Désert he draws all 70 pages in ink (either with a micron or dip pen, not entirely sure) and supposedly without preparatory pencil drawings. His line work is so clean (very steady hands) and the amount of detail really gives each drawing an amazing sense of depth. The characters that populate his world are distinctive and go about their daily routines even while observed; yet they live under a deep shroud of mystery.

Flying Monkeys, Everywhere I Turn

I’ve been working on a Wizard of OZ illustration series based on the original book version for the longest now. Ever since I started on this project, I can't help but notice a bunch of Wizard of OZ comics that have/are coming out. It's quite a coincidence. Not that no one has ever thought of the subject, but it's just funny that it's come to my attention since I decided to illustrate scenes from the classic book.

Today at Midtown Comics, as I finished purchasing some Marvel titles, I noticed they had a free WOZ sketchbook promoting an upcoming comic mini-series by Skottie Young and Eric Shanower. Although I try not to look at other WOZ-related comics for fear that those ideas leak into my own work, I gave it the ol' look-a-roo and found the style treatment to my liking; A fun revisioning of the characters, very loose yet expressive brushwork and a rich, earthy color palette (from what I saw in the preview pages). I look forward to following this title when it goes on sale in December. You can find more info on it here.


The cover for the 3rd issue reminds me of my Poppy Field sketch.

Artist Spotlight: Leandro Castelao

Check out fun illustrations by Argentinian illustrator Leandro Castelao, whose pieces look like colorful circuit board designs (his David Bowie one really caught my eye).

Via Drawn

My Very Own Artist Spotlight at Skineart

I recently joined a moleskine-enthusiast blog called skineart.com, and they have featured my interview and additional art in their 'Artist Spotlight' for the week! Check out my interview here: