This is my Summer holiday project. It'll be interesting to see this in a few years. I apologise if the images are too large. Click on them for a closer look.
This is by an illustrator called Joao Ruas. I stumbled on this artist recently and the majority of his works are very strong tonal pieces and sketches. He uses tone very effectively; his pictures are bold, striking and often abstract. In this picture he uses charcoal and gouache.
Hayao Miyazaki's created very distinct worlds often influenced by European architecture. His work feels very natural in both it's movement and appearance. He believes the key to becoming a great animator in experiencing things first hand and living life to the fullest.
I think that rule ought to apply for many illustrators too.
Shaun Tan has such fantastic visual communication skills that he was one of the first I thought to add to this list. The picture above is from his book "The Arrival" where a man leaves his family in order to make a fresh start in a new country where the language, customs and landscape are alien to him. On this page he is struggling to negotiate with the immigration officers to gain entry to the new country.
The etchings by Gustave Doré are so complex and beautiful. This piece taken from the "Paradiso" series shows Danté and Beatrice staring into God, shown as the brightest point of light being circled by angels.
Tetsuya Nomura is a concept artist for the Final Fantasy series. Although not the most popular game of the series Final Fantasy X is one of my favourites because of the impact that the game's art style had on me. I chose Valefor as one of my inspirations over the other summoned spirits such as Ifrit and Shiva because it's not like anything I had ever seen before and it's what sparked my fascination in creature design.
Right: James Gurney is well known for his series of childrens books; Dinotopia. He also has a very interesting blog which explains some of his painting techniques. He writes books on painting such as "Imaginative Realism" and "Light and Colour". This is the cover art of "Light and Colour" showing how effective it can be even on a fictional character or object.
Left: Amanda Visell is something completely different from the rest of my selection. This is a collectable wooden designer toy of one of her designs. Everything so so simple; satisfied crocodile, unhappy babies.
Ashley Wood has is a concept artist, cover artist and art director. He's also worked with Konami to create Metal Gear Solid digital comics. He also has a line of amazing articulated robot figures. His work makes my heart ache. This one picture alone doesn't do him justice; go Google him.
Frank Franzetta's women need to be included in this post. They're beautiful and voluptuous but don't lose any personality in his art. James Gurney posted about his women on his blog which in turn introduced me to Franzetta's art. "A strong-but-vulnerable, exotic, baby-doll type." He sums them up nicely.
Yoji Shinkawa's concept art for Metal Gear Solid 3 has so much personality; so dirty and bold. My boyfriend and I saw him at the MGS: Peace Walker signing and it's surprising to see how shy he is in real life. I'm finishing on this piece as I'm puzzled by his mark making. He has the right balance of technical skill and emotion in his art which I hope to achieve.
