... this blogger gave to thee...
... eleven excellent illustrators...
... ten chaotic beings...
... nine tufted treats...
... eight potential palettes...
... seven custom Cons...
... six fancy dresses...
... five gold things!..
... four FX plushies...
... three midnight magnets...
... two tricks and treats...
....a tale of lovely lore.It's becoming a tradition at some point during the 12 Days of Christmas (which I may rename the 12 Days somewhere in the vicinity of Christmas next year) to write a post about some of the amazingly talented illustrators I'm subscribed to on Instagram...
Felicia Chiao
Starting off with the illustrations by Felicia Chiao because - and I will say this way too frequently in this post - I love them.
It started simply, when another person I subscribed to on YouTube mentioned foul mouthed pigeon drawings and I searched Chiao out, then when I found her on Instagram, I was confronted with this feed of warm beige images and was instantly fascinated.
The illustrations were strangely calming, full of florals and Morph like characters in soft pastel surroundings, idly inhabiting the isometric interior spaces in mundane ways, and rather than creating boring drawings, it creates really relatable ones, especially since lockdown. Made using gel pens and Copic markers, I just think that these are beautiful and the amount of emotion Chiao conveys with a relatively simple line drawing and soft colours is really impressive.
Relatable loneliness is not necessarily something you search for in artwork, but she makes them strangely whimsical at the same time and this is an Instagam feed that I find curious and strange and when these posts show up, they resonate with me.
Just really curious pieces of art. Love.
Link || Imagined, Homebound Characters by Felicia Chiao [...] by Grave Ebert via Colossal
Link || Anonymous Protagonists Navigate Imagined Worlds [...] by Laura Staugaitis via Colossal
Becky Kemp - Sketch Inc
I don't often get to say with authority that a piece of art from one of the artists I'm featuring is of a really high quality, but with the illustrations of Becky Kemp (Sketch Inc.) I can, and I can because one of her giclée print is sitting just next to me on my shelf.
From one of her original watercolour illustrations the print of Lydia Deetz from the cult movie Beetlejuice (1988), as played by Winona Ryder, was a print I'd seen over a year ago and really wanted, the film being one of my favourites, it was a really to me a really quirky interpretation of the character with the stereotypical tear drop ghosts and sandworm wrapped around her arm. Bought for me at Christmas as a present, I can whole heartedly say that not only is the print impeccable, and you can see the texture of the watercolour really beautifully but that I'm really glad it's part of my little collection of prints.
It's not the only one of Kemp's fan art favourites that I can say is good in person, the little sister has her print of Sarah and the Worm from Labyrinth (1986), and between the print method and the textured paper they're printed on, they're really lovely and I may also be coveting it. The worm is freaking adorable!
While Kemp's primary focus on her Instagram feed appears to be painted pop culture Kokeshi - simple wooden peg dolls from Japan - her website and Etsy store has prints, pin, cards and stickers, and I really enjoy her illustration style. Lydia will probably not be the only print I'll own (I may also have my eye on some of her enamel pins) and I hope she has the opportunity to create more because they're fun and who doesn't love fan art of their favourites?
Link || Becky Kemp "SketchInc." || Website || Instagram || Twitter || Facebook || Pinterest || YouTube || Etsy || Lydia Print || Alice Print || Sarah Print
Pascal Campion Art
When it comes to the type of illustration I'm drawn too, there's no sure or defined reason to my choices, some are more cartoonish, some very painterly and grown up, and sometimes these very different styles collide.
Cartoonish at times but simultaneously with a beautiful painterly and sketchy quality Pascal Campion's illustrations are about life, family, creativity, the environments in which we live and questioning what it all means. And I love how he turns often mundane scenes into these beautifully balanced pieces of art with movement, life and with wonderful ability to use light to enhance his artwork.
I particularly love his series of deep and meaningful conversations with his cat. Partly because talking to the cat is just part of day to day life for me, but also because often these are some of the most relatable of his illustrations as they're conversations about life, emotions and the questioning of what it is to be creative, how to maintain it and whether or not you're good enough.
“Sometimes I draw because I have an idea I want to put down on paper (or digital
canvas),sometimes I draw because I’m trying to work something out in my life, or
in my drawing, sometimes I draw because I’m bored… or nervous, mostly I draw
because I’m happy and happy to draw, sometimes it’s because I’m tired and am
dreaming of going away. Sometimes I draw what I am afraid of, and sometimes it’s
what I want that comes out, I’ll make up some things and take straight out of my
life others. Sometimes I know what I am doing, most of the time I don’t, sometimes
I’m happy with what I drew and sometimes… not so much… at times, I really don’t
like it at all. Sometimes I wish I wasn’t an artist and most of the time I’m so happy
I am one, sometimes I wish I could turn it on and off when I want. Sometimes I
wish I was better and sometimes I think I’ve 'got it'. Sometimes I draw what some
people ask me to draw, sometimes I draw what my children want me to draw,
sometimes I do it for friends, my wife, family, but most of the time, I do it for me…
sometimes I do it for you." (Pascal Campion, via Ego-AlterEgo)
Campion's Instagram feed always makes me feel like my fears about creativity aren't so weird, which I appreciate greatly. Also that having multiple styles is something to be feared or discouraged, his two styles don't look incongruous or out of place with one another, they're just two halves of a creative mindset at work.
Link || Pascal Campion Art || Website || Instagram || Twitter || Facebook || DeviantArt || Tumblr || Pinterest || Blogspot || YouTube
Link || Pascal Campion, Drawings via Ego-AlterEgo
Lorena Alvarez Gómez "artichoke_kid"
Colour is such an important factor in illustration, in art in general, and in the reasoning behind some of the choices on this list. Colour can subtly show tone and emotion, bring energy and depth to the narrative, or give a nonverbal indication of a characters character without saying anything. The wrong colour combination can throw off a drawing entirely, while the right one can make it special.
Not only are Alvarez Gómez's drawings full of colour language, they're full of texture and humour and emotion. I think being able to convey that is wonderful.
Link || Lorena Alvarez Gómez "artichoke_kid" || Website || Instagram || Twitter || Flickr || Behance || DeviantArt || Bright Agency || Gallery Nucleus
Link || Artist of the Week: Loren Alvarez Gomez via Character Design References
Sarah Hughes Illustration
Depicting emotion in illustration is important, the artist can't always rely on a viewer reading their explanation and the viewer can't always rely on the artist providing one. The meaning needs to be blatantly obvious or left open to interpretation.
In this artists case, monsters, dragons, ghosts and cryptid's, they could all be draw to induce fear, to be spooky or grotesque, but in Sarah Hughes illustrations, they're soft and friendly. Even the dark giant monster looming over a town doesn't look scary, he looks like he's there out of curiosity, or to illuminate the houses and keep watch. And how can you be afraid of a ghost in a yellow raincoat? Or a dragon that looks like a cross between Idris from Ivor the Engine (1976-77) and Falkor from The NeverEnding Story (1984) who's sated with some plum jam?
Hughes illustrations are incredibly attractive, and personally I really like how soft her drawing style is, especially when it's paired with spookier content. It's a juxtaposition which just seems right to me.
Link || Sarah Hughes Illustrations || Instagram || Twitter || DeviantArt || Tumblr || Society6 || Blogspot || Cargo Collective|
Kayla Marie "kayla.bee.marie"
Over half way through and time for a confession. I've never been a Star Wars fan. Not a big one at least, my allegiance was always more with the Star Trek world because it played on the silliness, and acknowledged that it wasn't highbrow. That said, when Disney+ released The Mandalorian (2019-), and I got sucked into loving Grogu (baby Yoda) because of the fan art some of my favourite illustrators were creating, I decided to watch it. Needless to say while I will most likely avoid other Star Wars fodder, I am a big fan of The Mandalorian. Though interestingly the Star Wars fans in my family, are not.
Of the artists who have illustrated the two main characters, I love Kayla Marie's interpretation of the adorable father and son duo because of the normal, even mundane situations she places them in, and how much love she shows between the two. They just both look so happy and content. I particularly love the illustration of Din Djarin and Grogu playing with the fish in the river, as the washing dries... that image kills me because it's just a dad watching his kid experience something for the first time, and you can see the excitement and love on their faces.
They're also illustrations where colour is really important in conveying the relationship, most of the prints drawn in that vaguely pink golden hour light which mutes the colour, while keeping them bright, and creating that soft, caring atmosphere. I know I over use the word beautiful, but it's the right word for these.
Link || The Mandalorian (2019-) || IMDb || Wikipedia || Rotten Tomatoes || Disney+ || Website || Star Wars || Twitter ||
Wenqing Yan "yuumieart"
When lockdown started back in March 2020, we were all convinced it would only be for a few weeks, then a few months, then gradually the realisation that inside and a stockpile of toilet roll was going to be life for a lot longer. This of course became fodder for artists to both create from but also a means for them to work through their own experiences of lockdown life.
For artist and illustrator Wenging Yan, her way of expressing the new lifestyle was by celebrating the things we can still do while in lockdown, she did this by drawing life inside of terrariums, with piles of books, plants and the much coveted toilet paper and Nintendo Switch, which no one could get their hands on at the start of it all. Full of humour and little nods to the things we gained from being locked up inside, they're telling of the slower parts of life, where we were given time to binge watch two seasons of The Mandalorian while learning to punch needle..
The second set of images is Yan's response to the poor air quality caused by the California wild fires which burned for months at the latter end of 2020. Masks and breathing equipment full of oxygen giving plants, these drawings highlighted the worsening reality of climate change, and how these fires are now becoming part of daily life. Though we've all become slightly accustomed to masks even without smoke.
However, what instantly came to mind for me when I saw these images, was in fact a fictional disease:
"Hanahaki Disease (花吐き病 (Japanese); 하나하키병 (Korean); 花吐病 (Chinese))
is a fictional disease where the victim of unrequited or one-sided love begins to vomit
or cough up the petals and flowers of a flowering plant growing in their lungs, which
will eventually grow large enough to render breathing impossible if left untreated."
(List of Fictional Diseases, Wikipedia)
While not strictly what these illustrations are referencing, the simultaneous beauty of flowers and underlying danger of the unseen, in this case poor air quality from the fires, though it could also easily be applied to our airborne friend Covid, which is really fascinating. Beautiful images with deep dark underlying themes.
Makes you want to climb back inside the safety of your own terrarium.
Link || Wenqing Yan "yuumeiart" || Website || Instagram || Twitter || Facebook || DeviantArt || Tumblr || YouTube || Art Station || Discord || Patreon
Link || List of Fictional Diseases via Wikipedia
Ellie vs Bear
Something a little lighter with number eight, with playful ghosts, cute monsters and mythical creatures. Ellie, of Ellie vs. Bear, creates cute whimsical worlds for them to live in using watercolours (along with digital art), and a rounded kawaii style which give them their soft and friendly appearance.
They're soft and sweet, cute and weird, and they make me smile when I look at them. They're nothing harsh or malevolent, no underlying message about death or disease, they're just colourful, attractive, whimsical and sweet, and I love them for their softness.
Link || Ellie vs Bear || Website || Instagram || Twitter || YouTube || Etsy || Giphy || Ko-fi || Patreon
Lara Hacker "kieferngruen"
With more soft whimsy is Lara Hacker, owner and artist behind Kieferngrün Illustration with her watercolour and coloured pencil bees, bats, frogs and cats with wide set staring eyes.
I love bees - wasps can get lost - particularly bumblebees, and Hacker's bees going around living their busy bee lives, drinking tea, reading books, baking and sleeping in bunk beds, appeals to me no end. The way she illustrates these chubby little bugs I especially like, they feel old fashioned in the best way, partly because of the colour palette the illustrator uses, and the way she draws the eyes makes them simultaneously cute and derpy.
Bees are precious, we need to protect them, and these illustrations definitely show that.
Link || Cute Bee Illustrations [...] by Leandro Lima via Visual Flood
Laurie A. Conley
I admit I'm drawn to sweet characters, those with soft faces and bright colours, but as I've gotten older, especially in the last couple of years, I am more and more frequently drawn to art which is not only sweet, but has a lot of ghost iconography. Maybe it's my increased viewing in true crime or paranormal YouTube content, or just that fluke, but sheet ghosts keep appearing in the artwork I like.
These amazing pen and ink drawings of friendly little ghosts and a playful bat winged grim reaper are the work of Laurie A. Conley, and they are the perfect example of what happens when the right medium, technique and subject matter collide.
Conley never set out to be a spooky artist, but the positive reception she received from creating some Halloween art in 2014 spurred her to continue creating little scenes of haunted houses and ghosts larking around. They're entirely made of lines, cross hatching and scribbles but Conley's drawing skill shows how many different tones one pen and a pot of black ink alone can create. This is to the point where there are some of the drawings, such as the ghosts in the trees, where they positively glow with light.
I think these are amazing, the depth and tone Conely achieves is incredibly, the look more like old fashioned etchings than pen and ink, and I'm only completely jealous that my little sister owns one of her prints. I'd steal it, but she'd notice it was missing way too quickly. There's no chance I'd get away with it.
Link || Laurie A. Conley || Website || Instagram || Twitter || Facebook || Tumblr || Pinterest || Etsy || Society6 || Ko-fi
Link || Featured Artist: Laurie A. Conley via Inky's
Link || Love Tattoos: Laurie A. Conley by Espiina via Amino
Jeremy Miranda
In these paintings it's his really stunning use of light that I am most attracted too. The structures glow from the inside and remind me of those really dark dull days at the end of the year when I was in primary school, where the classroom would seem so bright and warm compared to the darkness outside. Those days always felt really comforting, despite it being school, and that's how these painting feel to me.
Maybe not strictly illustrations, Miranda's style for me walks the line between the two. They're painterly, but also their linear, blocky style at times reminds me a lot of Pascal Campion's more painterly illustrations. But what I can never get over with these is the light, out of darkening blue snowy backgrounds, shine these vivid warm colours, illuminating interiors of sheds, studios and greenhouses, and bring so much life into them.
Over Christmas he even did a series of painting depicting Christmas light emblazoned scenes, with them wrapped around trees, in neighbouring houses windows or appearing on the other side of a darkened wood and they glow. They glow, and it's happy and comforting and that memory of primary school comes back every time I look at them, and that's why I love this artists work so much.
Also probably why I obsessively buy fair lights.
Link || Jeremy Miranda || Website || Instagram || Etsy || Sebastian Foster || Fieldwork || Dianne Witte || Nahcotta
Link || Artist Jeremy Miranda Explores Memory and Scenes [...] by Christopher Jobson via Colossal
Link || Artist Jeremy Miranda Examines Memory with Oil Landscapes [...] by Christopher Jobson via Colossal
Link || Jeremy Miranda via Brian Paquette Interiors
Illustration is one of those things in life that makes me really happy, and when you like something you can do one of two things, keep it to yourself, or you can share it because everyone should know about these wonderful things that you've found. That's how I feel about this post, in the end if you've skimmed the pictures but ended up jumping through to look at one of the artists Instagram pages, I'm happy. I don't make anything from this blog, I torture myself writing the 12 Days because I like doing it, and in the end it's free advertising and support for these talented creators, and maybe one day someone will return the favour.
Share and enjoy after all.
And now... Oh my God we're nearly there! Part twelve coming as quickly as my little fingers can finish with the coding, which Blogger has irritatingly made harder to include and involves going directly into HTML mode... it's like going back to my fifteen year old self coding on h2g2...
Listening: I Adore U - Adore Delano
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