Artist One:
Sidney Sime
Sidney Sime was an illustrator in the 1920s and is well known for his creature illustrations in the 1923 book 'Bogey Beasts' by author Joseph Holbrooke. Sime manages to fill his illustrations with so much character that they become unique and beautiful drawings, I was inspired by this characterisation to try and instil it into my own work. Take the drawings below for instance, all taken from 'Bogey Beasts'. They were all created with the same medium and were all taken as prints to be added to the book. The 'Caush' was given wide eyes, long legs and big feet, these are all features that people find to be endearing, so it immediately gives the viewer an impression of cuteness, innocence or harmlessness. The 'Snide' is much more of a sinister figure. It has long claws and bony fingers, small pupils, and a malicious glare and poster. This implies it is an evil character. The 'Iffysoros' has very similar features to the 'Caush', with the added trait of being fluffy and dopey-looking.
Sime's awareness of and ability to instil character into his 'beasts' is something I really hope to carry forward in my work, giving my creatures the qualities to dictate if a viewer should be afraid of them or feel for them.
Artist Response:
I decided to create an artist response to this artist research as I was intrigued by Sime's designs, Mostly the 'Caush'. I used fine liners, a black brush pen and a white acrylic paint pen for the whit of the eye. I really enjoyed the chance to look more closely at the anatomy of the 'Caush' and see what it would look like when attempted by myself.
Artist Two:
Rose Smith (@rose.smiths.art)
I found Rose Smith through social media and was immediately drawn to the way she uses colour and light, but when looking through her account I was enthralled with the way she presented felines. As shown in the ocelot study and the tiger piece she is very true to the animals anatomy but the way she presents the flow and the power in the animal's body and posture is incredible. The tiger for example is bulky and large, with a powerful and fluid body, yet nothing is exaggerated. The tiger appears to be relaxed and calm and yet that doesn't detract at all from what one typically expects from such a famously predatory animal.
Smith uses the pose and expression of her subjects to add character into her pieces which I hope to put into my own work.
Smith has recently started a series where she has followers suggest unlikely animal pairs which she then combines into one creature. Here's the Axolotl-Lion!
Artist Three:
@finchwing
I came across this artist while scrolling through my recommended posts and found this series of not-bird birds and I just thought they were adorable. The only name given on the account is Chloe so despite the informality of it I will just call her that. It was the pigeon I found first with the caption "waiting for a snack" which I thought fit the expression really well and that it was a very sweet drawing. I then found the other two and was very fond of how Chloe used linework to reflect the mood of the piece and the characters of the birds. She also only uses muted colours which creates a very soft and sweet atmosphere. I really like the idea of taking an animal that already exists and altering it to make something new.
Artist Four:
Nico Marlet
You will probably recognise Nico Marlet as the artist from the credits of the 'How To Train Your Dragon' films. A lot of the concept art for the film is thanks to him. Once I decided on the project the very first artist I thought of was this one - I've adored Marlet's work since seeing the first 'How To Train Your Dragon Film', each creature is unique and creative and he has such an expressive and all-encompassing style that suits mythical creatures so well.
I had to give trying Marlet's style a go! I decided on using his sketch of a Monstrous Nightmare as that is probably my favourite dragon species, and I used fine liners and a brush pen. I've never drawn one of the HTTYD dragons before so this was a fun experience.
Artist Five:
Jonathan Baldock
I showed my soft sculpture creatures to Graham B who then turned me towards an artist called Jonathan Baldock that he helped set up an instillation for. Baldock uses lots of bright colours and asymmetric shapes in his soft sculptures which reminded me of my own and helped to influence my ceramics throughout designing them and picking the glaze colours. Both examples of his art are bright and bold, but are quite minimalistic in an almost primitive way which does remind me of the ceramic jackalopes.
Artist Six:
Godelein de Rosamel
I came across Rosamel's work while researching examples of ceramics and I thought her sculptures were adorable. My ceramics have been described as a kind of "primitive child's toy", a description I feel applies to Rosamel's work. Each figure and character is simplistic and sweet, constructed from basic shapes such as ovals and cylinders attached together in a humanoid form. Each figure has four legs however, and some seemed posed like dogs but still with imitated human features or a beak like a birds, she says that they are "imaginary animals adapted or evolved from reality, but nothing that really exists". Rosamel states that "I just want to create an imagined but also familiar and coherent world that can take people’s imagination in new places". I think that her work does very well at letting the imagination of the viewer run wild, especially those with little bits of rock and wood on their heads. I really like the bold colours she chooses, they add variety to what could end up being rather repetitive.
Artist Seven:
@gem1ny
The only name given on @gem1ny's account is Ju, this is the name given to the avatar used to represent the artist, so that is what I will call him for lack of further information. I became interested in his art when I came across a reoccurring creature he came up with and continues to draw either by themselves or with OCs. They are called owlcats and they're incredibly endearing. The owlcats are explicitly a free to make species, but I don't think I'll be including them in my bestiary. I am doing my best to use myths from a variety of different cultures and countries, however they need to make historical sense for my narrator to have encountered them in the 1860s. What I will be taking from Ju's work is the process of experimenting with colour schemes and design while still staying close to the original design or concept. It will also be interesting to explore the relationship between cute and ominously dangerous.
Artist Eight:
@thingsby_diana
@thingsby_diana is another artist that only supplies one name, Diana, which is what I will refer to her as. Diana is an illustrator who focusses on using traditional media to create a variety of creatures. While she does occasionally use other media she mostly focusses on using Posca paint pens for their bold colours and smooth texture, she also seems to only use a finer nib to create finer detail and input a texture, such as the one shown on the skulls. She likes to make the majority of her creatures using blacks, greys and whites, then using rainbows to accent them or highlight detail. It very effectively creates another dimension to her pieces and is easily recognised as being her style. I really like her use of bold colours but I admire the ability to keep them as a complimentary attribute rather than taking over the whole drawing. I hope to be able to reflect this in my bestiary. I also enjoyed the small drawings of the legged orcas, they reminded me of @finchwing's not-bird birds.
