Posted: 9th February 2012 | By: creature

Around the world – #3 Patswerk

Patwerk

Artist: Patswerk
Location: The Hague, the Netherlands
Website: patswerk.nl

Who are you, where are you from?
Hi! We are Patswerk. A graphic design & illustration studio from the Netherlands.

What do you do?
We draw stuff that makes us happy, and we hope our work has a positive effect on other people aswell. We design posters, flyers, Tshirts, editorial illustrations, logo’s but also like to make big colorfull wallpaintings.

Why do you do it?
Because it’s so much fun! We like to include little graphical jokes and details to our pieces, so that you can keep discovering new details in our work. And people are willing to pay us do to something we would be doing anyhow.

Patswerk

How do you create these images?
We sketch and doodle a lot on paper. But our final pieces are mostly done on the computer. We also like scanning and using all kinds of textures, and incorporating them in the digital design.

Who are your influences?
We are influenced by a lot of our friends who are also graphic designers. It’s cool to see that working hard really pays of. Artists we admire are Tad Carpenter, Mike Perry, Hedof, Bart Aalbers, Bobby Pola and Idris van Heffen

How does the place you live impact upon your work?
Our studio is located in the Hague, the Netherlands. It’s a lace where most of our friends live and work. So we get to hang out with lots of creative and fun people. It’s also the perfect combination between a small town and a big city. You’ll never be bored here, but you can also find nice places to relax.

Patswerk

What do you like?
Drawing, sandwiches, music, rainbows, silkscreen pints, robots, skateboarding, lasers. And preferably a combination between all those things.

What don’t you like?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YRibx4iSA0

Find Patswerk here:
patswerk.nl
@Patswerk

Posted: 19th January 2012 | By: creature

Around the world – #2 Miss Vitriol – Lille, France

Miss Vitriol

Artist: Miss Vitriol
From: Lille, France
Website: missvitriol.com

Who are you?
I’m Miss Vitriol, 31 years old, french lowbrow artist. I’m a graphic and web designer too.

What do you do?
I paint colorful creatures or shapes on canvas or wood panels. Sometimes I do it on vinyl toys or paper. I love them, they are my friends, they live in my world and I’m the queen !

Why do you do it?
At first it was a kind of curative expression, it helped me to express some of feelings that I wasn’t able to express in other ways. I like to match dark backgrounds with bright colors in the foreground, as paradoxes and ambivalence within each thing. I like to illustrate emotions, I can’t imagine my life without my tubes of paint.

Miss Vitriol

How do you create these images?
Sometimes with oil but mostly with acrylic, Posca, wood paint, spray, pens, papers with shapes on it for some textures. I use all the things around me that are able to draw, paint or colour and most of the time I mix them. When I decide to paint I have to be quick I make an artwork in one shot, most of the time in only one night.

Who are your influences?
I love Jeff Soto’s artwork, I love the mix of dark and bright colors in his work. Mark Ryden for the symbolism he puts on his work. I like to see works of Brandi Milne, Gary Baseman, Camille Rose Garcia. And the french artist Niark, or german Low Bros inspires me, a lot of shapes. Mostly Lowbrow influences.

What inspires your work?
In fact I have a lot of inspirations ! The movies of David Lynch is one example, the music of trip-hop or electronic artists I listen to while I paint, the feelings and emotions I have, my friends, travels, dreams and nightmares. In fact everything I see or listen to, everyone I meet and every places I go could be potentially an influence. I just let the emotions live within me and translate them in colors.

Miss Vitriol

What do you like?
So many things… Dreaming, awake or not, is one of the main things I like.

What don’t you like?
I’m so neurotic, I don’t want to list them, you are not my shrink ! (lol)

Find Miss Vitriol here:
missvitriol.com
missvitriol.tumblr.com

Posted: 12th January 2012 | By: creature

Around The World – #1 Kristopher Kotcher – Austin Texas

Kristopher Kotcher

Artist: Kristopher Kotcher
From: Austin, Texas
Website: www.frenemylife.com

Who are you?
My Name is Kristopher Kotcher and I hail from Austin, Texas. I love creating, Imagining, and monstering.

What do you do?
I am an Artist and student of Animation. I like to experiment and not limit myself with my art so my media is ever expanding. I do Illustrations, Sculpture, Digital, Screen Printing, and Photography, I am also starting to learn to animate. As well as those other things I am currently working on a short film based around a monster painting a self portrait of himself. I love to be creative and imagine.

Why do you do it?
Everyone has an escape from life for some its video games or reading a good book. My escape happens to be Art. . The older we get the less we seem to use our imaginations. They say if you dont use it you lose it and let me tell you my imagination is one part of me I never want to let go of! Art is more than a hobby, it is my passion in life. I love the process and the final outcome. To create this world that is all my own and then share it with others. To wonder and explore the possibilities of my mind and be creative the way that a child is. Imagination and creation are the best escape.

Kristopher Kotcher

How do you create these images?
I use water color, Gouache, ink, screen printing, felt, fake fur, antlers, sewing supplies, plaster, film, all kinds of stuff! I love coming up with new ways to create. Recently delving into making 3d monsters has been so much fun. I will never give up painting but I really enjoy expanding into new medias.

Who are your influences?
Well I am really influenced by the Children’s books I read as a child. Everything by Shel Silverstein, as well as Where the Wild Things Are, Dr. Seuss, and Comic Books. Cartoons like Ah Real Monsters and Ren and Stimpy are also a big influences. There are lot of great Artists who inspire me such as Jon Boam, Jon Macnair, Jack Teagle, Ed Templeton, Margaret Kilgallen really too many great inspirations to name.

What inspires your work?
I’m inspired by reading books, looking at Art, Toy Stores, My friends, Music, Monsters, anything that gets my imagination going.

Kristopher Kotcher

What do you like?
I love Music, Double Stuffed Oreos, Cats, Good conversation, Traveling, Experiencing the world and all the different people in it. Hamburgers, Snacks, and Fun.

What don’t you like?
Laziness, Unoriginality, Lack of passion, people who don’t like cats, and brussel sprouts

Find Kristopher Kotcher here:
www.frenemylife.com
frenemylife.tumblr.com

Posted: 20th January 2011 | By: creature

Mexican Illustrators

Our new feature aims to bring you illustrative delights from far flung corners of the globe starting with Mexico.

We will be embarking on a journey around the world stopping off in various locations to explore the visual treasures and talent of the artists working proactively to promote their illustrative work within each location.

We were recently made aware of a thriving illustration scene in Mexico thanks to the Mexican Illustrators blog ilustradorasmexicanas.blogspot.com.

Mexican Illustrators

About the Mexican Illustrators blog
Mexican illustrators is a place where the creativity and talent of Mexican women can be expressed. A non -profit group whose goal is to bring together women working professionally in the illustration field in order to disseminate their work and achieve more exposure, allowing the world to discover the richness of colour, techniques and worlds that each artist has to contribute.

Silvana Avila on Mexican Illustration
I think Mexican illustration is defined by the colour mixture, textures and a very strong or contrasted lines as well. In our cultural traditions the use of vibrant colors is a constant and i think that’s why a lot of illustrators reflect that mixture of colour and texture in their works. Because we grow and live surrounded by these colors. Concerning the contrasted lines, I think this is because Mexico is a country of contrasts cultural, economical, ethnic…

Silvana has kindly suggested a couple of her favourite Mexican Illustrators for Creature to publish, one girl and one boy.

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Ixchel Estrada

www.ixchelestrada.com

Ixchel Estrada

Ixchel was born in Mexico in 1977. She studied graphic design and illustration and has been working as an illustrator ever since. She has worked for many publishers and has had many children’s books published in Mexico and other countries. She also creates handmade toys.

Ixchel Estrada

You simply must visit her website, it’s an animated collage which highlights her quirky handmade toys and collage based illustration work brilliantly. The use of bold forms and colour give her wok great impact, this along with the narrative elements in many of her images displays the influence of Mexico’s rich and vibrant culture upon her work.

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Duncan tonatiuh

www.duncantonatiuh.com

Duncan Tonatiuh

Duncan was born in Mexico City and grew up in San Miguel de Allende. He’s currently working on two new picture books and regularly uploads new illustrations, inspirations and current events to his blog duncantonatiuh.wordpress.com

Duncan Tonatiuh

His work is influenced by Mixtec writing originating from the indigenous people of Mexico. The Mixtec used imagery and the relationships between pictorial elements to denote the meaning of the text. Duncan adopts the flat presentation with lack of perspective and earthy colours used in these Codices and merges with more modern day cultural influences to give his unique style. We look forward to seeing how this style develops.

Thank you to Silvia for helping put this article together. As well as highlighting artists from every corner of the globe we hope this feature provides some enlightenment into  influences of art from eras past on modern day illustration.

Useful links relating to Mexican Illustration:
ilustradorasmexicanas.blogspot.com
Mexican Illustrators facebook page
A flickr group for mexican illustrators
Wiki – Mexican art origins – The Mixtec
http://ilustrandoenmexico.blogspot.com

We are stopping in Mexico for a while to enjoy the cultural delights. We wait for the wind to take us to our next, as yet unconfirmed, destination. If you have any suggestions as to where Creature should stop next or are aware of a thriving illustration scene in some far flung corner of the earth then please get in touch: creature@creaturemag.com

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