We’ll let the creators of Beast’s Fury speak for themselves: “Beast’s Fury will be a 2D, arcade-style fighting game featuring anthropomorphic characters. It is currently being developed by a small, passionate team of individuals who are both gaming enthusiasts and professional programmers. The game will not only involve action, but also features engaging story lines, intriguing characters, exotic arenas, and a killer soundtrack! Inspired by famous 2D fighters such as the Street Fighter series and Skull Girls. If you have any burning questions about the project, drop us a line on our Facebook page!” They also have a current Kickstarter campaign, seeking out funding to help them hire more animators. Which in turn will help them get their game demo up and running and out in the wider world much quicker.
May, 2014:
Art from Oregon
Here’s how this artist describes himself: “Matt Doering is an Illustrator/Concept Artist based in Eugene, Oregon currently working as a Production Artist and UI Designer at Disney Interactive for mobile and social games. Matt also works as a freelance illustrator, most recently completing his first children’s book The Story of Magic Kringle, written and created by Alice Cosgrove.” His web site also has numerous examples of his character design work, as well as some of the animation he’s worked on. Of note: Matt did color design and visual development on The Girl and the Fox, an award-winner short animated film written and directed by Tyler J. Kupferer.
The Ladies and Their Dragons
The Art Lair is the official web site of writer and artist Jessica C. Feinberg, “a quirky writer and illustrator who is best known for mixing mundane and magic in her paintings of trees, dragons, faeries, and clockwork creatures” (her own words). Dragons seem to be the primary motif here — that is, dragons and the pretty human ladies they seem to hang around with a lot. Jessica has created both illustrations (many available as prints) as well as illustrated books like Dragon Scale: A Guide to Dragons and Dragons in the Library.
Fuzzy Animals — Literally
Recently married couple Danielle and Jason Strong are both artists with a notably cartoony style — which they have worked together to spin into their own line of felt funny animal creations. Called Squshies, their web site displays the many species they have crafted and the wide variety of products they have crafted them into. They also have an active blog so that you can keep up with their latest work — which seems to come out very often!
Animals Real, Funny, and Fantasy
According to Chelsea Kenna in her bio, “I majored in illustration and graduated with a BFA from Laguna College of Art and Design. I’ve worked in social and mobile gaming as a Lead Artist and concept artist, and currently work as a freelance illustrator.” And maker of fine prints and art portfolios as well. Her collection book The Art of Chelsea Kenna Volume 1 is available on her web site, as are her prints and an ever-growing collection of sketches. Check this: She also does pet portraits.
Chaos in Color
VanAnnies is the official web site of the artist Annie Dunn. She describes it like this: “This site hosts the BLOG for Chaos Annie, the artist behind Chaos in Color, a fine art shoppe of good humoured magic and mythology.” And lots of full-on portraits of animals in fantasy settings, too. She has a large selection of prints available for most of her work.
Cowabunga, Dog!
TikiPaws.com is an on-line retail store that’s best known for their colorful Polynesian-themed clothes and toys — for pets. Yes. They also have Hawaiian-print dog collars, and they even sell supplies to help you actually teach your pet to surf! But moving beyond that, they also offer a line of pet-clothes for the comic book geek who wants to bring along a little 4-legged superhero to the next convention. How about that? Now you can anthropomorphize your own household companion!
Art With Issues
“Sebastien Millon is an artist. His work is noted for its lack of vision and his art is usually muddled in a turbid stew of crockery.” That’s what the artist says about himself! We don’t think you’ll agree if you visit his web site and see his surreal (to put it mildly) collection of art and comic strips. Funny animals abound… often enough, all over you! Some of his more pithy stuff is also available as prints or on t-shirts. Go play outside more often.
Spyro and His Friends Come to Comics
This arrived in our in-box from the folks at IDW: “In conjunction with Activision, IDW Publishing is proud to announce the first-ever Skylanders comic-book series, penned by renowned comic-book writer Ron Marz with Mike Bowden and David Baldeon as lead artists. In the world of video games, Skylanders is a global phenomenon and the best-selling kids’ game franchise since its launch in 2011. Now fans have the opportunity to follow the adventures of all their favorite characters from Skylands through the magic of comic books. The first issue, a prequel to the Skylanders Trap Team™ storyline, actually provides fans an inside look at where some of their favorite Skylanders came from, and even gives them a first look at a few all-new characters from the upcoming game.” There’s lots more background information at Comic Book Resources.