One of those interesting modern-world phenomena: Václav Štajger and Michaela Štajgerová, a furry fan couple from the Czech Republic, are seeking international funding for their new furry t-shirt enterprise. They’ve actually been at it for a while, with Václav running the business and Michaela’s artwork on the shirts, but now problems with their printing company have left them with two choices: Either raise their shirt prices considerably, or go into business printing the shirts themselves. They’ve opted for the latter — and they’ve set up a new Indiegogo campaign to raise money for it, from now through May 12th. True, the shirts would be coming from Europe, but in this day and age what’s unusual about that? Visit their Indiegogo page to see some of their initial designs and find out what sort of perks they’re offering to crowd funders.
Furry Art / Portfolios
Fluff and Fangs
Yet another creative discovery from the CTN Animation Expo: Meg Park, designer and illustrator. Or as she puts it on her personal web site, character designer and visual development artist. Besides examples of her work you’ll find a link to her Etsy Store where you can purchase various prints — many of them toony and anthropomorphic — as well as her art collection book, Fluff & Fangs.
Two Little Deadly Cats
Ivette and Marilu Molina are real-life sisters who both work in animation as storyboard and character design artists. Over on their tumblr page they have a section following the development of their personal project called Sabertooth California. “Welcome to sabertooth cub adventures. Join twin saber cubs Sunny and Sky on an adventure of a lifetime.” They’ve already created test animation even as they’re busy working out the plot!
All the Pretty Corgis
Her summary: “Joie Brown is a visual storyteller, using her talents to help design theme parks, bring characters to life and entertain the masses with her hilarious concepts and whimsical illustrations. She recently graduated with an MFA in Illustration from the Academy of Art University, and currently resides in Los Angeles with her jolly, stump-legged corgi Rylee.” Who seems to be one of her major sources of inspiration — along with My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Check out Joie’s web site to purchase prints and find links to her other art sites.
Out There Be Dragons
Dynamite Entertainment have announced the first English language release of In Search of Lost Dragons, “a gorgeous illustrated storybook that captures glimpses of the majestic flying reptiles hiding throughout our world. For the first time ever, the sensational French art book by celebrated storytellers Elian Black’Mor and Carine-M is adapted to English in a luscious, full-color, and oversized hardcover, presenting over 200 pages of dragon illustrations and Victorian-style sketches with a captivating accompanying narrative. Originally published in France as Sur La Piste Des Dragons Oublies, this fantastic adventure follows an intrepid illustrator and reporter’s journeys from Europe through the Middle East and finally to Saigon in search of the dark caverns and mountaintop perches where the elusive winged serpents dwell. With the gift of seeing the invisible, our explorer friend records each encounter in a journal of gorgeous, fully painted artwork, capturing every majestic and fearsome visual detail of the scaly behemoths, and accompanies his findings with snippets of local lore as evidence that these hidden beasts continue to shape the world in ways we may never expect.” In Search of Lost Dragons makes an appearance this October. Take a look at the preview over at Bleeding Cool.
Bird. Bird. Ape.
John Uhrich is a professional illustrator. His motto is “Have sketchbook, will travel.” Recently on his art blog, Duck Duck Gorilla (yes, that’s the name!) he’s been trying his hand at a new on-line comic strip, Live Bait. Two talkative birds doing what John considers one of his more prominent skills: Geeking out about comics and fandom.
Speaking of For The Birds…
Last year we talked about these guys seeking funding. Looks like they found it! According to this year’s San Diego Comic Con, the folks at Four Horsemen Studios are set to premier a brand new collection of toy figures in their Gothitropolis series this autumn. Featuring characters like The Raven, The Eagle, The Griffon, and Minotaur the Duck (and more!), these are simple names for highly detailed collectible figures. What more can we say? Check out their web site and click on Gothitropolis in the Gallery Section to see these guys close up. Then look for them to be on sale in the fall.
Like Punnies in the Spring
Well okay, the middle of summer, but hey… Llyn Hunter is an Emmy Award-winning storyboard artist, also known for her humorous illustrations and poetry. Many of those have been collected over the years in her Little Book series (like A Little Book of Monsters, reviewed here previously) put out by her own Bobcat Publishing. Her latest work is called Punnies — a collection of pun illustrations (cat fish, duck tape, cow bell…) each accompanied by a verse. She’s started up a Kickstarter campaign to help her fund publishing the book in a large-size coffee table format. The campaign is up from now until the end of September. Also make sure to visit her home page to see samples of the many other projects that she’s worked on over the years.
The Evolution of The Mouse
Needless to say there have been many, many books over the years (official and otherwise) showing you how to draw your favorite characters from Disney Animation. This latest book from the famous Walter Foster art how-to series takes a little different tack: How the look of Mickey Mouse and some of the most well-known Disney characters has evolved over time since they were first created. “A collection of vintage artwork from the Disney archives reveals early designs, sketches, and poses of Mickey Mouse as well as other classic characters such as Minnie Mouse and Donald Duck. Learn to Draw Mickey Mouse & Friends Through the Decades creates the opportunity for an artistic celebration of the world’s most beloved mouse, by bringing together a collection of step-by-step projects and inspirational illustrations for rendering these timeless characters as they originally appeared. Featuring 128 pages of art instruction material, this title makes a covetable collector’s item for any loyal Disney enthusiast or aspiring artists interested in learning to draw in classic cartoon style.” Learn to Draw Mickey Mouse & Friends Through the Decades (whew, long title!) is coming next year to Amazon and other sellers.