Post 1 (sort of): Three Graphic Designers

For this assignment (choose 3 graphic designers {though I would call these people graphic artists}, display a pair of images for each, and give the media they worked in for the images displayed), I've selected the artists listed below. With each artist or image, I'll be providing a brief description of why I selected them (artist or image). Shall we begon?

Craig Sellars

I selected Mr. Sellars' work, mainly because of the raw, almost gritty feel that is present in nearly all of his work, and because of the wide range of genres included in his subject matter. When you have a giant lizard in a loincloth, riding a horse and brandishing an assault rifle, all the while making it look like the most natural thing in the world, one must be impressed. :)

This image gives an "old west" feel to the scene that appeals to my outlaw nature.

As a SciFi geek, this image takes me to another place, rich with tech, but still raw and untamed.

Marta Dahlig

The primary reason why I selected Ms. Dahlig's work is no more complex than the fact that I'm a sucker for pretty girls. Perhaps that's a bit sexist, but I like what I like, so sue me. 

While this woman looks angry to me, and perhaps a bit evil (or at least devious), the color green happens to be my favorite. I'm also very impressed with just how natural and lifelike the folds and ripples in the dress appear, and how accurate the shadows and highlights are. This is an area that I have trouble with in my work, so I'm drawn to pieces like this one.

 

I actually chose this image more for what I didn't like than for what I did. I think that the purple glow around the flowers in her hair was just a bit overdone, and the highlighting along her hands and arms is just a bit too starkly contrasting when compared with the background. I also thought that the overall impression of the image was more of a downer that I would have liked. Still, it's a strong piece, and worthy of mention.

Adrian Baluta

My final pick was a tossup, and I came very close to choosing a different artist, but when I couldn't get Mr. Baluta's  CGSociety page to load so that I could view other examples of his work, rather than giving up, I decided to Google his name and found another online portfolio that just blew me away. I really liked the two images presented here:

To me, this image whispers of "Bambi meets Wall-E", and is rather enjoyable, but there is a bit of a problem with the image that takes away from full enjoyment, in that the "fox" and the bird (and to a lesser extent, the robot) look like they were simply "plopped" into the image. The hard edges of those elements, combined with the shadows for the bird and robot being "wrong" make them all seem out of place. I could go into the muddiness of the out of focus foreground elements, too, but this isn't supposed to be a critique of the image; just a selection and it's explanation for inclusion.

Now this image is what I want to strive for, in terms of what I want to create when I "grow up". The rich colors in the clouds, the sense of serenity, and the contrast of the birds against the sunset all appeal to me.



Now I know that I may have taken "the easy way out", in terms of picking my artists from only one resource, but I feel that these three artists could each teach me something of creativity, and I find inspiration in each of the pieces that I've selected. I hope you found the images as enjoyable as I did.