Prapim's Inspirations: William A. Smith

I really need to do these posts more often.

Today's inspiration: William A. Smith

I should perhaps stop putting up so many American illustrators from the 1930s-50s, since I've had some comments from tutors saying my influences should be more 'contemporary' and 'modern', etc. I suppose as a consequence my work tends to look quite period (i.e. 'dated'). Sniffle. Not good for my future career.

Dreadful note aside, artists like William A. Smith kind of make me regret not having studied Illustration in America. I suppose what I really like about illustrators like Leyendecker, Fawcett and Smith (of whom the latter two were contemporaries) are that their works are, to put it simply, beautiful.

I've never really been very hung up on 'conceptually strong' and 'clever' art; I simply like things because they are beautiful, and/or entertain me. I love illustrators that can create rich environments in which I can imagine a whole, other, alternate world: I like to imagine how the characters live and interact with each other and their colourful world, in the process telling a rich story.

Oh, I know that sounds super-cheesy, but what is more sincere than the truth, right? Maybe that makes me sound a little stupid and a lot of a sap. Haha. I should start talking about Smith and less about myself.

William Arthur Smith was (1918-89) born in Toledo, Ohio. There's a bunch of stuff on Wikipedia about how he received loads of awards and things, but how I discovered him is still what I love of his works the most: his observational sketches.

It seems he was sent to China for a period of time during WWII to do commissioned drawings; I suppose he must have done some propaganda type illustrations, but his observational sketches from this period are quite timeless. 

Smith had quite a strong eye for interesting people and situations, and I love the little quirky notes peppered along with his sketches. It really adds a sense of personality to the drawings.

There's something very pure and human about how they are pictures of soldiers in their off-time, of children, doing very normal things; there's no sense of agenda.

Of course, that isn't to say his paintings aren't amazing, either:

(I suppose I also like how he 'marries' Asian-style imagery into his work; the blend really is quite vibrant)

Now I just feel inadequate. Sigh.

Prapim's Inspirations: "The Prince of Egypt"

Today's Inspiration: The Prince of Egypt (1998)

Sorry if this post is a bit long and overly gushing. I simply love this movie to bits.

My brother and I had a fad with this movie as children. We had the whole behind-the-scenes book and soundtrack and everything. In fact, I could sing 'When You Believe' (including the Hebrew bit, haha) word-for-word.

In fact, I may have even nursed a prepubescent crush on Moses. Can you blame me? He was drawn very handsomely indeed. I remember thinking: Man! Moses and his voice are so handsome!

Years later, when I found out he was voiced by Val Kilmer, I felt a bit...I wouldn't say let-down, but...cheated, I guess? To me, Val Kilmer will always be a passable Batman and of course the Ice-Man in the totally-not-homoerotic Top Gun...uh...

This was one of the few animated features that I remember distinctly being awed and emotionally moved by, even and especially as a child. (Does it have something to do with the fact Hans Zimmer just so happened to do the soundtrack too? Probably!)

The movie enthralled and frightened me; looking back now, the movie was much darker and more mature than one would generally expect from an animated feature (still, in the minds of many, a medium firmly associated with children). I mean - Moses turning the lake into blood, the plagues montage, the death of the first-born...

Yep, totally not dark.

Still, I'm glad they went with this treatment. Even as an 8-year-old, I still was moved by the basic emotions and development of the story. I think that children have the capacity to watch things that are upsetting or mature - certainly I didn't understand everything about The Prince of Egypt, but it didn't lessen my enjoyment as a child - so long as it's handled well. And The Prince of Egypt certainly does that. Even though the movie's more than 10 years old (gosh, that makes me feel old), to see this treatment again is very refreshing.

I put this movie as an inspiration not only because of its ability to evoke a sense of wonder and hope in me, but because of its aesthetics. I really wish I knew who the main animator is - the style is beautiful (you can probably see some influences in my character design). There's a deliberate difference between the way Egyptians and Hebrews are drawn as well, which is subtle yet clever; the former with high cheekbones, sharper face structure, jet black hair, lighter skin colour, and fuller lips; the latter with thicker, dark brown curls of hair, darker skin, and rounded, softer features.

The Prince of Egypt really utilizes its medium to the best of its ability - there are some scenes which just take your breath away. We get a lot of sweeping pans, interesting perspectives, stunning backgrounds, fluid animation...oh, I could go on and on...

Oh, did I also mention I absolutely love the colours of the movie? The movie generally uses a very warm, yellowish palette (obviously to get with the whole 'desert' feel), and uses a lot of vibrant colours in the clothes and sets, which are simply beautiful.

One scene that has stayed with me until this day is when Moses parts the Red Sea. Stunningly beautiful animation (I still remember the specific bit in that scene where the sea is illuminated for a second, silhouetting a whale - scary, yet so awe-inspiring) accompanied by epic music. I remember some behind-the-scenes talk about this scene - apparently a lot of love and labour went into animating this sequence, and it really shows.

I'd say the only real letdown to the movie is the addition of the two magicians, two extremely incongruous comic relief figures that feel like a cringe-worthy effort at injecting a bit of kid-friendly humour into the movie. They're also drawn very differently from the rest of the characters - round, comical proportions and extremely exaggerated features which feel very jarring in comparison.

Although I did like the 'You're Playing with the Big Boys Now' sequence.

I'm quite sad that this movie seems to have slipped into relative obscurity nowadays. Although it did well financially when it came out, it didn't do near as well as it deserved to, and certainly didn't do well enough for DreamWorks studio to consider serious 2D animation a very viable venture. Which is a shame, because the 'let's-rip-off-Pixar-but-insert-pop-culture-references-and-hip-stuff' angle they do nowadays is rather...sad to see. Hopefully, I've managed to capture and revitalize a bit of renewed interest in my fellow bloggers to give this movie a watch!

Prapim's Inspirations: Phobs

Haven't done one in a while.

Today's influence: Phobs

As far as I know Phobs is a 21-year-old (I know, right! 21! That's super-depressing) Russian female with a penchant for the WWII-era, men in uniform and women in nice hats and gloves. While I don't always agree with the subject matter she draws - she draws a lot of Nazi-garbed men, which makes me a little bit uncomfortable (although she draws so beautifully I could overlook it really!)...

Just looking at her work, you can probably see why I like it - beautiful and quirky characters, a brilliant combination of colours (she favours glowing washes of warm colours, giving her characters a perpetually rosy hue) and bold, confident line and brush-strokes, and a vein of wry humour running through all her work. Even her doodles are better-drawn than what I could hope to do!

The atmosphere of her work alternates between quirky, sarcastic humour and bittersweet nostalgia. Most of the time it's a mix between the two.

Her characters are all so interesting - just by looking at them, you can in most cases tell their personalities. You want to learn more about them - their lives, relationships, struggles, triumphs, and so on. I probably am gushing a bit too much here, but many of her drawings tell such complex stories - a lifetime of a character, the hardships as well as happiness they've experienced.

(It certainly helps that they've all got immensely beautifully defined, sharp noses and chins. And it doesn't hurt that most of them do cut very fine figures in uniform...now you see the main reason I like her stuff. Once again, I've revealed my shallowness...I really must learn to restrain myself...)

Prapim's Inspirations: J.C. Leyendecker

I only discovered J. C. Leyendecker recently, when I was browsing in a book-shop in Soho. I swear, though, it really seems like I have known his work forever; it just fits so perfectly into my folder of influences almost as if I have always been using his works as references. I suppose this is partially because his work is comparable to Norman Rockwell (another artist I love) although he was before Rockwell's time, but I do prefer Leyendecker for the fact his subject matters appeal more to me. That is, pretty people.

It's a bit of a shame that he isn't more well-known, since his illustrations during his time were very popular and he has influenced illustration tremendously. Los Angeles Times even says he "virtually invented the whole idea of modern magazine design".

What I do certainly love most about his work are his very hot men! Haha! So, I am shallow. But I hide this behind the facade of pretentious art snob. Hem hem.

Also, his works (although unnoticed at the time, those innocent people) had subtle layers of homoeroticism, Leyendecker being gay himself. Myself: sold!

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Prapim's Inspirations: Robert Fawcett

Apparently one of the things the tutors want me to do is to start to veer towards a consistent illustration style, so I'm planning to blog artists that influence me in the hopes this might help me somehow. Also, you can get to see what my influences are (since my work is all over the place this might prove interesting...or not. Haha.) and hopefully you might like them too!

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Robert Fawcett is an English-born artist I discovered recently whilst on the prowl for Sherlock Holmes illustrations (yes, I know...sad right). I didn't know true love at first sight could exist, but it does. Head over heels was I as I clicked through scans of his illustrations. I found myself swooning, holding imaginary handkerchiefs to dab at wet, awestruck eyes, feeling faint at their beauty.

Apparently he was partially colour-blind, which makes his full-colour illustrations even more impressive. But I remember reading about how this actually made it easier for him, since he could put emphasis on strong form and lineart as well as detail. It's easy to see that his sense of composition and lighting, coupled with a limited colour palette created extremely expressive, detailed illustrations.