Puzzle Inspiration: Illustrators

For my puzzle I want to use a more painterly style than in my previous work.  I want to stay away from using photo textures and concentrate on presenting the scene through it's composition and bright colours.  I want to use quite bold colours in this design as it is intended to be family friendly, fun, and a little quirky

I decided to do some research into different Illustrators for inspiration, and managed to find some with a style I feel complements my own and gives a similar feel to what I intend for my puzzle.    

Izzy Bean: 

These illustrations by Izzy Bean make use a quite bright colours, but also have a softer look do to the lack of dark outlines seen in some of her other work.  I feel that this also contributes to the more painterly look of these particular images.  The technique of using the same colour in a darker shade for outlines can also be seen in places in her work- this is a technique that is also seen in Nickelodeon animations, so is also popular in the animation industry for children's shows. 

Izzy Bean's colouring style- especially in figures 1 and 3, gives a looser and more painterly look to the image.  One thing I do notice about these images is that they seem a little flat.  In these images the focus is clearly on the characters, with less emphasis on backgrounds or environments.  This is exaggerated by the images' softness- as they do not have a lot of tone contrast.

These are definitely images that I can draw inspiration from.

Figure 1: Freddie the Bear. I, Bean. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.childrensillustrators.com/illustrator-details/IzzyBean/id=1896/slideshow/pag=10/

Figure 2: Autumn Bears. I, Bean. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.childrensillustrators.com/illustrator-details/IzzyBean/id=1896/slideshow/pag=38/

Figure 3: The Selfish Shellfish. I, Bean. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.childrensillustrators.com/illustrator-details/IzzyBean/id=1896/slideshow/pag=1/

Kristin Varner:

Kristin Varner's work is decidedly quirky, with bright colours.    Kristin's work makes use of simple shapes to create characters which have a lot of personality.   The backgrounds are often slightly of kilter, sometimes with intentionally skewed perspective, but they have quite a lot of depth to them.   Most works tend to have a slight texture to them.

Figure 4: Let's Camp!. K, Varner. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.childrensillustrators.com/illustrator-details/kristinvarner/id=1451/slideshow/pag=1/

Figure 5: MacMillian/ MacGraw Hill. K, Varner. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.childrensillustrators.com/illustrator-details/kristinvarner/id=1451/slideshow/pag=29/

Figure 6: Harry the Sofa King. K, Varner. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.childrensillustrators.com/illustrator-details/kristinvarner/id=1451/slideshow/pag=27/ 

Gill Guile

I love the watercolour look of these images by Gill Guile.  The expressive characters and colour palettes of these images really give then that extra something.

Figure 7: elephant, parrot and monkey. G, Guile. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.childrensillustrators.com/illustrator-details/Guile/id=1503/slideshow/pag=9/

Figure 8: Shhhhhh!. G, Guile. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.childrensillustrators.com/illustrator-details/Guile/id=1503/slideshow/pag=23/

The colours of the dragon in figure 8 are really similar to what I had planned to do for my dragon.