With February being the month that celebrates both Valentine’s and National Arts Month, we’re featuring the whole Keybie Team’s favorite artists, or, to put it more appropriately, artists we love!
Whether we crush on their skills, their work, their attitude towards their passion, or all of the above, these artists are just too awesome not to share. Because hey, we (and any artist, really) know that even a little appreciation goes a long way.
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Michelle Czajkowski
selected by Micah
Even without being aware of this artist’s impressive background, it’s hard not to be mesmerized by her command of color, design, and the sheer amount of imagination that must’ve gone into her concepts. Every page of her webcomic, Ava’s Demon, is a fully colored scene that takes you through an addicting story with beautifully designed characters–and at the risk of spoiling the story, I won’t say anything more.
Each chapter even boasts of an animated finale, showing off skills that make me tingle with feels of admiration and envy–and it’s pretty inspirational when you realize it was a story she wrote when she was young and depressed. When you can take a burden and turn it into something beautiful, I can’t imagine how anyone wouldn’t be inspired.
As someone who uses Photoshop too, being able to see her process pics and finished work tells me that no, she doesn’t use magic to paint such vibrant pieces, and that yes, I just need to keep exploring colors, study, and practice to one day paint with as much life.
Where to find them online:
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Josceline Fenton
selected by Kay
The artist for the webcomic Hemlock has caught my eye from page 1 with her unique art style and impressive linework. I was further mesmerized by her character designs, how beautifully the background and the foreground work with each other and the story left me spellbound. No doubt the rest of the artist’s portfolio is just as stunning as her webcomic, and being able to match up to that level of finesse would be an accomplishment I have yet to achieve.
Where to find them online:
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Wenqing Yan / Yuumei
selected by Mary Kay Daguro
I have been following this multi-talented artist for 5 years and her works never fail to make me feel something inside. Her works served as an inspiration to many artists and brought forth realizations about the current world we live in. There was a time my tears would fall from just staring at her art. That’s how powerful and moving her creations are.
Yuumei‘s courage into translating her experiences and messages into works of art are motivating and beautiful, reminding me that anything is possible if you put your mind AND heart into it and don’t give up.
Where to find them online:
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Stephan Mcgowan
selected by Monica Santos
He’s a 2d artist, illustrator and animator. I discovered his works clicking through deviantart. I thought his art looked really cool and when I checked out his gallery, I was just overcome with envy. It was his style! It looked so great to me. Not because it was some jaw-dropping, unbelievable, photo-realistic stuff, but because it’s polished and distinct. I don’t know if it’s possible, but his art looked like it knew what it was doing. I saw things I wanted my art to have.
Where to find them online:
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Annria2002
selected by Celine Bautista
This artist – she draws in a style that is familiar and common, a style that some would say is almost boring. Her works are not designed to make statements or change the world or express profound, brilliant, mind-blowing thoughts and ideas.
None of that matters to me, though. To me, it is never simply about how good an artist is, or how famous, or what media they use, or what type of art they produce. The only thing that counts at the end of the day is how their art makes you feel.
And her art makes me feel grounded. They remind me of my childhood, of simple joys, of a medley of emotions that I sometimes take for granted or forget to feel. They tell me an entire story in a single glance. Her art is my kind of art – art that is inspired by others, and art that inspires others. Art that brings to life your imaginings and fantasies. The kind that makes you smile, or laugh, or tear up without you meaning to.
I cannot help but admire her. As far as I’m concerned, what she does is nothing short of amazing.
Where to find them online:
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Junji Ito
selected by Julzz Villanueva
Junji Ito work is a work of art for me. But to be particular, my best choice is Uzumaki, Gyo, Hellstar Remina and Tomie. I am very fascinated with the horror genre since I was a little kid and it kinda grew on me. Nowadays, horror is kinda reduced to jumpscares, lady ghosts with long hair and a POV perspective. It has been done to death and I’m getting bored by it. But Junji Ito is transcending the value of horror. He doesn’t resort to lame jumpscares and all that and unlike most horror mangaka who are into gore porn, Junji Ito’s works mostly target your psyche… and he does that with his amazing works in his mangas. His artstyle is so neat and he pays so much attention to detail. He knows how to draw both the beautiful and the grotesque.
Junji Ito draws inspiration from the most unexpected objects and events. Uzumaki was actually inspired after Junji Ito himself walked up a spiral staircase… and thus he made various disturbing stories about spiral objects. That is so much creativity that I wish I had. As an artist, that is very impressive. To be honest, when I read Tomie, I was very disturbed by it and I ended up falling in love with the character, herself. That is his very first work and definitely made him improve. Gyo is a unique one… Junji Ito made me scared of fish… FISH!!! How is that possible? XD
As for his art style, once again I have to say that it’s very clean. I really like how he uses lines and shades but doesn’t look very untidy. He doesn’t use too much crosshatching. But probably the thing I like the most about Junji Ito’s art style is his form of realism. Honestly, I’m no longer fond of traditional manga art… like huge eyes and noodle anatomy (ironically I started drawing that way). The combination of Junji Ito’s realism and his imagination really attracts me to his works. The way he draws emotions, perspectives, poses, sequences is very exquisite.
Overall, Junji Ito is a good person. As a fellow artist, we can very well tell that he has a passion for his works. He has a laid back attitude, he’s good to his fans. You can also tell that he’s a funny person if ever you read his manga, Cat Diaries. I can very well respect him. I admire him. There are so much more he can tell by just having a pen and a piece of paper. :)
Where to find them online:
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That’s our top picks, but in the spirit of the month of love and art, let us know who your artist crush is–and we might feature them in a part two of this blog series!
