Art-O-Bot: Jason Edminston

The Art-O-Bot is back and it’s taking on one artist at a time.  Let’s start up the bot…

Jason Edmiston

Cereal Monsters by Jason Edmiston

We met Jason on the Sunday at FanExpo while we were waiting to interview a notable TV celebrity (rhymes with Lictor Vucas).  Afterwards, he shook our hands and told us we had a great interview.  Later that day while surfing artist alley we stumbled upon his table, which was riddled with fantastic art.  He promptly stood up and declared to his wife, “These were the guys I was telling you about.”  As it turns out, interviewers are very susceptible to flattery.  But this isn’t the reason we interviewed Jason.  We interviewed him because he is a fantastic illustrator, that and he emailed us about being featured on the Art-O-Bot.

Jason has been a commercial illustrator since the mid-90’s.  Creating work for advertising, editorial, packaging and publishing clients around the world.  Edmiston’s style is quite varied, featuring everything from realistic figures to exaggerated caricatures. Jason’s pop culture aesthetic has a heavy influence on his work, from retro styled advertisements and famous movie monsters to modern pulp heroes and comic book characters.

Now on to the goods.  Personally I would love nothing more then a series of commissions from Jason recreating famous comic book covers.

Be sure to check out more of Jason’s work at his official website.

Come back next time when we feature another talented local artist on the ART-O-BOT.

If you want to be featured in the bot email jeff@dorkshelf.com be sure to attach your link and any other facts you want us and the public to know.

Comic Book Cover Remixes

Covered is an awesome blog that features user-submitted remixes of classic comic book covers.  The blog accepts submissions from any kind of artist, regardless of style or background.  The stated goal of the site is to feature cover remixes by established artists as well as indie artists.

From the golden-age through today, from mainstream to indie cover, the more interesting it is., any comic book cover is suitable for a remix.  Many different art styles are used for the remix covers;  usually the more disparate the remix is from the original, the more interesting it is.  Covered is curated by California artist Robert Goodin.

Here is a sampling of some of the comic cover remixes.

Check out the Covered Blog to see more.

Via Wired

Art-O-Bot: McNiven, Donovan, Templeton

Welcome back to the one and only Art-O-Bot, the column designed to bring you a taste of what is out there in the world of comic book art.  This week we’re featuring two veterans of the industry and a good friend from South of the border.  Art-O-Bot; transform and roll out!

Steve McNiven

A while back a company called CrossGen was producing a whole slew of talent;  One of those talents was Steve McNiven.  McNiven’s art shot to popularity with Marvel Comics 2006 event Civil War, but his other titles included Fantastic Four and New Avengers.   Most recently McNiven worked on Wolverine: Old Man Logan, a story that takes us to a future where Wolverine is a shell of his former furious self.  Old Man Logan also reunites Steve with fan favorite uber-writer Mark Millar.  The conclusion of this story is coming out in a giant one-shot in the middle of August, I eagerly await Steve’s next project.

In the meantime you can check out Steve’s art at his official blog or head on over to the forums at Jinxworld to see more.

Ty Templeton

It’s the 1990’s, Marvel and DC have just crossed over and they announced a series of books to cash in on the success of the crossover.  Enter Amalgam Comics and the book everyone was waiting for: Dark Claw Adventures, written by Ty Templeton.  Dark Claw combined the characters of Wolverine and Batman, how frakkin’ cool is that? Beyond Dark Claw, Ty’s list of credits as both writer and artist is quite vast.

Templeton is a local Toronto talent and that’s why we’re featuring him on Art-O-Bot, but we must mention his great work at Canada’s own Max the Mutt.  It’s one thing to inspire people by the books you help create, but Ty goes a step further and actually teaches aspiring artists and story tellers how to create in his Comic Illustration and Art course at Max the Mutt; one of the premiere animation and art schools in the world.

Check out Ty Templeton’s Official Site

Derec Donovan

So I picked up a book a few months back, it was called Youngblood.  Now  I know what your thinking… “What the hell is wrong with you Jeff, why would you pick up a Rob Liefeld book?“.  Stop there dear reader, I can assure you that the new guard at Image Comics take what Liefeld started and make it so much better.  Derec is one of the hidden gems of the industry, his style is dynamic and full of energy.  He’s not just one of the guys who achieved the impossible by making Youngblood good, he’s also done work for DC and some incredible independent work.  Grab a commission or sketchbook if you see Derec at a con, they are well worth your hard earned dollars.

Make sure to check out Derec’s Official Site as well as his deviantArt page.

That’s it for this week, we’ll return next time with even more talent to share with the world. Art-O-Bot out!

Art-O-Bot: Canete, Andrasofszky, Madureira

Welcome back to the Art-O-Bot, this week we present some of the most dynamic artists you may not of heard of.  If you know any artists or are a local artist and want to be featured on the Art-O-Bot, contact jeff@dorkshelf.com.

Eric Canete

It’s rare in this day and age of comics that an artist floors me with their talent.  Eric Canete was the artist on The End League, and several other books.  He updates his blog very often and his art is vibrant and dynamic. Warning: his art can be considered art is in its purest form, which may mean the occasional muse lacking clothing.   I was first exposed to his Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin, a tale of the Armored Avenger’s first meeting with the Mandarin.  I can promise you this, you’ll be checking Eric Canete’s blog regularly to see what he gets up to.

Kalman Andrasofszky

It’s should be no surprise that I am a giant Green Lantern fan, when I discovered the cover artist of the ION miniseries was a local, I knew he would be perfect for the bot.  Kalman’s most recent work was featured in NYX: No Way Home, and covers for DC Comics R.E.B.E.L.S..  Of course, Andrasofszky keeps tight lipped about his upcoming projects, however I can assure you that you will not be disappointed when he announces his new projects.  Contact Kalman if you’re a fan and see if he’ll take commissions.  Check out Kalman Andrasofszky’s Blog and be sure to grab a sketch from him at a con.

Joe Madureira

That’s it! I broke down and had to do it; I started watching anime because of Joe Madureira’s art.  I loved his Uncanny X-men run, which is also one of the reasons I got into the independent comics scene.  Battle Chasers was this mystical steam punk hybrid book that was Madureira’s creator owned title; eight issues in he left to go design video games. He recently came back to the fold with the Ultimates 3, it’s rare that Marvel puts out two versions of a book, but they did.  One in a colour, and one just designed for pencil sketches.  His work is incredible and when you see his pencils you’ll understand.  Sadly, there is no official site for Joe, so I’ve found a fan site that displays a lot of his work both in video game design (to which he has gone back to doing) and many of his covers from the video game world.  Check out the work and pick up Madureira’s back issues and get this man back in comics!

The Art-O-Bot is out of fuel for this edition, until next week everyone Art-O-Bot Exterminate!!!!!
Damn Daleks.

Video Game Inspired Paintings

Artist James Barnett has created a series of oil paintings based on popular video games, what he calls Fauxvism.  The paintings feature virtual locales from Half-Life 2, Team Fortress 2 and Fallout 3 to name a few, amazingly interpreted in the style of Les Fauves.  Barnett navigates the game world as an artist would in nature; finding a suitable vista to paint and works from there.  Below is a sample of Barnett’s work, the classic Team Fortress 2 map 2Fort.

Barnett created the series as a response to what he saw as “3D games slavishly imitating real life“, something that games like Team Fortress 2 are now shying away from.  Personally, I would love to play a game that looked like the stuff Barnett has painted. Where are the video game Matisse and Derain art directors of our time?!

Check out James Barnett’s Offical Site to see his series of video game paintings.  Also, if you’re interested in having a favourite virtual landscape put to canvas he also takes commissions.