Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog

The illustrations of Camilla Engman are incredibly charming. She also has a blog where she posts illustrations and photos of her plush creations. Lovely stuff.

Now we can all sport the same winning style as our favourite Voltron character.

With Manga Head, nothing is follically impossible. All you have to do is:

1) Using your fingers, spread Manga Head, throughout your hair
2) Take sections of the hair, twisting them into defined spikes
3) Pull the spikes sideways and across the hair for that asymmetric manga style

[Link]

The multitalented Michel Gagné has one of the most incredible imaginations I’ve ever witnessed. Case in point: check out his comic book series, Zed, and the incomparable Insanely Twisted Rabbits. Even though Gagné (pronounced “gahn-yay”) has a strong background in the comic world, how I first heard about him was through his work as an animator. In 1995, he animated and directed the short film, Prelude to Eden, which has some of the most brilliant special effects animation you’ll ever see. I’m partial to special effects animation anyway, as I know just how difficult it can be to animate, but Gagné makes it look easy. He was also a special effects animator and designer on THE IRON GIANT, OSMOSIS JONES, as well as on Genndy Tartakovsky’s successful CLONE WARS on Cartoon Network. On his site, you’ll be able to see some stills, sketches and drawings from these films and shows, as well as some great insight into how much work a particular scene may take. It ain’t no walk in the park.

Coming up for Michel: a new Flash-animated series Michel Gagné’s Insanely Twisted Shadow Puppet Show. Looks to be wonderfully twisted and amazing, that’s for sure.

The University of North Texas brings us Pop-Up and Movable Books: A Tour Through Their History. The site is a detailed illustrated history of every kid’s favourite bookshelf novelty.

The Golden Age Romance Comics Archive should fill most of your needs for both heartache and kitsch. But more than just a collection of images poking fun at the genre, the site also boats some actual history and links. (via We Make Money Not Art)

When I first heard that TLTWATW was the works to be made into a film, I was nervous with excitement. The release date is fast approaching and I can feel my excitement growing by the day. This morning, through a couple of friends, I discovered a few tasty treats I thought I’d share. The first is the official trailer, which can be found here. The official Narnia website also has three featurettes covering the films director, Andrew Adamson, Weta and their role in the creature and prop design of the film, and finally, one about the locations and sets. They are all worth checking out. (Thanks Don and Elisa!)

Here’s another favourite of mine: Brian Biggs. Fantastic character designs, and beautiful chunky lines… Mr. Biggs has got it going on. With illustration, comics, and kids’ books under his belt, is there anything he can’t do?

There is nothing quite like the work of Hiroshi Yoshii. Visit the gallery page and you’ll immediately fall in love with his unmistakable style. He seems to be moving away from his familiar pieces done in Painter to actual 3D modeling, which is a bit of a shame because these new pieces, while still marvelous, lack a certain spark that was in his more hand-drawn works. Don’t forget to visit the archives of his past “daily works” for a jam-packed look at his daily doodles.

I recently discovered the Animation Podcast through a post on Ward’s blog and was blown away. The Animation Podcast is the brain child of Clay Kaytis and is devoted to “…present today’s voices in animation in their own words to create an audible record that is hopefully a source of knowledge, insight, and inspiration…” So far, the first two parts of a three part series with Disney great Andreas Deja is up and available for download. Once you do, be sure to vote for the Animation Podcast at Podcast Alley.

Not much is known about Stefan Mart other than that he wrote and illustrated Tales of the Nations, a series of stories told through a collection of prints given away with cigarette packages in Germany during the 1930s. All 150 of the surviving prints are viewable at the Stefan Mart Homepage: Märchen der Völker, along with a more detailed history of the stories and the mystery surrounding the artist’s identity.