(bear with me, my HTML skills are so rusty right now)
Okay, and now we begin with theeeeeeeee

FUTSIN'S FEATURED ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

This is just a humble little thing for those that I know and those that are on my DevWatch list. Don't expect anything fancy, especially in the journal thing. At some point I may collect a few of the spotlights and try posting them to the DA news, but I guess I'm a tad shy about putting myself out there so much. The emphasis will be on four different pieces from the person's gallery, giving some extra comments about it, but with strong emphasis to check out the rest of their work.

Anyway. The spotlight today will start on a friend of mine, but I hope to give some word and praise to new artists or ones who are extremely talented but don't get enough comments. Or just ones who I think those who end up here (for whatever reason) would really like.

So without further a-do-wop-diddy, let's get this show on the road:

Futsin's Featured Artist Spotlight - April 2008


Acherontia Domus

Hailing from Finland, with various mod credits to his name, Acherontia Domus (just Domus from here on) is probably one of the most unique artists I've seen on DeviantArt and the most unique artist I've ever personally known.

The best way I find to sum up Domus' body of work as an artist, comic book writer, game developer (textures, mapping, modeling) and hobbyist musician is creative evolution. When I first met the guy in 2002/2003, he was a maniac with his art, doing some of the strangest and most bizarre creations I had ever seen (and for the most part, still to this day). Bugs, serial killers, zombie horses, torturous machines, nursery rhymes gone wrong, pulsating beasts with small arms and mouths with no eyes, and so forth. But even with the weirdness (and occasional samurai-influenced art), there was an incredible sense of beauty, finesse, and artistic ability that showed in his work. The cool thing is, after knowing him closely for five years I've found that he's evolved to maintain his weird sensibilities and expand his artistic horizons.

Joy 1
[link]

Here's a piece that's a pretty prime example of Domus' earlier works, although done much more recently. Sadness, dementia, disturbing content. The line work is sharp and jagged most of the time, yet the curves around the head and limbs have a small, curly feel to them. There's also the way the definition of wrinkles and the line-based shading of shadows continue the really "rough" feeling. It's textured in a sort of grungy fashion. And generally, it gives off a sense of sadness or bleakness, making an already frail creature look further pathetic by the execution. He's also kind of cute.

While perhaps not the best of the bunch, it's definitely one with the older sensibility still intact, with the blue hues and shading of the skin moving in the direction that later works ended up having. Texture and raw sensation is really emphasized.

Joy 3
[link]

Which then completely juxtaposes with the 3rd image of the series it comes from, which has a flowing, watercolor look. The line work has a softer, smaller feel. Things are cute and cuddily. There appears to be an evident Bambi influence, or at least old-school Disney (not that there's anything wrong with that! ), where things are happy and jolly and all the creatures are alive. Then again, knowing Domus like I do, there's probably some sinister thing he's snuck in this piece as a personal joke. So if you spot any sense of dread, yeah, that may've been intentional!

Level of detail has always been one of his strong points, and here is no exception. Every single animal seems independent, alive, and vibrant. The cartoonish nature works perfectly for the "Joy" theme, along with the gorgeous backdrop with its contrasting colors of orangeish and blueish that blends quite beautifully in the upper portion of the sky/trees, while at the same time never feeling like it's simply a 2D piece on paper. There's really a sense of a living, breathing life in this one, that the love and happiness shared and shown is actually quite genuine and comes from the nature around, as well as the company the characters are keeping.

It was a serious departure from what I was used to at the time, but he deserves serious kudos for trying (and succeeding) at something new.

Taistelumme cover
[link]

More indicative of Domus' typical style lately is this one, the cover for his Army comic that he drew (from what I remember) while he was doing his mandatory service, which has his typical simplicity in character design, the strong black lines, very creative use of colors, interesting sense of perspective (it's art, it doesn't have to look like reality), and a general influence that definitely seems to be like Mike Mignola. Generally, I just love the idea behind the piece, of an artist laying on his comfy couch and drawing in the middle of a battlefield. Nice touch.

You'll notice if you look at the recent work, this is primarily the style Domus has worked in for awhile and seems to be continuing with. (Playing Werewolf, Cat, Kain, and the Toroka series all seem to have the same feeling) What's cool in particular about this one is that the composition is a bit different and the imagery is more simplistic (which matches the comic itself), along with the fact it's one of the only times you get to see Domus' lettering!

If you love this piece, definitely keep an eye on his gallery, because he definitely doesn't seem to be letting up on this.

Ribbit Rage
[link]

And finally, we come to The Big One. (well, to me anyway) The nature flavor and the incredible sense of detail continues here. He made this as a gift, but it ended up turning into what I believe is stilll his most popular piece to date, as well as something of a masterpiece. Classical in its texture and color palette, with some great techniques on the backdrop and shading to give a consistent flavor across the entire work. On top of that, who doesn't like the idea of a warrior frog going up against an alligator?! Everything here seems elevated to a level of excellence that makes it worthy of praise, from the way there's subtle exaggerations in proportion and pose in both the characters, to the way the detailed backdrop and the twig sticking out of the water in the lower left give perfect framing for this action scene. And everywhere inbetween.

The energy and creativity on display here is why it's great to see new artists who try new things with what has been established, yet bringing to it a fresh pair of eyes and a fresh mind that has experienced a different combination of life histories. Also it's a prime example of a case where only the artist who did this piece could do it, no one else, as no one else would have come close to realizing the vision in this type of fashion. His artistic and creative sensibilities shine here because without the weirdness it would not have its endearing-yet-cute subject matter handled with such seriousness, without the talent and many different inspirations he would not combine so many unique techniques to elaborate and flesh out the detail, and without the experience he would not have learned enough to make everything come together just perfectly.

And that, I guess, concludes the first spotlight. Remember to look at ~AcherontiaDomus 's gallery, leave tons of comments if you dig his work, and tell your friends about this cool, exciting, upcoming maestro of art!

Additional notes to mention is that from what he's told me, he intends to go back to doing more twisted stuff again soon. Should be interesting to see where the knowledge he's learned (especially recently, with an Illuminated Manuscript essay for school that had him doing quite a bit of research) goes into his new works of weirdness. But hey, if he sticks the normal, the beautiful, the fantastic then he'll still be worth giving the spotlight to.

Until next time, where we'll be focusing on a Danish photographer, I'm EvilFutsin. Stay Deviant!