Lucky
Whoever said that Lion King fan-art was a "limiting" genre never
told Lucky, this month's Featured Artist. While some artists see only
rules and boundaries imposed by the universe of only a single Disney
movie, Lucky has broken through those borders and taken experimental,
concept-art-style fan artwork to a level few have approached.
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In the Artist's Own Words:
| “ | Wow, I'm all flushed now O_O This is, amazing! Thank you all, this really
is an honor! To be honest, I can hardly believe it! Thank you!
TLK has always been a huge part of my life. I still remember when I first walked into the movie theatre, even though it was over ten years ago. Even now, it largely impacts my view of animation as an art. It wasn't until last year that I decided TLK was more than just almost-screenshot pictures. I found that I was unhappy with my art, when I should of been enjoying it. Then came lots of experimental drawings in all sorts of styles, which is a phase I never really left, if you've seen my gallery. It really showed me how important it was to have fun while doin your pictures, and ever since then I've been seeing TLK through different eyes. I enjoy doing fanart more then ever when I realize there's no limits to art. Basically, my own experiences of experimenting have helped myself grow as an artist, and it's a never ending barrel of fun as well ;) So, here comes my oh so original message to you all. TLK isn't just moving screenshots, go take a look at the concept art. Being yourself in art is one of the most important things to helping you grow. Don't be afraid to do something totally extreme in your pictures, and don't be afraid to be yourself! -Lucky, da blue wolf |
” |
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Looking through her gallery, you'll find enough pieces that look like Disney screenshots that you'd conclude—and correctly—that Lucky is perfectly capable of creating on-model, richly colored character artwork on a level with the professionals. But that's really only a small part of what she's accomplished, especially in recent months. As her quote above indicates, she's made the discovery that fan-artwork is much, much more than just trying to capture a canonical style, just as original work in a canonical style is much, much more than copying a pose out of a coloring book. The world of the movie's developmental concept art, once entered into, dwarfs the creative breadth of the animation art that made it into the movie; and Lucky has embraced that world and its possibilities wholeheartedly.
It's a real treat, just flipping through her pictures and seeing how widely their styles can vary. You really feel like you're paging through one of the "Art Of..." books published by Disney in tandem with the release of one of their feature films, seeing the zany and wacky—and often sublimely beautiful—character concepts that the studio's artists made in trying to get a feeling for each character, knowing full well that the styles and media they were working in would be nothing like how the final movie would look, but yet relying on that kind of boundless creative freedom afforded by their privileged jobs as Disney artists to really squeeze out the essence of the characters they were designing.
Lucky is highly skilled at the kind of disciplined animation art that got into the final film, too, and in every picture you can see the fundamentals of balance, anatomy, line of action, and character expression shining through. But it's the free use of color, mixed media, and exaggerated caricature in a wide variety of styles—befitting a whole studio full of animation artists—that really make her work special. But you don't need me to say so; just go and see it for yourself.
There's no doubt that a distinguished career in animation art awaits Lucky if she wants it. But what I appreciate more than anything else is that her example helps to roll back the boundaries of what Lion King fan-art really is and can be. With artists like her around, this fandom is only just getting started.