Bug

Cartooning, in many ways, is a lost art. Distinct from "animation art" (which can mean such disparate things as Flash sprite movements, the facial expressions on Disney feature-film characters, and 3-D rendered lamps or ogres or rats), the ability to create a deliberately exaggerated, simplified, and supremely expressive drawing to immediately convey an idea or a mood is something few artists in the modern age can do. Yet Bug, this month's Featured Artist, has taken the world of The Lion King and, with the deft hand of the seasoned cartoonist, taken it in directions seldom—if ever—seen before.







In the Artist's Own Words:
“  Oh. My. Goodness. Hahaha. I just don't know how to begin. But, uh, y'know....I guess I just have. Sooo. Not to sound cheesy, but first, I have to say that I am surprised, grateful, gleeful, and appreciative of all of you who voted for me to be Artist of the Month. You silly little people. :3 Man. I just didn't expect it or even think I really deserved it yet, and I kind of feel like a little tiny kid going up to take an Oscar or something. There are so many great artists here at this archive, I didn't figure I could be counted among them. In fact, when I saw my name at the bottom of the AotM Archive, I kind of thought, "Gosh, I'm out of place." But.... (Warning--dreadful cliche ahead.) I suppose an artist is his own worst critic, huh? Yeah.

But really, we shouldn't be so hard on ourselves. It's that kind of frustration, that kind of horrible self-depreciation and criticism that eventually led to the chopping off of ole what's-his-face's ear, isn't it? Van Gogh, right? Anyway. I struggle with it as much as anyone. And yeah, it's been said before, but honestly, you should draw because you want to, not to earn fans or get comments. :) Create your own style, use your own imagination and techniques. I'm just realizing that. And it's helped me more than I can explain. But then of course, it IS good and very helpful to learn by observation, too. I'm not trying to say you should shut yourself up in a box and try to draw perfectly from your mind. I learned so much from the people here, both by looking at artwork and recieving kind critique. But take what you learn, and incorporate it into your style, to enhance it. Not to change it. Am I making any sense? I hope so.

So, there's really not much more I have to say. All the past AotM's have pretty much said anything I could ever say, and better, obviously. Check them out in the "Past Featured Artists" section. X)

I have to quit rambling, ya'll must be bored to tears. And so, thankyou thankyou thankyou, to all of you. To those sweet enough for me to call my fans, and even to those who didn't vote for me and are going, "WHAT?! /She/ is AotM? >:O" as they read this. Hehe. A huge huge thanks to: Anguloke, Cat B., Audrey Cosmo, DooWaDitty, Kasei, Legetta, Lucky, Maquenda, Not_Quite_Normal, Omega, PharaonicQuiche, Timali, and all my other favorite artists (Which is a pretty extensive list). You've been like, art gods to me here. All of you especially have inspired me in some way or another, and I think you all rock. And to Brian, the biggest thanks of all. Know what I'm kinda most excited about with becoming AotM? Having Mr. Tiemann write all those incredibly sweet things about me, like he has with all the other AotM's. Ha. He is just too cool to do all the work he does on this site for us, and without it I probably wouldn't have learned half the things I know now. So thankyou, Mr. Tiemann! This site is fantastic, and so are the people in it.

Long live the TLKFAA. :D

”





A good cartoonist isn't just someone who can string together a few stick figures and a clever joke; it's someone whose artistic skills—which are just as highly developed as any "fine" artist's—are honed toward the particular goal of bringing out the essence in a character or a scene in a few simple strokes. This doesn't mean the cartoonist is incapable of more complex art; far from it. It just means that the priority in the art is placed on the expression, the movement, the illusion of life even when it's just a still drawing. The old-time animators of Warner Brothers and Disney in the Golden Age of Animation knew that the best animators were cartoonists at heart, which is why they placed less emphasis on staying on-model and maintaining perfect realism in the character and how he interacted with his surroundings, and focused more on making drawings that immediately conveyed their spark of life, their humor, their character—and were quite simply a joy to look at.

Bug exemplifies this kind of classical skill better than many artists currently at the forefront of the animation industry. Her pictures are seldom finished and polished to the degree you'll see from a lot of the most experienced artists here on the Archive; yet that's not what her work is about. Rather, as you can immediately see from the topmost example picture at left, her forte is in the cartoon as executed by the experienced and skillful artist: superbly simple in concept, with just the right composition and placement on the page, and every line dedicated to the complex and subtle—yet instantly recognizable—expression and emotion of the character. Far from just a facial thing, overall body language contributes just as much to a character's presentation as the face does, even if the viewer isn't immediately aware of it; just look at the tails on some of the other pictures here to see how they accentuate the expression on each character's face.

It's definitely true that real success at cartooning takes some fundamental skills at "higher" forms of art. It would be a mistake, though, to dwell too much on Bug's cartooning skills without pointing out just how well-developed her other skills are. Just look at her photo-realistic animal art, and you'll see the work of someone who can do just about anything she chooses to do, whether it's creating a lifelike portrait as an art trade, a perfectly on-model scene recreation from the movie, a realistic wildlife shot that might as well be a photo, or a ridiculously silly cartoon to capture some late-night injoke.

She's only been with the Archive for just over a year; yet in that time Bug has clearly become one of the most notable artists around here; and given the head-start she has on an artistic training career that most people have to work at for years before getting to where she is now, I think we can expect great things from her in the future!

Visit the featured artist's gallery!