During my current project, which explores the themes of literature and fairy tales, I have investigated a variety of different artists work in hope to influence my own thought process. Through my Behance account I was able to discover Vladimir Stankovic, an illustrator, graphic designer and character designer from Serbia. After looking through his collection of work I found that Stankovic combines traditional and digital art to create images that in themselves merge nature, science, fantasy and fairy tales. I found Stankovic’s “Grimm’s Fairy Tales” project the most interesting because despite the fact that the connotations towards fairy tales are immature and naïve, he is able to bring out the true sinister and wicked themes by drawing the characters in certain ways and adding pastel like colour instead.
Once again I found another artist who had looked at fairy tales in a more mature manner, through Tumblr. Rachael Wise is an illustrator and graphic designer who has published works that consist of website illustrations, logo designs and fashion illustrations. I really found Wise’s “Fucked Up Tales” interesting, as she takes classic fairy tales and places the characters and ideas into modern settings, but with a satirical twist. I think that the way she uses traditional story book layouts and font while including dark humour is not only clever but makes an impact on the viewer as she comments on modern social issues through imagery and words.
After further research I came across Jefferey Thomas, a character designer and story artist. What peeked my interest was Thomas’ “Twisted Princess” collection, in which he took Disney characters and made them not only fearsome and disturbing, but also powerful, giving the females a sense of empowerment. What’s more Thomas perfectly copies the visual language of Walt Disney’s original illustrations perfectly, adding to the dark humour and creepiness of the image.
Nia's Specialist Contextual Investigation 