http://www.nataschasrosenberg.blogspot.com/
February 8, 2008
Artist: Natascha S. Rosenberg
The wonderful illustrations below are the work of Natascha S. Rosenberg. I recently came across Natascha’s art via her blog. All of her illustrations have such an optimistic charm, they are just delightful. I fell in love with “Spring Mood” (below). It so beautifully expresses how the whimsical nature of the season is reflected in emotions. Despite the happiness we feel from the joys of spring, a happy mood can turn sad at any moment. There is also such a wonderful harmony between the two emotions here. Joy and sorrow appear alongside each other as complementary and part of a natural balance.
I can relate to this sentiment that Natascha expresses with such color, creativity, and energy. Since seeing this illustration, I’ll think of it, and somehow I’m restored to the happier girl on the right.In addition to her blog, you can view drawings from childrens’ books Natascha Rosenberg has illustrated on her web site. She also contributes to Illustration Friday. The illustration that Natascha did for this week’s IF “angels and devils” theme is now posted on her blog. It is absolutely amazing! It made me smile the instant I saw it.
“Travel” is one of the adorable drawings done for IF.
Student draws explosive web comic
November 6, 2006
Phill Johnson
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At more than a million visits per week, the website Explosm.net is growing larger each day. Robert DenBleyker, art & technology sophomore, produces a web comic from the confines of his Waterview Park apartment every other day, contributing to the website’s success.
DenBleyker’s web comic, “Cyanide and Happiness,” is hosted on Explosm.net, which features the daily web comic co-written by DenBleyker and Kris Wilson, in addition to flash movies created by the owners and an active forum. “Cyanide and Happiness” received 20,000 unique visitors per day until mid-January.
“In January, we added a little box under each comic which allows people to post an Explosm-linked version of the comic, which brings a lot of traffic back to us. After we put that box up, the traffic started exploding,” DenBleyker said.
Days after adding the link, the traffic to DenBleyker’s web comic jumped to nearly 300,000 unique visitors per day.
Most of the traffic doesn’t come from people directly visiting the site, rather from the comics being directly linked from blogs like MySpace and LiveJournal.
“Unlike most webcomics, we encourage people to leech off our servers and post our comics in their blogs. About a fifth of our traffic comes from MySpace alone,” DenBleyker said.
DenBleyker first started making comics in the fourth grade, where he created them using only notebook paper and pencils. Years later, he got his first start making actual web comics on TotalFark – a forum hosted at http://www.fark.com for subscribing users.
After receiving a substantial amount of support from readers, he joined with others he had met via the internet to create Explosm.net.
He works with Wilson from Wyoming, California-based Matt Melvin and Dave McElfatrick from Ireland. The four now come together to produce the daily web comic, which prides itself on its sharp humor and quick jokes.
“Some of the comics are kind of edgy, really not the kind of comics you would forward to your sweet little grandmother on a Sunday morning. Then again, that’s probably the reason they appeal to the young crowd,” DenBleyker said.
While “Cyanide and Happiness” is primarily a stick figure-based web comic, DenBleyker said he uses that to his advantage.
“It makes the characters seem very transient, as if they only exist for a given comic. ‘Cyanide and Happiness’ prides itself on having no characters of themes. If we ever bring up a character, we usually retire it after its share of original jokes has run out,” DenBleyker said.
“Most web comics have constant story development and character-driven humor. That is, jokes that are only really funny if you know the character well,” he added.
With the growing success of both “Cyanide and Happiness” and Explosm.net, DenBleyker said he and the other comic artists intend to continue with a daily comic strip providing edgy jokes for as long as they can.
Cartoonist drafts students into art
November 4, 2006
| By Aaron Swarts, STAFF WRITER Inside Bay Area |
| Article Last Updated:11/03/2006 08:41:34 AM PST |
| TRACY — Somewhere Leonardo da Vinci must have been smiling.Using the tricks of the trade from the great master himself, writer, cartoonist, television host and general Renaissance-man Mike Artell led Kelly School students through a tour de force of artistic education on Thursday.
On loan from New Orleans, the cajun cartoonist, who has authored and illustrated more than 40 books, seemed determined to get the students to change their perspective on the world around them. “I want these kids thinking, writing and drawing more creatively,” Artell said, noting that the challenge was not as difficult as it may appear. “It is not a hard sale to get a kid to draw, especially cartoons.” Artell said the key is blending plenty of humor with his message. “Especially when you are working with reluctant writers and artists,” he said. “So I show them how humor can be a lever to get interested, and often you can see a light going on in their heads. I would like to think that I am opening some eyes.” That certainly seemed to be the case for the majority of Kelly students on Thursday afternoon, as each demonstration brought a symphony of “ahhhhhs’” from the audience. “That guy was awesome,” said Jason Riley, 12. “I am not really that good atdrawing, but he showed us a lot of cool tricks to use. For 12-year-old Tyler Trigo, the presentation was a possible glimpse into his future. I really like to draw, and my grandmother is an artist, he said. I would like to be an artist someday, and after today I feel like I am going to be a lot better. Kelly Principal Denise Laven said Artells message was exactly what her students needed to hear. It gives them a look at what is out there in the real world in terms of art, she said. They see that there are opportunities and they can do it was well as anyone else. That is the great thing about him, he makes it so easy it gives them inspiration. Artell said the feeling was mutual. I present to more than 14,000 students a year, he said. And the kids here at Kelly have been some of the best. For more information about Artell, visit his web site at http://www.mikeartell.com Aaron Swarts can be reached at (209) 832-6139 or aswarts@trivalleyherald.com |
