Greetings, Ape on the Moon fans! I am very honored to be with you and help out my talented and hard-working friend Alex whilst he is away on a much deserved holiday. I will be back next week… same time, same place.

Today I present the super clever work of Irina Troitskaya, an illustrator and educator based in Moscow, Russia. Irina’s portfolio is quite dense with an exciting mix of personal projects and client work. Her illustrations have been commissioned by Elle, Hewlett-Packard and BMW amongst many others.

I am particularly fond of her contemporary reinterpretation of Russian matreshka dolls which you can get a taste of below along with a sneak peek at her terrific sketchbook. Enjoy! –Amy

© Irina Troitskaya, 2010

“Irina Troitskaya grew up in Izhevsk, an industrial city deep into Russia. She has been drawing for as long as she can remember. Her delicate, surreal and poetic works record those fragile moments of life which hard to capture, because they vanish from our sight in a blink. She tells us stories of intimate relationships between a bear and a bird or a fish and a lion whose coexistence seems impossible, but yet true.”

See more on Irina’s website + flickr

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I especially like the humour that is created through her work, and I think this is emphasized through the medium she works with. I’ll leave further detail to the below interview with Jessica.

How did you develop into using sculpture for your illustrations?

Sculpting just came naturally to me. I’m a horrible drawer (most of the time) and it’s just far easier to render things in 3D. Strangely it wasn’t until after I graduated that I was aware of this.

I discovered the work of Chris Sickels and Liz Lomax and was instantly smitten.  I tried a number of methods and material until I found something that worked for me. Combining digital production methods with the hand sculpted elements really creates a image that blurs the line between reality and fiction.

I think that when people see my work they don’t instantly know how it was made, it could be 3d, painted, digital. I like the ambiguity. It also creates a unique surreal feel that you don’t often see.

What do you do to prepare an illustration?

First off, it’s important to make sure I have all the materials I’ll need to make the illustration. I usually keep extras of everything just in case I need to do something unexpected. If there’s something special needed, then I usually head out and get it.

I always use the same tools when I’m sculpting. I have a bunch of silicone tip shaping tools (which I love) that I use to smooth surfaces and crevices, and I use dental tools for the fine details.

There is this great place in Toronto called Active Surplus that sells anything that you can imagine from dental tools to old computer hard drives. Of course I always use a block of Super Sculpey, armature wire, and aluminium foil.

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How do you work through and complete your sculpted illustrations?

I always start out with a sketch of a rough idea that I like and a composition that I’m happy with. Then I’ll begin by sculpting the characters in the illustrations.

After constructing a wire armature, I layer tinfoil and Super Sculpey on top. Using dental and silicone tip shaping tools, I’ll form the clay into the desired shape. I sculpt the head, hands and feet first. The body of the characters are constructed out of foam and cotton, and then fabric is stitched over top as clothing etc.

I like to use as many different elements as possible in the illustration to create a textured and surreal feel. I use insulating foam and other materials to create the sets and backgrounds. After the pieces have been baked, I paint them and begin to set up the shot.

Once the photo is done I add the final touches in Photoshop.

How did you apply that stereoscope effect to your work?

To get a stereoscopic (3d) image you need two photos from slightly different angles.

Normally you would take a picture on your tripod, then shift it one inch say… to the left and take another picture.

In Photoshop I composite the two images into a single stereoscopic image that can be viewed with 3d glasses. Because I work at a much smaller scale (usually 3d is viewed relative to the distance between your eyes) the distance between the two pictures must be less.

© Jessica Fortner, 2010

Really this depends on the size of the sculptures but generally the distance is miniscule (about a half a centimetre). All the other principles apply.

What are you working on at the moment?

I am working on an illustration to submit to “Life in 2050″, an exhibition created by Transmission for the SCI-FI-LONDON Film Festival.

There was an open call for submissions and I’m taking advantage of it. The project is to envision the world in 2050. I’m also in the midst of putting together a self-promotional mailer and redesigning my site. I love when I get the opportunity to do design.

Thanks Jessica!

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For someone new to the scene, this Liverpool-based artist bodes well for the future.

And a very pleasant short video documenting the daily life of one of his characters, showing really cool use of lighting and minimal colours:

‘A Day in the Life’

ⓒ Harry Nesbitt, 2009

I like the depth of the works and how light diffuses realistically on all the elements of each scene.

Irma shared with me her secret of floating objects in these pieces. That is to use wires to hold objects up before photographing the sets and digitally removing the wires. Nice!

With what comes with undoubtedly great amounts of practice, time and skill are illustrations that stand out for their ability to create seemingly touchable textures, shapes and light effects.

From Rochester in New York, Andy has had work associated with Wallpaper Magazine, Wired UK and Warp Records. I’ve asked him a few questions about his background and process.

What kind of training or background have you had in your art?

Andy is keeping pretty quiet about what he’s working on at the moment, but you can keep track of what work he’s completed month by month at his blog.

ⓒ Andy Gilmore, 2009

Thanks, and best of luck for the future Andy!

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3D toy designs at Gumliens sprung out of various ideas and paintings made a few years ago by the two members of the group: ‘Gumtaro’ and ‘Hirayama’.

The work process involves alternative work by each of the two designers. Gumtaro starts of with a ‘scribble‘. The lines are cleaned and drawn out clearly by Hirayama. Gumtaro will then paint the character out with acrylic paint.

The image will be ‘made more beautiful with a computer‘. Both Gumtaro and Hirayama will then get to work crafting a 3D model out of clay based on the computer design.

In terms of the actual manufacture of the toys, most work is done in house with the stone dust clay and resin modelling in the early stages done in their home studio. The soft vinyl toy is produced with toy manufacturer ‘One Up’.

Gumliens’ toys will be exhibited at both ‘Fewmany‘ and ‘One Up‘ in Japan from June 29th 2009 to July 5th. Their vinyl toys will be on sale at the ‘One Up’ booth at the Taipei Toy Festival in July.

Gumliens is also currently working on toys for a personal booth for an event called ‘Popbox’ held in ‘Loft‘ in Shibuya, Tokyo in August this year.

Good luck Gumtaro and Hirayama!

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Based in The Netherlands, Marshall has worked as a videogame programmer before switching to graphic design and illustration. He discovered paper toy design after reading a tutorial in Computer Arts magazine:

‘It explained how to create papertoys, which included a sample model by design studio FWIS. I checked them out and discovered they had a whole series called Readymech’s. I was instantly hooked to these characters and wanted to give it a try myself. So I created my own Readymech based model called NANA, which got a lot of positive reactions. That motivated me to try a few more and I became addicted’.

I asked Marshall about the tools he uses and the process he goes through in creating his three dimensional characters:

‘My projects normally go through different stages. The first stage consists of the initial idea and a lot of sketches. I keep a sketchbook that I use to write down ideas, make little sketches and rough template try-outs. When I’m happy with an idea I move to the next stage in which I start collecting reference material (i.e. lots of googling).

In the meantime I also start working on the blank template. When this is finished I build the initial template to check if I didn’t make any mistakes. Often it needs a few tweaks or changes to make sure it all fits together. After that I start illustrating the model and add instructions and other elements to the template. In the final stage I construct the final model, photograph it and put the PDF online or deliver the model to the client. I usually work on different models at the same time, which can all be in different stages. Deadlines and inspirational moods determine what I work on at a specific moment’.

‘My specialty is one-piece papertoys, that are not constructed by gluing several parts together, but by folding a single piece of cut-out paper into the 3D model. It a self-imposed restriction to make designing the models a bit more challenging and fun, but it also forces me to explore the boundaries of what you can do with paper. And I also thinks it adds this little extra element of surprise for the person that builds the model.

With regards to material and tools, I always work in Illustrator, so almost all my models are vector-based. For construction of the models, I use a regular exacto knife, a metal ruler, cutting mat and paper glue. for printing I use an ink jet printer with some extra heavy stock (180 grams) to make the models a bit sturdier. That’s basically all. No fancy materials, so anybody that would like to give it a try themselves, go for it!’

© Marshall Alexander, 2009

What do you think that paper models have that 2d illustrations don’t?

‘Audience participation! Paper models create this great interaction between you and your audience that usually does not happen when you release a regular 2D illustration. In order to really appreciate a piece you have to build it yourself and therefore become part of the creation process. It’s a very tactile experience and also adds this sense of wonder when you see this flat piece of paper come to life as a 3D shape. There’s a very active online community of papertoy designers, builders and customizers that is refreshingly accessible to everyone. The fact that most models are available for free has kept the community relatively free from commercialisation and all it’s nasty side effects. It’s not about the money, but about the art, craft or whatever you want call it’.

What are you working on at the moment?

‘Too many things at the same time, which means each one of them unfortunately progresses very slowly. I’ve just finished a model that will accompany a book release in June. I will start working on a new model soon for an online shop that sells horror and gothic merchandise, which is a pretty cool project. Besides that I’m also working on the fourth series of Foldskool Heroes, a template I created to pay tribute to some the heroes and things of my youth. And to top it all, I’m participating in a group exhibition here in The Netherlands which celebrates the release of Matt Hawkins’ Urban Paper book , for which I contributed a model’.

Great stuff Marshall!

Follow MoonApe on Twitter for more updates, as I have some more great illustrators coming up…

Empire – Total War for PC Gamer – Painter and Photoshop:

When asked how he got into the illustration he now does, he explained that drawing was always a passion since childhood, preferring much more to play around on his own than to listen to a teacher. In this way, Michael ended up teaching himself, never studying art or design.

‘No matter if it was a crayon or a chunk of clay back then or some new 3d software like nowadays, diving into it and trying to find out the mechanism behind it is one of the most exciting parts in the creative process‘.

Medieval 2 Kingdoms Artwork – Photoshop only:

‘Freya’ – Painter X and Photoshop CS3:

Michael tries to avoid approaching each piece in the same way before drawing so that he doesn’t fall into the trap of a becoming a painting facility, repeating the same style and theme again and again. ‘I like the idea of the renaissance, where the artist would often be an inventor, a scientist and a craftsman‘. Michael therefore likes to experiment with his techniques, both digitally and with traditional media, switching between techniques.

ⓒ Michael Kutsche, 2009

As well as working on Andrew Stanton’s new film, Michael has just finished working as a character designer on Tim Burton’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’ (2010) and plans to continue working as a designer in the film industry. ‘There’s also several plans for personal projects, one of them is a gallery exhibition with my traditional paintings, as well as an animation-related project‘.

Good luck, Michael!

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Raul is inspired by anything around him, from what’s in the news to ideas brought to him by his children. I particularly like the lighting effects present in his work, which add to the form and shape of the illustration, but also create a dream-like quality that compliments the nature of his concepts.

ⓒ Raul Real, 2009

As for the future, Raul says it is very important to him to continue working in advertising, television and animation, which he is passionate about. He is keen to develop his characters further and develop his creativity within this field.

Good luck Raul!

Find more of his work here.

Moon Ape

ⓒ Mushroom Robot 2009

To get started in 3D illustration, two incredible software packages to go for are Autodesk’s 3ds Max or Maya, under the same ownership. I’ve tried Maya, and it seems complicated at first, but fun and addictive to play with.

Also check out the equally as exciting two-dimensional work of Mushroom Robot on Flickr.

MoonApe