Andrew Le, a graphic designer from Mississippi, USA is the first person to suggest another illustrator at Ape on the Moon. That person is Will Bryant, and this is what Andrew has to say about him:

Will Bryant is an artist I became friends with during undergraduate school, and he remains to this day one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. He is currently a member of Austin, Texas based collaborative, Public School.

His style is consistent, yet he his not confined to a specific medium. You can see Will’s work on t-shirts, signage, magazines, packaging, and various products just to name a few of his endeavors. Will says, “I make stuff because I get sad if I don’t.”

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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Santiago is back to share his step by step work process behind one of his recent posters, featuring the Portland hipster Bigfoot. Enjoy!

Materials: Pencil; Sumi ink and brush; Block printing ink; Roller; Plexiglass; X-acto knife.

1. Ideas

The challenge was to create a poster for a Society6 Portland poster series based on fun facts centering around Portland in Oregon.

One thing that is often associated with the Northwest is the mythical creature Bigfoot. Bigfoot is not necessarily associated with Portland, but I figured this is a place he would call home if he were given the chance.

2. Sketch

I always start with a light pencil or blue pencil sketch and then ink that. I don’t do to many preliminary sketches. There’s usually a very rough sketch just to get the idea and placement across and after that is final.

I sketch & ink the different elements separately and then assemble and color them in Photoshop.

I wasn’t quite happy with the first Bigfoot, so I drew another one on a separate piece of paper and then collaged them together.

3. Color and Texture

I create my textures with mono-prints or with ink. For the river texture I made some wavy textures with mono-prints. I rolled some ink onto the Plexiglas and made some wavy strokes with a brush.

I then transferred the ink to a piece of sketchbook paper.

Colors don’t really matter at this point, I usually change colors in Photoshop.

For the clouds I cut out some cloud shapes, rolled ink on the Plexi, put clouds face down on ink, place another piece of paper on top of cloud, cut out and then scribble on top of that sheet. The scribbles are transferred onto the cloud cut outs.

The bridge and hand lettering were done with Sumi ink and brush..

Once it’s all been scanned and composed in Photoshop, I start playing with color by applying color to individual layers with layer effects.

The multi-colored rain was a bit much so I toned it down and ended up with a more subdued palette.

And there you have it!

ⓒ Santiago Uceda, 2010

Excellent, thank you Santiago!

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Using a combination of Staedler Graphite pencils ranging from 6H to 9B, tape and ‘Awful toxic resin‘, Brooks creates images that look like relics of nature and other objects frozen in time.

I also love the gloomy and almost real effect that’s created by having elements between semi-transparent layers. They are also reminiscent of some of the pictures of flattened leaves you’d get in school science books.

‘When working on a piece I ask myself what images I want as the focus or in the foreground then literally draw the images on the layer that coincides with the layer in depth. The layers are semi transparent materials floating between layers of resin.’

ⓒ Brooks Salzweder, 2010

‘Right now I’m working on new pieces with the use of gel mediums. I’m trying to break away from the resin and see what other materials I can explore and how I can add more graphic and painted elements.’

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I asked him a couple of questions to accompany these excellent photographs covering some of the work process and the finished products.


How did you get into creating wooden toys?

I’m a senior industrial design student at Carnegie Mellon University and I was able to do a project of my choosing for one of my classes this past semester. I worked at Radio Flyer this past summer where I learned the value and fun involved in making toys.

After seeing the work of Take-g (a Japanese woodworker) I decided to learn how to inlay and sculpt wood through the creation of toys. After researching preexisting toy forms and themes I decided to choose a theme rich with information and meaning, hence, the theme of recently extinct animals, rich with interesting forms.

What was your work process in making these?

Step One. I chose four extinct mammals I found interesting in terms of form, pattern, and information about the behavior, habitat, reasons for extinction, and so on.

Step Two. I collected all the images I could find of each animal.

Step Three. I sketched until I found forms that I liked and I thought I could make.

Step Four. I sculpted a foam model of each toy to evaluate size and form helping me to make changes to the wood ones to come.


Step Five. I made the wood toys first as block elements cutting (table saw) and gluing different types of wood together.

I cut (band saw) front and side profiles out of the block elements. I drilled (mill) holes for heads, arms, tails. I sculpted (rasps) the wood into final shapes. I sanded, oiled, and steel wooled all pieces.

Step Six. Packaging: I purchased different size glass display domes and turned (lathe) a base to fit each one.

I hand drew (copic multiliner sp size .1) an information graphic for each animal, printed it on thick paper, cut out the package template, and folded it into its final shape.

ⓒ Josh Finkle, 2009

What are you working on at the moment?

This is my last semester of school. I am working on exhibits for the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh and more furniture for my furniture class.

MoonApe.

Keep these coming, Matt!

MoonApe

He’s achieved some special effects with these materials, including, in places, an interesting texture created through what looks like ink bleeding into water. Peter has been good enough to respond to my questioning on his work.

What got you interested in illustration using these materials?

Last summer myself and four friends drove from New York to San Francisco. When we returned with over 2000 photos of the journey it was really hard to decide which one photo would sum-up the trip, the journey and the experiences along the way.

Being a fan of Jack Keroauc and of course On The Road, I stumbled across some maps he had drawn to document his trips and it seemed a fitting way to document ours.

Originally I had planned on drawing the map and using pins to hold the cotton in place, but there was something really appealing and different about stitching the thick watercolour paper. The media combination worked well, the thread gives a 3d element to the illustrations and every viewing angle has a slightly different feel.

Describe the tools you use and the process each piece goes through

After finding a suitable subject – one that has nice lines and interesting details – the subject is either photographed, edited and traced in Illustrator or drawn freehand.

The vector lines are printed and placed over the watercolour paper. I then have to decide how the piece will be stitched and meticulously pierce every hole with a pin ready for the stitching, sometimes over a thousand holes. Finally using a needle and thread, stitch the illustration.

Do you think your full time job has an influence on your illustrations?

Definitely, as a product designer I need to be aware of line, geometry, form and structure so tend to look at objects in this manner. There is something incredibly pleasing about a well constructed product, a Dieter Rams radio, a piece of Bauhaus furniture. Items like this that make me consider the lines of a piece.

I live in London and am lucky enough to be surrounded by architectural masterpieces such as the Isokon Building, 2 Willow Road and many other great art deco buildings which are a source of constant inspiration.

What are you working on next?

At present I am working on an illustration of the Empire State Building, a detail of the transmitter masts just above the viewing platform. Its quite a complex piece but is coming along well. After that, hopefully some more architectural pieces and maybe some abstract geometrical patterns, experiments with colour and texture.

ⓒ Peter Crawley, 2009

Excellent, excellent stuff, thank you Peter

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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!

Thank you Hiyoko

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