Brian Froud and Sam Kieth

Today I would like to talk briefly about 2 of my favorite artists. I know they arent especially obscure or even considered among the old masters. In fact they are both currently alive and productive. Their names are Sam Kieth and Brian Froud.

Sam Kieth is best known for his work in comic books since the early 1980s. His career reached it's peak in the early nineties with the success of his self written and painted Image Comics release The Maxx. This comic was later made into a cartoon which aired on MTV alongside Aeon Flux and The Head. I have been a giant dork for his art since i first saw it, and have collected his original sketches and printed work ever since. I think my favorite thing about the art of Sam Keith is his use of flowing lines to create distinct forms. Everything has such unique shapes, even things that appear over and over throughout a series. No character or object is drawn exactly the same way twice. This means he relies a lot on colors to define his characters. Each frame is its own unique work of art and a new interpretation of the characters within. I also really dig the way the frames are put together in his books. You dont open a Sam Kieth comic and see a boring grid pattern, you see different shapes flowing into each other in a way that plays with the subconscious as much as his stories do. The fact that he is also a writer (although I admit he has never written a story with a decent ending) makes him my #1 favorite artist ever.








Brian Froud is best known for his 1978 anthology Faeries, and for his character designs of the Muppets in Jim Henson's Dark Crystal and Labyrinth films. The script of the Labyrinth was written when Brian Froud gave Terry Jones a stack of paintings and drawings to pull from in the creation of characters and settings for a new film. Later, Brian Froud gave his work to a series of fantasy authors who then turned the images into fantasy stories. Frouds images are said to be so strong because they are created from real faerie models. Each face is of a muse telling a story from another dimension, making them especially inspiring to writers. I have never seen any other artist accomplish such a thing, and it is the root of why I respect him so much. Also because no other paintings have moved me to tears in quite the same way. Its like i recognize the beings in these photos from dreams or past lives or something. Anyway, here are some examples:
this is his website




I would also like to mention the wonderful time I had at Dragon Con over the weekend. I attended all the Adult Swim and cartoon related panels, which were educational and entertaining. I learned about 2 other conventions coming up that i would like to attend in the future:

Illuxcon 2009 Fantastic Arts Symposium
Guests of honor include 2 more of my favorite artists, Julie Bell and Boris Vallejo.
This takes place November 12th - 15th in Altoona, Pennsylvania.

Animation Super Con 2009
Guests of honor include voice actors from like half of my favorite cartoons, and artists from many more.
This takes place October 2nd - 4th in Miami, Florida.