The work of Don Kenn and Edward Gorey

Don Kenn and Edward Gorey's work has probably influenced my art style the most over the course of this year, particularly for 'The Other Side' brief in Animation: Process and Production.  The illustrative style of artists Don Kenn and Edward Gorey are very similar in that they both utilise different types of mark making to lend mood and texture to dark and surrealist fantasy worlds, often inhabited by child characters and monstrous creatures. The simplicity of the designs and the mood in which the art conveys with minimal colour and emphasis placed on tone and texture really appeals to me, as it allows me to explore imaginative design ideas while playing to my strengths as an illustrator.

Up until starting this course I've always said that I model my illustrative style off Jamie Hewlett, and while I do feel I have retained some elements of Hewlett's work I have strived to simplify designs and incorporate texture more in order to create a style more in keeping with Kenn's aesthetic. I feel that simplicity is the key to good character design and while the anarchic Hewlett creations of Tank Girl certainly appeal to me, I do not feel it is a style suited to my skills as an animator.

A theme I've picked up on in both Kenn and Gorey's work is a sense of dread and anxiety. The way in which the monsters are presented seems almost representative of an anxious child's view of the world, with the creatures serving as almost symbolic representations of inner fears. This has inspired me in my own drawing and in my spare time I have been trying to capture this mood with my own drawing in hopes of creating an animation from it in the future.