Illustrator and comic creator Timothy Weaver hails from North Carolina. A graduate from East Carolina University, he is one of the many amazing collaborators of Josh Tierney’s comic Spera. Mr. Weaver has great brush work that reminds me very much of Paul Pope’s style (never a bad thing, in my opinion). You can find more of his work on his website.

I am absolutely loving the style of illustrator Daniel Krall. Punchy colours, loose line work and packed with textures. I further became besotted when I found out much of the work is done traditionally, it is a mix watercolour, gouache, acrylic and pixels. For a little more background for Krall, Here is a nice quote from his website:

Daniel Krall emerged from a small farm in Fontana, Pennsylvania, where his artistic roots were watered by comic books, animation, and big-sky colorways. After learning every line of country life, he moved to the city and earned a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, where he now teaches illustration.

Professional father and other-time illustrator, Anthony Holden some how still manages find time to help out animation studio Laika, and create some superbly funny gif animations. His work has a distinctive manga influence, and is packed with joy! His brilliant sketchy style translate really well to his finished pieces, rarely does he loose that energy his sketches have. I implore you to try and flick through his blog or deviantArt page without smiling, that’s what I thought, it can’t be done.

I recently stumbled on the fantastic work of Roman Muradov through his current Kickstarter project. His charismatic illustrations are created by traditional linework, often inked with a brush, then colours are applied in Photoshop. Some of his previous clients include The New Yorker, Wall Street Journal, GQ, and Dark Horse Comics. To see more of his work check out his website, and feel free to add more money in the already funded Kickstarter kitty.

Kozyndan is the super-star due comprised of husband-and-wife Kozue (Kozy) and Dan Kitchens. Their work came into prominence in the early noughties, around the time when the illustration industry was getting new gusto and gaining more media prominence. Their prints were very popular in boutique art and book stores. It was in just such a stores where their beautifully detailed and absurd panoramics first caught my eye. Since then Kozyndan has gone from strength-to-strength, partaking in regular exhibitions, putting out a range of products, diversifying in style, and all the while picking more and more fans along the way.

The duo seem particularly social and you can find out more about them by visiting their website, tumblr, instagram, and flickr.

Eisner Award-winning illustrator Doug TenNapel is likely best known for creating the incongruous Earthworm Jim. Originally created in 1994, Shiny Entertainment bought the rights to the character and released the successful video game, toy line, and cartoon series. Later in 1996 whilst working for Dreamworks, he created the acclaimed video game The Neverhood. Away from video games TenNapel has carved a respected career in comic books, starting 1998, with his release of the limited series GEAR. For the last decade he has released a new comic every year, including titles such as Earthboy Jacobus, Black Cherry, Ghostopolis, Ratfist and my personal favourite Creature Tech. Keep up-to-date with Mr. TenNaple on his website.

San Francisco comic and freelance artist Chris Staggs graduated from the Joe Kubert school for cartooning and animation. Relatively new to the comic industry Mr. Staggs has already worked on Marvel Comic’s Deadpool titles, and more recently has been working on a Dark horse title’s Mass Effect: Homeworlds and Prototype 2. The cross-section of his illustration influences, including J.C. Leyendecker, Mike Mignola, Alphonse Mucha, Claire Wendling, Sergio Toppi, Sebastion Kruger and Carlos Meglia, are shown in his large range of styles. I particularly like his some of his more recent black & white commissions, which you can see on his DeviantArt page.

Oh yes, Happy new year!