“Alternately passionate and playful, outraged and absurd, the artwork of Josh Keyes is memorable both for its resonant imagery and the haunting themes those images convey.”
- Excerpt from “Animal Planet”, by George Melrod

Where do you get your inspiration from?

Inspiration for my work comes from many sources, dreams, literature, and the experiences of daily life. I would say that the core of my inspiration draws upon references to alchemical diagrams from the 16th and 17th century, I find the surreal and fantastic imagery of these engravings captivating. The fusion of scientific apparatus with personified mythological states of change can keep my mind brewing all night long with wonder. Events in the world, whether dealing with climate change, or some political or social issue can also bring a painting idea to light.

Shedding

What is your artistic process? (how do you do what you do so well)

I spend a great deal of time thinking through the different possibilities the painting can take shape. What imagery would best suit the subject matter, and also what title best fits and conveys the concept. This process can sometimes take months before the paintbrush touches the panel. Some ideas come faster than others. I love the ideas that spring into mind as a complete image one that I can see when I close my eyes. I spend many hours taking reference photos and searching for just the right material to begin building the painting. I get immense satisfaction during the composition stage, arranging the different pictorial elements so the image has a flow and balance. After I have worked through the composition, the rest is just pure painting and mixing colors; I use acrylics, which dry fast so I have to work rather quickly.

Scorch II

What do the butterflies symbolize in your art?

I think the butterflies function for me as standing for something that cannot be seen, it is probably the closest element in my work that hints at the transference of energy or what some people have expressed to me as standing for the soul or spirit. The butterflies are my device for expressing the metaphysical or phenomenological states of change.

Treadmill

If you could go back in time (or even in the present) to shadow one artist, who would it be and why?

Difficult question, as I love and admire so many artists. Two come to mind mainly because I have been researching both artists at the moment, Goya or Isidore Granville. I think it would be fascinating to see Goya’s duel lifestyle of creating his own personal work while maintaining his profession as a court painter of the Spanish Crown. I would have enjoyed finding out more about his thought process and how he came up with some of his truly whimsical and disturbing imagery. The same applies to Granville’s work, he was certainly ahead of his time in terms of fantastic and at times prophetic imagery.

Tic Toc

What was your favorite piece to work on and why?

A few come to mind but I have to select my current body of work. For me it is ambitious on many levels and is a work that has consumed me in an almost obsessive way. Though the work is made up of nine separate paintings it is the first time I have created a body of work that follows a complete narrative or story. Since it is a work in progress I do not want to say too much at the moment and would prefer to wait until its completion to say more about it. It will be exhibited at my show with the David B Smith Gallery in November.

Rising

Do you have any social profiles you would like people to follow you on?

If you are interested in seeing more of my work you can visit my website, www.joshkeyes.com, I am on Facebook and there is also a forum link listed on my website you can visit to discuss the work and possibly find a good deal on prints and original artwork.

The Call I

Thank you for your time Josh, I admire you as an artist and love your work.

Thank you Lee, I really enjoyed your questions and I am so glad you like the work. Thank you for the interview.

Roar I

Howl

Self portrait as an old man

Flutter I

The Exchange

Exhale III

Swarming (The Hollow Rumble of Wings)

Exhale

Dog Park

Though those shows were great, the best part of the television lineup was the cartoons! Today’s “kids shows” for the most part are complete garbage compared to the quality of shows that existed in the early 90s (Darkwing Duck, Doug, Talespin, Tiny Toon Adventures, etc.).

Here are some great fan art from some of the great cartoon shows that I grew up with. Feel free to leave a comment of some of your favorite shows growing up that I might have missed. Enjoy

Hey Arnold!

The show stars 4th-grader Arnold, who lives with his grandparents Phil and Gertrude, proprietors of the Sunset Arms boarding house. In each episode, Arnold often helps a schoolmate solve a personal problem, or encounters a predicament of his own.

The Angry Beavers

The series revolves around Daggett and Norbert Beaver, two young beaver brothers who have left their home in the forest, to become bachelors. Naturally, they get into all sorts of beaver related trouble and comedy is made.

Aaahh!!! Real Monsters

Aaahh!!! Real Monsters was a show about adolescent monsters-in-training. The three main characters (Ickis, Oblina and Krumm) attend an institute for monsters under a city dump and learn how to frighten humans.

Pinky and the Brain

Originally starting as a recurring segment on the hit show Animaniacs, Pinky and The Brain finally landed their own show in 1995. Pinky and Brain are genetically enhanced laboratory mice who reside in a cage in the Acme Labs research facility. Each episode involves one of Brain’s plans for world domination with Pinky’s assistance, and the ultimate failure of that plan.

Recess

Recess portrays the lives of six fourth graders as they go about their daily lives in a highly clichéd school environment. The students of Third Street School have set up their own “little world” of traditional human society complete with its own government, class system, and set of unwritten laws. They are ruled by a monarch, King Bob, who has various enforcers to make sure his decrees are carried out. The little society has a long list of rigid values and social norms that imposes a high expectation of conformity upon all the students

Rocko’s Modern Life

Rocko’s Modern Life followed the life of a wallaby called Rocko. Not known to young children, the show was full of sexual innuendos and crude humor. After 52 episodes, the show called it quits, but it’s humor and great animation stuck with a generation of kids.

Rugrats

The show focuses on four babies and their day-to-day lives, usually involving common life experiences that become adventures in the babies’ imaginations. It was one of the first three Nicktoons and also aired on Nick Jr. in 1995.

Inception is a 2010 science fiction action film written, produced, and directed by Christopher Nolan. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard, and Cillian Murphy. DiCaprio plays Dom Cobb, a thief who extracts information from the subconscious mind of his victims while they dream. On the run from Cobol Engineering, and unable to visit his children, a client offers Cobb a chance to regain his old life in exchange for one last job: performing an inception, the planting of an idea into the mind of his client’s competitor.
- via Wikipedia

I purchased the 20 x 30 inch print of this, and I love it!

To view the first part of the series, go to Munny Madness

180 Munny's designed in two weeks by a talented group of French artists
click on the image to check out the other 176 great designs!

Having literally hundreds of amazing artists to choose from for this post, these eight artists only scratch the surface of the vast collective skill that comes along with each pack of Magic cards. Feel free to share other great Magic artists that I might have missed. Enjoy!

Please note that all of the following artworks are © Copyrighted to Wizards of the Coast

Todd Lockwood

Website: http://www.toddlockwood.com/

Blog: http://www.tolo.biz/

Quote: “I have been drawing since before I can remember, literally since I was old enough to hold a pencil. Growing up, it was my main recreation. I taught myself to draw by making my own comic books on typing paper; it was great practice, drawing the same characters, objects, and settings in sequential multiples. It honed my story telling skills at the same time; story telling was really what was on my mind.”

John Avon

Website: http://www.johnavon.com/

Bio: John is an English freelance illustrator, working primarily in the field of Fantasy and Science Fiction. His professional art career started in 1983, when he began to paint book-covers, including authors such as Stephen King, Terry Pratchett, Arthur C. Clarke, among many others. Over the last decade John has produced hundreds of paintings for the cards of Magic the Gathering.

Donato Giancola

Website: http://www.donatoart.com/

Bio: Since beginning his professional career in 1993, Donato’s list of clients has grown to include LucasArts, National Geographic, CNN, DC Comics, Microsoft, Playboy Magazine, Wizards of the Coast, Scholastic, Tor Books, Random House, Time/Warner, The Scifi Channel, Milton-Bradley, and Hasbro.

Matt Cavotta

Website: http://cavotta.com/artists/cavotta/main.asp

Bio: Matt has loved games since he was slumlording over Baltic Avenue as a kid. Scattergories, Scrabble, Balderdash, and Boggle are all faves, but Matt does not reach his full gamer nerdhood until he busts out the D&D or Magic. After a while, it only seemed natural to try and contribute to the artwork of the games he loves. After a lot of practice and perseverance, Matt cracked into the “biz” and now his work and play are nearly one and the same.

Scott M. Fischer

Website: http://www.fischart.com/

Bio: After coasting through high school on extra credit art assignments, he found himself at the Savannah College of art and design. In 1994 he graduated from college with honors, and a little plaque inscribed with the words ‘painter of the year’. A sampling of the worlds he’s visited are; Peter Pan, Secrets of Dripping Fang, Halo, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Robert Jordan’s ‘Wheel of Time’, Magic the Gathering, and Dungeons and Dragons.

Heather Hudson

Website: http://www.studiowondercabinet.com

Bio: “Since the early 90‘s, I’ve drawn and painted art for tabletop games for the young adult market including licensed properties based on the Dungeons and Dragons game system, the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and H.P. Lovecraft.  My work for the collectible card game “Magic; the Gathering” (Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro) is known to players and collectors around the world.”

Mark Tedin

Website: http://marktedin.com

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mark-Tedin-Illustration/297091821503?ref=ts

Bio: Since 1992 Mark has worked as a Set Designer for various companies, Art Director and Concept Artist at Wizards of the Coast. He recently has been an Adjunct Faculty member at Northwest College of Art since 2003.

Rob Alexander

Website: http://www.robalexander.com/

Bio: Rob Alexander is an Illustrator and Concept Artist working in the Publishing, Magazine, Computer Gaming and Collectable Card Game markets. He paints Fine Art, Fantasy and Science Fiction, Children’s Illustrations and contemporary landscapes.

Other notable Magic the Gathering artists:

Daren Bader – http://www.darenbader.blogspot.com/

Carl Critchlow – http://www.carlcritchlow.com

Dan Frazier – http://www.danfrazier.com

Gallegos – http://gallegosart.com

Here is some fantastic fan-art of this great series that has captured the hearts of millions of children and adults around the world.

Each one is a blank canvas, and all ready for scribbling, piercing, painting, posing, piling, dressing up, and sculpting into forms straight from your imagination.

To view the second part of this series check out Munny Madness 2

Epicness (Urban Dictionary Definition):

To describe something that is so amazing that no other word is able to describe its awesomeness.