This is a Comics feature celebrating the work of artists whose work I believe represent a beautiful and original diversity within Comics, and whose work can inspire others to try something new.

In the vein of comic book artists such as Dave McKean, Ashley Wood, Ben Templesmith and Raymond Briggs to name but a few, these Deviants demonstrate in their work a new and exciting style within the world of Comics.
Not sticking to clean-cut lines and clear colouring that is often seen as the typical ‘comics style’, they make use of a huge range of both digital and traditional techniques, creating highly original and rich comic book pages. Their painting and drawing often has a definite impressionist and expressionist quality, and they make use of working over textures, combining collage, using mixed media, ink, charcoal, pastels…
It is rare to find artists who utilize such techniques within Comic and Cartoons here on DeviantArt. This is a subject very close to my heart, and I love to see this diversity within this art form. I hope that their work can inspire others.


This month I've tried to focus mainly on collage, but as always have sought to collect together a range comic formats that can inspire both the digitally minded and traditionally minded deviants.



Now to celebrate these largely unknown artists:


1. Beautiful, tonally aware black and white paint and ink comic pages. With the softness and yet fearsome passion that Frank Auerbach puts into his work, !iandseniff creates the most beautiful, stirring portraits, that just won't let you go...


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2. ~soheildanesh makes use of etching, digital work, and beautiful bleeding and painterly traditional techniques. His work has such a dangerous and fearsome atmosphere about it, and his lines create such a sense of movement and energy within his pieces. He really is one to keep an eye out for, just incredible work.







3. !raighne's work is one of the most creative digital comic pages, and indeed digital work that I have ever seen. Making use of layers upon layers and removing and re-cutting out sections, !raighne produces some of the most exciting and visually interesting and stimulating pages that you'll see around. So very rich in their texture and colour, and in the way that he utilises his techniques, these are really something worth paying some concerted attention to And he does traditional too!


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4. These wonderfully aged, textured and collaged pages by !akenoomokoto are really something. The beautifully inked and intricately detailed old document style fits perfectly with the vintage style cars and fantastically eccentric characters that he depicts.






5. ~kiati2000 has a sea of beautiful comics in her gallery. Making use of an impressively time consuming paper cutout collage technique, she tells the narrative beautifully through these cutout frames.
And then a more dark side to her work, an ominous, atmospheric story using harsh black and white contrast, about a girl’s journey into a mystery forest.



Arethusa shows a beautiful use of dry brushing and ink work, and an excellent knowledge of narrative, transition, and layout.





6. A beautifully simple, well laid out collection of pages that make use of a wonderful range of traditional mediums including acrylic, gouache, oil and car paint, and pencil and biro. Rich in texture and style, !robotmonster666 has displayed a wonderful piece of narrative here.


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7. Such a gorgeous page by Deviant ~hallu Appealing characters painted cleary and calmly onto the piece, which uses brown paper as a collage base for the clouds. So heart warming ^^

And a wonderfully bizarre, surreal tea-pot story! Done in an equally gorgeous style.






8. One of the most amusing and original comics strips that I have seen! Bizarre, wonderfully laid out and well presented, these are silhouettes that make you laugh and chuckle with delight! By ~artchetype


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9. A beautiful collage, creating a comic book cover made from old magazines and painterly textures with hand made text.  By !stoantje






10. And to finish off, a Comics Dress by ~i-am-god-la-dee-da, because this is awesome:




I received very positive feedback last time, and I'd still love to hear of any more Deviants and their Deviations that you think would make an excellent and inspiring feature.

If you enjoy this article, don’t forget to give it a to get these people the exposure that they deserve.
See you next month