Barnaby Ward And His Elaborate Artworks

You may have seen this artist’s work floating around the net, but if you haven’t, you’ll want to check out this post. He has produced numerous pieces one better than the next, and he doesn’t seem like he’ll be stopping production anytime soon. This week our artist spotlight is on Barnaby Ward. What can be said about Barnaby’s work other than it’s Amazing, well a lot can be said. First, let’s get to know a little bit about this artist.

Who is Barnaby Ward?
From: http://de-de.facebook.com/group.php?gid=88565051383

The Short Bio:
“Barnaby Ward has a wife, some cats, and a website. He lives on a small island and spends far too much money on gas and too little time at the beach. He works primarily on a computer as he finds this to be the neatest, easiest and least stressful way to draw.”

The Long Bio:
Barnaby was born in the U.K. and moved to Barbados when he was just 3 years old. He had been drawing all his life, but he never really pursued it. His focus was always on music and design. In school he studied graphic design, and later became his profession. But it wasn’t until 2003 when he got his first tablet that he really became interested in drawing. One of the factors that motivated him was discovering online art outlets, where he was able to involve himself in likeminded groups full of talented artists. His influences include the likes of Paul Pope, Ashley Wood, Herge, Tatsuyuki Tanaka all for different reasons, it was these artists that inspired and help mould his style. He draws his inspiration from, manga, anime, American underground and European comics which have all had an impact on him. He spent a full year working on a 100 page comic with no incentive or motivation and thought that he owed it to himself to try to have it published. After sending it to numerous publishers and having it rejected he tried a different route and that’s when his journey began into the comics industry.

His work has a sketchy, gritty like quality. The rough gray charcoal shades in some of his pieces contrast against the flat background colours bringing out the main elements in his compositions. His level of detail in his artworks is remarkable, he layers his line work, in some areas fine and simplistic while in other areas more concentrated and clustered. By doing this he’s able to create texture and form thus bringing his 2-diemionsal characters to life. He plays upon many ideas in his narrative illustrations. He uses slender young girls with funky hair and thick eyeliner and pairs them with giant elaborate machines, robots, animals or monsters. The uses solid colours, while at other times very vibrant and striking. The layout of his compositions change from piece to piece, these techniques are used to bring attention and interest to the subject matter.

“Barnaby Ward mixes the class and glamour of european illustration, with the flair and originality of Japanese manga to create wonderfully compelling and stunning pieces of art!”

-Ashley Wood

“With the girls and animals pieces, I’m not trying to tell a specific story so much as create a sense of empathy. I wanted to create an obvious emotional connection between the girl and the animal, which I’m hoping shows that there’s a relationship there, and a sense of history. There’s not much more to it than that. But I think the combination of these elements allows the viewer to project their own ideas onto the piece. There’s enough suggestion that I’m hoping it stimulates people’s imaginations.”

-Barnaby Ward

Barnaby does not only do illustrations, he has also worked on a few comic books “The Perils of Uncommon Skyway” and “Sixteen Miles to Merrick”, which features four of his short sequential art stories as well as more of his illustrations. Check out the images below to get a better understanding of what you’ll be seeing inside his books.

Also check out the trailer for Sixteen Miles to Merrick. It’s nicely put together and gives you a peek of what’s in store for the reader:

Sixteen Miles to Merricks Graphic Novel from Frogchildren Studios on Vimeo.

If you’re interested in learning more about Barnaby Ward visit his website: http://somefield.com/  or check out his deviant art page: http://somefield.deviantart.com/gallery/  Also, if you want to know what Barnaby is up to join his twitter: http://twitter.com/barnaby_ward

About the author

Philip Defina wrote 62 articles on this blog.

Philip Defina is the Art Director and co-founder of Septagon Studios Inc. (est. 2003) and Work In Comics (est. 2009) He is a design junkie with a passion for contemporary and graphic arts, photography, and architecture. He`s also a contributing writer for the Septagon Comic Blog with articles that focus on inspiration, art, and productivity. He studied Graphic Design and Advertising Design and quickly became fond of the word KERN.

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