Butcher Billy Gets Pac-Man Fever!

For those unfamiliar, Butcher Billy is a terrific artist/illustrator from Brazil. In the last several years, he has gained quite a bit of attention for his wonderful illustrations re-envisioning punk and new wave musicians as superheroes, characters from The Breakfast Club, and Nintendo mainstays. For example, Morrissey as Superman, Devo as The Flash, Joy Divison as Batman, Sid & Nancy as Mario and Peach, etc... You can view some of those here. They are brilliant. Actually, all of Butcher Billy's work is brilliant.

Recently, I have noticed Butcher Billy turning his attention to the wonderful world of Pac-Man. This week, he added two amazing new Pac-Man illustrations. Additionally, in the last couple of years, he has included Pac-Man quite a few other times. Is he prepping for a Pac-Man themed show? One can only hope. 

Regardless, check out the work below! Then, if you have a few minutes, go check out Butcher Billy's Website, Behance, Tumblr, or one of his stores such as Redbubble, Curioos, or Neatoshop!

The Poké Life: 1996 - Artist Matt Rockefeller Challenges You To Find All 95 Pokemon

Matt Rockefeller is a freelance illustrator and visual development artist who received his BFA in illustration with a concentration in animation at the Maryland Institute College of Art. Born in Tucson, Arizona, he escaped the heat by delving into the worlds of comics, animation, and video games, and has found them a source of inspiration in his art. He specializes in creating images that communicate ideas, and he strives to be a storyteller in all aspects of his work.

The Poké Life is a zine about the year Pokémon took the world by storm - 1996. The zine was created as part of a 2014 art show at Light Grey Art Lab called Stacks, featuring 60+ artists creating zines based on one important topic from one specific year.

Rockefeller explains:

The games captured the imaginations of thousands, transforming their environments into Pokémon playgrounds. Each spread depicts a part of the world in which even the people and objects appear to take on the likeness of these adorable, addictive creatures. 95 are hidden within the pages, challenge yourself to find 'em all!

You really need to see Matt Rockefeller's other amazing artwork. Check out his Website, Blog, Behance, Twitter, and buy something from his store!

And, click on any of the images below to blow them up to help find the hidden Pokémon!

Pop Culture Menace: The Wondrous World of Illustrator Andrew Heath

I first encountered illustrator Andrew Heath at Heroes Con this year. His booth was festooned with charming pop culture and video game prints, each cooler than the one before it. While he was busy making a sale, I grabbed one of his business cards. On the back it read "Please Redeem For One Free High Five." Sadly, I never got a chance to take him up on this offer in person. Thankfully, when I asked him if we could feature his art on the blog, I got the biggest high five of all when he said yes.

Here's his official bio:

Andrew Heath is a graphic designer and illustrator currently located in Lexington, KY. In 2012, he graduated with a Bachelors of Arts at the University of Kentucky, but has been designing professionally long before then. Mainly specializing in minimal designing, he likes to keep his work clean, simple and concise, while at the same time having a bold impact on the viewer.

Unofficially, Andrew claims to be a cheeseburger connoisseur. Also, his favorite movie is Ghostbusters and he has seen it approximately 150 times. When I asked what he thought of Ghostbusters 2, he emphatically responded, "If you don't like Ghostbusters 2, you're wrong.  Ghostbusters is my all time favorite movie and it's always great to get to get to have more time with those characters.  I mean, it's a good movie and it's fun, so I don't know why there's so much negativity towards it.  Any time I run into someone who dislikes Ghostbusters 2, I always ask the question, 'Well…Would you rather there not be a Ghostbusters 2 at all?'  That usually eases them up on the movie."

Despite creating a good bit of Pokemon related art, Andrew claims not to have played Pokemon in quite some time. When pressed for choosing a preferred starter, he answers, "I think that I always went with Bulbasaur.  Probably because he was green and that was my favorite color." A particularly clever segment of Andrew's art deals with video game food charts and the digestive tracts of characters. When I asked him to explain why Mario is chubby while Luigi is svelte despite, according to his artwork, having the same diet, he explains, "That's actually a good point, I do work a lot with the eating habits of video game characters! I think Mario is fat because that's the stereotype of plumbers. Luigi is just thin because I guess that had to make him differ from Mario."

Aside from working on his own projects, Andrew has done a lot of work for major corporations such as H&R Block and US Bank. He is also the go to designer for fun, geeky outlets such as Loony Labs, The Nerdy Bomb, and Cincinnati Comic Con.

If you want to explore more of Andrew Heath's art on your own, I suggest his Website, Tumblr, Twitter, and Facebook. You can also buy prints and other fun stuff in his Shop.

Preview iam8bit's Psychonaut's 10th Anniversary Art Show!

Tonight, amazing LA art gallery iam8bit is throwing the opening reception party for Psychonauts 10th Anniversary Art Show. Created by Tim Shafer and the team at Double Fine Productions, the Psychonauts video game was first released back in April of 2005 and quickly became a big hit on PS2 and Xbox. Anyway, if you are unfamiliar, you can read all about it and the Psychonauts sequels on their Wikipedia page (or watch the video at the bottom). If you happen to be in the LA area, this show looks pretty f'in awesome. We highly recommend you check it out.

I Like Big Men...Is All You Need to Know: An Interview w/ Artist Sarah Borrows aka SniperStalker

I have been quietly following artist/illustrator Sarah Borrows' SniperStalker DeviantArt page for many, many months now. She draws men. Big, strong men. Makes you wish they were real men. And, most of her fantastical creations are based on pop culture and video games, so that makes it even all that much better for a dork like me. Not to mention that she likes to make RULE 34 versions of almost everything from Wreck It Ralph and Manly Dan to Mr. Incredible and some of the guys from Team Fortress 2.

But Sarah also does phenomenal original work. Last year, you might have seen her brief Bara comic series My Big Boyfriend. Currently, she is working on a new series titled Tusks that we will talk about more in the interview as well as a cool horror hunk pin-up series called Macabre Monthly.

Sarah doesn't share a lot of bio info, but she did tell me this:

I did take art classes in high school but none of the skills were ever really applied to anatomy. The skills involved in drawing men were mostly self-taught. I did do a lot of tracing of male bodies but I felt after tracing enough, I began knowing how muscle definition and body details were drawn. To summarize everything, I basically draw a LOT of men and it's beginning to pay off.

Anyway, I am sure it is just a matter of time before someone snatches Sarah Borrows up and employs her to illustrate comics and graphic novels for their own nefarious purposes. But for now, you can go ogle her creations at her Deviant Art page and be sure to check out her Tumblr for uncensored versions of her artwork. Or better yet, commission her to make your something special!

Q: First things first…I have to ask. Are you going to be adding more to the My Big Boyfriend comic? You kinda left us with a cliffhanger. 
Sarah: I'm not sure if I'll be returning the the MBB comic since I'm putting a lot of attention into the Tusks series. I'm overall decently satisfied with where I left off as the question of how Mister and Rowdy met was answered. I will admit, MBB was a lot more easier and faster to produce but Tusks requires a lot more time and effort now.

Q: For those who don’t know, could you explain Rule 34? And, what is your favorite Rule 34 creation thus far?
Sarah: Rule34 is the sexualization of existing characters from a variety of series, tv shows, movies, games and other various media. I also really can't say I have a favorite. I swing a lot from character to character which usually happens after watching something or playing a game. I just get compelled to draw that character afterwards.

Q: You draw big, beefy men like nobody’s business. When did you discover you had this particular talent?
Sarah: A while ago I use to be sucked into Anime a lot and often I spent my free time drawing bishie guys. After that phase, I started tracing from actual men based on photos. It wasn't until I began drawing the Heavy Weapons Guy from Team Fortress 2 that I realized I really enjoyed drawing the sheer size of the character and it sorta became contagious with everyone else I drew.

Q: I totally adore your Macabre Monthly pinups. Please say you are going to do more.
Sarah: I have another pinup practically finished for that series. I just need to think of some headline text for
the actual picture.

Q: Have you encountered any sexist discrimination from the Yaoi/Bara community?
Sarah: Never have I ever received any sexist responses at all. In fact, a lot of people seem to appreciate my gender. I will admit, it's a rarity to have women associate in bara artwork so I'm happy to provide such content.

Q:  Erotic content aside, what is the strangest complaint you have ever received?
Sarah: Not quite sure how to answer that. I get a few responses of people who don't quite agree with how I draw men. I tend to exaggerate proportions a lot and most people aren't use to seeing characters they know perverted in such an extreme way.

Q: Based on your blog posts, you seem to be a huge gamer! What games are currently eating away your free time?
Sarah: So far Dungeon Defenders 2 has been a good time consumer for me recently. Killing Floor 2 is also fun to play with friends from time to time and occasionally I play Team Fortress 2.

Q: What artists/illustrators do you follow?
Sarah: There's quite a few people on DeviantART I follow. To name I few, I'm watching aenaluck, Capomontone, freestarsis, frostious, hydaria, Lintu, ObeYecow, polvottish, protowilson, silverjow and many more. Each of them has something that appeals to my interests. I can't say I really have a favorite though.

Q: What are you willing to tell us about Tusks?
Sarah: Tusks is a series set in a sort of Renaissance-fantasy world. The story is told through multiple characters and is mostly focused on a male orc-themed brothel establishment in a human kingdom. Despite the series being an excuse to draw orc prostitutes, it's also a chance for me to tell a decent story. I'm very excited to be making this comic.

Q: Who would win in a fight, Beefy Sniper or Beefy Soldier?
Sarah: I'd say both would be in a tie. No class is ever really better than another based on TF2 logic.