Craig McCracken, Cartoonist:

More often than not, we take the art within cartoons for granted, we get used to the characters and story far too quickly and forget the artists and animators behind the exciting art style. Craig McCracken is one such artist that has brought his imagination to the global stage through his Emmy award winning series Powerpuff Girls (1998-2005) and Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends (2004-2009) aired on Cartoon Network. He also held a large role in the storyboarding of Dexter’s Laboratory (1996-2003), also aired on Cartoon Network.

His art style is very unique, blending heavy usage of geometric shapes with exaggerated characters that speak volumes about their personality through their faces and figures. A simplistic style that is usually accompanied by flat colour, both of which help his target audience identify with the shows, which is probably why they have become so successful. 

Wonderful artists like McCracken can be enjoyed by both adults and children, and with his new project ‘Wander Over Yonder’ in production for release in Summer 2013, we are sure to see plenty more from him. For everything McCracken, Powerpuff Girls and Foster, head over to Cartoon Network.

Amanda Visell, Illustrator:

When talking about inspiration, Amanda Visell admits that she has always been intrigued by vintage Disney and war era cartoons. It was this inspiration that gave birth to her accessible, juvenile style, and her friendly roster of characters. It is a lot more common today to see artists with humble roots in painting/sculpture turn to digital children’s book illustration, this is because when used correctly, working digitally can be quicker than any other medium for producing strong, professional work. However, Visell has stuck to her material roots when illustrating, creating imagery through the mediums of painting and sculpture which she has become very popular for doing.

Early in her career she moved to Los Angeles to seek a job in visual development for animation. This venture eventually led to success, as she was able to work on projects for The Simpsons and the feature film Elf.

In 2005 she took to exhibiting her wonderful paintings, which she has recently become most famous for. Her amazingly adventurous characters, predominantly made up of geometric shapes, are a vibrant insight into her fantasy-filled mind. To see more of Amanda’s work, visit her website here.

Jurassic Park 4’s Scrapped Villains:

Jurassic Park 4 has recently got back on track, with new writers, directors and cast all getting involved to resurrect the previously ditched sequel. 

Here are some conceptual ideas for the cold-hearted, warm-blooded killers of the cancelled film: human dinosaurs. As if regular dinosaurs weren’t dangerous enough.

For more, see the original NeoGAF post here.