Summer in Berlin seems to be almost over, the air feels like autumn. This is the first issue of our new weekly column, reporting on the last seven days on toonpool.com. This time it’s all about self-referentiality: First of all, the toonpool.com blog has been re-designed and renamed. The new design will make it easier to navigate the articles and quickly locate all reviews, interviews or articles on recent cartoon events. Most important news (for myself at least): I have joined toonpool.com and from now on will provide some interviews and articles, as well as this little column. So, if you have any comments or suggestions, feel free to leave a message.
Introducing…
This is where I would like to introduce two artists who have recently joined toonpool.com.
The first one is Cuban-born Gustavo Rodriguez, aka Garrincha. So far, he has uploaded two distinct and equally great types of work: There are his one-panel gag cartoons – beautifully crafted line drawings with a very effective use of digital water-color. All of them are slightly surreal and sometimes a bit on the naughty side. Take this one on bankers, or this one on rich people looking for love. The other type of work are his vector-style caricatures. including a brightly colored Elton John and a bug-eyed Jaco Pastorius.
Artist Daulle from France has uploaded only three caricatures. And I don’t really like the Sarkozy one. But the two others are just great: There is Libya’s Colonel Gaddafi drawn from an unusual angle using expressive, almost chaotic strokes that recreate his air of grandiose dictatorial shaggy-ness. And there is cartoon legend Sergio Aragonés , again drawn with these expressive strokes, but more disciplined this time. Hopefully, there will be more from Daulle in the weeks to come.
Cartoons of Interest
My favorite cartoon this week is “Bomb” by Joruju Piroshiki. I’ve been a fan of Joruju’s simplistic style since he came to toonpool.com and this cartoon only proves that he is a great cartoonist with unusual ideas. Such a weird and quiet little scene among the roar of the explosions.
Apart from that, I’d like to point out Michele Rochetta’s interesting project “Hollywood Bestiary” – a kind of vectorized compendium of celebrity/animal hybrids. An interesting idea and formidably executed too.
"Bomb" by Joruju Piroshiki
Paul Hellmich
