¨The purpose of art is washing
the dust of daily life off our souls¨
– P. Picasso –
(1964)
Or to dust off some childhood memories, evoking nostalgia, bringing the Beasts back to life…
It is no longer a surprise that the Beastformers Team has a passion for art, especially when it comes to Battle Beasts related art, whether that´s contemporary art made by fellow collectors/artists or more traditional and original artwork from the Beast era. #BeastformersArt has not been very active on the Social Media so far because good art takes time…
NOTE:
NONE of the Artwork shown on this page may be used, copied, reproduced or spread in any other way or form without PRIOR permission, including that of the original artists. ALL of the art pieces shown here are artistic property of their creators and the rights for these pieces are owned by the Beastformers Blog (owner) in combination with the original artists. Please respect these unique pieces of art! As with all artwork and custom figures shown on the Beastformers Blog please feel free to be inspired by the pieces shown and come with your own unique interpretations. Any form of copying or reproducing these artistic ideas is not appreciated!
During the past period the Beastformers Team has been looking into several options including running some test to see if and how it could look like to create a new Beastformers comic. There have been several fellow collectors and fans within the BB community suggesting certain things, including a photo comic (which still is an option), but the Beastformers Team also wanted to explore some more traditional options first inspired by the various (Battle Beasts) pieces of artwork from various artists. Based on previous works and style two artists were selected to do a first test run to see how such a comic page could turn out and how the process would work out knowing the Beastformers Team likes to stay on top and up to date during the whole phase of design.
The first artist chosen was Mr. Justin Hernandez (aka @rottingghost) check out his Instagram account to see more of his work: HERE Since the Beastformers Team was looking for a style that´s close or comparable to the original artwork, but also had a unique own feel to it, Justin seemed to be the right artist looking at some of his own Battle Beast creations which were the main trigger to contact him. The piece shown earlier (White Leo and Toad) was convincing enough for the Beastformers Team not only to purchase that piece but it also made them decide to drop a specific commission for a full page. Which is considered to be a test to see IF and how it would work out to realize a (short) comic. This was were the short comic; ¨A Day in the Life of The White Rabbit¨ was born. A short, one page, silent comic (without text). Here is some additional background info to go with it;
¨A Day in the Life of The White Rabbit¨
A silent comic by Beastformers (main storyline) & Justin Hernandez (artist) (2016-2017)
The main idea was to show a single day in the life of the Beastformers White Rabbit working, somewhere hidden deep within the Beastformers Dungeons, behind a huge control panel. On screens, overlooked and controlled by the White Rabbit, appear the results and data of the various Battle Beasts that visit the testing laboratory for a full body scan to extract valuable data. All this data is checked, analyzed, processed and documented before there is enough solid and verified information for an upload to the Beastformers Blog. It´s a long lasting and ongoing project that is still in PROGRESS….
Enjoy!
The outcome of this, single page and silent comic, testing project was remarkable and very satisfying. Only down side to this original way of comic drawing is the fact that this is a very time consuming way of production especially when you take the input and influence of the Beastformers Team into account… Main advantage is the unique handmade look which really shows the effort and skills of the artist involved. Looking at the overview/feel of the whole page you can clearly see the influence of the Beastformers Team mixing a Black & White feel together with the strong colorful looks of the Battle Beasts.
A major thanks to Mr. Justin Hernandez for this great project with an even greater final result, the first White Rabbit comic!
Battle Beasts ID
The second, role, artist which didn´t play a very big role in this first test but which might become a very important element within a comic is the artist responsible for the figure ID. During the various book/comic releases of Battle Beasts and even in the more recent Beast Saga Manga books we´ve always seen a brief introduction of each Beasts somewhere along the storyline when it makes its first appearance. This is an idea that should stay in the vision of the Beastformers Team and therefore a second artist is needed to be able to draw the ID (card) or close ups of each Beasts which will be accompanied by a brief summary including name, etc. of the Beasts.
In order to take away a bit of the pressure from the first artist, demanding very detailed Beast ID´s, responsible for the main comic and storyline the second artist is needed to fill in these crucial blanks to introduce the Beasts to the story. Of course it is very important for the Beasts to match in looks and style so the coherence between that is crucial. But if done correctly and with a strong and high level of communication and the willingness of both artist to cooperate this could result in a great outcome!
When Mr. Terry Thielen, the second artist, decided to do a run of Battle Beasts ID´s as an art project the Beastformers Team was directly charmed by the style and the looks of some of the Beasts he did. There were some that didn´t match the criteria or feel the Beastformers Team was looking for but it was clear this artist does have the skills to pull it of. For more of his work have a look at his Instagram page: HERE or go and visit his Etsy Shop to see what awesome artwork he might have available at the moment: TNThielen on Etsy
Two of the best pieces, in the eyes of the Beastformers Team, where purchased for a closer look and further investigation with this testing idea in mind. Those where the ID of Slowpoke Sloth and Aardent Aardvark which were captured and represented in a great way.
Terry initially planned to color the ID´s but we requested him to leave them blank since the Black & White style, always appreciated by the Beastformers Team, is also a bit of the strength of these ID especially when they´re planned to be embedded in a larger more colorful comic. This could make them really stand out in their own unique way while, at the same time, they´re playing a crucial role in the whole story line introducing each new character.
Even though the sketches of these Beasts ID´s were already completed and the Beastformers Team had no input or influence on the outcome other than the fact they´re left as Black & White it is clear that this could be the way to go IF the two artists are able to come with coherent looking Beasts that works for as well the artist that´s responsible for the main comic as well as the one that´s going to portrait them in detail….
Conclusion
All in all this was a very successful test looking into the possibility of creating a Beastformers comic although it has also become clear that it´ll probably be to difficult on a level of funds and time to actually come with a full Beastformers comic release doing it this way. There are still a couple other options to explore and there´s still, even within those successful tests, room for improvements so the journey ain´t done yet and the Beastformers Team will continue to look into future possibilities for a comic in whatever way.
For this it might be helpful to get some input from the BB community so please share your thoughts/opinion in a reply below and share your preferred option by voting the poll;
Thanks for the input and we hope you enjoyed this first comic!
The Beastformers Team
Beastformers Blog 