Kasey Gifford: Vector Artist

Kasey Gifford!

http://killskerry.deviantart.com/

http://smashingpicture.com/cool-illustrations-by-kasey-gifford/

Kasey Gifford, a graduate of the Art Institute of Portland, is an up-and-coming digital artists (smashingpicture.com).  After viewing some of her work, I began to notice several themes in her work.  There is a significant trend toward cartooning and an almost fantastical look at the natural world.  She has also illustrated for two children's books: "Spots and Stripes" and "Ollo the Zebra" (a book in progress).  She is a free-lance artist who is also skilled in animation, and known through works like "Get Muggsy!" by Flying Rhinoceros (http://kaseygifford.com/resume.html).  She also illustrated for the children's card game Xeko (http://kaseygifford.com/resume.html).  She has instructed at teen workshops and continues to make flash animations and characters used in promotional videos, such as the one for the Skelanimals clothing line (http://kaseygifford.com/resume.html).  Check out this video for a quick look at a short promotional animation lead by Gifford:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LoE1PKzg9c. In itself, it keeps the adorableness and precision of Gifford's work alive, just in an animation style.

What originally drew me to Gifford's work was the simplicity... and how inexplicably adorable it is.  I particularly enjoyed looking at images like the Valentine's Day dragon (above).  Thinking about how vector art is used, I feel that this is a very real use: greeting cards.  Although I am not sure that this image was actually used in a greeting card, I would hands down use it for one! Gifford, especially in her illustrations for the children's books, uses very simple shapes and designs to create her images.  In the above picture from "Ollo the Zebra," all of the shapes are simply overlapped and colored to create a realistic jungle environment.  I found the depth of this image to be particularly skilled.  Gifford uses dulled tones and modest shading to create shadows and depth in her illustrations, which remind me of the movie Madagascar.  The contrasts between the background forest greens and browns and the bright white zebra of the foreground help to make the zebra the focus of this scene.  With my own personal knowledge of Adobe Illustrator, I feel like I could make these images, lending to the simplicity of the images.  Crisp spots and lines of the giraffes and stripes of the zebra, as well as the plants in the midst of the scene, add a cartoon-y yet realistic feel to the context of the image.  The audience (children) that Gifford presents to, I would imagine, is very receptive to the presentation of the cute jungle animals, giving Gifford a very high effectiveness in reaching her viewers/audience.

I really like these images, partly because I am a sucker for children's books and cute animals, mostly for their realistic but cartoon feel of each image and their effectiveness in reaching children.  If I was a child (not just at heart), I would enjoy reading the adventures of Ollo the zebra, and find interest in the simple jungle creatures created by Gifford.  If the Valentine's dragon was used in a card, I believe it was well worth it.  The simplicity of her images are appropriate for her audience and she is able to play on the imaginary senses of her audience.  Gifford is a skilled artist in the diverse field of digital media and I look forward to seeing her work in the future.