Jacob Gagnon
I was intrigued and rather delighted when I saw Jacob Gagnon’s tea and cupcake display…populated with miniature giraffes and ladders (of COURSE they need ladders! How would they reach the top teacups otherwise?).
In his portfolio we find all kinds of creatures strangely interacting with household items.
In fact, I can safely say I’ve never seen such a proliferation of wild animals and fine china.
And I adore the way he skews the scale of his subjects.
SheWalksSoftly 
May 9, 2014 at 11:39 pm
I love bizarre and I love animals more, so by default I guess I like his art. There are adorable aspects, it’s colorful, and he paints excellent. My favorite adaptation is the chandelier dangling from the horns, and there others on his website. The bottom pic has a cute deer so ten points for Gryffindor.
But I do find myself irritated by the same ole query: why would someone bother painting pictures that looks like something a good graphic artist can easily do with clip-n-paste, sizing altering, paint/canvas conversion and hand done palette shading. Also, he forgot to paint-in an additional ladder for the bottom tier, because how then did the giraffe even surmount the cupcake/teacup display?
May 11, 2014 at 1:20 am
I think there’s a satisfying challenge in creating these images with tangible materials as opposed to software. That’s my theory anyway. 🙂
May 10, 2014 at 2:32 pm
Oh no! Perhaps someone took that second ladder away, and now the poor li’l giraffe’s stuck up there?!
The paint vs. photomanipulation argument’s certainly valid (must admit I’ve used it myself on occasion) and I can only think that photorealistic artists gain more pleasure, and a greater sense of achievment, from telling their stories that way. A lot of my commercial work’s produced digitally because it’s easier to appy different effects, easier to alter if the spec. changes, simpler/cheaper/faster to transport – and if a file gets corrupted I have backups (ahem, hopefully!) – but I still enjoy the process of working with paint, pen or clay much more than I do working on screen. For me it allows a greater intimacy with what I’m creating (which is not to say that digital artists don’t have that connection – just that I happen to like the tactile qualities of traditional materials cos I’m an old-fashioned gal at heart).
What does surprise me is that, even with such sophisticated photoediting/manipulation available, people still seem prepared to pay for traditionally-produced art. However, as far as I’m concerned, this is a Very Good Thing 🙂 -Nx
May 10, 2014 at 6:53 pm
Dropping my carpenter hammer for a second. Perhaps I’m coming across cynical and Dana would be the first to tell me if I’m a monkey’s ass, but eloquently. 😉
I applaud you Neta for being a versatile, humble artist and certainly do agree tactical art is the original crème da le crème of sensory satisfaction and simply fun as heck, provided there isn’t a catastrophic mess to cleanup, oh say, Catzilla knocking over all my messy stuff. And let me add creating/owning a framed original painting is also far more aesthetically appealing on a wall than a print, although prints are size convenient.
I’m actually on the artist’s side, not wasting time on something upon scrutiny belittles their range of talent, especially if one brags about a vast art education – it’s like just painting a realistic teacup and calling it ‘Ghost Sipping Alone’. Really? That’s the best your imagination has to offer? Adding insult to their own craft, tons of established painters are selling-off their paintings as copied prints (stickers!) which is entirely a contradiction to the whole point of “paintbrush painting” and therefore be better off mastering digital art. I cannot deny my love for my Adobe. I take great personal pride that I have the talent to create amazing works of art tactically as well as digitally, and I’m not dependent on the convenience of filter manipulation either, but my own ability to drawn-in and/or hand shade a piece of art no differently than brush in hand. As Dana knows already (and I’m sure slightly irks her), diving into the art world headfirst has been brewing in me like a whistling kettle.
May 11, 2014 at 1:24 am
“Ghost Sipping Alone”…that got me rolling with laughter. And I’m not irked…I eagerly await your creations. 🙂
May 12, 2014 at 7:50 pm
I love this stuff! It seems to exist purely to be ridiculous and delightful!
May 12, 2014 at 8:37 pm
And that in itself is a fabulous reason to exist!
May 15, 2014 at 8:57 pm
Just caught up here. Oh KEric, never a monkey’s arse! You always astound me with your inciteful comments, and I struggle to post anything nearly so interesting or erudite.
Oh, and you have a Catzilla too? Frankly, nevermind the destructive tendencies – isn’t the hair-shedding a total nightmare? (Gotta love ’em though…) -Nx
May 16, 2014 at 1:46 am
Neta, your comments are equal to mine! Thank you for your gracious compliments; its always appreciated. But I’m just a dandelion in Dana’s flower garden. I actually have three Catzillas’ I totally love and pamper like my children. The shedding doesn’t bother me as much as the spontaneous bursts of upchucking.
June 17, 2014 at 8:50 am
What’s up colleagues, pleasant post and good urging commented here,
I am actually enjoying by these.