by 
I made some new friends at CTN-X 2014.
Today, I want to spotlight seven young visual development artists who visited The Oatley Academy booth and impressed us with their wonderful portfolios and personalities.
These artists are creative and clever but most importantly, they’re humble and full of passion.
Check out their links and share their work if you like it.
…and I’m pretty sure you will.
Melissa Manwill:
Melissa Manwill is an entertainer at heart. Her draftsmanship and character acting are among the strongest I’ve ever seen in a student portfolio.
I will not be the least bit surprised to see her character drawings in a major studio’s “Art Of” book within the next five years.
Oh, and she can paint too… Melissa painted the witch character at the top of this blog post.
Jenn Strickland:
Jenn Strickland’s creative decisions are strange, sophisticated and unlike anything I’ve ever seen in a student portfolio. I simply cannot get enough of her work.
If she had been selling a book of her work at CTN-X I would have bought it on the spot.
Her stylish approach extends to hand-drawn animation as well. Can you imagine an entire music video animated by her? How amazing would that be?!
Someone please make this happen…
Bosmat Agayoff:
Bosmat Agayoff is a delight. Her passion is inspiring. The character designs and color palettes in her portfolio are beautiful and she’s a filmmaker too!
After watching Reflections (the short film she directed with Alon Ziv) I’m on the edge of my seat in anticipation of what she’ll create next…
[ Subscribe to Bosmat’s Blog ]
Valerio Fabbretti:
Valerio Fabbretti’s character design portfolio was remarkable in that every piece of character art told a different part of the story to which each character belonged.
This rare ability to tell a story through character design will create a strong foundation for his future career in animation.
The complexity and control he demonstrates through the image above explains why his career in children’s publishing is already well underway.
[ Follow Valerio on Instagram ]
Cami Sanders:
Dig deep into her Tumblr archives and you’ll find the beautiful animal drawings that blew me away when I first discovered the work of Cami Sanders.
Cami and I met during a speaking engagement I did at SCAD last year and it was great to see her again at CTN-X.
Cami seems creatively restless (in a good way). She loves to experiment with techniques and styles. I think it means she’s a concept artist at heart.
Nika Rukavi:
Temperature shifts in the shadows, surface activity, variation in edges…
Nika Rukavi’s painting choices are incredibly sophisticated for someone so young.
…and when she works from reference, the subjects are very well-observed.
It’s going to be awesome to watch her develop as an artist over the next few years.
Jolein Kirpestein:
Jolein Kirpestein’s portfolio was one of my favorite discoveries at CTN-X this year.
An “old soul” as they say, Jolein is wise beyond her years. It is very difficult for many students to find a balance between personal expression and commercial viability but she has found it. (Maintaining the balance is, of course, a different challenge.)
I love the wonderful weirdness of her ideas. I love the confidence of her compositions and the way she applies pattern and detail. Most of all, I love the seemingly effortless honesty and humanity in her work.
[ Subscribe To Jolein’s Blog ]
Join The Conversation!
What do YOU like about these artists?
Take this opportunity to post a quick encouraging message for them in the comments below!
