Every month Beautiful Bizarre Magazine chooses one of our favourite artists to TAKE OVER social media for the day. For June, we chose Tran Nguyen to share with us the artists who have inspired her through her artistic career. Just in case you missed it, below we present the full TAKE OVER.
Tran Nguyen // “Sleepless On the Silk Road” // This is one of my most successful illustrations in my attempt to capture the tone of a fantastical quest and what lies ahead. What makes it successful to me is how close it came to what I had originally envisioned in my head.
Amano Yoshitaka // Amano’s art has made it’s way into my childhood heart through all the movies and games I cherished as a kid. I was first introduced to his work when I flipped through the Final Fantasy VII game manual. His beautiful key illustrations were intermittently spread throughout the manual and it filled me with so much artistic inspiration. Then, I came across his other works such as “Angel’s Egg” and “Vampire Hunter D.”
Gustav Klimt // “Judith and the Head of Holofernes” // Klimt’s work has taught me to be more playful with my style by incorporating surrealistic elements into my art. He also has a way of conveying the female gaze and melancholic expressions. Getting to witness his work in person at the Metropolitan Museum of Art has made his influence even more profound.
Kosuke Fujishima // “Oh! My Goddess” Part 2 issue #4 of 8 // When I was young, I would visit a local comic shop once a month, and I would try to save up enough money to buy at least one issue of “Oh! My Goddess.” The way Fujishima captured silk fabric and billowing hair in each of his comic book covers blew me away. My particular favorite cover was “Oh! My Goddess” Part 2 issue #4 of 8, which depicts Belldandy surrounded by tropical foliage with the earth illuminating from the background.
Alphonse Mucha // Mucha was my first introduction to Art Nouveau. His paintings have taught me to be fluid with my compositions and to manipulate/stylize the female body in a whimsical way. As much as I enjoy his commercial work, I especially love his more painterly pieces that featured his pigmented nuances and paint strokes.
Hayao Miyazaki // Like Yoshitaka, Miyazaki’s art is extremely precious to my childhood, particularly “Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind” and “Laputa: Castle In the Sky.” I watched them when I was an teenager, and it filled my heart with so much joy, goodness, and of course, girl power.
James Jean // Jean’s paintings took my breathe away when I was in college. I first came to know his work when I picked up an issue of “Fables,” published by Vertigo. I’ve always fallen hard for his elegant compositions and design sensibility. I also think it’s inspiring that he’s pursuing personal/ esoteric narratives these days and finding great success in it.
Eric Fortune // Fortune’s paintings are filled with beautiful textures and subtle gradients. He’s a master of manipulating water to yield ethereal renderings of things like light-weight fabric and translucent skin tones. I initially found his work while browsing the Spectrum Fantastic Art book in my college library and it’s stuck with me since.
This was the last piece chosen by Tran Nguyen for her TAKE OVER. Thank you again Tran, we really appreciate you taking the time to put this day together.
