Another cartoon influence: Transformers

The influence of this cartoon creeped into my work very slowly. Other people noticed it in the more robotic characters I started creating like 'Cungo', a cyborg Orangutan. 

I watched this cartoon every weekend in the morning for a few years and it is the only real ‘good-against-evil’ cartoon that inspires me. When I was young I thought it was massively cool to think that ordinarily cars could transform into amazing robots. The concept of something that looks normal but has a hidden power in them has always fascinated me. I love it when an athlete shows character and takes home an impossible victory. Besides, I love squared shapes and mechanical parts in sculptures. I lost interest in the cartoon once they started to add insects and Dinosaurs; this change was far to random. 

I have made a transformer out of a lasagna box before I started making sculptures, I wrote a short post about it earlier on my blog:

However I would prefer to make on out of more solid material. I failed to make one that can transform made from clay. It was the same concept as the lasagne box one, but instead it being able to transform out of a box, it should have transformed out of a skull. I eventually used parts of it to create a static sculpture called ‘More Than Meets the Eye’:

This sculpture is based on the characters Cliffjumper and Ratchet. I hope I'll find the courage to try again, but it is very complicated to pick a skull and find place in it to fill with the body, arms, legs and head AND find the right joints to transform it. Oh, yeah, and it still has to look cool! If someone wants to commission a sculpture like that, I would charge a lot less of my time!

Cartoons and my sculptures

I love cartoons! It might not be something a ‘serious artist’ would admit, but they inspire me. Sometimes I get the impression that there are a lot of artists taking this business very seriously and need to come with a piece of art with a heavy message and a dark installation. Well, I do like to put a message forward, but not after I have decided how it roughly should look like. Most of my work starts with creating an imperfect character in my head and then use it to express a meaning. This way it might sound far fetched to add this meaning, but there is a lot of trial and error involved to express it. You only see the end result. Sometimes I work the other way around but the visual effect is my main concern!

So if my main concern is to build an imperfect freak, what inspires me? Well, cartoons are full of them. My love for cartoons and the fact I am still a child within, made me want to make cartoon characters. There is a lot more expression in the faces of a cartoon character then most actors can achieve in a film. I have tried to make a list of cartoons that influence my work, or better, cartoons I think of while creating a character. I will start with Johnny Bravo and Spongebob Squarepants And write separate posts about the other main cartoons:

Johnny Bravo

Johnny Bravo is a flawed character and is what makes him funny. Johnny is someone who thinks he is a hot strong character but the viewer gets a different picture. Probably not a coincidence of the makers to give him a disproportionate physique; a lot bigger upper body compared with his legs. I have seen this a lot among people training to get a physical appealing figure. They want to have big upper body muscles and have matchsticks underneath, hilarious!

I watched this a lot while I actually had to go to courses at University, same accounts for Spongebob Squarepants, playing cards, do athletics and mountain biking.

Spongebob Squarepants

One of the few more modern cartoons I like to watch. I don’t like the real actor programs they make for kids these days. Hated them when I was young and still do. So it is very satisfying to see kids get some new proper oldskool entertainment! Generally I like to watch cartoons in the language it was made in, but this is an exception. The voice of Spongebob in the Dutch version is hilarious! I think this cartoon is really well made and a nice change to have a cartoon in a submarine world, it plays with the imagination.