4.3.08

Wednesday Addams Might Have Approved.

Nightmares Sleeping Beauty Cover 19
Frenemies
Deep Sea Tickle Monster
On the surface of it, Camilla d'Errico's work is cute. In fact, it looks adorable, and my first thoughts on seeing it were of manga girls, with a hint of Cezanne, if Cezanne ever attempted to draw manga (which is not surprising, considering the fact that she's actually done the artwork for several comics). Her paintings are of girls, always cute ones, more often than not with an animal/monster friend in the frame- seemingly sweet things. But on a slightly closer look, the watercolour cuteness can turn out to be a little spooky, verging on grotesque at times, and I can't help feeling that if one of these were ever to hang on my wall, I'd have trouble taking my eyes off it- proof that cuteness can be compelling isn't something that one sees that often. It's a very far cry from the expected reactions that 'girly' art is supposed to evoke, and for that very reason I must say I'm rather hooked, and more than a little sorry that I won't get to go to any of her shows this year...lucky people living in California can go to her first solo show at the Copro Nason gallery in Santa Monica or to Comic-Con in San Diego this July.
If you feel like looking at more of Camilla's work, I'd suggest going to her site
or MySpace, as well as to her online store. And here's an interview with the artist about the experience of working on Nightmares and Fairytales.
All images from http://www.camilladerrico.com, used with the artist's permission and for illustrative purposes only.

11 comments:

Cicely said...

Gorgeous pictures, stuff like this always makes me wish I could draw. I like your blog.

MASALA CHAI said...

The first one is beautiful.

Riot Nrrd said...

Ohhh...this is wonderful and gorgeous. Wheeee, I feel very inspired.

I especially like the first one. The wind makes her look rather sad/epic...?

yumiko said...

I never really liked manga that much because I always thought they looked too serious but these pictures are balanced out perfectly and are so cute!
thankyou so much for yor comment btw, its the first one i ever got so it meant alot to me haha.
I really dont know about the fall/autumn/winter thing, what you call the collections as everythings still a bit confusing as Ive only just discovered fashion:P
oh, and it would be so cool to have someone link me!

Anonymous said...

The first illustration is especially lovely.... a fluid like quality about all of them that is very enticing...

Elisabeth said...

Wow - gorgeous pictures.

Oh! To be talented...

Dianna said...

ooo - love her work. it does have a darkness that is beautifully compelling.

Elizabeth said...

I think you got spammed ^^^^^!

I live in SoCal, so I may be able to swing by and see this work. It's lovely.

Anonymous said...

wow those paintings r so beautifu!!i love them

riz said...

The more I encounter manga, the more I am intrigued. I think it's all about desire without identity...

Blue Floppy Hat said...

Susan: I can't draw for nuts either, which is why I admire those who can. And thank you :)
Masala Chai: It was a book cover, I believe. And it is beautiful..
Shanmin: glad to know you like!
Yumiko: I've linked you, and don't worry about not knowing stuff. There's plenty that lots of us don't know, and you have a really nice blog.
Susie: I think that quality comes from the watercolour-ness of it all. No wishy-washy stuff here..
Elisabeth: I know, I'm having a mild case of envy here.
Dianna: it's not like most girly art, just like I said.. :)
ENC: yeah, I've been spammed..and WOW at the thought of going and seeing these live!
Riz: It's funny, I never really thought aboyt manga that way but maybe that's because I tend to ignore/keep away from the ecchi stuff. But in a lot of ways, manga women often have stronger identities than women in non-manga comic books..if we ignore Wonder Woman, that is. Or maybe that's just because most if not all of all the series I've followed so far, were drawn by women.

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