5 FOR 2015: 5 GIF Artists Who are Blowing Our Minds In 2015

 

WTR: What is the most challenging part about making GIFs?
While there are quite a few challenges, the one which stands out the most is being constantly attentive to movement and timing.

What themes seem to occur/reoccur in your work?
Whimsy and magic in mundane suburbia, cities and landscapes!

What are you currently reading?
‘Tales from Outer Suburbia’ by Shaun Tan.

2. sparrow, Of Sparrows

Busy, colorful and full of food are the best words to describe sparrow’s work. If you want to drool over their amazingly painted food and sceneries like us, check their gorgeous GIFs out here!

WTR: What are some of your favorite things to draw?
sparrow: Food! It’s so enjoyable it hardly seems like work. Desserts and sweet things are probably my favourite kinds of food to draw, and also every kind of bread. That lovely golden crust! Mmm, maillard reaction.

What was your last dream about?
I kept growing extra hands and eventually had way too many hands and everyone I went to for help kept making hand-puns and refused to get me any help. You could say things really
got out of hand then. (sorry)

What is your creative process like?
“Wouldn’t it be really awesome if (thing)?” and then I
go off and draw (thing). It’s not a very
impressive-sounding process, unfortunately, but it does work!

3. Kenaim Al-Shatti, Kenaim

Kenaim’s vibrant and opalescent GIFs seem like video-recorded dreams - to never wake up, click here.

WTR: Describe your favorite painting in one sentence.
Kenaim: I have a Dracula comic cover, thats bulls-eyed in the heart with a dart, into a dart board.
I look at that a lot.

What would you do to escape a labyrinth?
I'll kill the minotaur and cheat the hand of fate.

What is a reoccurring theme in your dreams?
The linked nature of positivity and loss.

4. Enno Swinnen, mynameiseno

It feels like you are peeping trough your neighbour’s window when you are watching Eno Swinnen’s GIFs. You can see more of his stunning work on his blog!

WTR: What are you currently listening to?
I've been listening alot to Dream a Garden by Jam City and Road to Incursio by Napolian. When I work however I like to listen to something that helps me focus a bit more. Lately that's alot of Jeff Witschers music, Marble sky and Rene Hell.

What themes seem to occur/reoccur in your work? Recurring themes in my work are often very sexual. Earlier stuff was very focused on the male gaze, the way alot of men look at women, I'd use overly sexualised footage of woman in video games and sometimes even pornography, the way I rotoscope allows me to choose what the viewer sees.

What is your creative process like?
It used to be very simple, whenever I'd find something that inspired me, or that felt right, I'd use that footage as a base for rotoscoping and I'd just get to it. I'm trying to think alot more now. Come up with an idea first, maybe try shooting more of my own stuff. I want to start capturing my own footage from games too.

5. Dave Strick
 

Dave Strick dismantles bodies and objects in his GIFs to merge them back yet again. Explore his nice flowing compositions here!

WTR: What is the most challenging part about making GIFs?
The biggest challenge I run into when making a GIF is fundamentally the same as any creative project I attempt. It’s very easy to have an idea, and be excited about starting it, but given a finite amount of personal time and energy, it can be very hard to maintain the necessary focus and motivation to see a project through to completion.

What is your creative process like?
My process for creating GIFs tends to vary a lot. I usually start with a specific image, but sometimes I start with specific animation technique in mind. I’ve always wondered how certain visual effects are accomplished, and a number of my GIFs are really just personal learning exercises.

What project are you working on right now?
My wife and I are currently expecting our first child, and I really love seeing the ultrasounds
at our doctor’s appointments. The most recent GIF I made was inspired by that imagery, and I’m considering
doing a few more to make it into a series. I’m also currently working for Pixar on a film called
The Good Dinosaur scheduled to be released later this year.

Curated by // Theresia Zimmermann
Want to write your own Five for 2015?