Anyone who visits my home will notice a few things:
I have an irresponsible amount of games
I love the art of Jed Henry
Jed Henry is the talented artists behind Ukiyo-e Heroes, a site that offers fine Japanese woodblock prints featuring video games and other geeky fun.
Yep, Jed’s art is all over my place. I absolutely fell in love with his style when I first met Jed at the Sakura Matsuri (Cherry Blossom Festival) that the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens hold each year. His prints were striking and unique to anything I had seen before. At the time I ended up buying a set of three (shown below), but over the years I have accumulated a bit of a collection.
I really love seeing how Jed transforms some of our favorite characters into such beautiful works. He manages to capture everything from mind blowing moment of Sabin’s train suplex from Final Fantasy VI to the light fun of One Punch Man’s Saitama shopping for a deal.
Jed offers a lot of ways to buy his art including woodblock prints, giclée Prints, wall scrolls (I have 1. They’re really nice!), his coveted original sketches, and subscription boxes. His current subscription box is Legendary Loot! in which you get a set of 12 woodblock prints featuring famous video game tropes for only $25 per month. A pretty good deal considering a regular print is usually $40 on its own.
Jed has also come full circle with his love of video games by making his own. It brings Jed’s illustrations to life in a fighting game called Edo Superstar, where a small-town monkey is looking to become a famous fighter. You can download it here for Android and iOS.
I can go on and on about Jed’s work, but if you are interested in discovering more about it on your own check out his video series on Youtube where you can watch him work and learn a lot about traditional Japanese printing. You can also read a piece I did on him for Geek & Sundry and visit his website Ukiyoeheroes.com.
I’ll be featuring more great artists in the future, but until then let me know: Who are your favorite artists? Who should I be checking out? Comment below and I’ll be sure to visit them!
Image Credits: Jed Henry, Edo Superstar
Artist Spotlight: Jed Henry Anyone who visits my home will notice a few things: I have an irresponsible amount of games…
