I get the question “can you recommend your favourite art blogs/artists to follow?” A LOT, and I’ve decided to bite the bullet and create a large comprehensive list that I can refer people back to. I haven’t included thumbnails and I really couldn’t think of a good way to break it down further than this. Sorry :S
There’s a pretty big variety here, but I hope you’ll find something you like. I’ve included brief descriptions of why I like their work and what kind of stuff they do, but do check them out. It’s really long, but there are so many talented people I follow…
Here goes….
Jenny: Draws mainly fanart of a huge range of cartoons/books/animes.
If you like art that’s bright, graphic, bubbly and just generally exploding with personality and fun, definitely check her blog. She’s also got a very good eye for colour palettes and her tonal choices are very interesting – they’re what I like most about her pieces.
Arielle: Mainly fanart but then again she’s got her own OCs she posts occasionally. Her style’s really fluid and bright and cute, and she works across a variety of media including inks and animatics which means I’m always excited to see what she posts next.
Anna: Jenny’s younger sister – I think colour talent runs in their family haha because wow her painting style is wonderful. Her shading’s really smooth and flowy. Again, mainly fanart but she also posts original work, too.
Nina: Very interesting style – extremely sketchy, but she captures movement/personality very well and uses colour in a really nice liberal fashion. Mainly fanart, but she has some OCs too.
Laura: Freaking goddess with blue animation pencils, I swear. She’s wonderful at capturing movement (specifically dramatic scenes!) through her use of colour in her digital paintings and her eye for tones in general. Mainly fanart, but she’s got some original work too, including some pretty impressive traditional animations from her schoolwork.
Viria: I assume many of you are already familiar with her work but if not, she’s got a great taste in fandoms and mainly posts her digital stuff. She’s also got a bunch of OCs that I just WISH she’d post more of, because they look so interesting? Also she’s really good at drawing clothes haha. Really pretty style, especially her “broken glass” pieces.
Renny: I love her cartoony sketchy lines coupled with her digital colouring and her sense of humour in her comics. She’s done a bunch of adorable Skywalker family pictures, but she also loves SPN, Disney, Avengers, X-Men, Les Mis and a crapload of other great stuff. The way she draws reminds me of rough animation sketches for 2D films.
Anya: Holy shiz, actually one of my favourite artists ever. I am 10000% in love with her anthro style, coupled with the way she draws outfits. Oh, and her anime human style is really nice too.
What totally bowls me over is her colouring, though. It’s absolutely amazing – I seriously can’t figure out how she does it. If you only check ONE person from this list, make it her gallery. I promise you won’t be disappointed. She’s got some really amazing OC’s, too.
Asia: Bright and graphic colours coupled with a really nice style – I love the way she draws girls. She can do these really gorgeous in-depth paintings with lots of tones or something flatter – means I never get bored of her work popping up on my dash! A nice mix of fanart and original work (and I love her character designs, may I add). Check her work out if you’re into flashy colours and curves.
Daniel: If you’re a fan of things that are simple, minimalistic and cute, FOLLOW HIM. He has this wonderful knack of simplifying things down into the most basic of shapes, coupled with beautiful fluid lines and adorable expressions. Lots of Avatar fanart, but there’s some other stuff in there too.
Anna: Beautiful illustrative style, reminds me of Disney combined with vintage/retro posters. I wish she posted more, her art is lovely.
Alice: Her painting style and eye for colours. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wooooow. Mainly realism but with her own unique touch thrown in there.
Angela: Pfffft her cartoony style is utterly adorable and she works in both digital and traditional media like watercolours. Her art tag is split between fanart and original work – her lines have this really lovely organic feel to them and I really love her more painterly stuff. It’s the kind of stuff that’d really suit illustrating a children’s storybook or something similar.
Miranda: Gorgeous loose style, but I think that goes seeing as she’s an animation major. Lots of sketchy lines with incredibly expressive big-eyed characters – mainly her own work and projects but there are also some fanarts thrown in to the mix too.
Emmy: Another animation major – really sketchy cute characters and fluid lines. I like the brushes she uses and the way she stylizes so well. Mainly fanart but also some personal/schoolwork.
Brigid: Well if you haven’t heard of her you’re probably living in a cave but WOW her pencil sketches are probably one of my favourites. She’s great at capturing characters, has a fantastic taste in pretty much everything and her drawings always have this really lovely sense of life and movement to them, even the quick doodles. Recently she’s been posting more of her school paintings too and I’m really eager to see more of them because she’s super-talented, haha.
Desiree: Holy crap if you ship Anakin and Padme you’ll probably cry when searching her art tag. But that aside, she’s awesome with colours and can do stuff that’s more chibi-like or realistic. Her taste is great and some of her simpler B&W sketches are amongst my favourites. You can really sense the emotion in them.
Griselle: Really lovely mix of fanart and original characters (which are really sweet, by the way!) I absolutely love her colouring and art style in general – it’s not really similar to anything I’ve seen before and she’s got this incredibly fluid way of inking that I’m really jealous of. Plus I love how she draws clothes and shades and everything.
Janet: My favourite things of hers are definitely her ink sketches. So much movement and rawness to them.
Boa: A relatively new find for me and WOW I’m glad I came across her work, especially her PJO/HoO drawings! Her style’s really neat – again, something that I’d probably want to use if I were writing a kids’ book or a graphic novel because the colours she uses are always so bold and fun.
Caleb: Lots of fanart, with a really nice knack for capturing movement and depicting characters accurately whilst stylizing them a little. Beautiful use of colours in his more detailed paintings, and I love his designs for outfits too.
Kirk: His landscape “doodles” (AKA masterpieces) are really, really mindblowing. In addition, his paintings in general have an incredible amount of detail, even if they’re of cartoon characters. Definitely one you should check out. A really nice smush of cartoony realism. Mix of fanart and original work.
Ksenia: Her anthros are WOW and so is her colouring! I can’t really describe her style – you’ve got to see it and let it do itself justice. I follow her mainly for her TMNT stuff, but she’s got other things too, including traditional work. I’m also really envious of how smoothly she can ink! Mainly fanart.
Amy: Ahhh her Disney Pocket Princesses are the cutest and funniest things. Arielle was actually kind enough to get me one her her sketch cards from a convention of Merida and now it’s up on my wall so I can see it every day! If you like big cutesy eyes and hair, and are very into Disney, definitely look at her work.
Hilde: Agh, her paintings are absolutely stunning. She’s especially great with darker, muted soft palettes and angles, and wow, her style in general is one of my favourite things ever. Mix of fanart, original and photography.
Anna: Got a style that’s very illustrative and cartoony – the kind of thing you’d expect to see in an “Art of ____” book for an animated film. Mix of fanart and original.
Brianna: She’s been a huge inspiration of mine since I first owned a tablet. Disney-esque style but she’s also capable of incredibly detailed realistic paintings – I love her pencil sketches most, I think, because there’s always so much character in them. Oh, and she’s amazing with traditional colouring media, too. Mostly fanart.
Maca: Eeeee really pretty style! I love how she draws girls and clothes. Mainly original work.
Katie: Pft, I adore how expressive her character’s faces are and holy moley her Simply Potterific comics on her dA had me in stitches. I highly recommend them if you’re having a rough day.
Heather: Well I really don’t know how you CAN’T know Makani but she’s one of my biggest inspirations ever, be it her side-splittingly funny Malfoy family comics or her other painted art. I really like the way she does expressions and how neat her sketches are. Oh, and when she does colour them, the results are always fantastic.
Phillip: His blog’s a really nice mix of original concept art/schoolwork and fanart as well as Disneybound illustrations. I like his sketchy lines and ideas for characters – they’re always really intriguing.
Bryan: One half of the creator of Avatar, it’s kind of a given I love his work. His style’s very much like how the characters are drawn in the show but at the same time I also really like his more painterly work.
Charlie: Oh my glob. Follow for utterly mindblowingly beautiful paintings that incorporate fantasy and wonderful flowing hair and mind-boggling details.
De’Von: I actually can’t believe this guy is the same age as me, because his work is so amazing! Follow for a really interesting style –loose sketches coupled with minimal use of colour but bursting with movement and flow. Also, his background paintings are scarily impressive. Do look at his blog if you’re into fine artsy stuff. Mostly original works.
Elsa: Oh my gosh such a gorgeous style, but that’s a given seeing as she works for Disney!
Sarah: I love her style, simple as. I can’t describe it, you’re gonna have to look because I can’t do it justice, ahah. Mainly fanart.
Andrea: Seriously cute cartoony style that needs its own show omg. And she’s crazy talented for her age. I love how crisp and smooth her inking lines are – I just don’t know how she does it. Follow for adorable character designs and bright colours.
Stephanie: I absolutely love her style and use of muted colours and textures – also her OCs are really interesting and her inking is fantabulous omg. A nice mix of orginal work with some fanart thrown in every now and again.
Libby: Utterly gorgeous illustration style. Really, really unique and cute and flaring with personality. Follow for super cute fanart and original characters.
Tom: Ahh HIS STAR WARS SKETCH CARDS. I WANT. I absolutely adore his marker work and seeing any of my favourite characters drawn by him. I think he’s got a rather comic-booky style, but I love i.
Michelle: Cute cartoony works, especially her short silly comics with hilarious expressions. Her work makes me smile. Follow if you’re into Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus – she’s also got this great unapologetic range of opinions and I totally respect her for them,
Yue: You probably know Sakimichan already, but holy shit her painting style :O so much detail and beautiful smooth colouring, even in her sketches and speedpaints. I like the range of bushes she uses too – very interesting.
Sherry: Some really impressive realistic paintings!
Sanne: I love her style, very snazzy. She’s got a really interesting range of original characters – I am completely in love with the way she draws faces.
Victoria: Aaaah such beautiful illustrations for all kinds of things, including Disney fanart and original works. A really nice mix of character designs, sketches and background paintings.
Michelle: If you haven’t read her webcomic Ava’s Demon, you should definitely check it out. It’s got beautiful soft glowy colours and gorgeous character designs, with straightforward storytelling and these neat little animatics at the end. Very cute and wonderfully drawn.
Dana: Follow for pretty character designs and expressive lines and colours! She’s also done some work on the webcomic Ava’s Demon.
Paige: WOW such an adorable cartoony art style and totally hilarious and expressive facial expressions. I love seeing any of my favourite characters drawn by her. Another style I think could work as some kind of cartoon or storybook illustration – very bright and fun!
Yori: Holy fuck this girl is talented as heck – her digital works are mindblowingly detailed. Amazing use of colour and shading, and her finished pieces have this really nice metallic like quality to the brushstrokes and tonal choices. She works across a variety of styles, ranging from 2D to realism and in between.
Scott: Utterly adorable watercolour pieces of famous movie scenes or characters injected with a touch of fun and nostalgia, despite the very simple yet simultaneously appealing style. I love them.
Matthew: Really awesome illustrations and sketches – again, kind of like the thing I’d expect to find in a book full of concept art and character designs.
Apofiss: Agh such wonderful cute illustrations of bubbly dinosaurs and cats and just aaaahhh. His colouring is so smooth and calming, too. I automatically squee every time something new of his pops up in my inbox – it’s the kind of thing I’d want as a poster or on a notebook or laptop case or something.
Grace: AHHH awesome sketchy simply style and lineart with lots of movement and personality to it. Mainly fanart, I think? I love her Rule 63 work, too.
Phobs: If you haven’t heard of her you’ve probably been living in a cave too, but hey – some really wonderful illustrations in both digital and traditional media of historic figures, as well as hilarious comics and beautiful colouring, especially of ethnic costumes.
Wenqing: Totally in love with her bold colours and brushes, as well as the way she paints environments, even just speedpaints and sketches. She’s got a really impressive eye for tones and values. Kind of anime-esque with some realism thrown in? Blargh, I’m so bad at describing art.
Courtney: FFF CUTEST SKETCHES EVER and some really adorable designs for characters! Mix of fanart and original.
Kat: Ahh I love her style! Especially her Korra fanart, but then anything by her is a treat. It’s a super nice blend of comic and anime influences, I think? Blargh, I’m running out of description words now ;__; but anyway, her shading style combines cel and soft airbushing and the results are always lovely!
Miyuli: has a really sweet style and I love everything she does, be it simple pencil doodles to full blown paintings. I really like how she stylizes characters and makes them so expressive. And her work always has this lovely flow and dynamic to it.
Lexi: Not only is she super lovely but she also has an incredible talent for traditional media, especially watercolours. Mix of fanart and original stuff.
Xenia: If you want something a little different, check her work out. It looks like something you’d find on the inside of a fantasy novel cover or on a stained glass window – she uses coloured pencils so beautifully and in such a unique way it makes me want to cry, haha. I love how even though she draws silhouettes they’re still so recognizable and have a lot of flow and emotion to them. A really nice mix of unconventional fanart and original work.
Fergie
WHEW I think that’s it for now! I’ll come back and edit it as I find more people and keep a link to this post on my sidebar so that people can refer to it if need be. I know I’ll probably have missed some people out by accident so I intend to keep adding more names when I can, so check back in a while if you need more blogs/dA pages to follow.
