art

I first met Sophia Foster-Dimino at San Francisco Zine Fest this past year, and quickly became fascinated with her carefully composed scenes, where parallel lines give a simultaneous sense of structure and surreality, and cleanly laid out objects invite viewers to speculate on the lives of her subjects. That thoughtful approach to space stands out in her comics as well.

It must be exhausting to be a monster, what with everyone expecting you to be frightening and angry all the time. Patrick Dean, however, draws pictures of monsters in their more casual moments, taking seaside walks, enjoying a quiet smoke and romancing the ladies. His humans, on the other hand, are often entrenched in moments of crime and mystery.

Henrique Jardim is a storyboard artist and animator, and his personal work is filled with gleefully expressive faces and bodies flung into whatever position their task demands. But what really stands out is Jardim's sense of humor, which ranges from the absurdity of children delighted by their monstrous playmate to a commentary on fictional ladies' body-baring armor to the unexpected treasure of a

Jemma Salume composes fanciful and nature-inspired illustrations with a strong sense of the mythological. Majestic tigers stretch and snarl in glowing scenes while mystical lovers steal kisses amongst brilliant fields of butterflies. Zebras and hyenas dance a deadly dance in the natural world's veldt, while in otherworldly forests, sirens and avian geishas wait to feed.

Many of Laura Knetzger's charming watercolor paintings are self-portraits, but with unusual secondary subjects, spending time with video game characters, especially those from the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. That's when she isn't painting scenes from other games, anime, or The Hobbit.

"Clowns don't always have to be scary," Wook Jin Clark notes on his website. "hey can just be silly." Many of his illustrations play with the visual ideas of clowns, with lots of wig-like hair and white gloves — although sometimes frightening things do befall his clown characters. But his artwork isn't limited to polka dots and red noses; he also draws heroic women, brutish mon

There is a dash of humor and a quiet emotional weight to Alexandre Diboine's largely sci-fi digital paintings. His astronauts contemplate their muted landscapes, and his robots often come with wide-eyed children in tow.

Adam Munoa's caricatures are often surprising, but still satisfying in the way they portray their subjects. His Christopher Walken has a touch of Frankenstein's monster, but draws you to his piercing blue eyes. Despite her exaggerated proportions, his Marilyn Monroe is still lovely. And his superheroes and villains have strong chins or big foreheads, according to their brawn and brains.

Waldemar Lene plays with a number of styles as he draws fanart from his favorite Japanese and American superhero comics, drawing from Shotaro Ishinomori, Jeff Smith, E. C. Segar, Hanna-Barbera and a host of other influences as he interprets and reinterprets his favorite comic book characters. Some of the results would be perfect for a superhero-themed newspaper-style comic strip.

Rebecca Clements' illustrations are often visually dense, packed with characters and small surprises without getting overly busy. And her smaller sketches show off a real skill for riffing on particular shapes and styles, and a talent for surreal cuteness.