Robert Ball
Robert Ball’s amazing ‘Game of Thrones’ portraits for ‘Wired’
Anticipation for the third season of HBO’s Game of Thrones continues apace among the more right-thinking sections of humanity, with less than two weeks now before its premiere. It’s a show that continues to make fans: Winter’s Knight/Dangeritis artist Robert Ball recently posted these vector portraits of some of the epic’s cast in character, and they’re great. Ball is a late convert to the show, explaining:
“I’ve been doing commissions for Wired magazine off and on, and this is the latest of those. I watched the first few episodes of Game of Thrones and found the whole thing clunky, adolescent and embarrassing. Then I got the humour and I’ve become completely obsessed with it. Can’t wait for series 3!”
Ball’s self-published Winter Knight was one of my favorite comics from last year, and had a certain superficial level of similarity with Game of Thrones anyway, being a medieval-set story with certain spooky fantasy elements creeping in at the edges.
His likenesses and expressions here are spot on: the stoicism of Arya Stark and Jon Snow, the haughtiness of the Lannisters, especially that hint of a sneer on Cersei’s lips. And if Ball’s style looks familiar to you, it’s probably because he’s the artist who came up with the much-ripped-off Fifty Baddies print.
Exclusive Preview | Warwick Johnson Cadwell & Robert Ball’s Dangeritis
Two gentlemen making quite a name for themselves on the U.K. small-press and indie-comics scene are Warwick Johnson Cadwell and Robert Ball. The latter’s self-published Winter’s Knight: Day One was one of my favorite comics of last year, a beautiful, lyrical piece that was equal parts Geoffrey Chaucer, John Boorman and Mike Mignola; and 2013 looks like being the year of WJC, as he works on Alan Martin’s Solid State Tank Girl, alongside the possibility of both his long-awaited Hutch Parsons and Gungle books finally appearing at Blank Slate.
The two creators are frequently to be found in each other’s company at the U.K.’s comic shows, and this friendship has resulted in Dangeritis. This is a comic, rather than a shared medical condition. In Robert’s own words:
Art Barrage | Bumper post-Thanksgiving meat sweats edition
Illustrator Christina Ung manages to fit in just about everyone on the planet going at it Gangnam Style, including The Caped Crusader. Batman is, of course, no stranger to faddish dance crazes (also by Christina – The Unreliable Superhero). More below, including work by Ron Wimberly, Ben Caldwell, Daniel Krall, Ashley Wood and many other talented human beings. Continue Reading »
Reading the Internet so you don’t have to, Part 2
Robert Ball is living the dream: by day, a Roger Sterling-style big wig in the advertising world, chain-smoking Lucky Strikes and chugging whiskey, and spending his evenings as a freelance illustrator and aspiring comic book creator. A man of distinction, who puts the appropriate research into getting the Korina neck and headstock of a vintage Flying V just right.
Over at Wired’s Underwire blog, Grant Morrison reveals that he’s putting a lot more thought into Barry Sonnenfeld’s Dinosaurs vs. Aliens than anyone really expected.