Sam Nielson

As you know I'm always on the lookout for new, interesting artists. I love to find someone whose work makes me happy or makes me think. Sam Nielson's work makes me incredibly happy. How can you not smile with an image like this?

I found Sam through the website Amusing Planet, a site that lists great artists, interesting places, fun ideas, and anything else that happens to fascinate them. I would put it right up there with Neatorama as one of my favorite new sites.

Sam works for Avalanche Software, a Disney software company. He works doing mostly digital art with a focus on characters. And he's amazingly good at it. I fell in love with his work the moment I saw this little guy eating a brownie (love the irony). I was so incredibly impressed with his ability to create characters that seem to have depth to them.

But it's not just depth that drew me, it's the fun he seems to be having. His characters jump off the screen. They are silly and fun and incredibly well done. I'll be holding up Sam's work for anyone who tells me that digital art isn't quite as good as paint and ink art. Wonderful characters and fun images. A great find.

I understand that Sam just put out a art book for San Diego Comic Con. Guess I'm going shopping.