David Shrigley

David Shrigley is an artist who crosses between art and comics. As I research his work, I find myself liking it more. My favorite part about Shrigley is that he adapts to different types of design and illustration very easily. This is demonstrated well for example, in both his blur music video and a selection of his photographs.

I think that it is positive that he experiments in more areas than just illustration because I believe that this is an important element within today’s art and design market. I feel that his animation work is his most successful pieces and shows off his illustrations best. His pieces work well with music or amusing stories and the imperfect drawings come alive and fit into the modern day art world. I find that Shigleys' weakest area is sculpture; his simplistic style is not as appealing in this form. It seems more adolescent than his drawings and animations. His intelligence and wit does not come across as it does in the other areas.

I think that Shrigley illustrates in some of his drawings what people really think, and what we can relate to. In what I am and what I want, the illustration of a floppy disk and written on the label is my entire life. It is sometimes how people feel, their entire information and life on a disk, a computer or even a mobile phone, this is statement about the changing society towards digital media. Shrigleys' main talent is finding the niche at the right time. I feel he can illustrate a modern society and the opinions of people in a very simple way, so that if people can see past the basic style of drawing then they can find his work entertaining and realistic and therefore the simplicity of the drawings become irrelevant.

Shrigley has made people think different about what illustration is and that a drawing does not have to be lifelike and photographic, it can be expressive and just simply to express a thought and humor. This is why people are drawn to his work and is a major factor in his work that appeals to me.

Because of the nature of Shrigleys' work he has produced books and DVDs that are affordable to the general public. This may have furthered his success and more people aware of him that are not directly connected to the art world. By doing projects for the BBC collective and Blur which are mainstream medias it makes it accessible art, therefore people may not feel alienated, as they might by high end art.

Shrigley also appeals to me on a personal level because of his linear approach to drawing. Although I prefer my own illustrations to be slightly more detailed, the idea of black pen, white paper and linear drawings are similar to my own style. He will be a positive influence throughout my work.