Essay #5

Kari Forinash

Dwayne

Digital

March 1, 2012

Sam Webber

Sam Webber is a contemporary artist from Deep River, Ontario. Webber was born in Alaska and was raised in different provinces in the country of Canada. Webber’s artwork reflects an obsession with science fiction which fits into pop culture today. Webber describes making art as being a director and a producer because the artist is in control of what the artwork looks like.

After completing his M.F.A from the School of Visual Arts, Webber worked for the New York Times, which only added to his reputation in the art world, which uses dramatic editorial illustration work for his clients.

Webber’s art ranges from humans, animals, magical characters, and abstractions that seem to have intricate and small details. The artist usually at the end of drawing uses Photoshop for a good image finishing.

Webber’s inspiration comes from the natural world, his father who was a forester and a Canadian painter.

Webber’s artwork is often illustrated book covers. Some seem to have a photographic sense to the cover such as on the cover of Fairy Tales. It seems that Webber also illustrates for a number of well-known books such as Lord of the Flies, and Fahrenheit 451.

In most of Webber’s illustrations, he seems to use color to set a certain mood. In Lord of the flies he uses a deep dominant red with perfect white and round eyes stare straight at the viewer. In Fairy Tales, Webber uses a more feminine color scheme which the fountain and girl goes with the soft pink, the flower and what looks to be handwritten writing. This all seems to contrasts with the skull in the middle of the subject that backs up the title even further.

Webber also is active in design arts as well as graphic design, mixed media, and painting.  Most of Webbers works seem to be involved in his subject seems to be fanciful and surreal.