Chris Koelle - Illustrator.
Whether Chris is "tag-team doodling" with his wife, or engaged in Illustration Fridays", one thing is consistently obvious - Christopher Koelle is the real deal. A truly original artist, Christopher Koelle's dynamic use of line work creates poignant story scapes leaving the viewer hungry for more. His brush strokes are laid with an almost hurried precision, as if his art is exploding from his mind and soul on to the screen. Koelle's humble manner is refreshing, he is quick to celebrate other peoples contributions and talents and slow to take credit for his own amazing work. Koelle caught our attention with the powerful illustrations from "Men in Black" written by Colby Buzzell, featured in the PBS documentary "Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience". The documentary "explores the searing firsthand accounts of American troops through their own words - fiction, verse, letters, essays, and personal journals." |
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Browsing Koelle's Gallery you can't help but stop and ponder the meaning behind each piece, seeking to understand the sharp expressions found in the faces of his subjects, some writhing in pain others staring off in a pensive glaze. Deep within this gallery we find the inspiration of Koelles winning DBH design entitled Rescue.
A deeply personal piece, Rescue originally started out as a limited edition etching/aquatint. Chris always had hopes to see the design printed on a t-shirt, and long before Design by Humans came along Koelle played around with designing t-shirt comps, based on the Rescue etchings, with the hopes that one day the shirt would find a home on a black t-shirt with an all-over print.
We are very lucky to have the t-shirt edition of Rescue here at Design By Humans. Rescue won Shirt of the Day on August 31, 2007 and features an oversized jumbo distressed print on an ultra soft black t-shirt, available for both men and women.
Info and Credits:
The original "Rescue" etchings, each individually inked, printed, signed and numbered by Koelle are available for sale. For inquiries, he can be contacted at chriskoelle @ gmail.com.
Chris's wife Annie recently won Shirt of the Day for
her design "Attraction"
Christopher Koelle (http://christopherkoelle.blogspot.com/) is a founding member of Portland Studios along with fellow artists Cory Godbey (http://lightnightrains.blogspot.com) and Justin Gerard (http://quickhidehere.blogspot.com).
"Men in Black" was written by Colby Buzzell (http://cbftw.blogspot.com), animation by The Law of Few. For more details visit Chris Koelle's blog write up.
Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience was directed by Richard E. Robbins For more info visit http://www.pbs.org/crossroads
Portland Studios has recently completed a children’s adaptation of the first part of the Beowulf Epic. Pre-order Beowulf, Book One: Grendel the Ghastly Today at www.beowulfthebook.com.
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Commünity Comments
brownjeans Oct 12, 2007
I don’t know if Chris will read this comment, but if he does, I hope you will comment a response to this:
Chris, your work is awesome and I’m wondering what your ideas and thoughts about design and art in general? What do you try to achieve with your work. What defines good design and art for you? Artists are often terribly self-critical and feel like the bulk of their work falls short of what they are trying to achieve. This is the thing that drives them. It’s that pursuit of something elusive that they are trying to express. Do you feel this way? What drives you? What do you hope to capture or what feelings do you hope to inspire? How do you approach a given piece of work, not really in a practical sense, but more of a theoretical sense?
I know that answering these kinds of questions is kind of like trying to boil the ocean or cram it into a Dixie cup, but I’m curious of your thoughts all the same.
tomburns Oct 13, 2007
awesome animation!
Kevin Oct 14, 2007
Wow, this guy is unreal.
Penelope Oct 24, 2007
That was amazing work. Great portrayal of the emotions that must be felt during war. I felt like I was watching real people…very skillful animation.
hill Apr 11, 2008
huzzah! i love these folks. pretty much they are awesome. :)
saity May 22, 2008
nicely done my friend
oushka Jun 06, 2008
this was great to watch!
cedarshen Sep 30, 2008
Congrats Chris.
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