Case Study : Micah Lidberg [WEEK 3]

Micah Lidberg is a Digital and Traditional artist from Kansas City, most famous for his work for the album ZABA(2014) by Glass Animals. Despite this he has also produced work for many others, On his Tumblr page he lists his largest named clients "Coldplay, Glass Animals, Intel, It’s Nice That, Lacoste, The New York Times, Nike, Nowness, Nylon Magazine, Ogilvy and Mather, Red Bull, & Target" (Lidberg, M. No date). His artwork features images surrounding nature, plant life and creatures all beautifully illustrated in bright almost black light-like colour. 

Lidberg, M., 2013. Day and Night[Digital]. Scrawl Magazine [online]. Available via: https://micahlidberg.tumblr.com/post/136406093492/day-night-scrawl-magazine-2013 [Accessed 08 October 2024]

His artwork is a great blend of simple, graphic shapes and high detailing and patterning that draws the viewers attention across the piece. Coupled with his cohesive and atmospheric colour schemes his pieces do an excellent job of not only visually showing an environment but also inferring greater details of the setting such as temperature, time of day and location all by using these simplistic shapes. In an interview with (NOBROW N.d), Lidberg talks about the inspiration and motivation behind his art, stating that "I usually say nature inspires my work" along with "the overwhelming feeling of complexity and the interconnectedness of everything". These themes are certainly visible in pieces such as Concrete Jungle (2013) and ZABA(2014) both of which are much more textural than the pieces displayed previously, but have a darker colour pallet or more bold geometric shapes to provide areas of rest and colour contrast. These pieces also draw back on the previous point of excellent storytelling through pattern and colour, With the darker colour scheme of ZABA(2014) it can be inferred this piece is taking place at night time or at least late evening, almost giving this piece a relaxed and sleepy vibe, yet coupled with the introduction of the more vibrant colours there is still a feeling of the jungle being alive and full of energy, not overwhelming but a comforting level of energy. As well as this most of the shapes present are quite smooth, sweeping and natural looking, from the leaning trees and bushes to even the more rough and textural architectural aspects this piece certainly seems like it takes place in a very sheltered jungle setting. Meanwhile in Concrete Jungle(2013) The brighter colours give more of a chaotic feeling of energy much alike what you would find in urban areas, the piece is full of life yet certainly less organic feeling than the other art piece. It is an almost direct opposite feeling with sharp angles, straight lines and much less texture. The beams almost remind me of steel scaffolding with house plants draped over it. I feel it does an excellent job of capturing the vibrancy of a city without explicitly depicting urban life.

Lidberg, M., 2013. Concrete Jungle

Lidberg, M., 2014. ZABA

Alongside his client work, Lidberg has also produced a short book by the name of Rise and Fall: A Concertina of Life(2010). It is a mostly illustrated fold out book depicting a brief timeline of the animals of earth, right the way from the dinosaurs to modern day. Described by Flying eye Books[No date] to have captured the "intricate patterns of traditional Japanese kimono design and the murals of 1930s New York Deco" Lidbergs art is not only pleasing to look at but is an excellent tool to use alongside his storytelling skills. 

Lidberg,M, 2010. Rise and Fall: A Concertina of Life. s.l.: s.n.

For our project, I specifically selected Micah Lidberg as an artist i wanted to look into as i found his pieces to perfectly capture that whimsical almost alien feeling of a jungle, This is something we wanted to illustrate in our game. That sense of the unknown, yet not in a horror sort of way, more of an enticing and adventurous kind of way. I also really like how a lot of Lidberg's patterning work slightly resembles a lot of African art, as our project is set in the Sahara this could be a really nice touch. On top of this, I think this shouldn't be too hard to take inspiration from in our 3D assets, more simple models but with interesting and colourful textures alongside our plans for less saturated and 2D animal assets might make for a visually pleasing environment that is also easy to traverse around. 

Bibliography:

Artwork:

Lidberg, M., 2014. ZABA[Digital and Pencil on paper]. Glass Animals[online]. Available via: https://micahlidberg.tumblr.com/post/136407947277/zaba-glass-animals-2014 [Accessed 08 October 2024]

Lidberg, M., 2013. Concrete Jungle[Digital and Pencil on paper]. Red Bull Music Academy[online]. Available via: https://micahlidberg.tumblr.com/post/136406789282/concrete-jungle-red-bull-music-academy-2013 [Accessed 08 October 2024]

Lidberg, M., 2013. Day and Night[Digital]. Scrawl Magazine [online]. Available via: https://micahlidberg.tumblr.com/post/136406093492/day-night-scrawl-magazine-2013 [Accessed 08 October 2024]

Books :

Lidberg,M, 2010. Rise and Fall: A Concertina of Life. s.l.: s.n.

Websites:

Anon, No Date. Micah Lidberg [online]. NOBROW. Available at: https://nobrow.net/creator/micah-lidberg/ [Accessed 08 October 2024]

Anon, No Date. Rise and Fall 2nd Edition [online]. Flying Eye Books. Available at:https://flyingeyebooks.com/book/rise-and-fall-2nd edition/#:~:text=The%20beautiful%20concertina%20book%20folds,globe%20millions%20of%20years%20later.[Accessed 08 October 2024]

Lidberg,M, No Date. Micah Lidberg [online].Tumblr. Available at: https://micahlidberg.tumblr.com [Accessed 08 October 2024]