Longtime TeeFury artist Megan Lara brought in her curated tastes with this inaugural Artist Takeover collection.
Read on below as she shares her thoughts on selecting each of these featured designs!
My Artistic & Personal Inspirations
This collection is comprised of work from some of my favourite designers–many of whom also happen to be my favourite people–except maybe that darn Bamboota… 😉 Just kidding!
All of the designs I chose were picked from artists who’ve been enormous inspirations to me personally and artistically during most–if not all–of my career. I’ve been designing t-shirts for about five years now (my first Teefury print was back on February 2nd, 2010, IIRC), and several of these artists have been there with me from the very beginning! Others came along in the middle and just completely knocked my socks off. It’s been an amazing, sometimes insane and off-the-wall ride, but these artists (and many others I wasn’t able to include here, unfortunately) have inspired me to keep drawing, creating and sharing my work with the world. All of them make art that is so different from mine, so inspiring, that I never get tired of looking at it all, and they can usually help me find some inspiration when my creative well has run dry. They also all have some quality in their art that I wish I had in mine.
I just wanted to put this collection together to show some of my friends and peers how much their work inspires me to keep creating. Thanks to all of you–and many more–for inspiring me, and consistently putting out top-notch work, and being great people on top of everything!
I knew I had to include Nik’s (Zombiedollars) “Boyz in the Hoodz” design in my curated collection, because I’m a massive fan of his style, as well as his sense of humour. Both he and I have similar tastes in television and movies, and I always love seeing what artwork he creates. One of my favourite things about his art is that I can pick it out from a mile away–it is so distinct, and that is such an impressive quality to have. In addition, he is just such a talented, thoughtful and kind person. This particular piece I thought was indicative of his style, and also gave me a good laugh. The concept is just hilarious to me. His ability to give me a good chuckle while still having wonderful art quality has been something I’ve admired and wished I could get across in my own work!
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Most people who follow my artwork probably know that I have a not-so-secret love affair with Bamboota and her artwork. She has been there for me as a friend through quite a lot–if I ever need a good kick in the butt she’s there to give it and she always offers great and helpful criticism. Her artwork inspires me SO MUCH in that she is ALWAYS putting out consistently great artwork, she always pushes herself, and she’s pretty fearless. She is tough, but also very sweet and a great person as well as a great artist. When I started looking around for designs for this collection, I saw that she had just finished this one and was so happy that she wanted to include it! The likeness, composition–all are great, and it’s in her tried and true style. It actually finally got me to get around to watching the movie–I’d been busy and had put it off out of laziness, but I saw this design and generally if she likes something, I’ll like it too… and this design sold it for me.
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Strange Metroid – Nathan Davis (Obvian)Nathan is another designer who I find to be just wonderful! He has created some of my favourite designs (“The Black Knight Rises,” comes to mind), and he is another person I really admire for having a distinct style in terms of line quality and colouring style, and I can always pick his designs out in a crowd. I chose this specific design of his because I am a huge fan of this character, and I love the way he captured her, and the way he draws female characters in general. It’s a fun design, and I think that’s a quality you can find in all of his work–the enjoyment he takes in creating his art is palpable in all of his work! His art feels full of joy, and “Strange Metroid” is no exception.
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Super Green – Amanda FlaggAmanda Flagg–in addition to have a really cool last name (fans of Stephen King’s work will agree with me)–blew me away when I first saw her work. I remember seeing one of her pieces when she first popped up on the scene and just knowing that people were going to love it. I knew I already was in love with her style. She’s another one of those designers that you can just feel the joy and the fun that they put into their work. As a huge pinup fan, that was one of the first things I noticed about Amanda: her work with the female form is flawless. The curves, her linework, colouring–it’s all wonderful to look at. She has many qualities in her work that I strive for in mine. Now, even though I said her female pinup work drew me to her, I chose her “Super Green” design because it is based on one of my favourite characters from one of my favourite movies of all time! He’s so campy and quotable–and Amanda has done a great job creating this design for him.
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Lovecraft – OmegaMan5000 (Harry Gordon)
Harry has probably been the most inspirational artist for me, for many reasons. If you follow my page, you might have picked up on the fact that we started dating around 2012–but I’ll do my best not to gush. We have become each other’s number one supporter and critic–we always push each other to do our best. We bounce ideas off of each other and critique each other, and I find that both of us have become better artists because of it. I have always loved his sometimes weird, crazy kind of style. It’s not something I was used to seeing, and don’t see a lot of anymore in the T-shirt business. The way he sees things is a lot different from other designers, and that’s one reason I love his art. He is a perfectionist like me, and will spend hours perfecting tiny details that most might not notice. He has always pushed me to go beyond my comfort zone, and he’s definitely helped me to become a better artist.
As for this “Lovecraft” design specifically: I chose it because, first and foremost, I am a massive Lovecraft fan. I’ve read most of the short stories and gobble up anything related to his mythos. I read almost exclusively horror, creepypasta, Lovecraftian tales. I’m borderline-obsessed. This was one of the first designs that I helped critique for him, and I’ve always loved it! Anything with Lovecraft, tentacles, etc., is a-okay in my book. 🙂
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Portrait of a Skeptic – Megan Lara
This design is based on one of the first shows I ever became completely and utterly infatuated with. I was a hardcore Scully+Mulder shipper, at the ripe old age of nine. The show terrified and me and intrigued me and to this day it’s one of those shows that I can rewatch over and again. And the character of Scully is someone I’ve admired for being incredibly intelligence, tough yet vulnerable, skeptical, beautiful… she was basically everything I wanted to be growing up. My role model. I was determined to be her or Xena (Not quite sure who I ended up taking more after!)
In addition to her being such a strong female role model for younger girls, I’m more than a little obsessed with horror and sci-fi, and I absolutely loved getting scared silly nearly every episode. Now with the show coming back… I knew I had to do a piece to celebrate the occasion. And who better than my main lady? I tried to create it in the sort of neotraditional tattoo style that I’ve been very fond of lately. I included many little easter eggs and references, and hope you all enjoy them!
The truth is out there
-Megan Lara
Thanks to Megan for offering her insights into these fantastic designs and artists! Remember TeeFurians, you can always find the latest and greatest with her own work right here. Interested in becoming a TeeFury artist yourself to reach new creative heights, a huge audience, and world domination* ??
Submit your work to see if you’ve got the right stuff!
*World domination not recommended or guaranteed
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